I love Nirvana.  Really really love them.  I'm still sad that Kurt left so soon.  He was such a musical genius.  Anyhoo, this is for my 2 yr old niece, Emma.  The shirt was white and I dyed it with some Rit powdered dye, which dyed very unevenly.  This would've made me angry, but it works out well for this kind of shirt, I suppose.  Done with freezer paper and my favorite bleach stenciling technique.

I made this for my daughter's BFF.  Her birthday party is tomorrow and this is her present.  I think it came out pretty cute, but this stencil was a bitch to do.  Lots and lots of little tiny pieces to keep.  Hope she likes it!

I say "how-to" because it's so easy that I felt funny calling it a recipe.  Also, call me juvenile, but at the age of 29, the word "balls" still makes me giggle.  Moving on........  I call these chocolate balls, but some people call them "White Trash Truffles".  I take issue with that, because what the heck is white trash about oreos, cream cheese, or chocolate chips?

Here's what you need: Regular size package of Oreos (15 oz?-3 sleeves), 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese, medium size package of chocolate chips (1 lb, I believe):



Using a mini-chopper, food processor, blender, whatever, smash the crap out of all of the oreos.  For real.  There shouldn't be any white part visible when you're done (every time I make these and I get to the part where there's no white stuff left in the oreo crumbs, I think "how mysterious......").  Anyway, toss that in on top of your softened cream cheese, like so:



Using your hands, mix those 2 things up until you have a dough, like this:



Next, make 1-inch balls with the dough.  I use a foil covered pan to put them on cause it makes for easier clean up.  Now, you have this:



Refrigerate those for an hour.

Melt your chocolate chips.  You can use a double boiler, but I used the microwave method given on the back of the bag.  Roll each ball in the melted chocolate till it's completely covered, then place it back on your pan.  When they're all done, refrigerate for another hour.

Then, you have this:



I ended up with 45 total, but the kiddies had already gotten to them before I artfully arranged them to take a picture.

The inside of one:

\

You will not BELIEVE how good these are!!!!  Store them in the refrigerator and take them out right before serving.  You can also just eat them straight out of the refrigerator.  That's a personal preference thing.  On a side note, I packed some up for my husband to take to work and he was in a rush and forgot them.  I called him, specifically so I could ask "Hey, did you know you forgot your BALLS???" and then laugh like an idiot.

Also, maybe people call them "White Trash Truffles" because your nails look like this when you're done:




Try them!!!  They're super easy and sooooo sooooo good!!

TOOT TOOT!!!!

I tried a new bleach stenciling technique and it worked out really well.  Basically, I used the Bleach Gel Pen and I squirted some out on a plate and just used it as if it were paint.  Then, using a paint brush, I "painted" just inside the lines of my stencil to try to get as little as possible on the freezer paper (to prevent any bleeding).  This was a Christmas present for my husband and he really likes it!  Oh, and the font is intentionally very raggedy looking.  The name of it is "Mailbomb".



Close up on the whole shirt:



Close up on the dude:

[last week]

Ok, I've made most of these for Christmas presents.  All but the Boondock Saints one were made in the last week.  I'm tired!  All of them were done with freezer paper and acrylic paint unless otherwise stated.

First, these are both for my husband, not for Christmas, just cause:

Boondock Saints (done a couple months ago and both words are the same color-there's just a glare on the bottom one)


The Get Up Kids (which my husband accidentally prematurely washed, but it gave it some cracking that makes it look authentically vintage)


Both of these are Christmas presents for my 9 yr old nephew, Julian:

Green Day done with freezer paper and Bleach Gel Pen


Mr. T rules-this is one of my favorites (and one of the hardest)


Both of these are Christmas presents for my 2 yr old niece, Sophia:

Guess who her mom is gonna vote for!  I love Obama!!


She really is bad!!!  But, she's so cute that you can't get mad at her!!  This one's done with freezer paper and acrylic, then bleach splattered, and rinsed immediately so that most of the paint would come off.  I also rubbed it with sandpaper to faux distress it up.  I love how it turned out.


This is a Christmas present for my other 2 yr old niece, Emma.  Done in the same method as described above.


This is a Christmas present for my other OTHER 2 yr old niece, Allianna.  She got a new baby brother earlier this year, so I thought this was appropriate.


And this one is for said new baby brother.  He can crawl really fast.




Phew!!!!!  I may hate stenciling now.  So, comments, criticisms, suggestions?

I made these for my son's pre-K teacher and her assistant.  I was desperately worried and sad when he started pre-K because he's never been in day care or anything.  So, I was very grateful to both of these ladies for being so loving and patient and making his first school experience such a wonderful one.  These were their Christmas presents.  They seemed to like them, so yay!!  I made a questionnaire that I gave to each of them asking about color, pattern, shape, and style preferences and asked what they would mostly be using the bags for.  The teacher said she would use hers to take stuff to and from school, so hers reflects that (I also asked if they wanted their names on them; teacher said yes, assistant said no) and the assistant said she'd mostly use hers as a purse/diaper bag.  Ok, enough rambling.  What do you guys think?

