Valentine's Day inspiration...

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Last minute gifts....

Are you scrambling to finish or find last minute gifts?
Here are a few places I love that have some really great ideas!

MADE

Creature Comforts

Good Housekeeping

Tip Junkie

so cute: DIY Peter Pan Collar

Found this DIY that is right up my alley.

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So stinkin cute.
Find it HERE.

plans put on hold for now....

I'm holding a little boy who just can't stop crying. 

I can't figure out what is wrong but we've been sitting here for over an hour now and I've tried everything.

Along with lots of other plans for today, I planned on finishing a little bit of THIS 

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 from A Beautiful Mess ...

and a little bit of THIS from Miss Martha.

But everything must be put on hold today. 

My priority is to help dry the crocodile tears streaming down these chubby cheeks.

Have a great Tuesday you guys! 

I'll be enjoying snuggles....even if they are sad snuggles.

moccasins...

Things are starting to get a little cold around here and I've been wishing I could stay in my slippers all the time, but let's be honest....wearing slippers anywhere but inside the house is not something I'm comfortable doing so I've been looking around for the next best thing.....

moccasins.

Oh MAN are these the cutest things ever?!?!

I sure wish I had some cute baby feet around here to make them for...

see the tutorial HERE

And these minty delights are on my Christmas list...

find them HERE

 

oh, and don't forget the man in your life...

find them HERE

There a win for my comfy, warm toes and a win for the cute factor.

Moccasin love.

See you tomorrow for a fun tutorial!

Build a Fort: gathering supplies

I've had this little project on my list for a VERY LONG time! 

I've decided it will be a really great Christmas gift for my green boy so I've made a list of the items I need to collect to make some fort gifting magic happen. 

Now, I'm going to start collecting and when I have everything I need I'll share my version with you! 

Just don't tell my green boy or you'll ruin the surprise!  :)

The tutorial originates from BLOOM and was altered slightly by Emily at Saltwater Kids.

Found: Lollipops Store

Today I found Krystina...

the creative lady behind Lollipops shop and Lillipops blog.

Here are a few of her beauties I'm loving this week!

Prints speaking my thoughts as I continue to struggle healing this knee.

And a very cute notebook I would love to welcome into my hands!

Go visit and give her some love.

Her products are beautifully simple and priced well.

See you tomorrow for another tutorial AND a GIVEAWAY!!!

Yes, you heard it right...a new GIVEAWAY!

DIY stick horses

I love, Love, LOVE these stick horses from lightbluegrey!

They are DEFINITELY on my list of Christmas gifts to make for the little men running around my house!

You can find the really beautiful tutorial HERE.

I have a fun Back to School tutorial for you tomorrow!

See you then!

featured ....

My little man ... or little woman belts are featured over HERE today!

Tutorial Guest Posting

Do you remember reading a recent "little things" list by the gorgeous Stacy from Not JUST a Housewife?
Here ... maybe this will help you remember:

(source)
Well, I'm thrilled to be guest posting over in her neck of the woods today.
I put together a tutorial that I'm SOOOO excited to share with you!
I'm pretty sure it will make you smile and maybe even giggle a little!
So go check it out!
Seriously ... click on over

Customizable His and Her Pillows

 Guest Posted originally on Not JUST a Housewife

Happy Friday to all you beautiful readers of Not JUST a Housewife!
My name is Heather from squeezing it all in.
I'm seriously squealing with delight right now to be here with you today!

Thanks so much, Stacy!

I want to welcome you into my world for a second before we get on with the tutorial business.

I don't know about you, but I have so many responsibilities in life it's hard to even keep track of them all, but one thing is for sure ... I am constantly striving to squeeze it all in.

I find joy in searching for the "little things" in life and love to encourage and motivate my readers to do the same.

What are "little things" you ask?
Here is the advice I've come to live by...

“Search for 5 'little things' that you are grateful for today, something that makes you smile – even for a moment. Something little. Something that could easily be overlooked. 

If you can’t find 5 things…just find one.”  -my angel Mother

"Little things" happen every day
they are the moments that most easily pass us by.

