Super Soft, Super Easy Crochet Baby Blanket

If you have never used Bernat Blanket yarn YOU ARE MISSING OUT! This is the softest yarn I have ever used and it also makes a very light weight blanket. Other crocheted blankets I have made are very heavy after finishing due to the amount of yarn used to make it. Not with this.

For this project I used two colors of the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn. The size of this blanket ended up being 33 1/2 x 35 1/2. If you want one bigger or smaller just adjust the chain stitches and number of rows accordingly, see super easy.

Yarn:

6 Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn (regular size), Little Roses

1 Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn (regular size), Vanilla

Hook: N-9 mm

With the main color chain stitch 60

Row 1, single crochet all chain stitches

Continue with single crochets for 59 more rows

Finish off

With the border color, join yarn and single crochet around the entire blanket. Join together at the end with a slip stitch and finish off.

Happy crocheting!

Getting Started with Younique

To become a Younique presenter and start earning commission on sales you do need to purchase the starter kit, it is $99 (includes about $200 in products).

Side note: Let me just tell you something about this $99. How many of you spend $100 on nothing (I say nothing because you can’t remember where the $100 went) each month? Well one of those months you could spend it on starting a business and getting some awesome makeup! It is a great investment to make and you can earn your money back quickly! I made mine back in two weeks.

Find the Younique presenter that you have been talking to about joining. If you don’t have so

meone, I would love to be your sponsor and help you get started!
Get their website and go to it (simple right?) my website is www.youniqueproducts .com/MelesaJacobs
Click Join near the top
Click Register and then you can sign in (using a social media site or using your e-mail and creating a password)
Fill out the information to get started and purchase your presenter kit.
You can start sending people to your website RIGHT AWAY to order and can start your first online party in minutes.
Your starter kit will be delivered usually within 7 business days. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait until then to get sales! Be enthusiastic about the products and share your excitement with other

A Younique Review

First of all Younique is the first direct sales company I have worked with and since I started I have really loved learning about direct sales and the potential that is there.

Top earners in direct sales can make six figures OR MORE and they do it all from their home and on their own schedule. Which I think is really important especially because I want to be a stay at home mom but still need to make money for our family. Direct sales and MLM companies are helping so many mom’s and families fulfill that dream and so many others. There are some that just want to do it because they love the products and can earn an extra $100 or so each month and that is wonderful too!

Like I said I have only worked with Younique so I don’t have any other companies to compare it to but here is what I like about it:

No fees, auto ships or required stock! Which I love because I have looked into other businesses and you have to buy thousands of inventory up front. The only money that I have HAD to invest in my business is the $99 to purchase the starter kit (which comes with about $200 in products) That being said I do spend money sometimes on new products or business cards (you get 100 free business cards when you sign up). But this is not needed and I can earn free makeup too.
I can get free and cheap makeup all the time. When I host my own parties I can get the rewards on top of my commissions and so I get y-cash to spend on products and half priced items.
The support from the other presenters is AMAZING! They help answer questions you have, give you advice and ideas.
Like other direct sales and MLM companies there is a HUGE earning potential with A LOT of hard work!
The Founders are amazing and really care about the products they sell and the presenters. They have trip incentives, car incentives, great customer support and great training material each week.
The products are awesome and are made with natural ingredients (I love that) and cruelty free. They use ingredients that are good for most skin types and sensitive skin. I have several customers that have sensitive skin and love the products!
Love it Guarantee and great customer support! They have a 14 day money back guarantee for any reason, up to 30 days 80% cash refund or full product credit and up to 90 days product credit. Every time I have contacted support they are friendly, helpful and solve things quickly.
I can work from anywhere! On vacation, out shopping, at home watching tv you can do it all through your phone!

I love working with this company and being able to make money for my family all on my own time. I know how it is to work for a boss and really this is so much better!

Let me know what questions you have about Younique! Learn how to get started with my post: Getting started with Younique.

Easy DIY Felt Envelope

I wanted to make this felt envelope to put any felt activities or finger puppets I make for my son in. Here is a super easy tutorial!

You will only need 1/4 yard of felt, a button and hot glue or thread and needle.

Cut out a 12 inch by 25 inch rectangle.

Fold the bottom up and the top over to make an envelope and then cut a triangle on the top. I would mark the middle and the bottom so you can cut down to it.

Hot glue the sides down.

Cut a slit into it for the button.

Then you can hot glue or sew on the button.

Here’s the end result.

