I am Traci from amazingmae. I love applique. I enjoy finding shirts for my kids on the cheap and then try to make them look like the ones from miniBoden, the Gap, Land's End, etc. Sometimes I am successful and sometimes I am not. I also like to embellish onesies for babies. That's super easy and fun. Since Bridget asked me to post on her blog, I thought I would share an applique idea. It's simple and something that would add character to your child's bed - a personalized pillowcase.

All you need is:

1 yd of fabric

1 sheet of peach/tan colored felt

felt for eyes, hair, embellishments (hairbows) and name

Heat n' Bond

water soluble pen or chalk

pattern for child's face, hair and embellishments found here (for personal use only)

stencil or printed out letters (approx. 3 1/2" high) letters for child's name

1. First, lay your fabric out and fold it in half width wise with the fold on top. Folded it should measure approximately 36" across and 22" down. Iron the top fold so the you can see it when pulled open - this will help you later as a guideline for measuring placement of applique.

2. Second, following the directions on the Heat n' Bond package adhere a piece of Heat n' Bond on the back of your peach/tan piece of felt. Then, do the same for your other pieces of felt.

3. With the pattern, cut out the face, hair, eyes, ears (for boys), and embellishments out of the felt.
4. With the yard of fabric folded in half still, place the circle for the face 11 1/2" away from the edge of the side of the fabric measuring to the edge of the circle (not the center). Make sure it is also placed 5 1/2" from the bottom. You can pick which side you want to measure in from. This will determine your opening of your pillow case - whether it is on the right or left.

5. Peel the backing off the Heat n Bond and iron on the face. If it's the boy, make sure you put the ears behind the circle and iron on along with the face. Continue to iron on the hair, eyes, and hair bows (for the girls).


6. Now secure with a zig zag stitch around edges or a straight stitch just on the inside of the edge. I like to mix it up and do a little of both. For this one, I zig zagged around the face, but then used a straight stitch for the hair and eyes.

7. Add the nose and the mouth by tracing them on with a water soluble marker. I couldn't find mine anywhere, so I used a piece of chalk. Then, using a straight stitch, sew over those marks a few times. I didn't want the nose or the mouth to be too distinct, so I used a tan thread just lighter than the felt color. I think a light pink would work well too. You could also hand embroider them with a back stitch.

9. Also, applique on the letters of the child's name. I centered them using the center of the face and my mid point, and placing them approx 4" down from the top fold of the pillowcase.

10. Zig Zag stitch or serge all the edges of the fabric to help them stay secure and not fray.

11. With the fabric open and facing wrong side up, you are ready to sew the cuff of the pillowcase where the opening will be. Using the end of the fabric farthest from the face you have appliqued on (the opposite edge you marked 11 1/2" for the face), fold and iron in 4". Then, sew down the edge approx 3 3/4" in (1/4" in from edge).

12. Now it's time to finish up and sew around two sides of the pillowcase. You will be leaving the cuff edge open. With it folded in half width wise (just like at the beginning), sew around the side and the bottom with a 1/2" seam.

13. Turn them right side in and stuff with a standard size pillow form.

13. Now, lay them on your child's bed and they will know where to lay their heads - right on their appliqued heads!

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by Jamie Hackbarth 

I am not really a jewelry type of gal--

Jewelry to me consists of my wedding band and my diamond earrings. They stay on 24/7 and I never change it up-

I mean I always have great intentions of "spicing up" my wardrobe but am always two steps behind and a minute too late~!

But I was given an opportunity to review a stylish toggle bracelet and my choice of 3 Davinci Beads.

I have always wanted a birthstone ring but since I am still in my child bearing years decided that since I may or may not be done, I would wait.

So low and behold when I was searching for my 3 beads and found the Family Line. Right up my alley. I ordered 3 Brats from the line (just like my little ones )  One April (for my daughter), one September (my son) and one June (the other oldest son)

Then if I miraculously ended up having another bambino, I could add on to the bracelet at a later time.

The bracelet/beads arrived today and I was astonished at how nice it looked!! 

I honestly did not think for the price that it could look so rich and of such good quality! 

This sucker blows the high end mall ones out of the water!!

The beads retail for $6.99 and are so worth it! There is such a large selection that one would find it hard to not be able to please someone.

The toggle bracelet is $9.99 and has such fine detail! Good with beads or without! It comes in all sorts of lengths!

If you are not into toggle bracelets, you can put your beads on a bangle, necklace or earrings all priced under $19.99--

These make great gifts! I am sure to be adding more to my bracelet.

