It's Costume Time!

We've passed the halfway point of September and that means it's time for Halloween costumes!  Now I know you've been browsing online prices, in store options and have seen hundreds of costumes on Pinterest. Do you love the ideas on Pinterest but can't find anything suitable in stores?  Do retail prices depress you?  If you answered yes them please imagine there are bright flashing lights and words that say "LOOK NO MORE!!!!" 

Seriously. I adore making tulle costumes. Peacocks, cats, witches, princesses, characters, superheroes and so much more!  Do you want to see some of my work?

From the top left; Alice in Wonderland (child's), Cinderella (adult), Queen of Hearys (adult), Little Red Riding Hood (child's), Rainbow Brite, and My Little Pony. 

I've also done so many more and am working on new ones for this season!  And tutu costumes aren't just for Halloween!  We can also do Santa, Snowmen, Elves, and holiday movie themes as well!  (Nightmare Beore Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc). 

The best part is that these costumes are 100% customizeable and durable enough to last through the holiday and endless playtime after!  

Be sure to contact me via facebook (www.facebook.com/creativecuties) or email (creativecuties.sc@gmail.com) for pricing and customization. And remember, all my costume prices include any hair flair/headpieces, and accessories (wings, wands, etc) and can typically be completed within ten days of payment. Coordinating treat bags available at small additional fee. I look forward to hearing from you! 

Apron Tutorial

So thanks to a number of factors, I happen to have an extra men's dress shirt lying around that my Medic can't wear. So I decided to turn it into an apron and show you how!  Now there are many tutorials online that show how to make this, but I don't happen to have all of those links readily available for you. Any duplication of their wording or "steps" is coincidental and unintentional. 

So, do you have a ton of dress shirts laying around that don't fit your husband/boyfriend, dad, grandfather or even son anymore?  Turn it into an apron!  I've alway heard "waste not, want not" and this up cycle is a great way to reuse something. So what do you need?

-men's dress shirt

-scissors

-needle and thread (or sewing machine)

-ruler

-straight pins

Now what do you do?

Well, you start with a dress shirt like this:

Then you cut the sleeves and back off. Trim as close as you can to the collar, like so:

When you stand and look at your shirt, this is what you should see:

Now we need to shape the apron. I used a seamstress tape measure but anything with a straight edge will work (ie cutting board, ruler, piece of paper, etc). Lay your straight edge on top of the shirt from armpit to shoulder. 

Because I don't have a rotary cutter, I drew a line to mark what I needed to cut. 

Cut along your line, and flip piece you've just cut onto other side to ensure they're even. 

Draw a line and cut section away. Now you have the basic apron. It's time to make it fictional. For straps you have several options. You can use ribbon, or even a different fabric for a unique look. I opted to use the back of the shirt and cut strips for my ties.

Now it's time to pin all out rough edges. 

I pinned one end of the tie straps so they would have a more finished look. 

Now you can thread your needle, or drag out your machine. I opted for machine. Isn't mine pretty??

I started by sewing my straps first 

Then once they were sewn I did this frustrating thing:

Once they were turned the right way, I pinned them to the inside of the apron. 

Time to sew it all. 

Once all the rough edges were sewn, I trimmed all strings and overhang of fabric. (Because I'm that girl). But once that was completed I had my very own apron!

Many thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration. (Even if those directions are in Russian). Now if I can just find more unwanted dress shirts I can show you how I turned one into a dress for Munchkin!!

🌸Jenny🌸

Another recommendation

Since you guys don't seem too interested in what I'm doing I thought I would once again make an entry on something I saw on Facebook or Pinterest and tried for myself. So here goes:

Hardwood floor polish. Yes. Hardwood floor polish. Our home is hardwoods throughout aside from the bathroom and lichen of course. But I saw this thing on Facebook, about a recipe for a hardwood floor polish concoction. So I figured why not. This is the recipe:

I made the following changes:  I don't know about the rest of you, but olive oil is expensive!!!!  I can't afford to just toss it on my floors. So I use a different type of oil. Also, I did not have lemon juice in a bottle. But I did have lemons. (Yes, I'm THAT mom). So there I am, literally squeezing lemons in my kitchen and realize three lemons only yielded about one quarter of a cup. So I squeezed a few lines. I thought 'citrus is citrus'. Anyway. I put the oil and lemon/lime juice into my bucket and added very hot water. Then I sloshed it around win my mop. I wrung it out well as stated in the image and began to mop. I mopped all of the hardwood floors in the house and once the floor was dry, snapped an 'after' picture. (Don't worry. I took a 'before' picture as well) This is what I ended up with:

The before picture was taken with natural lighting, and the after was snapped with the overhead light on. But you get the general idea. It is something that I may make a monthly routine but I will need a second mop. This is why:

There are things these Pinterest and  Facebook posts don't tell you. Enter Jenny. 

