DIY American Flag Pallet Style Sign

Today I'm sharing a cute (and totally easy) American Flag craft that's perfect for your front porch. It's easy, fun and totally festive for 4th of July!

What you'll need:

• 1 - 1x2 Wood Piece 
• Red Paint
• Blue Paint
• White Paint
• 0.75 inch Vinyl Stars (Optional) 
•  12 - 1 1/4 inch screws

Cut 6 -  16 inch pieces and 2 - 9 1/2 inch pieces (these will be for the back.)

Paint your pieces accordingly, use the picture above for reference if you need. Paint BEFORE putting together so that the painting is easier and you don't have to try to paint in between the little cracks. I put mine together first and that was an oopsy! Let paint dry completely and then attach your vinyl stars if you have them. If you don't have vinyl stars, you can paint them on now and let dry.

Once dry, lay your 16 inch pieces down about 1/4 inch apart this will give it the pallet effect. Attach your 2 - 9 1/2 inch pieces to the back to keep your flag together. Like so:

Your flag is all ready to adore! I hope you love yours as much as I love mine!

 

 

DIY Felt Minions - Free Printable Pattern

So.. Call me cheap, but I wanted minion balloon weights but I didn't want to pay $11 each for a minion stuffed animal at the store so I decided to make my own out of felt. These are for my son's 3rd birthday party. This is a fun project that can do for your kids for a birthday party for decoration or WITH them just for fun (just use Elmer's glue instead of a hot glue gun.)

Free Printable Here: http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm174/shandyhayden6/Minion%20Printable_zps7wgf4ham.jpg



What you'll need:

Felt: Yellow, Black, Gray and Blue
Hot Glue Gun or Elmer's Glue if your toddler is helping
Wiggley Eyes
Pattern
Sewing Pins (For pinning your pattern to the felt for easy cutting.)
Polyfil (Stuffing)
Fabric Scissors
Pattern (Printer to print it) Get the pattern here: http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm174/shandyhayden6/Minion%20Printable_zps7wgf4ham.jpg

Step 1.
Cut out all your pattern shapes in the appropriate colors. Pin your pattern to your felt to make this step easier.
Body - Yellow
Arms - Yellow
Gloves - Black
Boots - Black
Goggles - Gray
Overalls - Blue

Step 2. Glue Overall Straps like so and then place the overalls over the straps and glue down.

 

Step 3. Put the strap for the goggles on and glue down. Next glue the gray circle for the goggles and then add a dab of hot glue to the wiggly eye and glue down as well. 

Step 4. Glue your 2nd yellow body piece to the back of your minion and glue your yellow arm piece to your hand to look like the minion is wearing gloves. When gluing your 2nd yellow body piece to the back, leave holes for the boots, hands and in the top so you can stuff it with polyfil.

Step 5. Glue your hands and boots on. Fill with polyfil and then glue the top closed. You're done!

If I Know What Love Is... (FREE 8x10 PRINTABLE)

A friend posted this quote the other day and it resonates so much with me. I loved it so much, I NEEDED to find a place for it in my house. Being a wife and mother is a blessing and the love that you feel is the greatest love in the world. It's indescribable, I can't even put it into words, not even if  I had a million years to try. I wanted to put this somewhere to remind myself of that love and how lucky I am to have it. I am a better person because of my husband and children's love. I will be a better person today, tomorrow and always because I have them to show me what love really is. Cherish your loved ones and tell them you love them and tell them often. 

Download the free printable below. I like to print mine on card stock on the "photo" setting for the best results. Enjoy!  

  http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm174/shandyhayden6/If%20I%20Know%20What%20Love%20Is...._zpsonwxwgm0.jpg

4th of July DIY - 2x4 USA Flag

I don't usually decorate tons for 4th of July but I've been on a crafting spree lately. This is one of a handful that I've done in the last few days. The best part is, it cost less than 10 bucks to make! Super simple and so cute. 

