Too Cute TuTu

My darling niece turned a big whopping year old on Saturday! I could go crazy with "where has the time gone?" and "she's growing up so fast", but I'll spare you the auntie insanity :) Instead, I'll choose to focus on how absolutely adorable she was at her little party!

My sister-in-law asked me a while back to work on an outfit for her to wear. After she chose a pink and brown theme for the party, I went to work creating a onesie and matching tutu for her big day. I'd been wanting to try my hand at a no-sew tutu for a while, after having tried the sew-able versions before. No-sew has to be easier, right? Well, you better believe it was easier! I wish I could say that I came up with this concept on my own, because it's so darn simple, but I must give the credit to the millions of hits on google.com when doing a search for "no sew tutu tuorial". I used this video as a tutorial, but there are tons more available. No, it's not my original idea, but I CAN offer this piece of advice. In the video, the lady suggests that you buy your tulle off the bolt. Well, Wal-Mart (and a variety of other stores) sell tulle by the spool in the wedding section. All you have to do is unroll a portion of the spool at a time and cut little strips. It's SOOO much easier than having to wrangle bolts of tulle.

This is a perfect craft for the upcoming Christmas season or for your birthday girl. And if you're going for a themed party, they're easy enough to make as favors for all the little guests. Your little sweethearts will love them...but don't take my word for it. Let the birthday girl speak for herself :)

(Shameless plug: These onesies are now available over at the improved Whatta Cute Baby! site. Mention Three Simple Girls when you order (through December 31, 2010) and you'll get free shipping on this item!)

-Sarai

Christmas Planning Binder

I know what you're thinking...She's one of THOSE crazies who thinks about and plans for Christmas all year long. And you'd be right! And you're probably also thinking Christmas was over a month ago! Let it rest for the next 11 months! And sorry, I can't! Go ahead and throw things at me if you wish, but I promise this post can make your life easier!

So, it's January and I'm already thinking about next Christmas. (I've even bought a couple of gifts already! Please don't hate me!) I know it sounds incredibly crazy. However, by planning for one of the craziest times of the year during one of the least crazy times of the year helps me to really focus on what I can do to make it as seamless as possible. During the first few weeks of the near year, I update my "Christmas Planning Binder", which is code for simple 1.5" notebook with dividers and is labeled appropriately.

You don't have to have a cute page in the front like I do, but I'm finding that the cuter I make things, the more likely I am to use them. So, thanks to some free digital scrapbook downloads and about 5 minutes of my time I have a nice little cover for my binder.


Inside, I keep all the Christmas planning/event supplies organized with labeled dividers.
In the Gift Ideas section, I keep tutorials for how to make homemade gifts and also magazine and catalog tear outs that contain items I might be interested in purchasing for a friend or family member.

In the Gift List section, I have a handy chart complete with the names of everyone that we purchase gifts for. This helps me to make note of ideas for that specific person, items already purchased and any type of budget for that person. This is just a simple chart I've made with the help of Microsoft Excel and can be done in a matter of minutes. Each year, I just print out a fresh copy.

The Cards S/R section contains a list of all the Christmas card recipients on out list. I have another handy Excel chart here to help me keep track of the cards we send and receive each year.

In the Addresses section, I have an address database containing all the names and addresses for the cards we send. In this section, I also keep a tutorial (thanks, Mom!) for how to properly complete the Mail Merge Action for Word/Excel so that I can print mailing labels to slap on the cards. This saves me TONS of time!

Under the Games tab I keep, you guessed it, games! I have copies of a couple of different Christmas themed games that I can use for parties or family gatherings. Games are a HUGE deal with our family at Christmas, so this section has proved to be helpful.

In the back of the notebook, I have several clear dividers to help keep something wrangled together. I have a divider for receipts that correspond with the items we purchase for gifts. I have a couple of dividers for Christmas letter stationery and mailing labels.
I also stash a little notebook paper in the back for note taking along with an ink pen.

I know this system won't work for everyone, but nearly every woman on my mom's side of the family has a binder like this and it's worked for us for years! So, take this time when Christmas isn't being jammed down our throats to thoughtfully plan and prepare for the most wonderful time of the year!

Do you already have a notebook of your own like this? How do you keep your Christmas plans and ideas organized? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

-Sarai

Christmas Collage

Attention all last minute shoppers, Attention all last minute shoppers... :)

I'm back!

My husband received a glorious gift to basically work from home today; this is HUGE in our world! So after the smallest babe was down for her nap, the oldest and I headed out to pick up a few last minute items.

Enter collage cuteness.


