EMBELLISHED STRAW HAT {Craft}

Well, after I finished the teacher appreciation gifts I decided to work on embellishing this straw hat.

One of my sisters was recently diagnosed with carcinoma skin cancer on her scalp.  She had to have a piece of her scalp removed to get the cancer.  The wound is healing nicely but the doctor has told her she has other pre-cancerous spots on her scalp.  She now has to wear a hat anytime she goes outside.  So, I wanted to find a hat for her to show her my love and support.  I picked this one up and thought I could embellish it and make it cuter for her.

I used THIS tutorial for fabric rosettes over on NatSprat.  It was pretty easy, but I think hers are cuter than mine!  I didn’t have any cute buttons, so I used some beads for the flower centers.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I gave it to my sister today and she seemed to like it.  Hopefully she will feel kinda fun and flirty when she wears it!

Now I need to find a hat that will fit my own big head so I can protect myself from the sun as much as possible!!!

30 Minute Craft-Sea Glass Candles

I had these cream colored pillar candles that were totally dented up thanks to my wonderful children knocking the candlesticks over with various balls and other effective methods.  They looked like crap.  I wanted to get some blue candles because I was adding some blue accents to my kitchen.  I couldn't find any.  So, I came up with this instead

I picked up a couple bags of this sea glass at the dollar store and hot glued it to the outsides of the candles.  I actually used a low-temp glue gun so it wouldn't melt the candle waz too much.  I love the way they turned out and I feel happy I didn't have to trash the candles and spend the money to buy new ones.  In true "Keeping it Real" fashion, I will tell you that the back sides of the candles aren't covered because I ran out of sea glass!  I went all the way around the top rim and around the sides, but there is probably 1/3 of the circumference on the back that is bare:)  Better not try to use these for a centerpiece!