A Tricky Leprechaun Trap ;)

"As everyone knows, leprechauns hoard pots of gold, and if caught, must reveal the treasure's location to their captor." says JoEllen Mitchell from Family Fun Magazine.

Those tricky, little leprechauns sure have played US for fools over the years-turning our kitchen upside down, dying our milk green, leaving green footprints on the floor, sending us on wild and crazy scavenger hunts and even leaving green pee-pee in the toilet-GROSS!

So this year, we're fighting back! We figure they owe us some treasure after all the havoc they've wreaked in our house so we used this idea from Family Fun Magazine to make our own leprechaun trap!


JoEllen also says, "Leprechauns have big egos, so a giant version of their own hat is irresistible to them. Once they step on the false top, you'll have caught a 10-gallon prize"

Want to make one too?? You probably already have everything you need and can make one this afternoon with your kiddos! Here's how...

Supplies:
-Some kind of used cylinder container (the actual one I used was a rolled oats one)
-a cereal box
-a couple sheets of green felt
-a piece of black, yellow and green construction paper
-"gold" (I used Rolo wrappers)
-twigs to make a ladder
-hot glue

What to do:
1. Wrap the container with your green felt using hot glue to secure.
2. Cut a circle-I just did mine about an 1 1/2" bigger than the bottom of the rolled oats container-out of the cereal box for the bottom of the hat, and cover that with green felt as well. I just hot glued the extra felt that came over the edges onto the bottom of my cut-out circle.


3. Hot glue the top of the hat to the base.

4. Make your "belt" around the hat using a strip of black construction paper and a square of yellow placed on-top of the black. Adhere using glue or tape.

5. If you have a machine that cuts paper use it to cut out some clovers on your green construction paper(I cut about 15 in different sizes). If you don't have a machine to do this, I'm sure you could find something to this effect at your local craft store, or find an image online to print out and then cut them out manually. Then use either a small dab of hot glue, glue dots or double sided tape to adhere it randomly all over the felt.

6.To make the lid-or the trap- part of your hat, just cut a small circle of felt slightly bigger than the top of your container and it sits just right on top! A perfect place to put your bait of "gold" for those little sneaky men!

Another piece of advice from JoEllen was,"Leprechauns love to break rules. Warning signs are sure to lure them in." So we made this little lure from a popsicle stick painted green, stuck in some green play-dough with our warning to NOT climb the ladder!

JoEllen goes on to say, "Natural materials make these woodland creatures feel at home." So we used some twigs from outside and glued them together to make a tricky ladder!

Now we just sit and wait to capture our ticket to fortune! :)

I hope you're having a great week!! I have a few more St. Patty's things to share with you so I"ll be back soon!

Thanks for reading!

Friday Funnies!

Okay yall, so it has been waaaaaaaaaay too long since we've had a 'Friday Funnies' post on here-like September!!!- and I don't know about you, but I just need a GOOD laugh to kick my weekend off to a great start! (although we did get some sunshine here today and it was sooooo nice-I even got my booty up and worked out, awesome!) So I hope it's okay with you if we interrupt our holiday crafting craziness for a day so we can share some laughs! I hope you find one or two that make you smile! Enjoy! (all of these can be found on my Pinterest Have a Laugh board.)

*I love the mom that actually went and grabbed her camera before helping her kid :)*
















And my personal favorite :)...


Okay...NOW go and have a great weekend friends! I'm putting up our St. Patty's decor so I'll be back next week to share, talk to you soon!

Thanks for reading!

Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway Winner!!!!

Good Morning! I'm so excited to announce the winner of the Cutting Edge Stencil giveaway! As always with giveaways here on Love Sweet Love, I'll let my littles do the honors...

And just in case you're in a place where you can't watch the video (although I'm pretty sure it's worth the watch since you get to see my kid almost pick his nose-don't worry I turned the camera off just in time! ha ha!) ...

Comment #26 was JODIE!!!


Congrats Jodie, email me and we'll get your stencil out to you!!

Talk to you soon friends!

St. Patrick's Rag Wreath

Hi friends how are you?!?! Can I be a little honest with you? I have been feeling totally BLAH lately. Not like sick blah or like depressed blah, just...blah.

Like you've sat on the couch all day in your pajamas, watching reality tv, eating ice-cream blah.

