Hair Ribbons for a Cause: Listing of Organizations

I've been thinking of other causes that I feel are great causes to donate to, so I've decided to start making a list of causes here. Any input would be greatly appreciated, I would love to help any organizations you feel passionated about helping and I would love to donate to organizations all around the world.

You can post your suggestion as a comment or e-mail me at sumcreativeideas@gmail.com &/or lmartinez1@its.nicholls.edu.

I will post my collection of ribbon as soon as my new ribbons come in!!!

Organizations with a Cause:

Refashioning your Wardrobe is OH SO Simple

Okay; I know I said I probably wouldn't be posting for a couple of days but.... I just couldn't resist!! ...And my son went to grandma's, so while I'm breaking from school work I wanted to come post something for you!!
This is something I done about 1 or 2 months ago; however, I haven't share it with your yet!!

I refashioned a couple of shirts and pants after going through my closet!! This is an outfit I currently have on.

The Shirt: Cut the top seam off the shirt to give it a lounge appearance (hangs off the shoulder) and cut about 1''-2'' inches off the bottom. Now it fits in with the current trend!! HeHe!

When buying these pants I had the option of purchasing them as either long pants or Capri's (long shorts or short pants; which ever you prefer) LOL, and obviously I bought the longer pant style. Being I owned 3 pairs of pants in this navy blue color, I decided to create a replica of the style I hadn't purchased.
The Shorts (formerly know as pants): Cut about right below the knee which was about 4 1/2 inches on pant. I did add a hem the ends just in case, and I believe the Capri-style had an hem such as this one, but that's completely optional!!

 From Old to New ''Fit"

I wanted to give you a close up of the hem on the shorts, but I'm not really sure what happened to this picture... Strange!! That's straight off the camera too.


Anyhow, hope this helps for any of you who may feel your wardrobe needs a makeover!! If I had to guess, It took about 10 minutes to do both the shirt and the short. I did all my shirts at the same time and might have spent about 40 minutes at the most altering them all with these simple modifications; do keep in mind I altered about 50 shirts!! I have a huge wardrobe!! I get tired of clothes quit, but I think I may have finally found a solution to my desire to purchase a new wardrobe every week!! hehe
... guess its a girl thing!!

Idea Update: Ribbons for a Cause - Taking suggestions!!!

I know I haven't been posting many new ideas in the past couple of days; however, I am currently working on a couple of things to share with you!!! I have a huge assignment due on Tuesday and I may not have a chance to work on anything to post for you, but I promise to have update you with new ideas as soon as I get this assignment in!! If you haven't noticed I was trying to get a post out every two or three of days!! I have been slacking on that!! I haven't forgotten about you!!!

It's my last assignment of my college career, well for now!!!! WOW, it felt good to say that minus the for now part!! LOL!!
So if you don't hear from me in a couple of days that's what I'll be doing!! Please feel free to message me if you need anything; I will be keeping up with my e-mail and checking my messages here as well!! You can e-mail me at: sumcreativeideas@gmail.com or lmartinez1@its.nicholls.edu.

Also, I do sell my bows. If you are interested, please let me know!! I'm currently waiting on some new ribbons to come in, but as soon as there in, I'll get a picture posted of all the ribbon in stock!! I do still have a few bows and hair streamers left with the ribbon mixes I had posted a while back, but they are limited!! Please refer to "Hair streamers" for the different mixes I put together. I believe I may have posted only one of my bows for you, and didn't get a chance to post the finished result because someone bought it a couple hours after that post and I wasn't able to get a picture of it!! Truly SORRY about that!!  However, I did add a black and white damask bottle cap to it with the little girls initial on it!!
All bows and hair streamers are made to your custom; you can choose the ribbon print,  and color of your liking as well as the materials used in the assemblage process!!

I'm currently researching different charities that I'm passionate about and will be making bows to raise money for different charities!! For example, I'll be ordering breast cancer awareness ribbon; all proceeds from bows and streamers made of cancer awareness ribbons will be donated that cause!! If there are any charities or causes that you are high passionate about; please tell me about them! I would love get information on it!!
Another example of a cause/charity I'm thinking about helping is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals by making bows and streamers using ribbons with pictures of animals printed on them!!
I'm hoping to possible find donations of these ribbons; however, if that doesn't work out, I may have to sell the Ribbons for a Cause at a higher price. (Maybe a dollar higher) I don't sell my bows and streamers at a high price to begin with, so it would still be affordable!!

Well these are some of my ideas; PLEASE give me your input!!! I would LOVE to have your input!!

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!!

If you don't want to contact me here, you can e-mail me at:

sumcreativeideas@gmail.com or lmartinez1@its.nicholls.edu

I don't always receive my e-mails from the creative-ideas inbox so you may want to use the lmartinez1 address to assure deliver to my inbox!!

DIY Chalkboard & Dry Erase Labels

When organizing my craft corner, I couldn't be sure of whether or not I would later switch out the supplies that currently occupy the storage bends/boxes. I took a couple of card stock and cardboard scraps and painted some with chalkboard paint and the others I covered with Duct tape in order to create labels for my storage units that could be erased. I had used duct tape to create dry erase labels when I reorganized my kitchen cabinets a while back and they work great!!

I'm sure you have heard about chalkboard paint, but I have yet to see this dry erase idea any where

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Chalkboard Label
Its a blurry picture, sorry about that!!

I covered this one in blue duct tape; it's a little plain, I know. I'll try to post a picture of what I have in my kitchen. Those are much cuter!! I was aiming for something quick and simple, but you can add a border and lots of embellishments!! I believe it would be cute if it had a boarder and only the middle would be left blank to wright in.

Also, try to remove all air bubbles if possible. I have many in this tag, but I wasn't aiming for perfection; it works for now!!

Quick Tip: Only Dry Erase Markers can be used on the dry erase labels!!

DIY Dry Erase Board  Label from Duct Tape

**If you happen  to have a laminating machine on hand, you can laminate your labels to create the dry-erase effect also!!!

Well if you decide to try this out, please let me know and send pictures if you are able to embellish them!! I would love to see your ideas!!!

The reason that ModPodge is AWESOME!!

I was so impressed over this I had to share!!
I covered this little container with card stock scraps and Mod Podge a while back for my son. Well he thought he would use it to put snails in and left it outside in the whether. It's been out here for over a month now and if for those of you are not familiar with South Louisiana's whether, it has been raining for the past two weeks with excessive humidity and heat!! All the buttons are still tacked on and the card stock scraps are all the same color a when I first put them on! I used colorful paper that wasn't card stock also, which you can see has faded and shriveled. And this why I love mod podge and card stock!!
Wish I had a before picture for you, but I wasn't blogging when I did the project; sorry...
There are other glues that are very impressive as well, but I haven't experimented with them as I did this!! Hehe!!

Simple yet Creative and Fun Kid's decore'

DIY Boy Containers: Googly Eye Box & Scrap Jar:

Here are a couple items I made for my son's room about one or two years ago.

The first item is the orange Googly Eye Box, which is to the front left in the photo below. I first painted the box orange and once dried I glued various size googly eyes or wiggly eyes around the box. I cant recall the exact name used for those eyes, so I'll just go with googly or wiggly for now!!

I got the idea for this box about two Halloweens when I made some treat bags for my son's daycare class (being he wasn't in school yet). I must have had about 5 Ziploc bags of these little eye things and each bag consisted of different sized eyes. And where they all came from... Beats me; I don't remember buying that many!! So anyhow, I used Halloween card stock to make little treat bags and on some of solid sheets which were now bags, I glued different sized googly eyes all over them!! The kids ended up LOVING the ones with the eyes!! Had I known they would have fought over those, I would have done all the bags that way!!!

The item to the front right of the photo below is an allowance jar that I made from various scraps I had left over. I used a decorative (the same for each scrap) scissors to cut them out and used modpodge or tacky glue (cant remember, it's been a while) to adhere each the scraps to the jar. Either modpodge or tacky glue should work on this; I haven't had anything fall off yet and this belongs to a little boy who is extremely rough and active!! Once all the scraps were in place, I glued different color buttons that matched the scraps! It would have probably been cuter I had used sport-ball embellishments rather than buttons; however, by the time that idea came to me, these buttons just wouldn't come off!!

Please excuse the silhouette in the background!! It was one of my first silhouettes that I had done in a long time and I had attempted it without using a fresh razor!! BIG MISTAKE!! It's been about 3 years since I attempted this and I still haven't completed it and I've probably gone through a couple of fresh razors since then. I could have at least completed the letters or something!!!

Well hope you enjoy!!

Googly Eye Box (is a great Halloween Gift bag idea also) & Scrap Paper Allowance Jar

Please share if you decide to use any of these ideas; I would love to see yours!!

A VERY Southern Family Tradition

 I know this isn't my usual post, but I wanted you to know a little more about me!!
The purpose of this post is to give you an idea of my wonderful life and family outings!! We live in South Louisiana, which is about 50 miles south of New Orleans for those of you who are familiar with the city and this is what our summer weekends consist of!!
Hope you enjoy just as much as I do!!!






























