You've Got Valentine's Mail

Need a last-minute Valentine's Day gift for your sweetheart?  How about some mail?

I made these for my hubby for Christmas, but they make great Valentine's Day, birthday, anniversary, Father's Day, or just anytime presents!

All you need is twelve envelopes, some paper, a pen/marker, and imagination!  For each envelope (and month of the year), you come up with a date idea.  Write it down, and slip it in the envelope.  Label each envelope with the appropriate month, and any preparations you may need to take care of before Date Night.  That way, the date plans can be kept a surprise until the it's time!

For example, for our February Date, we'll be making fresh pasta and watching a romantic movie.  That means we need a babysitter for dinnertime.  

Other instructions could be, "Saturday Date" for an afternoon hiking trip, or "Buy Tickets and get babysitter" if you're going to a baseball game.  

The best part about this Valentine's Mail, besides that you'll be spending lots of time with your sweetie, is that you can customize the dates to be exactly right for you and your significant other.

If you'd like some simple date ideas, click over to see my Year of {Cheap, Fun, Simple} Date Nights. These are mostly at-home (no babysitter needed!) date ideas.

What are some great date ideas you've tried?  I'd love to hear them!

"Joy to the World" Jar {with Free Printable} by Megan from One Willis Family

It's almost Christmas; are you so excited?  We have family coming to visit in just a few more days, so we're really excited about that.  And the Christmas lights, choir programs, cookie making—it's a great time of year.

And we're almost done with the "Sew a Song of Christmas" series.  Today's project is by Megan, who blogs over at One Willis Family. She designs a lot of printables, some free, some for sale at her Etsy shop.  She also has tons of free digital scrapbooking paper packs—I love this black and white pack!  I'm very happy to have Megan sharing with us today.

~~~

My choice of song for “Sew a song of Christmas” was Joy to the world:

If you remember all the lines, they are as follows:

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world! the Savior reigns
Let their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

No more let sin and sorrow grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make
His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love
And wonders and wonders of his love

How can one possibly capture the majesty of this song or really understand quite how joyful it is that our Lord has come. Each Christmas my family and I try to really celebrate the meaning of the season. We try to remember our savior’s birth, and life, and mission here on the earth. Although this can be difficult at times with the excitement over the presents there are little things we do each year to remind ourselves of Christ’s life. We read Christmas stories and I usually cry…of course, we read the nativity story in the scriptures; we give gifts, and the like. 

This year we have really been brainstorming how to gain more insight into the meaning and importance of our savior. 

Here is just one little thing we’ve done.

“Let Every Heart Prepare him Room” Jar

This is super easy to make. Just print out the jar wrap, cut around the edges, and tape it on.

Then you’ll want to make the paper curls. This is pretty easy too. You all know how to curl ribbon when wrapping a present so you’ll just that with the paper.

First take a strip of wrapping paper and fold hamburger style…then fold once more hotdog style. Then you’ll cut the edge off. 

Second you’ll want to cut strips. After you have a few strips you can curl it with the scissors. (The paper is more likely to tear so I go pretty slowly)

After you have the papers curled there are two ways you can “prepare room in your heart”

Prepare Him Room Option 1

Think of things you can do this Christmas season that would help you be more open to the savoir and more likely to receive him.  You will write different ways to do so and put them in the jar. Then each day you will draw one out and either do the activity or prepare everything and set the date in which you will do it. (For example for things such as caroling you might need to plan things in advance to actually do it.)

Some examples might include:

Service Ideas (When I serve others I feel closer to my Savoir): 

Take treats to neighbors and friends

 Write personalized Christmas cards with your testimony in them, 

Visit the elderly or sick, 

Seek out opportunities to serve as they come, 

Saying a kind word to a spouse, 

Call up someone you haven’t talked to in a while,

Organize or participate in a caroling group

Pondering (Pondering the savoir is a great way to help my spirit feel closer to him)

Read and study the birth of Christ: Luke 2:1-20, Look at Cross references

Read Christmas stories

What some of the movies about Christ’s birth: http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-nativity?cid=HPFR121313253&im=true&lang=eng

Write down all the blessing you have received in the last month. Think of ways you can bless the lives of others.

Start a spiritual journal where you write down impressions and promptings or your goals to come closer to the savoir. Keep writing in it.

Any other ideas or things you think would be beneficial to you and your family.

“Prepare him Room” Jar Option 2

In this option you won’t write on the curls until after you do something that brings you closer to the savior. You can watch yourself or if you are doing this as a family and you notice someone else doing something good and kind. When you see someone o yourself do something that opens their heart you write it down and put it in the jar. Then at a determined time such as Christmas eve or Christmas afternoon you pull out the jar and read everything.

It’s fun to watch the jar fill up and it helps us keep our focus on Jesus Christ.

Hope you enjoy

Megan 

 Onewillisfamily.blogspot.com

~~~

Thanks, Megan!  That's a great idea; I think we'll be adding that to our family Christmas traditions.