Easy Valentine’s Felt Activity Balloon

During Christmas time I saw these really cute ideas for toddler activities with a felt Christmas tree or Snowman. I wanted to make something fun for my toddler to do for Valentine’s day and came up with this cute idea! And it’s so simple and cheap.

Materials needed:

-Brown felt (to make basket)-$0.25 sheet

-Blue felt (main balloon)-about 1/2 yard and you will have extra $3

-2-3 colors for the hearts (you can go traditional with red and pink or you can mix it up and go with whatever colors you want)-I chose red, light blue and white-$0.25 sheet each

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun

-Sharpie

-Measuring tape

Cut out the top and make a big balloon. I free handed mine and the dimensions turned out to be about 12 inches at the biggest point across and 15 inches tall.

Cut out a felt square piece with brown size 4 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Then cut the sides down on an angle a little. Cut two strips of brown about 4 inches long. These are your basket and ropes.

Use the sharpie to make a design on your basket.

Cut out a thin strip of the color of the balloon, about 6 inches(this will be use to hang the balloon)

Hot glue the ropes to the basket and the ropes to the balloon. Then hot glue the blue strip to the top.

Cut out about 30 or more hearts in the colors you chose. (I also cut out some shapes to make it a little more educational and I can interact with him a little more while we play with it)

Tape or use hooks to put the balloon on the wall-if using tape use masking tape so it doesn’t take paint off

I wanted a felt envelope to put everything to store it and I randomly found perfect one for $1 at Dollar General!! If you want to make one here is easy tutorial. My son enjoyed putting everything into the envelope and taking it out just as much as he did putting them on the balloon. Also he decided at one point that he wanted to play with it on the ground.

Let your toddler have fun!

How do you know if you’re ready for another baby?

My husband and I have a little boy who will be two in two months and we have been thinking about trying for another baby. We actually haven’t already gotten pregnant because I am still working and he recently started his own business so we need steady income right now. (on a side note I wanted to be a stay at home mom before we had our first but that wasn’t possible so we are really trying to make sure I can stay home when we have our second)

So at the beginning of last year we said “we will get pregnant at the end of this year” well IT’S ALREADY THE NEXT YEAR, AHHHH!! I can’t believe it’s already past and now it seems kinda scary. Thinking of having two instead of one is really crazy. So I looked up “how do you know if you’re ready for another baby” simple enough, right? And came across this quiz from Parents.com.

Here are some of the questions they asked:

How you act when your friend with a baby comes to visit:

Yes I love that baby…. oh wait you can have them back they started crying
I will do everything…..oh man I need a nap
Leave them here overnight!

Why you are thinking of having another baby:

Parents or family want you to
You planned it and it’s the planned time
You feel like someone is missing from your family

You see a pregnant women and this goes through your mind:

She is soooooo beautiful!
She looks so tired :/
DON’T RUB HER BELLY, SO HARD NOT TO RUB HER BELLY….Ahh I’m rubbing mine!

How do you think your family life is right now:

It seems just right, right now
It’s too quiet in the house (even though your toddler is running all around)
It’s sooo loud, I’m going to lay down kids!

When thinking of money:

We have extra, let’s get something fun!
Everything is budgeted
How will I pay my bills?

When you go on outings with your child/children:

Love going out with them
They love going out because they get to spend time with other kids
They always ask for a friend to come with

What would you do if you started your period today:

CRY so much!
Be sad because your birth control worked, why is it so good at it’s job?
Cheer! Another month of having fun!

LOL guess what I got……”You should go off birth control, pronto.”

It’s really all I have been thinking about lately, having another baby in the house. When my son looked at my belly button the other day I even told him soon there might be a baby in there and you can say baby when you point at it and then you will be able to put your hand on Mommy’s belly and feel the baby kick! I think it’s safe to say I am ready.

If you are really considering having a baby or another baby, the quiz is fun to take but it also gets you thinking about how it will really be when you have a baby and what things will change. I think it’s really important to look at each member of your family and see how it will affect them and how it will affect your family as a whole. Finances are obviously something that needs to be considered and I also believe praying about it is important.

Let me know if this is helpful and if you took the quiz for fun!

DIY Kids Pillow Seat-Step by Step Directions

I made these super awesome pillow lounge things. They were pretty easy and they really love using them while watching TV or reading books.

What you will need:

-2 ¼ yards of main fabric (I had pretty puffy pillows, if you have flatter ones it probably would only need 2 yards). Don’t forget to get your fabric on sale or in the clearance section!)

-1 yard of other fabric (you can use main too if you want)

-4 pillows (5 if you are making for a older kid or adult-I also got mine for free from someone I know!)

