Shelley Inspired

Prudent Baby Fat Quarter Apron

2011-01-10T17:19:00.001-06:00

I made a few Prudent Baby Fat Quarter Aprons for Christmas Gifts and am now just getting around to sharing. I still have my Christmas tree up, too.

Things are running a little slow for me since the New Year.

These were fun and fast to make! I need one for me now, too!

Felt Sack Lunch Plus Felt Juice Box Tutorial

2010-12-28T12:59:00.000-06:00

This fun little set is for my God Daughter. Her mommy said she was getting a play kitchen for Christmas and needed some felt food.

Here is her lunch! After the break you will find a tutorial for the felt juice box.

Bologna Sandwich on wheat bread
Optional peanut better and jelly
Banana
Doritos
Hostess Swiss Roll
100% Juice Box (tutorial below)

This time around I found my new favorite tool for creating felt food - THE HOT GLUE GUN! Seriously, instead of hand stitching everything I just got out that glue gun and saved HOURS of time.

For the Doritos - I cut out triangles and hot glued them together.

For the hostess snack - see this tutorial from Skip to My Lou. Except, I hot glued mine. Oh yeah.

Felt Juice Box Tutorial:

Fold a piece of felt in half along the longest width. Cut a piece that is 4.75" inches wide.

Sew both side seams together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Box the corners - pinch the bottom corners together like shown and sew across the bottom about 1" up. Trim the corners.

Turn right side out and now create your box shape by pinching together the seams and then topstich to hold the shape. I sewed along all four upper sides and the two bottom seams.

Now you should have a box that stands upright.

Stuff about 2/3 full and then fold the top fabric down on top of eachother like you are wrapping a present. Then cut a piece of white fabric to cover the folded top. Hot glue into place.

For the straw, roll up a rectangular piece of felt and hot glue to make a tube. Take a seam ripper and poke a hole through all the layers of felt and stick in straw. Hot glue the bottom to secure.

Decorate with shapes and hot glue and you are finished!

Gingerbread House Kid's Party

2010-12-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

Two of my good friends invited us over for a Gingerbread House Kid's Party. It was awesome! The two moms pre-made the houses by hot-gluing graham crackers to milk cartons and then finished by hot-gluing the houses to little plates.

Everyone brought various candies and frosting and the ten 10 kiddos, ranging in ages from 13 months to 10 years, had a grand time decorating their houses.

Johanna was mostly interested in eating the candy - I ended up decorating most of her house but that's OK. I must admit I popped my fair share of candy into my mouth as well. I have actually been peeling off pieces of candy this week and eating them too. Let's just say there are no more candy corns or gumdrops left on the house.

Merry Christmas for our little corner of the world to yours.

Felt Italian Dinner - Mostaccioli and Meatballs, Salad and Bread

2010-12-18T09:20:00.002-06:00

Mostaccioli and Meatballs, Salad and Italian Bread...Yum!

I have been making some Christmas gifts and wanted to share this Italian feast.

To make the mostacholi - cut 1.25" strips of cream felt. Hot glue into a tube and trim the ends at and angle. Hot glue noodles onto a circle base (I used a water glass for the circle) and then add your red sauce with hot glue. For the meatballs, draw a small circle onto a double thickness of felt, sew and then cut out. Snip a small opening on one side, turn and stuff. Then hot glue the opening shut and hot glue onto red sauce. Hot glue on cheese and parsley!

For the salad, sew four spinach leaves using a double thickness of Kelly green felt. Trim. For the rest of the salad, I just cut out different "veggies" from felt and then hot glued all of them together.

For the bread - trace an oval on a double thickness of brown felt. Sew and cut out. Snip an opening on one side of the felt, turn and stuff. Then hot glue cream shape over opening to close and add two more for a baked bread effect.

Pretty easy stuff!

Entry Table Revamp

2010-12-14T16:43:00.002-06:00

I found this beauty curbside with a nice "Free" sign on it. I did a U-turn in my little Volvo wagon and somehow shoved this long entry table in the back, even with a car seat and toddler in tow.

I wasn't sure at the time what to do with it but it was FREE! Plus, we have like no furniture that goes with the vintage style of our living room. I thought this had potential.

Here is how it looked before! I hated the black.

I stripped the top with Citristip. That stuff works pretty nicely and doesn't smell horrible.

Yay! There was wood underneath. I didn't know if it was particle board or veneered.

I then sanded the top with a belt sander. I started with a coarse sand paper, then moved to medium and finally a fine paper. I then taped the top and spray painted the bottom a semi-gloss white using Rustoleum Painter's White. I then sanded the edges a little more on top.

I had never stained anything before but it was actually pretty easy- and fun! First, I applied a Minwax Wood Conditioner as directed and then applied two coats of Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut as directed.

Lastly, I applied two coats of Mixwax Polyurethane in Satin. I love it! It matches our dark trim almost perfectly.

I found the knobs at Lowe's and thought they looked like a great fit with this piece. Very simple yet antique looking. At first I had some knobs from World Market, but the styles didn't quite mesh. (World Market is a good place to find neat-o looking cabinet hardware at a fraction of the price compared to Anthropologie!)

We are very happy with how it turned out. I still hate that our living room is so hodge-podge looking but that will change with time. I also wanted to add some white pieces to the wood to brighten it up a bit. We are currently searching for some nice curtains and I am also sewing sheers for our living room. We have lived over a year with no privacy!!!

I can't wait to refinish other found treasures!

On a side note, I did paint the living room. It is a very subtle change but the color we picked is called "Parachute Silk" by Behr and really brings out the warm tones of our dark trim. I am happy with the color choice after buying way too many samples to test. I just have the hallway left to paint.

The Bathroom Remodel Begins!

2010-12-03T15:08:00.000-06:00

Farewell, ugly bathroom. These are the last pictures anyone will ever take of you.

After just a few hours, you are already comprised of rubble.

See what we have planned for our only bathroom here.

Here's My Free Shutterfly Christmas Card!

2010-12-03T14:57:00.000-06:00

I was able to get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly and am so excited about how they turned out! Johanna and I had a little photo shoot just this afternoon and I already have them ordered.

You can check out my previous post on how to score 50 free cards for yourself. I think they may still be running the promotion!

All Of Us Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I Love Shutterfly Holiday Cards! Fun Promotion!

2010-11-22T13:12:00.002-06:00

There are two kinds of holiday cards - the kind you keep and the kind you recycle after the holidays are over. The keepin' kind are always the cute photo cards of family and friends!

