Backpack Fix-up!

I switched to a small-ish backpack for my purse lately and love it!  It is super nice to be completely hands-free with two kiddos and plenty of space for my stuff and their stuff! (and way too much extra junk if I'm not careful!)  The bag has one big pocket and three small pockets with flaps that snap shut... Unfortunately I have broken two (almost three) of the snaps already, I really need them to stay shut though or stuff falls out when I toss it in the car.  Soooo I added a magnetic snap... the problem here is that it is, well, ugly...

So I went to the craft store and found some flowers that matched the bag...  

I cut the stem off as absolutely-positively short as I could!

I glued the flower back together (when you cut that much stem off, the flower just comes apart)

Then attached them to my bag over the ugly side of the new snap.

All done!  No more diapers, receipts, wallet, or anything else falling out of my purse!  Bonus: It's cute!

Two New Shirts - Color Blocking!

So I had these two shirts... I never loved the fit or the blah-ness of them, so I decided it was time to change things up a bit!

 

First!  I cut both shirts at the exact same place (they were identical shirts, different colors), a half inch below the sleeve seem

Then, just switcheroo the tops!

Add a strip of stretchy lace and pin the pieces back together!

A quick zig-zag to sew them together.

Then I top-stitched the lace down at the side seams.

Volia!  Two brand-new color-blocked shirts that I love!

(Finished product pics to come... oops!)

Valentines Day!

I didn't go all out, but I did have some fun with Valentines day!  It all started with Breakfast

French toast+Heart cookie cutter = Valentines-French toast!  

(we also ate the outside edges, because you loose nearly half the toast... however, if you're careful, you have a heart, and a heart outline... all cute!)

For dinner we had V-day mini-pizzas!  I stacked several pepperoni on top of each other and cut them with a tiny heart cookie cutter.  Then I sliced an entire baguette and put sauce, cheese, and a pepperoni heart on each piece and baked them about 350 until the bread got crusty and the cheese was melted :)  Made two meals for us! (me, my husband, and our 2 yr old)  (the idea came from here)

I also had some fun decorating for V-day this year.... something I hadn't done much of in the past.

I got inspiration from here

 

and here 

Only I did it with construction paper and a stapler... then just threaded the hearts (no balls) on jute/twine.  The string was rough enough that the hearts didn't slide around too much.  

Unfortunately I didn't get photos of either of theses items, but they were super easy and looked great!  I'm saving both for next year!

Another fun thing my son loves is 'glittering'!  Essentially, I cut out construction paper shapes and he squishes dollar store glitter-glue all over them.  When they dry I hang them in our bay window to spiffy up the kitchen.  He LOVES this activity, and it is fairly clean... especially when I lock him in his brother's high chair while he does it to confine the mess to a small area (score one for mommy!)

Enjoy!