DIY Projects

Palm “Sundae” Dessert

March 11, 2016 by Laura Tucker 6 Comments

Sunday is, without question, my favorite day of the week. I spend a large portion of the day with my church family, and in the morning I have the privilege of teaching a handful of 10-12 year old kids during Sunday School. After learning that using Elmer’s school glue without getting it all over the place is a gift not everyone has, I cut back the amount of craft projects we do together. And by cut back, I mean that we just do not do them, period.

But with Easter quickly approaching, I decided to make an exception. And besides, this isn’t exactly a “craft” as much as it is just an opportunity to put together a fun little ice cream treat while sharing about Jesus! (I don’t expect it to be any less messy than them using glue, though!) 😉

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20 Easter Basket Fillers for Babies

February 22, 2016 by Laura Tucker 7 Comments

Southern Made Simple is a part of several affiliate advertising programs. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase. Although I participate in these programs and have sponsored posts, all opinions are my own.

When my siblings and I were younger, my mother would always have Easter baskets filled with candy and goodies for us to open on Easter morning. It was mostly candy of some sort (Cadbury Eggs are my favorite), but we’d also find money, toys and trinkets as well.

I definitely want to keep this tradition alive for my children. However, my little one will only be 10 months old during her 1st Easter, so candy is absolutely out of the question! So I started brainstorming about what I could put in her basket this year. I came up with 20 different things that I think would just be perfect!

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DIY Fabric Rag Skirt Video Tutorial

December 21, 2015 by Laura Tucker 3 Comments

2015 was a huge year for us as we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world. Since it seems like babies grow just entirely too fast, we knew we wanted to capture as many pictures of her during her first year as we could. I started planning our outfits for our Fall portraits around September. I decided to have her wear two different outfits to show off her fun and sweet personality. I wanted her to be photographed in a traditional smocked dress, but I also wanted something funky and a little unconventional.

A sweet friend of mine sparked my interest when she started making her daughter these super cute little rag skirts. I loved the idea and immediately knew that this what I wanted my daughter to wear in her pictures. Instead of going out and buying fabric (it can be so expensive!) I wound up cutting up 2 old pillowcases and 2 old blouses that I no longer wore. I think the result came out great, an I didn’t even have to make a special trip to the store to buy supplies!

Here’s a step by step video tutorial on how to make a fabric rag skirt:

DIY Fabric “Rag” Skirt + Video Tutorial

I’m so pleased with our final results. Because I used fabric and elastic I already had, it cost me nothing to make. Though if you went to the store and purchased your own materials, it would be pretty inexpensive. And for as cute as they are to see your little one in, it’s all so worth it!

This is something that would be super cute to do during different seasons and holidays, too! I’m thinking Christmas colors, Valentine colors, 4th of July colors, birthday pastels, etc!

If you decide to try your hand at making a rag skirt, I’d love to hear/see pictures of how it turned out! 🙂

When Santa Has No Chimney {+ Free Printable!}

December 1, 2015 by Laura Tucker 4 Comments

As a child, I remember reading and singing cheerful Christmas songs about Santa Claus and his magic reindeer. For a while, my mother would decorate our home from top to bottom with Christmas decor. We had a HUGE fireplace where we displayed our stockings. Christmas was a big to-do in our house.

When the night before Christmas rolled around, we’d always break out the book, “Twas The Night Before Christmas” and read it as a family. We’d put on our Christmas pajamas and go straight to bed. At night I would fall asleep imagining Santa filling our stockings after squeezing down our chimney.

Because that’s what Santa does. He goes down the chimney.

That’s what all the books and Christmas carols said, anyway. But because I always had a chimney, I never once gave it any thought as to how he would enter if we didn’t have a chimney.

Now that I’m an adult and have a child of my own, I’m excited to share the magic of Santa with her as she gets older. I’m so excited for those few magical years where children believe in Santa, and you know it by the twinkle in their eye once December rolls around.

I’m looking forward to teaching my daughter all of the fun holiday songs, reading her my favorite Christmas-y books, and sharing with her that Santa and his reindeer fly around the world bringing people presents. He lands on the roof, slides down the chimney, nibbles on the cookies you leave him, and fills your stocking with fun surprises.

We just have one tiny little problem, though.

Our house has no chimney.

I looked everywhere, y’all. Sadly, it’s just not there. And then it occurred to me that this is actually a normal problem. And frankly, it’s really not a problem at all! People live in apartments, trailers, condos, and all sorts of different dwellings that have no chimney. Santa still visits them somehow, right?! Of course he does! And this is the type of thing that I know my daughter will inquire about one day. How DOES Santa come down the chimney when you don’t have a chimney?

Why, he uses his magic of course!

If that fat man can squeeze down a chimney and make his reindeer fly, then he can sprinkle some of that jolly ol’ magic on our special Santa Key and walk right through our front door!

The Santa key can only be used by Santa himself. We leave it hanging on our Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. Before we slip off to bed, we hang the magic key outside our front door so he knows how to enter.

