Love. Laugh. Sew.

scrappy quilts

2012-02-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

I finished it! well the top anyway, I have not yet quilted it.

I was just really excited to show it off. It's a paper piecing technique. You may have seen it around a few times since there is going to be a quilt a long real soon about it:

but for now I found a different quilt along using your scraps and I thought this would be perfect!

This is what one block looks like. So I just did 4 blocks and put them together.

If you have a lot of scraps laying around (most of us do) then I would suggest a paper piece quilt because if you are like me then alot of your scraps are cut on the bias and paper piecing helps stabelize them.

Some tips for this block is to use a lot of starch and pin, pin, pin, which I talked about in this post

so I'm joining in on this kinda fun. This also gives me motivation to finish my string quilt.
I have been working on it for so long it's about time to wrap it up.

So click on the Scrap Attack button to see all the other creations.

paper piecing quilt along

2012-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

I forgot how much I love paper piecing!

If you don't know how then learn it so you can participate in this quilt along:

You can pick the blocks you want to work. I'm just going to do a mini one.

Here is the back of it.

And here is the front before I trim and clean it up.

here it is after I trim it.

I was pretty intimidated by the curves but it turned out ok as long as you pin,

pin and...

more pin!

I love how it is turning out! I will keep you posted!

Thanks for looking!

bird cage

2012-02-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

So I was at Ross the other day and this was sitting all alone on a shelf.

When I saw the price tag I didn't even think twice..

$9.99, not bad considering every other bird cage I have come across is about $29!

so what I did of course is paint it white! I kinda think I should have left it that metal rusty color but too late now.

So here it sits with so many possibilites, I can fill it with burlap balls, for easter I can put pretty fancy eggs in it. I also saw a white owl at Rod Works too...

So it just sat empty for a couple weeks because sometimes if I can't decide then I just don't do anything. Then My sister n law came over and said "why don't you just put some lemons and limes in it?" BRILLANT and SiMpLe! and it goes so well with my pillows.

So here it is with the lemons and I'm not digging it. do they look rotten to you? The other thing that is weird is when I put lemons in it the other day I could have sworn there were 8 and now we are down to 4? What happen to the other lemons? Who would eat not only a fake lemon but a rotten one?

So off to plan B...

Then I found these pine cones and Bed Bath and Beyond for $1.29 And then I found this owl at a local shop...What do you think?

I kinda feel bad for him, he's way to cute to be locked up in a cage. I think I might go back to the lemons.

What do you think?

paper piecing

2012-02-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

This is my Stars Around Town quilt. The reason why I'm bringing this up again is because I'm thinking about participating in this quilt along:

Have you ever tried paper piecing? It is a lot of fun. My grandmother taught me how to do it.

Here is another post about it.

Look at the details you are allowed to do...Those Pinwheels are tiny!

Now I just need to quilt and bind it. So...I will keep you posted on my new Paper Piecing Adventure!

craft room progress

2012-02-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

i love how it is turning out!

I love the color of this shelf! It was a walnut color wood shelf that I had in my kitchen and recently took it down so I decided to repaint it and hang it in my sewing room. I decided to hang it above my cutting board so I could put my pin cushions and rulers and scissors on it.

So this is what my sewing room looked like last week...

There is no shelf and I did some rearranging of my quilts

And this is what I did this weekend! I added the shelf

and also added the wire hanging system that I got from ikea.

I have always wanted to display my creations but without putting a bunch of holes in the walls. It also had to be easy to hang up. Well these are hanging up by clips.

This system was around $14 for the clips and the wire set up at Ikea

Now, if you have ever bought things from IKEA then you will know there directions are quite unique...they don't have words, only pictures.

They also don't come with screws so I always have a jar of screws handy for all my projects.

So once I got the wire system hung I was able to hang up all my mini quilts

and here is where I keep all my McCall & Simplicity patterns.

I really love how in the after picture all my projects really stand out. in the before picture they were kinda lost in all the clutter. Now I just need to get sewing!

For more inspiration click on this button:

They are mulitplying!

2012-02-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

K- so when I made the gray one I thought he was really cute but I didn't like my selection of fabric as much

Here is a detailed post on how I made these guys.

So here is my newest guy! Isn't he so cute! I love the fabrics I chose...and you can never go wrong with Heather Bailey Fabrics!

Here he is chillin' on my new shelf with his new friend!

One things I love about these guys is even though I had the same pattern they all turned out different.

They are all cute in there own unique ways! (just like us)

The red one on the right has really short legs and his body is more wide. I think I placed the eyes too high on the one in the middle and the gray one on the left has really really long legs! lol...but I love them all the same!

Ok guys....i will stop with the owls for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Photography thoughts

2012-02-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

This is my thought: I suck!
You should see the behind the scenes of each post I do. I take a million and one pictures and then I pick one or two that are not as horrible as the rest.
example:

I'm always looking at tips from others but I don't seem to get it...or I don't let it sink in. I feel like I need to attend a photography class...The only reason why I have resisted is because everything else I have done I have never had to take a class, I'm always able to figure it out on my own. I never took a class for crocheting or sewing but I'm thinking I need one for photography :( I have yet to grasp the concept... But the cost is alot! Some of the Online classes can be around $200!!
So until I get great I have to apologize, I have been looking thru my photos and I'm so sorry If I have blinded you! And here I am posting them again:

I'm posting these as my "what you don't want your photos to look like"

K-so I am done beating myself up and have acknowledged that I'm a horrible photography...now all I can do is go up right?

I have found these links from some very generous bloggers ( i couldn't find there blog buttons) And I hope they can help me get better photo's.
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/12/better-brighter-blog-photos/

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/12/tips-for-magazine-quality-photography/

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/12/ten-basics-for-better-home-photography/

http://phototips.alexismiller.com/2010/01/tips-for-using-window-light.html

Hope I have helped some of you with rounding up some tips!

Owl Pin Cushion

2012-02-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Meet my new friend!

This pattern can be found on www.diydish.com And it is very easy to make.

They provide you with this pattern and then they actually have a video on how they did it. I just cut out the pieces and used the applique stitch to finish it off.\

I used felt for the eyes and I applogize for these photos (the flash) I'm sewing and night and the lighting in my sewing room is awful.

And I attached cute little buttons for the eyeballs.

Then on the back I attached my cute label.

After you have finished the front side then just sew them right sides together then turn it right side out.

And then start stuffing it. I used stuffing at first so that I could get it in the pointing ears part then I used walnut shells for the majority of it.

The reason why I also used walnut shells is so the owl will sit up. It gives it some weight.

Now, in the video on DIYDISH they recommend using wonder under tape to seal the bottom but I didn't have any so I used a hot glue gun.

Now the legs are really tricky. They want you to place the paper pattern of the legs over your fabric and sew then rip the paper off and cut off the excess fabric. (you may want to watch the video) but what I found is it was impossible for me to get the batting down in the feet if it is sewn all the way up to the top. so if you look closely you can see where I sewed it with the red thread then left a gap so I could fit the batting down into the feet.

I actually put a little bit of batting going all the way up the leg then sewing it shut.

Anyway, here are how the legs turned out...pretty stiff. I didn't make his thigh area long enough. As you can see, his knees (the knots) are pretty high. Make sure when you make it that the knots are down lower so they can hang properly.

And here he is chillin' he difinitely needs a friend (one with longer legs)

So I whipped up another

This one is much better, she can sit up on her own and her knees are down lower.

see how they compare to one another

And here is a pix of what the bottom looks like.

Here she is just sitting on my machine. I want to make a couple more, the hardest part is trying to find what fabrics should go together.

Thanks so much for looking. Hope I have inspired you to make one!

UPDATE: Meet the other owl friend!

Check out these links for more projects and inspiration:

organizing my sewing room

2012-02-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

I took a trip to Ikea (it is 50 mins away) and bought this system, It was $87 for the frame and the bins.

So much cheaper then lowes or the rubbermaid bins. If you have a rubbermaid closet system you would know the wire bins are $30, I have also seen them as low as $15 but guess how much the wire baskets are at IKEA? .... $2.50!!! And the solid bins were $10 So yeah, it was $87 total.

