Sent With Love

Fourteen days and counting till Valentine's Day.  Today I am sharing something that I made a few years ago before I began blogging.  I got this cute mailbox from the dollar bin at Target.  I let my daughter decorate it with Valentine stickers and we put her name on it too.

She also added her own creative touch by coloring on the front.

I am going to leave small treats in it every day from Feb. 1 till Valentine's Day.  She has already requested chocolate.  A girl after my own heart!  Since she is now learning to read, I am going to add sweet notes to her this year.  I'm not sure if Target still has these mailboxes but if they do, I am going to snag one for my son as well.

How are you making your kids feel special this month?

Linking up to these parties.

Fabulous Friday {10}

We've made it to the weekend (almost!).  Have you been crafting up a storm this week?  I have gotten a lot accomplished.  I completed a project for my son's new "big boy" room, I've got my Valentine decorations (almost) done.  Of COURSE I will post about both of them when I get time to actually take pictures during daylight hours! AND.. I've got a furniture construction project planned for this weekend.  We haven't done one of those around here in a VERY long time so I am excited.

It's Friday and it's Fabulous!

Fabulous Friday had its most link-ups ever this past week.  Thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful projects.  Here are a few of my faves:

"You Made My Heart Happy" message and printable

{Come Together Kids}

Easy Handmade Gifts

{Moments with the Montano's}

Tiny Clutch

{Sew Fantastic}

Valentine's Day Art

{Yankee Doodle Designs}

Grab a button from my sidebar if you were featured.

And now on to this week's party....

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Share the love. Check out some links. Leave some comments.

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Ginger Snap Crafts Giveaway Winner

The winner of the chalkboard labels from Gingersnap Crafts is....

Kathy T.!

Play Make-up

Do you have a little girl who likes to be just like mommy?  Well, I do.  She loves all things girly and loves to pretend to put on make-up.  I made her this simple play make-up so she can be just like me.  It is very simple and quick.

You need an empty eyeshadow or blush container and a bottle of nail polish.

Simply clean and dry the container and fill with nail polish. And yes, that is Wet n Wild nail polish.  I prefer to use the cheaper brands on projects like this. 

Let dry and you have play make-up for your little girl.  The one that I made can do double duty as lipstick or blush!

I recommend doing this in a well ventilated area or the nail polish fumes can overwhelm you.  Trust me on this one.

Pretty easy don't ya think?

Valentine Hanging

I love seeing all the Valentine decor floating around on Pinterest and in blogland.  To be honest, I have never decorated for Valentine's Day.  But this year, I decided that my house just looks so plain without any decorations (read..beige walls, beige carpet, beige furniture).  Can you say rental???  So I definitely need a little red and pink decor this year.  Here is something that I whipped up this week. I had everything on hand so it was free! My 5-year-old daughter helped me with this and I love the way it turned out.

MATERIALS

Cardboard

Glue

Tissue paper

Ribbon

Scissors

Glue gun

DIRECTIONS

Cut a heart shape out of cardboard. Using scissors, poke a hole near the top

Rip the tissue paper into small pieces and glue onto cardboard (Kids love this step and there really is no way that it can be messed up.)

When the entire heart is covered, let glue dry.

Hot glue a piece of coordinating ribbon around the edges of the heart to cover the exposed cardboard.

Thread another piece of the ribbon through the hole at the top. I attached a safety pin to the ribbon which made it easier to thread through the hole.

I hung it on my mirror on the mantel. I think it looks like it is covered in rose petals.  It reminds me of the floats in the Parade of Roses.

I can't wait to add more "lovely" decorations to my house.

How are you decorating for Valentine's Day?

Linking to these parties

Fabulous Friday {9}

Just in case you missed it yesterday, I have a great giveaway going on right now.  To celebrate reaching 100 followers, I am giving away a set of 6 fancy rectangle chalkboard labels from Ginger Snap Crafts.  Click here to enter and be sure to visit Ginger's blog and Etsy shop.

Is everyone ready to par-tay?  I know I am!  There were some FABULOUS link ups last week.  Thank you to all who participated.  You are all so talented and have inspired so many of my projects.

Here are a few features:

    Football Party ideas

{Blog 5 to 9 }

You can use these for the big games this weekend!  

My Ravens are playing the Patriots.  Hoping for a win!

Candy Cane Lollipops.

{Happy Canadian Home}

I may be using these for my daughter's Valentine's Party at school.

DIY Embellished Pillow

{Southern Lovely}

I love the pop of red in this pillow!

If you were featured, please grab a button from my sidebar.


And now on to this week's party....

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Share the love. Check out some links. Leave some comments.

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

100 Followers and Giveaway: Ginger Snap Crafts

Here Comes the Sun has hit a milestone...100 followers! When I started this blog, I posted a bit here and there but not very regularly. Since then, I have found so many wonderful crafty blogs that have inspired me to take Here Comes the Sun in the direction that it is now going. I love connecting with everyone who visits my blog and appreciate every comment I receive. At the beginning of this month, my goal was 100 followers by the end of January. I am amazed at how quickly this has happened.

To celebrate, I am having a giveaway sponsored by Ginger Snap Crafts!

Ginger's blog is amazing and she also has an Etsy shop where she sells vinyl labels. They make organizing fun (and stylish!).  Check out these from her shop:

Kitchen labels to keep your pantry organized

Black and white labels

Vinyl to customize your front door

Would you like to win something from her shop? One lucky reader will win a set of 6 of her fancy rectangle chalkboard labels, pictured below. These can be used for virtually anything! Label your canisters, toy bins, storage bins and get organized!

Enter via Rafflecopter, below. This giveaway is open through midnight EST, Wednesday, January 25. The winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter and will be announced on Thursday, January 26.  Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chop for an Hour, Eat for a Week!

Have you heard of "cook for a day, eat for a month".  The idea is to spend one day cooking all your meals for the entire month and then freeze them.  I have always wanted to do this but just cannot set aside an entire day to cook, much less think of 30 different meals to make. Plus, I don't really like the idea of having to cook things twice. First when preparing, and then after defrosting.

But then I found this idea.....

Freezer Crockpot Meals

Pinterest

The best thing is that there is no pre-cooking required!!  You just chop up all the veggies and dump everything into plastic bags and put in the freezer. Label the bags with the name of the dish and the amount of time it needs to cook in the crockpot.  No need to defrost before putting in the crockpot. My husband and I spent about 1.5 hours on Sunday night chopping and I have enough meals for the entire week!!!

Here are the recipes that I used:

Honey Garlic Chicken

Brown Sugar Chicken

Vegetarian Chili

Vegetable Soup

Red Beans and Rice (with sausage!)

And here is my freezer.  

I had to use 3 bags for the Vegetable Soup because there is so much liquid.   You could easily just add the liquid without freezing it but I just wanted to have everything in one bag so I wouldn't forget anything.  I have a habit of doing that. Like planning to make bbq chicken and sweet potatoes and not buying the sweet potatoes!

We had the Honey Garlic Chicken tonight and it was really good.

What kind of things do you do to streamline your dinner?  I love the fact that my dinner is already taken care of this week.

Fabulous Friday {8}

Look!  I get to show off my new button!  You can grab it from my sidebar to post on your site if you would like!

It's been a great week at Here Comes the Sun.  The first giveaway was a success.  Thanks so much to Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects for donating a beautiful necklace from her Etsy shop. If anyone is interested in donating items for a giveaway, please contact me.  I love meeting new people and would love to help you promote your items.

I hope everyone has had a great week.  I've been busy busy busy. I'm currently working on some decor for our master bedroom and also some for my son's airplane themed room.  I can't wait to show them to you when they are complete! What kind of projects have you been working on lately? I would love to see them.

Here are a few features from last week's party

 Sweet Little Bluebird created these adorable Valentine's frames. These are on my to-do list!

Vanessa at Nifty Thrifty Things shared her homemade Baileys. Yum! This is on my to-drink list!

Please grab a button from my sidebar if you were featured. (And by chance if the button is not working, please let me know.  The codes are going all funky and I've been having issues with them lately.)

Let's Get This Party Started!!

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Share the love. Check out some links. Leave some comments.

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Quicksilver creations Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the quicksilver creations giveaway.  

And the winner is:

#89 Brenda W.

CONGRATULATIONS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Organize It!

 It's January and let's face it, people.  Organization is a big goal on people's lists.  I think I am a pretty organized person.  I try to prepare the night before for school so we are not in a rush in the morning, I have my kid's toys separated and organized into bins and on shelves, I have a family binder with all our important info in it, etc. etc.  but I have been known to misplace things and freak out once in a while :)  There is always room for more organization in my life and I have found a few things that are helping me this year.

Check out these free printable blog schedules at Living Locurto.Such a simple way to plan out the weekfor your blog.These have helped me a ton!

I am in love with these free printable calendars from Anything But Perfect.  I have been using them since last fall to record everything from doctor's appointments to playdates to special school days that I need to remember.  This goes front and center on my fridge.

If you like to be super organized with your kid's educational activities, check out Rachel from I Heart Crafty Things. She's got the entire month planned out with crafts, books, sight words, letters.  And her blog is chock-full of awesome kid crafts.  I can only hope that someday I can be this organized.

I will be sharing more on organizing in the upcoming weeks so please stop back by!

