Save our Librarian!!

My daughter's school has been hit by massive budget cuts. Our PTA is full-court-press on any opportunity that could help save our Librarian, so please help out and vote for our school!

http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/601981?refer=14860.02.1253409040.970170

It only takes a minute and the result will last a lifetime!

Get the Most out of your Bows

Here are some suggestions on how to get the most out of your bows. Save money and have fun with it.

The POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

Do you have all those baby bows left that your girl has outgrown? Well you can still use them. Make your own layered interchangable bows and save the money.
Bows need to be on partially lined aligator clips and flat centers.

Also this is how to care for your bows.
I use sta-flo starch (can be found in the laundry ilse) and water to keep my bows from getting floppy. Mixed 1/2 and 1/2 and put in a spray bottle. Spray and let dry. Do this as often as it is needed.

Go to www.my2redheadsbowtique.com for more bows.

Getting control of your child's art work...

I love my daughter's art and naturally, I think she's very talented. Over the years we have collected quite a bit of her work, many of it is displayed on our kitchen walls, and much more is stored under our beds. That said, I have to admit that I have become overwhelmed by the shear volume of her art as of late. So I finally figured out how to fully enjoy it all without being depressed about it being stuck under the bed. Here's what I did - I scanned in several of my favorites and made them into an animated grahic. That graphic is now the background on my computer screen. If we had one of those digital photo frames, I could also put it there. Certainly now the grandparents will get a copy of these for their frames.

So guess what? I'm now offering this as a service! Bring out your collections of art and let me produce your own animated graphics. I will give you 1) a scanned copy of each piece of art; 2) a completed animated graphic in two sizes; and 3) all of your artwork will be returned, unharmed. Prices start at $50, so email me with your phone number if you'd like more information. CraftyMomsArt@mcpink.com

Make Your Own Decorative Flip Flops

Have you seen those really cute flip flops with bows on them and didn't want to pay and arm and a leg for them or weren't sure what size to order to make sure they fit? Here is the answer. If you have the flip flops, you can make them yourself with our easy to follow instructions. Follow these simple instructions on how to attach bows, korkers, and many other hair accessories to flip flops yourself. You will find two sets of instructions here. The first is how to permanently attach bows to flip flops and the other is how to make your flip flops interchangeable so that you can use any bow with an alligator clip on them. And if you need the bows come check out our specials at www.mibelloboutique.com.


HOW TO MAKE FLIP FLOPS WITH BOWS ATTACHED PERMANENTLY

Supplies needed:

Flip Flops
Hair bow or other hair accessory
Clothes Pins
E-6000 Glue (Which can be found at Walmart or any craft store, You can use hot glue but E-6000 will hold better)

First take your bow, korker or whatever hair accessory you are using and flip it over to the back. You need to either remove the clip on the bow or order bows without clips.
This is what the back of the bow will look like without a clip on it

Next, Take the E-6000 and put some on the center of the strap on the flip flop and on the back of the center of the bow.

Allow the E-6000 to sit for a couple of minutes on the flip flop and the bow before placing the bow on the flip flop to allow the E-6000 to have time to cure.

Next, Place the bow on the flip flop and secure in place with a clamp or clothes pins. Be careful if the bow has embellishments on it so that you do not accidentally break them off.


Allow this to sit for at least 12 hours, however 24 hour is best if using E-6000. You can remove the clamp or clothes pin after several hours and after you check to make sure that the bow is not going to move.


And you are done! You have made yourself an adorable new shoe!

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HOW TO MAKE INTERCHANGEABLE FLIP FLOPS

Supplies needed:

Flip Flops
Hair bow or other hair accessory
Clothes Pins
E-6000 Glue (Which can be found at Walmart or any craft store, You can use hot glue but E-6000 will hold better)

2 pieces of 3/8 inch ribbon cut approximately 2.75-3 inches
Woodburning tool or lighter

First you need to cut your ribbon the correct lengths. This will vary according to the size of the flip flop, brand and style. You will be criss crossing the ribbons across the strap of the flip flop and will need some access to glue the ribbon to the strap. You can leave more ribbon on the underneath side of the strap than the top because this ribbon will not show. If you leave too much excess on top, it will show around your bow.

