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Archives for July 2010

Chiffon Ruffled Headband

July 31, 2010 3 Comments
Don't you just love getting mail?!  I do!  Especially when I get packages like this!!  I won a fabulous giveaway from Just Sew Sassy, and I couldn't help but squeal with delight when I opened up my package to find this chiffon ruffled headband!
Seriously, isn't it gorgeous?!
My sister always models things so much better than me... We are already planning out all of our coordinating outfits!!  You can find out how to make your own headband here.  Staci has so many unique ideas, so stop by her blog and say hello!

Filed Under: review

Blog Swap With My Little Gems

July 30, 2010 2 Comments
HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!  I am at my best friend's wedding right now.... but I have left you in good hands--the absolute best, in fact!  I have followed My Little Gems for a long time, and admire everything about Sharla!!  I know you will love her, too!  
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Hello Oopsey Daisies! I'm Sharla from My Little Gems and I am so excited to be here on Oopsey Daisy! Alison has such cute projects and is one of my favorite bloggers! I have several "Oopsey Daisies" of my own.☻

My Little Gems

I have a fun little blog I started about 2 years ago, called My Little Gems. I originally started blogging just to share the things I was grateful for. The more I blogged, the more I realized that the things I enjoyed doing were the things that I was grateful for! 🙂  Thus, I started My Little Gems. My  focus can be summed up as Home. Family. Creations. Treasures...and of course DIY... many of  those things are focused on boys- because I have 3 of them. ☻

I have a very supportive husband who makes my crafting/sewing addiction, I mean hobby, possible. I used to post almost everyday, {check out the archives}, but currently I post about 2-3 times a week.

Here is a sampling of what you might find at My Little Gems.

Car Cozie Tutorial
from September 2009

 Play mat from a Shower Curtain.
January 2009
Play Kitchen from an old Nightstand
March 2010
Burlap ABC magnets.
January 2010
I made a boy-themed quiet book out of place mats. I did a whole week of place mat crafts- all from the Dollar Store.  (February 2010)
 Lots of Sweets- this is Banana Split Ice Cream Cake
(July 2010)
Lots of Kids Crafts- this is lacing with water noodles
(July 2010)

 I hope you'll stop by and check out  My Little Gems.  Thanks Alison  for allowing me  to be a guest on Oopsey Daisy! Now back to making my own Oopsey Daisies...

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WOW!!  So many fabulous ideas!  Thank you, Sharla!  Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Filed Under: swap

Framed Burlap Monogram

July 29, 2010 7 Comments
This project is a crowd-pleaser!!   

The framed burlap monogram is the perfect project if you don't like to sew or just need something quick and easy to whip up!  Plus--what a great gift idea!  You can personalize it for anyone!  
Yesterday was my baby sister's 21st birthday, and I wanted a homemade gift to add to the stash!  She loves turquoise, and this piece will match her college apartment room just perfectly.  I admit I did NOT have cute bedrooms in college... but my sister sure does!  I am proud to say that I just added to the cuteness 🙂
I started out with this $2.50 frame from Wal-Mart.  Man, I love Wal-Mart!  You can't beat the great deals!
I wanted a nice antique look to my frame, so I didn't sand it first.  I simply spray painted right over it.  See how the color doesn't all absorb easily?  That leaves some brown to show through.  Lovely!
This particular frame did not come with any kind of matting, so I made my own!!  I just traced the glass and made a mat out of a cardboard box.  (We have way too many cardboard boxes at our house because my hubby receives packages for work at least twice a week!)
I knew I wanted burlap as my background.  Yes, I am still loving the burlap!  I cut out a piece with plenty of extra room on all 4 sides so I could wrap it around the back for added security.  I just mod-podged the burlap right on to the cardboard mat!  I had to press and hold the burlap on the back just to be sure it dried nice and tight.
Next, I found some coordinating fabric for my monogram.  Don't you love the brown/turquoise color combination??  I am always looking for shortcuts, so I cut out my monogram using my Cricut.  You could definitely use a template from a computer to cut out your fabric monogram, too!  In order to cut my fabric on the Cricut, I ironed Heat N Bond onto my fabric.
I peeled off the back of the Heat N Bond, and adhered the fabric to the Cricut mat.  (For more info on cutting fabric on your Cricut, you can read this post.)  Then I let the Cricut do the rest!
You could totally mod-podge the fabric right on to the burlap... but I already had the Heat N Bond backing, so I just ironed my monogram onto the burlap!  It took about 30 seconds.  Voila!  I inserted my burlap monogram into my frame and here is the finished product:
 What do you think?  My sister loved it!!  
Let's see that before and after just one more time....
The total cost of this project was about $3.00!!  Cute.  Frugal.  Fast.  All in a day's work!!

