Advice, please?

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about different ways I can make the blog a little more appealing.
I have a few ideas up my sleeve, but I wanted to ask you, my favorite reader, what you think would help improve the blog.

Would you like to see some posts that aren't just about me, me, me? Maybe some cool crafts that I find that are inspirational?

Would you like more giveaways?

Do you think I need a button for your side bar?

Should I update daily? Even if I don't have a craft to share daily? Meaning, I'll be writing random thoughts, quotes, anything...As long as it's craft related.

Please let me know what you're thinking! I need some major advice. I want this blog to be a fun place for all of us crafters.

What's for Dinner?

My husband and I have been trying harder to meal plan. So far, it's saved us a lot of money knowing what we're going to eat before we go shopping.

Of course, the ripped paper on the fridge just didn't do it for me. So, I cam up with this (sorry, another paper craft):



We absolutely love it! It's so easy to write on with a dry erase marker and change them if I need to. No more crossed out dinners on my fridge list!

It was a cinch to make! I just took a piece of glass I had from an old frame, and mod podged (I love mod podge) letters and paper to the back. Then, I glued buttons on for the days. I wish I would have been borrowing the cricut still, because little written out week day names would have been cute. Oh well!

Freaky Friday- Fireflies and Jelly Beans

I am so excited to be participating in my second Freaky Friday! You all are seriously in for a good one today! Fawnda from Fireflies and Jelly Beans is here! She's darling, and I am so glad I got to get to know her a little bit better! So, without further ado, here she is!
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Hello, I am so happy to be swapping with this A-DORABLE blog!

Erika does the best crafts huh?!

Let me introduce myself:

I'm Fawnda from Fireflies and Jelly Beans, a little DIY craft blog I co-author with my best friend Jeannine!


Here is a little bit about me:
I am a SAHM (that is a stay-at-home-mom) to a son. We adopted our son from Korea about 10 months ago! He is 19 months old and he is truly a joy and probably one of the cutest kids in the world (right along with yours!). I also tutor High School Math students (Before I became a SAHM I was a math teacher).
My hobbies besides crafting my pants off include:
Reading - I just got done reading the twilight series and loved it! Some of my other favorite books are Harry Potter (all 7 of them!) The Time Travelers Wife (just saw the movie and LOVE it and sobbed at it!)The Princess Bride (Yes it was a book before the movie!)
Watching movies- and than quoting them! Some of my favorite movies are: The Princess Bride, Mr and Mrs Smith, Ocean's 11, Pride and Prejudice
Talking on the phone- I love it... I know I am weird!
Hanging out with my girlfriends -Who doesn't love that?!?!
Here are some of my favorite projects that I have done:
Fabric Covered Barrettes

A Back to School Teacher Gift

Reusable Lunch Bags made from tea towels.

Reusable Snack Bags

A Frame Rehab

When you get a chance stop by Fireflies and Jelly Beans we have lots of fun tutorials, rehabs, recipes, and great ideas!

Thanks Erika for letting invade your blog today! This was so much fun!

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Fawnda, you are too cute. Oops, I Craft My Pants Readers, head on over to Fireflies and Jelly Beans to see my post and also to browse around her cute blog.

Back to School

The other day, my husband and I bought school supplies. Buying school supplies is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Unfortunately, this year, I didn't get to buy the cute notebooks or the awesome pens. We were on a strict school supply budget!

So, instead of sitting around and moping about my too plain notebooks (which cost just 20 cents each, by the way) I decided to cover them with paper and at least try to give them a little personality.



Of course, I couldn't stop there. What about my ugly plain BIC pens? Those got the glue and paper, too. I love how they turned out. I got a lot of compliments on them today at school.





It feels great to see them all finished...And, I love that no one else had matching notebooks with me (I know, I know. I should be paying attention to school and not people's school supplies...But, I can't help myself).

I'm participating in Kimba's DIY day and Hooked on Houses blog party.

And the winner is...

Uhh...Sorry for the spazzy video. I would have re shot it and made it better, but then we wouldn't have had the same winner!
Apparently I have the worst memory ever, what I meant to say in the video was
"Katie, could you please email me your color choice, name you want on the magnet board, and your address?" ...I really don't want you address sent to me twice, I'd rather have your name choice!

Also, sorry it's so bright. The only place outside you could semi-see me was where I sat. The sun was going down, and shining right there so it made it almost impossible to see my white papers. Sorry about that!

A big ginormous thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and became a follower. I love you guys, and wish I could make all of you winners (though, you're all winners in my book...aw...)
Thanks again!

