So this is my favorite video so far. My friend hired me to photograph her daughter's cake smash and I thought it would be a great time to practice videography for the wedding I had the next week. I'm so glad I did. I thought it turned out pretty cute and my friend LOVES it. She told me she watched it 20 times the first day. (That's the best compliment I could have gotten!!) I basically used my 50mm for the whole thing. I didn't use a tripod, I just stabilized A LOT in Premiere Pro. (I highly, HIGHLY recommend Premiere Pro.) Anyway, here it is!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
My Journey into Videography Continues
I had another chance to practice my videography on a wedding. My sister-in-law was getting remarried in St. George and I was in charge of photography. So I thought I may as well take the opportunity to do some video as well. I'm glad I did, because I didn't love how the photos came out. They would have been great outside, but we were in a room with beige walls and a beige floor. That is the perfect recipe for orange pictures, and I didn't have any off camera lighting with me. Also, the wedding went really quick. Like less than 5 minutes quick. So I had a lot less to work with in editing.
For this video I tried to use less movement and just focus on the people and cutting back and forth. I used a tripod and my Monfrotto Fluid Head (which is amazing, by the way. I have another Manfrotto that's a lot cheaper, but it doesn't really even compare to this one. Well worth the price) for most of the shots. I also shot some handheld, only because the space in the room was a little tight. With those I just applied stabilization. I shot the majority of this in 1920x1080, 30 fps.
I also edited with Premiere Pro instead of Magix and it made a HUGE difference for me in post. I spend a whole lot less time editing, even with the learning curve. I did the whole thing in a day. It probably would have taken less time without interruptions from kids ;). I would wholeheartedly recommend Premiere Pro.
I know my videography is definitely a work in progress, but I think this video is better than the first wedding I did. It's progress, and at this point that's all I care about.
Here it is!
For this video I tried to use less movement and just focus on the people and cutting back and forth. I used a tripod and my Monfrotto Fluid Head (which is amazing, by the way. I have another Manfrotto that's a lot cheaper, but it doesn't really even compare to this one. Well worth the price) for most of the shots. I also shot some handheld, only because the space in the room was a little tight. With those I just applied stabilization. I shot the majority of this in 1920x1080, 30 fps.
I also edited with Premiere Pro instead of Magix and it made a HUGE difference for me in post. I spend a whole lot less time editing, even with the learning curve. I did the whole thing in a day. It probably would have taken less time without interruptions from kids ;). I would wholeheartedly recommend Premiere Pro.
I know my videography is definitely a work in progress, but I think this video is better than the first wedding I did. It's progress, and at this point that's all I care about.
Here it is!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
What I learned from my first wedding video (and I learned a lot)
This post is a little hard for me to write. I'm not one to show off my flaws. I am definitely an introvert in most ways and sharing my first wedding video is terrifying. Mostly because I compare it to colleagues who have been doing this for years. I continue to tell myself that this is my first video and it will get better from here. So keep that in mind and please be kind. I share this to try to help others who are also beginning the long and arduous journey into videography. So here is the video...
So here are a few of the key things I learned while starting out (Keep in mind this may not work for everyone):
-Though many of the best wedding videos I have seen use a lot of motion, until you've gotten a lot of practice, it may be best to start out with a lot of static shots, incorporating a few tilt and pan shots here or there. I tried to make get the majority of my shots to have some element of motion. I got a lot of shaky shots (part of the problem for me was a monopod, but I'll get into that next) and I had to do a lot of stabilization in post.
-I know a lot of people use a monopod a lot in their ceremony filming. For me, it just didn't work as well. Again, part of it was the shake. I plan to use a tripod and fluid head for the next one. At least until I get more practice on it.
-Film a lot of B-roll. And not only that, but make sure you get A LOT of different angles. Get the dance from different sides and different focal lengths. I think the contrast makes a HUGE difference.
-Post production- I used Magix Pro for this wedding. Don't. I think it can be a good program for some people, but I didn't feel it was extremely user-friendly and it was hard to find tutorials online that were specific to what I needed. I have since purchased Adobe Premiere Pro CC. I'll review that one when I've had more time to play around with it.
Hopefully this helped, at least a little!
So here are a few of the key things I learned while starting out (Keep in mind this may not work for everyone):
-Though many of the best wedding videos I have seen use a lot of motion, until you've gotten a lot of practice, it may be best to start out with a lot of static shots, incorporating a few tilt and pan shots here or there. I tried to make get the majority of my shots to have some element of motion. I got a lot of shaky shots (part of the problem for me was a monopod, but I'll get into that next) and I had to do a lot of stabilization in post.
-I know a lot of people use a monopod a lot in their ceremony filming. For me, it just didn't work as well. Again, part of it was the shake. I plan to use a tripod and fluid head for the next one. At least until I get more practice on it.
-Film a lot of B-roll. And not only that, but make sure you get A LOT of different angles. Get the dance from different sides and different focal lengths. I think the contrast makes a HUGE difference.
-Post production- I used Magix Pro for this wedding. Don't. I think it can be a good program for some people, but I didn't feel it was extremely user-friendly and it was hard to find tutorials online that were specific to what I needed. I have since purchased Adobe Premiere Pro CC. I'll review that one when I've had more time to play around with it.
Hopefully this helped, at least a little!
Monday, July 6, 2015
Computer specs for video editing
It was shortly before my daughter's birthday party that I scheduled my first paid video job. I thought the birthday party would be the perfect time to get some more practice in. Lucky for me. After uploading the raw video I started the editing process. I had uploaded new software to a computer I'd never used for video editing. This is what I discovered: My laptop is virtually useless for what I need. The video lag in the playback was AWFUL. The diagnosis? Simply, I needed a new computer. Great. I did a lot of research and talked to a few IT guys. My computer wasn't meeting the minimum specs for what I needed to do video editing. I looked around at a lot of different computers. In the end I had a friend build me a custom computer.
Here are the basics of what you need to look for. Keep in mind that these are definitely not the only options you have. This is just what I would have gone with if I hadn't had mine built.
Processor- i5 or i7 you also want the speed to be at least 2.8 GHz
RAM- 16 GB
Graphics card- I'm a little sketchy on this one. It was difficult to find a good graphics card in a computer on a budget. You definitely don't want a graphics card that's integrated into the computer. You want one that can be removed.
Hard drive- If you're doing video you want at least 1TB hardrive.
Here's what I got at Newegg and the price I paid for each:
*FYI the Internal SSD is like a fast hard drive (at least that's how it was explained to me.) It's supposed to make your computer go a little faster, but it's not necessary
Here are the basics of what you need to look for. Keep in mind that these are definitely not the only options you have. This is just what I would have gone with if I hadn't had mine built.
Processor- i5 or i7 you also want the speed to be at least 2.8 GHz
RAM- 16 GB
Graphics card- I'm a little sketchy on this one. It was difficult to find a good graphics card in a computer on a budget. You definitely don't want a graphics card that's integrated into the computer. You want one that can be removed.
Hard drive- If you're doing video you want at least 1TB hardrive.
Here's what I got at Newegg and the price I paid for each:
*FYI the Internal SSD is like a fast hard drive (at least that's how it was explained to me.) It's supposed to make your computer go a little faster, but it's not necessary
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Internal SSD*
Hard Drive
Sunday, July 5, 2015
My introduction into videography
I don't know about you guys, but I feel like photography can be a hard business to be in. People tend to look at prices of photographers and think, "they make that much for an hour of taking photos?!"
I think many don't realize how much time it takes after the photo shoot is over. Not only that, but it seems like every third person (in Utah, at least) is a photographer, or has someone in their family that is, or has a decent DSLR and thinks that they are.
I decided I wanted to try something new. One of my friends that I was shadowing does birth stories. She does photography and videography for those births, and I love them! To me, it's easier to have an emotional connection to watching an event unfold than seeing snapshots of those same events. To be fair, I have seen some amazing, emotional photos. It can be done, but I think it takes a good photographer to capture a photo with the same feeling you can get through video.
I also had a videographer at my wedding and was so glad I did. I love watching that video. (Mostly on anniversaries or because my daughter wants to see Mommy and Daddy on TV.)
I'm learning as a go here. I've picked peoples brains and researched A LOT. I want to share my experience: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope it can help those who are also getting started avoid any pitfalls I find along the way.
I started trying things out about 4 months ago. I currently have a Canon T2i. I've read that it's actually a pretty decent camera for video. I'm hoping to upgrade soon, but for now, this will do. The first thing I learned is that it's important to have the right memory card. I have a stash of memory cards that I've had for a while, but they were all class 4 cards. A class 4 card will allow you to only record about 5 seconds of video at 1920 x 1080 pixels. I get class 10 cards. I use these 32 gb Sandisk cards. They're only $15 at Amazon (at the time of this writing).
Other than the memory cards I didn't purchase any other equipment for my first video. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. I did a video for my nephew when he got baptized. It was a bit shaky and not the most crisp video. Of course my brother an sister-in-law were still happy with it because it was their son and it didn't cost them anything. I would post it to give examples of what not to do, but I couldn't purchase licensing for the song I put it to. That's one thing that is VERY important. I've heard horror stories of people posting unlicensed music and having to pay fines of $5000 or more. DON'T POST ANY VIDEO WITH MUSIC YOU DON'T HAVE THE LICENSE FOR!!! Just don't do it.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I did the baptism video and I learned a lot from it. That would be one of my first recommendations. Practice on an event that isn't a professional job for money.
