Make Your Own Flower Sachets

Hey GirlMoguls, it’s Daisy here with another fun craft. This one is so simple you can probably do it all on your own – and it will make some great gifts.  We’re going to make our own summer flower sachets.

1. First you need to pick some flowers or herbs.  Lavender is a great plant to use – you can even buy dried lavender at a craft store if you don’t have any growing at home.
2. Next strip the stems off the blooms and then set your flowers and herbs to dry in the sun.  You can place them on newspaper or on a mesh drying rack – just be sure to anchor them down so they don’t fly away in the sun.
3. Once the flowers have dried, pack them into a small, airy fabric bag and you have homemade potpourri sachets.  Mesh bags can often be found online or at craft stores, or you can make your own out of old nylon stocking

Then you can pass out the backs as gift for your friends, stash them in your drawers or closets or even hang in them in your locker at school.

Posted by GirlMogul Daisy

Posted by GirlMogul Daisy

Back to School Clothing Shopping

Many parents dread back to school time because of fights with their tweens over clothing shopping.  Using these simple tips, you can have a stress-free shopping experience.

Tip #1: Look through Your Tweens Current Wardrobe – Go through your kid’s closet and see what’s already in there.  Donate or discard items that don’t fit or are worn out and get a sense for what can be worn in the new school year.

Tip #2:  Discuss Shopping Strategies – Before you head out to the mall, sit down and talk with your child about what new back to school clothing items are on their must have list and what is on the need list.  They will naturally want the coolest new looks, and designer labels, but you may be thinking more about a basic pair of blue jeans.

Tip #3: Make a Shopping List – Make two lists – once of items your tween needs and one of the things she wants.  Then allocate your overall budget to the wants vs. the needs.  Your tween can pick out her own back to school clothes from her wants, but when her portion of the budget is all used up, it’s gone.

Back to school shopping can be filled with tension between you and your tween, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow these tips above and you can have an easy clothes shopping experience this year.

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Save on back to School Supplies

Like most moms are you fearing back to school time because of the expense of school supplies?  Here are some quick tips on saving big money on academic supplies

• Use the List – most schools and teachers will put out a list of required and suggested supplies for the school year  – you can either download these on the school websites, or find copies in the local stores.  Get this list as soon as possible and map out your spending priorities.  See what you need to buy new and what you can re-use from last year.  Make your “new” shopping list before heading out to the store
• Stick to the list – Once you have your essential list, make sure you stick to it – just having a list will prevent impulse purchasing but if you go with your tweens, make sure they know they have to stick to the list.  If there is something not on the school supply list that they really want, allow them to purchase it with their own money, or a special back to school stipend.
• Tax- Free holidays – make use of the fact that many states now have a tax-exempt week just prior to back to school time.  This could mean that many, if not all, of your school supplies will be tax free – and this could save you up to 10% off your total bill.
• Shop Online – Use the internet to scour for deals at the big retail chains.  You can sign up for e-coupons on school supplies or even find out if there are any free shipping deals – saving you a trip to the store entirely!

With these simple back to school money saving tips, going shopping for school supplies with for your tween can be easy and cost effective.  And soon, you’ll be looking forward to the rumble of school buses in the morning – without the fear of blowing your budget.

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Win A Be True by Roxy Duvet Set

Hey GirlMoguls, it’s Daisy here and we have an awesome giveaway sponsored by Roxy – they’ve given us one  Roxy Be True bedding duvet set to giveaway to a lucky reader… (LOVE IT!)

This bedding collection is totally fab and cool – and normally you would have to go to Bed, Bath & Beyond and pay $99.99 for it – but you can win it here…

The collection includes a duvet cover in twin/twin xl, pillow sham, and pillow case.

You can also get it in the Full Duvet Cover Set (129.99) or the Queen Duvet Cover Set (149.99), plus decorative accessories like pillow and dust ruffles – check out http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=124264 for more details..

How to Win…

To enter to win tell us why your room deserves a makeover – we’ll pick a winner at random and send them the Roxy Be True Duvet Set – just post your answer in the comments below…

*Note we can only ship to US addresses for this one….Thanks!

Tween Fashion Prepster Look

Hey GirlMoguls – it’s Daisy and I am back with more fashion tips – here’s how you can take those wardrobe basics or staples we talked about and mix and match them into a bunch of totally rad outfits.