1) mix concoction well or it will look like you're just swabbing oil into your floor

2) it takes forever to rinse the oil out of your mop so perhaps you use a second mop entirely for polish

3) the bucket will be oily when you're finished. Dawn dish detergent gets the bucket clean. If you can remove your mop head, toss it in the washer alone and add baking soda to your detergent. It helps. 

If you have a better remedy to keep hardwood floors looking awesome, let me know!!!!!!

Oh, I you want something else reviewed just give me a shout. I love this stuff. 

A few of my favorite things

So, I was introduced to a talented woman named Heather through an auction I participated in. (www.facebook.com/adoorablewreathsbyheather)

She is amazing. And offering so many wonderful thing. Seriously. Lets talk rhinestones. I'm good with them on shoes, bouquets, bow organizers, etc. but a badge reel?  No. But Heather. She can do anything. I was the gracious recipient of a free reel for participating in a giveaway she held. (I paid shipping) oh my goodness it's beautiful!!

See. It's wonderful. And I'm so excited for it to arrive. But that's not all she can do. Her newest product is flamed cell phone cases. Now. You've seen glam, but you haven't seen "Heather glammed". And she can do anything. 

She's clearly a Texans fan but can do practically anything your mind can conjure. Heather hosts multivendor auctions quite frequently and the creativity you'll find on her page (A-Door-Able Wreaths by Heather) is endless an astounding. So when you stop by, be sure to tell her I sent you as enjoy her wonderful things. 

Oh...and her wreaths?  They're awesome. 

July is half over?

Yes. Sadly 2013 is zooming by. I'm not certain to what level it is speeding for you all but for me it is rapid. I seems as if time passes more rapidly these days. Or perhaps I'm just an old lady now. :). 

I wanted to post a tutorial today but no one mentioned anything that they would like to see. So instead, later tonight once my Munchkin is in bed I will post about a favorite product of mine. 

And just in case anyone is actually reading my blog, of you visit the Facebook page and place an order, mention this entry and you'll receive free item with purchase AND discounted shipping rate! 

www.facebook.com/creativecuties 

Dog Days of Summer

It's hot. Summer is in full swing and who doesn't love being outside in the heat?  Most people use summer time to soak up nature's vitamin D, enjoy time with friends and relish in the beauty of the outside world. I bet some of you take your dogs outside with you. Did you ever ask them if they're too hot?  (If you did, did they answer??). My point is that even the fur children in our lives get hot and sweaty. So how do we cool them off and get them to feel like this:

?????

Well, it simple. You Frost Them. Little Dehlia's Frosty Collars are a wonderful New England based company with the most creative design to cool our pups. The owners and designers, Andy and Annie have come up with the most genius idea yet. COOLING COLLARS. Yes. Cooling collars. In a variety of patterns and sizes, this patent pending design is top notch and will keep your furry baby happy in the sun. What do they look like?  Well, like this:

Are those the only patterns?  Nope. Multiple sizes and patterns are available. Even for the patriotic pup in your life

I don't know about the rest of you, but here in the southeast it gets HOT. Add in three long haired dogs like mine and you need Little Dehlia's Frosty Collars in your life by your pups will love you even more for it. So how do you get them?  It's so easy and awesomely simple. Visit www.frostycollars.com

You'll find all the product information, images, products in stock for sale an much more. Social media site links so you can follow their Etsy and Facebook feeds too!  So go, visit Little Dehlia's Frost Collars and let your pups chill. 

A Delightful Dessert

The sweetly talented Ms. Tiffany Anderson baked a treasure for me!  Her home based business, Delightful Desserts was running a Facebook contest and I won!  Me!  I mean, I never win anything so it never occurred to me that I may actually win. But I did. So we talked about preferences and pickup times. I went today to get my awesome cake and oh. My. Gosh. 

Look at how cute that is. And the flowers are adorable. 

My munchkin was so excited about a purple cake because purple is her favorite color this week.

She was more excited when I sliced it. 