Except I haven't done any of those things. I think I have to blame it on the weather. I'm one of those weird people whose mood is completely dependent on what it looks like outside. And outside it's been cloudy, rainy/snowy and COLD for over a week and so I just feel blah! Something about clouds and rain makes me feel tired and unmotivated. I need some SUNSHINE!!!

I will tell you though...I just absolutely LOOOOVED reading your 'pet peeves' as part of the entries for the giveaway last weekend! They were the little bit of sunshine to my cloudy week and they made me laugh, and most of them I was yelling at the computer, "I KNOW, ME TOO!" ha ha! So thank you for sharing those, it makes me feel like I get to know you, the readers, a little bit better instead of you always reading about me!

Okay, so I know decorating for St. Patrick's day isn't a super popular holiday to decorate for and you probably don't have a ton of clover decorations floating around your house-if any. Even though you may not want to go all out and decorate because it's just for a couple weeks in march, if you're looking for just a little somethin' somethin' to add to your house to bring a little of the 'luck' charm your way, I would suggest a wreath! And a simple one at that!!

Rag wreaths, I would say, are THE easiest, fastest and probably cheapest wreath there is to make. AND I would also say a perfect wreath for a fun, spunky holiday like St. Patrick's day, 4th of July, Halloween, etc. I found this rag wreath online last year and I loved the texture it had and knew I wanted to do something similar.



*Supplies*
-green circle wreath form (mine is from JoAnns)
-complimentary fabric colors (for this wreath I chose 2 shades of green and some green tulle). It'll take about 1/2 yard of fabric total, so I used 1/4 of each shade of green.
-Scissors
-embellishments

(I actually made this last year before I was blogging so you'll have to excuse the poor quality pictures of the how-to :) )
1. First you cut lots of strips of fabric-mine were about 2"x9".

2. Then just start tying them around the wreath form in whatever pattern you prefer.


This is what the back of the wreath will look like.


3. When you have it as full as you like...embellish! I hung this cute little shamrock ornament from the top of my wreath (from JoAnns).


These little do-dads are St. Patrick's picks (also from JoAnns) and I just pulled the metal pick part out and hot glued them straight to the wreath. (which seems to have worked fine since they're still glued on a year later!)




I used some fun green/white st. patty's ribbon from the dollar store to hang it with. The ribbon is just pinned using straight pins to the back side of the wreath.


I know you can't see the tulle very well in these pictures, but in person it's easier to see and I love the extra little whimsical touch the tulle adds. :)


I had the tulle and lt. green fabric already on hand, and the embellishments were purchased at 50% off so the total price for this wreath came in right at about $6. Yay! But even if you had to purchase everything to make this it would be about $7/8 to make-not too shabby right?!


I don't have boxes full of St. Patrick's nick-knacks, but you know I'm pretty much obsessed with ALL holidays and celebrating them in lots of fun different ways-including decor-so over the next couple weeks I'll be sharing some fun, easy decor, party ideas, and kid activities for this fun little holiday.

Annnnnd be sure to check back FIRST thing tomorrow morning for the results of the Cutting Edge Stencil giveaway winner to find out if it was YOU! :)

Thanks for reading!

Linking up to these great parties!

Painted Rug with stencil Tutorial and a Giveaway!!

Happy Friday everyone! Have you linked up a project yet to the MEGA -21 blog linky party going on now? The party's still going strong with over 350 links so you still have time to help Crafty Scrappy Happy celebrate her 1 year blog Anniversary by linking up, or just swing by and check out all the AMAZING crafts and treats people are posting-lots of inspiration!!

I was over-the-moon excited when I was contacted last month, by Cutting Edge Stencils, to see if I would like to do a review and giveaway for one of their stencil products. They were so kind, helpful and easy to work with and I am just THRILLED with the results!

They have hundreds of stencil designs to choose from including wall stencils, all-over stencils, nursery stencils, geometric stencils, holiday stencils, craft-size stencils, and SO much more! I have never used a stencil to paint anything, so I am as NEWBIE at this stenciling business as they come so you better believe I watched this video from their Youtube channel that gives a detailed demonstration of how to use and apply their stencil about 5 times over to make sure I got it before I started!