Coppin's Hallmark Website is easy to maneuver around and order from. Customer Service is great (one of my beads was missing a stone) 

From Coppin's Hallmark website:

Isn’t pretty, sparkly jewelry just such a delight to wear? Our DaVinci Beads certainly add style and elegance to your look! You'll discover jewelry so versatile that you'll be able to wear it for virtually any occasion. From beads that dangle to beads that represent your family, birthstone, interests, or a special occasion, you'll find something that perfect gift for every lady on your list. DaVinci Beads are so stunning for holidays, birthdays, or any day!

The DaVinci Beads collection is affordable, so you can feel free to mix and match the charms to go with just about every look in your closet. Our DaVinci Beads collection is quite extensive, and the options are virtually endless! With free shipping on orders of $30 or more, you're budget will allow you to choose as many as your heart desires. Browse through our pretty jewelry here at CoppinsGifts.com and find the DaVinci Beads that are perfect for you and any jewelry-loving ladies on your gift list.

Pick your favorite accessory and adorn it with the beads of your choice. Choose from three different styles of bracelets, two different necklaces, earrings, or keychain. Your Davinci Beads are interchangeable so they can be moved from one accessory to another. Personalize your jewelry to match your mood, your outfit, or simply create something sentimental to remind you of your loved ones. You will love all the variety Davinci Beads offers

*Giveaway*

One winner will receive a toggle bracelet and their choice of 3 beads ($25 Value).

To Enter:

Please visit Coppins Hallmark and leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite beads  are in their store.

Extra Entries:please leave one separate comment for each entry.

• e-mail subscribe to this blog - 1 extra
• follow my blog with google - 1 extra
• follow me on twitter (mintgreenenvy)-1 extra
• *Like* Mint Green With Envy on Facebook - 1 extra
• tweet this giveaway and post the link in your comment- (may do this daily) 1 extra/day
  
  
  
  
  

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I just entered to win a toggle bracelet and beads. @mintgreenenvy http://www.mintgreenwithenvy.com

• grab my button and put it on your blog - 2 extra   
   
• blog about this giveaway - 3 extra
  

• *Like*  Coppin's Hallmark on Facebook - 1 extra
  
• follow Coppin's Hallmark on Twitter - 1 extra
  
• follow Coppin's Hallmark Blog - 1 extra

Contest will run for 2 weeks. Ends at Midnight on the night of March 31, 2011 Open to U.S. Residents. Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by e-mail on  Arpil  1, 2011 and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

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Congratulations to Shelly! Your comment number 348 was selected via random.org and you have won a Rasberry Sorbet Necklace, Sterling Silver, Pink Tourmaline by Blue Scarab Jewelry ($26 Value).  You will be receiving an email confirmation from me shortly.

We had 435 entries into this giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway! Please continue to visit Mint Green with Envy for more great giveaways!

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Congratulations to hity88! Your comment number 12 was selected via random.org and you have won  a bottle of Salon Grafix Invisible Dray Shampoo.  You will be receiving an email confirmation from me shortly.

We had 70 entries into this giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway! Please continue to visit Mint Green with Envy for more great giveaways!

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Congratulations to nive! Your comment number 13 was selected via random.org and you have won SmartMouth Mouthwash ($11 Value).  You will be receiving an email confirmation from me shortly.

We had 15 entries into this giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway! Please continue to visit Mint Green with Envy for more great giveaways!

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Let’s be honest. Putting food on the table and keeping your home from falling apart can be hard work. Even vacation planning can be stressful. Now, add green living to the mix, and you’ve got more to worry about than you bargained for. Though it’s not always easy, feeding your family healthy foods, keeping your home hazard free, planning that well-deserved vacation, and doing it all green, is worth it in the long run.

Your Food

What you put into your body plays a large part in your overall health. Foods that have been intensively farmed contain less nutrients, minerals, and vitamins than food grown organically. In addition to receiving the maximum amount of nutritional value in your food, organic grown produce is not treated with pesticides. Pesticides increase the risk of cancer, obesity, and Alzheimer’s disease and may be responsible for some birth defects. If you’re trying to stay healthy, you’re doing the right thing by increasing your daily intake of fruits and veggies. However, if the “healthy” food you’re eating and feeding to your family has been contaminated with pesticides, you may want to rethink just how good for you it really is.

Your Home

Your home should be a safe haven for you, your family, and your pets. A good strategy for going green and conserving energy in your home is repairing or replacing your insulation. Insulation keeps your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. If Insulation is old or faulty, your energy costs are increased and your energy conservation plummets.

Replacing or repairing your insulation may bring you face to face with an even bigger problem. In older homes, especially houses built before 1975, builders used a mineral called asbestos in insulation and drywall. Asbestos was used for its fire-resistant qualities and when left intact, is completely harmless. But when disturbed, say by everyday household accidents, asbestos fibers are released into the air and inhaled, causing a cancer of the lungs and stomach. To avoid mesothelioma, look into the state of your insulation. Having professionals investigate and replace your insulation can save energy and lives. Due to poor mesothelioma life expectancy rates, this is not an issue that you want to take lightly.

Your Vacation

Today, vacations tend to be in extravagant hotel settings. Though those sorts of vacations can be relaxing (after all the planning), they aren’t necessarily good for the environment. Millions of dollars and tons of energy are wasted by large hotels and vacation attractions. Instead, consider a green vacation. Beach or forest camping not only saves money, but allows a family environment that fosters bonding, relaxation, and education. Peeling your children away from their technological fixes may be a feat, but allowing them to witness and appreciate what nature has to offer may be worth it.

So, the next time you think about your family’s diet, think green, and think organic. Pesticide free food ensures the health of your family. And if you’re hoping to save on money and energy waste, think about a change in insulation and remember that keeping your eyes open for asbestos products is much less stressful than watching out for mesothelioma symptoms. And finally, when you’re ready for a break from it all, think about a totally green vacation. After all, you deserve it.

Thank you to Krista Peterson for this Guest Post.

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Hi there! I'm Jackie from Every Pretty Thing. My favorite crafts are decoupage and easy sewing projects, but my most recent fascination is making fabric flowers--they're so different based on which fabrics you use, how many times you singe the petals, what shapes you cut...it's all up to you and it always looks great (which is good for someone with, ahem, interesting cutting skills like mine)!

I made a little tutorial for fabric flower elastic headbands. I just got some gorgeous periwinkle and light gray chiffon in, so that's what I used. Other chiffons curl up more than this one did, but this makes for a good, low-key but still gorgeous flower.

Here's what you need:

• Chiffon: 1/4 yard makes a ton of flowers, so you just need a small piece. We're using 2 colors here.
• Bead or button for the center of each flower: I used 3 glass pearl beads in this project.
• Scissors: I use small, sharp scissors so I have more control over the shape.
• Needle and thread: Make sure the needle is small enough to fit through the bead or button.
• Adhesive: I used E6000.
• A candle: This is to singe/melt the edges of each petal.
• TV or Netflix: This is 100% necessary. Trust me. Turn it on before you begin.

First, cut out your shapes. I did 4 circles for each of the 2 biggest flowers and 3 for the smallest. Make sure each is a little smaller than the one before it so they can nestle into each other once they're singed.

Don't fret if your circles aren't perfect. In this case, "It adds character!" is not a euphemism for "That's hideous!" Real flowers aren't perfect circles, so these don't need to be either.

Next, light your candle and hold each petal near (not in! It'll catch on fire. Don't ask me how I know, please) the flame, turning the circle to get even melting. You may want to use tweezers to hold the petals, especially the tiny circles. Burned fingernails hurt more than you'd think (Again, don't ask how I know...). With poly-chiffon, if you run it around twice instead of just once it'll curl up into gorgeous flowery-ness. Mine (silk chiffon, I think?) just melted more awkwardly! Lucky me. Arrange them into some aesthetically pleasing formation, like this:

Insert the threaded needle from the bottom (it helps if you squish the center of the flower and slide it off the surface so you don't mess up your pretty arrangement), thread a bead or button onto the needle, then finish the stitch. Tie it off under the flower. Repeat with the other two flowers.

Next, line up the finished flowers prettily. It doesn't need to be a perfectly straight line, just whatever looks best. Stitch them together using one hidden stitch. Sewing the stitch into the bottom-most layer of the flower hides it under the other layers, so that you can't see it from the outside.

Once you have a pretty sewn-together flower grouping, get out your elastic headband and use the adhesive to secure it to the headband. Once it's pretty steady, stitch (again on the bottom layer of the flower so it's invisible) the grouping to the headband. One stitch on each side should be sufficient. I know the adhesive seems a little unnecessary here, but it's a bit of an ordeal to sew it on there otherwise. Plus, a little extra security is never a bad thing. The E6000 is a jeweler's adhesive that is flexible, so the stretching of the headband won't upset it.

Now you have a gorgeous headband that you made yourself! Go strut around and tell everyone who will listen (or am I the only one who does that?)!

Experiment with other types of chiffon (and silks and satins if you're so inclined), pretty shapes, dozens of layers, only two layers, whatever strikes your fancy. The fabulous thing about these is that they're very difficult to make ugly. What else can you think of to add a fabric flower to? I've done bobby pins, magnets, and tiny ones on rings.

Jacquelyn Kyle is a graduate student who studies mortuary archaeology of the prehistoric British Isles. She started Every Pretty Thing in September of 2010, and blogs about new products and whatever else strikes her fancy here. Like her on Facebook to get fans-only specials.

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*Giveaway Has Ended*

Results

Earrings Nation is giving away a $25 Store Credit to one lucky Mint Green with Envy winner.  Earrings Nation has a great selection of earrings to choose from. I love the spring feel to the earrings shown above.

*Giveaway*

One winner will receive a $25 Store Credit to Earrings Nation.

To Enter:

Please visit Earrings Nation and leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite item is in their store.

Extra Entries:please leave one separate comment for each entry.

• e-mail subscribe to this blog - 1 extra
• follow my blog with google - 1 extra
• follow me on twitter (mintgreenenvy)-1 extra
• *Like* Mint Green With Envy on Facebook - 1 extra
• tweet this giveaway and post the link in your comment- (may do this daily) 1 extra/day
  
  
  
  
  

  Copy and Paste to Tweet

I just entered to win a $25 Earrings Nation Store Credit. @mintgreenenvy http://www.mintgreenwithenvy.com

• grab my button and put it on your blog - 2 extra   
   
• blog about this giveaway - 3 extra
  

• *Like*  Earrings Nation on Facebook - 1 extra
  
• follow Earrings Nation on Twitter - 1 extra
  
• follow Earrings Nation's Blog - 1 extra

Contest will run for 2 weeks. Ends at Midnight on the night of March 24, 2011 Open to All Countries .Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by e-mail on  March 25, 2011 and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

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Congratulations to @nola727! Your comment number 18 was selected via random.org and you have won Scandle Shimmering body Candle (random fragrance) .  You will be receiving an email confirmation from me shortly.

We had 74 entries into this giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway! Please continue to visit Mint Green with Envy for more great giveaways!

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Results

Blue Scarab Jewelry is giving away one of their Raspberry Sorbet Necklaces!  Here are the details of this beautiful necklace as listed at their Etsy site.

such a simple petite necklace with a bold punch of color. Fourteen shaded Pink Tourmaline rondelles are wrapped in a row and hung from Sterling Silver rolo chain. These beautiful sparkling rondelles pack some serious color. Closes with a spring ring clasp.


:d e t a i l s:
Raspberry Sorbet Necklace measures 19 inches. All Sterling Silver components. Genuine Tourmaline.

*Giveaway*

One winner will receive a Rasberry Sorbet Necklace, Sterling Silver, Pink Tourmaline by Blue Scarab Jewelry ($26 Value)

To Enter:

Please visit Blue Scarab Jewelry and leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite item is in their store.

Extra Entries:please leave one separate comment for each entry.

• e-mail subscribe to this blog - 1 extra
• follow my blog with google - 1 extra
• follow me on twitter (mintgreenenvy)-1 extra
• *Like* Mint Green With Envy on Facebook - 1 extra
• tweet this giveaway and post the link in your comment- (may do this daily) 1 extra/day
  
  
  
  
  

  Copy and Paste to Tweet

I just entered to win a Raspberry Sorbet Necklace. @mintgreenenvy http://www.mintgreenwithenvy.com

• grab my button and put it on your blog - 2 extra

• blog about this giveaway - 3 extra
  
• *Like* Blue Scarab Jewelry on Facebook - 1 extra

Contest will run for 2 weeks. Ends at Midnight on the night of March 15, 2011 Open to All Countries .Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by e-mail on  March 16, 2011 and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

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Valentine's Day has passed and my children still have leftover candy from their school parties.  All that sugar, many in the form of lollipops, make their teeth just a few steps away from receiving cavities.

Luckily, there is a candy out there that will actually help fight cavities. Xyli-Tots Lollies taste great and reduce the cavity causing bacteria in the mouth.  Xyli-Tot Lollies come in many different flavors including:

• Cherry Chuckles
• Citrus Smiles
• Grape Giggles
• Lime Laughs
• Raspberry Riddles

It is recommended to only use 20 lollies a day.  After breakfast and dinner are the preferable times to use them. Xyli- Tots are sugar free and fight cavities with .5g of xylitol per lollipop.

Disclosure: I received a free product for this review. No monetary compensation was offered or accepted for this post. The opinions above are my own. Others’ experience may vary.

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