Friday, April 29, 2011

MY Giveaway.

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This Giveaway is Closed

In my previous post, I mentioned the JAG competition by Jarviedigital that I am competing in.....well, I decided that I should reward all of those people that help me out.  So I'm going to offer my own giveaway.  I am going to offer these items to 3 lucky bloggers:

A handmade stuffed animal/pillow owl.  You pick the colors, I'll make one especially for you!
 Glass Pearl Bead Bracelet
 Faux metal necklace.  You tell me the shape you want, and I'lll make one for ya :)


How to enter?  

It's simple, just add Scotts blog to your blog list.  How easy is that???  Leave me a comment with a link to your blog.  (If you don't want to leave the link, still leave a comment telling me you added him to your blog list and then email me a link to your blog so I can verify it).  

Want extra entries?

- Follow my blog
 
- Like Jarvie Digital's Facebook page and then like the wall post by Madelyn Wayment (me) so he knows you were referred by me

- Join in on the competition and tell him I referred you

- Blog, tweet or facebook about my giveaway! 

- Add a picture on your blog linking to his website.


Please make sure to leave a comment for each of your entries, in order to be eligible, you must add Scott's Blog to your blog list.  GOOD LUCK!  And thanks for helping me out!!!

This givaway will end May 13th at 12:00 PM MST - Since that's when the JAG Competition ends.

JAG Competition!!!

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Last fall I had some amazing pictures taken by Scott Jarvie  He's doing a really cool competition that I would recommend to ANYONE seriously.  Whether you are a photographer, a person looking for a photographer someone looking to decorate your home, this competition is for YOU - even if you aren't in Utah (he travels and one of his prizes is a ridiculously large amount of prints to decorate a whole room in your house!)

The prizes are absolutely ridiculous and I would really like to win.  I'm competing for a free photo shoot with a $400 print credit,  We don't have a single family picture hanging on our wall.  Why you ask?  Well because I'm always behind the camera.  I would really like to win and could really use your help.  There are some great ways that you could help me out.

For each of these things, I earn points.  Whoever has the most points, wins.....pretty easy right?  So what can YOU do?

The thing that would help me out the most would be if you could add Scott's blog to your blog list on your blog - that gets me mucho points :)  PLUS you get to keep up with his blogs.  He doesn't just post pictures, but he writes about techniques and such too.  Here is the link to his blog: http://jarviestudios.com/blog/

The next thing you could do would be to join in on the competition.  You know you want to win one of this fantastic prizes!  To find out more details about the JAG competition go here: http://jarviestudios.com/blog/2011/04/jag-2011-the-event-of-the-decade/  If you end up joining in, please let me know I referred you.  We both get 5 extra points that way.  Cool eh?

And lastly, If you would please visit his facebook page and "like" it and then "like" the wall post on his wall so he knows that you were referred by me, that would be great.

If you were only wanting to do one thing, if you could please add his blog to your blog list, it would be much appreciated....that one's worth the most points and it's a win win for the both of us because you get to read his awesome blog!

Please leave me a comment letting me know if you add Scott's blog to your blog roll so I can let him know.  THANKS!!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

No Bake Cookie Nests

Pin It I've seem many different versions of cookie/dessert nests out there.  Last night I had a craving for no bake cookies and decided to make some nests of my own.  All I did was use a spoon to form the nest shape and once they were cooled, I added some jelly beans.  Pretty darn simple - and yummy!

 
I hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Faux Metal Heart Necklace

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My little sisters have some modeling clay.  I have seen people make many fun things out of clay, and I thought it would be fun to make a faux metal necklace.  I went with a heart because it's a simple shape :)

Here's what I did:

 This is what the clay looked like to begin with.  I rolled it out to about 1/4 inch thick.
I then used little scissors and my fingers to create a heart shape that I was happy with.
 I used a tooth pick to poke a hole in the heart.  I then baked the clay according the the instructions.  For this particular clay, it was baked at 275 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  I placed it on a pieced of paper while it was baking so it wouldn't be directly on the pan.  I read that this helps if from getting shiny on the bottom side.
I then painted my heart using acrylic paint.  I did a layer of black first and then used silver. 
 I threaded my hemp twine through the heart and I had a necklace.
 Pretty darn simple!

