Meet My Friend...Lois from Auntie LoLo Crafts

Hi! My name is Lois but you might know me by "Auntie Lolo". I started my blog Auntie Lolo Crafts about a year ago to post all the fun craft ideas I see on the web and projects I do as well. I am so excited to be guest posting for Wendy while she is gone! I just love her blog and always find the greatest ideas on it.

We always have at least 3 socks that don't end up having matches after doing the laundry. It drives my husband crazy. He was thrilled when I decided to make a "home" for these lost socks until they find their mate.

For this tutorial I am going to do something a little different, I am going to feature TIPS! along the way so that your project turns out better/easier than mine did. :)

First I started out with a little board I got at Hobby Lobby for a little over a $1.00, it's about 12 by 6 inches. (This was before I knew about Habitat for Humanity Stores where wood is 50 cents or less)

I thought at first I would paint it....

But then I thought it needed something else. Oh and please know the yellow wasn't that bright but I cannot figure out my camera settings to save my life, keep this in mind throughout all the other photos...

So I modge podged my favorite paper onto the board,

right over the paint. It's called Bo Bunny Double Dot Paper, Sunflower. You may not be able to see, but there are cute little dots on the paper.

How to Modge Podge:

1. Apply a medium amount of modge podge with a brush (i use those super cheap foam ones) to the board. Make sure that the board is COMPLETELY covered. But don't take so long that the modge podge starts to dry.
2. Put paper on top of modge podge. Use an old credit card or bone folder to smooth down all of the paper. You may have some modge podge come out on the sides, that's okay, just wipe down with a paper towel. Keep smoothing until there are no bubbles.
3. Let dry for approx. 10 minutes. Then you can put vinyl on top of the paper.
4. If you are going to "ink" the edges, this is the time to do so.
5. After applying the vinyl, put a very thin layer of modge podge on top of the vinyl
6. Let dry 15 minutes before handling again.

I "inked" my edges with Tim Holtz' brown ink. All you do is hold the ink pad at an angle and go along the sides of your sign. You will get a thin layer of brown on the edges. Depending on how you tilt the ink pad, you can get more or less ink around the edges. If you don't have an ink pad, you can use a brown marker!

I used the program SCAL and my Cricut to cut the brown vinyl. Click HERE if you would like to download my SCAL file to use for your own sign.

After modge podging, inking and putting the vinyl on the sign, I whipped out my hot glue gun to attach the clothespins.

TIP! Measure the distance between clothespins before you hot glue them so you don't end up with some being closer than others and being super annoyed.

While you have your hot glue gun out, use it to attach the picture hanger to the back of your piece of wood.

TIP! Do not use the little nails they give you on this thin of a board, they will go through the board.

(btw, this is the real coloring of the sign and my laundry room walls)

Your done! Now go collect your lost socks and give them a new home. They (and your husband) will be thrilled!

(see the difference in coloring? crazy camera!)
Thanks again Wendy for letting me guest post for you. I hope you will all stop by and say hi on Auntie Lolo Crafts and for all the latest craft ideas, feel free to follow me on facebook!

Lois!!! I need like 10 of these! Lost socks are a specialty at my house. Thanks for such a super fun and easy idea, those are my favorite kind of projects.

Happy Crafting!

Meet My Friend...Leigh Ann from This and That!!!

Hi! I'm Leigh Ann. I write a blog I call "This and That". It's about all the mommish things I do - sewing, recipes, kiddo boredom busters etc. Here's one of my favorite projects I recently did.

A friend gave me this Gap skirt but it was too short for my modesty. It was sitting in my Goodwill bin but I just couldn't get rid of it. Then my I found this XL shirt my dad had given me and decided to use the fabric to put a ruffle on the bottom!

I found a pattern for this flower here. I really think it ties together with the ruffle well!I measured the bottom of the front and back of the skirt x2 (you need to have double the fabric to ruffle it) and my desired length to figure out how much fabric I needed for the ruffle and then I cut that shirt to shreds!The finished product! Click on the picture to see it bigger. I just LOVE it! I've gotten so many comments on this skirt!

