Fabric Necklace Making

Last week was our spring break. It was pretty low key since Ellie had 3 teeth pulled on that Monday. She faired brilliantly, but I had great fear of her getting dry socket so we played it safe with movie watching, board games, and a craft or two. I have been wanting to make the fabric necklaces that I saw in a Martha Stewart magazine forever ago and well we finally did it. I no longer had the directions so we pretty much winged it.

Ellie and I raided my stash of fabrics and picked our favorites.

We then cut them into wide strips. I was not precise in any way.

We then wrapped the fabric around wooden balls and knotted at each end of the ball to keep it tight. Ellie used 3 balls in her's while I used 2 in mine.

At that point we knew it needed something extra so we took the ends cut them into 3 equal-ish strips and she braided away. We knotted both ends together so it could just slip over her head.

She was so proud of the end result and we are eager to make some for gifts! I recommend using lighter weight fabric. The fabric I used was rather stiff and made it hard to handle. Next we plan on trying a jersey fabric. Maybe even cut up a t-shirt to test it out first. 

Hence why lighter weight fabric may be best for a necklace. It never did lay right. I then tried it as a bracelet and I rather liked the look.

Is she just not the sweetest? Love her.

*wooden balls

Growing {kids clothes}

Ellie and KJ both have shot up in the last couple of months. Most of Ellie's skirts, shorts, and dresses became deemed inappropriate. KJ was sporting high water pants if not his school uniform pants everyday and his button down tops had to be rolled up to distract how short they were on the arms. We buy them things here and there if it's a good sale, but this time we really had to go all out for both. I ended up bringing them to the local outlet mall and hit all the usual like J.Crew and Gap, but this time I popped into Oshkosh which is a brand of Carter's apparently and was pleasantly surprised. They had the cutest selections and fit my children well. The shoes were a no-go for Ellie, her feet are the most narrow, but she sure did try to convince me that she didn't mind if they fall off. HA. They are having a huge sale and we scored big time. I took them on separate days because they also have in store reward bucks that activate the very next day. So happy we stopped in!

Front Porch Living

My front porch has remained unchanged the last 6 years we have lived here. It's not bad, but it is all just leftovers from our previous house. I think an upgrade would be fun! I built two boards one more modern and bright and the other more traditional and rustic. I really like both. Which would you choose?

fun chairs | bar cart used as plant stand | two planters by front door | bleached wood door {similar} | door mat

wood rockers | planters | just repaint front door {similar} | bar cart used as plant stand | outdoor rug in place of mat | outdoor pillows

Ellie voted for board 1 and KJ voted board 2! KJ actually let out a eww with the colorful chairs and Ellie said they are the most beautiful. HAHAHA!