Remember, this is the last day to enter the giveaway for the wire-wrapped peridot necklace from quicksilver creations.  The giveaway ends tonight at midnight.

DIY Light Table

I recently discovered that my son is FASCINATED with light.  At our local children's museum, there is a light table with lots of different colored acrylic shapes to play with.  He stands at that table FOR.EV.ER just moving the shapes around on the table and observing what they look like when illuminated.  We could stay and play at that table for the entire couple hours that we are at the museum. Good thing we have a membership and can go for "free" whenever we want.  Then I don't feel like we have visit any other areas of the museum if he doesn't want to. It is so amazing to watch him discover things.  I just love to sit back and watch.

I have been inspired by Play At Home Mom's awesome playroom and toys.  Have you seen this blog?  You have to check it out.  The playroom is incredible and all the educational toys and storage solutions that are used make me want a designated playroom SO MUCH!  To me, this is the dream playroom.

One of the items from the playroom that I really like is the light table. I put together this one:

Pin It

It is really simple to make, all you need to do is put some white Christmas lights into a clear storage box.  I also taped wax paper to the inside of the lid so it would diffuse the light.  I thought that I would have to drill a hole in the plastic for the cord but my cord is thin enough that I don't need to and my box still latches closed.  Your box may vary so you may need to drill a hole. Then all you need are some colorful opaque items and let your child play! I purchased these vase fillers at the dollar store.  Just be sure to always supervise your little one so the items don't end up in their mouths!

The possibilities with this table are endless and I like the fact that it is low to the ground and can easily be stored under a bed.  Next, I'm going to purchase some acrylic shapes for him to play with.

What would be your child's favorite thing to play with on a light table?

Rafflecopter Giveaway: ipad 2 and Kindle Fire!

Have you checked out Rafflecopter yet?  If you host giveaways on your blog, you MUST check it out.  It makes giveaways sooo easy.  You set it up with a few parameters and it keeps track of everyone who enters.  It also picks a winner for you at random.  I'm using it for my current giveaway here.

Rafflecopter is having a launch party and to celebrate, you can win an ipad 2 or Kindle Fire.  Read all about how to enter on the Rafflecopter blog here.

New Fabulous Friday Button

I finally finished my Link Party Button.  

I think it turned out fairly well for my first attempt. What do you think?  I still have some small tweaks that I want to make but this is the basic idea.  I will be adding the little code box (is that even the proper term?) shortly so you can post to your site.  In the meantime, you can click on the button in my sidebar and it will take you my Fabulous Friday Link Party. Hope to see you there!!

Fabulous Friday {7}

Hello and welcome to another Friday!  If you missed it yesterday, don't forget to enter the giveaway from quicksilver creations.

Is everyone recovering from all the holiday hooplah?  I don't know about you but I am glad to finally have some down time, if you can really call it that.  The last quarter of each year is so jam-packed for us with all the holidays plus there are three birthdays in my family within 6 weeks!  After all the party planning that I have done recently, it is nice to have a break.  But I still have one more party to plan...

FABULOUS FRIDAY

There were some great link-ups last week.  Thanks to everyone who participated.  I love seeing your projects and meeting new bloggers.

Here are a few from last week's party

Check out this sweet Valentine's Day Mantle!

{Pembroke Lane}

It's Drive-in Movie night at

{Ladybird Ln}

A baby boy is on the way. Alyssa made these cute burp cloths.

{little baby mama bear}

Grab yourself a button from my sidebar if you were featured.

IT'S PARTY TIME

1. Please become a follower of my blog if you would like to link up.

2. Feel free to link up as many projects as you like but please link to your specific post and not your entire blog.

3. Please no linking to Etsy shops, giveaways or businesses.

4. Share the love. Check out some links. Leave some comments.

5. Please link back to my blog using either a text link or my button.

Giveaway: quicksilver creations

Are you ready for an awesome giveaway?  

Let me introduce you to Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects.



   

I have gotten to know Adrianne over the past month and she has a wonderful blog and a great Etsy shop called quicksilver creations. {She's also very sweet}. One lucky reader will get to win this wire-wrapped peridot necklace from her shop.

I am in LOVE with this necklace. Look at all the detail!  This would be a great gift for someone with an August birthday (like me!) or just a gift for yourself.

The giveaway will end next Wednesday, January 11 at midnight EST and the winner will be announced on Thursday,  January 12.

Enter via Rafflecopter below.

If you cannot see the Rafflecopter widget below, click HERE

Good luck!

The Year In Pictures

One picture a day for an entire year. Simple concept. I saw this idea last year and started it but did not get far. Translated...I got to about January 4 and then forgot! I figure this year I should be a bit better at this since my passion for photography has grown over the last year and I am actually learning how to operate a camera in manual mode instead of automatic. Also, tomorrow is January 5 so if I make it to tomorrow, I'm at least doing better than last year!

