We love highlighting wonderful Etsy shops. Why? Because there are so many amazingly talented people out there and it is fun to meet them and be inspired by them. And also spend money buying adorable goodies. Here is one shop you should definitely visit. The Crafty Pirate. At this shop all items are handmade after the order is placed, custom orders are always welcome, and most child size hats can be made in an adult size! Wonderful. One thing I love about this shop is there are just as many amazing boy items as girl items. I have three boys and sometimes it is really hard to find fun, creative items for them.

Check out this yoda hat!

I know my boys would flip over it, being the Star Wars fanatics that they are.

This frogger is pretty dang adorable too...


And even though I have all boys, I know a little girl who would look as cute as can be with her little legs smushed into these...


Now, onto something for myself...hmmm, I would pick this one...


Alright, I have got to stop. At this rate I will be buying up the whole shop! Lucky for you folks, The Crafty Pirate is giving you a chance to win one item of your choice! All you have to do is visit the shop and find what you would choose if you won and then come back and leave it in a comment. Be sure to look around...we have only touched the tip of the iceberg with those kids hats, believe me! For a second entry, you can become a fan of The Crafty Pirate on Facebook.

We also have a special discount for you! Through the span of this giveaway you can get free shipping. Just use the code LittleBirds. Good Luck! This giveaway will end on Wednesday March 16th at 11:59 pm PT.

Thanks to all of you who entered the Buttons and Badges giveaway! What a response! The very lucky winner of three sets of flat back buttons from this shop is...

Did you get your Makia contest entry in? I hope so--the deadline is March 11! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've got to check out this awesome crafting contest sponsored by Makia, an crafting kit company aiming to make creative simple. Your idea could be their next kit!

Thank you to P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? program and Kroger for sponsoring my writing about trying new things and breaking out of my everyday routine. Click here to find great savings on high-performing P&G products at a Kroger store near you. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

I've been expressing myself artistically as long as I can remember. From dance to painting to scrapbooking to writing. I even majored in poetry and creative writing in college. Creativity is a way of life for me. When I moved to the Seattle area almost five years ago, I discovered almost everyone I met here was into quilting. But for some reason I just couldn't see myself doing it. I loved the quilts my new friends had made, but I couldn't imagine being able to express myself through quilting the way I could with other crafts.

Lucky for me I had one persistent friend. She loves quilting and somehow she knew I would love it, too, if I would just give it a try. She began holding regular private quilting lessons for me. She put on a 12-part quilt block class, just for me. Each block taught a different piecing technique, and gave me tons of practice. And I needed it, because I hadn't sewn since I was about 17 years old. But it was hard to learn not only the techniques, but how to pick fabrics, patterns, notions. It was a whole new world to me.

It probably took me half the "class" to finally see that I was in love with this new art. From there I broke out and made my first baby quilt. I actually never finished the blocks lessons because I was so excited about this new hobby. (But I promise I will before we move, Kayleen!) And now it is probably one of the hobbies I spend the most time (and money!) on.

I am so glad Kayleen persuaded me to break out of my crafting routine and try something totally foreign to me. I'll admit it--I didn't love my first quilt. It wasn't a total success. But every quilt I've made really has a piece of my heart in it. And since then I've gotten Kayleen back--I introduced her to stamping and card making, and she is more than hooked!

In the process of getting our home ready to sell, my real estate agent told me all I needed to do to the master bath was get a new shower curtain. Really, that's all? No new tile? Sold! But I am cheap, and cute shower curtains are expensive. The one we had was plain white. Boring, but functional. But then my crafty mother-in-law suggested I make one out of a bed sheet. She is a genius! One cute flat sheet is way cheaper than a cute shower curtain. Even cheaper? Using one you already have!

Remember this bed spread from my "before" simple master bedroom makeover? I still have it. And it matches my bathroom perfectly. . .


So here's the "before" of my boring bathroom:


And the "after", made simple by a new shower curtain and some new towels.


To see my full tutorial on how to make a shower curtain out of a bed sheet, check out my post over at Make and Takes today! You won't believe how easy it is!

Hooray--it's back! That awesome deal for a free 8x10 photo canvas (or $50 towards a bigger size) from Canvas People is back! This is an amazing deal. We shared it before at Christmas, but if you missed it (or just need another one), now's your chance!

I love how Shelley over at HowDoesShe? grouped the 11x14 black and white canvas photos of her kiddos in her bathroom.


I copied and got one from Canvas People for the little sweetie I nanny. So cute! I'm really glad I got the bigger size, too.


But I also love how cute they look in color, like these Ashley at Make It And Love It has of her cuties on her mantle (the smaller one is the 8x10 size).


These would make great Mother's Day gifts! But I would order one now, if I were you, because you never know if this amazing deal will still be on by then!

Thanks for the great response in entering our Rachael's Homemade Natural Soap Giveaway!
It has now ended and we are thrilled to announce the winner of 3 bars of soap from this shop. The winner is...

It's been at the top of the page for months, but we've finally filled the Favorite Tutorials page with our Top 50 tutorials of all time. Or at least since July 2008. These are the tutorials that have had the most traffic and/or comments since we started the blog. A number of them are by one of our original founders, Stacy, who last year decided to spend less time blogging and more time with her family, and we are very grateful for all her amazing contributions to this list! We plan on doing a separate page for recipes soon, so you won't find recipes there yet. But you will find great sewing, crocheting, quilting, papercrafting, and kids and gift ideas. So what are you waiting for? Go check 'em out!

