Decorating Flip Flops With Ribbon and Beads

Here is another fun project that we did on our family reunion vacation.  I picked up a pair of flip flops for each of us girls at the dollar store.  I also picked up a small sewing kit, some ribbon and a package of multi-colored beads at Walmart.

We wrapped the ribbon around the flip flop straps, attaching the ribbon by sewing it at the bottom.

I did a running stitch along the back side of the ribbon just to help it stay in place.

On my flip flops I made a little bit of a weave a the top to give me extra room to sew on my beads.

Then I sewed the beads onto the ribbon, stitching the ribbon into place at the same time just to make it a little more stable.

I would recommend getting a glue gun to start the ribbon on the flip flop.  We didn’t have one, so we had to make do.  I also think that we could have used the glue gun for some of the beads.  It would have gone a lot faster.

Oh man do I need a pedicure, but here is what they looked like when I finished.

Each person made up their own style.

It was a lot of fun, and we ended up with some pretty cute flip flops. 

Here are some other fun flip flop ideas:

Make a flip flop gift bag:

Make a flip flop wreath:

Decorating T-Shirts With Bleach

On our family reunion vacations we like to do crafts as a family.  Every year we like to decorate t-shirts.  This year we decided to decorate our t-shirts with bleach.  We used two different techniques:

1.       The bleach pen

2.       Bleach spray with stencils

I bought some foam letters with sticky backing, along with sticker dots and some bleach pens.  We also filled a spray bottle with bleach. 

I explained to everyone how it worked and let them just come up with their own ideas.

We lined the shirts with card board boxes.  I read that you can iron on freezer paper onto the inside of the shirts.  That probably would have worked better, but we had to just go with what we had.

Once each person had the design that they wanted, we rinsed off the shirts with the hose.

Almost everyone went back and added some more details to their shirts. 

What was cool is that the bleach spray could look like sand, or stars, or mist.  Remember that, less is best with the spray.  It might not seem like you have enough on, but we actually like the look of the ones that had less bleach.  We found that going back and adding more bleach with the pen, or the spray gave the shirts more dimension.

When we were all done with our shirts we washed them in the washing machine, then dried them in the dryer.

It was a lot of fun and everyone loved their cool new shirt.

Here is another project that I did for a family vacation .  Check out how I did it by clicking on the picture below:

Make a Flip Flop Gift Bag

I always hate to throw away gift bags from the store, so I try to recycle them when I can.  This bag I got from the Williams Sonoma Store and it was the perfect size.  

I needed to cover the logo, so I made each flip flop about half the width of the logo.

Here is my pattern.  If you copy it and paste it into your WORD program, then you can re-size it to the size that you need.

Then I folded a piece of scrapbook paper in half, drew my pattern on the back side, and cut out both flip flops at the same time:

After the flip flops were cut out, I poked a hole for the toe straps with a skewer stick.  I also used the skewer to poke the ribbon threw the holes:

Then I taped the ribbons to the back side of the flip flop and repeated the same procedure 

with the other flip flop:

Then I glued both flip flops onto the bag, making sure that I covered the logo:

Lastly I hot glued flowers in the toes and a rhinestone in the middle.  I think that it turned out cute and I saved a bag from the trash.

The back side I decorated a little different.  I just printed out a sign from microsoft Word and then glued some of the extra scrapbook paper around it to match the front. I also added a flower with a rhinestone.

Here are some other bags that I have done:

 I also found this fun project where a lady on smallforbig painted plain bags. I thought that they were so cute and colorful that I will have to try it. 

http://smallforbig.com/2013/09/diy-paperbag-paintings.html

 Just click on the link to see how she made them.

Here are some more fun flip flop centered projects:

Decorate flip flops with ribbon and beads:

http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/06/decorating-flip-flops-with-ribbon-and.html

Make a flip flop wreath:

http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/04/flip-flop-wreath.html

Here is another printable idea for your gift packages. Just click on the picture to get the free printable:

Father's Day Bread and Butter Pickles with Printout

This would make a great family project.  It is easy to do, plus the kids will get a kick of learning how to make pickles.  You could even put them on your Father's Day hamburgers!

My father loves bread and butter pickles, so when I saw a recipe on Pinterest I thought it would be a great idea to make him a batch.  It looked easy, and it was, BUT shopping for the smaller cucumbers and the mustard seed wasn't as easy as I thought.  With the help of a few friends, I was able to locate the items.  Food-4-less sells the smaller cucumbers.  Vons (and I heard Smiths) has the mustard seed.  Shame on Wal-mart and Winco for not carrying those items.


I followed the recipe, but was worried that they might not be sweet enough (you know those health nuts are always afraid of sugar) so I added a bit more sugar. I also substituted the pickling cucumbers for Persian Cucumbers because they are smaller.  Here is how I did it:


First slice them up. I like the wavy patterns on mine:

Then pour on the Kosher salt and put in the fridge for one hour:

Then rinse off the cucumbers and add the sliced onions.


Then follow the recipe to make the pickling sauce:

Pour the vinegar sauce over the top:

Let cool for one hour before storing in the fridge.


Put the pickles in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. They should last about two weeks:

And here's my dad with his homemade jar of of pickles:

Here is my altered recipe:

Father's Day Bread and butter pickles

My friends and family tell me that they love them.  

My dad really loved them!

I just want to give a shout out to the original Bread and Butter Pickle recipe.  Here is where you can find it: http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/07/20/bread-and-butter-pickles/

Here is a printable to make for your Father's Day Bread and Butter Pickles.  

I also have a cute Father's Day card that you can make:

http://hollyshome-hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html

AND

I also have a cute Father's Day poem:

http://hollyshome-hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2011/06/fathers-day-poem.html