Have a great day!!
Filed Under: burlap, craft, wood crafts

Wednesday’s Wowzers

July 28, 2010 9 Comments
Hello, my friends!!  I hope your week is going well.  The usual summer chaos has struck our home this week.  I love this little blog.  It's my bit of peace!  Thank you so much for reading, and coming along with me on my journey of craftiness!
There is so much creativity out there that simply blows me away!  Here are just 5 of the ideas that have "wowed" me this week!
I love all of the fun pillows that are popping up lately!  I am in the market for a new accent pillow... so I am drooling over this burlap muslin pillow from Make the Best of Things.  Burlap and muslin--what a delightful combination!
If you haven't seen Lil' Luna's temple block yet, go now!!!  I am simply blown away. And can you believe it--sweet Kristyn offered her readers the chance to submit a photo so her husband could "antique" it and then offered the downloads of these photos on her site!!   I quickly sent in a picture of the Denver Temple, where my husband and I were married.  Now I have a photo to make my own temple block!!  There are several different temple photos you can download.  WOW!  Thanks, Lil' Luna!  What a fabulous and generous project!
Get ready for a genius craft project for your kids this summer!  Hippos & Dinos shared this smart idea for making your own fun family napkins.  What a fun way to personalize napkins and get your kids involved, too!
I keep wanting to try a t-shirt refashion, and Tea Rose Home keeps tantalizing me with her adorable t-shirts!!  Why is it that I never sew anything for ME to wear?!  Hmm.  I need to fix that problem!  This green shirt has been on my mind a lot.  I may just tackle it!
I am just sighing with envy at the playroom re-do at Sugar Bee - Craft Edition.  It's just not fair!  I would love a playroom for Little Man!  Mandy's playroom is so whimsical and fun, and I *adore* the whole room, so be sure to check it all out!  She made this mural with paint and fabric!  Perfect!
Make it a great day today!
Filed Under: wowzers

Cafe Rio Burritos

July 27, 2010 17 Comments


My mouth is watering just typing up this recipe today.  If you have never heard of Cafe Rio, it is a fabulous Mexican restaurant.  When I went to college, I probably visited Cafe Rio once week, feasting on their burritos and salads.  Delish!!  But when we moved to Colorado I was missing it terribly!!  Luckily, a friend had given me this recipe to Cafe Rio burritos!  Actually, it was a recipe for just the Cafe Rio salad, but honestly, I love their burritos best!  So I tweaked it a bit to make the burrito version!


This recipe is not hard, but it does take a lot of components and steps during the day.  Definitely start marinading the pork over night for optimal juiciness and flavor.  It is absolutely positively worth the effort!!  One day when my in-laws were visiting, I was going to be gone most of the day.  So I had these burritos cooking throughout the day, so they could help themselves.  I knew it was  a hit because my father-in-law and brothers-in-law ALL consider themselves chefs, and they raved about these burritos.  LOVE this recipe!!


Here is the award-winning recipe for mouth-watering Cafe Rio burritos: (This is a long one, so you can definitely download and print at the end!)



Pork
2 pounds of pork
3 cans Coke (not diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness.)
1 c. brown sugar


Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade.  Add about a can and a half of Coke and about 1/4 c. brown sugar.  Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in Crock Pot on high for about 3-4 hours or until it shreds easily.  (I usually cook on low all day long.)  Remove pork from Crock Pot and drain any liquid left in the pot.  Shred pork.


In a food processor blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce, and brown sugar.
Place shredded pork and sauce in Crock Pot and cook on low for 2 hours.
Cilantro-Lime Rice
1 c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth
1 c. water
1 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 T. freshly chopped cilantro







In a saucepan, combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime juice, chicken broth, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender.  Remove from heat.  In a small bowl, combine 1 T. lime juice, sugar, and cilantro.  Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff rice.
Black Beans
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. freshly-chopped cilantro


In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it.  Add beans, tomato juice, and salt.  Continually stir until heated through.  Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.
Assemble pork, rice, and beans to make your own mouth-watering burrito!
Enjoy!