Since living in a rental is limiting in the fact that I can't paint or stencil anything on the walls, I knew I was going to need to choose one of their craft size stencils and I spent WEEKS trying to decide what object I wanted to stencil. Pillows? Curtains? Tabletop? Dresser? Then one day after my little one dropped her yogurt on my kitchen rug (that we've had for 5 years) for the THIRD time that day, it was going in the trash and I was gettin' myself a brand new, custom painted rug...by me. :)

I had chosen to try out the Casablanca Allover craft size-small stencil and they sent that to me along with...

...a foam roller and...


...and a stencil brush-just the tools I needed!


I started with this plain, woven, accent rug from Lowes-24x40" (about $10).


I picked out a red color of paint (I used about 1/2 of one of those tester size paint containers that cost about $3-for the whole rug) that matched the red I have throughout my kitchen and got started!

How to paint a rug:
1.Pour paint onto paper plate
2.Tape stencil down onto rug (painters tape would probably be best, but I didn't have any so I actually used packing tape and it worked fine.) I started my stencil in the middle of the rug and worked left and right and then up and down.
3.Roll foam roller through paint till the entire roller is covered evenly and paint stencil applying pressure evenly.
4.Pick up stencil and move to the next spot. Repeat! (watching the video definitely helps visualize this!)
5. For the edges of the rug I laid a cardboard box down and just kept on painting, using the box to cut off the stencil. I love how the stencil just drops off all the edges (which is why I started in the middle-so I'd have that look of an unfinished stencil around the edges)
You're done!


The paint dries SO fast so you can just keep on working and don't have to wait for one section to dry before you can lay the stencil back down. AND the stencil doesn't need to be washed after every use; in fact, I didn't have to clean it at all until I was done! A perfect project for someone whose impatient and eager, and just wants to get done so she can see the final result of her hard work!


I did love doing this project because it was quick, easy and even a novice like me can read the simple instructions and be good to go and have great results; however with that being said, as far as using a stencil to paint a rug, here are some things I learned while I was going along and would caution you about...
Having never painted any kind of fabric or thick material like this before, I was unsure of how much paint exactly would need to be on the roller and how hard I would need to roll the foam roller so-as recommended in the video- I started out with pretty light coats. I found though, that the rug just soaked up that paint and using more paint on the roller and pushing harder actually gave me better results. Unfortunately I didn't realize this till closer to the end and had to go back over almost the entire rug to get the deepness in color that I was looking for. Because of this, the paint is not evenly distributed on the rug and some stenciled pieces came out darker than others. I just couldn't get them to all look exactly the same without going over the entire thing by hand with a small brush (which I was not going to do). This is in no way a reflection of the product from Cutting Edge Stencil, just my own naivety of using a stencil and trying something a little more difficult my first time using one. I still love the outcome and am proud of my first little painted stencil project!



I love the Casablanca Craft stencil I chose and am excited to try it out again in the future for another project!


Cutting Edge Stencil has so generously offered to give away one stencil of your choice of any value-up to $50 with free shipping!!-to one lucky ducky Love Sweet Love Reader! There are sooooo many possibilities with these stencils and so many designs to choose from that anybody can find something that fits their style! Want one???? Here's how you can enter for your chance to win...

1 entry-Head over to Cutting Edge Stencils website and tell me what your favorite stencil is!
1 entry-'Like' Cutting Edge Stencil on Facebook
1 entry-Although it's not required that you be a follower of my little blog to enter this giveaway, I'll give you an extra entry if you already are, or become one! :)
1 entry-'Like' Love Sweet Love on Facebook (or tell me if you already do)
1 entry-Tell me one of your biggest pet peeves! :)

Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry so you get all your chances to win! 5 ways to win, 5 days to enter...giveaway will end Feb. 21st at midnight. Good Luck!

HUGE linky party with Crafty Scrappy Happy!!!

Today I am just THRILLED, jumping with JOY, ECSTATIC, and just darn tootin' EXCITED to have the opportunity to co-host Crafty Scrappy Happy's 1 year anniversary linky Par-TAY! I have considered Jaime one of my absolute DEAREST blogging friends since we became friends...almost a year ago!

We both started our blogs about the same time and I am just so happy to see how much success Jaime's blog has achieved and how much happiness it has brought into the crafty blogging world, and to so many peoples lives. She is truly one of those people that is just gorgeous on the inside AND the outside. If you don't know her...GET to know her, she will embrace you with open arms and a warm heart. I'm so happy for you my dear friend and wish you even more happiness and success this next blogging year!

