Are you thinking ahead to Christmas?  If you are, this is for you!  A free printable advent calendar that’s super cute and will look great with any holiday decor.

Print them out and staple them to little bags or top off tiny packages.  Use your imagination and these simple tags to create something special for the holidays.  You can download this printable at Simple As That. 

Looking for more ideas?  You might find just what you want right here…

25 Handmade Advent Calendars

These are a beautiful way to start decorating for the holidays!  Do you make a new Advent Calendar each year or do you use the same one?  I’d love to hear about your holiday traditions!

~Kim

There’s no need for a boring old clock when you can created a fabulous one of your own for your next weekend project! Whatever your style, you can easily whip up one of these 6 sizzling DIY clocks!

{Shown above – DIY Paper Plate Clock – Creative Jewish Mom}

{DIY Bicycle Wheel Clock – Homes}

{DIY Medallion Clock – Apartment Therapy}

{Starburst Clock – Freckled Nest}

{Pallet Clock – Prodigal Pieces}

{DIY Kitchen Clock}

Whoa…aren’t those fun!  Which one is your favorite?

~Kim

25 DIY Fall Wreaths

Fall brings crisp, cool air with golden leaves and pumpkins…what’s not to love!  Fall wreaths are the perfect decoration to welcome your friends and family.  A change in season is always a good thing around here and fall is one of the best times of the year!

I’ve gathered a few fall wreaths…they are made out of EVERYTHING!  Some are free, some use scraps of fabric or burlap and all of them are easy to make.  That’s my kind of project!

1. Wine Cork Fall Wreath – Savvy Design
2. Burlap Flower Fall Wreath – Craftaholics Anonymous
3. Fall Leaves Initial Wreath – The Thrifty Abode
4. Neutral Fall Wreath – Raising Up Rubies
5. Burlap Fall Ruffle Wreath – Jones Design Co.
6. Fall Argyle Yarn Wreath – The Curious Pug
7. Fall Glitter Leaves Wreath – Homemade by Jill
8. Houndstooth Pumpkin Wreath – Tatertots and Jello
9. Fall Yarn Wreath – DecorChick
10. Candy Corn Wreath – WhipperBerry
11. DIY Fall Wreath – Craft-O-Maniac
12. Fall Wheat Wreath – Thrive
13. Crocheted Fall Wreath – Repeat Crafter Me
14. Fall Pom Pom Wreath – Nature’s Heirloom
15. Fall Acorn Wreath – Little Things Bring Smiles
16. Fall Book Page Wreath – Creations by Kara
17. Pumpkins & Burlap Fall Wreath – Shanty 2 Chic
18. Corn Husk Bow Wreath – The Cards We Drew
19. Fall Leaves Square Wreath – Thrifty Décor Chick
20. DIY Ruffled Paper Wreath – Make It Lovely
21. DIY Fall Feather Wreath – Lacquer and Linen
22. DIY Free Fall Wreath – Sweet Pea Pod
23. Easiest Ruffled Burlap Fall Wreath – Top This Top That
24. Fall Wreath Rosettes – Third Floor Design
25. Corn Husk Fall Wreath – Martha Stewart

Which one is your favorite?  Do you like more traditional wreaths or look for something new each year?

~Kim

Looking for more fall projects to welcome the season?  Check out these…

101 Festive Fall Tutorials

Margaritas have always been a favorite party drink and these fabulous recipes take a basic margarita and kick it up a few notches.  There’s a little something for everyone and I’m sure you’ll find a new favorite.  You’ll just have to spend a little time on research…you don’t mind, do you?

8 Margarita Recipes to Try…

{The Blu Bungalow’s Watermelon Margarita – Anthropologie}

{Mango Margarita – Mind Over Batter}

{Pink Grapefruit Margaritas – There Goes the Cupcake}

{Strawberry Coconut Margarita Recipe – A Girl Defloured}

{Agave Margarita Recipe – Gourmet}

{Make Ahead Mango Raspberry Margaritas – Oven Love Blog}

{Fresh Strawberry Margaritas – How Sweet Eats}

{Jalapeno Margarita Recipe – YumSugar}

That ought to give you enough ideas to throw a fabulous party, don’t you think??

Are you a Sangria Lover like I am?? You might enjoy these seriously amazing sangria recipes!

Have fun…and invite me to the party!

~Kim

Southern Beer Battered Shrimp Recipe

One of my favorite foods in the whole entire world…shrimp.  Shrimp are amazing no matter which way they are cooked, but it’s really hard to beat fried shrimp.  Living in the south you learn a bit about shrimp and which ones are the sweetest, biggest, or best for your shrimp salad or scampi recipe.  There’s a huge difference and my favorite shrimp are always from Key West or Savannah.  Luckily, we’re close to both areas.  We’ve even caught our own shrimp in the Keys!

