Fun the the Hot Texas Sun ~ Austin Style

It has been an "I-can't-remember-the-last-time-it-was-this-sweltering-HOT-outside", kinda summer here in Central Texas. So we have been doing a lot of this to beat the SUN and its scorching, blistering, sizzling, stifling and oppressive heat rays.  All I have to say is, In your face Mr. Sun...take that! At this record breaking temperature rate, I suspect that we will be playing in these fountains through December.

Guest Blogger: Amanda from Pandiola Lane

Hi RoCa and Company readers! I'm so excited to be guest blogging for Carmen today! My name is Amanda and Pandiola Lane is my space in blogland. 

I love sewing and making things for my 14 month old daughter.  Isn't having girls fun?!  I think one of the most fun parts of having a girl is getting to put adorable things in her hair! 

I have an easy peasy tutorial for you today on making hair clips for all the little girls in your life.  (These make great gifts if you don't have girls of your own!) I get a lot of inspiration from from lovely bloggers in blogland (like Carmen!) so you'll probably see some ideas that you've elsewhere spotted before.  And there's a little giveaway at the end so keep reading!!

Let's get started making some Easy Peasy Hair Clips!

Here are the supplies you'll need:

- alligator clips (mine are single prong and 1-3/4" long  *I bought a pack of 50 on eBay.)

- glue gun

- ribbon (grosgrain or something woven so it stays in the child's hair)

- candle

First we will cover the metal clip with ribbon.  If you are using alligator clips like mine, cut your ribbon a smidgen over 7 inches long.  You'll see why in a second.  If you have a different size clip, wrap some ribbon around the clip starting on the inside to see how much you need.  I have ribbon 1 cm wide and some 3/4 inch wide.  Both will work for this.

Next you need to do something to the ends so the ribbon doesn't fray (that would be a bummer after you spent all that time making adorable clips.)  You could use Fray Check or something similar or burn the edges like I did.  Since I'm making a bunch of clips, I'll burn the edges all at once to save some time.  If you've never done this before it's SOOO easy!  Hold the ribbon 2-3 inches above the flame until the edges seal.  This is why it's nice to have the ribbon a smidgen longer in case you burn a tad too much.

The ribbon on the left has not been burned and the one on the right has been burned.

Now let's get that glue gun out!  

* I think the key to getting the ribbon as even as possible is to glue a little at a time.  It might seem tedious but it's worth it to make the clip look really good and even.

We will start on the inside off the bottom tong.  Put glue on part of the ribbon and insert inside the clip. Put the burned edge up against the spring part.  Put a tad more glue on the outside of the clip you just put ribbon on and fold the ribbon over.  Squeeze the ribbon together to even out the glue and make sure the edges line up.

Now we will glue the bottom part where you squeeze.  Just a little dab of glue. Make sure it's where you want it.

Now for the inside of the squeeze part (yup I'm pretty sure that's the real name).  Glue the inside of the bottom part, press the ribbon in with your finger, then do the inside of the top part.  Don't put glue on the spring part!!  You want it to open easily :)

Now for the top. A little glue on the squeeze part  and even out the ribbon with your fingers.  Then put glue down the rest of the ribbon and fold over the top tong.

Use your fingers to even anything out and pull off any glue strings and you're done!!

Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast and you can glue up a bunch in no time!

Now let me show you what it looks like with the ribbon that's wider than the clip.

Make sure to press the ribbon together around the clip at each step. You want the edges glued together so it's really secure.

It's definitely a lot more glue than they small ribbon, but be careful you don't put too much so it's all oozing out the sides. *If it does start to ooze, don't worry.  Just pinch it off before it hardens too much.  Of course wait a second so you don't burn your fingers on hot glue.  Ouch!

You could stop here and you're done!!  If you have fun ribbon, you might not want anymore embellishments!  

I kind of like the wide ribbon ones as they are.

For the plainer ribbon, I like to add things....bows, flowers, etc.  You can really get imaginative here!

Here's some easy embellishments you can try:

Simple little bow.

Deconstruct some silk flowers then glue them back together.

Use up some scraps and make a fabric flower! (For this one I did dig out a needle and thread to keep it together.)

With so many fabric flower tutes out there in blogland, you can really go crazy!

Here are a few other's I've made for various occasions.  For some of these, I used up scraps to match clothes I had already made for my daughter.