Filed Under: recipes

Numbered Placemats

July 26, 2010 29 Comments
Numbers are hot, hot, hot right now!!  I am loving the idea of numbers.... so I decided to make some numbered placemats!  Admittedly, we rarely use placemats.  My hubby thinks casual is the way to go, so I never had much need for *cute* placemats until now.  I've decided to up my game with my kitchen table setting!
Do you want to know how to make your own??  Here is what I did:
1.  Cut your fabric.  
I used duck cloth because I wanted something sturdy.  I decided to make 4 red placemats and 4 white placemats.  I cut my fabric pieces about 16 x 20.  I needed a front and back for each placemat.  Iron your fabric so it's nice and smooth before painting.
2.  Make stencils using freezer paper.  
I used my Cricut to cut out my number stencils, but you could also you a razor blade.
3.  Iron on your freezer paper stencils.
Be sure that you iron your freezer paper with the smooth side down.  I also ironed some scrap freezer paper on the under side of my duck cloth to prevent any bleeding.
4.  Prepare to paint your numbers!
I painted white numbers on my red placemats and white numbers on my red placemats.  I used Tulip Matte paints.
5.  Paint your numbers.
I painted over my stencil, let the paint dry for about an hour before repeating.  I gave each number 3 coats of paint.
6.  Pin your front and back together.
Pin right sides together (that means the number you painted will face inside).
7.  Sew together.
Sew all the way around the placemat with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Leave a spot to turn inside out.  I like to leave my opening in the center of one of the 4 sides.
8.  Turn inside out.
After clipping my 4 corners, I turned my placemat inside out.  I really had to work my 4 corners to get them as pointy as possible.  I like to use a tool like a pencil eraser to poke out those corners.
9.  Sew up the opening.
Sew up the opening of your placemat!  
10.  Press your seams
Give those beauties a nice, finished look by pressing the seams.  
I am so happy with how my placemats turned out!!  So simple.  So elegant!
Now all I need is new table setting to match!!  
PS Have you noticed my new snazzy menu bar?  You can see where I link my projects by clicking my Link Parties tab.
Filed Under: sewing

Transportation Card

July 23, 2010 10 Comments

I think we have established that my cards are not always traditional!  In my mad rush to throw together my husband's 30th birthday party, I wanted Little Man to have a homemade card to give to his Daddy.  But my active Little Man doesn't slow down much.  I knew I needed something to grab his attention--and FAST.

Little Man is such a... well, a little man!  He loves all things that move!  He hears every airplane that crosses the sky.  He always wants to sit on Daddy's motorcycle and say, "Vroom, vroom!" But far and away, he is wild about BUSES.  "Bus" is one of the only words he says crystal clear.  The other day, we took a detour to a parking lot just so he could touch and explore a real bus.
So during naptime, I threw together this little transportation card.  I wanted him to take ownership of it, so I had him color the pages to make a tiny book.  It was a hit!

I mounted each individual page on simple cardstock scraps.  You could definitely use cute patterned scrapbook paper though!
We included 5 pages after this initial cover.  I created them in Photoshop.  Here they are, all ready to be colored!
I couldn't get a good picture of the last page, but it's a little poem that says:
From here to there;
In water or air;
I want you to know that
Wherever we go…
I love you so!

Believe it or not, this truly is some of Little Man's best coloring!!  I only helped a wee bit! 
 I had to pry this airplane page out of his little hands, and it shows a touch of loving crumpling.
I just punched holes in all of my pages, bound them with a book ring, and tied a few ribbons on for kicks and giggles!  The very best part was how much Mr. Oopsey Daisy really did *adore* this card!  It was truly meaningful!

So do you have a little guy or gal of your own who would love to make their own transportation card?!  Well, I am definitely willing to share!  You can download your transportation card here.  
The download includes the cover, the 5 transportation coloring pages, and the ending poem.  I did not customize the download for anyone specific--in other words, it does not say "Dear Daddy."  So you could use this as a birthday card for anyone special in your child's life!
I hope someone else out there can use this!  I would love to hear your feedback!
Filed Under: birthday, card, download

Blog Swap with Sumo’s Sweet Stuff

July 23, 2010 1 Comment
It's always exciting for me to do a blog swap with one of my idols... and Sumo is definitely one of them!  I followed her blog way before I started my own.  I am so excited to share her talent with you today!  Take it away, Sumo!
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Hello Oopsey Daisy readers!

I'm so excited to be guest posting over here today! Alison is pretty much amazing, and I just adore her and her blog! Plus, she is extra cool since we both used to teach first grade!

I'm Sumo, from Sumo's Sweet Stuff!

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

My real name is Summer, but my husband nicknamed me Sumo when we were dating. (Should I be offended?) Now he's got all of my family, as well as lots of our friends, calling me Sumo. I think Aunt Sumo sounds pretty great, don't you? I live in Utah with my husband, and our two beautiful daughters - Reece & Remi!



