Make A St. Patrick's Day Card

My Mom really loves 4 leaf clovers.  She used to "sell" them to a neighbor lady when she was little. She'd earn a penny for any genuine 4 leaf clover that was given to the neighbor, and the neighbor stuffed her bible with 4 leaf clovers.

My mom had 4 kids, and I have 4 kids.  My mom told me once that each leaf of a lucky 4 leaf represented one of her kids.  I thought it would be cute to have each of my kids hold a green heart shape and have them form a 4 leaf clover with them. 

If you want to make one:
cut heart shapes out of green construction paper
hold them together to form a clover shape
take a photo
upload to a site like Picnik and edit
You don't have to have 4 kids: have one kid hold 2, or include yourself or the dog
it's fun and easy!

I plan to make these into cards or postcards to mail our family.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Be True" Upcycled T-Shirt Scarf

 I made this easy scarf recently using an old t-shirt, some bleach, a sharpie and embrodery thread.

I have a friend who was a little blue.  She's been going through some difficult times lately, and we were just talking about how she is trying to live by the mantra: "To Thine Own Self Be True". 
We all know how easily we put ourselves last on the list for any attention, pampering, lunch.... (fill in the blank).

So, I made her this little lightweight t-Shirt scarf from a soft old shirt I came across.
 
Cut a long rectangle. (you can use a scarf you currently have as a guide) make it long or short depending on how you like it.

Cut strips of the fabric (6) to sew along the ends. 

Take a q-tip dipped in bleach and gently apply the bleach to the edges of the strips.  (The bleaching process takes awhile-don't get discouraged if the color seems a bit off at first).

Then take embroidery thread and stitch each strip to the ends of the scarf. I like the stitches chunky and uneven...handmade.

Lastly, add a personal message with sharpie along one of the stripes.  If you kind of "dab" on the sharpie, it gives a weathered charcoal type of look.

 Wrap yourself in the reminder to follow your dreams, and be true to yourself!