Woo hoo! I Got My First Award!

Well, this is my first award! I was given The Versatile Blogger award from My House of L. Thank you so much!

Ok, here we go with 7 things about me:

1. I grew up in a small town called Ojai in CA. It is where the show Brothers and Sisters is based!

2. I love my 2 boys so much, but they drive me so completely crazy at times!

3. My husband and I have been married for 7 1/2 yrs (he drives me completely crazy at times as well! :))

4. I REALLY don't want to go back to a "real" job when my boys are both in school.

5. One day I aspire of finishing my BA Degree, even if I don't really use it. The only job I can imagine enjoying is to become a teacher.

6. I adore babies and love borrowing them for short periods of time, however I can't even imagine ever wanting another one!

7. My name is Melanie and I am addicted to Facebook. There, I said it...

**There are some rules that go along with this. 

1. You have to thank the person who awarded you & Link them back in your post. Let the "giver" know you accept the award.

2. Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself.

3. Pass the award on to 15 new found bloggers and link their blogs to your post.

4. Contact each blogger and let them know you've passed the award on to them.

Here are the bloggers that I'm passing the award to. Please check them out!

Crafty Couture
An Anglo in Quebec
OkieChic

Art @ Home
Roses, Rhubarb, and Pearls
My Southern Life
Monogram Boutique
Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks
The Best Things in Life Are Not Things...
DIY By Design
Barn Creations
SK Studios
till death do us part
Kitchen Funk: Fun and Funky in the Heart of My Home
Time Well Spent

I also want to let you all know about a new craft swapping community that has just started. It's called Whoopdwhoop. If you are interested, click this link Whoopdwhoop to sign up and I will get a referral credit.

When you list your handmade items, you earn "whoops". Your "whoops" then can be traded for whatever items on the site that you choose. The sender is responsible for shipping charges. I'm currently waiting for 2 new items in the mail. I will post pics when I receive them!

Moms Club Craft Day Mod Podged Soaps

Today was our craft day for our Moms Club and we decided to try out the Mod Podged Soaps. They turned out great and were so easy for the kids to make. Here's my son with his monkey soap creations:

The kids had so much fun making these. Here are some other ones they made:

All of you with kids should try this. I don't know how long they will last with kids using them, but it sure was fun making them!

I have linked to this linky party. Check out craft ideas for kids here:

My Son's First Video: Panic! At The Disco Music Video "The Ballad of Mona Lisa"

Here's a link to the P!ATD facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/panicatthedisco

The video is here, as requested: The Ballad of Mona Lisa


Well, MTV.com aired the video tonight. Darn it! They cut almost all of the kid takes. Dylan was supposed to originally do the main part until he got too scared. I didn't even see him in the crowd at all. :(  The girl that ended up doing his part did a great job though! It was a great experience and he says that he wants to try it again sometime, just not for a video with a dead body in it! 

Here are the pics from that day:

Dylan with the girls before we started

They had to do 3 hours of set school

The band is in the background getting lunch. Mmmm...that was the best free lunch ever! 

These were size 6 woman's capri pants. Those girls did wonders to make them look good on a 6 yr old boy!

The Director checking out Dylan's costume

He was getting super excited!

Makeup time

Then he came out and hung out with Brendon's (the main singer) hottie girlfriend Sarah. She was so nice to him!

After he got scared, he came out to watch the screen.

Really cool set

The bonus was that when we were sitting in the car, Lee DeWyze (American Idol winner) parked next to us. Dylan was really excited! He was a really nice guy and was taking pictures with everyone. We missed out because Dylan was in makeup that whole time!!!

My son was part of the newest P!ATD Music Video Shoot. The song is called The Ballad of Mona Lisa. I can't wait to see if he made the cut. He was only 6 yrs old and got scared. It's a dark, steampunkish style and included some scary content for him. It is really exciting though! Wish us luck!

I will add a picture of him at the shoot after it airs. I'm not supposed to until then!

It will air on MTV.com at 12pm (I'm guessing Eastern Time) and then on MTV at 7:56pm!

Yes, this is where I learned of Steampunk and got inspired to make the earrings on an earlier post...Steampunk Earrings



Panic! At The Disco Steampunk Video Tomorrow

Crockpot Potato Soup from La Force Be With You

This easy Crockpot Potato Soup is on my menu for this week! Check it out at:

La Force Be With You

Bare Walls Drive Me Crazy! - Fabric Wall Hangings Tutorial

I was renting a house with really high ceilings and I couldn't paint the white walls. So, I decided to make some wall hangings to take up some of the empty space. What a difference it made! Now they are hanging in my apartment and look great in a small space as well.

Materials you will need:
Thin sheets of wood
fabric of your choice
Stapler gun
Picture Hangers

I went to Lowes and found sheets of thin wood. You can have them cut it in any size you want. I chose to have 4 pieces of 2' X2' for my project.

Then I got some coordinating fabric on clearance.

1. Cut your fabric a little bigger than your piece of wood. I made mine 2 ft 8 in X 2 ft 8 in.

2.Wrap the fabric across the wood and staple one side to the back. Continue with the other sides. Make sure that you pull the fabric tight across the front.

3. Nail in the picture hanger. I got the kind with teeth that you hook on to a nail.

Hang your new wall art and enjoy your lack of blank emptiness!

Kitchen Funk - Mod Podged Soaps

I love this so much! Check out the tutorial at Kitchen Funk on how to make Mod Podge soaps with stickers. SheKitchen Funk Soap Tutorial makes some pretty cool things. I just had to share this with you all. These are so cute and so easy!

Click here to the Kitchen Funk Soap Tutorial

It's Still Cold! Easy Fingerless Glove Tutorial

You will need a small piece of fleece, matching thread, a sewing machine and scissors.

I bought a fleece scarf at the dollar store and will be able to make 3 pairs of gloves out of them!

1. Wrap fleece around the child's hand to get approx. size of gloves. Cut 2 rectangles out of the fleece. I always cut it a little bigger since you can always make them smaller. For my 4 yr old I cut 6" by 8".

2. Fold each piece in half.

3. Sew the edges right sides together lengthwise with a zig zag stitch.

4. Turn it inside out and try it on. If it's too big, sew the same length a little smaller.

5. Measure where you would like the thumb holes and snip a little slit.

That's it! You have a pair of cute gloves. I made them for my boys and they love them. The best thing is that they cost $.33 for a new pair of gloves!