They are hard to see because there are so many.
We have to choose to find them and when we do…
they bring more joy and more love to our hearts and our lives…
they can change us.

The lovely Miss (Not JUST a Housewife) Stacy has joined our squeezing it all in treasure hunt for the "little things" in life ...
you can find her list HERE. It's just as amazing as she is -
go on and read it ... you won't be sorry!
I would LOVE for you to join our search too!

I also love to include my readers in my creating endeavors by timing my tutorials.
Timing myself helps me to "squeeze it all in" more efficiently and I hope it helps my readers to do the same.

(you can find these tutorials HERE)

Okay ... let's get on to the main reason I am here:
I have put together a special tutorial just for YOU today!
So let's get excited!!!
We are going to make customizable His and Her pillows.

I've seen so many wonderful His and Her pillows floating around, but I have been looking for something that had a little more personality and perhaps a little humor.

I've been drooling over ones like THIS and THIS and THIS and THIS.
Seriously ... I LOVE all of these and would probably just mop up my drooling mess and buy them all if I could.
But I can't.
So for now, I'm just going to let them inspire me to create this tutorial for you.

So, today we are going to take this:

and turn it into this:

You will need:
- approximately 1 1/2 yard plain material
(I used an ivory cotton blend)
- a material that you feel resembles your coloring and features
(I used felt and doll hair)
-rotary cutter (optional)
-scissors
-sewing machine
-thread of corresponding color

Let's start with preparing the pillow.
I'm not a fan of zippers on pillows so we are going to make a pillow with an envelope - type back.

I used 16x16 inch pillow forms so I cut 2 squares from the ivory fabric that measured 181/4 x 181/4 inches for the front of the pillow. 
Then I cut 4 (2 for each pillow) that measured 181/4 x 12 inches.
These will create the envelope-type back.

Now that you have your basic shapes, take the back pieces and fold over 1/2 inch along one 18 1/4 inch side.
Then, iron it down like this:

Then fold it over one more time 1/2 inch until the edge looks just like this:

Then run it through the sewing machine with a 1/4 inch seam.

Now, before we can put the pillow together, let's work on customizing the front of our pillows.

Here is a picture of my Mr.Wilson, altered using Photoshop, but Dana over at MADE has the best tutorial on how to get the same effect using Picnik which I think is a more user friendly program.

I initially used this print out to create a stencil for a Father's Day shirt you can see HERE.

Then, I outlined just the features I wanted to highlight.
You can easily do this with any picture of you and your Mr!

Then I cut it out, pinned it to my felt, cut it out of the felt...

and ended up with this:

I centered and pinned it on my 18 1/4 inch square
(you can see my folded mark in the middle)
and then sewed around all the edges.

Repeat all the same steps for your Mrs. pillow ...
Mine was more time consuming considering I have the curliest hair I'm sure you've ever laid eyes on.

See ...

Then, I measured a box around my felt Mr. and Mrs. measuring 11x11 inches and I stitched with the corresponding brown thread all the way around.

Then, I sewed all the way around again on the outside of the square I just stitched 1/4 inch away.
Like this:
(there's my curly doll hair ... makes for a pretty good likeness!)

Now we're ready to put our pillow together!

Lay out the front of your customized pillow and assemble all pieces right sides together.

 I placed one 18 1/4 x 11 (measurement after 1 inch seam is sewn) back piece on top of my front piece.

Then, the other 18 1/4 x 11 back piece layered over the first.
We should have a 2 inch overlap.

Pin in place.

And now sew together with a 1/4 inch seam all the way around.
Then, clip your corners like this:

Turn and iron flat.

Now we are going to top stitch around the outer edge of ALL layers to finish it off.
This will create the edging around the outside that I think really gives it a more elegant and complete look.

MAKE SURE you double check your measurements so you are absolutely positive your pillow will fit perfectly in there when you are finished!
If you followed all my measurements you should end up with an 3/4 inch seam around the edge.

And there you have it! Your Mr.  ...

and Mrs. customizable pillows!