                        

 

Blogger Tags: Lousisiana Style, Summer Fun, Family Tradition, Southern Life

Baby Boy Collegiate Collection Wall Letters

Here is a sneak peak of the wall letters I'm working in for a baby boy!! His room's theme is LSU (Go Tigers)!!
I've covered then in football paper & burned around the edges to give a little character!!
Next I will add some LSU embellishments; however, I'll try not to add too much as I did on the previous letters!! That may be a little hard for me; once I start with embellishments, I can't stop!! Hehe!!
I sketched a draft to follow, but I tend to get a little off course if you haven't noticed by now!!

Well have a wonderful day and please stay tuned for updates on these letters!!!

PonyTail Streamers

Here are a couple of hair streamers I put together as part of my nieces birthday gift. These ribbon streamers attatched to ponytail holders were not only simple to make, but they were also

perfect for my neice being she usually wears her hair in a ponytail, but doesn't care to add additional accessories such as clips and bows that are usually attached with clips.

Wall Letters Completed

...And here is the completed product!!
Thank goodness she loved them!!! For all of you who don't know, my niece tends to speak her mind and doesn't hide how she truly feels. I wasn't sure if she would like like them being they didn't turn out how I intended them to. My sketch looks completely different, but I did the best with what I had!! Of course I ran into a couple of issues, but I just went with the flow and this is where it lead me!!!! I must admit, I was surprised she liked them as much as she did!! She's definitely a little DIVA!! Gotta love her!!

DIY Gift-Topper Streamers: Full Tutorial

When giving gifts, I always add my own touch to the wrapping weather it's wrapped or placed in a cute gift bag; However, it can get a little expensive to buy materials that will likely be thrown away by the person receiving the gift. I feel it's a little rude to tell someone: by the way, when your done opening your gift, I'll need those embellishments back, which i have wanted to do numerous times!! Just how are you suppose to say those words without sounding a tad bit crazy!!!
Well instead I use items that are already lying around my house to create these embellishments . One item I have recently been using a lot of for this is embroidering floss!! Also, I'll use wire, but when it's for a child, I try to lay off on the wire.
So, here it goes!!!

Material list:

• Mod Podge or Tacky glue
• Embroidering Floss
• Scissors
• Clips (to hang out for drying)
• Heat Lamp or Light source (optional, but it helpful)
• Glitter (optional)

Determine the color or colors and the amount of streamers you'll want to use. I usually fold my floss and hold it in the place I intend to use it in order to get a rough measure.
- The 1st photo below illustrates this folding process. Then I place it under just as I did in the two photos following.

Next, Make a mark once you've found your ending point (or feel you have enough steamers for the embellishment). Cut about an inch (1" inch) passed that mark. You will need a clean piece to hold while dipping.
- Sorry I didn't get any photos of these last few processes. Will try my hardest to post a few as soon as I get back home.

Grab the end of your string (the 1" inch piece you left extra) and whirl it around fingers to the point that it will be able to pass through the glue bottle opening. Try to avoid knotting or tangling the string in this process, it may complicate this simple project. Once you've prepared your string take the cap off of your your glue bottle, drop your string into the bottle, but whatever you do, DON'T LET GO of the very end; that's why we left the extra inch.

After the string is completely submerged in glue, start pulling it out slowing, which will allow the excess glue drip back in the bottle. I pass it tightly along the edge of the opening to remove excess glue (Mod Podge).

Find a spot you can hang your string under your lamp. I used the long bulb under the work bench. It was easy to place my string under & gave better coverage. Clip one end of the string, pull tight to avoid unwanted curling, and clip the other end, but don't place too close to the bulb.

Once dry, you can repeat until its your desired strength.

If you want to add glitter as I usually do, especially for Girly or christmas gifts, do so before the drying process. you can sprinkle it prior to or post hanging the floss for drying, which ever method works better for you!!

Please keep in mind that I threw this embellishment together for this photo. It's actually a couple embellishments I previously made and used them as models for this post. Don't worry I didn't fasten anything; I will be able to use them each separately if I need to!!

Embellished Letters: "E'' FINALLY!!

Finally, I figured out what to do with the "E", since I ran out of rhinestones half way through lining the entire outside of it and there were none to be found (that I could get my hands on in time for her party)  in the size or color I had already started using. However, I believe everything happens for a reason, so I tried not to let it bother me too much.

And here it is the "E"... FINALLY...
It matches the "I'' better than I had anticipated. Not saying it's the prettiest letter in the world, but I'm impressed it came out this decent. There is a  touch-up I'll have to make on the bottom star though.

This is another pendent (star) from that same necklace matching the pendants I used on the ''M''; however I frosted this piece. The glue used to attach the rhinestones obviously leaked and is much more visible on frost. I used another coat, but it looks like I'll have to use one more; this time I'll use mod podge diluted in water to help blend it in. It gives a similar effect, but I wouldn't recommend using it for big pieces.

