Re-Usable Chalk Board Gift Tags

Here is a quick and affordable way to put a unique spin on your gift wrapping! Not only are they cute to look at, but because they are chalkboard they can be re-used!

What you'll need:

1) A roll of chalkboard paper (available at most dollar stores!)

2) Cardstock

3) Scissors

4) Ribbon

5) Hole Punch

Step One

Stick Chalkboard Paper to card stock

Step Two

Draw your label shape

Step Three

Cut Out

Step Four

Punch hole in tag

Step Five

Attach Ribbon and attach to gift!

Halloween Tutorail Round Up Part 2!

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Halloween Craft Projects for Kids

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Halloween Tutorial Round-Up Part 1

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Cookie Mania!

Last night the husband and I made 700 cookies for Cassie's wedding favours - yes 700! We were up till 2 am finishing them up, as the decorating technique we are attempting tonight required the cookies to have a layer of icing that has set for 12 hours. Can't wait to show you all the final product!

A Dress Fail with a happy ending!

Jason and I went to my cousins wedding this past weekend and I had full intentions of sewing up a quick and easy dress out of some really pretty fabric that I bought...but it did not go as planned! It started to go wrong basically from the very start because the fabric was hard to work with and kept pulling and gathering...it could have been my needle or tension somewhere, I am not sure but it was definitely my biggest sewing disaster in recent history. I actually burnt my arm on the iron and should have know that was my first sign to stop, I just really wanted to "make it work" after investing so much time into the dress!

So I ended up going another route and altering a dress that Jessi and I both had much love for. I think she may even be a little sad that the dress is no longer! I wore it to her wedding in PEI post-baby and she wore it to our friends Matt & Emily's wedding.  Here are a few fuzzy pics of our beloved dress...

It really was a great dress! Nice fabric and details but the top was always a little too big and it was a bit too short for me. But it had great pockets and lots of life left in it so I cut off the top and added a black elastic waist band and TA-DA!!

It was a super simple alteration as the waist already had an elastic band there so I didn't need to gather it to add the black elastic and I love the pockets and tiered bottom! I am also happy that this dress has found an even longer life and may even make a few more appearances this summer! Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

PS - It is a little late but thanks to Aimee at Green Pickles for including us in her 15 Friday Favourite Finds! Stop by and take a look at her super cute blog and shop!

Paper Butterfly Garlands

Inspired by Etsy, I made butterfly garlands for my wedding in September.  It took me forever to cut out hundreds of butterflies from an old french book I had on Canadian politics...I'm really happy with how they turned out!!!

Easy Men's Shirt Restyle

I have seen lots of men's shirt makeovers lately and decided to try my own! I am so excited about how it turned out because I love the sweet summer feel to it and think it would also be great in a girly colour with ruffly accents! The best part was using the button down details that were already there and that it is a comfy, worn-in cotton. Since I am tall (5'9ish) I knew that I probably wouldn't have enough length for a dress like I had seen in other restylings, so I ended up doing a top. It is basically two rectangles of fabric with an elastic casing at the top and two straps. Here is how I did it!

Supplies:

1 mens button up shirt, size large

1" wide elastic

You will also need to measure your bust and down your side (measure from your armpit to how long you want the shirt to be - mine was 16").

This is the shirt I started with.

1 - Take off the pocket. Carefully. With a seam ripper.

2 - Cut off top half of the shirt at armpit. You will only need the bottom half of the shirt from here on in.

3 - Cut off sides seams of shirt, it will probably be much larger than you need it. I cut 2" off each side so it was 20" across the front.

4 - Sew side seams. Make sure you have right sides facing together :)

5 - Sew casing at top for elastic. I folded the edge down 1.25" to fit 1" elastic.

6 - Run elastic through casing, sew elastic together and sew casing closed. My elastic measured 25" long.

7 - Mark where you would like the straps to go. I did this by putting the top on and pinning where my bra straps where.

8 - Use 1 of the pieces you cut off the sides earlier to make the straps.

9 - Cut off the curved end off the side strip.

10 - Cut this piece down the center so you have 2 strips, about1 " wide and 15" long.

11 - Sew strap seams and turn out with a loop turner.

12 - Sew straps to top where you marked it with pins earlier.

13 -Wear and love!

PS.
This is my first ever tutorial so I hope that you can follow everything! Please let me know if there is anything that is unclear or if you have any suggestions or questions! Thanks :)