After that I decided it was time to get some equipment. Over the course of the next few months I'll go into what I've been using and what was a waste of money to purchase.
Here's the list of what I got and how much I paid:
AmoVee Shotgun Mic $36
Manfrotto 128LP Fluid Head $83 (you may need some 1/4" to 3/8" adaptors)
Konova 31" slider $250
Squidmic $52
Zoom H1 recorder $138
Magix Video Editing Software $49
Dolica Monopod $16
LCD Viewfinder (Loupe) $20
Shotgun mic: I think this is important. I think video is always better if you can hear at least a little of the background noise.
Fluid head: This is absolutely necessary. You need a fluid head to get smooth shots. Manfrotto is a good brand, and this is on the cheaper end, but still has good quality. I think the next thing I'll get is a quick release. It just takes too long to change the camera when you're in the middle of a wedding.
Slider: The jury is still out on the slider. I think it is important to get more creative shots, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have waited to buy the slider.
Squidmic and Audio Recorder: This is also an absolute must if you plan to do wedding ceremonies. So far I like the Zoom H1 (you can get it without the accessory package for $100). I like the squidmic too, but you could probably find a decent lav mic for $30 or so.
Video Editing Software: I haven't been able to try this software out yet. I'll have a whole post on that later. I'll be updating my opinions on this in a week or so.
Monopod: I like the monopod I have, and I personally think this is must for filming weddings, but I think I may buy one with legs on the bottom to give it more support. Maybe something like this.
Viewfinder (Loupe)- Not necessary, but I think it's handy to have. It magnifies the LCD screen so you can more clearly see if the subject is in focus.
I have a few other things that I had already as a photography (light stands, extra batteries, etc.) but I haven't used them much for video.
Next up, what you need to edit video.
I think many don't realize how much time it takes after the photo shoot is over. Not only that, but it seems like every third person (in Utah, at least) is a photographer, or has someone in their family that is, or has a decent DSLR and thinks that they are.
I decided I wanted to try something new. One of my friends that I was shadowing does birth stories. She does photography and videography for those births, and I love them! To me, it's easier to have an emotional connection to watching an event unfold than seeing snapshots of those same events. To be fair, I have seen some amazing, emotional photos. It can be done, but I think it takes a good photographer to capture a photo with the same feeling you can get through video.
I also had a videographer at my wedding and was so glad I did. I love watching that video. (Mostly on anniversaries or because my daughter wants to see Mommy and Daddy on TV.)
I'm learning as a go here. I've picked peoples brains and researched A LOT. I want to share my experience: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope it can help those who are also getting started avoid any pitfalls I find along the way.
I started trying things out about 4 months ago. I currently have a Canon T2i. I've read that it's actually a pretty decent camera for video. I'm hoping to upgrade soon, but for now, this will do. The first thing I learned is that it's important to have the right memory card. I have a stash of memory cards that I've had for a while, but they were all class 4 cards. A class 4 card will allow you to only record about 5 seconds of video at 1920 x 1080 pixels. I get class 10 cards. I use these 32 gb Sandisk cards. They're only $15 at Amazon (at the time of this writing).
Other than the memory cards I didn't purchase any other equipment for my first video. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. I did a video for my nephew when he got baptized. It was a bit shaky and not the most crisp video. Of course my brother an sister-in-law were still happy with it because it was their son and it didn't cost them anything. I would post it to give examples of what not to do, but I couldn't purchase licensing for the song I put it to. That's one thing that is VERY important. I've heard horror stories of people posting unlicensed music and having to pay fines of $5000 or more. DON'T POST ANY VIDEO WITH MUSIC YOU DON'T HAVE THE LICENSE FOR!!! Just don't do it.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I did the baptism video and I learned a lot from it. That would be one of my first recommendations. Practice on an event that isn't a professional job for money.
After that I decided it was time to get some equipment. Over the course of the next few months I'll go into what I've been using and what was a waste of money to purchase.
Here's the list of what I got and how much I paid:
AmoVee Shotgun Mic $36
Manfrotto 128LP Fluid Head $83 (you may need some 1/4" to 3/8" adaptors)
Konova 31" slider $250
Squidmic $52
Zoom H1 recorder $138
Magix Video Editing Software $49
Dolica Monopod $16
LCD Viewfinder (Loupe) $20
Shotgun mic: I think this is important. I think video is always better if you can hear at least a little of the background noise.
Fluid head: This is absolutely necessary. You need a fluid head to get smooth shots. Manfrotto is a good brand, and this is on the cheaper end, but still has good quality. I think the next thing I'll get is a quick release. It just takes too long to change the camera when you're in the middle of a wedding.
Slider: The jury is still out on the slider. I think it is important to get more creative shots, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have waited to buy the slider.
Squidmic and Audio Recorder: This is also an absolute must if you plan to do wedding ceremonies. So far I like the Zoom H1 (you can get it without the accessory package for $100). I like the squidmic too, but you could probably find a decent lav mic for $30 or so.
Video Editing Software: I haven't been able to try this software out yet. I'll have a whole post on that later. I'll be updating my opinions on this in a week or so.
Monopod: I like the monopod I have, and I personally think this is must for filming weddings, but I think I may buy one with legs on the bottom to give it more support. Maybe something like this.
Viewfinder (Loupe)- Not necessary, but I think it's handy to have. It magnifies the LCD screen so you can more clearly see if the subject is in focus.
I have a few other things that I had already as a photography (light stands, extra batteries, etc.) but I haven't used them much for video.
Next up, what you need to edit video.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Holy Ghost Sharing Time Lesson
I was recently called into the primary presidency. I had my first sharing time lesson today. I just thought I'd share what I did because it ended up being pretty easy, low maintenance and low prep. I chose 6 stories, 3 of which were examples of the Holy Ghost guiding and 3 of which were examples of the Holy Ghost protecting us. You can find the stories I used here. I put 6 strips of paper, labeled "Story1-6, on the chalkboard. I let them shoot a nerf gun at the strips of paper. Whichever paper they hit (or were closest to) is the story I'd read. After the story was read I asked them whether the Holy Ghost was guiding or protecting. It worked pretty well. The kids loved shooting the nerf gun. It wasn't frilly or pretty by any means, but the kids had fun!
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Summer Cake Smash
When I think of summer I think of watermelon, fireworks and red, white and blue. With my baby born at the beginning of the summer I couldn't help but do a red, white and blue themed cake smash. And I happen to love the nautical look right now. So there you have it.
The cake smash was super easy to set up. Just tape balloons to a wall, cut an anchor out of cardboard and spraypaint it white. Love it!!!!
The cake smash was super easy to set up. Just tape balloons to a wall, cut an anchor out of cardboard and spraypaint it white. Love it!!!!
Monday, June 15, 2015
Under the Sea Birthday Party
Things have been a little crazy lately, but I have some fun posts as of a result of the craziness of my life!! One of my favorites is today's post. I loved this Under the Sea Party. It was A LOT of work, but so worth it! And it was fairly budget friendly too!
I tried to have a good combination of sweets/healthy food. So here's what we have:
Seaweed grapes- I found an awesome deal on grapes the Saturday before the party, so I put them on skewers and put them in the freezer until just before the party. And who doesn't love frozen grapes?!
Ocean Jelly- Blue raspberry Jello with whipped cream and swedish fish on a bed of graham cracker crust.
Goldfish Crackers
Shark Gummies- I found them in bulk at Winco.
Ocean Juice- Blue Koolaid packet with sugar and a 2 Liter bottle of Sprite.
Cake- Obviously!!
Starfish- Watermelon
Octopus Seaweed Dip- Yellow Bell Pepper cut to look like an octopus topped on a bowl of spinish dip.
For decorations I wanted a backdrop that I could use to take pictures of each of the kids. I've seen some really cute backdrops that used a lot of ribbon and lace. They are super cute, but a little out of my budget. So I just used streamers and some mesh netting I found at Joann's for a couple bucks. The netting was originally about 12 inches wide, so I gut them into thirds. I really liked how the shiny netting added to it. (plus, netting...fish...Just makes sense, right?!) I did add a couple strands of ribbon, but I don't really feel like it added anything extra to the backdrop.
The tablecloth was one of my favorite decorations! It was really simple, and fairly cheap to make too. I used fabric I found at Joann's. The sequin-like material make it look like scales, though there was some material that looked even more like scales, but I wasn't about to spend $25 a yard on the fabric, even if I could use a coupon on it! The fabric I got was $8 a yard and I used a 50% off coupon. Doesn't get much better than that! My table was 42" square, so I just got enough to cover the top. I used strips of tulle for the "skirt" part of the table. I needed about 3 1/3 yards for a 3 foot high table. I only did three sides, though, so if you were going to do all 4 sides, you will need more.
I also used a fishing net from the dollar store to hold up some balloons. I attached some starfish that I purchased here onto the fishing net.
I wanted the girls to be able to dress up for their picture, so I made a little mermaid skirt and a starfish headband. I used the tutorial for the mermaid skirt found here. For the headband I got sequin stretchy trim from Joann and used some shabby chic flowers, wedding veil netting, furry trim and a starfish. I'm pleasantly surprised with the results!!
I also made an octopus out of a balloon and streamers, and jellyfish out of balloons, tulle, a plastic tablecloth, and ribbon. I love the way they turned out too!!