Only two more posts in our Sew a Song of Christmas series!  Here's what we've done so far:
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath
"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments
"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt
"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts
"Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Ornaments

"Let It Snow" Mitten Ornaments

"Away in a Manger" Nativity Set

"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt Tutorial from Al of Shaffer Sisters

Today, the wonderful Al is sharing with us her mini quilt inspired by the song, "What Child is This?"

She and her sisters, Jo and Scary (aka SarahLynn), have some great projects at their blog, Shaffer Sisters.  One of their projects I'm excited to try is the Minky Crib Sheet.  (How amazingly comfortable does that sound?!)  And they do a lot of sewing for girls (I love this cute dress) and for boys (like this awesome shirt).  You should definitely go check out their blog!

But first, the "What Child is This?" mini quilt.  On to you, Al.

~~~

This was taken at a church Christmas party when Ty was 18 months old.

I love Christmas. I treasure the peace, hope, and love that I feel when I think about the true meaning of the season. Too often it seems like the Christ in Christmas is lost to bright flashing lights and an excessive focus on Santa and the entitlement of gifts.

Christmas Towel Tutorial & Free Printable

I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and this season (as with years past) it is my goal to give something that keeps the focus on my Redeemer. The King of Kings was born into the most humble of circumstances, but that didn't make Him less. His birth was marked by the fanfare of angels, the brightest star in the sky, and the company of humble shepherds and faithful Wise-men from afar. From a young, pure, and loving mother He was born. I'm sure that Mary, just like all new mothers, felt an overwhelming love of this gift straight from heaven, but also an uncertainty that she could be the best for of someone so precious and perfect.

This story is portrayed in the hymn of "What Child is This?"  It is one of my favorite Christmas songs. One day while thrift store shopping I found "Quilt a Colorful Christmas" (contains 39 projects) and it cost only $2. You should probably know that I love quilts so getting it was a no brainer. One of my favorites from the book was the Mother and Child project which I decided to share with you today.

This was such a fast and easy project. I thought it would entail paper piecing or something a little more complicated, but it was simply just fabric, sew-able heat-n-bond (they recommended fusible web, but I had to make due with what I had), stitching on top of the applique, and then putting it all together.

Sadly I can't give this pattern to you since it's not my design, but you can do something similar to this by just sketching it out. Then add 1/8-1/4" (on your sketch with a dotted line) to the pieces that lay underneath the pieces on top (so you don't have any unwanted dead space, but you will be able to trace out your pattern next). Then you can go through and trace out each little pattern pieces onto printer paper. And wala you have your own pattern.

Since I don't want you to miss out if you want to do something like this and feel like you lack the artistic ability necessary, I came up with my own design using the instructions above. I am sharing the pattern with you and tomorrow you can come over to my blog and see the finished project and share yours if you decided to make one as well.

What Child is This Placement Guide & Pattern Pieces (print to be 8.5" x 11" size)

You will need:
Pattern pieces
Scraps of 6 different colors (plan appropriately and make sure there's enough)
(1) blue background fabric 8" x 6 3/4"
(2) 3 3/4" x 6 3/4" for top and bottom border
(2) 3 3/4" X 13 1/2" for side borders
(2) 2 1/4" x width of fabric for binding (piece together to have one long strip)
(1) 12 1/2" x 13.5" piece of quilt batting
*When sewing use 1/4" seam allowance.

After printing or designing your pattern pieces place then fusible webbing or sew-able heat-n-bond above the pattern (paper side up) making sure you trace all the pattern pieces. After that it's just a matter of cutting out the adhesive pattern pieces and ironing them to your scraps of fabric, cutting them out of the scraps and removing the backing paper.

To put it together you can look at your original picture for a placement guide and place it on the blue background. Don't iron until you are absolutely ready. When I did it, I just did a little at a time (starting at the bottom and making my way up) because I wanted to be able to adjust if it shifted. Once it's all ironed you can stitch around the edge of the applique with a small zigzag stitch in a clear or neutral thread so that the design will stay.

After that it's a matter of adding the border (top and bottom first then sides) and putting it all together like a mini quilt. There's a little extra length on the side pieces (1/4") that you can trim down and square off when you are done. All that will be left is to quilt (what design/method you choose) and bind. If you don't know how to do binding you could read this tutorial on binding.

Thanks so much for letting me share my love for the Lord this Christmas season.

With Love,
Al

