A Great Thing-Little Me Tea-A Giveaway with 6 winners!

Little Me Tea is a GREAT THING!

It's a drink, for children, that's caffeine free, all organic, with no added sugar. I know we're not used to buying "Tea" for our children; but, just look at the benefits and you may just change your ways.

Little Me Tea has two flavors of tea. Julia's Tropical Tea is a unique combination of organic, caffeine-free white and Rooibos teas  blended with hibiscus and chamomile, then sweetened with organic tropical fruit juices and vegetable juices. Zane's Grape Tea is unique combination of organic, caffeine-free white and Rooibos teas blended with hibiscus and chamomile, then kicked up with organic red grape juice and vegetable juices.

The chart above shows how Little Me Tea compares to other available children's drinks.  It's amazingly clear that this tea is a GREAT THING!

It's such a GREAT THING that not only will your child's health benefit from drinking Little Me Tea, your child will enjoy it. It's tasty!

Would you like to try it for your child or for yourself as so many adults have been reporting how much they like it and the benefits they're seeing from drinking it?  Little Me Tea is shipping 6 of our followers a winning prize pack. Each prize pack contains a carton of Julia's Tropical Tea and Zane's Grape Tea.  This one is easy to enter and you have great odds!

Here's what you need to do to enter.  Remember, leave a separate comment for each entry!

Comment 1: Are you an email subscriber to Our Seven Dwarfs? Leave a comment telling us you are or subscribe and leave us a comment telling us you are a new subscriber.
Comment 2: Do you follow Our Seven Dwarfs on blogger? (see sidebar under Follow us) Leave us a comment telling us you do or become a new follower and leave us a comment telling us you follow OSD now.
Comment 3: Do you like Our Seven Dwarfs on Facebook? Leave us a comment and tell us you do or like us and tell us you did.
Comment 4: Visit Little Me Tea's website  and leave a comment about the benefits of tea.
Comment 5: Like Little Me Tea on facebook and leave a comment telling us you do.
Comment 6: Follow Little Me Tea on twitter (it's under Big Organic Life) and leave a comment telling us you do.
Comment 7: This is the bonus comment: look at the comparison chart above and leave us a comment telling us what impresses you the most about this chart.

You will have until Saturday, June 11th at 11:59 pm EST to enter. We will announce the winners, that's right 6 WINNERS on Sunday, June 12th.

Good Luck!

Triple Stitch Crocheted Baby Blanket

I love making baby blankets for friends and family who are expecting.  The process can sometimes be a love-hate relationship.  I love making blankets, but hate how long it takes to complete just one.  As you know, I have issues focusing.  If I focused for a few nights, it wouldn't take me near as long.

I've gotten away from my old tried and true pattern and have started experimenting with new ones.  This pattern was from Kristi of RAKJ Patternss and is called the Triple Stitch Blanket.   Kristi has some great patterns and she is always offering specials on her facebook page.  Make sure to check it out.

I used Lion Brand Baby's First Yarn in Sea Sprite.  This is a very chunky and thick blanket.  It was very quick and easy to whip up.  Next time I think I will use a less bulky yarn (probably back to my favorite- I love this Yarn from Hobby Lobby) as this one took 5 skeins and it wasn't a inexpensive yarn either.  Other than the cost, this is a perfect baby blanket!  I hope my friend's little man will love it!

Decorated Clipboard Tutorial

If you saw the Monogrammed Totes I made for Ryan's teachers, then you got a sneak peak at the clipboards that I made for them as well.  Here are the clipboards:

These are super simple to create and personalized for anyone.

Supplies needed:

• A wooden clipboard (under a dollar at Walmart or a dollar at the Dollar Tree).
• Various scrapbook papers
• Scissors or a paper cutter
• Small amount of paint to match scrapbook papers (for edge of clipboard)
• Foam brush
• Mod Podge (matte or gloss, your preference)

1.  Pick out the papers that you would like to decorate your clipboard with.  I used three different ones.

2.  Measure the clipboard and cut your papers to fit how you would like them to appear on the clipboard.

3.  Paint the edges of the clipboard in a matching paint color.  Allow to dry fully before moving on.

4.  Apply Mod Podge to the clipboard.  Take your paper that goes closest to the clip and apply it to the board.  Scrape it down to get rid of any bubbles.  Apply remaining pieces to the board and allow to dry.

 5.  Apply vinyl name to front if you choose to.
6.  Finish the clipboard with a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the papers and vinyl.  Allow to completely dry.
7.  Repeat this process for the back as well.

Here are the two boards that I made for Ryan's teachers.  Learn from my mistake and allow the papers to dry before applying the top coat of Mod Podge.  That is why I had a few bubbles show up.