If you end up making some, I'd love to see the different shapes you come up with!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Paisley and Pink Giveaway Winner!

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According to random.org's number generator the winner of the Paisley & Pink $25 gift certificate is:



Congratulations Kristina!  


For those of you who didn't win, Heidi is offering 10% off your orders at Paisley and Pink.  Just mention you were sent from Sharing the Wealth.  Have a great one everybody!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Easter Dress From A Shirt

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My mom was cleaning out her closet when she saw a shirt that she thought I would like to revamp into something for my daughter.  I'm so glad she saved it!  I've been holding onto it for a couple of months since I thought it would make the cutest little spring dress.  My family has a tradition of getting an Easter dress each year.  Rather than buying one for for my daughter, I decided to use my mom's old shirt.  Here's what I did:
This is what the shirt used to look like (I started to cut it up and then realized I hadn't taken a picture of it yet, so I put it back together for this shot ha)

Here are the different pieces I cut the shirt into.  I had to unpick the little pleats that were on the front of the shirt.  I sewed the two large pieces together on one side. 
 I and wound my bobbin with elastic thread.
 I sewed several rows with the elastic thread (only the bobbin is the elastic thread, you use normal thread on the top).  I then sewed the other side together,  to get this.  I could have made a pretty cute skirt too hu?
 I then added sleeves - since my daughter was down for a nap when I was making this, I wasn't able to measure....and when I tried it on her, the sleeves were too small; her arms only fit in until her elbows haha.
 So I changed the sleeves - which I actually like better and added some little ruffles on the outside.
 The finished product on my darling model.

Sorry I didn't take more step by step pictures.  I was trying to hurry and get it done while she was sleeping.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Paisley and Pink Giveaway!

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*****  This giveaway is now closed  *****

Heidi from Paisley and Pink, makes some of the cutest little girl skirts I have ever seen!  She currently offers size 6 months thru 10 Years.  Here are a few of my favorite skirts that she has made:



A cat in the hat outfit!  How cute is this?!?!  And It would make the perfect 4th of July outfit too!
Seriously, aren't her skirts adorable???


So there's the good news!  Heidi is offering a $25 gift card to the winner of my giveaway plus free shipping within the US.  If you live outside the US you can still participate, but you'll have to pay for your shipping. 

Here's how you enter:
Visit Paisley and Pink's Etsy Shop and write me a comment on what your favorite skirt(s) is/are.  

For Extra Entries You Can:

Follow my blog
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway.  

For each of the extra entries, please leave a separate comment.

This giveaway will be ending on Tuesday April 19th at 10:00 PM MST


For those of you who don't win, Heidi is offering 10% off your entire order for those of you referred by my blog.  So place an order and let her know that you came from Sharing the Wealth!!!

Globe Oreo Truffles and Missionary Cupcakes

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Yesterday was a fun day for our family.  My little brother, Mitch received his mission call.  19 Year old boys who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints go out and share the gospel for 2 years.  Mitch has been extremely anxious/excited to get his call.  He sat up by the mail box 3 days in a row waiting for the mail lady to come and yesterday if finally arrived!

He had a bunch of friends and family at my parents' house for a party.  My sister and I made some missionary themed treats for the occasion.  More specifically, Globe Oreo Truffles and Missionary Cupcakes.

For the Oreo truffles, we put whole Oreos into my food processor to make a nice little Oreo powder.  The we combined the powder with cream cheese frosting.  We used 2/3s of the package of Oreos and about 1/2 the container of frosting.  My sister is showing off her messy hand
 Roll the Oreo mixture into balls.  I found that by squeezing the mixture together really well before rolling them helped them to not fall apart.  I then dipped my little skewers into some melted white chocolate.  The white chocolate helps the skewer stay in the truffle when you are dipping it chocolate later.
 Put the truffles in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so.
 I colored some white chocolate with blue food coloring.  I have noticed that if I don't wait for a minute or so before dying the chocolate it seems to seize up and becomes hard.  So wait a little bit!
 After the blue chocolate hardened, I put on some white chocolate that I colored green to finish of the globes.

