{Bat Garland}

Oh my goodness!  I have been MIA!  So sorry!
I've been SO busy with church responsibilities, planning and getting ready a Halloween party this weekend {I'll post pics of all the fun food and decorations my friend, Brooke, and I have been working on} and I started working part-time {on top of the voice lessons that I teach}.  So, yeah, I've been busy!

Remember that I did a Blog Swap last week with Beth @ Through the Eyes of the Mrs?

I thought I'd re-post my thrifty Halloween project that I shared, just in case you missed it.  'Cuz I'm cool like that.

Now, you all know that I am all about thrifty decorating.  My husband is in school so I have to be thrifty.  But it helps me to be creative!

I was at Joanne's the other day and saw some glittery foam bats.  They were really cute and I knew I could do something with them.  And with a 40% off coupon, they were around $1.50.  Score!

I wanted a fun garland and decided the foam bats would be perfect!

I started out by punching holes in the ends of the wings with a paper hole punch:

I got some twine and strung it through the holes:

And then hung up my bat garland!

Isn't it cute?

You could even glue some red rhinestones on for the eyes to add some extra spookiness :)

I don't have a mantle since we live in an apartment so I usually hang my garlands on this mirror I have above my piano.

So simple, easy and thrifty!!!  That is my kind of project.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Decorating Solution!

A couple of months ago, I thought it would be SO cute to put some Candy Corn in a hurricane w/ a candle!  And I thought I was SO smart coming up with that idea . . . and about a week after I "came up" with the idea, I started seeing these Candy Corn/hurricanes pop up all over blogland and Pinterest.

Guess I wasn't as original as I thought!!!  Great minds think alike, right?  And there are lots of ladies out there with great minds :)

Anyways, so I made my little Candy Cane/Hurricane display, put a plain white candle in it and decided it needed a little more "oomph".

 {See?  So plain}

So here's what I did.

I took some twine.  I LOVE twine.

And I put a little dab of hot glue on the back of the candle and stuck the end of the twine to it:

Then I wrapped to my little hearts content!

And here's what I ended up with:

SO easy!!!  I put another little dab of glue to stick the other end of the twine to the candle.

I love it when that "oomph" that you need is so easy!

And I love the color that this super easy, super cheap Fall/Halloween decoration adds to my home.

This is the "before my Halloween decorations are out" photo:

And the "after my Halloween decorations are out" photo:

PS - like the Halloween printable?  You can get yours HERE!

PPS - new here?  I'd love it if you followed along!  Don't forget to say hi, though :)

Wanna see where I link up?

Check my sidebar! --->

Baby Banner

A few months ago, one of my friends had a baby so a few of us decided to throw her a baby shower!  

It's her third baby - who made up the rule that you only get a shower for your first baby???  I think we should celebrate the birth of each and every baby with a shower!

So, like I said, it was her third baby, but her first boy!!!  I was in charge of making a banner with his name on it.  The colors of the shower were blue, green and orange, so I coordinated the banner colors with the shower colors.  

I thought it turned out pretty cute!

 And, just for fun, a pic of the yummy food :)

(Don't mind the plate of food sitting there - haha!)

PS - Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!!

DIY Flag Shirts

  

Aren't these shirts so cute?

I totally stole this idea from Jen @ Tatertots & Jello!

I am not a seamstress.  Like, at all.

I like to pretend I can sew, but really I suck at it.  So when I find easy sewing projects like this, it makes me happy because I feel like I CAN sew!  Yahoo!

I decided to sew a few buttons on, just cuz I thought they would be cute :)

{On the 4th @ the local parade}

I know the 4th of July has already come and gone, but if you live in Utah, the 24th of July celebrations are next week - you have time to make them!  Or you can bookmark Jen's tutorial for next year.

I got the tank tops at Walmart for $2.50/each.  I also got the fabric at Walmart in the cheap fabric bins.  The buttons I had on hand.  So these shirts probably cost me right around $3.00 to make.  Not too shabby.

{I take what I can get as far as pics go with my 2-yr-old - she's always on the move!}

Head on over to TT&J to see how you can make your own!

Better late than never . . .

I wanted to share what I gave my hubby for Father's Day!

I know, I know, Father's Day was last week.

But, like the title of this post says, better late than never, right?

I'd seen this done before on other people's blogs (sorry, I don't have any specific blogs to give credit for this!  I've seen it done on a bunch of them) and thought it was SO CUTE!  I wanted to do it last year but ran out of time.  So this year, I was all over it, baby!

I was originally going to buy a wooden "D" and a wooden "A" but decided I was too cheap :)  So instead, I cut them out on my Cricut and hoped the girls wouldn't rip them during our photoshoot.  Luckily for me, no paper letters were harmed during the photoshoot.

These are the photos I picked of the girls:

Aren't my girls beautiful?