There is no better way to send smiles across the miles than to send a professionally done holiday card. This year there is even a perk - Shutterfly is offering 50 free holiday cards to bloggers who contribute a post dedicated to Shutterfly's fun and festive holiday products! And yes, I am totally taking advantage of this offer. I think it's awesome!

To read more about their fabulous promotion, click here.

I have been hunting through their 2010 selection and have found a few cards I am currently coveting.

Merry Blossoms

Holly Frame

Seasonal Chic 2010

It is really hard to choose because there are over 800 different styles and they are all really cute. I love their folded cards because many designs allow you to insert a special greeting or additional picture inside the card. Again, this adds to the fun and professionalism of the product.

I am also thinking of how easy it would be to create some holiday gifts for Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Calendars to display on desks.

Notepads adorned with my cute little daughter.

Or keepsake photobooks to document the year (I LOVE these).

You know what I would love - a nice gift certificate to Shutterfly to let me catch up on my digital prints or create a fun photobook.

I am really excited to create my 2010 holiday card with Shutterfly - I have always had good luck with them in the past. A quality product, lots of great promotions on free shipping and discounted product, and fast shipping.

Happy Holidays to you!

Wendy's Chili Recipe

2010-11-18T11:01:00.001-06:00

Yum! It's chilly here in Kansas City so it's time to make some Chili!

My favorite chili has always been Wendy's chili. I used to eat it all the time when I did Weight Watchers because it is low in points but staggering in terms of deliciousness!

I finally found a recipe that brilliantly mimics Wendy's hearty and satisfying chili. I had many taste-testers who equally agreed that this recipe is a keeper. Give it a try and let me know if you enjoyed it.

Wendy's Chili Recipe

(This link is to the original recipe I found online, complete with user comments. However, I modified mine slightly)

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
4 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14 ounce) can chili beans
1 (14 ounce) can Bush' seasoned pinto beans
1 (14 ounce) can Bush' seasoned kidney beans
1 (10 ounce) can mild Rotel diced tomatoes
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package William's mild chili seasoning
2 lbs ground sirloin

Directions:

1. Brown ground sirloin - make it really chunky. Add all items, including juice, into large pot. Do not precook onions or pepper.

2. Cook until onion and pepper are tender.

3. Serve.

4. Freezes nicely!

Felt Soup Can and Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-11-08T19:16:00.000-06:00

The leaves are falling and there is a definite chill in the air, so naturally -

soup's on!

Last week I made some chicken noodle soup from scratch and was inspired to create a "felt" version for my little one.

I think it turned out great and was excited to share!

Soup Can Tutorial:

Take a "Cream of Something" soup can and measure how big to make your can. Cut two pieces.

Trace circle around bottom of can - cut four.

Here are your pieces ready to sew!

Now, dig out an old card stock flyer and cut two pieces - one just shorter than your long rectangle piece and the other just smaller than your circle piece. This will act as reinforcement for your soup can.

Sew the two long rectangle pieces together with the cardboard in the middle. Use about an 1/8" seam allowance. Then sew two circles together with the cardboard insert and finally sew the remaining two circles together (they will have no cardboard insert).

Create a label and sew or hot glue it onto your long rectangle piece. My "Soup" circle looks like the Hamburglar wrote it but don't worry, I corrected it later on. Plus, maybe you will be able to sew your label on straight.

Now, pinch the ends of your rectangle fabric together and sew a straight stitch using an 1/8" seam allowance. This will make the tube.

Hand stitch on your bottom - this piece is the one reinforced with cardstock.

For the "pop top", cut out a small gray oval and punch two circles in it with a hole punch. Hot glue it on the lid then hand sew a small section of the lid to the can. You can also correct your horrible penmanship by hot gluing a new "Soup" label on. Much better.

Chicken Noodle Soup Tutorial:

Take some dark yellow or bright yellow felt to use for the chicken stock. (it looks brown in the picture but it is more orangey/yellow). I used this play pot for my measurements because I wanted the soup to fit into this stock pot. I made two circles a little smaller than the pot to make sure the soup would also fit into my soup can, about 3.25".

Cut a long strip two inches wide.

Sew the long strip onto the circle. Go slow and turn your fabric as you go.

You will have this!

Now - do the same at the bottom. Remember to go slow and turn that fabric! Don't worry about the opening....

...because we are going to turn and stuff loosely with polyfill. Now, either hand sew or hot glue the opening shut. I opted for hot glue. Love that stuff.

For the noodles, take some cream felt and cut long "noodles." Hot glue them on one by one and create a weave pattern.

Add carrots and celery!

And you are done my friend!

My soup is MSG free and delicious.

Pop the top and cook me up some soup baby! Yum, yum.

Add a little salt.

Needs a little more pepper.

Time to dish it up!

Prudent Baby Nap Mat/Bed Roll

2010-11-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

The first moment I set my eyes on this I knew I had to make one for my little Johanney. It's the Prudent Baby Nap Mat/Bed Roll.

I decided to make one for Johanna's second birthday and was very happy with how it turned out. The tutorial was easy to follow and fairly simple to make. I did encounter some personal frustration mostly because I have never sewed such thick batting and I have never used seam binding. Needless to say, I learned a lot and was happy for the challenge!

Johanna is obsessed with putting blankets on her babies. She even makes Mommy and Daddy lie down so she can put a blanket on us and pat us. She will tell me "Head Down!" and "Eyes Shut" in a very stern matter. Even, "Go to sleep!" I guess they must talk to her like this at day care.

I new she would love this.

Snuggle time.

Hey, I'm trying to sleep! Quit flashing pictures at me!

The built in strap makes it perfect for on the go outings - even though it is pretty much the same size as my Little Bit at this point. I am hoping we can take it to our friends' houses and she might actually sleep. She is way over the pack-and-play and at the last party we went to she was the only kid wandering around at 11:30 p.m. still ready to party. Maybe the comfy-ness will entice to her actually sleep so Mommy and Daddy can stay a little longer. (Please work for New Years!)

I pretty much followed the tutorial - my fabric was only 42" wide after I washed it so it is a little more narrow. Also, I used little snaps instead of Velcro to keep it secure and I didn't have any cotton webbing so I just made a fabric strap.

Of course we both had to test it out together. Here is my little "mini me." Lights out!

The Best Darn Sugar Cookies Ever

2010-10-19T16:54:00.001-05:00

The Best Darn Sugar Cookies Ever

Cookie Recipe:

3/4 c. Shortening

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla (I LOVE Danncy Mexican Vanilla)

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Mix together shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out and cut 1/8" thick. Use ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes. Makes approximately two dozen cookies.