So I figured I could put my fabric in 3 of the bins then have enough room for my beading, paints, tools, etc.

WRONG!

I could not believe that My fabric took up every single bin.

While cleaning my sewing room I kept finding fabric EVERYWHERE!

But I finally finished cleaning and putting everything back together.

Ok, so if you look really hard at the pix on the left you will see my black leather chair...and do you notice my armoire in the first picture as well? I cannot believe what a mess it was!

Here is the inside of my armoire...this is my scrap book section.

Now I can start sewing again~yah!

My yarn bin was a bit out of control. the bin it was in was too big and I didn't even know what colors I had, also the more I tried to look thru it the more tangle it got so I decided to but it in a bin that fits under the bed.

This is perfect, the yarn will not get tangled and I can easily see what I have. (this is not all the yarn I have) i actually ended up using 2 bins like this but need to get another one. And its nice because I can store it under my bed.

Ahhh, its a relief, i can breath again.

I will be sharing with this party that is just right for my post. The party is called "a round tuit"

I finally got around to cleaning my sewing room! Thanks everyone!

Stenciling

2012-02-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

So I figured I would hop on board with the whole stenciling thing but oh my...its kinda hard. How hard?

Well here was my first try....

This was my first try! lol, wow, that doesn't look like the picture? And the paint color is reversed... for this design I should have painted the wall white and then paint my choice of color for the stencil design.

Then I tried again with this design and that was not working either, the paint was blending together. Plus I couldn't really focus at the time because the rest of my bedroom looked like this...

(this was during my closet renovation) believe me, it does not look like this on a regular day. So on that note I put away the paint and decided to finish my closet project and come back to stenciling another day.

By the way, this is the stencils that I am working with. I bought them from Michaels and with my coupon it was $11.

Okay, so here is another day and another closet. ..my sewing closet to be exact.

as you cans see its a big improvement, I followed some tips online as far as you don't want alot of paint on your roller and with anything it takes a few practice runs to get it down however it was so time consuming! and again I'm running into the same problem where I can't really concentrate because the rest of my room looks like this...

I couldn't even make my way to my sewing machine! So again, I put away the stenciling and decided that I need to clean my sewing room and fix up my closet so I can actually get to my sewing machine and sew.

I will give you an update on my closet soon!

So when is the perfect time to stencil? Now that i think about it...stenciling your closet would be hard, you'll always have a mess waiting for you because you have to work with an empty closet I guess? Maybe I will try to stencil a door? If you have tried/done stenciling then share your link when you comment. I would love to see it. And share any tips if you have them, Thank You!

vote for me!

2012-02-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Remember my coin purse?

Voting is going on now!

So if you think this is kinda cute then please vote.....

Here is the link http://www.ricochetandaway.blogspot.com/2012/02/naughty-notions-finale-and-voting.html
Vote for your favorite clutch/coin purse it doesn't have to be mine (but it would make me smile hehehe)
Thanks you for looking!

finished scarf

2012-01-30T20:54:00.000-08:00

so i finished my shell scarf.

They are 3 dc clusters, I'm not sure how I like the length, i kinda think its too long that is why I didn't add the fringes.

It does keep me warm and I love the colors.

It's kinda tricky taking pictures of myself

I made my scarf using a g hook and Loops and Thread yarn called impeccable.

I kinda went crazy taking pictures.

Here is a better pix of the length.

Thanks so much for looking! I will be linking up to these parties:

WIP scarf

2012-01-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

this is what I have been up too on the weeknights...

I love to lounge on the couch after work and crochet

These are triple double crochet clusters.

I'm going to add a couple more rows to it to make it a little wider

Attic 24 has wonderful instructions on how to do this.

Thanks for looking and follow me if you want to see the finished scarf!

And if you love yarn then check out these parties:

Heart Day Decor

2012-01-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

At Home With K is having a valentine linky party for all of your valentine projects and these 3 projects are my absolute favorite that I have made so far...

hugs and kisses bunting! the "x:" and "o" is from felt

Then I made this simple strip table runner

and with all the scraps I was able to make this adorable pin cushion!

I love these picturess and bringing out all these decorations just puts me in the spirit! I want to go out and buy some candy hearts just because!

Hop on over to this blog to see all the Valentine projects.

DIY cottage sign

2012-01-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

OKAY, so it's not completely done. I bugged my friend from work for a couple weeks to bring me some rusty hinges..

When he finally brang them I left them at work! They have been sitting on my desk all weekend.

Oh well, I decided to post it anyway.

The method I am using is from this great blog.

http://aimee-weaver.blogspot.com/ is one of my new favorite blogs!

The method she uses is with carbon copy paper. I found mine in the clearance section at Hancock fabrics for 79 cents.

I first practiced on an extra board I had...not bad right?

So here is the piece of wood I'm using for my sign. I'm so lucky because I have a friend from work who has a bunch of old barn wood (and the hinges)

I just painted it white.

I then printed out the words on regular paper (using microsoft word)

the carbon copy paper is under this printed paper. I then traced over the words so it would copy onto the board. (you know...just like old times when you would write a check and it copied)

See....I lift up the paper and the carbon paper and it copied! Now it is time to paint...That was scary for me, i really don't paint, haven't had much practice.

So here I am practicing...not very good but oh well, here goes...

Hey...not too bad! I love it! I was very impressed with out it turned out!

After painting the words I sanded over it so even if you have little mistakes it's okay.

I think it is a perfect addition to my living room.

I don't know where I'm going to hang it quite yet so there will be a follow up post with the hinges on it as well.

I will be linking up here:

applique love birds

2012-01-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

Heart Day Decor!

Just getting in the Lovey Dovey spirit. this project came from my book Count On It

This book has the cutest holiday projects!

Just before I went shopping for valentine fabric I found this charm pack in a drawer...Perfect!

Since the applique heart was bigger then a 5" square I decided the make a patchwork heart

and then I just scraps of fabric on hand for the cute birds.

I used a blanket stitch method for appique.

attached mini buttons for eyes.

And this frame is a bargain I picked up from a garage sale last summer.

the frame was only $1.50 then I had a piece of cardbox laying around to put on the back

And here it is! Very cool! I love them...it puts you in the red heart holiday!
Oh and I'm so excited about something else, I have to share...

Labels!! I finally got labels! Now I can put them on all my creations

Yay! I ordered them from Etsy. It took about a month to arrive but I love them!

As always, thanks so much for looking. I will be linking here:

another pair

2012-01-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

after making my green pair I couldn't wait to get another pair started.

I made these using the loops and thread yarn called charisma

I used a g hook and I have some suggestions or you may say it's a "guide" as to how I did them. I did not have a pattern, I just made it up as I went along.

I made these for a friend at work...well she will choose from the green or purple and I will have the other pair...I don't care which pair I end up with, i love them both! I have decided to sell them for $15.

and they are soooo warm! I work at a computer all day long and my hands get so cold in my office so these keep me warm and comfy....and they are adorable don't ya think?

Then I made this glove. I think it turned out pretty cool. I just don't have the desire to finish the other side...lol

You have probably noticed that I don't have a long attention span, I am constantly moving from one project to another. I would like to finish the other side but who knows?

Thanks so much for checking out my projects!

I will be linking up here:

coin purse

2012-01-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

K, so for my naughty notions challenge I decided to make this coin purse

Source: noodle-head.com via RikkaAndKeren on Pinterest

and just add some cute embelishments.

This is my version.

You can click on there tutorial for more detailed instructions. I didn't use the same measurements as the tutorial, I just kinda followed there technique the above pic is the stitches I sewed to make the fabric gather.

just kinda work with it then iron it down so you can put your cordinating strap over the gathered stitches

right here i sewed a green strap to it and the flower is made out of felt.

I just used my scallop scissors and cut circles out then stacked them on each other. Pretty easy.

then I hot glued the pearls on.

I wasn't sure what other notions to put on it without making it look tacky.

here is the back of it.

view of the inside

And I love this clip. I can hook it on my purse, or a key chain!