~~~

Be sure to check out the other posts as we Sew a Song of Christmas!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath

"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments

How to Add Social Media Icons to Your Blog

I'm working on redesigning my blog, and one of the things I wanted to add was social media icons.  It's pretty easy; want to learn how to do it?

First, of course, you need to get/make your icons.  You can get free icons in various styles, in several file types, for more social media sites than I've ever heard of here.  That's where I got mine.

This is the Facebook icon I chose.  But I didn't want it to be black, so I pulled the png file into Photoshop.  

 I just locked the transparent pixels, pick my color, and (on a Mac) hit SHIFT+F5 to fill the unlocked pixels with the new color.

And now I have my own customized Facebook icon.

Then you just follow the same steps as in this tutorial for adding customized navigation tabs.

If you want to have an e-mail icon, the code goes like this:  

<a href="mailto:your-e-mail@whatever.com" mce_href="mailto:your-e-mail@whatever.com/"><img src="the url where the image is hosted aka Direct Link on photobucket" mce_src="the url where the image is hosted aka Direct Link on photobucket" border="0" /></a>

Just change the red text to your information.

If you are adding multiple icons, you can put a couple spaces (not line breaks, just spaces) between the code blocks to make them not butt up against each other.

Social media icons:  check!

Now on to the next blog-improvement project...

(This post just needed a Pin-able image, so now it has one.)

"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" Subway Art

I really like all the subway art I see as I stalk Pinterest.  (Who doesn't?  Love subway art, I mean, but who doesn't love stalking Pinterest, too?)  So I thought I'd give creating subway art a try.  I'm very much not a graphic designer, but here's what I came up with.

What do you think?  I think the first version is easier to read, but the second is more fun and happy.

If you like them, I hope you'll leave a comment.  And feel free to download either image and print it out.

A Year of {Cheap, Fun, Simple} Date Nights

But first, a small announcement. I've decided I want to spend more time on the arts side of my creative pursuits, so I'll need to spend less time on my crafting and blogging. I LOVE painting (watercolors in particular) but it's really sad how few paintings I've done since graduating. It's so sad, I won't even tell you how many. Okay, I will--one. That's really sad.  (It was this painting, by the way.)


I also love my blog, though, so I will keep posting. And I don't think it's possible for me to stop crafting. So you'll still see me, just less often. I'm thinking once a week, probably on Wednesdays, though this week's post is (obviously) today, because I've been saving this project for Valentine's Day!


So without further ado:

A Year of Date Nights

It can be hard to come up with something fun to do each week! Mr. MadeIt and I were falling back on the same couple of activities, but we used to do all kinds of things--we just had to remember what. So I made a list. I wanted to have a different activity for every week of the year, so I also checked out other people's suggestions (links at the bottom of this post), and I had it--a whole year's worth of Date Nights. I printed the date ideas onto index cards and we were set.

{Disclaimer: These dates are intended to be done with a spouse, i.e. they are not all appropriate for unmarried people. So don't be shocked when you see Strip Poker.}

At Home

It is expensive to hire a babysitter every week!  Here are lots of ideas for fun date nights you can have without any hired help.

1--Dinner in the backyard, or on the porch

2--Watch a movie

3--Redbox + popcorn

4--Order pizza

5--Theme Night:  Dress, eat dinner, and watch a movie with the same theme (Ex:  Western--cowboy/girl outfits, BBQ, John Wayne movie)

6--Indoor picnic

7--Special dessert

8--Get all dressed up, but stay home

9--Very exclusive dance

10--Grand Night at the {Your Name} Theater--don't forget the formal invitation and fancy clothes!

11--Sexy clothes (pick another card for the activity)

12--Read a book (We like to read together and always have some book we're in the middle of.)

