About me

Hi! I'm Shelly - mother of 5 and wife to the best man in the world. We love to play games and watch movies together. I have a passion for crafting in all it's forms - sewing, scrapbooking, bow making, painting, mod podge, you name it and I'll try it. Hope you enjoy our family adventures and crafts!

How I Became Shared Jelly

When my husband and I first got married we used to get messages on our answering machine for "Shared" and "Jelly" instead of Jared and Shelly. The first time we chuckled a little over it and by the fourth or fifth time, we decided the name should stick somewhere. And so, I've been sharing jelly all over the internet since. Enjoy!

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Monday, November 29, 2010

Christmas Wish Can

During the holidays, the kids always are changing their minds about what they want. It's hard to keep track of all their thoughts.  So this year, we made a Christmas Wish Can for them to put all their little hearts' desires in.
I started with an empty can, mod podge and a variety of christmas papers I had left over.

I spread a layer of pod podge over the whole can and put my base paper on.

( I put it on too thick, that's why I have a bumpy result.  Be more patient than me) I added a navy trim around the top.

I wrote Christmas wishes on my paper and cut it to the size I wanted, then used mod podge to stick it to the can.
First the bottom, then the top of the sign.
Once you are finished, cover the whole thing with mod podge and let it dry.  The podge will dry clear when you are done

P.S. if you are more patient with drying between layers and don't put the podge on so thick, you will have a lot flatter and nicer can than mine. I was trying to do this way too quick) 



Monday, November 22, 2010

Mosaic Pictures

Since the kids are home from school and BORED!  We decided to make some art today.    I started by showing them some pictures online of mosaics.  I had a whole bunch of these little tissue paper squares left over from a craft we did this summer and put them to work.
They chose their favorite color of construction paper.  I gave them a bottle of glue to share and the bag of tissue squares.  Some decided to draw out their design with glue or crayons, the others did it freehand.  Here is how they turned out:

I think they look great. You can tell that one of the mosaic pictures we saw online was a castle because two of them liked the idea . . . and it was a great little break from tv watching and wii playing.


Tatertots and Jello: Just in Time for Christmas -- Silhouette Giveaway {worth $300}!!

Tatertots and Jello: Just in Time for Christmas -- Silhouette Giveaway {worth $300}!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

One More Stocking

We needed one more stocking this year for our baby girl.  Here is how it turned out.
I have saved the fabric from my stockings over the years so that everyone has at least one fabric in common with someone else.  They al have the same patches, but each one has a different applique in the center.  As you can see, baby has the Christmas bells.  I think I may just add a couple of real bells to give it a little jingle!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Changing Chad (the Boy Dress Up Doll)

About a month ago, I made Daisy Dress Up for my little girl.  It makes for a fun activity to do on long car rides or in waiting rooms.  We had our first occasion to take our special toy out during a long church meeting.  I soon noticed that despite the Tic-Tac-Toe game that the boys had, they were a little jealous.  Each of my boys discreetly tried out Daisy, but since she was a girl they tried to act less interested.  And so, we made Changing Chad.  Now the boys will have equal opportunity to join in the fun. 


I made him the same way as Daisy. I started with a handmade template of Chad and ironed on his undies with Wonder Under.  Then I added some of the soft side of velcro to his chest and tummy to stick his clothes on with.  Sew around the edges to secure him to his home on the yellow felt (also double thick with a pocket on back for easy storage).  I made a second template once he was done to make the clothes from (in case he shifted during the sewing).  His clothes are made from a double thickness of felt (and some pleather for his chaps and vest) with the scratchy side of velcro on the back.  So far, he's a huge hit. The boys are glad they can play and it's no longer girly! 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Pizza Cake

I always like to bake something fun for the kids' birthday.  Here's Mikyla's.
It''s a lemon cake with red icing, shaved whit chocolate, and fruit roll-up pepperonis. The kids thought it was great!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Turn An Old Shirt into Girls Leggings

If you are like me, you have plenty of old shirts that you either throw away or have lying around.  Why not turn them into something new and get some more use out of those shirts you don't wear anymore.  There are lots of things you can do with knit material.

Today, I took an old tank top and I'm turning it into some new leggings for my little baby girl. Here's how:

I made my own pattern using a pair of leggings we already have.

Cut through both sides of your shirt so that you get two pieces at a time.  When you cut, use the bottom of your shirt as the bottom of your pants - then you don't have to hem them at the end.  I cut around the pants, making sure to leave room for seams.

Then flip them over and cut the other half of your pants.
Line up your pieces and put them right sides together.  Then sew along the edge where you see the pins.  Only from the top to the peak in the middle.  Take what you just sewed and open them up.  Line your two new pieces together and put them right sides together again like this:

Now you are going to sew the sides and middle (between the legs).  Fold over the top of your pants at the top, leaving some room to put elastic in.