Thanks for looking! I'm entering this in the Naughty Notions Party!

And here is another fun blog party too!

http://sarahndipities.blogspot.com/

2 for 30

2012-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

30 minutes that is!

The pillows are a new addition to my almost cottage living room.

I made both of these chevron pillows in 30 mins!

not too bad right? Since I work an 8-5 job my time is so valuable to me...i like to time things alot,

so here goes my express version of a pillow cover...

Its about 6:40 pm when I start.

Since you only work with one piece your are not spending a lot of time cutting. You just cut one strip.

My pillow size is 22x22 so I cut the lenght of my fabric strip to 52"

Now, you only have to fold in and sew one raw edge because the other raw edge is not going to be seen. (obviously if you have more time it's always nice to do)

And I'm so sorry, I can't believe I don't have a picture of the next part.

I guess I was in too much of a hurry...lol but here is the step from another pillow I did this way

this is where you fold both fabrics in and leave the flap opening in the middle. just lay your pillow over it to make sure it is the right size. Then pin the sides really good and sew, turn it inside out then you are done!

Finished BOTH pillows at 7:10 pm

Not too bad right?

I think they are a pretty good addition. I do need to get started on some more pillows but I think my cottage living room is coming along!

I also did the trunk myself, made the window pane hanging decor and repainted the birdcage.

So much of this living room I did myself, board and batten walls, my garage sale trunk, tv stand and window pane decor...A post will follow soon on how I made my cottage sign..that is another DIY.

Once I get a few more details in my living room I will post before and after photos...you will be amazed!

Now I will end my post with a pix of my cute dog. He is the best boy and he respects my things so much. I just purchased these couches right before christmas and he already understands that he should not lay on the couch unless there is some sort of quilt or blanket on there. Doesn't he look so peaceful? Love Him!

Hope you all enjoyed my fast paced pillow creation!

Have a great week and be sure to check out all the creativity at these parties:

http://sewcando.blogspot.com/

closet organization

2012-01-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

Finally a functional closet.

This is something I should have done 10 years ago (when we moved in)

I know it doesn't look too fancy but it is now functional!

You can see how the pix on the left had no shelves...just a rod running across the entire closet. The "after" picture is taken at the same location...big difference right?

I was able to install a bunch of shelves and 3 different sections to hang clothes.

This is what i bought from lowes, it was only $69...not too bad. My closet is only 5 feet that is why the cost is so low.

So here is another before picture...see how the rod is bent from all my clothes? So if I wanted to make a change I had to rip out the rod with the big shelf on top...

I use a razor blade to cut the paint away from the shelf that I'm tearing down. I do this so all the paint does not come off the wall as well....And if you are into home improvements you've got to have a wonder bar (pry bar)

So while I was demolishing my closet I turned around and my dog was looking at me like "what in the world are you doing?" I think he was scared, lol.

It was very easy and customizable and I did it all by myself!

No husband was interrupted during the making of this closet.

You can move the shelves up or down and put the hanging rod where ever you'd like.

The only thing that might be tricky is when you are not hammering into studs. Fortunately I knew where the studs were from the nails from the previous shelf that was up...that helped tremendously.

So, i was half way done and here is a picture of my bedroom due to the closet overhaul...

how overwhelming is this? there was a point when I thought I would never get through it.

but I had a cheer team...

I looked at these two and it made me smile!

Now I have to talk about an article I found on HGTV

It talks about grouping your clothes together, it helps remind you that a few key items of clothing will give you several outfits. I'm going to give it a try because every morning when I have to go to work I stand in my closet for about 10-20 minutes trying to find something to wear

so the bottom row has my gray and black slacks and all my shirts that go with gray and black. The top shelf has my khaki slacks and other pants that go with browns and all shirts that I would wear with those particular slacks. So i'm going to give this a try. I can already see that my closet is improving. I managed to fit my jeans in there, my out of season shoes on the very top shelf and my socks and undergarments in the cute polka dot bins. And to the left (behind the wall) is another wall that has my dresses.

I also put my "in season" shoes in a rubbermaid bin on the floor. I figured this is actually something I can keep up with. I just push it back up against the wall after I'm done selecting my shoes.

now, as far as this blank wall goes, I'm going to put up some bins from ikea....the closet is so small these would fit perfectly...

recycling bins from ikea the depth is just 7" check it out.

so i'm going to end with this note (not sure why the pix is so bad?)

my post is so long, I will show you an update when i get the bins from ikea installed.

But in a nutshell, if you are thinking about it get it....The rubbermaid closet kit. It is very easy to installed and has given me so much more room in my closet.

Linking Here:http://www.itsoverflowing.com/

wrist warmers

2012-01-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

so a friend came to me asking if I could make wrist warmers. I told her I would see what I can do and I'm not making any promises....

What do you think? I love them! And they are very warm.

I didn't follow anyones pattern...just went for it.

I will share with you some key points since I'm horrible and explaining things or writing patterns.

I used a g hook and the yarn is called charisma by Loops & Threads (its a little chunky)

To start off you will chain 23 and join to make a circle.

make sure if fits somewhat snug (because they do stretch)

And notice how I am starting at the knuckles working my way down. (some patterns might start at the wrist first)

I did 3 rows of hdc (23 on each row) then when I got to the 4th row I did 2 hdc then i made my thumb hole by chain 4 and skip 2 hdc and continue around.

continue to hdc 4 more rows then you can start the dc clusters. I don't even know how to explain the dc clusters. honestly I really don't even know how I did it...it just kinda turned out as i went along.

The first round of the clusters is 3dc skip 2 repeat all the way around

The hardest part was starting a new round. I found that if you do 2 dc in the first space and move on then when you finish the round you do your last dc in that last space to make it 3 dc....clear as mud?

I did 8 rounds of dc cluster, you can obviously make it longer or shorter.

I can't wait to do another pair. I think I will try 3 different colors next time.

So thanks for stopping by, I'm linking up to these parties:

http://sewcando.blogspot.com/

purse pincushion update

2012-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

I apologize for leaving you waiting on the purse pin cushion. I'll give you a short story of where the pattern came from:

my friend made me the brown one and also gave me the pattern.

I asked here where she got the pattern and she said it was free with a class she took. It was just directions on one sheet of paper. so it's really not a pattern that is for sale but since it is not my pattern and I can't give proper credit I won't be posting the actually pattern, just some details of how I made it .

I used freezer paper to draw the purse flap then I iron it to my fabric and cut it out. You will cut 2 flaps and sew right sides together then turn it inside out. When doing mini projects like this I change my stitch to a "2" rather then a "2.5"

Then you will make a diamond shaped octagon. (So a really skinny octagon)

cut it out and fold it in half to perfect it (so it's the same on all corners)

then sew the purse flap to the top.

now fold your fabric in half and sew (the purse flap is inside)

then you will sew both corners (like you would the box bag)

and then turn it inside out.

Now attach your button or cute gem.

then fill your pin cushion. I find it easier to make a filter that way the sand does not get all over the place.

It's called desert blend from PetCO, to be exact.

Then string your beads using really thin wire.

I'm not much of a beader so I don't know what professionals use but i just put masking tape at one end.

Attaching this to the purse is quite tricky but I used a glue gun to seal it up. unfortunately I don't have pictures because when you are working with a hot glue gun it dries fast so there was no time to pick up the camera in between....

I always make sure to attach my "made with love" charm. but I glue the inside where the flap comes over then I glue each side of the bead strap then I glue the flap down where the button is. and you are good to go!

It really only takes about 20-30 minutes and its a great way to use up some scraps.

And they are great for gift giving because of course it is made with love!

Thanks so much for looking!

I will be linking here!

perfect!

2012-01-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited. I have been making make-up box bags lately then I came across this challenge... EMBELLISH your bag...what I like to do best! join in the fun!
I think I'm going to try this gathered clutch tutorial

handmade labels

2012-01-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried them? Last month when I was making all of my critter hats I wanted to attach a label in it. I placed an order for some labels on etsy. I knew they wouldn't come right away so I tried to make a couple of them on my own. This one turned out great but its very time consuming.

But the reason why i'm not fully satisfied is because it has a sheen to it.

and if you feel it it has that shiny film on it.

I used the transfer paper method and ironed it onto the fabric

Here is another one I did. See how it has that shiny-ness to it?

Then I tried to pull the iron transfer off while it was still hot and it eliminated the shiny-ness but it also took off a lot of the ink...??? hmmm.

I just can't wait for my labels. I ordered them the first week of December and I'm still waiting......

but I do want to perfect this method...because I want to be able to print things on fabric without getting that shinyness. ...what else to do?

10 minute pillow

2012-01-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased new couches and I am lacking pillows!

These pillows are a perfect addition to my wannabe cottage.

I am going to show you how to cover a pillow in 10 minutes! This is an envelope style pillow.

My pillow measures 16 x 16

so you will cut one strip of fabric 17" wide. The length will be from when it was on the bolt (so the basic width on a bolt of fabric is 36)

fold one end and sew so that you don't see the raw edge.

now you will fold your fabric into the size of your pillow

I just place my pillow over it and since it is folded then there is not going to be a seam allowance needed.

now pin the sides really good and sew both sides of your fabric

when sewing burlap I use a different type of stitch

After you sew both sides then believe it or not...you are done! Turn it inside out...

you just made a pillow cover with one piece of fabric!

now you can embellish it....

or if you used cute fabric then there is nothing more to do.

but I'll show you how I added a "belt" to my pillow.

I cut the strip 10" wide then folded it in half

right here I am also putting a stitch down the middle because burlap sometimes has a mind of its own.

If you get matching thread you will never even see the stitch.

attach both ends of the burlap then attach the flower over the seam.

As for the flower....

I use felt for the petals. just cut out the shapes then when you chain sew them together make sure you use the longest stitch so you can gather the petals together before you glue them (used a hot glue gun)

Now slip your belt around the pillow....

Pretty cool right?

So after all this I'm still not sure if I like the look? I want to have something more crisp and bold like this....

Source: fleamarkettrixie.com via delilahthomas on Pinterest

I just got new couches just like this but not pure white. It is linen color but it seams dreary:

I definitely need to get more pillows (i'm working on it) I just don't know what colors???

But I do love the pop of color coming from my vases.

Source: flickr.com via Crystal on Pinterest

I like the nuetral colors in this as well. so now i'm thinking if I do a bold color is it still okay to mix burlap into it? Does burlap really only go with off white or white? Anywho...just thinking outloud.

I did purchase some chevron prints from www.fabric.com so we will wait and see.

Very Delighted

2011-12-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

I made so many hats for people as christmas gifts and while browsing blogs I came across this fun blog:

http://katharinedianne.blogspot.com/

She received one of my hats as a christmas gift from her mom!

Check out her blog, it has alot of good info on it and she looks so cute in her hello kitty hat!

And thanks so much for the plug in Katherine!

I wish I had more pix of people in there hats that I could post but I either saw a hard copy picture or alot of my friends have been showing me the hats on there kids from there phones.

I thought it would be neat to make a collage.... I think I made about 40 hats total this season...maybe even more! Thanks to all who ordered! Now I'm back to sewing.

box bags!

2011-12-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

So you would think Christmas is over right? Well I needed 2 more gifts by tomorrow morning.

Good thing these are so fast to complete...

I will need to time it for sure but I believe it only takes about 45 minutes.

and here I will show you the details... (notice that I did not

call it a tutorial)

The measurement I used was 11" x 11.5"

Cut out the outer and inner fabric as well as the interfacing 11"x 11.5"

Then I just used a spray basting to hold them together. If you have more time then definitely do some straight line quilting. I was in such a hurry I had to eliminate the quilting.

now prepare your zipper. Lay it on your fabric width way so you know how long to make it. I always tape in front and behind the fabric that i need to sew to keep the tracks together. Once the fabric is sewn to the zipper then just remove the tape.

Now you can sew your zipper to the fabric that will be on the outside of your bag. My walking foot works just fine for sewing on the zipper.

Now just move on the other side of the zipper and sew that on.

Once you have sewn the zipper you will flatten the bag and sew the sides so that the zipper is in the middle.

Make sense? (now you see why I did not call this a tutorial)

Now stand it up on one end so you can mark the triangle to sew like this...

I measure in 1 1/4" and mark it with a pen then I sew it and clip the edge.

on the opposite side you will measure in the same way and slide your strap thru. Line it up with your fabric and sew....after this you are done! Just tun it right side out!

So did I completely confuse you? I think this should just be used as a guide.

These are some tutorials about boxed bags that I liked:

http://modernquiltlove.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/perfect-box-pouch-tutorial/

http://prettymodern.typepad.com/its_a_pretty_modern_life/2009/08/zippered-box-pouch-pattern-and-tutorial-fully-lined-with-photos.html

Here is another one I made real quick.

cute and fun right?

I actually made all three of these this evening.

Can't wait to give them away tomorrow. After that I am definitely done with Christmas.

I even took down my Christmas Tree this morning.

I will be posting these to the following parties:

Last minute gift

2011-12-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is the bestest gift to give and it doesn't take long to make!

I had a ball!!

I filled it with walnut shells that I bought for about $7 at PetSmart.

And I LOVE the PINS! I bought them a while ago and have been waiting for the perfect home for them.

How beautiful! And I love the litte "made with love" charms that i bought a while ago from hobby lobby. I attach them to everything I make.

Ta Da! this was a gift for someone special to me, and she loved it!

Thanks to everyone for looking!

click here for other last minute gifts....

sewing a simple bag

2011-12-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

I love quilting!

And with my machine it makes it so easy. I just draw one line and work from there.

And that is last picture. I am so mad that I never got the finished bag. I wrapped it up before taking a snap shot. UUGGHHH.

but here is one I finished...

with a cute "made with love" charm

This is a simple box bag, you can find several tutorials online.

And another one....

so sorry for the horrible pictures. I was in such a hurry.

And here is the inside...the zipper is a sinch, maybe after christmas I can explain it a little better for those of you who are intimidated by zippers.

still staying busy..

2011-12-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

And this is my latest version of the hello kitty hat!

I love the pink along the bottom and I think that will help with keeping it clean since white will show up every little piece of dirt.

These were a special order all the way from Scotland! I'm crossing my fingers that Rhianon from the nifty stitcher gets her hats!

I'm still taking orders and my turn around time is around 2 days so email me if you would like one.

Hello Kitty hats

2011-11-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, i did it! Isn't it cute? It was a special request...i wasn't sure if I could pull this off.

The bow was the hardest part...I wanted it to be perfect

first I tried to tie 2 triangles together and that did not work..it was too flimsy

Then I found other tutorials that say to just crochet a rectangle then tie a piece of yarn in the middle but that didn't work either

so then I came up with this. I crochet 6 stitches then decreased to 4

then went back up to 6 and tied it in the middle.

here is a close up of the bow.

Isn't this so cute? I have been loving hello kitty a lot lately. Have you ever smelled the perfume? They sell it at JC Penney and it smells very good...I'm thinking about getting it. Anywho...Thanks so much for looking! I will be sharing this here:

more scratched off the list...

2011-11-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

This sock monkey was a special request to make it blue instead of red!

What do you think?

This order is for a brother and sister...so cute!

And the owl hats are my favorite! I just love selected fun colors!

Thanks for looking! gotta get busy again!

a little extra time...

2011-11-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

I was able to make one for my daughter! I love the colors and she has a really nice coat and it matches perfectly.

this was done with loops and threads charisma yarn, it is extremely soft.

I used a g hook, 14 rows down and 48 stitches across.

I still have orders coming in so off I go to stich some mo'.

I will be updating my waiting list daily.

more sock monkeys

2011-11-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

another order scratched off the list!

these hats are for a brother and sister, Gladdy's niece and nephew.

here niece just turned 1! and this is a christmas gift. I love how it turned out!

half double crochet stitches, button eyes and super cute ears!

and this is for the 5yr old nephew. (56 stitches across with Ghook)

next up...another owl hat!

not just for kids?