Now that you know just how serious shrimp are around here, you’ll trust me when I tell you this Southern Beer Battered Shrimp recipe is something you should keep on hand.  This is the best batter ever!

Here’s a look at what I made the other night for dinner.  It’s a rather traditional type meal around here that reminds us of Sunday Supper at Grandma’s house.  That’s hard to beat, right?!

I started with about 3 pounds of beautiful Savannah shrimp that Tim’s grandma brought home with her on a trip to visit family in Savannah.  Grandma Shuman usually brings back some type of food…she’s awesome like that.

You’ll notice these shrimp are large and light colored. 

Here’s what you’ll need for the batter…

• 1 cup beer
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• salt & pepper to taste

This should give you enough batter for about 1 1/2 pound of shrimp.

Slowly blend the beer into the flour.  Add salt and pepper. 

Now, cover it and let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours.

Prepare your shrimp.  You can drink any leftover beer while you work…you can’t just waste it!

Remove the shell up to the tail.  I usually remove all the legs at the bottom first to make the shell easier to peel off.

Devein your shrimp by using a sharp knife to cut along the back of your shrimp and run it under cold water to wash away and yucky looking stuff.

Repeat this step over and over again.  It always seems to take forever…but it’s worth it!

Once your batter is ready and your shrimp are cleaned it’s time to fry them up!

• Fill up a large pot half way with oil and heat it up to 350 degrees
• Pat 4-5 shrimp dry with a paper towel…this is a key step!
• Dip them in your batter and let them drip a second over the bowl
• Gently drop them in the oil and fry them for 3-5 minutes.
• Remove them and let them dry a bit on some paper towels
• Repeat until you’ve fried them all up!

While you’re waiting on the shrimp to fry you can snack on peanuts…

These are Georgia peanuts…also brought back from Savannah.  They are small, but super sweet and yummy.  If you are ever passing through Georgia this is the type of peanut you’ll find at the local fruit and vegetable stands.

They are a bit of work, but they’re worth it.

I always have cocktail sauce for me and tarter sauce for my husband.  The waffle fries just go together with shrimp and always disappear fast.

You could use this batter for fish, oysters or anything else.  It’s light and goes perfectly with seafood.

There you have it…the best fried shrimp recipe ever!

Are you a seafood lover?  What’s your favorite?  Shrimp, oysters, lobster?

~Kim

Handmade Mini Notebooks

Do you have a ton of pretty scrapbook paper you’ve been saving?  Well, here’s a simple and sweet idea to quickly create handmade mini notebooks!  They make fabulous gifts bundled up in a set, or throw one in your purse to keep track of those awesome ideas of yours.

Cut the scrapbook paper.  Fold it in half.  Secure your pages with washi tape or ribbon from the center of your little book and around the edge. 

Mix and match fun colors and patterns. add a sticker or two…and maybe a little lace ribbon.

Isn’t that easy?  I even made one for our summer vacation.  I’ll add a few notes and trinkets inside to create a little book of vacation memories. 

I embellished the pages inside with tape, stickers and rub on designs.

It’s a fun way to use up leftover scrapbooking supplies and create something cute.  Couldn’t you use a set of your own?

Have you made mini notebooks?  I’d love to hear about them!

~Kim

Create this classy Embroidered Initial Necklace for all your friends…they will love it!  Easy handmade gifts are some of my favorite projects!

The possibilities are endless and once you make a few of these I’m sure you will start to dream up new ideas for these sweet embroidered pendants.

You only need a few supplies…

• Fabric scraps
• Embroidery thread
• Embroidery needle
• Embroidery hoop
• Oval Pendant {can be found here}
• Water Soluble Ink Pen

Order quite a few pendants because once you get started you’ll want to make a handful of these little trinkets…trust me!

Using a water soluble pen write your initial in the center of the fabric.  I practiced my letter on a regular sheet of paper first for size.  I also added little marks on my fabric to show the size of the pendant.  It worked on the first try!

Take your embroidery thread and needle and start stitching with a simple backstitch. {stitch video here}

Once you complete the stitching cut out around the oval leaving a bit of extra fabric.  If you can see any of the ink, just follow the instructions for your pen to remove it.

Place your fabric in the pendant and secure the pendant back.  Here’s where you can work with it a little if you want.  I added folded fabric scraps behind my initial before putting it in the pendant to make it a little puffy.  It’s up to you.

I just trimmed the excess fabric close to the edge with super pointy scissors.  {not shown above}  You could add a small oval cut out as an extra layer and glue your fabric to it before placing the back on.  I haven’t tried this, but it seems like it would work.

It will look beautiful no matter what you do, but I thought I’d share a few options.

Isn’t it cute??

I plan on making quite a few of these for Christmas this year!

It took less than an hour to make both of these…and I took photos!  I think they would look fabulous with a linen background or any other small pattern.