I might be a little biased . . . but they really are :)

And some shots of the finished product in my house:

I got the frame for $10 at Target and I printed the photos out at Walmart.  So this wonderful Father's Day gift cost less than $15! 

The most important thing was that my husband LoVeD it!  I might try to coordinate one for my dad next year with all the grand kids.

My girls love their daddy - and let me tell you, he is a GREAT dad.  I'm not just saying it.  It's really true.  My girls are lucky to have such a loving and devoted father.  We love you!!!

Hope you all have a happy 4th!  Bring on the BBQ!

Adorable Burlap Menu Board

How many of you make a menu each week?

Planning a menu at the beginning of each week has saved dinner time at our house.  Not only do I feel more organized at dinner time (I'm not scrambling to find something to feed my family every night), my grocery shopping has become much more efficient.  I know what I'm buying and I'm not just buying lots of random stuff.  Plus, a lot of the time, I can get away with going to the grocery store once a week!  Which is a miracle!  

Before I had my second child, I was going to the grocery store almost every day to get a few items here and there.  I just don't have time for that anymore.

I found this adorable menu board idea from Stephanie @ Under the Table and Dreaming.  

I cut out the "Menu" part with my cricut, got my frame at the thrift store (and spray-painted it) and got the burlap from my dad, who had just had some rugs delivered to him in burlap.  I got myself a dry-erase marker and was good to go.

Now at the beginning of each day, I look at my menu board to see what we are having for dinner.  I can thaw out my meat and do any prep I need in order to have dinner ready.  I don't even have to think about it.  That's what I like :)

This menu board is cute, thrifty (it cost me right around $4 or $5 with the frame and dry-erase marker) and practical.  I love it!

Wedding Tutu and Veil

I'm baaaaaaaack!

We had the BEST time in Disneyland!

Seriously, so much fun.  Why do I like it as much as my kids?

We already can't wait to go back!

So, I've got to get some posts going on this little blog of mine.

I decided I'm going to try and do at least one post a week.  If I want to do more, awesome.  If not, that's okay, too.  Just letting you know so you know what's going on over here at Loving Every Second!

On to our fun post today!

Last year, I decided to make my niece a wedding tutu for her birthday.  She was turning four and four-year-olds love to dress up!  Am I right?  I know I am 'cause I have a four-year-old :)

I used white tulle and tied it around an elastic band for the waist.  I'm sure you can google a tutorial if you don't already know how to make them.  

 I decided to add a little bit of glitz and tied silver ribbon on it, too.  Gives it a fun little touch, dontcha think?

What is a wedding tutu without a veil?

I had some white tulle left over and decided I could totally make a play veil.

I started with a french-clasp barrette.  That way the veil could clip right into the hair and stay in.  I tied some strips of tulle on it just like I did on the tutu.  You can tie as many as you want to make it as full as you want, just make sure you can close the clasp on the barrette.

I wanted to add a little bling, so I hot-glued some rhinestones on the barrette.  I wanted a little girly touch, too, so I also hot-glued some little white flowers I had.

I think they turned out SO CUTE!  I had my daughter try them on before we gave them to my niece and she loved them!

I also added some white gloves that I found at the dollar store for the gift - a wedding tutu, veil and gloves.  That girl is ready to get married!  Or at least pretend to get married, lots and lots of times :)

I had some white tulle on-hand, but I did end up buying a little more at the dollar store.  I had everything else on hand so this project cost me a dollar!  Yes!

Thrift Store Dessert Stand

Remember the plate and vase from my "Why I Love the Thrift Store" post?

Those are what make my Thrift Store Dessert Stand!

I've seen versions of these dessert stands all over blogland and I decided that I NEEDED one.  So off to the thrift store I went.  It actually took me a couple of times at the thrift store before I found what I wanted, but find it I did!

I was originally looking for a candlestick for the bottom, but when I saw this vase, I loved the texture on it and knew that I wanted to use it for the base of my dessert stand.

So I started with my glass plate and my vase:

I added a little spray paint to the outside of the vase and the underside of the plate.  I didn't spray paint the whole plate because I wanted to be able to see the details on the top.

After the paint dried, I glued the two together using some E6000.

Love that stuff.

I let it sit overnight to make sure the glue was set before I used it.

There was a little glue/paint reaction/incident.  Since I didn't paint the top of my plate, you can see what happened:

I'm not too worried about it because I figure food will be on top of it when I use it, covering the little reaction :)

Did any of you notice that this is what I used in my "Better Than Rice Krispy Treats" post?  I kinda snuck it in there.  Hee hee hee!

There you have it!  Your dessert stand is ready to display some yummiful desserts!  {Yeah, I just made that word up.  I do that a lot :) }

You can see the details on the plate in the pic below.  I would have lost those details if I would have painted the top.

I'm really happy with how my Thrift Store Dessert Stand turned out!

Plus it cost me about $1.75 to make.

Love. It.