Thanks to the makers of Pine-Sol® for sponsoring my writing. A study shows a clean smelling home can help children succeed, so Pine-Sol® is supporting Reading is Fundamental (RIF) this year. Click "Like" on Pine-Sol®’s Facebook page here and they will donate books to RIF!

I am the meanest mom in America. The other day my son whined, "Why do you always have to torture me?" He's seven. I asked him if making monkey bread, playing the Wii, and reading stories together was the definition of torture. I guess those things don't count if you make your child do their homework. Because for him, that is the definition of torture. Apparently he already knows everything. But homework and reading are extremely important to my husband and I, so we continue to torture him day after day.


After school at our house is a little like Grand Central Station. Kids coming and going, snack time, homework, chores, reading time--it's a lot to get done before I have to start making dinner. So we've instituted a pretty strict routine we stick to to ensure it all happens each day. But sometimes, when your child is feeling especially "tortured", a routine is easier said than done. Sometimes, you have to get creative.

This week we had a few extra kids over, and knowing that getting them all to sit quietly and read instead of pull all the pillows off the couch to make a landing pad at the bottom of the stairs would be difficult, I made reading time a little more fun.

It happened to be Dr. Seuss' birthday, so we had a Dr. Seuss reading party. I satisfied their need to de-pillow my couches by having them build a reading room. They piled pillows behind the couch and piled themselves on the pillows. They each chose a Dr. Seuss book and took turns reading to the group. I couldn't believe how well it worked! They all wanted to be sure their book was read, and they listened quietly to everyone else's choice. Of course I rewarded this amazing behavior with Cat In the Hat marshmallow hats (via this blog) and allowing them to jump on the pillow pile when they were done. Whatever it takes.

The other reading strategy my genius husband cooked up has to do with my boys' favorite pastime: video games. For every minute they spend reading, they get one minute of time on the Wii or DS. We designed a little chart that I slipped in a page protector so we can record and update the minutes daily with a dry erase marker. They can read quietly to themselves, to a younger sibling, or to me. The remarkable thing is that they actually spend a LOT more time reading than they do playing video games! I am still shocked, but I often hear them say, "I'm going to keep reading so I can get more Wii time!" They seem to think that if they amass hours and hours of Wii time, they can play for hours and hours on end. Like all night. As if. But they haven't figured that out yet, so until then we'll keep this game going. Genius, I tell ya, genius.

Reading is fundamental, but getting them to do it takes more than a little creativity! What's your strategy?

Don't forget to click over to Pine-Sol®'s Facebook page to support our children's success. I was selected for this Pine-Sol® sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Are you just loving all these wonderful giveaways we have been having this week? We have a new sponsor we are so excited to introduce you to! Buttons and Badges is an exciting etsy shop. Buttons and Badges started as "uh-oh, I didn't think I would win" purchase on eBay. In order to pay for the cost of new crafting tools, the Estes girls quickly got to work creating all things buttons. Buttons became a creative outlet for some and an obsession for others. Slowly it evolved into a small business - one in which all Estes girls (ages thirty-something to four) help keep going. With a houseful of six gals (and one very patient man) creating and making things is a daily event, one that seems to be a necessity. Creating brings us happiness and sometimes a little extra cash. We primarily sell various assortments of flat back buttons.


I think this set above is my personal favorite. Don't you just love all these fabulous patterns? I absolutely love them! The buttons are great for scrapbooking, card making, bows, DIY jewelry, and the list goes on. You can also choose to have the buttons come as a pin back or hollow back button at no extra charge.

And check out these fun monster buttons! My boys would have a hay-day with these!

The possibilities are endless with Buttons and Badges. Lucky for you, there is a chance to win three sets of flat back buttons from this shop! How sweet is that? All you have to do to enter is visit Buttons and Badges and find your favorite set. Then come back and tell us what it is. The giveaway will end Wednesday, March 9th at 11:59 pm PT.

Thanks to all of you who entered the csn stores giveaway! It's now that delighted time....

The winner of a $50 gift certificate to csn stores is...

Cute Jennifer is back with a sweet idea. I've never heard of anything like it, but I'm super excited to try it!

Vanilla Sugar Recipe

Last summer my daughter married a German and moved to Germany to start her new life. Every time I mail a package or come to visit (just once for her reception) she begs me to send her vanilla extract. I don’t know what she is doing with all the vanilla I have sent her, but apparently she can’t get it in Germany. I was feeling sorry for her until my German girlfriend told me that they don’t have vanilla extract in Germany, they have something much better, vanilla sugar. I brought some home with me to try and now I am hooked. Since the mailing packages only seems to work one way, and I am running out of vanilla sugar, I decided to make my own.

You need:

*Jar with a lid

*Granulated Sugar

*1 or 2 vanilla beans

You can get vanilla beans at most grocery stores. I purchased mine at a store that has a large weigh and measure it yourself spice area. When I got them home, my husband thought I had lost my mind. “Did you realize that each of these beans costs $2.49?” “Yep”, I think to myself, “and I think it’s a steal.”

Measure 2 cups of sugar into your jar. Slice your vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape some of the inside of the bean into your jar with the sugar.

Open the bean a little and then cut the bean into about 3 pieces. Put it into the jar and shake it well. You will see little flecks of vanilla spread throughout your sugar.

Add a cute label.

Store on a dark shelf. Shake it daily for about 2 weeks. It will be ready to sprinkle on any of your favorite foods or to use in recipes. I love it on my oatmeal every morning. You can add more sugar to your jar and keep replenishing your vanilla sugar. The beans will last a long time. It’s so much cheaper than shipping it from Germany.