Headbands Gallore

I love wearing headbands. I love shopping for headbands. I love how headbands look. Let's face it, I just love headbands!

So, it's only natural that I would want to make my own, right?

Here's a few I've made so far.





Ready to make some of your own? It's easy! Just grab a glue gun, fabric, buttons, and anything else you want to add to your headband...Then, get started!

I'd love to see your finished headbands!

And remember! The winner of the magnet board will be announced tonight at 7pm!

Alabama give-a-way....give-a-way.

(Apparently I play too much Rock Band 2...)

Anyway, dear blog of mine... Since I am now all settled into my new apartment, I've decided that it's time to resume regular posting. I am so excited about this, you have no idea.

To prove that excitement, I've decided to host my own little giveaway.
A name magnet board (To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to call it! hah) and six magnets!

Here's an example:


If you win, I will customize the top part to say whatever you want! I also have a yellow magnetic board, so red isn't the winner's only option.


To enter:
-Leave a comment! It's as easy as that.
-Want a second entry? Become a follower, then leave another comment saying that you are now following Oops! I Craft My Pants. (If you are already a follower, feel free to enter twice, as well. Remember to post a second comment, though!)
-If you want another entry, blog about this giveaway and link back here to my blog...Then leave another comment.

So folks, that's three chances to win!
Good luck!
Contest ends on Tuesday, August 25 at 7pm (Mountain Time)

(I'm adding this post to Hooked on Houses blog party, Kimba's blog party, and Make Your Monday over at Twice Remembered.)

Free Compact Sewing Machine

My friend told me about this great deal at Brylane Homes, and I just had to share it with you all.

If you buy anything online at Brylane homes (this includes their clearance/bargain items) then you get a FREE compact sewing machine. All you have to do is enter the promo code at check out (you don't add the machine it, it automatically goes in when you enter the code)... How cool is that?

I know with my apartment living, it'll be nice to have a little machine to finish my easy projects with.

So, what did I buy?
The cheapest thing, of course!

I bought a set of four cloth napkins for $2.99. I'm planning to make them into pillows.
Add shipping and handling, and I got

this:

and this:


For $7.99


Here's the website
and the promo code is: BHKCSEW

Check These Guys Out!

Seriously, you are going to want to check these guys out. Everyone on this list is so talented, and definitely worth the time it takes to click!

Artsy Annie

Simply Couture

Vintage Ginger Peaches

A Vision to Remember

Feather's Flights

A Vision to Remember on Etsy
Smitten Blog Design
The Busy Brush

A Ruffle in Time
Knot Sew Crafty

Adorkable Annie
This is My Department
Shop Your Community

China Mommy
China Mommy on Etsy
Flexible Dreams
The 4 Rs



Want to be on this list? Simple! Just donate a $1 or more to Oops! I Craft My Pants, and you'll be on this list for as long this site is around. For more details, see this post.

Another furniture fix-up

My mom gave me this great bookshelf to help us furnish our new apartment.



I loved the shape and the fact that he could live sweetly into a corner. The problem? All the rest of our furniture was black. So, he got a few shades of black paint, some decorations, and wallah. A brand new him.



He now fits snugly right behind our lovely red door. I think he likes it there.
(uh... our dog has a ridiculous amount of toys (and that's not all of them). Try to ignore that part)

Chairs

Apparently it didn't work when I tried to schedule my posts. I'm so sorry.
Good news, though. My husband and I figured out the internet/tv problem in our new apartment, and we should have them both sometime next week.
Do you know how hard it is to not have the internet? It's tough. Really tough. On the other hand, though, I have gotten so much done around my new apartment. hah.

Anyway! On to the chair makeover.

As you all know, my husband and I moved into a tiny (tiny tiny) apartment yesterday. So tiny, that our normal table and chairs (that my mom let us newlyweds borrow last year) wouldn't fit. So, we needed a new table quick (that's another post)...We also needed chairs to go with our new table.

We found them on Craigslist for $4 each. They were far from cute.



After a few coats of black paint, new fabric, and a staple gun, these actually turned out pretty well. Sorry for the bad pictures.





Who knew how fun this project would be? It makes me want to snatch up a million more chairs, just so I can see the process of before and after.

I am definitly hooked on painting furnature these days. Which, is why I am joining the Hooked on Houses blog party. I'm also adding it to Kimba's blog party and the Make Your Monday party over at Twice Remembered.

About

Hey you lovely reader, you! My name is Erika and I am the mind and creator behind this here site.


