Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

DIY

Meet Lion, the Stuffed Lion

DIY Stuffed Felt Lion // Handsewn Felt Lion // Rae of SparklesI’d like you all to meet my friend, Lion. I know, I know, real original name right? Well no one is making fun of your name, so let’s give him a little break. Unless your name is funny, in which case you should share so we can all get a good laugh. Kidding, kidding.

When I made my felt stuffed animals, I asked my cousin’s five year old daughter (we shall call her E) what her favorite animal was so I could make her one. She informed me that her favorite animal was a lion. Great. Couldn’t I have just gotten lucky with another owl? They were so easy!

I went to work on this lion. It had to be perfect, as E is amazing herself. I did everything by hand after I found a website with cute animal templates. Mine wasn’t exactly the same, as I just did it by sight, but I think he turned out really cute.

DIY Stuffed Felt Lion // Handsewn Felt Lion // Rae of SparklesE decided to name him, appropriately, Lion. She decided that she wanted to sleep with him every night, which prompted my cousin to hate me. As you cannot tell from the photo, Lion is very small, and can fit in the palm of my hand. You may imagine this creates for a sleepless night when E loses Lion in the middle of the night (three times). My cousin is not happy. I am now working on a larger, less losable stuffed animal for E.

What do you think of Lion?

DIY, Home Decor

Hang a Little Glitter: DIY Glitter Hanger

DIY Glitter HangerBecause I am easily distracted by all things that sparkle, it has taken me a while to write this post. I just cannot stop gawking at these photos. I am in love. With a hanger. Take a backseat husband, we are on the hanger express. Gold, sparkly, and shiny?! Yes please.

Since I now have your full attention, take a look around for a moment. Do you notice any other new, gold, and sparkly things? What better way to introduce my new blog to you, than with a post about sparkles! Because you obviously love both my new blog and my new hanger, let the contest commence: Just for fun, which do you like better? (No, you cannot have my hanger if it loses)DIY Glitter Hangers By now I’m sure you realize that anything with glitter, sequins, or sparkles has my full attention. If I’m doing a little “online research” (read: shopping) and I find something with these requirements, it is immediately pinned.

Unless I can make it myself. Then it gets done. DIY Glitter HangersI made my own glitter hanger by buying a pack of wooden hangers at Wal-Mart ($2.50/5). I bought the large glitter there as well ($3.47 – you can do at least two hangers with one package). I spray painted my hanger gold beforehand and Modge-Podged the living heck out of that hanger. Glitter everywhere (heaven!). After it dried, I put another heavy coat of Modge Podge on top, so glitter wouldn’t cover my closet (as if that would be a bad thing). And voila! The most amazingly beautiful hanger you’ve ever seen. You’re welcome.

Until next time my friends…I am off to stare at my hanger.

DIY, Holidays!, Party Planning

St. Patrick’s Day Treats // Roundup

St. Patrick's Day Treat Bags // Free PrintableWell it’s here. Sort of. You have one more day to get all of your little St. Patrick’s Day treats together. I was an official procrastinator (as usual), and didn’t put together my treats until this weekend. Then, when I ended up with one very lackluster treat, it was too late. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts. And the amount of sugar it contains. Probably more about the sugar. Maybe I should add a little more. Do you think a bottle of liquor would fit inside? Maybe that’s a little inappropriate. Ah well. Supplies for St. Patrick's Day Treat Bags // Free PrintableI made little treat bags for the ladies in my office. I picked up all sorts of green, gold, and white candies (Party City has individual pieces you can buy), added in a little fluff, and put them all together in little treat boxes I found at Party City. I used tags from Short Stop Designs, that you can print here. They’re adorable. I would have created my own, but they wouldn’t have been half as cute. (Note: the shamrock banner in the first photo is also printed from Short Stop Designs)St. Patrick's Day Treat Bags // Free PrintableI also wanted to put a little spin on the traditional Skittle tubes I see all over Pinterest. Skittles are great and all, but they cannot compare to Sour Patch Kids. SPK’s rule my sugar world. And with the new inclusion of the blue kid, my life is complete. Seriously, the only thing that could make it better would be to ditch the green kid. Who eats the green ones anyway? You can print the tag here if you’d like to make your own. And I’ll even overlook it if you decide to use Skittles instead. St. Patrick's Day Treats // Free PrintableI’ve saved the worst for last. My lackluster treat:St. Patrick's Day Treat Supplies // Free Printable

Whenever a holiday approaches, I attempt to come up with something cute for everyone at work (that won’t empty my piggy bank). Making forty treat bags can get a little pricey. I came up with such a cute idea. Or so I thought.

The idea was to get green, white, and orange treats and put them together in a little bag to imitate the Irish flag. I thought the idea would turn out much cuter than it did, but this is what they’re getting. They can’t be greedy. I printed the tags, put licorice and a wax bottle in each one, and will hand them out tomorrow. Hopefully everyone is on such a sugar high that they overlook the lackluster gift.St. Patrick's Day Treats // Irish Flag // Free PrintableWhat are you doing tomorrow?

DIY

A Little Stuffing Goes a Long Way

DIY Project: Felt Animals // Owls, PenguinsIf you’re a child of the 80s, you must remember stuffed animal hammocks very clearly. I know I do, because I wanted one so badly for years. I mean, what else do you do with the eighty-seven stuffed animals of various shapes and sizes that must be displayed to all of the visitors you have? I got real tired of setting them up one by one on my bed every morning. Every seven year old knows how important it is to make a good first impression. Since getting rid of any of them wasn’t an option, I needed that hammock.DIY Project: Felt OwlMy mother must not have agreed with me because I never got my hammock. And although I have officially given up on getting one (it just wouldn’t flow with our bedroom’s theme), I still have several stuffed animals that I just cannot part with. They may or may not be stuffed into a box that my husband has no idea is there. If we ever have a child I will remind her of the sacrifices I made so she could have stuffed animals that are twenty years old (and my box of Barbies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and a Troll collection). What child wouldn’t want those toys?! Hand Sewn Felt Penguin DIY ProjectBecause I didn’t have enough already (or because I was super busy on Saturday night watching Dateline) I decided to see if I could make my own stuffed animals. Because you know, that is what really cool 30 year old women do on Saturday nights.Hand Sewn Felt Penguin DIY ProjectTurns out, I can make them. And they’re pretty cute if I do say so myself. Only I feel bad keeping them, because as previously mentioned, we already have a box full of stuffed animals (here’s where my husband goes digging through the house in search of said box, to donate them all away).

And while we’re at it…I created little penguin cards to go with my penguin stuffed animals. Because you can’t give someone a stuffed penguin without a matching penguin card. Everyone knows that.DIY Penguin CardsAll the animals were hand-sewn by sight. If you’re anything like me, you’ll need your hot glue gun when you finish sewing the animal and it has no eyes. I created an instruction sheet (with templates) for the owl if you’d like to make your own.