Butter Cream Frosting:

1/4 c. unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. milk

Combine melted butter, salt, vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar. Add milk and remaining sugar alternately. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add more sugar to thicken or milk to thin.

**My Mom passed along this recipe to me and these are seriously the best sugar cookies. They are soft with a crispy outside and so easy to make. They freeze well so make a bunch in advance!**

The Adventures of Cupcake Girl!

2010-10-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

Here is my itty-bitty cupcake with a cherry on top! My Little Bit is ready for Halloween. I was actually on the ball this year and have already completed her costume. Now Johanna can "practice" for the big night.

I saw this idea on Lemon Tree Creations. You can find a tutorial for the No-Sew Cupcake Costume on their terrific site.

I did sew mine a little - I sewed on the white trim to the second layer of felt. And I made my cherry into a hair clip instead of a headband. I also used fleece for the cupcake straps, but otherwise my idea is 100% knock-off.

This was a really easy costume and CHEAP! I think I spent under $15. Yay!

Happy Halloween from my Cupcake Cutie!

DIY Fabric Roller Shade

2010-10-11T15:02:00.003-05:00

Custom fabric shades can cost hundreds of dollars, thousands to outfit your entire house. However, you can get the look for less by doing it yourself!

Our house came with lovely aluminum shades in every room. They were a beautiful discolored shade of dirt and grime and home to billions of dust particles. They had to go. However, we need some privacy.

We started to brainstorm ways to add privacy while avoiding any kind of blind. I looked into custom made shades and then were $300 a piece after a huge discount at JC Penneys. I also looked into vinyl shades but I do not like their plastic look and vinyl is extremely bad for the environment.

My mother in law had made fabric roller shades for her house and even had leftover wooden roller shade rods and hardware. Lucky for me, I cut down costs this way. However, even if you purchase rods, hardware, and fabric - you will still come out way ahead in cost savings.

The window on the right has a fabric roller shade and the window on the left does not. We are hoping the fabric will not only give us privacy but will help buffer out the heat and cold.

I chose an off white matelasse type Waverly fabric from the custom order section of Joanns. I bought it at 65% off. The fabric came to about $15 a yard. My windows are really big but as long as your window is less than the standard decorator fabric size of 54" it should work.

To purchase fabric yardage, measure the length of your window and add 12"-18". This is how much fabric you will need for one window. I bought 15 yards because I am making seven shades total for our upstairs bedrooms.

Supplies:

Fabric (Do not get anything that is really puffy or thick)

Roller Shade Rod

Saw

Matching Heavy Duty Thread

Trim

Tassel Shade Pull

Roller Shade Pull Cord Screw

Staple Gun with Upholstery Staples

Inside Mount Roller Shade Brackets (located at Wal Mart and Home Depot)

Step 1: Mount inside brackets to window. Remember that when your shade is rolled up, the fabric will take up a lot of space. Make sure you mount your brackets about 1.5" down from the top of the window. (The picture above shows the thickness).

Step 2: Cut your wooden shade to size and hammer in end cap. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT CUT THROUGH THE END THAT HAS THE ROLLER MECHANISM. For my shade, the side with the mechanism went to the left when mounted.

Step 3: Cut your fabric panel. It will be as wide as the wooden part of your roller shade and the length of your window plus an additional 12"-18" long. This was the hardest part for me because I was working with a very large piece of fabric. I used the pattern in my fabric as a guide to make sure my cuts were straight.

Step 4: Finish your seams with an edge stitch. I used the blind hem foot for my machine and used an edge stitch. This finished the seam from fraying and gave it a nice professional look.

Stitch #41 is the edge stitch that I used.

Blind Hem Foot

Step 5: Once the two sides and top edges were finished, I used a scalloped pattern to trim the end of my shade. The pictured pattern was given to me by my mother in law but you could easily create one out of parchment paper. The scalloped bottom really gives it a vintage and classy look.

Finish the scalloped edge with the edge stitching.

Step 6: Sew on trim.

I sewed my trim onto the fabric in two different places.

Step 7: Iron like crazy.

Step 8: I purchased the above wooden slat at the hardware store. It is made of pine and is heavy but it worked. Cut it to size.

Step 9: Create a pocket for the wooden slat.

Step 10: Pin, remove slat and then top stitch across. Then slide in your wooden slat. It may take some wiggling because the splinters easily get caught on the fabric.

Step 11: Here is the roller shade cord screw. Screw it into place in the middle of your shade and add the tassel.

Step 12: Staple fabric onto roller shade. Mentally flip this picture around if you can.

Below is this picture again to show you how the fabric attaches and rolls onto the shade. You are pulling the rod clockwise when you tug on the fabric.

Step 13: Hang it up onto the brackets and make sure it hangs straight. You will have to wind up your tension rod by turning it backwards to activate the spring inside.

I hope this all makes sense. Please email me if you have any questions. One down six more to go!!!!

I'm linked to:

My Frugal Family
Sugar Bee Craft Edition
Hope Studios
Lucky Star Lane
Sew Much Ado
Blue Cricket Design
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Some What Simple

The 15 Minute $15 Fall Wreath

2010-10-08T08:23:00.002-05:00

This project was so much fun to make because it was fast, cheap and easy.

Just like the McDonald's lunch I had today.

Supplies:

Grape Vine Wreath- $5.99 @ Hobby Lobby

Silk Flowers- $9.00 @ Hobby Lobby during the 50% off sale

High Temp Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

I found this beautiful floral bush at Hobby Lobby. I loved the colors - greens, yellows, browns, and cream. I also picked up two Merlot colored daisies to give it more dimension. Hmm...some wine sounds good about now.

Just snip off your flowers about 5" down with a wire cutter after all the greenery tapers off. Start to visualize in your head how you might want it to look. The key is to create different angles and to equally distribute the colors. Also, make sure it is full without airy gaps.

I started at the top and then worked my way down. At the bottom I reversed the angle of the last row of flowers. This helped to create a soft ending point and helped to hide any bottom stems. I also went back and added more depth at the top. I felt a natural urge to start with a light cream colored flower at the top because I think our eyes are drawn to light colored objects before dark ones.

If your floral bush doesn't come with any pointy grass or extra "whispies" then pick up a floral pick. The different shapes and textures make floral arrangements appear more interesting.