Such a great idea, I love ruffles on grown up girls too!

Leigh Ann is an amazing crafter and home schooling momma. She shares a ton of her lessons and projects on her blog.

In her words...

"My kids and I have had a lot of fun studying World Geography this past year.  Take a look at some of what we've done!"

India    Scandinavia    Greece

Thanks so much Leigh Ann!

Happy Crafting.

Meet My Friend...Heather from Belle's Bazaar!!!

Hello, you crafty folk out there! So excited to be posting today at Craft Goodies. This is my first ever guest post, as I just started my blog, Belle's Bazaar a few weeks ago. I love sewing, making old stuff new, and painting odds and ends, but my first loves are cooking, baking and reading. I love having an outlet for my attempts at creativity. With 3 kids at home (6,3,1), I might go a little crazy without something else to work on and accomplish throughout the day!! Enough about me, let's talk muffins!

Muffins, people, that's where it's at! Is it just me, or are there not many great cooking blogs with muffins? I find a few here and there, but it is hard to find a one stop shop for muffin recipes. Every Monday, we have muffins and smoothies at my house. It's my kids favorite dinner of the week. We usually have the same strawberry banana smoothie, but I do a different muffin every week. These are the king of muffins.....Brown sugar muffins!

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Picture courtesy of RedVanilla.com. You would think after how many times I have made these, I would have at least one picture....but I don't.

Disclaimer: I have a serious love of muffins. Don't ask me why! I love them though. I love that they are just the right size, that you can have so many kind, filled, coated, chocolate, healthy, mini, jumbo, you get the idea. They are just fun!

Brown Sugar Muffins: bring back so many great memories for me. My sisters, brother and I would stay home most Friday nights before we were "cool enough" to go out or not "cool enough" to go out and I was the appointed cook. The menu usually consisted of tuna casserole, peas, (my personal favorite) and brown sugar muffins. Everyone who has had these loves these!! They are yummy, they got me through my pregnancy with Hailey. They were the only thing that wouldn't make me sick. They are great at breakfast or with meals or with anything! The only thing I haven't tried to do with these, is freeze them....hmmmm? If you want to be really evil, you can dip them in butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture. Why not go all the way every once in awhile?!

Brown Sugar Muffins

½ c. melted butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 c. milk

¼ t. salt

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 t. soda

Mix, but just until blended. The trick with muffins is you don't want to overmix or they will be pointy on the top and not as soft. Spray muffin pan.

375 for 20 min.

Enjoy!! They are so great. I hope you will try them and let me know what you think. Any variations? Like it? Hate it? Let me know and maybe we'll see you next Monday, if you are a muffin lover!!

So I'm a total sucker for good food and even more good food with a story! Heather-I think you're completely cool, but glad you hung out at home to perfect these babies! Can't wait to try them.

Best of luck with the blog, I know I'll be checking in on you...

Happy Crafting.

Meet My Friend...Mariah from Giggles Galore & More!!!

Hi Craft Goodies fans!  I’m Mariah from Giggles Galore where I share my passion for sewing, celebrating holidays, crafts, parties and making memories with my kids. 

I am a busy mom to our sweet 4 year old and rambunctious 2 year old twins.  At times our house can be a little chaotic, but there are always giggles galore.

I am super excited to be guest posting today on Craft Goodies sharing one of my easy craft projects you can make for your kids.

When I was a little girl my dad made us wooden bug boxes to catch bugs.  I remember filling them with roly-poly's (pill bugs), ladybugs and caterpillars.  It was fun to create a home for the bugs with grass and twigs and watch them, especially on the rare occasion that the caterpillar lived long enough to transform into a butterfly!

The original box was made out of 1/2" cedar but I was trying to only use what I had on hand.  So I went to my scrap wood pile and found some 1/4" plywood that would work.

I made a template for the 3 pieces, which you can download here.

Use a jigsaw to cut out the curved pieces and a table saw to cut the flat bottom piece.