-Matching thread

-Pins

-Sewing Scissors

-Measuring tape

-Sewing cutting board and cutter (not necessary but makes step two very easy!)

-Sewing machine (just thought I would put that in there, lol)

Step by Step:

Lay out main fabric right side up

Cut two strips of the other fabric using your cutting board or scissors. Fold fabric in half and then cut two 15” strips (again I had to do big strips because of my fat pillows so you could do smaller ones, just measure first to make sure)

Sew the strips together to make one long strip

Hem one side of the strip

Lay the strip right side together with one side of the main fabric

Pin and sew them together

Lay it out again and place pillows on it

Fold fabric over to make a pocket

Pin each side so you know where to sew

Sew sides together while fabric is inside out

Tie off ends

Turn the fabric right side out, layout

Measure the full length of the fabric (mine was 81”) and divide by 4. At the intervals (20.25” for mine) pin it. Then pin or mark all the way down the line.

Sew a line at each of the marked points. (This is why you pin down the whole line so that you can sew in a mostly straight line) I also back stitched at the top and bottom

Tie off ends and cut off

Put pillows in and enjoy!

I made three different ones. One for my niece, nephew and son. They all LOVED them and jumped on it as soon as they opened it for Christmas! My son will curl up on his chair to watch movies and it is adorable.

Let me know if this tutorial is helpful or if you have any questions!

A Year To Remember

So many things have happened in my life this past year in my life and people close to me that have made me think about all the things that I want/should change in my life. I am still relatively young in the career and family areas, but I think about the future ALL the time. What will my husband and I be doing for money? How can I be a stay at home mom and still contribute financially? What can we do to prevent some things from happening in the future? So I came up with some things that I wanted to accomplish this year: do something that I love and being able to earn money for our family and stay home with our son. One reason I started a blog!

I have been setting goals for as long as I can remember and I love planning, I am a planner and it helps me accomplish my goals!

Here are some tips to help you set your goals:

When setting a goal it is important to figure out some specifics in it so that it is clear on what the expectations are when the goal is to be accomplished.

I learned a while ago through my job about SMART goals. So this is the lowdown on them.

S: Specific. What do you want to achieve in your area of focus? Are there different areas, what are they?

M: Meaningful. Why is this goal so important to you? This will help drive you during the journey to achieve it. It is important to be specific on your why so you can look back on in it when there are times of struggle.

A: Action Oriented. What steps will be taken to achieve it? I am a list person and love to list out exactly what I am going to do each day or week to achieve my goal. This may work for you or may not. But Make A Plan!

R: Realistic. How do you know that you can achieve this goal? Is this something that you can do? (it may be hard but you do have to be realistic on the past and future to make a realistic goal). You may have to start with a small realistic goal and work for there. Once you have accomplished the first one move on to the next! (It is awesome to accomplish a goal!)

T: Timely. By when do you want to achieve this goal? Set a date or timeframe. This will help you know when to work on it and will drive you to get moving!

With the New Year and everyone making resolutions! Make this year a SMART goal year and accomplish your goals!

What is something you are going to do this year to make it a year to remember?

Welcome to My Creative Hearts!

Welcome to my blog, I love saying that. I have been wanting to start a blog for a while and have finally done it. I like to think that I have a creative heart and now that I have a husband and son their hearts influence everything I do, thus welcome to My Creative Hearts! (three hearts right now, maybe more to come)

Anyways, I absolutely LOVE being a mom, LOVE crafting and LOVE saving money! (Which is part of the reason I craft, things are so expensive).

As any mom, I have had so many experiences from the time I got pregnant to now and continue to experience new things. I love to share my experiences and things that I have found that worked for me to help other mom’s and mom’s to be find what works for them.

I guess you can say I came from a crafty family, both my parents were great at drawing. So were my siblings and so was I. As I got older I taught myself to sew many different things, crochet, cross stitch, paint and really anything I want to make. Plus Pinterest helps A TON! I have found several ideas for past crafts on blogs and online and I want to share my crafts with others like they shared with me!

I have a degree in Accounting, not really what I had always dreamed of doing, but that is where life took me. One of the reasons I chose accounting when I needed to choose was because I love math and numbers. I have the kind of mentality of being a saver, always have been, always will be. And it is amazing when you can save money and get the things you want for WAY less!

I love this blog and want others to enjoy what I have to say. I love to hear what you think, so ya know let me know what you think. 🙂

My Creative Hearts

fun Ideas for the Home, family and saving money