2011-11-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

So if I'm making them for everybody else I figure I should have one for myself. I mean, i do need to stand behind my product! At first I thought they were just too cute for kids but now I'm liking it for myself.

The pattern I'm using is just one I made up myself. In the beginning I started with a pattern but never got the sizing right because I would use different types of yarns and hooks.

So here is one I whipped up for myself. I wore it today out in public and i felt kinda spunky! And a little immature but you know what? I love it. I think it turned out so cute and if I'm going to sale them then I think I need to wear one too! I made this one out of my favorite yarn lately, it's called Loops and Threads country ? And on all the hats I've been making I have been stitching a half double crochet throughout.

soooo not just for kids?

And then I just finished another sock monkey hat, this was a special order for my friend at work. I LOVE this! I'm getting faster and better with each hat. And I got another order today for 5 more sock monkey hats. I had to put together a waiting list! I'm about 2 weeks out!

Thanks for visiting, click here to see more of my hats!

And I'm linking up to these parties:

Make something monday

its out of control!

2011-11-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have a waiting list for these owl hats!
So far I have to make 10 more owl hats. Some people have ordered just one while others are ordering 2 or 3! I don't know how much longer I can keep up but I sure am having fun!

I love this color combo. A friend at work asked for these colors and I think it turned out so cute!

for my info: used H hook, 14 rows down 56 stitch across. I have been putting down this info in case I want to make this exact hat again then I know how many stitches to do because I have not been following a certain pattern.

This one also turned out perfect! This fits anywhere from 2-8 year old. I used a g hook 48 stitches around and 13 rows down.

What makes this so much fun is hearing about the stories when the parents are giving them to there kids. One of my friends gave one to her grandaughter. Her grandaughter is 7 and loved the hat so much they had to take several pictures! Her grandaughter also said " I don't think anyone at school has one of these!" She thought it was cool that it was really unique and you know she is absolutely right! I have seen the character hats in stores and they got nothing on these!

Thanks so much for looking!

more, more, more!

2011-11-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

The yarn used is loops and threads...very very soft! and all of them are sold!

This one is for a newborn. Used h hook and followed my pattern for size xsmall

This is also sold! The yarn used is lion brand. I used a g hook

Finished Sock monkey

2011-10-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's not my favorite post when my face is in it but I love how my sock monkey hat turned out and it's always cuter when modeled on a real life size head!

this is another order of mine. My friend ordered it for her daughter...I love it!

This was done with a g hook using 2 strands of yarn, 16 rows down and following my Little abbee instructions for size large.

The mouth and ears are my own pattern.

this is why...

2011-10-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

my friend came into work with her new baby! And remember my latest owl hat? Well it fit her perfect!

look how cute it is! those hats are 10x adorable when on a baby! Once everyone saw that the orders started pouring in!

here's one right here! I love these sock monkey hats! I'm selling them for $20. So far I need to make 2 more then I need to get busy fulfilling all my owl hats orders.

I use a half double crochet throughout and i started with pattern but had to adjust it because I could not get the gauge right. I ended up using a b hook (i know tiny) and 2 strands of yarn just trying to get the gauge right.

And I struggled with the ears trying to follow a free pattern so I just bagged it and made up my own pattern for the ears. I wish I could share it with you but you wouldn't understand (because my instructions suck). You probably notice I have no tutorials on my blog...its because I'm horrible at trying to explain things and it is VERY TIME consuming. That is why i appreciate everyone who takes the time to write up free patterns and tutorials.

And this one is sold...yay! Thanks so much for looking! gotta run...

sock monkey progress

2011-10-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me first say, these are so time consuming!!!
I told my friend that I would make one for her grandson and oh my did I ever think it would take this long.

The first thing I struggled with is the ears. I didn't need a pattern for the hat because I'm just using my owl pattern but I needed to know how the ears were done and there were several free patterns but I just was not getting it. by the time I got done with one ear it almost reminded me of a tooth? the bottom part looks like it is growing roots...? After I while I came up with my own pattern that I will soon show you.

Then once I got the ears on I noticed one looked bigger than the other? Of course I compared them before attaching them and it seemed fine...so then I had to rip them off. (well, that sounds violent...I gently removed them).

I also struggled with sizing. since I used two strands of yarn it was hard to find the right gauge so below I'm going to write little notes for myself.

size small, H hook used, followed the instructions for medium size, did 15 hdc rounds

size medium: used b hook, followed instruction for size medium, did 16 hdc rounds

size small: used H hook. followed instructions for medium size. used soft red heart yarn.

So none of these hats are completed yet! Still a work in progress. But I would like to show you another owl hat that I made:

It's in newborn size...

Then I could not decide on what to do with the nose? I tried to crochet it and that didn't work. I then tried an orange nose and it seemed like it clashed with the other colors so I stuck with brown.

The hardest part of this hat is the placement of the eyes and nose....the most time consuming too.

It kinda seems like it is missing something to me? Maybe the nose should be orange? Oh yeah...its missing the baby!

Anywho, I used a cotton yarn which is super soft and doesn't have all the lint thingy's.

I think it will be ADORABLE on a newborn!

Thanks so much for looking!

MY cowl scarves

2011-10-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the first one I made by accident. I actually think my daughter made it on the loom?

I found it in my yarn bin last year and just put it on and wrapped it twice and TA DA! It's so cozy and soft and I wear it all the time...even around the house it keeps me warm!

So I wanted to make another one just like it but before I got to it I came across this pattern:

And I couldn't wait to make my own...so here it is, it took me about 1 hour to make!

Its not exactly like the one on the models because the yarn i picked was thicker. I wish I had better luck picking out yarn but I do still like it.

I think it looks best with a brown shirt (not pictured)

but I do really like the fringe!

I'm going to try to make it again with a different yarn

I will be joining in on the cowl crochet along and also these parties:

I heart naptime

Thanks for looking!

cleaning out my closet (yarn closet)

2011-10-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have a really big bin of yarn that needed to be organized.

What is more irritating then trying to undo a knot when all you want to do is crochet?

So I cleaned up all the misc yarn and now I see I need to do something with all these left over yarn balls so the perfect project for this is a granny square scarf!

I have all ready started putting random colors together. I just recently made one for my niece with really bright colors. This one is going to be for me so i'm going to try to use muted colors.

And ANOTHER exciting project that I can't wait to finish is this scarf...

I just bought the pattern! I'm so excited...i love accessories, this will probably only take about 2 hours. I'm going to get started on it tomorrow!

I also have another owl hat to show you, I just want to wait to get the beak attached.

Until then....

crochet accessories

2011-10-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

I went to DownEast Basics the other day and they had the cutest accessories. If you have ever been there then you know exactly what I mean, i love there clothes too. Everything is so unique and hand made looking, its like a boutique. Anyway...I love there necklaces and they had one with 3 crochet flowers on it for $14.99. I looked at it and thought...Why buy it when I can just make it!

So I crochet 3 flowers using this pattern I used a G hook and just place it on felt with adhesive on the back then start cutting it out so you can't see the felt...you can see I started cutting the left side then took a pix so you can see.

here it is on the right side.. Then I attached ribbon in between the felt and the flower.

And here we are! you can't even see the felt can you? but I didn't have anything to put in the middle of the flowers and i thought the buttons would make it look too "Crafty"

So I ended up just tying knots of little bits of yarn and gluing it in the middle of the flowers.

And here it is all complete! I am very happy with it! The skein of yarn was $2.50 (with my coupon of course)

Not bad when I could have paid $14.99!

Hope you all like! If you love crochet then check out this owl hat I just made!

I will be linking up to these parties:

Before I go I want to tell you about a Crochet Along I found on:

I'm so excited! It couldn't have come at a better time. I have a cowl scarf that I made last year that I absolutely love and I want to make another one then I came across this and they are doing a cowl crochet along! Yay...if you don't have a cowl you need to make one and you will fall in love. I just love how you just put it over you neck like a necklace but you don't have to worry about the loose ends. and it's so cozy, its like wearing a loose turtleneck but without the bulky-ness of a heavy sweater!
Hop on over and join the crochet along if you love to crochet!

owl hat

2011-10-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

here it is...my owl hat!