Also, don't be stingy on the hot glue. This needs to withstand high winds if you are hanging it outside.

Lastly, I wanted to give you another color palette idea. These beautiful flowers were from a wedding I was in last weekend. I think the colors are beautiful and would also lend themselves nicely to a fall-inspired wreath.

Linked to:

The Shabby Nest
Fingerprints on the Fridge

Halloween Costumes - I Prefer Cute over Scary

2010-10-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Halloween is only a few weeks away and is also one of my favorite holidays. I love it that Johanna is so young because I can choose what she gets to be. Ha ha!!!

I was kicking around the idea of making her a puppy dog costume but then I saw this...

No Sew Cupcake Costume by Lemon Tree Creations

Seriously, how cute it that? Plus, it had me at the "no sew" tag line. I think it will be cheap to make, too! Another plus.

Here are some costume ideas from last year:

Twister Costume

Baby Bee Costume

What are you doing this year? I need some more ideas!!!

Bathroom Remodel Sneak Peek

2010-10-07T11:05:00.001-05:00

There is nothing that will make you feel more like an adult than a major remodeling project. In fact, this will be the first time we have hired someone to tackle such a major improvement in our home.

I had to contact multiple contractors and get bids, etc. for a bathroom remodel. Let me just say - this was quite a task! We had four different bids come in and they were all over the place in terms of costs and materials. Very confusing. However, we settled on a lively, funny guy named British Bob and can't wait to see our hard work and plan come to fruition.

The project is still a few weeks out but I wanted to give you a sneak peak of our "design board."

First: Here is our current bathroom. Lovely, isn't it. It was redone in the '80s. Can't you tell? My goal was to create a timeless bathroom that in 10-15 years, if we ever move, a potential buyer will not say, "Wow, this is SO 2010. Yuck." For me that means no colored glass, no travertine stone, nothing that is really popular right now. Not that I don't like the contemporary styles but we are only going to do this once. Also, it means that we ended up doubling our original budget to make sure we did it "right" that first time around.

Lastly: Being how this is our ONLY bathroom, we decided that it is not the ideal DIY project. It could take us months and I only want to pee and shower in our basement dungeon as little as possible. Yes, that's right. We do have a weirdo toilet in our basement that we get to use during the project and British Bob is going to set us up a temporary shower in the old cast iron tub rotting in the basement. Currently, our washing machine drains into it. Classy.

Welcome to the sneak peek!

Top Row:

We are using a white/gray marbled granite with garnet specks in it. It is really hard to find light colored marble. We picked a remnant piece but I am afraid it may be too small. They had the wrong measurements when we picked it. Keep your fingers crossed! We are using the existing vanity because it is custom fitted - it will be painted white as well as all the trim in the bathroom. We decided to leave the existing window. It's solid wood inside and out!
We are replacing the existing vanity medicine cabinet with the one pictures or maybe an oval beveled medicine cabinet.
Glossy white subway tile will go all the way to the celing in the shower area and will also be at wainscot height all around the bathroom. The top of the chair rail will have ceramic crown molding trim. There will be a small pencil strip of black limestone used as an accent piece.
Lavatory faucet is from the Brandywood Collection by Danze.
Lighting is still pending but I like these chrome opalesque lights from lightinguniverse.com.
The floor will be done in a glossy hex tile. We are going to tile over our 100 year old white hex tile. At least we know it goes with the vintage look!
Shower and tub faucet also from the Brandywood collection by Danze.
Toilet part of the Memoris collection by Kohler. Lowe's has a kit you can buy for $328 even though it is not listed on their website. The one piece toilets are $600-$900! We like the vintage lines of this toilet.

Here are some design inspirations!

I would love to use a vintage lace tablecloth to hang as a privacy curtain with metal clips and a cafe rod over the window.
The fabric samples are from the Premier collection at fabric.com. I am thinking a powder blue or gray/blue would be perfect for the wall color. I like how the first fabric sample incorporates a soft blue, white and gray color that would match the tile and chrome trim. I need to order samples and see if either would work for a homemade shower curtain.
The last picture is a good example of a pretty gray/blue wall color.

Another pretty wall color and example of white subway tile with crown molding.

This last picture shows three inspirations: We would like to add an additional shower sprayer for cleaning kiddos and the shower. We are going to use a pencil thin black limestone accent piece, similar to what is pictured, and lastly we will have to recessed shelves like the one pictured.

I cannot tell you how excited I am for this project. I will keep you posted and hope to have photos of our new bathroom posted before the holidays! Yay for remodels!

Hey Shorties! Hem those pants - How to do a blind stitch hem

2010-09-14T11:19:00.000-05:00

In the past if the hem on my pants was too long I would either:
a.) where REALLY tall shoes - think platform - and then throw out my back or stumble.
b.) step on my too long pants and turn them into a 1990's Seattle grunge looking leg covering.

Once I also had a nice pair of dress pants that I abandoned just because the hem on one leg became "loose."

Wow - what a waste of $40.

Now that I am older, and MUCH wiser (less wasteful, less lazy), I figured that I could probably somehow hem up some pants. I actually bought two REALLY nice pairs of pants from the Banana Republic Outlet that were way too long on me. I'm only 5'4" and they didn't have the short gal size.

I saw the tutorial one day and thought - hmmm...my sewing machine also has all these crazy stitches I know nothing about. Perhaps I should utilize them.

Grosgrain: Technique Tuesday: Blind Hem

I then became brave and watched a few other helpful tutorials on YouTube.

(The Lord of the Rings battlesque style music makes me laugh but the tutorial is great).

(This is actually for drapes but the visuals on how she folds the fabric easily applies to pants.)

I have faith in you too that is you watch these you can share in my success of being an amateur tailor. Now I can try on any length of pants I want and know I too can wear those regular length pants without having to buy risers for my shoes.

Kitchen Sewing Projects

2010-09-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here are some kitchen related sewing projects I recently completed. I made this set as a gift for my best friend for her bridal shower. All of the patterns were relatively simple and turned out great.

Her kitchen colors are tan, brown, black, and wine red - think the French Bistro look. I thought these vintagey fabrics would fit but also bring a pop of color.

The first project was a cute ruffled apron made from the Simplicity 3752 pattern. I often struggle with reading patterns but this one was very simple. There are other links on the web to make similar aprons but I really liked how this pattern had you create the waistband. I may make the little flirty pink apron pictured next for me.

I also made some Ric Rac Cotton Dishtowels from the Moda Bakeshop.

