Ok, so I have a couple features this week.  Make sure you check them out.  They are pretty cool…

Bethany at Sweet Bee Buzzings has a great collection of Easter Crafts:

Christina at It’s a Keeper shared a delicious looking Chicken Cobbler Casserole:

Cheri at Cheri Quite Contrary has a great tutorial for making your own light box!  This is definitely a wonderful thing to have to get those great pictures!

And check out these ca-ute (and edible!) bird’s nests Crystal at A Pumpkin and a Princess shares:

Thanks everyone who linked up!  The featured button is in the side bar for those of you that were featured.  And it’s one of my Photobucket images that still actually shows up, so grab it and run!  =]

Now, on to the party!  Link up whatever you would like, as long as it’s family friendly.  Link as many times as you’d like.  Please no commercial sites.  By linking, you are giving me permission to use your photos and projects in a feature that will, of course, link back to your original post.  Only one photo will be used and credit will be given to you.  Let’s get this party started!

Hey There, My Friends!  Today I have a great lady to introduce you to:  Brooke Anna at Mommy Does.  She’s so much fun!

3.  And press down like so…

4.  This should have made enough of a crease for you to mark exactly in the middle of the length of ribbon with your pencil.

7.  Doe the same for the top half. It should look something like this…

8.  Clip the jumbo salon clip into the middle, being sure to clip it with the underside of the clip facing up.

9.  Now cut a length of your embroidery floss to thread through and bring back up through the clip. It should look like this…

11.  Now look at the bow and make adjustments where you see fit. Try not to pull it too much or you’ll risk undoing all your pain-staking work… haha.

14.  Dab a bit of glue onto the barrettes inside and tie the embroidery floss in a double knot. Snip excess.

16.  Hot glue the ends of the center knot’s ribbon to cover the embroidery floss glued knotted to the back.
       Now you can line that with the thin ribbon. I didn’t line the top before gluing and knotting the bow down, my bad! You can if you want, but this bow was large enough you can’t see the metal from the barrette.

17.  Now reassemble the barrette, and embellish the middle. I chose to use a little lady bug from a pack I found at a yard sale.

Isn’t she fun?!?  Head over and check out all the other great stuff going on!  Thanks for visiting today, it was great to have you, Brooke Anna!

  
Hi! I’m MaryAnne, the mama behind the mama smiles, and I'm thrilled to be able to write a guest post for While He Was Napping. My husband Mike and I live in Massachusetts with our three fantastic kids: Emma (5), Johnny, (3), and Lily (1). I blog about things we enjoy: playing outside, making crafts, science experiments, and great books. I focus on activities for kids that don’t require expensive materials, and that can be completed with minimal preparation and clean-up. Besides day-to-day activities, my blog has several free downloads, including felt food patterns, felt board dress-up templates, and a pattern for a little stuffed monster you can make out of muslin (or a similar fabric), decorate with washable markers, wash, and decorate again (and again, and again!) 
 
I also love to sew clothes for my kids, when I get the chance. Emma's coat in the above picture (far right) is the thing I made that gets admired most when we're out and about; she also LOVES to wear it! I also made the pants Lily (far left) is wearing. All three of my kids are very sensitive to textures, so we sew with a lot of soft cotton, adding fleece in the wintertime to keep them warm!
I run a “Learning Laboratory” linky every Monday showcasing something we learned because we wanted to (as opposed to “had to”). Sometimes I write about things my kids learned, and sometimes it's about things I try, like drafting my first pattern, and even dealing with ice dams this past winter. I love seeing posts from other blogs, and any post (new or old) is fine to link up! 
 
also run a “Monthly Goals” linky to help keep myself accountable for goals I set each month! I’ve picked health, peace, education, gratitude, and generosity as over-arching themes I’m trying to meet in bits and pieces each month of 2011. 

I started blogging on a whim at the end of October, 2008, and I'm so glad I did! I get so many wonderful ideas from other bloggers, and I've enjoyed connecting with people with similar interests from around the world. Drop by and say hi - I'd love to "meet" you!