I have also made it a goal of mine to learn more about photography/take better pictures and document our lives better.  I like to call it a "goal" rather than a resolution.   I always seem to break resolutions so maybe if I call it something different, it will stick :)

Here is my favorite picture so far....

This was taken on Monday at the Fort Fisher Aquarium in Kure Beach, NC.

Here's to hoping that the trend will continue and I won't forget a day. It seems like a daunting task but well worth it to have a record of the entire year.  I would love to make a book at the end of the year with one page per month.

How are you documenting 2012?

Little Man's Tool Belt

I love making things for my kids and I have had this gift on my mind for an entire year.  I wanted to purchase a tool bench for my son for his first birthday (Sept. 2010) but didn't find any that I really liked that I was willing to shell out big bucks for.  This year, I found one at a consignment store and paid 9 BUCKS out of pocket for it!  And no, this is not the handmade gift.  Keep reading...

Okay, so it was originally $25 but with the store credit that I had accumulated from selling my clothes to them, it was 9 dollars out of my bank account that day.  SCORE!

And what does every little man need to go with his new tool bench?  A customized tool belt of course!

Here is the tool belt that I made him.  

I only took pictures of the finished product because well... honestly I wasn't quite sure if it was going to work out.  I'm not the greatest at sewing but I think I have come leaps and bounds from this time last year. I can now sew in a straight line and I know basic sewing terminology. Heck, I even made my own binding for this project. Sometimes I get so caught up in a project and I don't realize until the end that I have no pictures of the process. I didn't want my lack of pictures to stop me from sharing this with you.

You can find the tutorial that I followed here.  I used all the same measurements.  My son is 2 years old so you may have to adjust your measurements to fit your child.  The "C" applique is an iron-on.  I still have not perfected sewing appliques but it is next on my list!


Linking to these parties.

Ruffled Camera Strap Cover

This momma got a new camera lens (and new camera) for Christmas.  Well, not brand new but new to me.  And what better to go with a new camera then a Ruffled Camera Strap Cover.

I have wanted to make one of these forever and am so glad that I finally got around to it.  It adds a little flair to the camera and also cushions my neck a bit as I run after my kids in unsuccessful attempts to get non-blurry photos.  This was also my first attempt with ruffles and I am amazed at how easy they are!

I followed this tutorial but I modified it to include one ruffle and not two.


MATERIALS

1/2 yard camera strap fabric
1/2 yard ruffle fabric
coordinating thread

DIRECTIONS

Measure the length and width of your camera strap and add 1 inch to each.
For the length, I measured from the middle of the X's on the leather part of the strap. For the width,  I measured from the widest part of the leather.

Cut two strips of fabric to dimensions that you measured.

Fold over the short end of each strip 1/4 inch and press. When pressing the second strip, line up your fabric strips and make sure they are the same length. Sew with a straight stitch, backstitching at each end.

Pin the strips right side together.

You want your slipcover to be approximately 1/4 inch wider than your camera strap.  Therefore, if your strap is 1.75", you want the width of the slipcover to be 2 inches. Using a ruler, make a pencil mark on your fabric so that you have 2 inches in the middle when you hem down both sides. Hem ONE side of the strap, backstitching at both ends.

Now we are going to move on to the ruffle (and I apologize for the lack of photos from this step)....

Cut your ruffle fabric to the same width and your camera strap fabric but double the length.

Fold over the long edges of the fabric 1/4 inch and press.

Hem the long sides of the ruffle fabric.

Sew a basting stitch down the middle of your ruffle fabric, leaving a long string at the end.

Now back to the camera strap fabric....

Open it up and pin your ruffle fabric to one end of your camera strap fabric on whatever side you want to be the top.

     This pic is actually after I had already made the ruffle but you get the idea.

Starting at the end opposite the pin, grab a hold of the bottom thread on your ruffle fabric and gently pull it to gather the fabric into a ruffle.

Arrange your ruffle evenly onto your strap fabric and pin.

Sew a straight stitch down the middle of the ruffle fabric.

Remove the basting stitch by pulling the bottom thread.  Mine did not come out all the way but I don't think it really matters since you can't see the basting stitch anyway.

Fold the ends of the ruffle fabric and secure them with a straight stitch.


Fold the camera strap cover, right sides together and pin.  Make sure that the ruffle is tucked to one side so you don't end up stitching it down (does that make sense?)

Find the other pencil mark that you made on your camera strap fabric.  Sew a straight stitch down the long side of the fabric, backstitching at each end.

Turn your slipcover right-side out.

Thread your camera strap through your slipcover and enjoy!

Linking to these parties.