13--Candlelit dinner

14--Make a CD of playlist for the night's background music

15--Splurge on yummy treats

16--Back rubs

17--Share your favorite dating memories

18--Candles everywhere!

19--Exercise together

20--Try a new recipe

21--Go to bed early ;)

22--Play the Wii together (or whatever gaming system you have)

23--Watch a sports movie and eat stadium food (nachos, hotdogs...)

24--Hawaii vacation--tropical drinks, swimming suits, and kiddie pool

25--Breakfast for dinner

26--Board games

27--Card games

28--Super ice cream treats

29--Make s'mores/dinner outside

30--Grand Change Escapade--Gather up all your loose change and try to spend as much of it as you can without going over.

31--Indoor camping

32--Bubble bath for two

33--Make some silly craft together

34--Finger-painting

35--Work on a project together

36--Play 20 Questions--Write down twenty getting-to-know-you questions you never thought to ask before

37--Find a "how to" video at the library and learn a new skill  (I'm hoping we find one about dancing!)

38--Teach each other a new skill  (I want Mr. MadeIt to teach me how to play guitar.)

39--Get a movie from the library
40--Make Bucket Lists
41--Strip-poker, etc (any card game works)

Free and Cheap Going Out
Sometimes, you've just got to get out of the house.  But going out can be inexpensive, too!

42--Take dinner to the park (Love this one.)
43--Take pictures
44--Go on a walk
45--Go mall-walking/window shopping (Great for cold/wet/unpleasant days)
46--Go play at the playground
47--Go bowling
47--Go to an art show, museum community play...
49--Go hiking
50--Stargazing
51--Night swimming (if you have a local pool that's open at night)
52--Mini-Golf

Special Occasions
We're all for the $10 and under dates, but sometimes you just want to do something special.

53--Go to a nice restaurant
54--Outdoor camping, or any other overnight date
(Yeah, that's all I've got.  Free-and-cheap really is the way we roll around here.)

For the Holidays
I don't imagine this needs any explanation.  :)

55--Birthdays--Birthday boy/girl gets to choose everything!
56--Christmas--Make Christmas cookies
57--Christmas--Make Christmas tree ornaments
58--Valentine's Day--Make an all-red dinner
59--Valentine's Day--Make Valentine's cards for each other.  (The cheesier, the better!)
60--Halloween--Make your costumes

I'd love to hear your suggestions for date nights!  Please share!

Ideas from:
Things we've done before
Friends and family

http://www.themomcrowd.com/30-ideas-for-a-date-night-at-home

http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/relationship-issues/cheap-date-ideas

http://www.niftydateideas.com/

Thanksgiving Puzzle Blocks (Free Printable!)

{Looking for the flower clip giveaway?  Click here.  Remember, it ends Friday!}
{This giveaway is now closed.}

Thanks to my cousin who came up with this idea!  She wanted to make Thanksgiving Puzzle Blocks, like the Pumpkin Puzzle Blocks I did for Halloween.

Just print, cut, and decoupage onto nine 2" x 2" wood blocks.

No, I didn't forget to upload a picture.  The sixth side is for a family portrait!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

And happy crafting!

"Forget Not" Printable

Every year, the women of my church have the opportunity to attend a special meeting specifically for us.  It is always a wonderful experience, and this year, my favorite talk was by President Uchtdorf.  He talked about the little forget-me-not flower and how the five petals can remind us of five things we need to "forget not."  (I don't think the full text of the talk is online yet, but here's another summary.)

First, "Forget not to be patient with yourself."  We tend to compare our weaknesses with other's strengths.  (I know I do.)  But no one (except Christ) is perfect, and that's okay.  As long as we are trying to become better, we're doing alright.

Second, "Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice."  Some things are worth sacrificing for, and some are not.  Are we spending our time and effort on worthwhile things?  I think that is an important thing to remember; we can't do everything, so we must choose what is most important and just not worry about the rest.

Third, "Forget not to be happy now."  Sometimes we think, I will be happy...when I've graduated...when I get my dream job...when my baby is sleeping through the night...  (Ah, the joys of a full night's sleep.)  But we need to remember (to "forget not") to be happy even before these things happen.  President Uchtdorf said, "The lesson here is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us."

Fourth, "Forget not the 'why' of the gospel."  We are busy.  That's a fact.  It is hard to get done all the things we need to do.  But the gospel is intended to make us happy, not stressed; if we remember why we're doing the things the Lord asks of us, we will be happier.