I bought the pattern from Little Abbee She gives great instructions and the pattern was reasonably priced

and if you have crochet hats you know how fast they work up!

so once your finished with the hat then you put the face on. It reminds me of that game/toy Mr Potato Head.

the pattern does give instructions for the nose but I decided to just use felt.

and here it is! it looks so much cuter in person. I really need to practice my photog skills

I made this for my nephew and his birthday is this weekend...and those are the best photo's!

You can't really tell how cute it is until someone is wearing it. And my nephew is so cute. He is turning 3. I'll be sure to get a pix of him wearing it.

And if you love crochet then check out this blog:

The Flower Bed

Thanks so much for looking! I will be participating in these parties:

Sew Can Do

granny square scarf

2011-10-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

I wish I could come up with creative names for my projects....I'll have to give this one some thought..

It kinda reminds me of bubbleyum gum! so this is my bubbleyum scarf! A bunch of girls at work were putting together granny squares then attaching them to make a scarf. They are so cute so I had to make one!

I didn't have a scarf pattern but I had a granny square pattern from my "complete guide to needlework" book then attached them together with a single crochet stich

They go by so fast! I did three rows and I crochet 2 strands of yarn at once. It's just hard for me to get a good picture...I'm not good at taking pix of my self so Zuko was willing to help me.

He's not happy! haha, maybe because its a girly scarf?

"Okay, thats enough" he says!

So I will have to settle with a crappy grainy photo!

And here is the owner of the scarf, my beautiful niece, it was her birthday, doesn't it look just beautiful on her?

Thanks for Looking! and if you like crocheting keep coming back! I'm in the mood to crochet...check back for my next finished project...I just bought a pattern to make this....

not the baby but the hat! (i wish I could make the baby too) I will be working on this precious owl hat. I'm so excited to get it done and share with all of you!

Thanks for visiting!

I will be linking up to:

doggy placemat!

2011-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

My nephew just got a new puppy. She is a boston terrier (so cute) and when they saw Zuko's place mat they asked if I would make one for there dog Ellie. Of course!

So here it is! The size fits this standard food plate..

It's so easy to whip together

You can see the measurements from the grid. The brown strip is 2 3/4 x 15 and the rest is 6x15

The most time consuming part is the applique. I used the letters from my art to heart book

Then I made my quilt sandwich. Warm n' Natural was used on the inside.

Next was the blanket stitch around the letters (this takes a lot of practice)

I did a blind hand stitch on the binding.

So the finished size is 14 1/2 x 7 3/4

and it's Zuko Approved!

I can't wait to give it to them. Then maybe I can get a pix of there dog and post it! She is sooo cute!

Thank you for looking. I will be participating in these blog parties:

Happy Fall Yall!

2011-10-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

I am ready!
I am so inspired by all the fall parties going on!
They are having a fall festival so I thought I might as well join in! Also The French Cupboard is hosting a handmade harvest party! So check out what I have:

This year I decided to put everything in one place. I don't like things to look cluttered through out my house so I decided to put it all on my bakers rack. I love it!

Here is a little sack type "thingy" or baggy? I don't really know, I stitched the trick or treat and made a bag out of it. Now I just stuff it with plastic baggies and now it's just decoration.

and I love my froggy! I made this wall hanging myself!

The applique's came from chitter chatter design but the layout is my own design.

And I love my pumpkin patch wall hanging! It is perfect for fall! Thats it for now, thanks for looking!

And click on their blog to get inspired!

pantry redo

2011-10-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

So I have been working on refinishing our deck and our newest purchase is this power sprayer!

It is great! It took me about 2 hours to paint 20 railings but only about 30 minutes to paint over 100 using this sprayer! a paint sprayer is well worth it. We bought ours for $100 at Home Depot.
So in between painting the deck (i will blog about that later) I came in to grab something to eat and I decided it was time to do something about these ugly shelves.

When we bought our house the kitchen had black and white tile and fairy princess bordered wall paper (don't ask) lol. And then of course the shelves were lined black and white checkered. I have looked everywhere for (cheap) shelf liner or wall paper but its so expensive and if its going to be in a closet then I don't want to spend that much soooooo, i decided to paint them.

So we have to pull everything out and of course it's a hassle, big mess and even Zuko thinks i'm crazy...

and I just want to throw in the towel, but then I wouldn't get this...

What a difference paint makes! It amazes me every time!

It just looks much cleaner to me.

And then I painted the inside of the door. Much, Much better. I kinda want to do some cute geometric design on the inside. I know its pretty plain right now but there is just NO TIME :( This is the best I can do while I work a full time job so to fit projects like this into the mix is a huge challenge. Just trying to fix up my house one weekend at a time.

Thanks for looking! I'm going to link up to one of my favorite blogs:

Join in on the fun! Until next time....

2011-09-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Another successful garage sale!
This sale had a bunch of scrapbooking &and craft supplies.

first things first, i found this nifty tote and good thing because I had a bunch of other great finds. I needed something to put everything in.

I came across these foam stamps, they were asking $2...not too bad.

And every crafter needs a roll of tulle.

And then I picked up this grab bag that had all these fun finds in them!

The magazines have sooo many great ideas for scrapbooking! And I love the trinket pins!

And the art to heart book is a steal, those usually sell around $15 in a quilt store and they had it listed for $1.

Can you believe I got all of this for $5? Yes! I walked away with all of this for $5!

This is probably the last garage sell of the season but it leaves me with plenty to do through the winter months.

Thanks so much for looking. I've been doing a little sewing so hopefully my next post will be a finished project.

I wanna be a gardener

2011-09-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

I love the brick flower box in my front yard but i also wanted to put some flowers around my ugly cement porch so I created a flower bed.

This might look easy but if you are a gardener you will know all the digging that is involved, then mixing the dirt, killing the weeds and tilling it all together but it is well worth it.

So all these flowers I'm showing you were planted on Labor Day Weekend and you will see the growth in just a couple weeks.

So I added this delphinium which grows best in organic dirt ( I have been doing my homework) and boy does it...check out the growth in just a couple weeks!

I am so excited, this is a perennial so it will come back next year bigger and better. Look at how it sprouts out in just 3 weeks! it's so fun watching them grow!

close up, i love the color

And the upcoming blooms are great!

Another thing I am loving about this perennial is that the bloom lasts a couple weeks, the flowers in this picture are the same flowers 3 weeks later, of course they are not as fresh but its a longer bloom then any of the other flowers I have.

This one is another flower I'm excited about...its not growing as much as I wish it would and I'm thinking its because I used miracle grow dirt instead of organic...but some flowers grow better in different types of dirt and I thought these would do ok in regular dirt. Maybe I should start using organic dirt, it's more expensive but you can see the difference.

And here are some phlox I planted next to the delphinium and it is in organic dirt as well...they look so healthy

The pink ones are kinda in between blooms...but I swear all these flowers are doing great because of the organic dirt!

I can't wait to compare these pictures to next season!

Thanks for looking! And here is a site with such good gardening inspiration: http://www.tootsietime.com/

window pane decor

2011-09-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

First off, i can't ignore the fact that I have not blogged in almost a month! But its a good thing, I have been busy, busy, busy doing so many projects around the house, gardening, painting and organizing! But now I am taking a break, too many projects going on overwhelms me. It just reminds me of the time I do not have..so while being super busy I did not forget to take pictures, I will be posting a little bit of what I have been up to in the next couple of days, now, on to a garage sale find....

Another great garage sale find! It was only $8 !!

At the antique stores in my area they want anywhere from $30-$60 so I thought that was a steal!

The only thing I didn't like about it is that it did not have the center wood (to make it 2 panes) but i fixed that..you will notice it later. I bought the knob from hobby lobby.

Then I bought this wreath at Tai Pan

And this flower vine from Tai Pan as well..then it put it together and g0t this...

Then I used burlap and hung it to the window pane.