If you love handmade gifts like I do, you’ll love these ideas…

• 101 Simple Handmade Gifts
• 101 Handmade Gifts for Her
• 101 Handmade Gifts for Men
• 101 Handmade Christmas Ornaments

What do you think?  I’d love to hear about some handmade gifts you’ve made!  They are the best!

~Kim

Scrapbook flowers make easy hair accessories…and awesome little handmade gifts! 

I found these pretty flower embellishments in a sale section.  I browse sale sections first to see if there’s something there that inspires a project…and I’m kinda cheap like that! 

This is one of the fastest handmade gift ideas ever, so you really need to make a bunch to keep on hand for birthdays and holidays. They even fit in an envelope to send off to someone and brighten their day.

One package of flowers I bought were plain canvas and I sprayed them with color. It’s the rose type flower above. Well, let’s just say I won’t be doing that again. I don’t want to bash any type of craft supplies, but spraying dye onto a flower and making a major mess just doesn’t seem worth it.

The other flowers might not last forever, but they will last a long time. Grab a couple packages of any sturdy flower embellishments, get your glue gun and bobby pins together, and get ready to make pretty stuff!

These bobby pins were purchase from a lovely Etsy shop, Whimsy & Pop.  They have a nice finish and a flat area to glue your flower on easily.  Just add a dot of glue and press your flower on.  Let it cool and attach it to small cards to have them ready to share.

I put them in small plastic bags to finish the packaging.  You can find packages of small zip lock bags at any craft store.

Now you need to make some!

Can you ever have too many pretty hair accessories??? I think not!

Have you made any handmade hair accessories lately?  I’d love to hear about them!  They always make a great little gift!

We all know handmade gifts rule…lol!!!

~Kim

21 DIY Summer Wreaths

These summer wreaths sizzle with color and style! Creating your own wreath is the perfect weekend DIY project!   

You’ll find lots of inspiration and tips to help you create an amazing summer wreath with just a few pretty supplies and an hour or so!  No major crafty skills needed!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy this tour of some of the most beautiful summer wreath tutorials EVER…

Summer Lemon Wreath & Bunting – The Mombot

Succulent Summer Wreath – Prudent Baby

Glass Float Summer Wreath – Sand and Sisal

Patriotic Clothespin Summer Wreath – Everything Etsy

Summer Dahlia Yarn Wreath – A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Starfish Wreath – A Pop of Pretty

Patriotic Yarn Wreath – Naptime Crafts

Paper Umbrella Wreath – Family Chic

Summer Bicycle Wreath – Craft-O-Matic

Colorful Vintage Sheet Wreath – In Color Order

Beach Inspired Summer Wreath – A Beach Cottage

Patriotic Burlap & Denim Wreath – The Scrap Shoppe Blog

Flip Flop Pool Noodle Wreath – Fox Hollow Cottage

There’s more…

• Summer Frame Wreath Tutorial – A Glimpse Inside
• Fabric Scraps and Flip Flop Summer Wreath – Southern Scraps
• Floral Egg Carton Wreath – Homemade Serenity
• Shell Wreath – HGTV
• Upcycled Fabric Summer Wreath – Honey Bee Vintage
• Navy and Yellow Summer Wreath – Christina’s Adventures
• Summer Beach Rock Wreath – Silly Pear
• Super Easy Summer Lovin’ Wreath – A Glimpse Inside

Wow, right?!  These are so colorful and creative!  Which wreath is your style?  Do you like patriotic wreaths or beachy ones?  I might need more than one!

Looking for more Summer projects?  You might like these…

• 101 Summer Inspired Tutorials
• 101 Sewing Tutorials for Summer
• 101 Handmade Gifts for Men

Mother’s Day is a time to express a little extra love to those special women in our lives.  Here’s the thing…it doesn’t have to cost you a mint, and maybe just a few cents. 

There’re so many beautiful printables available that would help you whip up the perfect gift.     

Spray paint an old frame and add a pretty print. 

Print a Mother’s Day card at home from a colorful selection.

Add a free printable to the top of a candy jar…super cute!

Get creative and try one of these Mother’s Day Printables…

{Mother’s Day Print – Boutique Café}

{Mom’s Secret Stash Candy Jar Printable – Eighteen25}

(Best Mom Ever Printable – NoBiggie}

{Mother’s Day Quote Print – Eighteen25}

{Mother’s Day Party Printables Set – Catch My Party}

{Happy Mother’s Day Cards – Nifty Thrifty Things}

{Mother’s Day Cake Banner – I Heart Naptime}

{Mother’s Day Printable – I Want That}

Looking for more Mother’s Day gifts ideas???  Here are 101 Beautiful DIY gifts for her…you’ll find something you’ll love on this list! {and maybe something for yourself}

Have a beautiful Mother’s Day!!!