So won't you PLEASE help Jaime celebrate by linking up your projects here at this HUGE linky party! There are TWENTY (20!) co-host to this party (meaning when you link up once it will be seen on 21 blogs-including Crafty Scrappy Happy's!!) so your projects will get SO SO SO much attention and could bring lots more traffic to your blog, so link up mmmkay?!

Feel free to link up anything and everything Crafty, Scrappy and/or Happy! No giveaways or etsy shops please.Check out other links, be inspired and make some new friends!Grab a button if you would!And check Crafty Scrappy Happy for features all next week!!!!

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Valentine Scavanger Hunt

Happy Valentines day my wonderful friends!!!! I hope your day is filled with happiness and laughter and surprises, but most of all with LOVE!

I have a few fun things planned for my kiddos (cupid's visit is always a favorite!) and we're excited to do our traditional pizza making for dinner!

I just thought I'd stop in for a quick sec today (well for one, to wish you a happy VALENTINES day! :) ) to share a couple of the little valentines I've put together over the past week.

For little Miss's dance class valentine exchange we did these...

{source}

For the little Mr.'s pre-school friends we did packets of a Kool-aid with a tag that said, "you're a KOOL-kid Valentine!"

{source}

For the Mr. this week I've left little treat surprises around the house, in the car, in his backpack, etc...everyday-I'm pretty positive I enjoyed it more than he did. ha ha!

• Smokehouse BBQ nuts-"I'm NUTS about you!"
• Vitamin water Zero-"I have ZERO regrets choosing you!"
• Sweedish Fish- "You are the best FISH in the sea for me!"
  
• Mountain Dew- "Thanks for all you DEW!"
• Beef Jerky- "Thanks for never being a JERK or giving me any BEEF, I love you!" (I know that one was a stretch, but he LOVES beef jerky so I had to throw it in and make it work!!)
• Packs of gum- "I CHEWS you!"
• Pack of Crush- "I don't think it's any secret now...I've got a CRUSH on you!"

{source-Lots of fun v-day ideas and free printables for a hubby at this link as well!}

Nothing super BIG, but fun all the same!

Annnnnd, I also thought I'd share a SUPER fun scavenger hunt we did for the kids last year (and we'll be doing it again tonight since it was such a hit!!).

It all started when we heard a knock at the door and found that Cupid had left us our first clue...

Clue #1: Today is about LOVE & family & friends and giving big kisses and Hugs that don't end. If you want to find the gift from yours truly, go look in the place where you watch Scooby Dooby!
*The computer


Clue #2:
Nope it's not here sorry that was tricky, but don't give up yet that'd be too picky! I'll give you another clue & try not to be mean, go look in the place where you wash your body clean.
*The Bathtub


Clue #3:
Yay you found me you're off to a great start, keep going like this and you might steal my HEART! The next clue is hiding in a place that is cold, where you put milk & cheese so it doesn't grow mold. :(
*The refrigerator

Clue #4:
Now you've got the hang of it look at you go, keep up your pace don't get too slow. You'll find you next clue playing in Cinderella's house, but you better beware of her little grey mouse!
*Kylee's play princess castle


Clue #5:
The more that you know, the closer you get, to claiming your prize, are you ready...get set! Your next clue is waiting alone in the dark, in the place you get mail, right next to the park.
*The mailbox


Clue #6:
You're almost done now just a couple more clues, keep doing what you're doing you just can't lose! This clue you'll find where Tyler sleeps at night, when mom tucks him in under blankets just right!
*Tyler's bed


Clue #7:
CUPID'S my name, LOVE is my game, if you've had fun you have ME to blame! The gift you've been seeking is awaiting your peeking at the place where we go if we want to be eating!
*Kitchen Table

They ran to the kitchen table and found their sweet Valentine treats from Cupid. Powdered donuts and strawberry milk for Tyler (his fav) and chocolate milk for Kylee (her fav). I love that tyler's cheeks are all red and his hair's all sweaty from running around.


She was thrilled that she had a prize!!!






Thumbs up Cupid!


If you can't see she has a donut in each hand and is drinking her choc milk.


After their treat they played with these plastic hearts cupid left for them as well for almost 30 min! We found that they're almost as much fun as hitting each other with pillows!


As we were cleaning up in the kitchen we heard Tyler say, "This was the BEST balentines ever!"

I hope YOU have the best "balentines" day ever today! Thank you SO SO much for stopping by today-I love you all!! :)