Sew around the top making sure to leave a little space to put your elastic in.  To measure how much elastic you need, measure your child's waist and subract 1-2 inches.  I like to put a safety pin at the end of my elastic so that it's easy to feed through the top.













  Sew the ends of your elastic together and you are finished.
Perfectly good pants and soooooo easy to make.  Love it.  I have two more pairs coming.


Monday, November 15, 2010

Layered Hair Bows

While I had all my hair bow making stuff out to make bows for me, I couldn't resist making a few more for the little girls too.  I played with layering colors today and here is what I made:






Hair Bows for Mom

I've made a lot of bows for my girls, but I thought I'd try my hand at some "grown-up" hair bows for me.




(I picked up this pleather material in the remnant bin at Joann's for 50% off. That makes it much more affordable.) 

I like how they turned out.  I glued them to alligator clips so that I can wear them in my hair or attach them to a headband.  Next time I need to use more color.  These are all pretty neutral.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Thanksgiving Turkey Onesie

I wanted to make my baby something cute for Thanksgiving and here is what I came up with. 

I started with some circles folded in sixths in fall colors for the turkey feathers. I did it the same way as in the flower onesie I made. I pinned them on my onesie like so:
 Next I put some Wonder Under on the back of some brown material and orange material.  Just small pieces about 3 inches by 4 inches to cut out my turkey body, and orange for the feet and beak (you will use the rest of the orange later on). Make sure the "feathers" are tucked far enough under so that when you sew around the edges of the brown material, it will also hold them in place.  Here is what mine looked like after ironing on the turkey:

I used the rest of my orange to iron on to the back side of the onesie.  I have found that the material is so light on the onesies that the knit can get stuck in your machine while sewing.  This added some thickness and stiffness to keep that from happening:

Then I sewed with brown thread around the turkey body, making sure that the feathers are sewn in, too.  Then I sewed on two little eyes and voila!  A cute little turkey for my little turkey.

After washing the feathers will fray a little at the edges, too. It will be perfect.  Can't wait to wear it and show it off.



Saturday, November 13, 2010

Soft Baby Blocks

I made these for my baby girl to have something fun to play with. I made lots of different textures and things to grab. So far so good, she seems to like them. 

They were easy to make too. Just 6 squares for each, some ribbons and fabric scraps.  You can do whatever you want on each side. It was fun. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Painted My Bathroom

That's right, I painted the bathroom today.  The kids had no school today, so I had the whole day to get it done (although I was done by 1pm anyways). I like how it turned out.

The old color was a dark yellow (Mikyla called it brown) and whoever painted it only did one coat, so you could see every paint stroke. Not very cool.

The new color is a nice buttery creamy yellow.   Mikyla thought it was white because it was so much lighter than the old yucky yellow.   I like how it turned out.  The accents we have in there can really pop now.


Now I have officially painted all of the rooms in my house except one.  Hunter's room will need a makeover next. I'm thinking about orange . . . .

what do you think?


Veteran's Day

My sweet son, Hunter, learned about why we celebrate Veteran's Day and told me, "Mom, we should call both our Grandpas and thank them for what they did for our country."  What a good idea.  What a thoughtful little boy.  Love you!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

My Autumn Wreath

What would autumn be like without a good wreath.  I kept this one fairly simple, but with all my favorite fall colors.  If you can't already tell, I'm having fun with my folded circle flowers.  These are made in the same way as the ones in my "flower onesie" but I used 5 circles (one for the base and four for the petals).

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Thanksgiving Skit

I came across this cute cute Thanksgiving Skit on Oopsey Daisey.  I'm excited to give it a try.  We even have enough people in our family to be able to do it.  So fun.  You can get your own here.



Autumn Leaves "Give Thanks" Banner

I took down my "Spooky Banner" and replaced it with a new "Give Thanks" Banner. 

I started with some fall colored cardstock. I specifically used paper with texture that has a white core inside. I found a template of a leaf I liked online using Google images and adjusted the size to fit what I wanted.

I used my embossing plates to emboss (or imprint) different designs into the leaves and lightly sanded them with some sandpaper to make the designs more pronounced.


Then I glued on circles in the middle and punched out some letters with my Quickutz tool.

I taped them on some string and hung them up on my wall. I like to use thumb tacks to keep it up because it doesn't leave big holes in my walls. Hope you like it.

My daughter also made some leaves for her wall in her bedroom.  I helped her cut up the leaves and she stuck them all up to make a tree.  Cute.  Good job, sweetie.