For the teacher, Mrs. Brandy:



to show scale:



outer pocket:



inside:



For the assistant, Mrs. Jessica:



outer pocket:



inside:




Oh, and they each have 2 outer pockets that close with velcro and one inner pocket that doesn't have a closure.

[per letter]

Ok, I guess this is where this goes.  If not, mods, please feel free to move it to the proper board.  So, I make these letters and I think they're rad and I thought maybe other people would want to make some.  It's a pretty darn cheap project and they look really great when they're done.  Here's what you need:

Unpainted wooden letters (I got mine from Hobby Lobby and they're the biggest size and $2 per letter)
1 piece of scrapbook paper per letter (I picked black/pink argyle and black pin stripes.  Yeah.  That's how I roll.)
Scissors
Mod Podge
2 foam brushes or paint brushes
Coordinating color of acrylic paint
Clear sealer
Mountain Dew (or some other highly caffeinated beverage)



See how big the letters are?




Ok, now that you've got what you need, here's how:

Place your first letter face down on the back of the scrapbook paper and trace around.  I do it this way because sometimes the patterns make it difficult to see the lines on the front side.  Plus, if you screw it up, you can erase without messing up the paper.  Repeat for all your letters.



Now, put the paper aside and get your paint and one of your brushes and paint all around the edges of each letter.  This step isn't strictly necessary, but I do it because it looks more finished and professional.



While you wait for your paint to dry, cut out all your letters.  (You could also just use an exacto knife around the letters instead of tracing and cutting with scissors, but the margin of error is way bigger using that method. [Read: I tried to do it this way and effed it all up])  Now you should have a bunch of papers shaped like your letters.  And paint all over your table.



Now, using your other foam brush, coat the entire front of your first letter with mod podge.  Position your paper on top, making sure to smooth out air bubbles.



Also, check the sides for drips and wipe them off.  If they dry like that, it'll look crappy.



Now that you've got the paper on, go all the way around and use your thumb to press the overhang down.  Again, this step isn't strictly necessary, but it makes it look more finished and professional.



Now you have this:



Repeat the last 3 steps for all of your letters.

Once they're all done, coat the entire front of all of the paper-covered letters with mod podge.



I usually let the first coat dry and then do another coat.  Sometimes I get crazy and do 3 coats.  Just make sure to let it dry completely in between coats.

Once the mod podge is all dry, use your clear sealer and spray those babies down.  Make sure you spray lightly or it'll bleed through the paper and mess up all your hard work.

While you're getting antsy and waiting for the sealer to dry, do like I did and paint the back of your hand with mod podge so it'll dry and look like old lady skin.  Then peel it off and (accidentally) remove any tiny hairs that may have been on the back of your hand (ouch).



Now that they're all dry, step back and admire the awesomeness!!!  I did these for a really good friend of mine.  She picked the word to hang in her crafting room because she said it would make her feel "extra bad ass" while she's crafting.



Side view:



See how pretty the painted edges look?

Some others I've done in the past:

My daughter's name:



My son's name:



My nephew's name (I was pregnant when I did these and caught my giant belly in the picture):



If anybody else does some, post your pics!!!


Also, it's hard to tell from the pics, but they're super shiny when you're all finished.

These are from the same pattern as the dinosaur ones.  The black is some old pants of mine (they're actually pinstriped, but you can't tell in the pics), the gray is an old sweatshirt romper thing.  I used a graffiti font and made a big D (for Dorian), which I cut out of the gray fabric, fused to some interfacing, and appliqued to the top of the shoe.  That's about it.  Pics!

Fat baby legs!





Drool face



Nap hair!

I made these using this tutorial:

http://family-centered.com/needleworks/?page_id=278

It was pretty straightforward, but getting the heel bit on there correctly is a little tricky.  The outer fabric is part of an old khaki skirt of my daughter's and the bottoms are part of some corduroy pants that are too little for my older son.  I embroidered the dinosaurs on.

Shoesies: (They're not really wonky, I had just stretched one out so you can see the inside! It's lime green, turquoise, and bright yellow polka dotted flannel)



Bottoms:



On fat little baby feet!

I made this for my husband.  He was away on business this week.  He's also a total geek/nerd/dork.  So, I made this for him.  It's Prismacolors on some really heavy art paper he had laying around.  I think he'll like it.  He's a sucker for argyle.     There are a few screw-ups, but that just makes it easier to tell that I made it, right?

Front:





Back:



Inside: