Free Time Frolics

Little Bo Peep Costume Inspiration

June 18, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Since I found out I was having a little girl. I wanted to make her a Little Bo Peep Costume. She is finally the ripe old age of 4 so I thought I had better get the costume done before she starts wanting to think of her own costumes. I found this beautiful Little Bo Peep Costume on Etsy one day (Pinned it) and decided it was what my Little Miss was going to be for Halloween.

Little Miss MUFFET/Bo PEEP Costume Custom CHILD Size

(Photo from Etsy store Mom2rtk)

She makes lots of beautiful costumes year round in her shop.

Isn’t is beautiful?? I just loved the colors and the style. Perfect for my Little Miss. She has these beautiful natural blond curls and a sweet little smile, to go with the outfit. The price was a little out of my budget. So off I went to make my own with a little twist.

I found a lamb at the end of the Easter season for $3. I made a bonnet instead of a fabric cap out of Tim Tex, fabric and ribbon. And I used an old outdoor candy cane from Christmas as her crook wrapped in ribbon and fabric flowers. It was the perfect size for her. I used my own peasant styled shirt pattern and made a basic skirt and bloomer pattern. For the vest I used a simple tutorial from Make it – Love it and added the hip plumes myself. Here is how it turned out.

My Little Bo Peep.

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

{Pin}tastic Friday- Ham & Cheese Sliders

June 15, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Do you love to cook? Bake? I do. I love to bake anything. Especially desserts. In the winter I love to make soups with fresh baked wheat bread. I love to make yummy food but in the summer I want fast and easy. (As little effort as possible.) I found my next little find at the Girl Who Ate Anything. Don’t you just love the name. It sounds so Brave! (I myself are not so adventurous) I worried at first about this little dish because I do not like mustard. But I will know eat the mustard on these yummy little sandwiches.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

(Photo Source)

These little babies are tasty on a hot summers day. I popped them in my toaster oven for a few minutes add a salad on the side and voila dinner is served. My kids even liked them. Definitely a dish we will keep in the family cook book.(I have a home made cook book of favorite family recipes. Some day my kiddos will ask to take a copy to college or something. I keep family favorite recipes from when I was a kid and add new ones every know and then.) Some day I will share. Until then. Check this one out over at the Girl Who Ate Anything and stay a while she has some wonderful recipes you can try with your own family.

Please pin from the source. She has been working hard for great recipes she totally deserves the credit.

I you would like to follow me on Pintrest click the “P” to the right or click HERE. Thanks for spending your Free Time with Me. Happy Pinning and have a Great Weekend.

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

4th of July Threads +Quilted Fish Giveaway

June 13, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Its that time of year for a new outfit for the holiday. This year is an Uncle Sam theme. (I am using it for my Mantel too.

Wrist corsage in just the right colors.

A skirt {of course} Broad Stripes & Bright Stars

Tuxedo styled shirt

And a Top Hat just like Uncle Sam.

I love how her outfit turned out. And she loves it too. Now she is ready to sport her new threads at any holiday party!

Do you like her hat??? Want to make one of your own???

I contacted Amanda at The Quilted Fish. She is the designer of “We’re all Mad Here” the pattern I used to make this hat. She designs beautiful fabric for Riley Blake and Patterns. I found the pattern and had to have it. It is so versatile and could be used for a bunch of holidays. It’s going to be adorable on my mantel too. How are you dressing your kiddos for the holidays?

Womens Tank to Little Girl Maxi

June 11, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Maxi’s are all the rage this season. I wanted one for my little miss but they are hard to find. I was shopping at a local mall and found an adorable tank for women. I am not much of a tank top wearer but it is adorable for my Little Miss. Here is what I started with…. A lacey tank from Down East.

I cut off the bottom of the tank just below the arm pit. Leaving the most length possible.

Stitch a basting stitch around the top of the skirt. You may need to gather the skirt a bit before sewing on the waist band.

For the waistband I had a piece of knit that was a perfect match . I measured my Little Missy’s waist and subtracted 1 inch. Knit is really stretchy. I cut my fabric 19 by 6. Fold your waistband in half lengthwise and right sides together. Short ends together. Stitch. You should have a circle for a waistband.

Fold the band in half to make it 3 x 18 round. Pin the band to your skirt. Giving the skirt and even gather if your must gather. Stitch around with a knit stitch. securing the waistband to the skirt.

Here is how my skirt turned out.

I think it turned out so cute. She loves it! I think it makes her look so grown up. Fun and easy for the summer. Great for the beach, church or a day of shopping. Head out and find a tank for your Little Miss.

{Pin} tastic Friday- Bar Sugar Cookies

June 8, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Yeah I am so excited. I became a dot.com. Want to learn how. It’s super easy. (I found it on the SNAP confrence website) I have been off the Grid in Yellowstone National Park with my kiddos and haven’t had a chance to tell you all. Fun, fun, fun If you haven’t ever been to Yellowstone it is totally worth it. Take your family!!

Now on to {Pin}tastic Friday. I found this Little beauty on Pintrest one day. I decided to give them a try for my son’s baptism. We had a lot of people coming and I needed to have less work more food. So I busted these babies out.
I rarely make sugar cookies. I have never found a recipe I just love. I also don’t love rolling and cutting and refrigerating. Just to much work. But these lovelies or simple to make and yummy to eat. My mind says yum keep eating my body says those jeans are not going to fit anymore.

Photo from Lady with the Red Rocker

The Lady with the Red Rocker has really out done herself. I just love these. Please visit her site for this yummy recipe. Pin it from the source and enjoy it for the rest of your life. I am serious.

Yummy-licious!!!!

I you would like to follow me on Pintrest click the “P” to the right or click HERE. Thanks for spending your Free Time with Me. Happy Pinning and have a Great Weekend

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

Story Starters

June 4, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

It’s summer break and the kids are out of school. Part of me is excited and the the other part terrified. Some days are like Ground hogs day. Just the same day on repeat. A Copy and Paste kind of day. Others are exciting and fun. With great experiences. We have some fun things planned this summer. Yellowstone Park, camping, visiting family, water parks and the zoo just to name a few.

I guess you could say I am a mean mom. We have a lot of fun things planned but I also have my kids do school work during the summer. We have workbooks to do, reading time (my boys actually like reading time) and this year story starters.

Our boys are great students and get fairly good grades. A weakness they have is Handwriting and punctuation. (Most boys do I think???) So in an effort to help them remember and practice these skills we have implemented Story starters. They are given the opportunity to write a creative story each week about what they have been doing for the summer or use one of these story starters.

This is a great way to help your kids remember those skills they have learned in school and have a creative outlet.
We just used an old notebook they brought home from school. Each boy has to write a 1 page story each week as part of there weekly chores.

Here are a list of the story starters I cam up with. Click on the Google link below to download and use.

Story Starters

On the first day of Summer, I saw an alien spaceship…..

A Monkey escaped from the zoo…

I was riding my bike to a friend house when it suddenly lifted off the ground and began to float….
website
One night I was dreaming I was walking on the Moon. When I woke up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was standing…..

I woke up one morning to find an alien in my closet…..

If I were a Christmas ornament….

If I found a $1000….

If I had 3 arms….

When I grow up I want to be….

My best friend…

I tried to catch a Leprechaun. This is how I did it…

For summer break I went to….

I saw an insect as big as my Dad….

My favorite thing to do is…

My least favorite thing to do is….

If I could create my very own…….. It would be…….

If I were a video game…

Scholastic also offers a story starters on there website. They can do all types of stories in different formats. Newspaper, poem, letter or story. Lots to choose from.

Hope your Summer has started off with a Bang!

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

{Pin}tastic Friday – Carmelitas

June 1, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Happy {Pin}tastic Friday! Carmelita’s are today’s delicious food is one that I have loved for over a year now. They are so delicious. I made them for a friend when she had a baby. I took them to the hospital and told her to hoard them. They are to good to share with little kids. So she took my advice and ate them all in the night. (If you are not aware, a new Mom is starving for days after delivering a baby. I would eat anything I could get my hands on. My request was KFC biscuits. I could eat a dozen every night after delivering my kiddos.Yummy!!) Afterwards she asked for the recipe.

I tell ya these beauties are Ooey, Gooey, YUM. And so easy to make. You will want the pan for yourself.

I found the recipe at Lulu the Baker. Go take a look at her blog. She has lots of yummy things to eat. She doesn’t disappoint.

You won’t be sorry you made these. And neither will your neighbors if you share.

Head over and see what else I am Pinning. Lots of fun finds and food to make. Follow me if you like.

Thanks for visiting in your Free Time.

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

Recycled Bike Basket DIY

May 30, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

My little Miss has a bike, a tricycle and a scooter. Funny thing is she only likes to ride the scooter and tricycle. Originally her tricycle had a little plate cover on the front of the handlebars. It broke off and left that area vacant. I remember having a fun basket on the front of my bike. I loved to put my favorite toy in the basket and go for a ride. I saw my my orange juice container and had an idea. Who needs to buy a basket when I can make one for free. I started with an empty Orange Juice container.

I cut the top of the orange juice container. Just below the handle.

(In hind sight I would have punched 2 holes along 1 long side of the container. I did mine later and it was hard to get the holes cut)

Take your fabric and measure it around the container and measure the height.

Begin by painting a layer of modge podge onto your container. Start wrapping your fabric around the outside of the container.

Glue the edge of the fabric down. Paint a layer of modge podge onto your fabric. Give it a really good coat.

Fold the top fabric down to the inside. Glue it down.

Let is dry for a while. You may want to do a second coat.

Now for the bottom. I place a lot of glue on the plastic and spread it around.

Then start and fold it like the end of a package. Fold 2 sides and press down to stick to the glue.

Lay more glue down and fold your last two sides down. Cover in modge podge. Let dry

At this point I punched my holes. I wish I had done it before covering in fabric. Measure your bike handle bars for hole placement. I also stapled around the top to secure the fabric to the plastic. I used pom fringe to hide the staples.This would go great for a little boy and make it a super hero basket or cowboy or space man. Whatever your little boy is into. Fun for everyone!

To hide any graphics from the container I glammed it up. Pom fringe and some flower cut outs. Red ribbons to tie it onto the bike and your finished.

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

Rain{Bows} from My Sister’s Suitcase

May 25, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

Happy Bloggy Birthday Adrienne!! Nat and Holly here from My Sister’s Suitcase. Adrienne is a great friend and one of our very first blog followers! We are excited to be here to celebrate with her today. We’re sharing a tutorial for one of our favorite EASY hairbows for the darling girls in your life…

The “mini” felt bow.

Aren’t they cute?

We started making these bows about a year ago when we found this awesome tutorial from Natty By Design. {You may also remember them from my Kite Wall Art.}

Ever since, I have wanted to make them for my little girl {who is just getting enough hair to wear ponytails!} In order to get the shape and size I wanted for these “mini” bows, I needed to start from scratch and make my own pattern. Here’s what I came up with:

Download the free pattern

Once you have your pattern printed and cut out, these are the other materials you’ll need:

felt {in desired colors}
scissors
2 pins
hot glue
mini bobby pins

Here’s what I did:

{1} Pin the paper pattern to felt {2} Cut out all your bow shapes and a small strip of each color for the “center” of the bow {3} Fold the ends together, (one will slightly overlap the other) and {4} glue them together {5} Pinch center of the bow together, then {6} wrap the small piece around the center and pull tight. {7} Use the bobby pin to hold it together on the back of the bow. (This works great to keep it tight around the center until you are ready to glue!) Carefully glue the center piece down and trim any excess felt. Then (leaving the bobby pin in place), add a small drop of glue to the back of the bobby pin on each side to secure it to the felt. {8} Your “mini” felt bow is finished! And it’s dang cute!! These are so easy, anyone can make them, I promise 🙂 My sis, Nat, came up with the idea to make a set of these bows for her niece’s 1st birthday, and thought it would be cute to do a rainbow of bows! She’s so creative! Here are the colors we used:

Look how darling they turned out in our rain{bow} pacakging…

Do you want a copy of this rain{bow} tag printable?