And what's an under the sea party without a few fish?! Just a warning, though. Without a filtering system, you'll need to find a way to continue to give them oxygen. I added some tap water (maybe not the best way) that seemed to help add some oxygen to the water. Sadly, our fish didn't last too long...
For party favors I made some pearl necklaces with large pearl beads and some ribbon. (I had to use a needle and pliers to get the ribbon through, because the pearl holes were so small.)
As for the cake...I can't, by any means, claim that as my own! I have an awesome friend who traded me a cake for a photo session. Otherwise that cake probably would have cost me $75.
Games: For an under the sea party you have to have water games, right?! We set up a couple kiddie pools for them to play in. One had a board across it for a "walk the plank" game. The favorite, by far, was the slip'n'slide. We have a wonderful little hill in our backyard that is perfect for sledding in the winter and slip'n'slide in the summer. The kids LOVED it.
All in all, it was a super fun party. I have to say, I'm glad it's over. Now I can start stressing about my newest adventure, and coincidentally, my newest post series...Videography. To stay posted on all my adventures, be sure to sign up for email notices!
Seaweed grapes- I found an awesome deal on grapes the Saturday before the party, so I put them on skewers and put them in the freezer until just before the party. And who doesn't love frozen grapes?!
Ocean Jelly- Blue raspberry Jello with whipped cream and swedish fish on a bed of graham cracker crust.
Goldfish Crackers
Shark Gummies- I found them in bulk at Winco.
Ocean Juice- Blue Koolaid packet with sugar and a 2 Liter bottle of Sprite.
Cake- Obviously!!
Starfish- Watermelon
Octopus Seaweed Dip- Yellow Bell Pepper cut to look like an octopus topped on a bowl of spinish dip.
For decorations I wanted a backdrop that I could use to take pictures of each of the kids. I've seen some really cute backdrops that used a lot of ribbon and lace. They are super cute, but a little out of my budget. So I just used streamers and some mesh netting I found at Joann's for a couple bucks. The netting was originally about 12 inches wide, so I gut them into thirds. I really liked how the shiny netting added to it. (plus, netting...fish...Just makes sense, right?!) I did add a couple strands of ribbon, but I don't really feel like it added anything extra to the backdrop.
The tablecloth was one of my favorite decorations! It was really simple, and fairly cheap to make too. I used fabric I found at Joann's. The sequin-like material make it look like scales, though there was some material that looked even more like scales, but I wasn't about to spend $25 a yard on the fabric, even if I could use a coupon on it! The fabric I got was $8 a yard and I used a 50% off coupon. Doesn't get much better than that! My table was 42" square, so I just got enough to cover the top. I used strips of tulle for the "skirt" part of the table. I needed about 3 1/3 yards for a 3 foot high table. I only did three sides, though, so if you were going to do all 4 sides, you will need more.
I also used a fishing net from the dollar store to hold up some balloons. I attached some starfish that I purchased here onto the fishing net.
I wanted the girls to be able to dress up for their picture, so I made a little mermaid skirt and a starfish headband. I used the tutorial for the mermaid skirt found here. For the headband I got sequin stretchy trim from Joann and used some shabby chic flowers, wedding veil netting, furry trim and a starfish. I'm pleasantly surprised with the results!!
I also made an octopus out of a balloon and streamers, and jellyfish out of balloons, tulle, a plastic tablecloth, and ribbon. I love the way they turned out too!!
And what's an under the sea party without a few fish?! Just a warning, though. Without a filtering system, you'll need to find a way to continue to give them oxygen. I added some tap water (maybe not the best way) that seemed to help add some oxygen to the water. Sadly, our fish didn't last too long...
For party favors I made some pearl necklaces with large pearl beads and some ribbon. (I had to use a needle and pliers to get the ribbon through, because the pearl holes were so small.)
As for the cake...I can't, by any means, claim that as my own! I have an awesome friend who traded me a cake for a photo session. Otherwise that cake probably would have cost me $75.
Games: For an under the sea party you have to have water games, right?! We set up a couple kiddie pools for them to play in. One had a board across it for a "walk the plank" game. The favorite, by far, was the slip'n'slide. We have a wonderful little hill in our backyard that is perfect for sledding in the winter and slip'n'slide in the summer. The kids LOVED it.
All in all, it was a super fun party. I have to say, I'm glad it's over. Now I can start stressing about my newest adventure, and coincidentally, my newest post series...Videography. To stay posted on all my adventures, be sure to sign up for email notices!
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
My 6 Favorite ways to earn a little extra as a SAHM
Since becoming a stay at home mom I am constantly looking for ways to earn a little extra spending money. I've tried a couple of survey places before but never really found it worth while. Here are a couple of my favorite ways to earn a little extra.
Shopkick-
This is an app that gives you points (kicks) for walking in certain stores, scanning items in stores, and/or making purchases in stores.
How it Works-
Open the app when you're walking in certain stores, like Walmart, Macy's, American Eagle, JCPenney, Sportsman's Warehouse, Best Buy, TJMaxx, etc. I was able to spend just a few minutes walking through a mall and neighboring stores and earned about 800 kicks one day. That happened to be on a weekend when they were giving higher amounts of kicks for walk-ins. When you earn a certain number of kicks you can redeem them for gift cards.
How much are you likely to get?
This depends entirely on how often you go shopping, as the kicks for going into stores reset every day. The rewards aren't huge, but every little bit counts. For 500 kicks you can get a $2 gift card. 1250 is $5, 2500 is $10 and so on. Check it out!
Bing Rewards-
This is the site I use least often because it doesn't have the best payout. But if you already use Bing as your search engine then why not earn a little with something you already do?
How it Works-
Bing will give you a point for every two searches you do up to 15 points a day. You can also answer trivia questions that will give you a few points. When you get between 500 and 525 points you can cash out for a $5 gift card.
How much are you likely to get?
If you capped out on your searches every day, you could get a $5 gift card in about a month.
Swagbucks-
Now this is a survey site, but it's the only one I use. I've tried InboxDollars before, but I had trouble with a number of their surveys disqualifying me after I had already spent 20 minutes on them. I've had that happen twice with Swagbucks and each time they've credited me with the full amount of points. With InboxDollars you also have to wait until you have $30 before they'll let you access any of the money. I like Swagbucks because they are fair and you don't have to earn a ton of points before you can cash out on something
How it works:
You earn points (Swagbucks) for certain activities. Each point it basically the equivalent of $.01. It's not a lot, but it can add up. I've seen surveys range from 40 Swagbucks to 2500 Swagbucks. Most often it's between 50 and 100. Again, it's not a lot, but it's something I can do any time of the day.
You can also earn a minimal number of points for playing games, watching videos and searching the internet. I like that last one because I set them as my default search engine and then I get points for some of the searches I do. It usually only comes out to around $.10 a day, but hey, it's $.10 for something that I already do. It doesn't require any extra effort.
You can also earn by shopping online at stores you may already use. For example, you can shop online at Walmart, Amazon or Target and earn anywhere between 1 and 4 Swagbucks per $1 spent. They have a ton of retailers you can use.
They also have offers that come into your "inbox" that may give you a certain number of Swagbucks. For example, I did needed to purchase ink for my printer recently and there was a deal that gave me 500 Swagbucks if I spent over $30. The store I had to purchase from actually was a lot cheaper than Walmart (which is where I probably would have gotten it) and on top of it I got the 500 points. That was basically the equivalent of a $5 gift card.
When you earn enough points you can cash it in for gift cards. I personally usually get Amazon Gift cards, but they have a lot of retailers to choose from. You can cash in for as few as 300 Swagbucks, which will get you a $3 gift card.
How much are you likely to get?
I've only been using this site for a month and I've earned about $60. It will depend on how much time you spend and if you can find deals that will help you get points for merchandise you already planned on buying.
UserTesting
This company has you test websites for other companies to see how their websites function.
How it works-
If you sign up with them, you will have to first do a sample test. This test won't pay anything, it just tests you to see if you're a good fit. After that you'll have access to start testing websites. They will post available tests on your dashboard and you'll answer a few questions to see if you'll be a good fit for that test. When you do your first test you'll have to wait until the test is reviewed before you can do anymore.
From what I've seen since I started most tests pay about $10. They take about 20-30 minutes each. They pay you via Paypal, so you must have a Paypal account that is in good standing. You will get paid a week after you take the test. You get rated on the tests you take and if your rating starts to drop you may not see as many tests show up on your dashboard.
How much are you likely to get?
You'll probably be looking to make around $40 a month or so.
Ibotta
I actually just joined Ibotta, but I'm super excited about it! I wish I had found it earlier. You get money back from shopping! What could be better than that?
How it Works-
I use it for grocery shopping. It reminds me a little of couponing without the headache of couponing. You can go shopping, buy all your normal stuff, and then come home and check your Ibotta app to see what rebates are available. For example, I went shopping yesterday and came home and looked at the app. There was $1 rebate for milk (any brand), $.30 for bread, $.30 for eggs, etc. I spent about $70 on food and got $3.40 in rebates and you get paid within two days. Not bad for not having to do any couponing and just shopping like I normally do.
How much are you likely to get?
Honestly, I haven't been doing it long enough to tell. It would also depend on how much you buy and how often you shop. I have a friend who's been doing it for about 3 months and she's gotten a little over $90 back.
They also have promotionals where you can also earn more money if you're part of a "team."