I don't know how many of you use this function, but it's a great way to capture bunches o' photos on the cheap. Add a meaningful title and you're good to go! We made one for each set of grandparents this year and for my brother who will be with us for Christmas. His is a personal congratulations, but the other two are like walks down memory lane for 2009.

Upload your photos to most any photo site and find the collage link. Follow the easy steps to arranging them. I prefer Wal-Mart because of the matte finish. Had I been able to plan ahead a bit more, I could have gotten the 5x7 collages for a mere 58 cents a print. I paid a little more and put them in some (hunted and hunted through) Dollar Store frames. With my one hour fee, these gifts come in at just barely three bucks a piece. The possibilities are endless!

As an aside, we used the same collage function for this year's Christmas cards. Four pictures for a total of nine cents per print. Don't forget all the after the holiday sales at your drugstores. Walgreens hooked us up last year with a boatload of cards (blank on the inside to write our annual letter). I think I got something in the ballpark of eighty for three dollars or less! I love to send real mail, but it can get so expensive in bulk; hunting like this can make it affordable. The mailbox is such a happy place this time of year!

Off to wrap some gifts and maybe even make some reindeer food now that the girls are in bed. I think that calls for some hot chocolate. Extra marshmallows, please!

Any last minute gifts you're wrapping up?

Until after Christmas!

~Katrina

Linky {Last Minute} Love

As my family gets ready to head out for some final touches today, I thought I'd share a few of the ways we're doing homemade within our walls. These projects come from the school of no sew, still thoughtful, and mostly not a lot of dough... basically you'll get an A+ in the subject of being last minute!

First up, since we decided to each receive three gifts just as Jesus did, one of them ended up being from sister to sister. Of course, we turned to our old friend the Hobby Lobby who cooperated nicely by having fleece on sale this past week. The girls picked out fabric for each other, I did a lot of cutting, and we sort of tied things all up together. Their favorite part was decorating each other's packages with markers and Christmas stickers. Since they both love blankets, I can't wait to see their faces in a few days! For complete instructions, lots more detailed than I even did, check 'em out here. (While you're at the Hob Lob, pick up a plain long sleeve tee with your 40% off coupon. Make Daddy an article of clothing that's sure to be an, ahem, custom design!)

Next are stocking stuffers for my extended family, but I think they would work just as well for gifts. Thanks to Big Huge Labs you can easily make covers for CD's of fun, inspirational music. I'm thinking personal black and white photos!

Lastly, some good friends of ours got my creative juices flowing when she e-mailed to ask for some help in writing a song for her husband. They have a ten dollar limit on Christmas this year, and I had a ball thinking up ideas. Here are just a few to get you going:

*Dessert of the Month Club (My husband's getting this one: basically each month he gets to choose one of twelve desserts I'll make for him.)
*A jar or bound index card file filled with things you love about a person, quotes, scripture, etc... one for each day, week, or month of the year
*A coupon book with fun things to redeem from the practical (clean a car, paint a room, etc.) to the romantic (back rubs, candlelit dinner, etc.) depending on the person of course
*Homemade bag of fun mix like trail mix with a promise to go on a hike, for example, if that's your thing or tropical chex mix for that person who just needs to "get away"
*All natural bubble bath (I'm totally making this either before or after Christmas for the girls' sensitive skin!) or sugar scrub

Sorry to throw it all into one post here, but my camera is still awaiting a major download and the big day is... yikes... less than a week away!

Have a creative weekend full of all things merry and bright!

~Katrina

Christmas Carnival Announcement

Yeah, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I had to give you guys the heads up on a giveaway extravaganza that will feature my at-home business, Whatta Cute Baby!. Gina, over at The Shabby Chic Cottage is hosting one heck of a party at her blog on Saturday, November 28th. It's her first ever Christmas Carnival and I am thrilled to be teaming up with her!


Here's the scoop: she's partnering with 24 owners of online shops and hosting a giveaway an hour for a whole day!! Anyone can enter...and you can enter for one giveaway or for them all! You're sure to find some awesome items up for grabs and can maybe even find a few Christmas gifts along the way! Whatta Cute Baby! will kick off the giveaways at midnight, so be sure to stop by to check it out and enter to win this. Even if you don't win, you can find a discount code on her post for a Whatta Cute Baby! purchase.

Hope to see you there! Happy Thanksgiving!

