Want To Win One Of These?

Want to win one of these??

Then head on over to Miss Mommy!! I'm over there today with a giveaway for you!! :)





And dont forget about the giveaway going on here, for the 20x30 Family Rules Subway Art Print!! 
There have only been two entries.. Im totally shocked by that!
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Plain White T-Shirt Refashion Tutorial!

Ok so in case you missed this over on Little Miss Momma a few weeks ago, Im posting again! :)

 Today I have a fun tutorial to share with you about how you can refashion a plain white t-shirt into a fashionable custom interchangeable over shirt!

I made this shirt for my little beauty, Kiah, but I also have one too!
Its great for girls of all ages! 

Here are the Supplies needed:

~Plain White Shirt

~ Stencil of Choice

~ Black Lace

~ Colored Chalk

~ Scissors

~ Liquid Stitch

To get started lay your shirt down flat and  arrange your stencil in the middle, or any place on the front of your shirt! Then use your colored chalk to color the stencil in.

I used chalk because it can easily be wiped/washed off. Marker or pen will stain.

Here is what it looked like after I took away the stencil.

Next take your scissors and start cutting out your stencil design!

This part can be kind of tedious, it takes some time, you must be careful not to cut the wrong parts.

Once its all cut out, flip it inside out and put a piece of cardboard or some sort of barrier between the front of the shirt and the back of the shirt. We are going to use the liquid stitch and we dont want to glue the front to the back! :)

Next you will need to cut out a piece of black lace big enough to cover your stencil.
I just used the actual stencil as a guideline on how big to cut it. 

After that grab your liquid stitch and start outlining all of the edges of your cutout with it. 

Once you have outlined ALL of the stencil lines place the lace carefully over it. Make sure your t-shirt fabric stays flat as you put the lace over it... it tends to want to curl up! So just place the lace over it slowly, pressing firmly as you go.

Once the stencil design is fully covered, you can add a little glue to the edges of the lace to keep it secure in place on the shirt.

You can see in the picture below I lifted the shirt to see the front of it to make sure all the fabric was lined correctly and in place just right. If there are any mess ups.. just slide your hand in a fix them. If it looks just right, let the shirt down and let it dry for 24 hours before washing!

I waited about 25 minutes before I flipped the shirt right side out to check it out! 

This is what it should look like from the front!

Now here is the fun part about this new shirt refashion...

Its interchangeable!!

It depends on what color shirt or tank you wear underneath it!

Wear a different color cami underneath it each time you wear it for a new look. :)

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So fun right! :) If you liked this tutorial, let me know what you think.
And if you make one yourself, I would LOVE to see YOUR version of it. :)

Email me a picture or link or even share a photo on my Facebook wall. :)

Much Love & Hugs,

Red Bluff Children Photography - The Gridley Kids!

FINALLY I have made time to upload the new sibling portraits of all my beautiful kids together! :)

Next up will be the outtakes.. which are hilarious... and definitely worth a share!

But since The Hubs and I worked so hard to get these few good ones, I just had to show them off first. 

Check out yesterday's post for a sneak peak at the printed pictures and for a special giveaway!

So these are my kids, Brucey, Kiah & Zander. 

Click the links for their individual portrait sessions.

 Kiah's Outfit & The Boys' Shirts: Target. 

Brucey's Shorts: Walmart 

Zander's Shorts: ?? Hand me downs!

Kiah's Headband: Agape Love Boutique.. yup I made it! :)

This photo is hands down my absolute favorite!!

I love their perfect little smiles, 

I love Zander's arm around Bruce 

and I Love that Bruce is holding Kiahs hand. ♥♥♥

My handsome little boys!!

This photo is very similar to my favorite, and a close second!! 

Little Zan-Man just couldnt keep still... he was SUCH a challenge for us!

Still cute though, of course!