Lastly, I made a dish drying mat, inspired by Noodleheads.

I really want to make a ruffly apron for myself - I love aprons and have a growing collection. Many are vintage inspired aprons made for me by my mother-in-law in my kitchen colors. When we redo our kitchen I hope to display them on the leading upstairs. Maybe even use some for art and curtains like this.

Bridal Dress Favor Box and Other Shower Shenanigans

2010-08-31T16:47:00.001-05:00

Need an easy favor or decoration for a bridal shower? Make this cute little Bridal Dress Box! I just used this template I found on the web and made a few Bridesmaid dresses and a Bridal Gown to use as a centerpiece decoration for a bridal shower.

You can easily put in chocolates or other candies if you need a favor to send home with your guest. I altered mine a little - enlarged and made the neckline straight instead of sweetheart. I also made a little tab at the top so I could glue the neckline together. Easy peasy!

I also made up some keepsake cards and each guest wrote a memory or how they first met the bride to be and she had to guess who wrote each card. A fun little ice breaker and easy way to reminisce.

We also played this hilarious game that one of my friends suggested. We emailed the guests and asked them to bring a pair of underwear that best describes your own personality or has an inside joke "behind" it. Then we strung them up and the bride had to guess who brought what. It was pretty funny - she had to tread carefully with the granny panties.

A few people brought teeny tiny diapers - one has a newborn and the other announced she was pregnant! I sewed some ruffles and hearts on a pair of cotton briefs - she guessed it easily. My pharmacist friend brought panties with little pills taped all over them and a bottle of Viagra attached. Another person brought camouflage panties because she just moved to the Ozarks. Ha ha! Good times.

What a great weekend. :)

Love you ladies!

Bedroom Photos

2010-08-25T13:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a little update on our bedroom for those who are following our fixer-upper progress. We have actually had the room painted for a few months but I am just now taking pictures. Oh well!

Here is what the bedroom looked like when we moved in. This room was the least ugly of all the rooms upstairs but still needed the same amount of work.

Vince added a fan, wall switch, and had to fix the door to the hallway - the inside panel was broken. This involved sawing off the top of the door and replacing it with a new panel. Good times!

All of the trim was in horrible shape. We painted three doors, three coats each and all of the window trim as well, which was still the original dark wood on the inside only, meaning it took forever to paint. We also polished all of the doorknobs and replaced the electrical outlet fixtures. Brasso is seriously the bomb.

Yay! Here are the "after" pictures of our bedroom. We used the same color of paint as the guest bedroom, Behr "Haze" for the walls and "Decorator White" for the trim. I LOVE it!

We haven't done much decorating, but just rearranging the furniture has made the room look more open and spacious. My next big project is to make fabric roller shades for all the bedrooms from some beautiful matelasse type Waverly fabric I purchased.

These two walls will be fun to decorate - not sure what I will do quite yet.

I love the two closets painted white and flanking the dresser. I also love the different wood hues and how the light maple pops against the antique walnut fan and old oak flooring. I want to keep a thread of the dark wood trim from the downstairs weaving through the upstairs.

We have also painted the hallway - photos coming soon - and are almost done painting the sun room. In the next few weeks we are totally redoing our bathroom, so pretty soon the upstairs will be completed! All in less than a year after moving in! I am very proud of all the work we have accomplished, even though I always want to cry when tackling a room. Things are coming along and looking good. This home is becoming our own!

Wallpaper Wall Art

2010-08-20T09:54:00.001-05:00

A while back I blogged some ideas I had for inexpensive wall art. I am happy to finally share with you one of them.

I purchased these GORGEOUS wallpaper samples from Bradbury and Bradbury. These sheets were $1 each. Yes, $1 each. Amazing.The ones pictured are Raspberry Bramble from the Morris Traditional Roomset. I also purchased one of the Clementine series, also beautiful. This paper is handcrafted and has a beautiful hand screened texture. I love it.

I bought these frames for Joann's for about $5 a piece after all was said and done. They even came with the white mats.

To make sure they hung evenly, I marked where the nail holes should go on a piece of computer paper and then taped the papers to wall, measured, leveled and nailed in the nails. Similar to this method of hanging pictures.

These pictures don't do justice to the rich, vibrant colors. This dark green piece even has beautiful metallic gold details. I love the dark walnut frames - they tie in the dark wood work found throughout the downstairs of our house. It really looks lovely.

Total cost - around $25

Here are a few other pieces I love - some I have already purchased, others I am coveting.

Birchwood

Damasks

Ruby Honeysuckle

I hope to share more with you soon!

My New Favorite Store - Francesca's Collections

2010-08-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to share some fabulous fashion bargains! I am a total bargain shopper when it comes to clothes. I like to buy new things as seasons pass and am always on the lookout for comfortable, inexpensive finds. I have become a cheapskate and hate to spend more then $25 for a top and $50 for a dress because you never know how long they will be in style or hold their shape.

I have been Internet stalking Francesca's Collections for a while - it was recommended to me by a colleague. I even receive their weekly coupons in my inbox. I was afraid it would be too young for me or too boutique like. My comfort zone for clothes is J.C. Penney or T.J. Maxx where people leave you alone.

However, I finally was able to get out by myself the other night to do a little shopping. Yay! I have a party to go to Saturday night with some girlfriends and was in hot pursuit of a dress. I saw on their website that most of their dresses are around $38.00 and I thought this would be affordable, but I must have went at the right time because I found these adorable bargains:

Navy Blue Matte Jersey Dress: $19.99
This is totally my style - romantic with a twist of bohemian

Matching blue and gold earrings: $2.98

Lovely bracelet bundle: $6.98

I also bought this adorable cardigan for $24.99. I always have the hardest time finding cute, fitted cardigans. I love the romantic details and the perfect shade of gray! Also - I snagged this gorgeous necklace for only $6.98 on sale. I wear a long necklace almost every day to work. I LOVE THEM! Especially, in my favorite color, green.

They had many cute shirts and accessories. I probably would only shop here for bargains or special occasions but was very happy with my find. I can wear them to work or out for date night, even church!

Just wanted to share my new crush with you. Enjoy!

Johanna's DIY Play Kitchen - Mission Accomplished

2010-08-11T15:10:00.004-05:00

Wowza. I can't believe I am FINALLY finished with this project. I have been working on it forever. Mainly because my vision kept changing and I had to become the ultimate problem solver when it came to building this kitchen - luckily there are some very helpful people at the hardware store. However, I think it turned out great and Johanna has already spent quite a bit of time playing with it (15 minutes a day for a toddler is like hours in adult time).

