Friday Favorites// Independence Day

 Independence Day kinda sneaked up on me.... I wish I had thought about sewing some patriotic pillows and decorating my mantle accordingly. The least I can do is be inspired by other people's creative ideas! Here are some of my favorite I cam across that seamed simple to do!

Left: Mason Jars, Flag Fruit & Banner

Middle: Chalk Board & Bottle

Right: Kids Craft, Painted Pillow, Fruit

Sodear reader: How do you celebrate Independence Day? If you are not from the U.S. does your country hae/do something similar?

3 Ideas to Wrap Gifts with Packing Paper

On Sunday I was not only Mother's Day but I also was invited to a "double" birthday party. I had to wrap a gift for my mom, for a 11 year old and a 1 year old. The only wrapping paper I had....packing paper. So I tried to figure out how I could make packing paper work for 3 totally different people.

I thought all three look simply adorable. 

Do you like this style to wrap gifts?

Creative Gift Wrapping Tutorial

Among my friends I am known to wrap my gifts in special ways. I really dislike gift bags because they are just too easy. I love wrapping my gifts yet not always the same ole way every time.

So today I decided to share with you one way I wrap my gifts very often....with this cute little "fan" on top. It's pretty simple to do and since the pictures explain it pretty well I didn't add any explanations but if you do have a question just leave a comment. ☺

How do you like to wrap your gifts?

Simple Christmas Card Tutorial // Video

Today I want to share with you HOW I made my Christmas Cards this year. I like making my own....but lots of cutting and gluing is tedious and I just didn't have time. Well and I didn't have any Christmas paper.

I showed you 2 of my cards Monday and today I share how I made one of them:

Simple, huh?

'Hootiful' & Best Gift // Christmas Cards

Who's ready for Christmas coming up really soon? I am super late this year....but I do creating my own Christmas Cards! So Saturday I sat down and made these two designs....

Which one do you like best?

Also, have you bought your customized Christmas design yet? Go HERE....and order really quick!

Short Dress to Pretty Shirt

When I saw this I fell in love...the colors, the print...beautiful BUT it was far from my modest guidlines and it just sat a bit to snug. So what did I do?

I made it into a shirt....and here is how:

#1- I removed the zipper from the dress carefully

#2 - I sewed down the back where I had removed the zipper

#3- I used a shirt that fit me well as a guideline to how to sew it.

#4- I cut out the sleeve area off the sides, cut how long the shirt should be and cut out the neckline

#5- I decided to keep it sleeveless and pinned down the arm area.

#6- I took of a strap and used it to bind the neckline.

You're done!

Did you order a Christmas cards yet? You don't want to get them out late! ☺

Tutorial: Blouse to ruffle Pillow

Patrick's mom has these two beautiful rose colored chairs in her music themed living room. When I saw this blouse I knew it had to become a pillow for one of those chairs. It has the same color pinkish flowers, nice cream & grey color accents and little note bars on there.....so the blouse when home with me.

Finally I sat down to make it. I wanted it to be simple but add some charm....the ruffles. I knew the buttons in the front would become the opening on the back of the pillow case.

OK, so lets get started.

Use a pillow to see how big/small you want it.

Cut left and right the same width. The back of the PILLOW will be cut square. The front of the PILLOW we will cut as longer in order to have the ruffles in the front. The longer the material the more "ruffely".

Pin your edges together. I did not have a lot of material so I pinned each of my ruffles.

Sew one time around.

You're done!

Pretty Simple....a pillow case done in 20 minutes!

Let me know if you made one & shared it on your blog. I can add the link here!

How to Add Clickable Links to Blog Comments

So today I am sharing with you a sweet little trick I learned a few months ago. 

We all leave comments. It's a proven fact....comments bring new people to our blog. Many of you, like I used to, leave your blog URLs like this www.thebluebirdhouse.blogspot.com. The problem is the only way someone will visit is if they copy and past your URL. 

People are lazy and don't do it.

Soooooooooooooo...

Today I want to share with you the secret of leaving CLICKABLE links!!

Are you ready?

<a href="http://thebluebirdhouse.blogspot.de/">The Blue Birdhouse</a>

Yep, that's it! Not complicated.

<a href="http://YOUR URL">Your Blog's Name</a>

Try it out and leave me your blog's link!

Design a Blog Button with a Picture

Today I want to show you a quick and simple way to design a blog button with one of your pictures. First off you need to go to PicMonkey.com a free & awesome photo editing site.

1) Upload your picture & make it light and beautiful.

2) Cut your picture to the site you want....square it a great choice or a slim rectangle.

3) Add a frame to give you picture more pop and definition

4) You can write directly on the picture but adding a a strip makes the letters easier to read when the button is very small.

5) Write your blog or link up's name

6) Upload it to your host....I use photobucket.com

If you have any questions leave me a comment and I'll answer!

Refashion: Making a Too Big Sweater Fit

Take a sweater that fits and cut off what's too big....don't forget to add extra for the seam.

I really like this soft pink sweater now....especially the ruffled sleeves. ☺