This thing tastes as good as it looks!  I could eat the whole thing if I weren't so concerned with my figure. :) if you're local to the upstate, visit Tiffany and let her know you'd love one of her delightful desserts. www.facebook.com/delightfuldessertsbytiffany

Double Trouble

I title this entry 'Double Trouble' because today marks a wonderful day for Jeanine.  The poor gal was working two full time jobs and raisin four kids so I went from seeing her three days a week to once every three weeks. But yesterday was her final day at her secondary employment which means (drumroll please) I get my bestie time back. :). 

To celebrate today we are headed out to lunch and to pick up a cake from Delightful Desserts. I'll blog about it once its here!  

Seriously, tell me what tutorial you'd like to see next. :-)

Tutorial time!!

Ok guys and dolls, here it is; my tutorial for how to turn your jeans into a cute denim skirt. Now, even after I've told and shown you how to do this, if you still decide you'd rather not try it yourself let me know. I AM available for custom jobs, always. 

Now you know you have a pair of jeans sitting in your closet that are either too short, or the hems are threaded from you walking on them. Or maybe your little one (or your dog) or even you have spilled something on them and they have a stain. You're still holding on to them. I just know it. Well, pull them out and let's get to work!  It's summer time and denim skirts are always in style. Lets transform your old jeans into something fabulous. 

*before I start, please know I'm uploading all this from a mobile device so if the pictures are out of order I do apologize. 

Here's what you'll need:

-jeans

-needle and thread

-scissors

-straight pins

~Put the jeans on and mark where you'd like the skirt to fall. Take them off, lay them flat and cut the legs off. Set them aside for later use. 

~Once the legs have been cut off, it's time to cut out that pesky inseam. (Note: you can leave the extra denim there if you have a seam ripper. I do not, so I cut it off. It makes no impact on the look of the skirt). Now your skirt should lie flat. 

~You will notice that more material is missing from the front than the back. (Jeans have more material in the back for our booties). This isn't a big deal. Just lie them out and cut so the missing material is even. Now into the legs.....

~Take the legs of the denim and cut them in half so that the leg is open.  Cut again. Use the leg of the denim to fill the space missing from the front and back of your skirt. Pin into place. Now comes the fun part....

I hand sewed the denim into the triangle shaped space and removed the pins. Then I pulled out my sewing machine just to reinforce it. If you have mad skills at hand sewing you can just do that. If you have a sewing machine you can just use your machine. It's up to you. I used brown and blue threads for a contrast but again, that is your choice. Once it attached, turn the skirt inside out and trim the excess denim away. Don't worry about the rough edge on the exposed side of the skirt. It will be frayed. Now what about that hem??

~ I'm not going to lie, hemming things is not my specialty, and I personally like the look of a frayed edge. But how do we make that happen? It's all about the wash. Seriously. Wash it and dry it. When it comes out of the washer you will notice long strings. Don't worry about those yet. Once it is dried, bring out your scissors again and trim those long white and blue threads away. You're left with a soft frayed hem and contrast on the exposed surfaces where you sewed the denim

Get creative with it!  Use a contrasting or patterned fabric instead of denim in the   triangular space. If you don't like a frayed hemline, sew on a lace trim!  The possibilities are endless. 

One more fun thing for you. I've noticed that patterned denim is all the rage this season. But did you know you can do it yourself at home?  It's so easy!  Lay your denim out and draw on it with a bleach pen. Seriously it is that simple. I don't have a bleach pen but I do have bleach and q-tips. I used those items to add polka dots to a scrap of denim to show you how quick it can be!  

Remember, be safe with your project. Keeps scissors, needles, bleach and other grown up products out of reach of children. 

My apologies

It's been a busy two months since I last posted!  My munchkin is now potty trained, I'm a full time college student, and of course there is regular business to attend to. This is however, no excuse for my silence and I apologize. I have worked on some amazing things lately and am happy to share them with you all. 

So what is everyone doing this summer? We don't have any trips planned, but that doesn't mean we won't take any. My guy is finishing up with school in a few days and will have more free time. I think when he tests in July for his certification, I will throw him a congratulatory cookout/party.  He and his classmates have worked hard for the last year. I hope to expose you all to some wonderful crafters and bakers soon because I have made great friends and connections. 

Don't forget I'm still donating to charities each month on behalf of all my wonderful clients. Comment below to let me know why exciting things you'd like to see. And be sure to tune in tomorrow, when I post a tutorial on turning old jeans into a cute skirt!