The project began with this humble 80's style nightstand snagged from the Salvation Army for $15. I talked them down from $17.

Vince cut out the hole for the "sink" with my dad's borrowed jigsaw. We were both afraid I would somehow saw off my leg.

Here she is primed and ready to paint.

Next steps (remember, these steps took me MONTHS! But maybe you could do it in a day):

Two coats of spray paint with Krylon's Celery Green.
Remove both drawer faces with determination and force without busting them.
Attach one drawer face with piano hinge to to cabinet so it opens like an oven door.
Attach cabinet double roller catch to keep "oven door" shut.
Attach other drawer face to top of cabinet with extra outside mount roller shade hardware I had laying around. An "L" bracket would also work.
Drill three holes to attach knobs. My cabinet was too thick to use the screws that came with my knobs. My creative solution was to Gorilla Glue a twisted floral wire into the knob and then thread it through the hole. All three knobs are then twisted together underneath so they can be "turned" but remain intact.
Attach faucet by drilling huge holes. I searched FOREVER for a cheap used faucet but couldn't find one. If I would have waited long enough I could have reused the one in our bathroom (we are going to redo it soon) or if I would have went to the Habitat for Humanity RESTORE, I'm sure I could have scored one. However, it was time to just finish this baby up - so I bought the Landlord Special at Home Depot for $11.

The burners are wooden plaques spray painted with leftover Rustoleum Metallic paint from this project. The sink is a $3 cake pan from Dollar General.

I added plenty of "C" hooks for hanging utensils and potholders. I also super glued a picture of our dog to the backsplash to make it feel more homey. He is saying "I'm going to get dog hair into your food. You just wait!"

Mmm....pasta for dinner. I bought those little pots, pans, and spoons from Joann's a few months ago for $1 each!

More hooks for easy access. You never know when you'll need to grab that frying pan! That little pan is actually an egg poacher found at an antique mall.

This chalkboard is attached with magnets. We always had "Chef's Choice" the last few days of school when I was a kid. You never knew what was going to be served and it usually was the most hated item that was probably unearthed from the school's giant freezers.

I also used magnets to keep the flower pot and watering can attached to the top. I had a little terra cotta flower pot that has already been broken so hopefully the added magnet strength will keep this canister (also purchased from the Joann's bargain bin) intact (there is a magnet glued to its bottom).

The inside of the cabinet has two plastic bins that can be easily removed when it is time to make dinner.

I still need to find a oven rack big enough to fit. I also thought it would be cute to put one of those little adhesive plastic bubble lights inside so she would have an oven light.

(This picture better shows you how to attach the piano hinge and cabinet double roller.)

Time to fry up an egg!

And boil some bacon? Hmm...it is too soon to start cooking lessons?

Say "Cheese!"

To see other play kitchen ideas check out this post.

To create your own felt food - check out some of my tutorials! Bon Appetit!

Linked to:

Fireflies and Jellybeans

The Shabby Chic Cottage
It's Sew Stinkin Cute
Sew Much Ado
Domestically Speaking
Blue Cricket Designs
Trendy Treehouse

Refrigerator Pickles - Pass and Fail

2010-07-27T08:54:00.002-05:00

I do enjoy a good pickle - my favorites are the ones sold in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.

Last summer I saw this post from Chez Beeper Bebe and have been waiting all year to buy some fresh cucumbers from the farmer's market to try it out.

I did get a chance to try this recipe - but for me it was a FAIL. I don't know if it is because I doubled the solution and made them too vinegary or if I didn't put in enough seasonings, but whatever the case, they are trash worthy. They also browned when I poured the boiling solution over the cucumbers. I am so sad because Ms. Beeper's pickles look so tasty. Darn it!

Now - my mom tried a recipe, too. I had sent her the Martha Stewart recipe from the above post but in all her infinite wisdom, she decided it didn't sound spicy enough and she tracked down her own.

She used this delicious "Spicy Refrigerator Dill Pickle" recipe from allrecipes.com - PASS. Her pickles have much more flavor and are brining in a vinegar/water solution with hints of spiciness.

I have pickle envy. Luckily, she gave us a huge jar that we can munch on or adorn our delicious grilled burgers with these crunchy low calorie treats.

I also found this recipe on Prudent Baby that sounds pretty good. Nothing says summer like homemade pickles, right?

(Actually, a glass of lemonade or an ice cold beer better describes summer for me but it is always fun to throw in an overtired cliche.)

Front Yard Plantings

2010-07-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post some pictures of our front yard plantings that we did back in May - whoops, only a few months late.

It may not look like much, but in a few years it will be beautiful.

We have a row of double knock out roses in the back, then azaleas (which luckily seem to flourish in our neighborhood), and then a row of boxwoods in front.

Here is what our front yard looked like last fall:

Sometimes if seems like things are moving so slow but then I look back at our before photos and realize we are making some progress! We ripped out the screens on the front porch last fall and Vince tore out all of those bushes and cut back our Smoke Tree. We also have been gussying up our front porch but we have very grand plans for the future - we need to remove the cracking cement paint and then will tear down the boards that held the screens and will repaint our entire house. We're thinking cream trim and two other historic colors.

Wow - the house no longer looks like it is abandoned.

Vince also spent a few weeks patching the limestone foundation - there was a **rodent** problem before we moved in. YUCK!

Our vision is to have the double knockouts grow to a nice height of 3-4 feet. Then we'll have some beautiful burning azaleas in the middle that drip beautiful blooms in the spring.

The front row will be a boxwood hedge once they get big and establish themselves.

Now - our backyard is a whole other story! Wait until you see how much work we have done and need to do back there. But for now - baby steps (see the baby steps in the upper left hand corner?) :)

Fabric Lined Crate

2010-07-22T12:53:00.001-05:00

Just think - this once was an ugly cheap plastic storage crate from Target - now a fun and cutesy storage bin for toys, books, and blankets! Plus - the fabric matches other decor in my daugther's room. And it was pretty easy!

I was looking through my "starred" items in my Google reader and came across this tutorial by Laura Gunn that I had starred last summer via U-Create. I almost forgot about it but then decided I definitely had to give it a try.

I followed the directions, which were very easy to understand - the only thing is that my seams are on the sides of my crate but in her picture I don't see any seams. Maybe she cut one long piece of fabric like when making pillowcases.

