Monkey Hair Bow Holder

This is a gift set I did for a baby shower present. I made this adorable monkey hair bow holder, and you will see below, I also created some (ribbon works) monkey hair clips for baby Taylor too! So its a cute matching set! :)

 I started out (as usual) by sketching out my idea.

Then took a wood plaque and painted it white.

To help me with the name, I used some foam letter stickers.

And arranged them on the plaque how I wanted them:

Then I sketched out the cute little monkey. I ended up switching the side the tail was one, because there was more room on that side. :)

Then started painting the background pink!

once I did a few coats, and it was dry, I peeled off the foam letters.. you can see its not perfect. Thats fine though, because it will be easy to clean up.

I just continued on and painted in the monkey.

I used a q-tip to do the polka dots. :) I used white, to fix up the letters a bit then started outlining them in brown.

And here is the plaque completely painted. I will also cover the plaque with either mod podge or some acrylic sealer spray to seal the paint.

And here it is after I added the ribbon.

A closer look:

Check out the adorable Monkey and Banana Hair Clip set! :)

I again used velcro on the loop, making it easy to hold those baby bands or elastic headbands!

And here it is completely bare. It turned out soo cute, if I do say so myself! :)

I'll be showing of my work through these great linky parties. Be sure to check them out for other  fabulous creative ideas!! :)

~Maria-Isabel

Clay Pot Pilgrim Hat Decor

A couple weeks ago, I was thinking about some fun fall and Thanksgiving decor ideas, while doing the dishes. :) On the window sill, in front of the sink, is a clay pot my daughter painted herself, filled with a beautiful little flower that she planted herself. It was a mothers day present. :) Then out of the blue it hit me.. I thought to myself; "hey that clay pot kinda looks like a pilgrim hat! That could be a cute idea for Thanksgiving decor!" *hehe*
 Thats when the idea set into motion. The next time I was at Walmart, I had to pick up a little clay pot, to bring my idea to life.

So if you want to make one for your home, here is what you will need:

Clay pot

Black foam paper

Yellow Foam paper

Black paint

 Gold Paint (optional)

and also a hot glue gun (not pictured)

Start off by painting your clay pot black. I did 2 good coats. It coated very easily.

I forgot to take a picture, but youre going to want to cut your black foam paper into a circle larger than the opening of the clay pot. The foam paper I had on hand was pretty narrow, so I couldnt make the circle as wide as I would have preferred. But it still worked! 

Anyways.. then you will use your hot glue gun to glue all the way around the open part of your clay pot.

Then center it on your black foam circle, and press down. Now you have the main part of the hat all done. :)

The finishing touch is adding the buckle. I used yellow foam, cut a square shape, then cut another square shape out of it:

And then I used gold paint over it. You dont have to do this, leaving it yellow will look fine.. But I just thought it would look better with a gold hue, rather than bright yellow.

Use your hot glue gun again, to glue the buckle to your hat! And youre all done!

Here is my pilgrim hat on my mantle.

Here is a pulled back view of part of my mantel. :) I will be doing more fall decor, as we move into November. So keep an eye out on my blog for more fall decor projects and possibly even some printables! :)

I love how the hat looks there! But I may be doing some rearranging.. who knows just yet! On a side note.. dont you just love that pumpkin "vase"?? I was inspired by the amazing Little Miss Momma! She has a tutorial if you wanna check it out! :)

Anywho... I will be linking up to some great parties.. be sure to check them out for other wonderful crafty ideas!!! :)

~Maria-Isabel

{Ribbon Works} Turkey Hair Clip Tutorial

Hello friends, I am excited to tell you about a new line of hair creations I have been working on. I've decided to name these Ribbon Works by Agape Love Designs. Ribbon Works are not your typical flower or bow hair clips, instead these are fun objects made from ribbon - like my Ribbon Cupcake. I have recently been experimenting with new things to create with ribbon. SO with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I am excited to share with you a tutorial for this super cute Ribbon Turkey Hair Clip! Isnt he just adorable!? I am so loving him, and I bet your daughter, niece or grand daughter will too!

To create this hair clip design, here is what you will need:

- Thin Ribbon in the following colors: Brown, Yellow, Red, Green, Orange.

- Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

- Alligator  Clip(s)

- Googly eyes (not pictured)

Step 1: You're going to start by cutting 6 pieces of brown ribbon. Sorry I didnt get measurements, I know I should have, But I just sort of eye-balled it. But you will need 3 different sizes, as shown. One Largest strip, 3 medium strips, and 2 small strips.

Step 2: Using your glue gun, create a ring shape with each strip.

Step 3: You will create the head of the turkey using 1 medium size ring, and both of the small rings. Apply hot glue to the edge of one of the small rings, then stick it inside the medium ring. Do the same thing to the other side, so you have 3 rings that are connected (the smaller rings on either side on the medium ring).