Take one piece and drill a hole in the top middle.  This will be your opening to put the creepy crawly things in.  My husband used a 1 1/2 size drill bit to drill the hole.

Next, attach the side pieces to the ends of the flat bottom piece with wood glue.  Staple the bottom for reinforcement.

My plywood wasn't very pretty so after the glue dried I let the kids pick out what color they wanted to paint their bug box.  I gave each box a few coats of spray paint.

So far, I've spent nothing on this project.  But I needed a screen to cover the box and went to one of my favorite places to shop, The Habitat Restore to look for something that would work.  I found an old window screen for $0.25, perfect!  I cut the screen out of the frame.

Measure the outside of the box and cut the screen to fit around the opening

The next step may required an extra set of hands.  I wanted to make sure the screen was pulled very tight so my husband helped me staple the screen to the outside edges of the box (ok, ok the truth is that darn staple gun was hard to do!)

Now you just need to add a door to your little bug home.  I used counter top samples that I got at Home Depot.  They are solid and already had a hole at the top (you don't want bugs escaping and crawling all around your house do you?)

Take a small screw and drill it into the wood to secure your door.

Every home needs a little decoration so I spruced up our bug boxes with stickers and embellishments I had on hand.

Now you have a pretty little home to collect insects.  You can collect anything from grasshoppers, centipedes and lady bugs to lightning bugs, butterflies, moths and more.

I hope you have fun creating your own bug box, I'd love to see what you create!  Thanks Wendy for having me and thank you for crafting with me today!  Be sure to stop by my blog or etsy shop and say hello!  I love meeting new friends!

SO much better than a glass canning jar!!! My girls will be hitting up their grandpa for a few of these! Thanks so much Mariah for a great and crazy-fun idea.

Meet My Friend...Ginger from Ginger Snap Crafts!!!

I'm a wife to one awesome guy
& mom to 5 wild & crazy kiddos.
I love to create things, blog, garden, decorate
& most of all be with my family.
I've been blogging for almost 4 years,
& I love keeping a journal of my family,




but I thought our family blog was getting a little overrun with all my craftiness.So, I decided it was time to part ways & start my very own craft blog,Ginger Snap Crafts. :)It's a place to share ideas I've found, &inspire you to create along with me.
 Today I'm going to show you how to make these {cute & easy} burp cloths.Just letting you know I don't sew!So if I can make these anyone can! 
I made these for my sister, & she just had another little girl.{So, I'm an aunt again! Wahoo!}

 All you'll need is some ribbon, thread, cloth diapers & a sewing machine.Lay out your cloth diaper and measure two ribbons a little longer than the diaper.You can always trim these later on. These will be sewn along each seam of your diaper.

Pin your ribbon down along the seams of your cloth diaper to hold it in place.Now to the fun part, you get to crank up your sewing machine!  You'll sew down one side, turn & then sew up the other side.Trim your ribbon if you need to.There you go!  All done!{How easy is that?}  You can fold them up & stack them on top of each other.I used some extra ribbon to tie a bow around them.Added a cute tag & that was it!  A {cute & easy} baby shower gift that you know will be used a bunch!
  I'd love, love, love to have you stop by Ginger Snap Crafts. Each week I have a super fun link party called{wow me} wednesday. Love to have you link up your fun projects & ideas.
 You can also check out my blog for some more {cute & easy} projects. Like these fun{teacher appreciation gifts}

or here's another easy sewing project

{lap top cover}

or check out our bathroom rules

{bathroom rules sign}!

 Thank you, Wendyfor letting me drop by!{Hope you are having a fabulous vacation!} Don't forget to check out me at Ginger Snap Crafts. {Hope to see you soon!} 

Thanks so much Ginger!
I needed this fun tutorial-I just found out I'm going to be an aunt again too!

SO excited, you can bet my little sis will be needing a bunch of these.

Thanks so much Ginger, be sure to stop by and tell her hi!
I'm so checking out that Bathroom Rules board...
Happy Crafting!