Growing up, I never used to be all that domestic or crafty, so I think no one is more surprised than my mom at how I've ended up where I am today! I started Sumo's Sweet Stuff last May as a place to keep some of my crafting projects so that my personal blog wasn't overrun with them. Somehow, that developed into a place to host giveaways, share tutorials, share recipes, and feature fellow bloggers' ideas and blogs! I also use my blog to promote my etsy shop, so if you're ever in the market for some baby girl accessories, come on over! Every Monday is Market Yourself Monday, where you can link up your latest projects, and visit other blogs to get some inspiration!
Sumo Sweet Stuff



Here's a little peek at some of the things you can find on my blog:





 Market Yourself Monday
Tutorial Tuesday
Mouth-Watering Wednesday
Things to Try Thursday
Feature Friday
Showcase Saturday
Sponsor Sunday


 I am also involved in a joint blogging venture - Win, Lose or Blog. If you aren't following already, you should get on over there and do so!  We have a lot of great sponsors, and not all of the prizes donated are going to the contestants--they are going to people who comment!  Plus it's just nice to cheer for those lovely ladies.  We're also starting to do some giveaways, so what's not to love?  We'll be doing more seasons as well, so if you think you want to participate, you may get that chance in the future!  


Thanks again for having me!  I hope to see you all over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff soon!  
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Thank you so much, Sumo!!  You rock my world!!  Head on over and check our her blog!

Filed Under: swap

My First-Ever Apron

July 22, 2010 9 Comments
Yikes!  These last few weeks have been absolutely CRAZY!  I never felt like I completely recovered from our Fourth of July trip.  I had a colonoscopy last week, and I just finished throwing the hubs a birthday bash today--#30!  Next week, we're leaving town for my best friend's wedding!  I know many of you have echoed your own feelings of summer craziness in your posts, so you understand!  But I missed my Wednesday's Wowzers yesterday, so I will stockpile my favorite ideas for next week!
Someday I will start some fresh new craft ideas, but in the mean time, thank goodness I have some projects in my photo archives that I haven't shared yet! Here is one of them.
Recycled Denim Aprons 
 
Do I look super domestic in these pictures or what?!  

Can you believe that these are my first-ever aprons?!  
I don't know how I survived cooking up until now without one!!  No more annoying splatters.  And even my Sunday-best is protected.
All that it took was one pair of old jeans to create these easy-breezy aprons.  I had this pair of super-cool Abercrombie jeans since I was a teen.  But let's be honest, I couldn't pull them off as a Mom, so I decided they needed to be recycled.  Really, I just cut the legs of my jeans a bit and created the fabric bias tape to make these aprons.  I used the ingenious tutorial from Keeping It Simple, so I won't reinvent the wheel.  Here is just a quick overview:
My Little Man is an excellent kitchen helper!  Whenever I am cooking in my tiny kitchen, he always requests a spoon and a measuring cup or bowl to mix up some yumminess of his own!  I may have to make him his own denim apron out of an old pair of his jeans!
So my friends... which apron is your favorite?  The red bandana apron or brown flower apron?!  I love both depending on my outfit, of course!
Have a great day!
Filed Under: sewing Tagged With: ,

The Perfect S’more

July 20, 2010 17 Comments
Yes indeed, I am a major connoisseur of s'mores.  Nothing says summer like being outdoors, roasting a marshmallow and feasting upon gooey, sticky chocolatey s'mores!  I consider myself a skilled s'more maker.  I believe the true secret to a perfect s'more is melting the chocolate along with the marshmallow.  I patiently melt my chocolate and slow roast my marshmallow to sticky perfection.  However, it is a bit precarious to balance the chocolate squares near a hot fire, avoiding bugs and flames! So a solution was born... 
Four Steps to the Perfect S'more!

1.  Using a skewer, spear the center of a marshmallow.  Do not poke all the way through, but carve out a little pocket inside of the marshmallow.  Now nestle a chocolate square deep inside the marshmallow.
2.  Roast up that marshmallow!  Spear the marshmallow so that the chocolate won't drip out as you are roasting!  These hungry boys want every drop of melted chocolate!  
3.  Once that 'mallow is perfectly roasted, center on a graham cracker foundation.  Squeeze between another graham cracker and watch the chocolate ooze!
4.  DIG IN!
{Sticky fingers and messy faces are 100% acceptable!}
**The perfect s'more is the perfect addition to an evening of homemade fireworks!**
ENJOY!
PS To enjoy s'mores year round, check out my recipe for indoor Golden Graham S'mores.
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