-Sarai

Fancy-fied Box

Here's another project for my (hopefully soon) office re-do! I'm getting rid of this HUGE desk and moving to a table. I'll be using a portable drawer system under the table for sroage, but needed to find something for those big bulky items (3 hole punch, tape dispenser, stapler, label maker, etc.) that were taking up too much space. I had organized my mom's office a few years ago and we stored all of those items in a nice basket on her desktop for easy access. I decided I'd try a similar approach. I've seen some really pretty boxes at the Hobby Lobby that would work perfectly, but since I don't live near a Hobby Lobby and didn't want to spend money on this, I had to improvise. Since I like the idea of having all those things tucked away in a box, I went shopping around the house and I found this...


Now, before you think that I've completely lost my mind (I know I'm pretty close most times!) stick with me for a few more minutes! I AM aware that that's a shoe box. I can also promise you that the theme of my new office will not be "Nike"!! I decided that this box could be exactly what I was looking for!

All it took was some glossy black craft paint, some scrap paper, a pretty image downloaded and printed on regular printer paper, Mod Podge and a fun little velvety "S" from my craft closet to turn that boring box into this...

It was simple and cheap (read: FREE!) and will be perfect for my desktop! And it's the perfect size for all those bulky office supplies. I've got my 3 hole punch, tape, stapler, label maker and some address labels ready for easy access!

This project got me thinking (scary, I know!), and this project could easily be modified for Christmas or Birthday gifts! So, don't throw out those shoe boxes! Paint 'em, Mod Podge 'em or decorate 'em for FREE!! That's a price I can live with!

-Sarai

Oh Baby!

My favorite part of party planning, other than being able to bless those I'm planning for, is the sheer joy that comes with turning normal everyday things into wonderful party decorations! We spent months planning a baby shower for my brother and his wife and put that plan into action! Here are some of the tips we used for decorating and gift making.

It all started with the invitation. We went with a pink, green and brown color scheme. I designed these invitations using good ol' Microsoft Publisher. It's amazing what a little inspiration from a great stationery website can do to get the creative juices flowing! I love the little scalloped edge near the top.

We knew we wanted to serve cupcakes, but didn't want to have to buy a cupcake stand. So, we got a little creative, once again. We took some cans of food, some microwave trays, a couple of plates and some scrapbook paper and went from this...

and this...

to this...

and this...

We made and decorated our own cupcakes and saved a boat load of cash! Just as cute and just as tasty!

Some yummy dips and fudge made by my step-mom and some pretty pink punch finished out the buffet.

Each table was set up with a small candy buffet as the centerpiece. We used random shaped and sized jars and containers, filled them with brown, pink and green candies and tied them up with coordinating ribbons and homemade description tags.

The shower was held in the church fellowship hall, so every little colorful detail helped distract from the drab wood paneling.

A simple piece of fabric and some tissue paper pom-poms helped to frame out the seating area for Mommy and Daddy.

This little sign acted as a centerpiece for their table.

Our original plan was to decorate these letters to hang on the wall at the shower.

But, there was nowhere to hang them, so they went straight to Regan's room to hang over her crib. Adorable!

I used some scrapbook paper and other craft supplies to decorate this plain Jane wipes box turning it from this...

to this...

It can be kept on Reagan's changing table and refilled. I've since made a couple more of these to match their kitchen and living room colors. If you're going to have to use the wipes, you might as well make it a little more fun, right?

They got tons of gifts,

including some super cute monogrammed bibs and onesies from Auntie Sarai,

and had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the arrival of baby Reagan!

And it's a good thing we didn't wait any later to host this shower, because Reagan made her debut 2 weeks early! She was born on October 23rd and is absolutely perfect!

Party planning doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg! Be creative and use what you've got!

-Sarai

Saddlin' Up a Gift

This weekend we have a cowboy party to attend though, in our case, we'll be bringing some cowgirls. Thanks to the party's theme and Brooke's chalkboard inspiration, we came up with a little gift that we hope will send the birthday boy off into the sunset.
When I can I like to make the "wrapping" part of the present. This red bucket from Target dollar spot and a blue handkerchief from Hobby Lobby helped us do just that. At about three-buckeroos, it's cheaper than most bags and tissue paper you could round up.
Inside the bucket we placed a baggie full of magnetic letters and two big pieces of sidewalk chalk, which are easier for small hands to grasp. A variety pack of Play-Doh and a baking tin finished it off.
Yep, a baking tin. This guy doubles as a chalkboard surface after an easy paint job. The back side is perfect for holding magnetic letters, especially with the lip.
We finished it off with some clip art and a message printed on white card stock. Fun scissors to cut it out, a hole punch, and a tiny bit of twine helped with the birthday wishes.

How about you? Any gift giving ideas or fun you've come up with lately?
~Katrina