Administrative Assistants Week

It's coming soon. April 21-27. CCB&G can take care of all your gift needs. We specialize in everything from custom bracelets to gift baskets! You give us a budget and we will create a gift your admin assistant will adore!

Vintage

I found some antique lace. I made this. I took a picture. It's here for your viewing pleasure. :-). Lace is hot hot HOT this season, and we can meet all your lacy needs! Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/creativecuties and follow us on twitter @CCBG_SC for awesome deals!

Through the weekend all of our RTS (ready to ship) items are 30% off! Sale end at midnight on 3/30/13

Look what I can do

These are replacement silicone covers for your otter box (iPhone 4/4s). Colors available are colors shown but the best part is that you get the opportunity to glam them up!!!!! Visit the page; new things are happening

Easter baskets

Good morning and happy Friday to you all! A few happy notes- first I'm a featured vendor with Bella photo so you should check out their blog (link on the FB page). Second, lots of new items in the inventory or listed at special introductory pricing. It's hard to pass up those deals.

Thirdly I know there is an untapped market out there just waiting to love my goods. If you know where they are send them to me! Lol. My newest venture is to tap into the consignment boutique market. That's going to be good fun. :). Happy weekend to you all!

Introductory Pricing

The items you see pictures below are images and ideas found on Pinterest. (That place is both heaven and hell for me). I like these three things and can recreate them with a snap of a finger. (And a bit of sewing and gluing and trimming and painting and...well, you get the point). Because these are not MY images, I can't (in good conscience) say 'oh look what I can so for you'. So because I really want to make them and add my own spin to it YOU get the best deals. The first five orders of each item will receive "introductory pricing". This means that you're barely going to pay much over supplies cost. We're helping each other. You're helping me to customize and embellish on an idea and I'm helping you to (very) affordably decorate and accentuate your home. Now that being said you all know my prices are more than fair-so don't think that the price will triple once introductory pricing is over. :-) I love my fan and clients and will be forever fair. So that being said, who wants to order some goodies?!?!?!?!?

Wreath Sale!!

All Easter themed wreaths are on sale through 3/17/13. I can customize them for you in just about any size and material you'd like.

Photography Deals

Sarah Holder of Sarah Holder Photography is offering a great deal for our clients! With any purchase from CCB&G of ten dollars ($10) or more, you'll receive $20 off a photography session with her! Share the love and tell your friends.

**offer not valid on the mini session Sarah Holder Photography is hosting on Saturday, March 16, 2013

Pettiskirts are swirly twirly fun

I should know. I'm a girl. And I have a toddler that loves to twirl in hers. And two nieces that constantly twirl in theirs. Pettiskirts are the perfect swirly twirly fun. Order yours soon so that your princess can enjoy them as well! Your color choices and combinations are practically endless. They can be made in practically any size and length and prices start at $45 shipped! Contact us today to make one for you! Photogs seeking photo props, please email or call for package pricing.

Clarifications

After waking up to a VERY rude email, I feel that I should (once again) lay out the policies of my store and the way I operate. Please know that your orders are so important to me and it gives my life extra meaning to be able to bring your ideas and visions to reality. That being said, these orders are (most of the time) customized. That means that I will likely have to buy supplies to create what you desire. I am a SAHM. Your orders are my only source of income. I don't have any money to create your things until you've paid me for them. My store policies note states that my turnaround time is ten to fourteen days. This is ten to fourteen days from the time you pay me. I won't always ask for the full payment up front. But please keep in mind that if I have charged you twenty dollars for an item, chances are it is costing me sixteen to make it. The other four dollars are going into shipping and gas to get your supplies. If I tell you that your last minute changes incur an additional cost, this is why.

Please also know that if you see some of my prices have increased it is because materials have increased in cost. As I said above, I don't make any profit off your items. You may note a discrepancy between Etsy prices and Facebook. This is because Etsy charges me to list things while Facebook does not.

Thank you for being a fan and a customer. I adore each of you, for you give me fun things to do with my days. Be sure to subscribe to our blog and Twitter feeds. We'll be participating in lots of events this summer and would love to meet you all face to face!

Oh Baby

How fabulous are these mobiles?!?!? It's one of our new deco lines. We're currently working on a pink version for a family expecting their third child, but their first girl. Having only a girl I feel like a tiny pro on baby girls' decor. Although, truthfully I'm not a pro. Just creative at times. Either way, these are adorable and I wanted to share them with you!