Knitting with Grandma

 by: glam girl Imara

Amidst all of the busy-ness that has been going on, today my grandma and me made a little time for a refresher knitting lesson. I have been knitting scarves and neck-warmers and headbands, but for some reason I could not remember how to start again! For a little glimpse into our time, here are a couple of pictures!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! The Glam Girls wish you a day of love and happiness with all of the special people in your life.

School's everywhere today will be flooded with cards and candy, so what better way to kick it off but a glimpse into Imara assembling her cards! She is so proud, we had to share. These are not homemade, but made with love none the less. We purchased these at Target - each kit came with an envelope, card, sticker, and a heart shaped rubberband bracelet.

Happy Valentine's Day!

~the glam girls

Jungle Baby Room - Wall Art

by: glam girl Collette

 



My sister-in-law is due to deliver her baby boy any day now! She and her husband are torn between two different themes: jungle and airplanes. Jungle was her favorite, but the new daddy is a pilot making the decision quite difficult to make.  I thought I should step in and help them bridge the two themes into one that would satisfy both of their desires! Many themes can be combined cohesively, and here are a couple of simple guidelines to help you:

• mute the color palette and/or make sure the colors stay similar 
• add the additional theme by outfitting the room with accessories
• identify something similar in the looks and make that the 'punchline'

I combined their two ideas and came up with a safari! Taking the jungle theme and adding in classic airplanes, aviator googles, and sepia tones, I think it came across well. You take a look and let me know! The ultimate judge will be here in two weeks, and I will be patiently awaiting his wonderful smile!

I purchased pre-matted frames at Joann (only $6.25 each) and found some cool prints for free online.   I just printed them out and I was ready to get creating!



Tah-dah!! Four fabulous frames of art for only $25!



Here is a paper mache letter from Joann for $10. I also bought some fabric and trim. 

I cut the fabric out around the letter, then attached it with tape as I "basted" it to the form. 

I added some felt to cover the back and used a staple gun to attach the ribbon.
A quick and simple safari themed letter!

7:15 A.M. Crafting!

It is never to early in the day to start getting the creative juices going! Look at our glam girl Imara starting off her morning (7:15 A.M.) with a little bit of knitting. Wishing you all a "glam" day!!

Presents for Teachers! - Dying Silk Scarves

In thinking of holiday presents for teachers, you could go the normal route (which we usually do) with a coffee cup filled with treats or something of this sort. But this year, the kids wanted to something more handcrafted. So, we decided to share our ideas with you and hopefully inspire you to get crafty this season! Kaden (our crafty little guy) is in afternoon kindergarten this year. He wanted to make his teacher a dyed silk scarf, so we did just that!

You will need:

• rectangular piece of fabric (we used 10" x 54"crinkled silk)
• permanent fabric dye (we used Tulip One Step dyes in multiple colors)
• paper towels
• plastic surface cover (i.e. plastic table cover)

Directions:

1. Cover your surface. We usually work outside on the grass, just to make sure we do not dye anything in the house. 
2. Lay down paper towels where your fabric will go. This will soak up dye under the fabric so it does not settle on the plastic and then soak back up in to the fabric.  

3. With gloves, add water to the dye bottles, shake well.

4. Wet the fabric with water and wring out excess. Apply dye where you want! 

       

5. Place fabric into a plastic ziploc bag and let sit for 4-6 hours. Then rinse well (until water runs clear.)

6. Let hang dry. For cotton and other fabrics it is okay to tumble dry, but since this was silk, we allowed it to dry on the hanger. 

7. Tah-Dah! Kaden's scarf is complete and ready to be wrapped for his teacher!

Hope you have fun making your own handcrafted teacher appreciation gifts this holiday season!


glam girl: Collette

Aleene's on TV!

I was watching the movie 'Made of Honor' on television, and you will never guess who made a cameo... Aleene's Clear Tacky Gel Glue! This made me so excited since Aleene's is one of the amazing brands that the company I work for, iLoveToCreate, is responsible for! It was featured on 'DVD on TV,' (on the FX channel) which is a show that you probably have seen. A quick run-down is, during breaks from the movie the hosts talk about the behind the scenes of what it was like making the movie and things of that nature. While they were showing 'Made of Honor,' they had a segment about hosting the best bachelorette party ever. A create-your-own favor table was shown - which is basically the next wave in the 'candy bar' favor making trend that has been going on for some time now. There were various candies on the table that partygoers could choose from for their favor bag, but there were also grown-up crafts that everyone could participate in. Like, glamming up a pair of basic sunglasses or supersizing the dazzle factor on tiaras. Featured as the adhesive of choice -- Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue!

I was so thrilled, I paused the television and had to snap some photos to share with you!

How fun is that?! I was very impressed! Of course, I know how amazing our products are, but to see it out there being recognized like that - Wow!

From Desperate to GLAM - Thrift Store Headboard Makeover!!

As stated in a previous post, our goal is to completely redecorate Imara's room in the style of "world traveler who now lives at the beach..." and we scored another amazing deal to help bring this vision to life! At one of our favorite stores, ReStore, we found a beautiful twin sized birch colored headboard - solid wood, no scratches, and only $10! It was a light wood color, but it did not stay that way for long. And since is was only $10, I let Imara "go to town" and paint it however she wanted. Below shows the before (which is not the actual headboard, but it looked exactly like this) and the after of her handiwork! She did this really cool weathered look with a bright teal colored paint around the border, and then covered the rattan middle with a yellow-lime color. Continue looking down through the pictures and you can see how it is starting to look in her room... recognize those chairs from an earlier post? The bedding is temporary; we are still on the lookout for what will be her new bedcovers. Let us know what you think - does it match the theme we are going for? Do you have any interesting ideas on how to bring our vision to life? We would love to hear!