Notice the wood slat in the middle? I just took a small piece of wood and hot glued it to the window, problem solved! (sorry, not a lot of pix) Thanks so much for looking!

I will be linking to the party at Southern Hospitality

My $1 Storage

2011-08-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I only paid $1 for this storage chest? It was a great yard sale deal!

Of course when I found it it looked like this...

It was a dad and his son who was running the sale. The son who was about 15 was the first one I saw and I asked him how much the chest was. He shrugged his shoulders and said $1 !!

I gave him a buck and took off! haha.

The lock was stuck on it but we have a tool for that so it was not a problem at all.

And then I just used white paint (no primer) and applied it with a paint brush

Oh, and I love how it came with this insert...

oh and another comment, I have come across a lot of storage chests and they want anywhere from $40-$80 and when you open it up it's disgusting and or has a bunch of stains but this one did not.

Next was adding the numbers!

I bought these stencils at hobby lobby..

I never painted with stencils so I had to practice...i chose the inside of the chest...

Not too bad, not too hard either. I just used a sponge brush to paint the numbers on.

And here it is!! I love it! I sanded down the numbers so they weren't so bold..

Actually, i think I need to sand down the numbers a little more. Another thing is that I have been searching everywhere for casters (wheels) and cannot find any that i love.

But I couldn't wait, I had to bring the chest up with or without wheels!

Thanks so much for looking!

I will be linking up here:

flower head bands

2011-07-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

My friend had a baby shower so I decided to make some homemade gifts.

I love these cute flowers, I can't get enough.

For this one I started with a piece of felt cut into a circle and glued some tule to it.

Then I adjusted the stitch length to 4.5 to gather the fabric

Then you just wind it into a circle

This time I'm just going to turn it over and apply glue (hot glue) all over the bottom of it then place it on the felt circle.

There, that makes it clean, fast and easy. (you'll see the flower if I turn it over)

So I love it! and I just attached it to some white cotton that I made into a head band.

To make this one I just attached tule to the top of it and gathered it all together at the same time.

And here is a picture of how to gather in case there is someone out there that does not know how. You just pull the string after you have sewn it on the longest stitch length.

And while on my flower kick I made another flower necklace

I love it, it is so cute and I want it for my self but it's actually a special order from a friend of a friend!

I also made this white one so she could chose which one she likes...

And guess what? She liked them both! I think this is the first project that I actually made and sold!

Woo hoo! but I can't quit my day job just yet.

Thanks for looking!

I will be linking to these parties...

More projects!

2011-07-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have soooo many goals/projects around my house. I repainted my railings, installed board and batten and refinished a dresser which is what the t.v will go on.

but I still need to finish this vintage suitcase....

And what color will it be painted?...

White of course!

This is where my inspiration came from.

Source: songbirdisnesting.com via delilahthomas on Pinterest

And I need a coffee table for my new room too. Check out this one...

Source: funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com via delilahthomas on Pinterest

Don't you just love it??? I love it and Funky junk interiors is a fabulous website!

Introducing....

2011-07-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Board and Batten Walls!

Please ignore my ugly couch..that is why I have my quilt over it.

But I love it, it looks fabulous and I could not do it without the help of my husband..Now I just need to get my white couches. I'm saving up for them...they are the slip cover couches from ikea!

I still want to attach another 1x2 to the top so there will be a ledge. Next thing to do is decide on some wall decor.

here is a close up..I used 1x2x4 and this post gives you details of what I went through. It was harder than

i thought! and I used Ana Whites Tutorial however I spaced my "sticks" 8 inches apart.

So this is just the beginning of my new living room, I will show you updated pictures when I get my new couches and coffee table. I have great plans for the future! Thanks for looking, I'm linking up to these parties...

itty bitty sewing...

2011-07-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

i have been working on home improvements and in between I was able to sew. It is my favorite..I love working with fabric, I love ironing it.

A friend at work wanted me to make her a necklace and I think it turned out adorable. I want to have it for me! However I don't know when I will have time to make another one.

I put some cute pearls in the middle of it.

And then I made these bibs. I have a baby shower to go to next weekend so I made these cuties and I'm going to make some headbands too.

I love this yellow flower! Thanks for looking. I got to get back to finishing my board n' batten

board and batten walls

2011-07-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

Are you kidding me? You all make it seem so easy...even purchasing the boards is hard work!
I went to lowes to by the 1x2x4 and I wanted to make sure they were 4'height and they were all different. I would have to come home and cut them myself anyway so I ended up buying the 8ft long boards and cut them myself.

I positioned my saw so that when I would line the board up against the wall then that is where I would cut it..just to ensure they were all going to be the same length..

and I did measure and mark it also..I did a better job than Lowes because the other day I had them cut the wood for me cuz I just had a demo wood, so I good go home and see if that was the length that I wanted and when I gave him the wood to cut it was off by 1/2 inch he just looked at me and said "oops" in an Elmer Fudd voice.

So here they are all the same length...yes you can see that not all of them lay straight. That will be a big big problem when you try to nail them to the wall. I had no idea how difficult it was to find straight would!

And here I am taking off the existing base boards (sorry for the crappy picture).

If you cut it with a razor blade first then it will cut the paint and dap and when you try to pull it off it wont take all the paint half way up the wall.

See how clean it came off? Now I can paint it white...it was yellow. (my camera setting was off)

ok, so this was the hard part. I tried to do it on my own and it was just not working out...I could not get the boards on straight and my husband came upstairs and said it looked wonkyish? lol. So he stepped in and saved the day.

We spaced them 10" apart and made some cheat sticks..you have to use 2, one on top and one at the bottom. Oh and at first I tried to use wood glue and it just wouldn't hold so we decided not to mess around and just got liquid nails.

Now I'm exhausted, I started at 7am and we completed got everything on the walls and finished dapping around 7pm so this post will be continued...

Oh, and for those of you who don't know what look i'm going for this is it..

This is Ann Whites Tutorial If you have never visited her website then prepare to be blown away!

railing project....

2011-07-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

boy was this hard work!! And sOOOo time consuming. I always read about how hard kitchen cabinets are but railings? No one warned me about these. At least with kitchen cabiniets you don't have to deal with a bunch of grooves.

So this is the before picture, not a pretty picture..in the next few months I will be transforming my ugly traditional living room into a cottage inspired room. In order to do that I had to do something with these railings...so what to do? Paint them white! That has been my answer for everything lately.

I think the most time cosuming part was priming. My daughter helped me sand them down but if you notice the little grooves in each railing..not a good thing, I started priming last weekend at 9:30 pm and did not get done until 2:30 am! 5 hours of priming!! I never saw that one coming.

This is the primer I use for everything..i might be repeating myself from the last post but I love how the fumes are low and it dries fast.

So then I start the painting and look what happend....DRIP MARKS! UGGRR I hate that.

The key is to do thin layers of paint...tonz of layers. And to use a roller brush each time. the first few coats I used a paint brush because i thought I needed to get a good heavy layer going but then that lead to an uneven paint job.

Some of the railing look like I put clay on them?? it was getting pretty frustrating but I kept painting, sanding, painting, sanding.

I think I did 4-5 coats, I can't remember but it was a looong process and I really wanted to move on with my life, it had been a week that I was working on these so I told myself on the last coat that "this is it" It has to look good and if its not perfect then that is okay.

And so here are the results...It's a big difference don't you think? it really freshens up the room. Now I just need to get those eye sores of couches out of my house. ...actually, I take that back, I don't want to hurt there feelings, these couches have been good to me however I don't think it would work if I painted them white so it's time for them to move on.

And here is another view, those railings just look neglected before.

And then right here it looks like I brang them back to life!

So I wish I had some pro advice but I don't. The only thing I would have done diffferent is painted all the railings with a rolling brush the entire time instead of trying to get thick coats with the paint brush. It is better to apply several light coats then a couple think coats....Oh yeah, i remember...the first few coats I would do the front of the railings then go on the other side and finish the back...well by the time I would get to the back there was drip marks that had already dried so what i started to do is just paint the front of 3-4 railings then walk around and do the back of those 3-4 railings..maybe that is a given but it wasn't for me.