If you'd like to join, click on the link and sign up :)
https://ibotta.com/r/gravpxm
Selling Plasma-
This is by far my favorite, most monetarily rewarding way to earn money as a SAHM. In Utah you can earn money by donating plasma. I go to Biomat USA (Griffols). The first five times you donate you end up getting paid about $275. You can donate twice a week. After the first five times, you start getting $65 a week. It takes, on average, about 2 hours per donation.
I, personally, hate needles. But I do love being able to earn money while watching TV. Granted, it's not for everyone, but for me, it's worth doing it to be able to be a SAHM!!
Shopkick-
This is an app that gives you points (kicks) for walking in certain stores, scanning items in stores, and/or making purchases in stores.
How it Works-
Open the app when you're walking in certain stores, like Walmart, Macy's, American Eagle, JCPenney, Sportsman's Warehouse, Best Buy, TJMaxx, etc. I was able to spend just a few minutes walking through a mall and neighboring stores and earned about 800 kicks one day. That happened to be on a weekend when they were giving higher amounts of kicks for walk-ins. When you earn a certain number of kicks you can redeem them for gift cards.
How much are you likely to get?
This depends entirely on how often you go shopping, as the kicks for going into stores reset every day. The rewards aren't huge, but every little bit counts. For 500 kicks you can get a $2 gift card. 1250 is $5, 2500 is $10 and so on. Check it out!
Bing Rewards-
This is the site I use least often because it doesn't have the best payout. But if you already use Bing as your search engine then why not earn a little with something you already do?
How it Works-
Bing will give you a point for every two searches you do up to 15 points a day. You can also answer trivia questions that will give you a few points. When you get between 500 and 525 points you can cash out for a $5 gift card.
How much are you likely to get?
If you capped out on your searches every day, you could get a $5 gift card in about a month.
Swagbucks-
Now this is a survey site, but it's the only one I use. I've tried InboxDollars before, but I had trouble with a number of their surveys disqualifying me after I had already spent 20 minutes on them. I've had that happen twice with Swagbucks and each time they've credited me with the full amount of points. With InboxDollars you also have to wait until you have $30 before they'll let you access any of the money. I like Swagbucks because they are fair and you don't have to earn a ton of points before you can cash out on something
How it works:
You earn points (Swagbucks) for certain activities. Each point it basically the equivalent of $.01. It's not a lot, but it can add up. I've seen surveys range from 40 Swagbucks to 2500 Swagbucks. Most often it's between 50 and 100. Again, it's not a lot, but it's something I can do any time of the day.
You can also earn a minimal number of points for playing games, watching videos and searching the internet. I like that last one because I set them as my default search engine and then I get points for some of the searches I do. It usually only comes out to around $.10 a day, but hey, it's $.10 for something that I already do. It doesn't require any extra effort.
You can also earn by shopping online at stores you may already use. For example, you can shop online at Walmart, Amazon or Target and earn anywhere between 1 and 4 Swagbucks per $1 spent. They have a ton of retailers you can use.
They also have offers that come into your "inbox" that may give you a certain number of Swagbucks. For example, I did needed to purchase ink for my printer recently and there was a deal that gave me 500 Swagbucks if I spent over $30. The store I had to purchase from actually was a lot cheaper than Walmart (which is where I probably would have gotten it) and on top of it I got the 500 points. That was basically the equivalent of a $5 gift card.
When you earn enough points you can cash it in for gift cards. I personally usually get Amazon Gift cards, but they have a lot of retailers to choose from. You can cash in for as few as 300 Swagbucks, which will get you a $3 gift card.
How much are you likely to get?
I've only been using this site for a month and I've earned about $60. It will depend on how much time you spend and if you can find deals that will help you get points for merchandise you already planned on buying.
UserTesting
This company has you test websites for other companies to see how their websites function.
How it works-
If you sign up with them, you will have to first do a sample test. This test won't pay anything, it just tests you to see if you're a good fit. After that you'll have access to start testing websites. They will post available tests on your dashboard and you'll answer a few questions to see if you'll be a good fit for that test. When you do your first test you'll have to wait until the test is reviewed before you can do anymore.
From what I've seen since I started most tests pay about $10. They take about 20-30 minutes each. They pay you via Paypal, so you must have a Paypal account that is in good standing. You will get paid a week after you take the test. You get rated on the tests you take and if your rating starts to drop you may not see as many tests show up on your dashboard.
How much are you likely to get?
You'll probably be looking to make around $40 a month or so.
Ibotta
I actually just joined Ibotta, but I'm super excited about it! I wish I had found it earlier. You get money back from shopping! What could be better than that?
How it Works-
I use it for grocery shopping. It reminds me a little of couponing without the headache of couponing. You can go shopping, buy all your normal stuff, and then come home and check your Ibotta app to see what rebates are available. For example, I went shopping yesterday and came home and looked at the app. There was $1 rebate for milk (any brand), $.30 for bread, $.30 for eggs, etc. I spent about $70 on food and got $3.40 in rebates and you get paid within two days. Not bad for not having to do any couponing and just shopping like I normally do.
How much are you likely to get?
Honestly, I haven't been doing it long enough to tell. It would also depend on how much you buy and how often you shop. I have a friend who's been doing it for about 3 months and she's gotten a little over $90 back.
They also have promotionals where you can also earn more money if you're part of a "team."
If you'd like to join, click on the link and sign up :)
https://ibotta.com/r/gravpxm
Selling Plasma-
This is by far my favorite, most monetarily rewarding way to earn money as a SAHM. In Utah you can earn money by donating plasma. I go to Biomat USA (Griffols). The first five times you donate you end up getting paid about $275. You can donate twice a week. After the first five times, you start getting $65 a week. It takes, on average, about 2 hours per donation.
I, personally, hate needles. But I do love being able to earn money while watching TV. Granted, it's not for everyone, but for me, it's worth doing it to be able to be a SAHM!!
Tips on tiling backsplash with SimpleMat
I have to say, this task was a bit daunting to me, having never tiled before, but once we got the hang of things, it really wasn't so bad. And we're so happy with the results!!
We went to our local Home Depot and found some tile we like. Looking back it would have saved us a ton of time to use the sheets of tile, instead of individual tile pieces, but it ultimately saved us money to do it this way, and we really liked the natural stone look.
Here's out Materials list:
We borrowed a tile saw from a friend and he came over to help us get started.
Now, there are a ton of videos out there on how to tile, etc. They're worth looking at. This post is mainly a review of, and tips for using SimpleMat.
We didn't want to have to deal with thinset since this was such as small project and using Simplemat seemed so easy. Basically it's a super sticky glue-like backing to place your tile on. It really does seem like it would be a great product in the right setting.
Would I use it if I was to do this project over again? No. Here's why. Because we did a diamond pattern instead of a square pattern, we had to make a lot of cuts. When you cut with a tile saw the pieces get wet. Water and SimpleMat don't mix well. We found that if our pieces were even slightly damp they had a hard time sticking to the wall. After the first few experiences we got out the blow dryer and we didn't have much trouble after that.
If you're doing a project without a lot of cuts, it might be a good option for you. I also think if we were to do another backsplash, say in our bathroom, and we were using the sheets of tile, I would probably give SimpleMat another shot. I can see how it might be really easy and mess-free to use with the sheets.
Quick Tips:
We went to our local Home Depot and found some tile we like. Looking back it would have saved us a ton of time to use the sheets of tile, instead of individual tile pieces, but it ultimately saved us money to do it this way, and we really liked the natural stone look.
Here's out Materials list:
- Tile - We used 11 packages of 9 stones each (equal to 1 sq ft.). Each pack was $4. - $44
- SimpleMat- We got the large roll 30 sq ft. - $50
- 3/16" spacers -$3
- rubber grout float- $4
- Sponge - $2
- Grout- 2 containers of 1qt alabaster premixed SimpleGrout- $11 each - $22
We borrowed a tile saw from a friend and he came over to help us get started.
Now, there are a ton of videos out there on how to tile, etc. They're worth looking at. This post is mainly a review of, and tips for using SimpleMat.
We didn't want to have to deal with thinset since this was such as small project and using Simplemat seemed so easy. Basically it's a super sticky glue-like backing to place your tile on. It really does seem like it would be a great product in the right setting.
Would I use it if I was to do this project over again? No. Here's why. Because we did a diamond pattern instead of a square pattern, we had to make a lot of cuts. When you cut with a tile saw the pieces get wet. Water and SimpleMat don't mix well. We found that if our pieces were even slightly damp they had a hard time sticking to the wall. After the first few experiences we got out the blow dryer and we didn't have much trouble after that.
If you're doing a project without a lot of cuts, it might be a good option for you. I also think if we were to do another backsplash, say in our bathroom, and we were using the sheets of tile, I would probably give SimpleMat another shot. I can see how it might be really easy and mess-free to use with the sheets.
Quick Tips:
- Don't put tile on SimpleMat when tile is wet
- If you're set on using SimpleMat, choose a tile the is not too large or too heavy
- Sheets of tile, rather than individual pieces, are likely your best bet.
- Don't put it on your wall until you're sure it's where you want it. If you try to peel it off you'll pull off paint too.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Amazing Baked Onion Rings!
Okay, so I made these a couple weeks ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since! They are A..MAZ..ING. No joke. You seriously have to try them. And they're easy to make!! I tried them two weeks ago and since then I have made them 5 times. That's how much I love them. And I don't feel guilty about eating them because they are healthy! (Until I dip them in fry sauce with Siracha.) There aren't many things that I think taste better than their fattening counterparts, but I actually like these better than the greasy Onion Blossoms you get from restaurants!