I started this blog (July 2009) with no real hopes in mind. I'm a serial blogger, and thought that having a place to share my crafts would be fun. I didn't expect to actually have any readers, I just didn't want to clutter my family blog with crafts.

But, as I began writing and crafting for this blog, I completely fell in love... With both the crafting aspect of the site, and with all of the amazing people I've had the opportunity to meet because of it. This blog has quickly become my baby and one of my favorite hobbies.

It's Farm Time!

Here's another one of my quiet book pages. I love this one. I have seen a few farm pages online and I decided that I definitely needed to add a page like that in my book.
Again, I hand sewed everything... I'm not sure why, it just makes me feel so accomplished when I do.



I love the puppets, and hope that they'll provide lots of fun for my cute nephew.


This week (and probably longer, to be honest) is going to be quite crazy with the move and our internet dilemma. Please bear with me. I promise I'll resume to regular posting as soon as it's possible. I'll have new posts hopefully at least twice a week until then, but I can't make any promises about that.
Feel free to continue to comment. I love to hear from my fabulous readers, and I can luckily read comments on my phone.
I can also receive emails with my phone, so if you need to get in contact, don't hesitate to email me at erika(dot)senneff(at)gmail.com.

Um... OUCH!

Oscar (the crafty dog) and I are sad about everything in this post.


My husband and I are moving into a new apartment this Monday. Normally, that would be a happy occasion. As, of course, it was. That is, until we found out that we won't have internet there. Not for a while, at least.
See, we're moving into an old basement apartment. A verrrrry old basement apartment. One that isn't wired at all for cable or internet. I could have cried hearing those words.
This wouldn't be much of a problem if we had the money to get everything wired...But, frankly, we don't have 250+ to spend on wiring alone...Especially for an apartment that isn't going to be ours for more than a year. We'll try to figure something out (internet wise), as we need it not only for my blog, but for school, as well.
Does anyone in Utah have any sweet hookups internet/cable wise? If you do, PLEASE tell me about them. I will reward you, I promise.

With that news came lots of sadness. I just started this blog two weeks ago and I'm not about to just let it die just like that! So, I've devised a plan. I'm going to craft my pants off (more so than usual) from now until Monday, so that I will have a weeks worth of blogs written by the time we move. Then, my cute husband (who is mentioned a lot on this blog) will post them once he gets to work. Isn't he so sweet? I sure think so.

Anyway, as I was crafting my pants off tonight, I decided to use a different hot glue gun than usual. Yeah, I decided to pull out the king of all kings in the glue gun world.

...And my finger paid for it.



OUCH! it gets worse and worse by the second.
(but it was all so so so so worth it)

Fuuureaky Friday

Today is an exciting day for me. I'm participating in my first Freaky Friday ever! Today, Becca from Blue Cricket Designs is guest blogging on my blog, while I'm over at hers! So, without further adieu, here she is!
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Hi all!!! Thanks for letting me invade this Totally Cute blog!!! I too love

CRAFTING my pants off!!!

I'm Becca!!! The gal behind Blue Cricket Design!


I'm proud to be a mom of three girls and married to my High School Sweet heart! My creative mind never allows me to look at the world without discovering new ways to enjoy it! It's impossible for me to see something and not try to figure out how to recreate it, reinvent it or put my own stamp on it! My "To do" list is a mile long at this point!

I'm a sucker for a good Consignment Shop, thrift store or yard sale! The best treasures in life come from others previously loved "junk!" I'm a huge trash to treasure kind of gal!

My arsenal of weapons include my trusty Sewing machine, my Kitchen Aid and a craft room busting at the seams with endless supplies and inspiration

Here are a few of my favorite projects brought to life...

Junk Food Sushi
Canning with Pizzazz

Vintage Pattern Cards

So put your pants back on and come visit me at Blue Cricket Design and see what I've been up to! Project ideas, recipes, sewing how to's, photoshop tutorials, decorating tips,
before and afters, giveaways and more await you!
Come join in on all the fun!

Thanks Erika for sharing your blog audience with me!!! You and your blog rock!!!


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Isn't Becca amazing?
Be sure to check out my post here.

The Bottle Dilemma

My cute husband brought me a plain bottle home the other day. He told me that he had a "vision" of what I could do to it.
To be completely honest-- I didn't have the same vision. In fact, I had no idea what route I was going to go with that plain old bottle.
After lots of urging, Mr. Craft Pants finally talked me into trying his idea out.

First, I Mod Podged some paper onto the bottle. It looked cute, but a little plain. So, I added a bit of twine to it for a little more detail. Still, it looked too plain.
After adding the flower in, I still wasn't happy. There was just too much empty space!
So, I raided the pantry and found some popcorn kernels--But, those were too yellow.