Anyway, I wanted to use the wide angle of the crate as the front. I also wanted to make it washer friendly so I sewed two button holes on the front of the liner and then sewed some ribbon on the inside. This helps to secure the fabric to the crate. I then attached an old vintage clip on earring as decoration (one I had leftover from this project), but it can easily be removed if there happens to be a tea party fiasco or toddler-esque accident. The fabric is from the Aviary collection by 3 Sisters and was leftover from the Sugar and Spice Bench. The inside is muslin.

It's perfect to store teddy bear friends and a comfy quilt or two. A perfect addition to Johanna's up and coming bedroom.

I think it would be cool to sew one of these for a baby shower and then fill it with a blanket and teddy. I love it when gifts come in reusable packaging.

What have you been sewing lately?

Black Bean Dip

2010-07-21T17:33:00.000-05:00

Yum....

This is my family's "Week of Healthy Eating." I am trying to lose a few pounds and get back into a healthy eating regimen.

I made a dip on the fly with a few ingredients and boy was it tasty!

If you love hummus and garlic then maybe give it a whirl.

1 can seasoned black beans
2 tsp. tahini paste
2 cloves garlic
squeeze of lime

Mix all ingredients in a blender and enjoy cold with pumpernickel bread, veggies or toasted flat bread. Seriously delicious and super healthy!

**this has a garlic and tahini kick to it so if you are not into having garlic breath you might want to pass.**

Sugar and Spice Reading Bench

2010-07-21T17:23:00.012-05:00

Yay! I would like to share my latest finished project with you - the Sugar and Spice Reading Bench. I am just tickled that it turned out better than I ever imagined.

My Little Bit sitting on her new bench for the first time.

A place to read.

A place to be silly.

The cushions are made up of patterns from the Aviary collection by 3 Sisters. It is getting harder to find this line but I was lucky enough to snag a few remaining patterns from a quilt shop in Wichita, KS. It matches the beautiful quilt my mother-in-law made Johanna for Christmas. You can see it in the right hand corner of the above photos. So cute!

I used this tutorial from Sew 4 Home as a guide to create the back cushion. I just made it longer, added fabric ties and extra fabric covered buttons. The back is the green fabric used on the seats.

Here is the bench before - I bought it at a huge garage sale and just new I could do something fun with it.

I sanded it really well and then spray painted it "Sweet Pea" pink by Rustoleum.

The seats were very weird - there were two pieces that came out of the bench but it actually made it easier to cover them. I first applied some muslin with my staple gun and stuffed it to the correct loft. Then I stapled the green fabric over the muslin for a smooth and strong finish.

Here is my sweet little girl taking a "nap" on the bench. I hope she is able to daydream and imagine her day away on her new little Sugar and Spice Reading Bench. I love you Little Bit!

Vintage Sewing Pattern Wall Art

2010-06-22T10:44:00.003-05:00

I bought these vintage sewing patterns at an antique mall in Iowa - they are pretty easy to find at most antique malls and reasonably inexpensive if you do a little hunting. I found similar ones on Etsy and Ebay but they ranged from $5-8 a piece. I was able to buy all four of these for $6 total. Yay!

The little pantsuit pattern (my favorite) is from the '40s and the rest I think are from the '50s or early '60s. Little girls sure had some cute and fancy clothes back in the day.

I then found some cheap frames at Dollar General for $2.50 a piece.

I spray painted three of them Celery by Krylon and painted one frame a metallic silver with some acrylic paint. I then used the silver paint to add some metallic touches to two of the green frames, and when dried, distressed with sandpaper. Basically, each frame is a little different but the colors all compliment each other.

To hang the pictures, I first cut out four pieces of paper to size and marked exactly where the nail should go.

I played around with the placement on the wall (I changed it about 10 times) and finally when I was satisfied, I hammered four nails through the paper where I had marked the nail holes.

Then I simply hung the pictures and now have a pretty (and cheap - total cost $16) collection of vintage inspired art for Johanna's room!

I just LOVE vintage sewing patterns! I am now on the lookout for vintage apron patterns for my kitchen and maybe even some really fun and flirty retro prints to display above my sewing machine after I move it into our up and coming sun room!

I hope you enjoy this easy and fun project.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T14:17:00.000-05:00

I love you Dad!

Here's the song we danced to at my wedding and now it has new meaning as I see Vince and Johanna's bond grow everyday. It makes me cry every time I hear it - I always remember our special dance. You are such a great dad and a great Grandpa, too. Love you lots! - Punky/Smo

Diaper Pouch

2010-06-15T15:29:00.002-05:00

Oh, this is my new favorite baby gift. It's the Diaper Pouch by Noodlehead.

I changed mine just a little bit.

I used $.99 fat quarters I bought on sale at Joann's Fabric.
I used a remnant fleece purchased from Joann's. It wasn't fusible, but it worked just fine.
I added some rick-rack scraps. I LOVE that stuff.
I used a fabric strap instead of the cotton webbing. I just cut the size recommended by Anna for the cotton webbing and added a 1/2 inch for a seam allowance. I stuffed with a small piece of fleece and then top-stitched.
I thought of adding a cool ceramic button on the front but wanted to keep it washable.
Next time I may use a snap instead of Velcro. My Velcro always gets lint in it and doesn't hold like I want it to.

It holds at least 3 diapers, cream and a half a pack of wipes. It was really easy to make and the tutorial was super easy to follow. Thanks again Anna!

One of my best friends just had a baby and I know she would love this! She's a crafter, too. Congratulations Kara!

I'm linked up with The Shabby Nest!

Bare Minerals vs. Avon Smooth Mineral Makeup

2010-06-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals makeup commercial? The stuff looks pretty sweet, doesn't it.

I have used Bare Minerals makeup for a few years now. I was on their six month plan - every six months I would get a shipment of two foundations, the Mineral Veil and a little free sample of something I usually never used. This cost me about $54 a pop or over $108 dollars a year.

I decided this was quite a bit to spend on makeup even though I really loved the stuff. I have become extremely frugal in my old age. I used to work for Dillards in the fragrance and cosmetics department right out of college and would be easily lured into buying Presciptives makeup. Their mascara was AWESOME - but is was $28 a tube. Ridiculous but at the time I thought it was OK to spend my money to have the good stuff.

But then I got married...and I just can't spend that type of money on mascara and "luxury" makeup. Now I use Cover Girl Professional Mascara and think it is the same formula as the Prescriptives brand I used to buy. I love it and it is $6 a tube. Savings = you do the math.