Once you figure out the length of your ribbon, you need to seal the ends of the ribbon so that they do not unravel. You can do this by lightly touching the ends of the ribbon to a woodburning tool or burning with a lighter. If you do not have a woodburning tool or lighter, you can very lightly touch the end of the ribbon to a burner on a stove. You only want to do the very ends so be careful.

Next take one piece of your ribbon and your flip flop. Place E-6000 on the end of your ribbon that will go on the bottom side of the strap and place E-6000 on the bottom side of the strap. Do not cover the entire length of your ribbon with E-6000, just the part that will be on the underneath part of the strap.

Once you get the E-6000 on the ribbon and the strap, allow it to sit for a couple of minutes to cure before placing the ribbon on the strap. Place the ribbon onto the flip flop strap and clamp with a clothes pin. Next put E-6000 on the other end of the ribbon and the top of the strap. Do not put any E-6000 in the center of the strap where the clip will go or on that part of the ribbon.

Allow that E-6000 to sit for a couple of minute to cure and then place the ribbon on the flip flop. Pull the ribbon tight so that there are no gaps and make sure it is tightly up against the strap. This will help to hold the clip in place when you put a bow on the flip flop. Clamp this with a clothes pin while you move to the other side.



Now do the exact same thing to the other strap and ribbon. Be careful to leave the center where the two pieces of ribbon make an X glue free. Clamp this with clothes pins and leave for 10-12 hours. E-6000 takes 24 hours to completely set but after 10-12 hours the clothes pins can be removed.


When you remove the clothespins, your flip flop should look like this.



And you have made yourself an interchangeable flip flop!
Now all you need to do is attach a bow or other hair accessory.

Slide the clip under both ribbons right in the middle where they form an X.



And now you have an adorable new shoe!!

The possibilities are endless as to what you can put on flip flops.
With the interchangeable flip flops, the bows can be worn on the flip flops or in the hair.
You can buy matching bows for your little one's hair and flip flops to coordinate.

TIPS:

- Remember that if ordering bows or other accessories for the interchangeable flip flops you need to have alligator clips placed on them

- If ordering bows to attach permanently to flip flops, then you need to state at checkout in the comment section which bows you would like with no clips on them

- Medium to larger bows, korkers, puffs, pompoms bows and loopy flowers are just some of the things you can put on flip flips

- Take into consideration the size of the flip flop and the size of the accessory when choosing an accessory.

- Have fun and be creative! These flip flops are adorable on little princesses but great for moms too.

- Don't forget to buy matching bows for her hair too!

www.mibelloboutique.com
Handmade accessories for all ages...
from your little princess to your drama queen

Green eggs and ham!

I enjoy doing thing in new ways, so today, I decided to peel my avocado like I would peel an orange. Then I was able to get nice round slices - something different for your morning eggs. :)

Dr. Seuss on the loose!!

Quick idea! Take an old shirt, grab a picture book - scan your favorite pic and iron it on!

In all of my planning, I forgot to find a Dr. Seuss shirt for my dd, so in the eleventh hour (literally, lol), I pulled out some library books, flipped through until I found a good picture, and scanned it. Then, I rummaged through the t-shirt drawer, found an all cotton blank shirt that we'd been using for layering, and ironed the pic on. The key is to keep the iron on transfer sheets handy (you can get them at your local office supply store), and to follow the directions carefully. The most important part of the ironing is to apply as much pressure as you can with a DRY iron. Iron on the floor, unless it's carpeted - then you should use a low table so you can apply all of your upper body strength.

The shirt is from Old Navy, the skirt is H&M - given to us from a friend.

Good luck, and forward me pics of your projects!

Kaleidoscope birthday invitations!

If you were paying attention and ordered the kaleidoscopes from the earlier note, you can make your own just like these! We found cute cupcake wrapping paper at Target to wrap each Kaleidoscope with. Then print the invitation, punch a hole in the top, and wrap the kaleidoscope with coordinating ribbon. Voila - super fancy, not to pricey invitations that didn't take all day! The kids will love them, and the actual invitation comes off for the parents to tie up somewhere so they can see all of the details.