Oh boy, we too SO MANY of these kissing photos... before we got it right. HAHA

I didnt quite get the shot I wanted.. but this was the best of them. ;)

When I look at this photo I am just astonished at how grown up these two look.

Gosh, Kiah is just so gorgeous and Bruce.. man he is HANDSOME.. the spitting image of The Hubs!!

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Gracious, I am just so proud of my kids! 

They are growing up too fast, and I am glad that I finally made time to capture them at this age.

Now I just keep staring at these pictures and smiling. They make me so happy.

I tell you I was slacking before this on recent pictures.. and I hardly had any on our walls!

Well no longer... no more bare walls! 

I am so happy with how these turned out.

Which are your favorites?? ♥

Much Love & Hugs,

A Sneak Peek And A Giveaway!

Im going to be creating a wall gallery of most of the new photos I took of the kids!

I dont have frames for them all yet, and I have not fully decided on a layout for them either.

However I am beyond excited to finally have NEW photos of the kids and HAD to display the ones that were framed so far. So for now they are on our mantel and looking amazing, if I do say so myself! ;)
So in a way this is just a sneak peek at my soon to be wall photo gallery.

 Kiah's Pictures, Brucey's Pictures, Zanders Pictures, Family rules Subway Art Print, Photo on Canvas

See that awesome print there?
Yeah thats a 20x30 print!
And I LOVE it!

Here is a pulled back view of our fire place to give you an idea of just how big it is!

I keep staring up at our mantel with perm-a-grin! So much so that my cheeks hurt!

I am just tickled by how happy I am with these photos, the print and my canvas prints!!!

Here is a look at the other canvas I got from Easy Canvas Prints.

I'll be posting more about the canvas' in a later post. 

But I must say the quality is amazing, they are PERFECT!

Here are a few angle shots, ignore the dust please. I always forget to dust before taking pictures! 

Photos are 8x10, Canvas is 11x14, print is 20x30. 

I cant wait to fill my bare hallway wall with these!

And here is a quick peek at the other photos I had printed, that will be in the wall gallery. 

They are 8x10 and 5x7 sizes.

I just need to get the frames for them. And like I said decide on the layout of the gallery.

Any suggestions?? Ive been collecting inspiration here.
Ive also been getting inspiration from and will be linking up this post over at Kristen Duke decorating with portraits series!

If you have any links to a great wall gallery for inspiration send it my way! :)

So, did that print catch your eye at all?

Its amazing, isnt it?

I first saw this print on pinterest and FELL IN LOVE.

It was perfect! I loved the words, the color, the size.. everything!

So I had to buy it. Like seriously HAD to or I would regret it!

Its going to be perfect along with the kids photos on my wall gallery.

It already looks amazing with them in this quick set up on my mantel!

Right!?
Let's all say it together...
YES, YES it DOES! :)

Well if you like this print as much as I do, then you are in luck!

Because you can possibly be blessed with this very same print 
by entering this giveaway today! Here is how you could win:

RULES:

You must be a public follower of this blog Agape Love Designs. 

It does not count as an entry but is a mandatory requirement to qualify for this giveaway.

This giveaway will run for a week.
It will end October 2nd and winner will be announced ON THE BLOG Monday October 3rd!
Winner will have 3 days to claim the prize or a new winner will be announced!
To enter you must do the first mandatory entry.
All other "extra" entries are completely optional, do them only if you want to up your chances of winning. :)

Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry that you complete!

MANDATORY ENTRY:

1.) Visit Alexander Creative's Etsy Shop and add it to your favorites.

Let me know your etsy user name. :)

EXTRA ENTRIES:

2.) Visit Alexander Creative Facebook page and leave him comment letting him know
@Agape Love Designs & Photography sent you!

3.) Follow Ryan Alexander on Twitter and

Let him know that @mariagridley sent you!

