101 Sewing Tutorials

I stumbled upon this little jewel and wanted to share...

Which project sounds coolest to you?

Shrinky Dinks Monster Lab Activity Kit (Giveaway with Creativity for Kids)

Can I be totally honest with you?

Before this big box arrived at my doorstep, I had never played with Shrinky Dinks.

My son (and my husband) were pumped about making monsters with furry legs and yellow eyes so I had planned to let this be a "Daddy and Me" type of project.

After watching them trade colored pencils and create all kinds of monstery things for a few minutes, I set my camera down and asked Jeremy to pass me the light blue.

What is it about coloring that lets you forget the time and your troubles?

But, that wasn't the coolest part.

As a Shrinky Dink novice, I was unaware of how amusing it is to watch those flimsy pieces of crayoned plastic contort and twist and diminish in just about three minutes.

My boy and I were staring into the oven with our mouths open, pointing and laughing. "Look at your red worm! Ohhh, the mad scientist!"

I'm telling you... f.u.n.

When they come out of the oven, they're so cute and small, but sturdier and thicker. 

They are just right for setting up a crazy scientist's laboratory. 

And just right for spending a little time together and stretching our imaginations.

. . . . . 

You are lucky luckies because the sweet people at

are giving away 2 Shrinky Dinks Monster Lab Activity Kits!

Are you ready for some extreme Shrinky Dink fun? Get ready to color, bake and shrink the most creative creatures ever! Includes 50+ pre-cut Shrinky Dinks, Faber-Castell color EcoPencils, brads, chenille stems, wiggly eyes and more. When you are finished, place them inside the 3-D pop-up laboratory (measures 16" x 7 3/4" x 6"). Winner of the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval and FunFare - All Stars Award. Ages 7 and up. Valued at $19.99.

To win:

1. Leave a comment telling me that you are an In Between Laundry follower or subscriber AND if you've ever tried Shrinky Dinks. (one entry)

2. Visit the Creativity for Kids Facebook page. Leave a comment here after you did. (one entry)

* Winners announced Tuesday, July 5th. *

Giveaway is now closed.

A Simple First Birthday Party

You know that I've been excited about my baby's elephant party for a while now.

Read about the planning and invitations here.

We had such a sweet little party with our family last weekend. 

For dinner, I ordered chicken nuggets from Chick Fil-A and served them up with homemade mac and cheese and peas and carrots. Mmmmm. 

So simple and so kid-friendly.

No one noticed dinner, though.

All eyes were on the amazing assortment of cupcakes my friend, Kyla, made.

Cherry Limeade. 

Banana Cream Pie (with a vanilla center). 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

And Chocolate Cream Pie (with a chocolate cream center)

I bundled up the tee shirts I'd made and had those ready for take-homes. 

Click here for my pencil-eraser-stenciled elephant tutorial.

Whoa. Say that three times fast.

Here's my balloon wreath. We use it for every birthday and it makes the birthday boy (or me) feel special for a week or two before the big day. 

You can find that post here.

Mimi made sure and snapped a quick pic of Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy.

This is my son. He did not mess around with that piece of cake.

The big boys enjoyed chasing balloons around the living room while the grandparents convinced them to try out static electricity.

Then they helped the birthday boy open his presents.

Actually, they opened his presents and the birthday boy enjoyed the tissue paper.

After lots of visiting and running around and sneaking extra cupcakes, it was time to say goodnight.

I love simple gatherings with family and special memories made with sweet cousins.

Happy Birthday, precious boy. You are loved by many.

Shared with: Tatertots and Jello, The Creative Crate

29 Ways to Stay Creative

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Ran across this on Today's Letters and thought I'd share.

Tutorial: Pencil Eraser-Stamped Elephant T-Shirts

My baby's first birthday is just around the corner. We're doing an elephant theme and decided to go with a bold color palette.

If you want to see the elephant and invitations I designed as a starting point, click here.

I recently stumbled upon this technique (done with stamping ink) on Pinterest, and wanted to put my spin on it, but with fabric paints.

For party favors, I  decided to use my elephant and create dotted, stenciled t-shirts.

Here's what I did:

1. cut your stencil from card stock and apply to your t-shirt with double-sided tape.

2. Use a different pencil eraser for each color and stamp away!

3. Make sure you dot around the stencil's edges to create a clear outline of your shape.

This was a FUN project! 

Oooh, I'm thinking about doing this with my boys' names in different shades of the same color.

And, if I am feeling like a fun mommy, I might just let my 4-year-old take a stab at it.

Stripped down to his undies. Outside. On Newspapers. 

PS: I have a lot more birthday stuff to share so keep checking back.

Shared with: Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal

Orange Dreamsicle Sugar Scrub

I am now offering a beautiful brand-new eBook, A Year of Sugar Scrubs, 24 Original Recipes for Hand and Foot Scrubs. It is organized by month and is loaded with delicious (never before seen) scrub recipes, like Caramel Frappe, Pina Colada, S'mores and more! Each recipe can be easily whipped up in your kitchen with common ingredients. I know you'll love it!

Click here to find out more!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pinterest Love

Confession. I've been lurking around Pinterest for a few months, but have only yesterday discovered how to pin my own stuff. I'm a little slow.

But now I can't seem to stop myself.

Here are a few of my favorites right now. (Click on the image for its source.)

Are you on Pinterest? If not, send me an email at in_between_laundry@yahoo.com and I'll send you an invite.

You can find my pins by clicking here.

You can find pins of In Between Laundry posts by clicking here.