I posted a picture of them right out of my oven (and it's a good think too, because they didn't last long!) and posted it on my personal Facebook page. I got so many requests for the recipe I thought I'd share here too in case you haven't stumbled upon it on Pinterest. The recipe is from the incredible Tiffany from "Creme de la Crumb." Check out her website for the recipe here.
Most of my food posts on here are mostly recipes that I've adapted from other recipes I've found. Not this one. Nope. It didn't need to be changed. At all. I make it almost exactly as written. The only thing I do differently is that I put the rings of onion in a large freezer bag, put the water in there, drain it, and then pour the flour mixture into the bag. Zip it up and shake to coat. It saves me a lot of time and I don't think it affects the flavor at all.
Star Spangled Banner
In preparation for Memorial Day and Fourth of July I wanted to make another banner. So, out came my cricut! I don't use it very often, but it does come in handy for projects like this. I scored some scrapbook paper at Joann's for 6 for $1 that I was planning on using as a flag banner for a cake smash, but I ended up using something else. I decided this would be perfect for my star banner! It's such a simple project and I love the way it looks, don't you?!
I used 6 sheets of 12X12 scrapbook paper: 2 blue, 2 red and 2 white. I used the "Plantain Schoolbook" cartridge (the one that comes with the cricut). I set the size to 2 1/2" and chose the "fill page" option. It cut 16 two and a half inch stars. I did that for one page of each color.
Then I did the same thing with the other three pages, except the setting was for 3 1/2" stars. That gave me 9 stars per page.
Then I used white thread and my sewing machine and sewed all the stars together. It's that easy!!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
My Little Pony Quiet Book - Shutterfly
I wanted to show you all a project I'm working on with another friend of mine. I still have a few pages left to finish, but I think it's ADORABLE, so of course I had to share! ;)
I made different size/shaped wings and cut out little pieces of felt to decorate. I'll be updating the post soon with an attachment of the butterfly wings and decorations soon so keep checking back!
I made different size/shaped wings and cut out little pieces of felt to decorate. I'll be updating the post soon with an attachment of the butterfly wings and decorations soon so keep checking back!
Monday, April 27, 2015
DIY Cake Smash
I'm doing a cake smash for a friend next week and I wanted to do a
little practice session to make sure I have everything right
beforehand. I wanted to use seamless paper for it, because I love that
look, but we're on a pretty strict budget so I had to improvise a
little. I also don't have a lot of studio backdrops because most of the
photography I do is outdoors. So this session was a very DIY project
for me.
TIE:
First I started with the tie. I knew the backdrop was going to be green and blue, so I wanted a tie to match. I also didn't want to go spend money on a tie that was going to get destroyed during a cake smash! So I went to Pinterest, of course! I found a super easy tutorial and some old scrap fabric. Perfect! It took me literally 15-20 minutes to make. You can find the tutorial here. The only change I made was that instead of doing elastic I added a band of fabric with velcro on the back. I've made a bunch of other ties for church and I used elastic on those because they would be cover by the shirt collar. With the cake smash I knew he wouldn't have a shirt on so I wanted the tie to look as much like a normal tie as possible. The tutorial recommends using interfacing. I had some left over from a project, but you can also do it without the interfacing and it works just fine. The interfacing just makes it a bit more stiff.
BACKDROP:
I wanted the backdrop to be colorful and fun. I took a white piece of fabric (I used some duck cloth that I had, but you can use whatever you have, such as a white sheet) and taped it up on the wall. (Actually it was taped to my bookshelf. Whatever works, right?!) I went to Zurchers and got two rolls of streamers, one blue and one green. They were $.77 each. Can't beat that! I also got five balloons that were $.27 each. For the floor I have some wood pieces that my friend gave me. I'm assuming they came from Home Depot or Lowes. You just snap them together for the shoot and then take them apart for storing when you're done. If you don't have something like that you may have to get creative. If you wanted to go buy one I think they're about $20 for a package of flooring. I prefer the flooring over a vinyl faux floor. If you want to get closeups you can sometimes tell that the flooring isn't real if you're using vinyl. The flooring is also cheaper that most vinyl.
CAKE:
The cake was pretty simple too. I made a box cake mix and poured it into two 6-inch cake pans. When the cakes were done cut the top off so that it's no rounded at all. You want both sides to be flat. Then I put them in the freezer. This is my favorite trick. Not only does it help make the cake easier to frost, it also makes the cake more moist! I made the cake frosting out of shortening, almond extract, milk and powdered sugar. You could also buy frosting, but again, we're going for a DIY session here. If you make you're own frosting make sure you're using white shortening. Butter flavored shortening is yellow. Take the cakes out of the freezer. I put my cake on an oversized spatula so I could slide it onto a clean plate after it was all frosted. Set it on the spatula (or plate if you don't have a spatula that would work) with the flatest side on the bottom. Put a large dollop of frosting on and spread it around. Put the second layer on top with the flatest side facing up.
Now you're going to put on a crumb layer of frosting. You'll notice when you frost the cake you'll see crumbs in the frosting. It doesn't look very good. It took me a long time to discover this trick. Just don't worry about how it looks. Try to get this layer smooth and make sure it completely covers the cake. Then stick it back in the freezer to harden. After about ten minutes or so you can take the cake out and put the final coat of frosting on.
There are a few methods for making the frosting smooth but I used a knife and hot water. Dip your knife in a cup of hot water. Using the flat side of the knife start spreading the frosting . There are a number of youtube videos you can check out if you're having trouble. Keep dipping the knife in the hot water. This helps make a nice, smooth surface. Mine's not perfect, but I still think it's adorable.
For the dots I used Sixlets. You can get them at Winco in the bulk section or Zurchers. You don't need many so even though by the pound they are a little pricey, it shouldn't be more than $.50 or so. You also need to determine the the child will be okay with sixlets. I was using my son for this session and I knew he would be fine with them (and I'd be keeping a close eye on him anyway), but if it had been someone else's child I would have either checked with the mom/dad or I would have found something else to use. If you decide to use Sixlets or something similar you will just put them on randomly. Viola! An adorable cake that's pretty simple and cheap. Way better than paying $20 for something that's not nearly as cute!
After taking the pre-smash pictures I make sure I got a few good shots of the cake. Then I stuck a sparkler in the cake for some extra fun! Don't worry, my son was still in his high chair watching his mother in all her madness. I love the sparkler pictures. They're so fun! Just make sure you the the before pictures of the cake first because the sparklers leave black ash on the cake. After the sparkler pictures I took the Sixlets off the top, scraped off the frosting and added new frosting.
THE STUDIO SET-UP:
Here's what I did for the set up. I have my flooring and my backdrop. I set it all up where I knew I'd have the best lighting. I happen to have an umbrella and an external flash so I used these for extra light on the opposite side of the window. You'll also see a reflector on the left side. I had that leaning against a chair to bounce a little extra light onto my son.
I purchased my equipment from Amazon and this is what I used. (prices based on time of posting 4/27/2015)
Flash- $35: Neewer TT560
Wireless Flash Receiver- $21: Cowboy Studio Wireless Flash Receiver
Umbrella Stand Bracket- $7: Neewer Umbrella Stand Bracket
Umbrella Stand- $15: Light stand for studio or on-site photography
Umbrella- $9: LimoStudio 33" umbrella reflector
Reflector- $10for the 24" or $15 for the 43": Etekcity 24" 5-in-1 or you can get a larger one here LimoStudio 43" 5-in-1
If you'd like to see more of my work, please visit my page at caylybascomphotography.blogspot.com
TIE:
First I started with the tie. I knew the backdrop was going to be green and blue, so I wanted a tie to match. I also didn't want to go spend money on a tie that was going to get destroyed during a cake smash! So I went to Pinterest, of course! I found a super easy tutorial and some old scrap fabric. Perfect! It took me literally 15-20 minutes to make. You can find the tutorial here. The only change I made was that instead of doing elastic I added a band of fabric with velcro on the back. I've made a bunch of other ties for church and I used elastic on those because they would be cover by the shirt collar. With the cake smash I knew he wouldn't have a shirt on so I wanted the tie to look as much like a normal tie as possible. The tutorial recommends using interfacing. I had some left over from a project, but you can also do it without the interfacing and it works just fine. The interfacing just makes it a bit more stiff.
BACKDROP:
I wanted the backdrop to be colorful and fun. I took a white piece of fabric (I used some duck cloth that I had, but you can use whatever you have, such as a white sheet) and taped it up on the wall. (Actually it was taped to my bookshelf. Whatever works, right?!) I went to Zurchers and got two rolls of streamers, one blue and one green. They were $.77 each. Can't beat that! I also got five balloons that were $.27 each. For the floor I have some wood pieces that my friend gave me. I'm assuming they came from Home Depot or Lowes. You just snap them together for the shoot and then take them apart for storing when you're done. If you don't have something like that you may have to get creative. If you wanted to go buy one I think they're about $20 for a package of flooring. I prefer the flooring over a vinyl faux floor. If you want to get closeups you can sometimes tell that the flooring isn't real if you're using vinyl. The flooring is also cheaper that most vinyl.