And fifth, "Forget not that the Lord loves you."  Always, always remember that.

And now for the printables, to help you "Forget Not."

(11" x 14")

(8.5" x 11")

(Right click-->Save Image to Downloads or some such command)

I hope you like them.

Happy crafting.

Upcycled Vase (Because My Husband Is So Sweet!)

When Mr. MadeIt picked me up for our first date, he brought me a bouquet of orange gerbera daisies.  Since then (because of that), these happy daisies have become my favorite flower.  And one day, Mr. MadeIt came home with another bouquet for me.  No reason.  Just because.  (Insert starry eyes and floating hearts.)

Unfortunately, our one-and-only vase recently broke.  What to do...?

Enter empty Sam's Club applesauce can.  It was even already washed out and de-labled.  (You never know when you might need a super-sized tin can, apparently.)  All I had to do was tie a scrap of cloth (a ribbon would also work, or even raffia, or twine...) around it, and the problem was solved.

I really love the shiny cleanness of the metal.  And the texture from the ridges.  And the fact that it was free--I'm not gonna lie.

And here's a close-up of one of the flowers.  I love taking pictures of flowers.

And speaking about flowers, does anyone have any idea what kind of flower this is?  Mr. MadeIt found it in our backyard.  (And so I had to take pictures of it, too!)  What a strange flower--strange in an intriguing kind of way.  I have no idea what it might be, but it sure is interesting...

Free Little Girl's Dress Pattern from JAME

I just found out about this free pattern from JAME, and I thought you might like to hear about it, too.  The pattern is for a cute bandana dress, and it fits little girls from preemie to 9 months and beyond.  I love free patterns, so I'll be trying it out!  At almost two years old, Boo's probably too big to fit it, but that's what nieces are for, right?

Happy sewing!

I love getting free stuff in the mail!

A while back, Homemaker on a Dime hosted a giveaway from WholePort.  It was really cool--I could pick from several options what crafting material I'd get for free.  All I have to do is "Like" them on Facebook, and when the material arrived, make something and post a picture of it on their Facebook page.  Free supplies and all I have to do is show off my project?  Deal.

Yesterday, it finally came!  Isn't it pretty?  It has a kind of shabby chic/vintage feel to it.

I wondered what color it was going to end up being; they called it "Vivid Pink Rose Lace Trim," but the picture on the website didn't match that description.  But no worries; if it was vivid pink, I'd make a dress for Boo.  If it was a more subtle color, I'd make something for myself.  

Looks like I win!  Now, what should I make?  I was thinking about making myself a maxi dress, like this one I saw at DownEast Basics, maybe as a swimsuit cover-up, maybe as a regular dress, and use the trim at the waist.  But I haven't decided yet.  I have about a yard and a half of the trim.

What would you make?


Update:  If YOU want to get free stuff, too, WholePort is still giving crafting supplies away, but the deadline is tomorrow at 11:59 EST.  Click here (quickly!) to join the fun!  

New Free Blog Backgrounds

Well, June is here, and that means it is officially SUMMER!  Okay, okay, I know summer doesn't "officially" begin until June 21, but really, JUNE is summer.  And I'm so excited about the new season that I made some fun summer-themed blog backgrounds for you.  I hope you like them.  If you download one, leave me a comment!  I'd love to visit your blog.  And of course, if you have any questions about using the backgrounds, leave a comment or e-mail me at jillmadeitblog(at)gmail(dot)com.

(Right click on the image you want to download, click "Save Image to Downloads" or similar options, and Save.)

By the way, all the backgrounds are repeating except the Bumblebee background.

Enjoy!

Ah, the season of picnics...and ants.

Getting ready for the Fourth of July!

For those of you who like the "distressed" look.

For my fellow quilters, or anyone who loves quilts.

What's not to love about watermelons?

Watermelons and picnics--does anything say "summer" more than that?

I call this one "Yellow Happiness." :)

For personal use only.

Diamonds Blog Backgrounds

Hi everyone!  Here are some new blog backgrounds for you.  I designed the pattern for my friend to use on her blog, and I'm sharing the results with all of you, too.  I have lots of color schemes available.  Which one do you like the best?

These backgrounds can be used for any non-commertial purpose.

I think that these backgrounds work best with the alignment set to Center Top, and the tiling set to Tile Vertically.  Right click on the background and save it to your computer.