Oh, and i used Valspar white paint..i didn't have them mix in a special color.

Now I gotta get rid of that blank frame....Actually, Im just going to paint it white!

Thanks for looking! hope I have inspired you to tackle your dingy old railings.

I'm linking up here, you will be amazed at all the inspiring projects!

a makeover

2011-07-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

i have this old dresser, its actually my husbands from when he was in elementary school.

and again, I was so excited to get started that I forgot to take a before picture.

I love all the knobs (which are took off already) because it looks like there are a bunch of little drawers in the front.

And this is the beginning. I'm so grateful for this sander!

And this is the primer I use... it's about $12.99 but it sticks to any surface and it dries fast and it does not have a strong oder..oh and its easy to sand smooth for the layer of paint.

So after bunch of sanding, priming and painting we have this...

yes there is a missing knob, I will be on the hunt looking for a matching one.

But doesn't it look great?

I painted it white to go in my upcoming living room. I am doing a full remodel of my living room

and its going to have a cottage theme...I am even getting white couches!! We will see how long they last as far as staying white, but they are going to have the slip covers...I will be revealing my new living room this fall/winter after I get my couches, until then, I have also started painting my railings...no one ever told me how big of a project it would be!

but before I start rambling about that I have to tell you about this dresser. I mentioned that this dresser was my husbands from grade school. Well when he was little his mom taped little pictures inside the drawers so he would remember to put socks in one drawer and shirts in another etc. Well this dresser still has one of the pictures!

This must have been the t/shirt drawer and or shorts, pretty cool huh?

so right now it's hanging out in the basement until I have room for it upstairs. I'm just worried my husband wont want to let it go. He really likes it and its sitting in his space right now, I don't think he is going to want to give it up. So I hope I have inspired some of you to refinish an old piece of furniture. It's so fun to watch it be born again! I'm linking up to these parties...

5 minute slip!

2011-07-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

I found a gray and white striped skirt that is pretty form fitting and I needed a slip to go under it. I didn't want to make one because I didn't have the right fabric(or so I thought). So I went looking for a slip and no such luck...they were mostly to loose and slinky so it would show wrinkles thru my skirt..and if it was tighter than it was around $28 bucks. Then I came across this...

It's my husbands t-shirt (shhhhh) lol. To be fair, it was found in a closet in my sewing room so really

he never knew he had it and it would not be missed. Still I didn't tell him that I repurposed one of his shirts, haha.

But as soon as I saw it I visioned my slip! Must be my creative eye! Immediately I went "sew" crazy..cutting off sleeves, cutting off the neck, flipped it inside out and sewed the sides in to fit my figure.

And here we are! It litterally took me about 5 minutes. I love how it stays put. it wont ride up and you don't have to keep pulling it down. AND I love that you don't have to finish the hem on cotton, it wont unravel and no one will see it anyway. And I love this length, I should have took a picture of the skirt that I made this slip for. It's almost as form fitting as this slip (that is why I needed a slip under it) then you would understand more.

And here it is shorter. I like that I can change the length and I love how snug it fits yet it is so comfortable.

Just folding the waist down and it becomes shorter. It's even better than the $28 slip!

Because sometimes when they fit snug to your body they are uncomfortable...and I have a bigger stomach so everything always fits me tight around the waist...but not this one. Now I can wear a slip and by lunch time it still fits comfortably.

(above my knees shorter)

But now it's got the wheels turning in my head...wouldn't this be pretty cute in a different color? Or a different pattern. Now I have my eye on all my husbands t-shirts! haha-just kidding!

Thanks for looking! I hope this helped for any of you out there looking for a form fitted slip but not a lot of money. So you probably have a slip in your closet and you didn't even know it!

I'm linking up to these parties... check them out for more inspiration.

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just add lace!

2011-07-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

So it starts with a plain shirt that fits good!

this is a tshirt that I've had in my drawer for over a year..but I like the fit.

then you add lace! I love it! I want one in every color! I got the idea from icandy handmade

She made this one in pink! I want to make another one in pink, yellow, turqoise ...etc.

I don't know how to fix that crease without unpicking the whole thing? I guess you would probably only see it in a picture because I'm standing still? I think I can live with it.

So I found the lace at Hancocks Fabric store for $1.25/yard and I needed a yard and a half.

I definitely recommend using spray adhesive when putting it on your shirt. I don't know how I did it just by pinning it...well that is probably why I got that crease in my shirt. So what I'm saying is...don't pin the lace to the top....use spray adhesive! (Go to icandy handmade for the tutorial)

So here we are! Such a simple way to spruce up a shirt!

Now I want to go out and get more! I want one in every color!

Hope this makes you want to make one too! Happy Sewing!

I'm linking here!

a black skirt

2011-06-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

This was made from another simple pattern from MCCalls.

Who can't use a black skirt? Especially with ruffles...

this is McCalls 3830 and its a "quick and easy" pattern...it really is, just 3 pieces and sew in the zipper in the back.

And I could not decide what to do with the bottom...i didn't want it to just be a plain straight skirt. Then I came across this blog!

She even dyed it this color herself! And it's made out of a t-shirt.

http://jacksonshappenins.blogspot.com/2011/06/flirty-skirt-dyed.html

So...I added ruffles to the bottom, I think it's a nice touch.

And here it is...ready to wear!

I will be sharing with these blogs...check them out for more inspiration!

String Quilt

2011-06-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Since my last few wardrobe malfunctions I decided to take a break from sewing clothes and work on one of the many quilts in progress.

This is my string quilt. Quilting is so different from sewing clothes...I love all the designer fabrics and rich colors.

And my dog feels more involved. As soon as I lay down my quilt and fabrics he loves to lay on them.

He fell asleep on my quilt and i love his little paws...i had to take a picture.

If you don't know how to put together a string quilt you will be amazed at how easy and fun it is! You just select your squares from tissue paper to stabalize it. My paper is 8x8 squares. Then you have a different color strip to go in the middle...and you glue it to the paper so it stays in place. I used linen for my "sashing". Then place another strip on top of it and sew.

Then iron it down. It's just like paper piecing. The strips can be of any width .

Then once you have all the strips sewn down you trim it to the square

Then turn it over and trim it!

I decided to match up the color tones...like all greens, pinks, reds but that is a lot harder.

I wish I would have just done a multi color one, it would be a lot less planning and they are beautiful!

Film in the Fridge has a beautiful string quilt, if you see it you will want to make one, that is where my inspiration came from. I'm still not done with it. I'm just going to keep adding and adding till it becomes at least a queen size...so until then, happy sewing!

check out these linky parties for inspiration!

Flower Power

2011-06-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

I put on this brown tank top and it needed some flare! These flowers were laying around with nothing to do so I started pinning.

but do you think it's too much? I kinda look like a birthday present! But these fabric flowers can be used for so many things...clip them on a purse, in your hair, to a cardigan...shoes!

I used a different technique on all 3 flowers

So for now I will show you how to make a flower like this. Its so easy and there are so many tutorials

out there but instead of making you go somewhere else to find it I will show you here!

I used only 8 circles and its out of lightweight shear fabric. The circles are about 3.5 diameter.

Then you just fold them in half and lay them on your foundation circle (mine is the black felt) and once you get to the fourth circle you will tuck it under the first like you would a box (this is #2 step) then secure them down with thread. So once that is secure i will take the remaining circles and fold it in half, then in half again (step #3) and then I secure those down one by one with the thread...then thats it!

Now just find some little beads to put in the middle. I actually had this flower gem laying around so I just attached it to the middle.

There is so many things you can do with these flowers!

I made a head band out of this one.

I like to place a sturdy piece of pellon on the back to help it keep from floppy around

Then use a glue gun to glue it to the flower then the head band and I use felt.

And there ya go! Target has these for sale for $9.99.

I got 4 head bands for $1. and the fabric was $1/yard. So basically it cost me not even .50 to make one!

Thanks for looking!

Check out the other links below for great inspiration!