CAKE:
The cake was pretty simple too. I made a box cake mix and poured it into two 6-inch cake pans. When the cakes were done cut the top off so that it's no rounded at all. You want both sides to be flat. Then I put them in the freezer. This is my favorite trick. Not only does it help make the cake easier to frost, it also makes the cake more moist! I made the cake frosting out of shortening, almond extract, milk and powdered sugar. You could also buy frosting, but again, we're going for a DIY session here. If you make you're own frosting make sure you're using white shortening. Butter flavored shortening is yellow. Take the cakes out of the freezer. I put my cake on an oversized spatula so I could slide it onto a clean plate after it was all frosted. Set it on the spatula (or plate if you don't have a spatula that would work) with the flatest side on the bottom. Put a large dollop of frosting on and spread it around. Put the second layer on top with the flatest side facing up.
Now you're going to put on a crumb layer of frosting. You'll notice when you frost the cake you'll see crumbs in the frosting. It doesn't look very good. It took me a long time to discover this trick. Just don't worry about how it looks. Try to get this layer smooth and make sure it completely covers the cake. Then stick it back in the freezer to harden. After about ten minutes or so you can take the cake out and put the final coat of frosting on.
There are a few methods for making the frosting smooth but I used a knife and hot water. Dip your knife in a cup of hot water. Using the flat side of the knife start spreading the frosting . There are a number of youtube videos you can check out if you're having trouble. Keep dipping the knife in the hot water. This helps make a nice, smooth surface. Mine's not perfect, but I still think it's adorable.
For the dots I used Sixlets. You can get them at Winco in the bulk section or Zurchers. You don't need many so even though by the pound they are a little pricey, it shouldn't be more than $.50 or so. You also need to determine the the child will be okay with sixlets. I was using my son for this session and I knew he would be fine with them (and I'd be keeping a close eye on him anyway), but if it had been someone else's child I would have either checked with the mom/dad or I would have found something else to use. If you decide to use Sixlets or something similar you will just put them on randomly. Viola! An adorable cake that's pretty simple and cheap. Way better than paying $20 for something that's not nearly as cute!
After taking the pre-smash pictures I make sure I got a few good shots of the cake. Then I stuck a sparkler in the cake for some extra fun! Don't worry, my son was still in his high chair watching his mother in all her madness. I love the sparkler pictures. They're so fun! Just make sure you the the before pictures of the cake first because the sparklers leave black ash on the cake. After the sparkler pictures I took the Sixlets off the top, scraped off the frosting and added new frosting.
THE STUDIO SET-UP:
Here's what I did for the set up. I have my flooring and my backdrop. I set it all up where I knew I'd have the best lighting. I happen to have an umbrella and an external flash so I used these for extra light on the opposite side of the window. You'll also see a reflector on the left side. I had that leaning against a chair to bounce a little extra light onto my son.
I purchased my equipment from Amazon and this is what I used. (prices based on time of posting 4/27/2015)
Flash- $35: Neewer TT560
Wireless Flash Receiver- $21: Cowboy Studio Wireless Flash Receiver
Umbrella Stand Bracket- $7: Neewer Umbrella Stand Bracket
Umbrella Stand- $15: Light stand for studio or on-site photography
Umbrella- $9: LimoStudio 33" umbrella reflector
Reflector- $10for the 24" or $15 for the 43": Etekcity 24" 5-in-1 or you can get a larger one here LimoStudio 43" 5-in-1
If you'd like to see more of my work, please visit my page at caylybascomphotography.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Hanging Shelves - DIY Beach Series
This project doesn't get much easier and I LOVE the way it looks. In fact, so far, this is my favorite project.
You'll probably do some adjusting based on how you want yours to look.
These are just general instructions. I won't get too specific. If you have questions about how we did ours, please ask!
Drill a hole at each corner. I made them about an inch from each side. Slip the rope through and tie a knot at the bottoms
Drill the cleats into the wall. and hang the shelves by the rope. You can just lay it over the cleats or you can do like we did and wrap it around a few times. Mostly we did that because our rope was too long. It ended up making it a little more stable so it doesn't sway so much. We also considered putting something sticky on the back and attaching it to the wall so it wouldn't move around, but with the way we tied the rope, we decided it wasn't a big deal.
And that's it!!!
Materials:
- 1'X2' Boards- I got mine at Home Depot. They were in the shelf section. They were already white so I loved that I didn't have to do any painting. Each was $4.
- Rope- I got mine from Joann's in the home decor section. I believe it was 3/4". It came in a package and was about $13 for the whole pack.
- Cleats- Also from Home Depot. These ones are about 6". $3 each.
- Drill and drill bit the size you want. We did ours 1".
You'll probably do some adjusting based on how you want yours to look.
These are just general instructions. I won't get too specific. If you have questions about how we did ours, please ask!
Drill a hole at each corner. I made them about an inch from each side. Slip the rope through and tie a knot at the bottoms
Drill the cleats into the wall. and hang the shelves by the rope. You can just lay it over the cleats or you can do like we did and wrap it around a few times. Mostly we did that because our rope was too long. It ended up making it a little more stable so it doesn't sway so much. We also considered putting something sticky on the back and attaching it to the wall so it wouldn't move around, but with the way we tied the rope, we decided it wasn't a big deal.
And that's it!!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
How I cut my monthly grocery bill by $150 without price-matching!
I've known for a while that we have a problem. A big, fat, ugly problem. We spend way too much on groceries. For a mama that's trying to stick to a budget it's an issue that has literally kept me up at night. Now, what I consider to be a lot of money on groceries might not be a lot for you and your family. I've talked to a number of different friends in different financial situations, and the numbers have ranged from about $200 for a family of 3 to about $600 for a family of 6. We were right in the middle with a family of 4. I couldn't figure out how in the world we could cut back. I felt like I tried to be frugal with our groceries, but I always ended up spending tons of money and then came home feeling like we still had nothing to make for dinner.
Right about this same time another thing started to happen that would affect my grocery shopping. Walmart's price-matching policy changed. I used to use that a lot and saved quite a bit on fruits/veggies. Now they won't match Rancho Markets, a local Hispanic grocery store that has amazing deals on produce. I'm talking 6 lbs for a dollar watermelons. Walmart figured out they were losing money on deals like that so they stopped price-matching Rancho Market ads. That made shopping a little more inconvenient but I could understand why they did it. Then I found out they stopped price-matching anything that wasn't exactly their brand. I tried to get some great value cheese, but the ad said Western Family brand. Well, Walmart, you don't carry Western Value. That was the last straw for grocery shopping at Walmart.
The thing I found to be the biggest problem with staying in the budget was that we ended up at the grocery store two to three times a week. I'd find that I didn't have one or two items for dinner. Quick run to the store and another $50 because I found more things that sounded good at the moment.
It was time to come up with a plan. And that's exactly what happened. My friend, Rebekah, introduced me to the two week meal plan. I had thought a lot about starting a meal plan, but didn't really know where to begin. She explained what she did and I thought it could work for me. It takes very little preparation and I was amazed at how much it's saved us.
So here it is:
Get a piece of paper out and number lines 1-14. Decide what you want to have for the next two weeks. Now, this is the hardest part for me. I hate coming up with something to eat, hence the reason a lot of nights end up being pizza nights. For the most part that has changed. To make things a little easier on me I have a set of dinners that are on my list every week. Two of my days are spaghetti, two are tacos, at least one is stir-fry. In the summers one is hotdogs and one is hamburgers. That takes care of at least 7 days. Half way there. Then I start to go through Pinterest and a few of my favorite cookbooks. I go through each of the recipes I choose for the ingredients. My staple meals are easy, because I typically have everything I need for them on hand, or intent to get the ingredients every time (such as tomatoes, lettuce, and onions for the tacos and hamburgers). I make a list of the things I need and estimate how much I expect them to cost to make sure I fall within my budget. It sounds like a lot of time but it really only takes an hour or so (or three if I'm watching "Friends"). Two hours of planning for the month to save me $150 is soooooo worth it!
Some weeks, like this week for example, I have most of the stuff I need for the next two weeks so I will look for other deals on snacks. I normally don't get a lot of junk food because it's so expensive and I'm super cheap. This week, however, I was able to splurge on squeeze fruit for the kids, Capri Suns, Oatmeal Cream Pies, etc. I also purchased a few gallons of water to add to our emergency supply and a package of diapers for the little one. I spent a total of $103 for the two weeks. I have to mention that I also did Bountiful Baskets this week, that I'll pick up on Saturday. That's another $17 This is my first week doing it while on the two-week meal plan. I think it will work out well because our current produce normally lasts us about a week, so it will come just in time to replenish for the next week. If we don't have to go to the store for more produce it means I'm less likely to spend more money on other things while I'm at the store.
Here's an example of my dinners for the next two weeks:
1. Mini Tostada Salads
2. Stir Fry with Soma Salad
3. Spaghetti and homemade bread
4. Chili Dogs
5. Tacos
6. Philly Cheesesteak Quesadillas
7. Zesty Chili-lime Chicken Taquitos
8. Pizza
9. Crispy Tortilla Roll-ups
10. Spaghetti and homemade bread
11. Hamburgers
12. Southwest Pasta Salad
13. Tacos
14. Breakfast for Dinner
The actual cost of the ingredients for those meals this week was under $50 because I had most of the stuff already. The rest was made up of 4 gallons of milk, about $10 worth of yogurt, water, snacks, diapers, fruits/veggies, etc. Your "other" section may look a lot different than mine.