Repeat: these steps to create the body of the turkey, using the remaining rings (the largest ring and 2 medium rings).

Step 4: Line the alligator clip with the orange ribbon. This ribbon I used it a little smaller than the rest. I'd prefer it to be the same width as the rest, but I had ran out! 

Step 5: Cut out 2 strips all the same size of red & green ribbon, and 1 yellow. (Again, no measurements, but you can get an idea of the size, compared to the clip.

Step 6: Fold and glue each strip, as shown, to create the turkey feathers.

Step 7: Now you will start applying the features to the hair clip. Apply it to the end of the clip (the part that opens up - not the part you pinch to open the clip). Start with yellow, and so on.

Step 8: Using your glue gun, now apply the body to the bottom of the feathers.

As you can see, its starting to come together, and already looking so cute!

Step 9: Now we will move on to the Turkey's facial features! The gobble (as I call it - not sure the technical term for it) is the red dangling thing by its beak. To create that, simply cut another strip of red ribbon, and then cut it in half long ways. You may want to use a lighter to "heat treat" the ribbing to prevent any fraying.

Step 10: Take just one of the halves and fold and glue it as shown.

Step 11: Cut a triangle shape from the orange ribbon (again heat treating to prevent fraying), to use for the beak. Then glue them to the face!

Step 12: Bring that turkey to LIFE with some googly eyes!!

Complete: Glue the head to the clip atop the body, and you have finished your cute little creation!!

**BONUS IDEA**
If you love the idea of this little guy, but feel too mature to wear in your hair, another idea would be to attach him to a pin back instead! Then he could be worn as little brooch to show your holiday spirit! :)

Look how sweet he looks, modeled by my precious daughter, Kiah.

I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful. Weather you wear this little guy in your hair or as a brooch, he is definitely a fun way to accessorize for Turkey day! 

Much Love & Hugs,

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

:) My husband says that a lot.. lol (winner winner chicken dinner). Well we have a winner of the CSN stores giveaway! YAY! :)

And drum roll please..... The winner is:

Jennifer @ Muse Lodge!! ^_^  (Clever name I have to say!)

 She was chosen via Random number generator.

Congratulations Jennifer!! Hope you get your table for your foyer!! :) I will be emailing you shortly with your gift code!!

And thank you to all who entered! :)


~Maria_Isabel

Custom Pumpkin Carving Tips!

Welcome back friends! So recently, I posted a tutorial on how to make your own custom pumpkin carving template, using any of your own personal photos or what ever your imagination could come up with. At the time I had not carved my pumpkins yet. So I wanted to update and share with you the results, as well as some helpful tips I discovered while carving mine. But mostly I wanted to show off of my pumpkins! ;) Although these are not the greatest, this being the first time actually attempting my idea, but I am still very please with out how they turned out! They are fun and a little bit creepy (according to The Hubs)! But the kids love them, and it is for Halloween... so I guess it works! :)

Alright... Lets get on with this tutorial. Here is what you will need:

1. Pumpkins (as many as you plan on carving)

2. Your Custom Templates printed out (I printed mine 5x7 size)

3. Carving tools

4. Scissors 

5. Tape

6. Tac or Needle

I choose to go with (fake) craft pumpkins, purchased at Micheal's. I knew if I did a good job on these, I would get all sentimental and wish I could keep them. This way I can!

To start off, just like you would do for a real pumkin, you will need to carve a hole in the top (or bottom if you prefer. *TIP* Cut at an angle to make sure that, once cut, the lid wont fall through!

Next you will need to make a few cuts around your template paper, so that when you're adjusting it onto your pumpkin it will wrap around as smooth as possible. Of course it wont be perfectly smooth, but slits will help. Adhere your template with tape.

Once your template is affixed to your pumpkin, use a tac or needle to start to poking holes. You want to outline all the black areas in your template. My son, Bruce, was super excited to see his face on the pumpkin!

You may need to exaggerate some of the lines, making the black area a little bit bigger than your template. You can see in the photo above, I did so around the eyes, as I knew it would be a little tough to cut out such a small area.

Once you are completely finished dotting out the silhouette of your template, carefully pull the tape and template off the pumpkin. You can now see the dotted outline of your picture.

Carefully start carving along the dotted lines. There are some helpful instructions on the tool package if you're new to this and need tips. Make sure to push your scraps inward inside the pumpkin, its a lot easier that way. Do this until you have completely carved out all the dotted lines.

Here is what the finished pumpkins look like! My daughter Kiah, and son's Bruce, and Zander!

