I'm So Doing This Soon!

Check out this fun and easy "leopard nails" tutorial over @ The Monster and Me...too cute! Thanks for posting this Cassidy (the monster)! 

A Little Blog ButtonTutorial

I was helping Jules with her blog button last week and I figured that I'd try my hand at making a tutorial! It's not much, but hopefully it will help someone out :D I started working on this tutorial last week and I really didn't feel like spell checking so excuse any typos! ;)

 First, you'll need to make your button. This is my example :) It's really as simple as taking a picture and resizing it! You can add text, graphics, etc too if you want!

Generally, most sidebars for three column blogs are 220 pixels wide and under. It does vary, but you want your blog button to be around an average size so that people can put it onto their blog without it being too big. I like to make my buttons around 180 pixels wide and around 100 pixels high. This way it's big enough to be seen and read, but not so big that I take up a lot of room on other people's blogs.

Once you have your button made, it's time for image hosting. You'll need to have an account on a site like Flickr or Photobucket for example. (There are lots of image hosting sites, so find one that you like!) Sign-up and/or log-in and then follow the steps to upload your blog button image. (Most of these sites have help sections that will show you exactly what to do if you are unsure.) 

Now it's time for the fun part ;) You know how blog buttons have that little code box underneath them so you can grab the link? Well this is what you need to get your button and that code box to show up on your blog. 

First, log-in on to your blog. (Obviously I am using blogger, so these steps will be based off of that.)  Then got to your LAYOUT section. You are going to add a gadget to your sidebar. (If you have two sidebars, choose the one you want your button and code to be on.) 

click on add a gadget

Then add an html/javascript gadget to your sidebar (click the plus sign)

Another window will pop up (entitled configure html/javascript) and this is where you are going to put your code in. You will see a big blank box entitled content...copy and paste this code there:

<a href="http://lessapathymorecake.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 180px; height: 89px;" alt="visit cute stew" src="http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/mkstar826/blg2.png" border="0" /></a>
<textarea rows="2" cols="20" wrap="”VIRTUAL”"><a href="http://lessapathymorecake.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="visit cute stew" src="http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/mkstar826/blg2.png " /></a><br /></textarea>

This is a code for one of MY blog buttons. Everything that is noted in RED needs to be changed. (Don't worry, I'm going to break it down :D) Start at the beginning and one by one, start replacing everything in RED with your info. An easy way to do this is copy your new text, highlight what you want to replace, and paste over it.

-instead of "http://lessapathymorecake.blogspot.com" fill that in with your blog's URL.

-instead of width: 180px  and height: 89px fill that in with your button's actual dimensions.

-instead of "visit cute stew" put in your blog name.

-instead of "http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e256/mkstar826/blg2.png" put your image's URL there.

You will do this throughout the entire code until all of MY original code is information is replaced with YOURS.

Now, you are going to save the gadget onto your side bar and voila! You should have a working button and code box. If it didn't work, back track and make sure you have everything changed. REMEMBER: DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN BLACK...only RED! Be very careful or your code will not work!

If you find your button is too big for your sidebar, simply go to layout and edit your gadget. You can resize it by simply changing your width and height in the code. Play around with it until it's to your liking.

I *think* that's it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you use it and it works for you, link your new blog button so I can see :D  If you want to make several blog buttons you use the SAME code...but you have to change the width and height (if necessary) & the image URL. So just copy and paste it again but swap those things out for your new image...

Happy button making!
MK

p.s. As soon as the boy fixes our laptop and I get my precious Photoshop back, I'll be glad to make blog buttons for anyone who wants one! NO charge ($$$), handmade crafts and/or kawaii trades only! Let's barter it up people ;) Email me if you're interested!! My laptop situation should be handled in a week or so. We have to order a part, ugh...

I finally got the tutorial up! I hate that I didn't get to post it before Valentine's Day (stupid laptop!) but better late than never :D It's so adorable that I still have mine hanging up on the mantle. Even though it's meant for Vday, it's so pretty every day and it makes me smile! You can click the yellow "DIY" link in the navigation bar above to take you to the step by step tutorial. Oh and I have to give credit to the fabulous Bake It Pretty. I used their retro cupcake ornament tutorial as the inspiration for my garland!

These little guys are SO cute and their crafting possibilities are endless! I am definitely going to be making these for Xmas this year! I think I want to do a sweets themed tree :D

In other news, I'm still working on finishing my blog redesign. It's a lot of work! I spent most of yesterday watching movies and cursing html codes LOL. I also designed all the new buttons and illustrations you see on the header and sidebars. WHEW! The movies really helped the time go by though. I watched Office Space and it's even funnier to me now that I've worked around people like that. The situation where two different bosses tell him about his missing cover sheet or whatever is SO my job...and it's SO annoying :P Anyway, I hope you guys like the changes!! I hope to be done this week and I'll post about all the new features then :) I hope you're having a restful Sunday!