Here are a few tips:
Right about this same time another thing started to happen that would affect my grocery shopping. Walmart's price-matching policy changed. I used to use that a lot and saved quite a bit on fruits/veggies. Now they won't match Rancho Markets, a local Hispanic grocery store that has amazing deals on produce. I'm talking 6 lbs for a dollar watermelons. Walmart figured out they were losing money on deals like that so they stopped price-matching Rancho Market ads. That made shopping a little more inconvenient but I could understand why they did it. Then I found out they stopped price-matching anything that wasn't exactly their brand. I tried to get some great value cheese, but the ad said Western Family brand. Well, Walmart, you don't carry Western Value. That was the last straw for grocery shopping at Walmart.
The thing I found to be the biggest problem with staying in the budget was that we ended up at the grocery store two to three times a week. I'd find that I didn't have one or two items for dinner. Quick run to the store and another $50 because I found more things that sounded good at the moment.
It was time to come up with a plan. And that's exactly what happened. My friend, Rebekah, introduced me to the two week meal plan. I had thought a lot about starting a meal plan, but didn't really know where to begin. She explained what she did and I thought it could work for me. It takes very little preparation and I was amazed at how much it's saved us.
So here it is:
Get a piece of paper out and number lines 1-14. Decide what you want to have for the next two weeks. Now, this is the hardest part for me. I hate coming up with something to eat, hence the reason a lot of nights end up being pizza nights. For the most part that has changed. To make things a little easier on me I have a set of dinners that are on my list every week. Two of my days are spaghetti, two are tacos, at least one is stir-fry. In the summers one is hotdogs and one is hamburgers. That takes care of at least 7 days. Half way there. Then I start to go through Pinterest and a few of my favorite cookbooks. I go through each of the recipes I choose for the ingredients. My staple meals are easy, because I typically have everything I need for them on hand, or intent to get the ingredients every time (such as tomatoes, lettuce, and onions for the tacos and hamburgers). I make a list of the things I need and estimate how much I expect them to cost to make sure I fall within my budget. It sounds like a lot of time but it really only takes an hour or so (or three if I'm watching "Friends"). Two hours of planning for the month to save me $150 is soooooo worth it!
Some weeks, like this week for example, I have most of the stuff I need for the next two weeks so I will look for other deals on snacks. I normally don't get a lot of junk food because it's so expensive and I'm super cheap. This week, however, I was able to splurge on squeeze fruit for the kids, Capri Suns, Oatmeal Cream Pies, etc. I also purchased a few gallons of water to add to our emergency supply and a package of diapers for the little one. I spent a total of $103 for the two weeks. I have to mention that I also did Bountiful Baskets this week, that I'll pick up on Saturday. That's another $17 This is my first week doing it while on the two-week meal plan. I think it will work out well because our current produce normally lasts us about a week, so it will come just in time to replenish for the next week. If we don't have to go to the store for more produce it means I'm less likely to spend more money on other things while I'm at the store.
Here's an example of my dinners for the next two weeks:
1. Mini Tostada Salads
2. Stir Fry with Soma Salad
3. Spaghetti and homemade bread
4. Chili Dogs
5. Tacos
6. Philly Cheesesteak Quesadillas
7. Zesty Chili-lime Chicken Taquitos
8. Pizza
9. Crispy Tortilla Roll-ups
10. Spaghetti and homemade bread
11. Hamburgers
12. Southwest Pasta Salad
13. Tacos
14. Breakfast for Dinner
The actual cost of the ingredients for those meals this week was under $50 because I had most of the stuff already. The rest was made up of 4 gallons of milk, about $10 worth of yogurt, water, snacks, diapers, fruits/veggies, etc. Your "other" section may look a lot different than mine.
Here are a few tips:
- You'll notice a lot of our meals are of the "Hispanic" variety. That means a lot of my ingredients can be used for more than one meal. Instead of using a little cilantro and letting the rest go bad, I can use it all and save a bit too :)
- To help save a little money and save on time before dinner I purchased a five pound package of ground beef and cooked it all up at once with some onions. I separated into containers before putting it in the freezer. Now all I have to do is take out a container and heat it up with any seasonings I'd need for that meal.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Spicy Parmesan Pasta
Most of the recipes I post are adapted from recipes I find on Pinterest. This one is no different.
The recipe I used is from the Boss Sanders website. I needed to make it a little more budget friendly. The Boss Sanders recipe is for a Romano Chicken. Since I work really hard to keep our family on a food budget, I needed to make a few changes.
Much of the recipe is the same as the original, so I'll refer you to her website for the bulk of the recipe. The main problem is that I didn't want to spend $4 on a small block of Romano Cheese and $4 on a small jar of Sundried Tomatoes. Also, her recipe is too spicy for our family. I even cut the cayenne pepper in half and it was still too spicy.
So here are the changes.
For the Sauce:
- No Romano cheese. Instead add an additional 1/4 cup Parmesan. I was able to get a small bag of Parmesan at Winco for $2.33, and I only used half the bag. We use Parmesan a lot so the rest won't be wasted!
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper instead of 2 tsp.
- Leave out the black pepper and add it in the end if you need more kick.
- I added about 2 T of Red Cooking wine while cooking the mushrooms. Yummmmm.
- I left out the sundried tomatoes
- I also left out the chicken to make a meatless meal.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Animal Alphabet Traceable Letters
**NOTE!!! I have consolidated the tracing letters to one document, so now you can download it once and get them all!
My friend and I have decided to do our own preschool for our children (some call it a "Joy School", I believe). In preparation for that, I decided to make some printable tracing letters. I wanted to share them. They're not perfect, but will work for our purposes. I spent a lot of time drawing the animals and putting the pages together, so they are only for personal use. Thanks!!
*Update- So, I came up with a genius idea. I'm probably the last one to think of this, but I thought I'd share in case it'll help anyone else. I wanted the kids to be able to use each sheet multiple times, but I didn't want to have to get each one laminated because, you know, that'd be expensive, and I'm all about being cheap. Enter dollar store sheet protectors! They aren't great quality, but you get 16, I think, so you can do front and back. Put the papers in, put a little tape at the top and use dry erase markers. Then you can just wipe them down with a wet cloth and the kids can go at it again!
If you like what you see, please sign up for email alerts! I'll be posting more preschool ideas soon and you won't want to miss it!
Download them all here!!
My friend and I have decided to do our own preschool for our children (some call it a "Joy School", I believe). In preparation for that, I decided to make some printable tracing letters. I wanted to share them. They're not perfect, but will work for our purposes. I spent a lot of time drawing the animals and putting the pages together, so they are only for personal use. Thanks!!
*Update- So, I came up with a genius idea. I'm probably the last one to think of this, but I thought I'd share in case it'll help anyone else. I wanted the kids to be able to use each sheet multiple times, but I didn't want to have to get each one laminated because, you know, that'd be expensive, and I'm all about being cheap. Enter dollar store sheet protectors! They aren't great quality, but you get 16, I think, so you can do front and back. Put the papers in, put a little tape at the top and use dry erase markers. Then you can just wipe them down with a wet cloth and the kids can go at it again!
If you like what you see, please sign up for email alerts! I'll be posting more preschool ideas soon and you won't want to miss it!
Download them all here!!
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot
It's a mouthful for a title, but it's a mouthful of deliciousness peanut buttery, chocolatey, heaven.
I absolutely LOVE this cake!! I've tried a crockpot lava cake before, and though others liked it, I wasn't a fan. What I really wanted, was a little something with chocolate and peanut butter. So I found a recipe I thought I'd like and improvised a little. I found the base recipe here. I cut the recipe in half and added a few things. Check out her full recipe and compare :)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgy Cake in a Crockpot.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 T. cocoa powder
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 T. butter, melted
1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 t. almond extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (microwaved for 30 seconds)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk.
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's really quite simple. (Believe me, I consider things with more that 6-7 ingredients a lot of work!)
In a medium mixing bowl add all ingredients in order except the last three (1/2 C. brown sugar, 2 T. cocoa powder and boiling water). Mix until smooth. The batter will seem pretty thick. Spread across the bottom of a 2 qt. crockpot (this cake will rise). Add the 1/2 C. brown sugar and 2 T cocoa powder to the top. Poor 1 cup boiling water over the top and DO NOT STIR. Cover the crockpot and let sit about 90 minutes on high. Serve with ice cream and indulge yourself!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Princess Quiet Book Template
As promised, I'm finally getting around to posting the template. This will save you hours, I promise. And it hopefully makes the task of making a quiet book a little less daunting.
Oh, and it appears that I'm not as tech-savvy as I thought I was, because I couldn't figure out how to get the PDFs for each page into one PDF. If you know how, without special software, please let me know! And if you like what you see please sign up for email alerts! I'll be adding a My Little Pony Quiet Book shortly and you won't want to miss it!
Cinderella Page
Belle's Mirror Page
Castle Page
Dress-ups 1
Dress-ups 2
Dress-ups 3
Dress-ups 4
Wardrobe
Rapunzel's Tower Page
Instructions
*Crown template will be posted shortly.
Oh, and it appears that I'm not as tech-savvy as I thought I was, because I couldn't figure out how to get the PDFs for each page into one PDF. If you know how, without special software, please let me know! And if you like what you see please sign up for email alerts! I'll be adding a My Little Pony Quiet Book shortly and you won't want to miss it!