I recommend, that if you are doing several pumpkins, you give yourself a good long break in between each a pumpkin. I did carve mine out one after another, and as a result my hand and wrist were very sore! This made it a little harder to do the smaller details, and I did end up messing up on Kiah's eyes. :(  However, over all I am still very happy with they turned out! It was really neat for my first time doing this. Here is an upclose look at them all together. *TIP* Since I am using fake pumpkins, I did buy electric tea light from the Dollar Tree to put in them, so they can glow without catching fire!

And finally, here they are by out fire place. I don't want to risk them getting messed up outside! Plus they look great inside with the rest of my Fall decor. What do you think, of how they turned out!? And I do hope you will give this idea of a custom pumpkin carving a try!

If you happen to try this out, please do share the results with me! Leave a link in the comments or share your photo with me on facebook, twitter or Instagram. I think it would be so much fun to feature your photos on my blog! So share away, I am excited to see what custom creations you come up with!

Much Love & Hugs,

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CSN Giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!! :)
How fun, Im so excited to do this giveaway. I was contacted by CSN about doing a giveaway, or a review. And although I love free stuff.. (who doesnt) I decided it would be more fun to do a giveaway to my amazing readers!

Now you MUST have heard of CSN already if your paying attention at all in blogland. :-) They are like your one stop shop for anything and everything, with over 200 stores right at your finger tips! You dont even have to change out of your pajamas! And if youre a busy mama like me.. I know you will love that!

The first category I searched out on their site was for an  end table.

See, we have a HUGE entry way and nothing in it! I dream of the perfect console table to greet me when I walk in the door, and to decorate for holidays, and to keep things more organized... Rather than have the hubs piling mail and his keys and his hat AND wallet on the breakfast bar!

I fell in LOVE with this gorgeous french style table:

 

(excuse me... let me just wipe the drool off my chin)

How ever.. it wouldnt match my current decor.. *sigh* what I wouldnt give just to redecorate my whole sitting room around this very table! LOL I can see the hubs now, popping my little day dream bubble. HA :)

Good thing they have thousands of other great tables to chose from! :) These 3 would more suit our current decor.  Arent they lovely? Im actually so very happy to have found these, because (no joke) I have been looking for the perfect table for my entry way for about 8 months now! 

 Problem is.. we live in a small town where the biggest (and only) real store we have is a Walmart. And dont get me wrong I love Walmart, but in our town they dont have a big furniture selection! And the hubs hates driving 45 min into the "city" to do some furniture shopping. :( But I dont blame him... going from store to store to store and still not finding what youre looking for is disappointing!

So Im gonna be showing him these! He should be very happy to see such a HUGE selection with no driving what so ever! :)

 Then maybe I could transform this boring old sloppy spot into something a little more Fab rather than Drab!! 

(Hi Zander!!)

Well anywho... onto the giveaway! Please note that this is only for entrants who reside in the US and Canada.

To win a $20 gift code to any CSN online stores all you have to do is check out their site, and come back here and leave a comment telling me what you would buy! Thats it!

And if you would like an extra chance to win, become a follower of my blog: Then leave a separate comment letting me know youre a follower of my blog, or remind me that youre already a follower!

I will leave this open for a few days.. and post the winner on Friday!

Have fun checking out their stores and good luck! :)

~Maria-Isabel

Crafting with the Stars :)

So im entering a contest over at Sew Dang Cute, called Crafting with the Stars! :)  It sounds like sooo much fun! I had a hard time choosing a project to enter.. but I went with my Adorable Cupcake Headband! :) Im excited to see who will get picked. I think it would be so fun to do this contest.. but Id be a little nervous to do it too! Although stretching my crafting abilities and getting to "work" with another amazing crafty lady would be sooo amazing! :) So we will see if I get picked or not. Either way I will be following! And you should too.. so head over there and check it out.. and if you want to enter.. the dead line is tomorrow by 8pm!!

New Damask Hair Clip Holder

:) I created a new hair clip holder. This one is for my niece Isabella. Her room theme is princess with the damask print, colors are pink and black. My sister is in love with all the cutesy hair bows and head bands for Bella! But she was becoming overwhelmed with her collection and didnt know what to do. SO I came to the rescue and created her a custom holder to match her room. :) Im happy with how it turned out.. so of course I have to show it off!

 First I sketched out my design idea, trying to create my own damask design:

I was pretty excited to get started so I didnt take too many pictures of the progress. But here it is after I painted the wood plaque pink and started painting the design.

 more progress:

 Making it ultra girly with glitter :)

 Here it is completed with demask ribbon

 Up close with some of my own hair clips on it. :)

 Full view

 I used velcro so that she could easily open and close the loops, perfect for baby bands!

 View of the back

 Velcro on the center loop as well. :)

I will most likely be linking this up! Check out other awesome crafts and such at these linky parties! :)