Ahhh! Now everyone knows just where they belong! hahah!
Enjoy!

linked up with:

Freckled Laundry

I heart naptime

"little things" by Stacy

Welcome to the end of the week my beautiful friends!
That's YOUR cue to smile and blush a little.

This week really zoomed by over here ... how about YOU?

I'm so excited today because I get to introduce you to Stacy from Not JUST a Housewife
She is surrounded by lots of men in her home ... four little boys and a really great husband
(she will tell us a little about him soon)
She isn't only amazingly talented, handy with her tools, innovative and creative, she is also gorgeous!
See ...

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She has some wonderful projects on her blog that I'm SURE you will fall in love with and want to do yourself.
The best part is : Stacy makes it feel completely do-able.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
Scrap Wood Lamp
DIY side table
Desk re-do

I'm so glad she was willing to share her little treasures with us today.
I KNOW they will make you smile!
Enough talking from me ... here she is:

"The older I get and the older my kids get (and the more kids I have!), the busier I get. In some ways it is a good thing. But in a lot of ways it is bad. I find I have less time to focus on the little important things. I am always trying to get here or there ( on time none the less) and sometimes the special moments pass me by. I think you do have to work at it. You choose to take the time to savor the tiny gifts that come unexpectedly.

1. My nine year old gave me a hug and told me I was the best mom. I could have said thanks and kept working on what I was doing but I chose to continue the conversation and we ended up talking about favorite family memories.

2. Sleeping in until 8:30! My kids (all four) unexpectedly slept in this morning. That NEVER EVER happens. Normally it is 6:30. Two hours of extra sleep is GOLD. It probably shouldn't even be on the "little" things list.

3. Seeing my boys dance and sing to music on the radio. They totally jam and it almost makes being in the car doing errands worth it.

5. My baby called the cows "dogs" today when we visited the farm. We were trying to do family pictures and he never looked at the camera. But it was fine cause we all cracked up every time he motioned for the cows to come over and yelled "Dog!".

6. I sucked as a mom today. Getting ready for family pictures makes me a crazy person. But my kids stilled hugged me today. My kids still smiled at me today. My kids still love me. Kids are so forgiving. They are such great examples.

7. I just realized I was on #7 and I think we are only suppose to do 5. Well, I am on a roll so I am still going to add this one. (Maybe I will get extra credit) I yelled at my husband when he told me on the phone that he didn't go to get his hair cut today for family pictures. Like, ape crazy. When I picked him up from work so we could go do pictures he smiled and told me how nice I looked. He never brought up the "incident". Love that :)"

See ... what did I tell you?!?!
You want to read more of her wonderfulness ... don't you?
Click HERE to find her ... I'm sure she will be so glad to have you!

I love when she said ...
"I think you do have to work at it.
You have to choose to take the time to savor the tiny gifts that come unexpectedly"

I couldn't have said it better.

Go find YOUR treasures today!
We would love to have you share them with us!
I promise writing them down will help you savor them!

send me yours ... whether you have one or one hundred.
squeezingitallin@gmail.com

I'm featured!

Michelle, Kim and Brandy over at Someday crafts chose to feature my Flower Pillow Tutorial from this week.

That definitely made my "little things" list today!
Thanks so much!

Click on over there today!
They have sooo many inspirational ideas for you to browse...

Pink Satin Flower Winner

I can’t seem to find Kelly…and this Satin flower needs a home ASAP!
I’m so sad for Kelly, but happy for our new winner of the pink satin flower…

Shawnte who said...

“I follow you, don't be scared I’m nice :)

I love the pink flower…”
Shawnte…I’m anything but scared that you follow me – I LOVE it!

Congratulations girl!

Take a sec. to jump up and down and dance around…okay, stop.
It’s not like you won a million dollars- but close, right?!?!  

HAH!


Anyway, I hope this lands first…okay, maybe second place on your “little things” list for today!
Email me your address at squeezingitallin@gmail.com and I will get it to you very soon!


See you all later today…
Oh, and I'm featured over on Megan's blog today.
The theme of the month:
"I am ME!"