1. The White Tee – who said a white tee needs to be boring?  It doesn’t.  You can go simple by pairing it with jeans and a little cardigan, or if you’re going for a girly look, layer it under a tank dress and pair with leggings.
2. The Jean Skirt – Artsy or Prepster – you choose.  To go for the artsy look, pair it with a printed top, ling cardigan and throw on a cute hat like a beret.  To totally prep out, tuck in a cute top, layer a cardigan or jacket on top and add in some knee-high socks – argyle preferred!
3. Leggings – leggings get props for being totally versatile  that means you can wear them so many ways!  So pair them with cool boots, or as a layer under a boho inspired dress or skirt.
4. There’s nothing plain about the plain tank – there’s a reason you will keep coming back to this piece over and over again.  Layer a spaghetti strap tank over a solid colored short sleeve tee or under a cute cardigan.

Fun Crafts for Tweens - Make a Blue Jean Purse

Hey GirlMoguls, it’s crafty Daisy here, with another cool little craft you can make at home.  I bet you have a pair or two of old jeans lying around that you’re just not sure what to do with.  So why don’t you turn them into a cool purse that’s an expression of your own style.

Here’s how:

Step 1: using the waistband of the jeans as the opening, cut the legs off a bit longer than you want the purse to be.  If you have to go past the inseam, then just cut across and split the inseam – you can sew the flaps together later.

Step 2: Next  turn the jeans inside out, sew across the bottom of the legs to seal off the purse.  to seal off the bag.  You may have to sew up the inseam as well.

Step 3: Make your straps – cut strips of fabric from the remainder of the jeans to make the straps of the purse and then sew those onto the waistband.

Step 4:  To make a closing for the top, you could add a zipper, some velcro, or a button.

Step 5: Go glitzy – now it’s time to decorate your bag – add press on fabric jewels, patches and other fun stuff to make your bag truly cool.

Posted by GirlMogul Daisy

Posted by GirlMogul Daisy

Make a memory t-shirt quilt

Hey GirlMoguls, it’s Daisy here with some more great craft ideas. Maybe you saw the cool t-shirt quilt Bella’s mom made her in Eclipse and were wondering how to do that yourself.  Well, I went through my closet and came up with a simple way for you make that quilt.  It’s a great craft for tweens, though you might need a little help from a parent with the sewing – but you definitely don’t need a sewing machine for this one.

Many little kids enjoy playing dress up with old clothes, but once they hit the tween stage, what can you do with all those old clothes?  Here are d few fun clothing crafts for tweens that will help you reuse and repurpose all of those old clothes.

The Old T-Shirt Quilt

1. Start by taking a a large piece of soft fabric as your base – this will be the size of the blanket.
2. Then take all those favorite t-shirts and cut out the front logos in large squares. (If you don’t have enough, maybe you can work on this with a friend, your sister or even your mom.
3. Next, sew the t-shirt rectangles together to match the size of your quilt base.
4. Then take cotton batting, which you can get at any fabric store, between the layers and sew the two layers together.
5. Then you can complete the quilt by sewing along the t-shirt squares to keep the batting in place.
6. Add some pretty edging and you have a cool memory t-shirt quilt.

Til next time – have fun creating

Posted by GirlMogul Daisy

One Note:

Sweet Treats for Tweens Giveaway

Need a US Shipping address to win….

How to Make Friends

Hey GirlMoguls – it’s back to school time and maybe you’re starting a new school – maybe you’ll be going with a group of new friends, or maybe you’re going to walk into class that very first day solo and you’re sweating it – just how are you going to make friends?  Are you worried you’re too shy?  Here are some great tips on how to be friendly:

1. Don’t stress being shy – after all, everyone, even the most outgoing person, feels shy at times.  All you need to make friends is to get your confidence on  – and you don’t need to show up – just try a simple smile and hello to the kids in your class.  Once you get that down – and get a few smiles and hellos in return your can go for the next step
2. Strike Up a Conversation – it doesn’t have to be a long one.  You could even script it out in front of your mirror at home.  You could compliment someone’s outfit or accessory, or maybe commiserate about the killer English homework.  A small conversation starter might lead to a longer talk
3. Get Involved – If you want to make friends, but aren’t sure where to start, consider joining an after school club or class where you’re working on something that interests you – and all the other kids in the club.  It’s a lot easier to bond when you already share some common interests – like saving the whales or drawing comics

GirlMogul Lily

Posted by GirlMogul Lily