Head over to our blog and download it for free. Nat’s cool like that. We’re not requiring anything to download it, but it would be a super awesome blogiversary present to Adrienne if you follow her blog or like her on facebook first 🙂

Oh, and we’re also giving away a set of these rain{bows} as part of her Bloggy Birthday Giveaway, so don’t forget to enter! Happy Happy 1st year of blogging my friend, we hope you have many more to come! Thanks for having us!!

Birthday Giveaway
Want to see the Prize Package??? Check Here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the entire post on my blog www.freetimefrolics.com

Photo Transfer Tiles from Those Crafty Sisters

May 24, 2012 By: Freetimefrolics

The giveaway is posted below. Please be sure to checkout the other Birthday posts.

Today’s post is from Linda @ www.thosecraftysisters.com.

We’ve all seen tile coasters, either decorated or painted or decoupaged with photos. Maybe you even created some ~~last year for Christmas~~ as a kid. I really thought I’d exhausted the different ways to make a coaster from tile, but when I read about creating tile coasters using iron on’s, I couldn’t wait to try it!

What you’ll need:

4″ x 4″ Tile: This works easier with unglazed tile , but colors are brighter with glazed. (I sanded the glazed tiles before transferring the photo.)
Photo transfer paper
Iron
Water-resistant sealer
Cork or felt tabs, if you are going to make the tile into a coaster

1. Print your photo on the photo transfer paper, following the manufacturer’s directions. Cut around your image leaving a 1/2″ border. Tape if upside down to the edge of the tile. This will help to keep the photo from slipping.

2. Preheat the iron using the highest setting (don’t use steam!) and fold the photo back away from the tile.

3. Heat the tile: working on a protected surface, and using gloves to protect your hands from the hot tile, place your iron onto your tile for 1 minute.

4. Carefully flip the photo over onto the tile. Since the transfer paper smears easily when hot, you need to tack the transfer first by lightly gliding the tip of the iron across the back two or three times.

5. Iron it down: Using firm pressure, (and being careful not to move the transfer) iron the paper to the tile. Go back and forth, pressing firmly around all the image. Make sure to do the edges really well, because that’s the area that seems to have the hardest time with the transfer. When you are finished, set the timer for one minute and do some deep breathing or something. You don’t want to take the paper off too soon, but you also don’t want to leave it on too long or the paper will get stuck to the tile. (If that happens, heat the paper again and you should be able to get it off.)

You can see that the edges do not come off sharp and crisp, and the image has sort of an aged look to it, but I think that only enhances the end result.

6. Wait till the tile completely cools (at least 10 to 15 minutes), then seal the tile using 2 to 3 coats of sealer.
7. Attach cork or felt to the bottom if using for a coaster.

I just love the look of this! I can see a whole row of tiles lined up across a back splash or several grouped together in a frame. I’m planning on making a tile planter for a friend, and I’m definitely going to incorporate this technique.

If you like this project idea, you would love the book that I got the idea from. There are 50 projects, and they’re not your regular run-of-the-mill projects either! Just a few I plan to try: mirror frame, plexiglass accordion frame, rice paper screen and even a shower curtain! I don’t usually purchase real hold-in-your-hands books for diy stuff any more, (that’s why we have the Internet, right?) but in this case I’m glad I broke down and got it.

In celebration of Free Time Frolics’ Birthday, one lucky reader will receive a copy of Photocraft, Cool Things to Do with the Pictures You Love (which is my new favorite how-to book).

Thanks for looking, and Happy Bloggy Birthday to Free Time Frolics!

~Linda (aka, Sister #2),

Those Crafty Sisters

Here are a few popular posts from there blog!