Now if you're making clips as a present, here are some ideas for presenting them to make them a little extra special. All you need is some card stock and fun scissors.You could do something this...

Or this....

Or this...

If you leave a little space you can write a message to the recipient!

So what do you think? Easy peasy right?!?!

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Now it's giveaway time!!

The prize: 

Your choice of any two clips shown below PLUS a few blank clips to try some out on your own!

How to enter:

1. Become a follower of RoCa and Company and leave a message in the comments saying you follow Carmen for one entry. Make sure to leave a contact email in your comment.

2. Become a follower of Pandiola Lane and leave a message in the comments below saying you follow Amanda for one an additional entry. Make sure to leave a contact email in your comment.

One winner will be randomly chosen on Friday, July 29, 2011 at 5 pm

And the winner of the Easy Peasy Hair Clips is GRAMMY GOODWILL! Congratulations... Amanda from Pandolia Lane will be contacting you soon.  Thanks to all who entered...and followed.

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: 

Result:

7Powered by RANDOM.ORG

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Thanks again to Carmen for having me today! I'm super honored to be a guest blogger!

Corina's Denim Bag

I made another denim bag out of a girl's overall dress.  

This time I made it for my sister Corina.  
It's basically the same bag as the Chic Denim Bag but with slight differences to make it a unique bag for my sister.

Here is what the dress looked like before it took on the role of a bag. 

I loved the bib of the dress.  It made a nice pocket.

I also made a belt to match the inside.  
I used the metal hardware (D ring?) from the dress for this.

There were two instances where I could not get my sewing machine needle to go through; I broke 3 needles trying.  So I used heavy duty hot glue instead.   
I used it here ...

and here. I stitched the strap with the red thread to give it the "sewn" look but then hot glued it to the bag. You can't tell that it's glued on. 

I didn't have to do anything to the straps; they are already attached on the back.

Now, I got to go and make the Racheal Bag...yeah, my other sister wants on too.

Cereal French Toast (Cap'n Crunch vs. Coco Crisp)

I love to watch Diners, Drive-ins' and Dives with Guy Fieri.  About a week ago, the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore was featured for their Cap'n Crunch French Toast.  Mmmm...those french toast did look yummy.  My sister, who happened to be visiting from Plano, read my mind, "Do you have Cap'n Crunch?"  She winged it; that's just how she rolls. But if you want the recipe, here it is.  Saturday morning we awoke to the smells of french toast with a crunch.  They were delicious.      

She topped the french toast with whipped cream, cinnamon and bananas. The whipped cream melted on the warm french toast before I could get a "pretty" picture...but don't let the wimpy whipped cream fool you, these were GOOD. 

Monday morning, I made Coco Crisp French Toast.  Same recipe; different cereal.  

Talk about a chocolate delight.  This time, I actually stuck the first two french toast in the freezer for a bit just to cool them down before topping with whipped cream.            Ha! Joke was on me...this is all I could get out of the pressured can. So much for a "pretty" picture. Again, don't let this fool you because these too were awesome!

Honestly, I would not be able to pick from the two.  They were both scrumptious.  

But ask my kids and they would say they loved the Coco Crisp French Toast best.  

I think it was the chocolate syrup that won them over.  

Charming Rose Pin/Clip

I bought cream colored fake roses awhile back with the intent of using them to spruce up a pair of cream sandals. But that was not meant to be because now the once cream colored fake roses look like this

Don't they almost look like the real thing?

This is how I made them.  

Here is what they looked like before the splash of color.

 Take the flowers apart until you end up with just this

Lightly spray paint petals.  I used two different colors of pink and I like the result of the two.  Since I wanted just a light coat of paint on the petals, I put half of the petals in a small box, sprayed lightly, shook up petals in the box and repeated about 3 times. See the cream, light pink and darker pink colors? Let the petals completely dry before working with them.  

Once the petals were dry, I separated the petals by size and shape. 

It just makes things easier when arranging the new rose.  

I also used a pencil to help hold the rose together.

Once I had arranged the rose in a form that I liked, I carefully lifted it off the pencil point and sewed the petals together.  Then I sewed on some crystal beads

 and hot glued the backs with clips and pins. 

That was it.  

I was able to make 3 fuller roses out of the 5 original skimpy roses. 

Here's the one I made for Sam's hair.  

Here is a smaller rose that I made using the left over petals and white pearls. 

I really like how the duo pink tones play on the original cream color of the roses.  

The combination just makes the roses look realistic.