4.) Become a fan of Agape Love On Facebook, or let me know you already are one! :)

5.) Blog about this giveaway

6.) Tweet Tweet  about this giveaway (tag @mariagridley and @dralexander)

7.) Link on facebook, be sure to tag me so I know you did so


 ~♥~♥~♥~
Much Love & Hugs,

Fun Giant Crayon Photography Props! {Thursday Things I Love}

Today on Thursday Things I Love, I would like to share with you my love of the Dollar Tree!!

Ive done several projects from dollar tree items and I love all the great items they have there.

The possibilities are endless, and for only a dollar.. you just cant beat that.

I love that they have a great craft section too.

But I always take my time at that store, I look ALL around that store, in every isle and section.

You just never know what you can find and what you can use and what you can create.

So while I was there just last week, in the kids toy section I happened upon these GIANT crayon "piggy" banks. I HAD to have them! I KNEW instantly that they would be WONDERFUL photography props! And I am always on the look out for great props on the cheap.

So I took some quick test photos of Zander (cause he got a new hair cut) to see how they look.

They are so fun! The only thing is you need to be sure to have them a certain way so that

the money slot isnt showing. But then of course, you can always edit that if you're handy with the clone stamp in any photo editing program. See the before & after:

Now to make these pictures even more fun, take pictures with lots of extra space to "write" something. I used this free font called lipstick traces. Click the link to download this font!

Simply use the color picker to grab the color of the crayon and then write with the special font, 

and it looks like coloring on the wall! So fun right!

Zander definitely had fun with the giant crayons, and I just think they look so cute!

Im sure we could think of lots of good uses for these crayons in kid photos...

Im thinking announcements, birthday invites, valentines day cards...

So I am excited, a total SCORE at the dollar tree!! 

This is why I love that store so much! :)

And isnt my little Zander bug looking so handsome with his new hair cut!?

I still love his hair when it is long, but The Hubs said he was starting to look like a girl. haha

So he cut it while I was out in my craft room! Sneaky Sneaky!!

What are you loving this week?

You thinkin' bout heading out to the D-Tree (as I like to call it)?

What have you scored at the D-Tree Lately?

Much Love & Hugs,

Hello Kitty Frame Decor & Free Printable!

So as I mention before, I threw my little sisters baby shower last week end.

The theme was a fun one, Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty is so cute and easy to recreate, plus she is SO popular right now.

So it was easy to find Hello Kitty related items to work with.

But I also wanted to add in a few hand made, one of a kind items for the decor.

Check out these easy peasy Hello Kitty frames I made!!

Cute right? :) 

Well Im gonna give you the simple how to, as well as a free printable to fill the frame.

SUPPLIES:

~WHITE FRAMES

I bought these white frames 3 for 2.50 in the dollar section and Tarjay.

~Red or Pink Ribbon

~Scissors

~Glue Gun

Get your ribbon and make your bows!

Make the knot tight, so it wont unravel. 

I also used a lighter to heat seal the ends to prevent fraying.

Then simply hot glue your bow to the top corner of your frame!

I decided to use pink and red, since you see Hello Kitty in those two colors the most,

and also because Red, White and Pink were Sammy's Theme colors.

Once all the frames were made I simply created a printable of just Hello Kitty's eyes and nose.

Which is really just 3 ovals! Totally easy! I printed them as 4x6 at walmart for .15 cents each!

I would have even printed them at home if my printer wasn't broken. :( But .15 cents isnt bad. :)

Add prints to frame and viola'!! 

You have yourself adorable little Hello Kitty frames for your decor!

I made them to set on the tables for the baby shower, but the good thing about them is that they will also double as decor for baby Audrina's nursery! :)

Told ya this was easy! :)

And if you want to create these for a Hello Kitty party YOU are throwing,

here is the printable I created:

(double click to bring to full size, then save to your computer)

I totally love how these turned out! :)

And I still have a few more fun Hello Kitty projects I did for the baby shower to share with you!

So stay tuned! :)

Much Love & Hugs,

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