I put stuck the globes into a box that said, "Where in the world is Mitch going?"


 For the Missionary Cupcakes, I started off making the ties.  I used white chocolate that had been dyed blue.  I used a plastic bag with a little hole in the corner to draw them onto wax paper.
 After the ties had hardened, I flipped them over and added stripes.  I'll be honest....I considered buying fruit rollups and I would cut them out into ties, but then didn't end up doing it.  I actually think I should have done that instead of the white chocolate ties.  I think it would have been easier and would have been tasty too!
 To make the missionary tags, I added black food coloring to normal chocolate.  I then spread it out onto wax paper.  After it had hardened, I used a ruler to cut lines in the chocolate.
 I used white frosting and then placed the ties and name tags on them.  Here's the finished product:
Here's another picture of them.  Notice my mom made the cake we did for her birthday again - she loved it!

I thought I'd post a couple pictures of my brother opening his call.  This was his reaction when he read where he is going to be living and sharing the gospel for 2 years.

 So excited!
 My Mom's reaction to his call.
 Where is he going you ask????  The Scotland/Ireland mission!  How cool is that?!?!?!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Twisty Tie Bird's Nest Necklace

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Bird's Nest Necklaces are definitely popular right now, but they can be fairly expensive.  I saw this tutorial the other day on A Law Student's Journey where she made a birds nest using twisty ties and thought it was an absolute genius idea!  I had to try it out for myself.  Here's what you do:

Using pliers or tweezers, Pull the wire out of some twisty ties.  I found it pretty easy once I cut the top a little so I could grab the wire part. 
 Once you have all of your wire's (I used 7 twisty ties), add 3 pearl beads to one wire.  Bring them to the center of the wire and then twist the wire so they stay in the position you want them. 
 Wrap wires around the beads, until you have the desired size of next.
 Add a necklace hoop and chain for to the nest to make it a necklace.  It seriously took me maybe 10 minutes to make.  So fast and easy!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Mom's Birthday Cake

Pin It My sister and I made my mom's birthday cake this year.  We brain stormed several different ideas until we came up with the PERFECT cake for her.  We made a yellow cake mix and used a white chocolate frosting - it was basically a cream cheese frosting with melted white chocolate added to it.  The best part of the cake is the raspberry filling.  After putting frosting on top of the first layer, simply spread seedless raspberry jam over the top (don't get too close to the edge - you don't want the frosting on the outside to get messed up by the red).  Put the next layer of the cake on top of the jam and then frost the entire outside of the cake.  Put fresh raspberries on the top of the cake to make it pretty :)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Jello Eggs

Pin It I remember my 5th grade teacher giving us Jell-o in the shape of eggs and I thought it was sooooo cool.  I decided to try and make some of my own.  Now, let me say - they are not perfect and they are not very good to take pictures of, BUT they are fun and I'm sure kids would love them!

Here's what I did:

I made the Jello according to the "mold" instructions.
 Since the plastic eggs have two holes in them, I covered those with hot glue. You will also want to pull apart the eggs completely (don't have then connected at the side - that's how mine came) I then dipped the eggs under the jello and fill them all the way.  While they are still submerged, snap them shut.
 Rinse them under water to clean them off then store in an egg carton upside down.  You do it upside down so that if there are air bubbles, they will be at the bottom of the egg rather than the top.
 Warning: Your hands will get stained!
 Leave the Jello in the fridge for a few hours.  When it is done setting, take the eggs out and put them in warm/hot water for 30 seconds.  This helps you get them out of the mold
 I rinsed them under cold water and they were done.  Like I said - not super pretty to take pictures of (maybe it's just the colors I did) but they are fun!