I also added links to the star and attached decorative brads as pendents. In the picture I had a dragon fly behind each, but I took them off before finishing up. It was just too bulky; they are cute dragonflies, but this wasn't the spot for them.

Well hope you enjoyed this explanation and have a great evening!!

Bright Girly Bow: Green {ZebraPrint} & Purple {Leopard Print}

I haven't made one of these in years and forgot how much fun they are to make!!
I came across some adorable ribbons on clearance a couple days ago and of course, I had to snatch them up!!
And if course it didn't take to determine there future!!!
This is a relatively small basic bow (similar to the taild down bow) over a large pinwheel bow. It's a perfect DIY birthday gift for a little girl!!

I haven't fastened it or anything yet so be sure to come back tomorrow to check out the finished result.

Letter "M" Embellished

Well I gave you the bits and pieces of my embellished letters, so here are the others I've embellished the ''M'' in. I feel it may be over-done, but I'm more simple and I know my niece... well she's definitely far from simple!!

Hope you enjoy this and get inspired as well!!!

Made the "Memories"banner in advanced so when I tried fitting it onto my letter ''M'', it was a little large.
On top the banner is another one of my hand-made Gerber Daisies with a bottle cap in the middle rather than a button. You'll see me use a variety of materials as the center of the flower. I like to change it up!!

CHANGE OF PLANS: Originally I planned to put the Gerber Daisy in the bottom corner and the banner on the other top corner being that side has more room. ....And this is how it turned out.
Here you can see that I added a black ribbon on top of where the different cardstocks overlap, hiding any imperfections.
Also, I placed a pink rhinestone, which is the same size as my polka dots, on top of a few pink polka-dots to add a little sparkle. However, I didn't place many because it would have been too gaudy considering all the other embellishments I 've added.  I love gaudy, but not too gaudy.



And here is a close-up of the stars. This was a necklace I once wore, but the chain links were tangled up. Therefore I placed the stars on new links, covered them with scraps of cardstock from this project and found them a new home. Very Simple!! Oh; but first, be sure to clean any tarnished jewelry with toothpaste before using it in your projects.

Another view of the stars, but this one is a little blurry.

Also, if someone can Please leave me an opinion of whether or not these letters may be over-embellished (keeping in mind they are for a young girl), I would truly appreciate it. I've asked a couple of people, but those who have been over aren't exactly the best at being straight forward. I need honest opinions from people who aren't afraid to hurt my feelings!!
I hope this tutorial was able to spark a little inspiration for your next project and remember, I'm always open to questions and comments!! HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

DIY Embellishments: (somewhat) Better images

Finally got my camera back today!!! YAY!!  I was able post a pic of one embellishment (the butterfly and flower), but my son's last T-ball game is tonight so i'll have to update the other pictures when I get back. Stay tuned!!!!

DIY Gerger Daisy (Cheeta print)

I may add to this by making it into a badge/ gift topper and probably turn one into a magnet being I made a couple of them. They're not very time consuming either.

A much better view of

DIY Pinwheels, Flower, and Butterfly embellishments.

X'S & O'S surounding Gerber Daisy

Remember if you have any questions or concerns please contact me by e-mail or leaving a message; I promise to get back to you!! .

More Sneak Peak Embellishments

I first must apologize for the horrible quality of these pictures. My camera is currently out if commission and I've been substituting it with my low resolution camera on my phone. Once again sorry!!
So I added on to the flower by placing a pinwheel on each side with an "X" on one and an "O" on the other.
I've obviously made way too many embellishments for the letter, being her name consist if only four letter, but I have a couple of ideas of what to do with them... One will be a magnets, but stay tuned to discover their future purposes!! Also, if you have any questions or concerns about any of my creations, your more than welcome to ask. Message me and I promise I'll get back to you!! Thanks!!

Sneak Peak of Letters (Embellishments)

Well I must admit... I did cheat by buying a $.99 flower which was really a gift tag!! I just didn't have time to starch material in order to give the fleets life; I'm already out of time, and this one was perfect!!
I cut a similar shaped flower (Gerber Daisy, which happen to be my favorite flower) of card stock & curled the ends a little to give it life. Then I glued the sticker party under the flower to the card stock flower for more security. You can use either mod podge or a hot glue, but fit the button or bottle cap on top, be sure to use hot glue to attach it. Finally, I glued rhinestones to the edge of each petal using a tweezer and mod podge. This part was a little time consuming, but it was not as bad as I thought. I used adhesive rhinestones because thats all I had in that size and color, but non-adhesive stones can be use also.