There are so many nice personalized gifts you can make with clipboards.  You could make your to-do lists look exceptionally pretty, or your weekly house schedule, shopping list or menu plan.

Happy Crafting!

Recycling At It's Best

I used to throw away the negative part of the vinyl.  Not anymore!  I've learned it makes a great stencil.  In my earlier "Peace, Love, and Happiness" post, I showed you how I cut vinyl to put on the poles.  Well, I saved the stencil part of the vinyl, added some symbols and voila... I made more signs using scrap 1x4 wood.  All these materials are left over from other projects.  With just a little time, I was able to create a great gift.

Creating a Shelf out of Something Unexpected

My husband had to buy fireplace "guts" for a customer. It was cheaper to buy the whole fireplace than just the guts, so.... he was left with this.

I saw it in his storage building and got all googly eyed.  I asked him what his plans were for this wooden contraption.  He replied, "The burn pile" or "The trash" or something like that.  Usually I'm the one who wants to get rid of things and he wants to keep them.  Not this time.  "I want it!" I screamed!!!!

I took it.  I sanded it.  I primed it. I painted it three times. Then, I handed over to my sweet hubby and he added shelves and a back.

Here's the finished mantle, in my girls' playroom.  I am thrilled with it. Now, I need to get my girls to fill it up with their favorite things!

Birthday Balloon Wreath

I've had a balloon wreath on my to do list for over a year now.  I spotted it on How Does She way back when and haven't wanted to make one for all our family's birthdays.  My oldest turned five last week, so I felt it was the perfect time to accomplish something on my list!

I followed the tutorial on How Does She, but I used a ton more balloons.  I probably doubled the amount and could probably use more to make it fuller.    I am not in love with all the different colors, I think I like the colors from the tutorial better.  I got balloons from the Dollar Tree.  Next time I would probably get multiple bags of balloons from Walmart, but they cost significantly more.  Oh well, when you craft, you sometimes have big successes and other times craft fails!  The important thing is to keep trying and experimenting!

Happy Crafting!

It's All About "Peace, Love, and Happiness"

Peace, Love, and Happiness is what I strive to have in my country. This was an easy, patriotic project.

I took scrap 4x4 posts and cut them to 5, 7, and 9 inches. I painted them red, white, and blue. I got three deck post toppers and painted them gold.  My "inspiration" for the gold toppers is a flag pole. So many of them have gold toppers.

I found the center of each post top.

I drilled holes in the top.

I screwed the deck post toppers on top.

I then cut vinyl, on my Silhouette, for each post and applied it with transfer tape.   "Peace" is Tiranti Solid LET font. I used all capital letters and centered them. The dimensions were 2.6x5". 

 "Love" is in the Annoying Kettle font with the dimensions of 2.6x7". 

"Happiness" is in Too Much Paper font with the dimensions of 2.6x9"

Using scrap wood, paint leftover from other projects, and vinyl I already had, made this project about $10.  The only thing I had to buy were the deck post tops. I'm really happy with the results and like that this project will help me decorate for Memorial Day and The Fourth of July.

A Memorial Sign

My sweet Uncle Jim died on April 6th.  He suffered with cancer the last eight months of his life. 

During his 63 years on Earth, Uncle Jim was many things.  I wanted to create something, that represented his life.  With my Aunt Esther's help, I came up with a list of words that were important to Jim's life. This was my memorial to him.

First, I chose to do the names of the most important people in his life: Jim, Esther, and William. Then, the relationships he had: husband, father, friend, brother, uncle, cousin, and son. Next, I wanted to represent the roles he had in his life:  a veteran, missionary, writer, believer, friend, and counselor. Finally, I wanted to choose the adjectives I felt described him best: gentle, caring, and kind.

Using a variety of fonts, I cut these out of vinyl, on my Silhouette. I used the negative part of the vinyl to create a stencil.  I carefully arranged the words to the board I'd prepainted navy blue.

After attaching all the vinyl to the board and rubbing it down well, I painted the words cream.  I let the paint dry completely and then removed most of the vinyl.  I decided to add a pop of color, and emphasize the red, white, and blue Memorial theme by painting some of the words red.  So, over the cream paint, I painted red.  I wanted some cream to peek out, and it did.

Here's what I had when I removed all the vinyl.

I distressed the sign with an orbital sander. This was a mistake.  The sand paper was fresh and the sander fast.  There are a couple of places that show the circular marks. I was so disappointed since this was a time consuming project and I didn't have time to redo it.  I decided it just added character (or I hoped). I then drilled holes in the top and added wire to make it easy to hang.

Here's the sign I presented to my aunt and cousin.  I think remembering all the special people we've lost in life is a special way to spend Memorial Day. I will miss my Uncle Jim. He will not be forgotten.