My daughter is will be 7 months old this Christmas, so she will know nothing of the jolly ol’ elf this year, but it won’t be long before she starts picking up on who Santa is. We’ll gladly explain to her how he’ll come into our home quietly while she sleeps and work his magic filling stockings and leaving presents. When we put out his milk and cookies, I’ll let her hang the key on our door just for him.

If you find yourself in the same chimney-less situation as us, here’s a free printable that you can download and pair with your own magic Santa key!

I hope this brings a little more joy to you and your family this holiday season! If you don’t have a chimney, how has Santa been entering your home? I’d love to hear about all the ways he works his magic!

3 Delicious DIY Gifts Using Peppermint Essential Oil

November 27, 2015 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

The holidays are among us!

Have you been as busy as I have trying to figure out what to get everyone on your shopping list this year? Sometimes gift shopping in our house can get crazy if we don’t stay on top of our game. My list currently has 22 people on it (and I feel like I’m leaving someone out! Eeek!). I try not to let the pressure of gift buying get to me. After all, we’re supposed to enjoy this time of year!

If you’re stressing about what to get some of the people on your list, don’t empty out your pocket book! Share the holiday joy by filling their tummies with a few yummy treats instead!

I’ve brought together 3 simple and delicious treats that would make a wonderful gift for anybody on your list! I’ve used Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil in all of my recipes, but you can substitute the oil for peppermint extract if you’d like. I’ll even share a few ideas on how to wrap them up. 🙂

If you’re interested in learning more about essential oils, I’ll include a link at the very bottom of this post that will direct you to a fabulous site with lots of helpful information!

Crazy Simple Peppermint Bark {Using Peppermint Essential Oil}

Copycat Peppermint Patties {Using Peppermint Essential Oil}

Double Mint Brownies {Using Peppermint Essential Oil}

I hope you find the perfect to give your friends and family members this year, and I hope these 3 delicious DIY gifts using peppermint essential oil come in handy! If you decide to try out one of these recipes, I’d love to hear how it turned out!

Interested in learning more about essential oils? Check out what my sister has to say about them on her blog! She’s put together some really great and helpful information to help you out. You can read more here.

DIY Thanksgiving Turkey Hair Bow + Video Tutorial

November 7, 2015 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

I’ve been having so much fun trying my hand at ribbon sculptures. There are so many different things you can make, and some of them are SO stinkin’ simple! I recently shared my first ribbon sculpture with you, which was a super cute little elephant bow. You can find it + a video tutorial on how to make it here. This time, I’ll be showing you how to make a cute little turkey hair bow!

I absolutely love Thanksgiving. The cool Fall air, the fabulous food and time well spent with family has always made it my favorite holiday. (Except that one year that my mom made my little brother and I dress up like a pilgrim and a Native American on Thanksgiving day back in 1998. No amount of dressing and cranberry sauce could’ve made that frown turn upside down!) 😉

Judging by that major side-eye, I’d say little brother is NOT impressed!

Anyway! I knew I wanted to make something cute and festive for my daughter, so I decided to give a turkey sculpture a try. Hopefully she won’t be embarrassed by this later in life. But really, how could she? She’s SO cute! I’ll take her wanting to model it at 5:00 this morning as a sign that she likes it. 🙂

Below I’ve shared a step-by-step video tutorial on how to make this little holiday bird. Get your glue guns ready! This one will take no time at all! Here’s what you’ll need:

DIY Thanksgiving Turkey Hair Bow Tutorial:

If you decide to give this a try, I’d love to know how yours turned out. Stay tuned, I’ll have a Christmas ribbon sculpture tutorial coming up soon!

DIY Elephant Hair Bow + Video Tutorial

October 23, 2015 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

Maybe it’s my Southern showing, but I believe a little girl is never fully dressed without a hair bow. In my eyes, a hair bow is as good as a crown. The bigger, the better! My daughter is at a blissful age where she doesn’t snatch her bows out yet, so I’ve been having so much fun making new hair bows for her to wear.

While perusing Etsy a while back for a little inspiration, I stumbled across ribbon sculptures. Have you ever heard of them? I was really excited by what I was seeing! Basically instead of a traditional hair bow, people are sculpting the ribbon to take the form of an object, an animal, or characters such as the Disney princesses and Ninja Turtles.

I decided to take a stab at making my own. Since it’s football season, I thought a little elephant would be perfect while cheering on the Alabama Crimson Tide. (Can I get a Roll Tide??)

I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was to make! I wanted to share the hair bow love, so I made a tutorial showing you how to make one step by step. Feel free to take a look! If you decide to make one for yourself, I’d love to hear about how it turned out.

Have you ever taken a stab at making your own hair bow? Maybe you’re as excited about the world of ribbon sculptures as I am! Do you have a particular sculpture you’d like to see a tutorial on? Let me know by leaving a comment!

DIY Projects

Our house has no chimney.

Interested in learning more about essential oils? Check out what my sister has to say about them on her blog! She’s put together some really great and helpful information to help you out. You can read more here.

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