Cinderella Page
Belle's Mirror Page
Castle Page
Dress-ups 1
Dress-ups 2
Dress-ups 3
Dress-ups 4
Wardrobe
Rapunzel's Tower Page
Instructions
*Crown template will be posted shortly.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
DIY Beach Bedroom Series: DIY Dollar Store Nautical Trash Basket
This is going to be a quick post. The project is fairly self explanatory. I've just included a couple pictures to help out.
Materials:
Waste paper basket from the dollar store.
Twisted Jute (I got mine from Joann's in the craft section. $4.99 originally, but I hardly ever buy anything at Joann's without a coupon!)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks (it took about 7 glue sticks for my basket)
First put one end of your jute through a hole at the bottom edge of your basket and glue securely. Start wrapping the jute around the basket, gluing every couple inches.
Make your way to the top. Tuck in the end at the top and glue down.
Start another end close to where you began, but now glue in a circle towards the center of the bottom of the basket. Once you get to the center, tuck the end through the basket and glue down. Ta-da!!
Materials:
Waste paper basket from the dollar store.
Twisted Jute (I got mine from Joann's in the craft section. $4.99 originally, but I hardly ever buy anything at Joann's without a coupon!)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks (it took about 7 glue sticks for my basket)
First put one end of your jute through a hole at the bottom edge of your basket and glue securely. Start wrapping the jute around the basket, gluing every couple inches.
Make your way to the top. Tuck in the end at the top and glue down.
Start another end close to where you began, but now glue in a circle towards the center of the bottom of the basket. Once you get to the center, tuck the end through the basket and glue down. Ta-da!!
DIY Bedroom Series: $10 DIY Blanket Ladder
I love this ladder! If you're anything like me, you have blankets everywhere cluttering up linen closets or piled in the corner of the room just taking up space. I feel like we have blankets coming out of our ears. Winter in Utah can be a little chilly, so we always need the blankets handy, but I hate having them on the floor. Anyone else ever worried about spiders crawling out? Seriously creepy. Problem solved! way to keep blankets off the ground and can also be a great way to display quilts, etc. Plus, when you can make it for $10, what could be better?!
Materials:
As a perfect beginner project, the only tool you really need is a drill. You'll also need wood, 2" screws, stain/paint of choice, and some brushes.
We purchased our wood at Home Depot. We got a 16 foot 2x4 piece for $7. We had them cut it right there at the store. For this ladder we did two 5' pieces and four 18" pieces, however, when we do another one I think I'd prefer shortening the "rungs" to 15" and increasing the length by 6".
Once you have all the pieces cut and you've made it home with all your supplies you'll need to decide where you want your rungs. We started our first about 6" from the top and each one under that was 12" from the bottom edge of the rung. We made the angle so that the corners of the rung were flush with the sides of the ladder. Really you can do whatever angle you'd like. It's not rocket science here!
(Ours is marked twice because I had my husband lower the rungs a bit. If you're lucky you might just only have to mark them once!)
*Note: I stained the ladder after it was all put together. If you prefer, you can stain/paint it before it's screwed together.
Once it's all put together, you really should sand it a little before staining, but being the lazy person I am, I didn't.
For this ladder, I used Minwax Dark Walnut 2716. It's what I had left over from a bench we made. I truly do love the dark stain, but I think we'll make another ladder and this time paint it white, or if I get really ambitious I may try to give it more of the weathered look to fit in better with the beach theme. I mean, really, you can never have too many of these hanging around!
Follow directions on your stain. Again, with this project I was a little lazy. I just used a foam brush to paint on the stain and then used an old rag to wipe it off. I did two coats. The second coat I left on for a few hours and then wiped it down. I left the stain overnight before applying a coat of Minwax Polycrylic
Apply 2-3 coats. Then you're done!! Hopefully that was pretty clear. If you have any questions, let me know!
Friday, January 30, 2015
DIY Beach Bedroom Series-DIY Pillows
My husband and I are finally getting around to doing something with our bedroom. We both love the beach, but since we're not likely to get there anytime soon, we decided to make an attempt at a beach-themed bedroom. It actually really all started with the headboard. We wanted to make one but couldn't agree on what we wanted. We scoured Pinterest high and low and came across picket fence headboards. The beach-theme just naturally fell into place.
We finished the headboard before I started the blog, so I don't have before and after pictures, but just imagine a very light tan wall and nothing where the headboard used to be. Pretty bland.... I also don't have any pictures of what it looked like along the way, but it shouldn't be too hard to imagine.
Here's what it looks like now...
Not at all the finished product, but you get the idea. I sent a picture of it to my mom when we finished it. She said it looked whimsical..........Not what I was going for. Hopfully with a few nautical accents it'll look better.
Anyway, onto what this post is really about. The pillows! I love me some accent pillows!
I saw some pillows at Ross that I could almost love. If they hadn't been so boring and still rather expensive for our budget bedroom, I might have gotten them. But what I did love, and what screamed beach decor, was the burlap trim around the edge of the pillow. Since I have been in love with burlap as of late, I thought, "this is the perfect quick and easy DIY project for me." Well...yes and no. If this is a first project for you, it can easily be done. Just pick the right material. The blue and the grey/white fabrics are both from the home decor section at Joann's. They were both easy to work with, not to mention they were 60% off plus an additional 15% on top of that. I only needed a half yard of each, so it was only a few bucks for each fabric. I already had pillow forms laying around. I found a coral color I loved in the remnant section, which happened to be 75% off. It was taffeta, but I could work with that. So far, I was doing pretty good. Now for the trim. Here's a little tip...skip the trim section and look for the ribbon. They have burlap ribbon that is way cheaper than the trim; however, they did have some burlap trim that I wanted to try on the coral pillow. You can see it in the picture above. It has decorative holes in it, that I think make it look a little more interesting. If I was to do it over, though, I'd skip that too. It was so hard to work with, especially on taffeta. But it did give some nice contrast.
Step 1:
Figure out the size you'll need for your pillows. If you're buying a pillow form the packaging will tell you what size it it. Add about an inch to each side. If you're using old pillows, take off the covering and lay it over your fabric.
Cut about an inch around each edge. Turn right sides together. Sew 1/2" seams around all edges, leaving a generous amount (I left about 10" but it depends on the size of your pillow) on one side open for stuffing the pillow inside.
When you turn the case right side out you want it about a half inch to an inch bigger than the pillow form.
You will be sewing the trim around the edge, so you will need this extra space. It's easiest to sew the trim on without the pillow inside, so you'll sew the three edges first, stuff the pillow in and then sew the fourth edge with the pillow inside.
I bought ribbon that was about 2 1/2 inches wides, so I folded the two sides in and ironed it flat on a low setting.
Then I folded the ribbon in half and sewed to the edge of the pillow.
I also didn't try to do anything fancy with the corners. Just straight lines on every edge. When you get to the fourth edge it will be the same, just a little trickier, as you'll have the pillow inside.
In the end, you'll have an awesome new pillow! Good luck!!
We finished the headboard before I started the blog, so I don't have before and after pictures, but just imagine a very light tan wall and nothing where the headboard used to be. Pretty bland.... I also don't have any pictures of what it looked like along the way, but it shouldn't be too hard to imagine.
Here's what it looks like now...
Anyway, onto what this post is really about. The pillows! I love me some accent pillows!
I saw some pillows at Ross that I could almost love. If they hadn't been so boring and still rather expensive for our budget bedroom, I might have gotten them. But what I did love, and what screamed beach decor, was the burlap trim around the edge of the pillow. Since I have been in love with burlap as of late, I thought, "this is the perfect quick and easy DIY project for me." Well...yes and no. If this is a first project for you, it can easily be done. Just pick the right material. The blue and the grey/white fabrics are both from the home decor section at Joann's. They were both easy to work with, not to mention they were 60% off plus an additional 15% on top of that. I only needed a half yard of each, so it was only a few bucks for each fabric. I already had pillow forms laying around. I found a coral color I loved in the remnant section, which happened to be 75% off. It was taffeta, but I could work with that. So far, I was doing pretty good. Now for the trim. Here's a little tip...skip the trim section and look for the ribbon. They have burlap ribbon that is way cheaper than the trim; however, they did have some burlap trim that I wanted to try on the coral pillow. You can see it in the picture above. It has decorative holes in it, that I think make it look a little more interesting. If I was to do it over, though, I'd skip that too. It was so hard to work with, especially on taffeta. But it did give some nice contrast.
Step 1:
Figure out the size you'll need for your pillows. If you're buying a pillow form the packaging will tell you what size it it. Add about an inch to each side. If you're using old pillows, take off the covering and lay it over your fabric.
Cut about an inch around each edge. Turn right sides together. Sew 1/2" seams around all edges, leaving a generous amount (I left about 10" but it depends on the size of your pillow) on one side open for stuffing the pillow inside.
When you turn the case right side out you want it about a half inch to an inch bigger than the pillow form.
You will be sewing the trim around the edge, so you will need this extra space. It's easiest to sew the trim on without the pillow inside, so you'll sew the three edges first, stuff the pillow in and then sew the fourth edge with the pillow inside.
I bought ribbon that was about 2 1/2 inches wides, so I folded the two sides in and ironed it flat on a low setting.
Then I folded the ribbon in half and sewed to the edge of the pillow.
I also didn't try to do anything fancy with the corners. Just straight lines on every edge. When you get to the fourth edge it will be the same, just a little trickier, as you'll have the pillow inside.
In the end, you'll have an awesome new pillow! Good luck!!
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