♥MK

DIY: Handmade Vintage Valentine

click here for the tutorial!

If you read about my laptop fiasco, you know that I didn't get to post this last week like I wanted to, boo! But I figure, you could use this tutorial to make a card for any holiday so I'm posting it anyway, lol! If you try it, please take pics so I can see :D

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!! Me and the boy went to the Majestic Grille downtown and it was wonderful! I had the shrimp & grits and it was so good!! It consisted of 5 large gulf shrimp on top of a bed of grits mixed with aged white cheddar. Then that was topped with a tomato/garlic/olive oil type sauce that was very tasty! The boy had french toast and bacon (which he gets for brunch no matter where we go lol). The best part of all is that for a mere 12 bucks you get an entire bottle of champagne and a large carafe of OJ with orange slices. It was mimosa heaven, haha. All in all, it was a nice Valentine's Day! 

Right now, I'm sitting in front of my window watching it snow. I got to come home early from work because we didn't have that many dogs and the afternoon crew could handle it. I am going to try to get some cleaning done but I just can't help the fact that I just want to put on my pj's, sit back with some hot cocoa,  and watch the snow ;) I love this winter weather we are having!

Hope you're having a happy Monday :)

♥MK

Jumbo Cherry Charms

I am going to start sharing some of my own and other people's crafty DIY/tutorials! I've been inspired by many people who are willing to share their "little secrets" and I would love to inspire that same creativity in someone else. So first up, I'll show you how to make LAMC's jumbo cherry charms. This is a method that I came up with myself after I had a dream about making cherry charms. (Yes, a lot of my crafting ideas come from dreams, is that werid? lol) Some exact techniques won't be divulged, but this is a basic guideline that you can tweak any way you like.

Materials needed:

• Wooden Craft Balls (The size is up to you. I like to get the 1-2" for jumbo cherries and the small ones like 3/4" for mini cherries. You can make whatever size you want. But you don't want to go above 2" because the weight is a factor.)
• Air Dry Clay (I get plain, uncolored clay)
• Craft cord (I like green metallic craft cord for cherries. You can find this with the knitting and crochet area of most art supply stores.)
• Glue (I won't divulge what type of glue I use since I had to go through a lot of trial and error to find what works best...so try out different kinds and see what works for you!)

First, you'll need to gather your materials and set up a work station. I like to work with 6-8 wooden balls at a time and I set them up like so:
Then you want to take out your clay, work it a little, and fill each ball with a bit of clay. (Again, I am not going to reveal my method since it took a great deal of time and patience to get it right but this is a general DIY to get you going!)

Here's the type of clay that I use:

Pictured below is a 1" ball filled with clay. Once you fill it with clay, you'll need to make a hole in the clay. Depending on how much clay you filled the hole with, once you make your hole, it will overflow. (You want it to overflow. If it doesn't, use more clay.) Simply scrape the excess off evenly and let your clay dry. I usually wait a couple of hours or so. You could sand the clay after it's dry if it's uneven, but once you perfect the scraping method you shouldn't have to.

Once your clay is dry, move on to painting. I picked a bright red acrylic paint for my cherries but you can pick whatever shade of red you like. Paint all sides and let them dry thoroughly. You'll have to paint in sections and that's what you see here. I leave the ends for last so that I have something to hold on to while doing the sides. In the bottom left corner, what you see is a completed paint job.
If you are short on time, you can stick your cherries on a dowel or paint brush end and paint them that way. Make sure to keep them from touching if you try this method!
Finally, once everything is dry, you take your craft cord and cut off a string and fold it in half. The size of your string is up to you. I make mine long enough that they'll fit around a door knob. Then you squeeze glue into the hole and stick both ends of your folded craft cord inside and hold it there for a minute or two. You want to use enough glue to hold your cord but not so much that it runs out of the sides. It's all trial and error. Let your cherries dry for 24 hours before handling. As for handling, they are pretty sturdy with the right glue. However these are not toys and are not to be handled roughly. Keep away from small children and animals, please!

Once your glue is dry, pick up two and they will look like this:

To give them that classic cherry look, tie them in a loose knot at the top:

A bunch of jumbo cherries!

Hangin' in the car, yo! (If you want to hang them where they will be exposed to sunlight, be sure to varnish them properly!!)

Mark your page with them!

There are so many things you can do with these...and I know the creative minds out there will think of many more ideas for them that I have. I hope you'll try them out and if you do be sure to link me pictures if you do!

Happy crafting!

Cute Stew Tutorials

• Vintage Valentines (first 17 pics)
• Valentine Garland (pics 18-28)
• Cherry Charms
•  Blog Buttons