I decided to experiment by mixing the popcorn kernels with a bit of black stain from IKEA. That seemed to do the trick!

Since I am way too impatient, I didn't let the kernels completely dry before putting them into the bottle. This stained the inside of the bottle black a little bit, and I absolutely love it!

Apparently, so did my parents' dogs.





Isn't my husband good at coming up with ideas?

This post is being added to Kimba's Blog Party. Be sure to add your link too so I can drool over your projects.
It's also being added to The Inspired Room's A Beautiful Life party and Hooked On Houses "hooked on..." party.
And last, it's being added to Twice Remembered's Make your Monday party. wo0-hoo.

Glazed Cookies

I saw a recipe for glazed icing here and decided that I definitely wanted to try it out.




Unfortunately, mine didn't turn out nearly as cute. I need a lot more practice, that's for sure.
Add in the fact that I cut out those cookies with the end of a wooden skewer (I couldn't find the cookie cutters) and it was a total disaster.



Oh well...There's always next time, right?

But, for now, peace out. (pretend there isn't a bubble there, so I look cool)


Tip: If you decide to make these, don't use the cookie recipe they suggest at the bottom of the icing recipe. They were gaaaaa-rosssss.

Trying out the Sewing Machine

Do you ever have those days where you just want to sew?

Yesterday was one of those days for me. I couldn't get sewing out of my mind. Which, is so weird considering I am definitely not a sewer. I know how to turn the machine on, and that's about it.

So, I cut some fabric and this is what I came up with. It's not perfect, by any means... But, I am proud of my first real experience with the sewing machine.




There were a few mistakes (i.e. sewing a pin into the flower...Oops!) and a bunch of trial and error. In the end, it turned out alright, don't you think?

I'll be adding cute fabric for the inside soon. I just couldn't figure out which fabric to use. I'll get back to you!

What was your first sewing project? How did it turn out?

Blog Award!

Lindsay over at That's So Cuegly nominated me for my first ever blog award! The Honest Scrap Award.
Woo-hoo! Lindsay, when I read that I was seriously so excited. I'm still all giddy over here. You are one of my favorite craft blogs and I find myself checking your blog constantly for updates. You are too cute (not cuegly, actually CUTE! Head over to her blog to find out what "cuegly" even means.)

Anyway, here are ten honest things about me

1- My husband and I have our own language. I don't know how it happened, but it did. We're weird.
2- I went out of town for two days and missed my dog, Oscar way too much. I really think he's my child.
3- I browse blogs way too often. I love stumbling across a good craft blog. Or, even a good family blog. It makes me feel like a stalker reading those ones, but they are so interesting!
4- I'm unemployed. No one seems to want to hire me around here. It's pretty depressing, but at the same time, it gives me a lot of time to craft and work on this blog.
5- I've been blogging for about a year now over at my family blog (there are lots of secrets over there.)
6- Sometimes, when I'm watching t.v., I accidentally talk to myself (just little things like "ew" or "wow!") It's pretty embarrassing.
7- I feel like a million dollars when I spell check a post and realize that I didn't spell anything wrong. It rarely happens, so when it does, I get really excited.
8- I'm a full-time student double majoring in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education.
9- I am a recovering Diet Coke addict. I haven't had one in over two months. That doesn't mean I don't crave one everyday (like right now) though.
10- Like Lindsay, I don't follow any patterns or tutorials. They're too confusing. I like to learn how to do things using trial and error. My projects feel more my own that way (that's not to say I don't look at tutorials for inspiration, though)

Well, there we have it. My ten honest facts about me.
I'm going to pass this award on to 6 of my favorite craft blogs (even though many of them probably won't see this blog, it's still fun to showcase them, right?)

Blue Cricket Design
She is adorable and I love all her stuff. She'll be blogging here on Friday! You're not going to want to miss out!

Made
I love this blog. She is so talented.

Homemade By Jill
She's amazing. Her quiet book inspired me to make one as well...Even though I don't have children yet. It's that good.

So Happy Together
She has such great style.

Just A Girl
Her mudroom is amazing. Along with everything else on her blog.

Twice Remembered
Her blog is so cute. I love the clothespin makeover.

Dang, that was hard to pick just 6. Especially without my Google Reader open. I wish I could showcase every craft blog I've ever come across that I like. But, that would take entirely too long.

What blogs do you read regularly? Feel free to leave a link in my comments. I'm always looking for more inspiration!