Cut list: 

2 - 7 inch 2x4's 

2 - 3 inch 2x4's 

2 - 3 inch 2x4's 

Other supplies: 

Ribbon of your choice (I just used some I already had laying around from Christmas) 

Red Craft Paint - I used True Red

Blue Craft Paint - I used True Blue 

White Craft Paint  

Sand Paper 

Paint your blocks.. Your 3 inch blocks will be blue. You will have 1 red 7 inch block, 1 red 3 1/2 inch block, 1 white 7 inch block and 1 red 3 1/2 inch block. Once you've finished painting let sit for 1-2 hours to be sure they are dried completely. Once dry, sand the edges to give it a distressed look, wrap a ribbon around and tie in a bow. Add your star (I used vinyl that I cut, but you could easily paint the star on with the white paint you've got. And now you're finished! So cute and so festive! Xo 

Father's Day DIY - Father/Son Hammers

I was wracking my brain recently trying to think of THE BEST gift for my husband this year for Father's Day.. Yes, I know. He will see this... YES, I gave him his gift early.. I COULDN'T help myself!! I'm no good at surprises. I wanted it to be meaningful so I thought of things that my son and husband love to do together. My son loves helping my husband "build" things he's 2 1/2 so he's not really much help, but he sure tries! I wanted this to be something they could use together (in the future of course.) So I made them a father and son hammer set. This was super simple and took all of 30 minutes to finish. To make it extra special, I added a pic of my hubby and son building something together!

This ones pretty self explanatory; All you need is 2 hammers and some vinyl, I cut the vinyl myself with my silhouette but if you don't have a silhouette or a cricut you could easily use a sharpie! I bought a regular sized hammer for my husband and a mini sized hammer for my son. I applied the vinyl to the handle and used mod podge to secure it. Voila! There you have it. 

Banana Bread Muffin Recipe & FREE PRINTABLE Muffin Toppers

Today I'm sharing a super easy banana bread muffin recipe. If I can do this recipe ANYONE can. This is by far the yummiest banana bread recipe I've ever tried. You can thank me later! I'm also sharing the FREE PRINTABLE for these cute muffin toppers so you can dress these up and surprise your stud muffin! I'm including a printable for 4th of July as well since it's coming up soon in case you're needing a treat to bring to a get together!

Ingredients:

3-4 Very Ripe Bananas (Peeled)
1/3 Butter, Melted
3/4 Sugar (You can use more or less depending on your preference)
1 egg, beaten 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a mixing bowl, mash your ripe bananas with a fork until they are smooth. Next, stir your melted butter into the mashed bananas. Stir in baking soda, salt, sugar, egg and vanilla. Once that's mixed well, add your flour.

Batter will be a little on the thicker side.. Carefully pour your batter into your muffin tins until each cupcake liner is halfway full. Bake for 20 minutes or until you stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool.

These are so much faster to bake than a loaf and they are the perfect size for an on the go snack! Enjoy!

You can download the printable cupcake muffin toppers below. Just print, cut out and tape to a toothpick, stick them in and you're finished! Have fun and let me know if you loved the recipe by leaving a comment below. :)

Stud Muffin Toppers : http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm174/shandyhayden6/Stud%20Muffin%20Toppers_zpsgbdhnxrc.jpg

 4th of July Toppers : http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm174/shandyhayden6/4of%20July%20Muffin%20Toppers_zpshg9ftdrf.jpg

Summer Lovin'

You know what I love? Summer.. Every. Single. Thing about it! Sitting on the deck, sippin on some coffee, listening to the birds sing.. You know what else is awesome? Listening to my son run around laughing and playing.. OUTSIDE without electronics, happy as can be. THAT'S the best.

You know what else I love? Free stuff.... I've yet to meet someone who doesn't ALSO love free stuff. If you're that person, well then we can't be friends. Just kidding, we can be friends and you can pretend you like the free stuff and just give it to me. I'll pay you in friendship. Anyway, that brings me to my next point.. Which brings some of my favorite things together; free stuff, home decor and summer... I put together this super cute Summer Subway Art printable and here it is, for you, for FREE, ready to print and frame. Enjoy!!

Click here to download: http://s296.photobucket.com/user/shandyhayden6/media/Summer%20Printable%20-%20PB_zpsn53jkr6n.jpg.html