Anyhow, I also love infomericals and was hooked after seeing the transformation from fugly skin to glowing, gorgeous skin with a few buffs of Bare Minerals makeup. I signed up for their intro kit and was hooked. The stuff is fantastic and I'm not even getting paid to write this.

But to save a little dough, I thought I would cheap out last fall and try some of the Avon Mineral Makeup. The savings was significant - about $60 or more a year. I used it for about six months and thought it was OK for the price - a little heavier and orangy, and I felt it always made my skin look shiny. But sometimes you really get the same results with the off-brand, right?

Then I accidentally received one last shipment of Bare Minerals in the mail and was going to send it back...but I just couldn't resist tearing into the packaging and comparing my old makeup to my newer economically friendly Avon makeup.

Sorry Avon, but from now on I am going to stick with Bare Minerals. The coverage is wonderful - my complexion looks so much better - less shiny and "make-upy" looking. It never feels like I have on makeup. With Avon it always felt a little heavy and even a tiny bit stingy.

I do like the Avon Smooth Mineral blush and bronzer. I will save my money going the less cheap route with those products. Their Lash Shock mascara is not too bad either and I also like their no sharpen eye-liner.

Has anyone else tried the Bare Minerals makeup and another line of mineral makeup? I am still open to trying a drug store version but want some recommendations. Otherwise, Sephora here I come. To save money I can just buy what I need - I always have extra Mineral Veil.

"Reading Is Cool" Etsy Find

2010-06-03T09:59:00.002-05:00

I have been admiring this print for over a year now and finally took the plunge and ordered one from Studio Mela on Etsy. I am just disappointed that I didn't order it in April when she was having a BOGO sale. I would have ordered this print, too.

Anyhow, I just LOVE it and can't wait to hang it in Johanna's room. It is perfect because she really loves books and her mommy is a librarian.

Johanna is 19 months but she is already to the age where she is graduating from board books to actual story books.

She will let me read longer stories and it is so fun to walk to our awesome public library (where I worked for two years), go to story time, and now check out a few books.

During our last visit we checked out two very fun age appropriate books:

She is also picking up books and pretending to read them. So cute!

Do your children enjoy reading and going to the library? What are some of your children's favorites?

Inspirations - William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement

2010-05-28T13:42:00.003-05:00

Our house was built in 1913 and smacks of beautiful arts and crafts themes - dark wood trim, ample amount of windows, built in bookcases, and even a butler's pantry. It sounds magnificent but really needs a lot of work. Maybe someday the image that springs to my mind will be a reality. Anyhow...

The Arts and Crafts movement was well established in America during this time and its presence is widely sweeping throughout our Brookside neighborhood. I love everything that the movement stand for - a rebellion against mass machine produced items popular during the Victorian Era that were often described as ornate and artificial. The colors are my favorite - a palette of muted earth tones paired against splashes of bold color with designs inspired by nature and the seemingly lost art of the craftsman.

I want to fill our house with a mixture of architecturally appropriate artwork as well as a mix of the modern. I am a totally eclectic person and I think finding the right balance of old and new will give our house a charming flavor.

Again, the challenge is to find artwork that is affordable - dare I even say cheap! We have so much to do to this house and pennies to spend on artwork once you consider we have a complete bathroom and kitchen remodel upcoming in the near future. However, I have been able to find a few solutions that will help add color and elegance to our walls...once we get them painted.

William Morris Gift Wrap Paper

I just ordered this from Amazon for under $7 with shipping! I plan to use this GORGEOUS paper in four large, matted dark walnut finish frames to display somewhere in our living room.

I absolutely love these colors. If I could actually remember, I am sure these are the colors I dream in.

No vanilla here.

The Morris Workshop by Barbara Brackman for Moda Fabrics

I feel like I hit the jackpot with this fabric line. I absolutely LOVE it! The unfortunate thing is that the fabric is getting harder to find so I need to make some purchases ASAP. I am hoping to purchase a jelly or dessert roll to make into a table runner, and then select from the samples the yardage I would like to buy to make cafe curtains and window seat cushions and pillows in the dining room.

I am leaning toward this design for the cafe curtains.

Hammersmith Tea Peony

This one is nice, too - Cherwell Tea

I can't wait to pick out my favorite patterns and then find enough fabric to make a long window seat cushion and coordinating pillows. When am I ever going to get all of this done? Baby steps.

I have also found some beautiful William Morris inspired wallpaper samples that I hope to be able to frame. That coming soon!

What are your thoughts on Arts and Crafts - love it or hate it?

It's Feeling Like Summer in Kansas City!

2010-05-25T17:08:00.001-05:00

Sippy Cup Showdown

2010-05-25T10:40:00.002-05:00

Oh, the sippy cup. What a great invention...that is if you buy the right one. When I was registering for sippy cups before Johanna was even born, I had no clue which one to scan with my Target gun. I mean, there were like twenty different kinds to choose from.

That is why we now have at least four different kinds. I am always using the same few over and over and hate that feeling when I look in the sink to find that all of our good ones are dirty and covered in spoiled milk.

Here are my thoughts on sippy cups.

The Best: Playtex The First Sipster

These are wonderful. Easy to clean, easy for babies and toddlers to use and virtually leak proof. YAY!

Johanna also loves Playtext 'Lil Grippers now that she is old enough to hold it without the handles. They are bigger and easy to grip. Plus, the lid locks on. Again, LEAK PROOF!

The Worst: Avent Magic Cups

I roll my eyes when I look in the cabinet and these are the only things clean. They leak something horrible, and it took Johanna a while to figure out how to drink from the thin spouts. She gets milk all over her face when using these and the removable valve gets stinky smelling if not cleaned properly. Yuck, to these.

Good for Transitions: Munchkin Sippy Cup with Soft Spout

These are good for 12 months old transitioning from a bottle to a sippy cup because of the soft spout. However, you have to remove the plastic topper everytime when washing otherwise it gets mildewy and stinky. It is hard to lign up the topper with the little dots on the lid.

I will give this cup to Johanna with water only because it has a tendancy to leak. Plus, if she bangs this against our dog or the floor then liquid will fly all over everything.
The next step will be learning to drink from a cup. I don't thinks she's quite ready yet (neither am I) but she does like drinking from straws and sometimes will try to drink bathwater from little play cups that we use for bathtime toys. I'm sure she has probably had a little sip of her own pee laced bathwater before I could tell her "no."

Ok, Moms. What are your favorites or not so favorites sippy cups? Also, if you need a sippy cup leash that will fit a variety of styles then check out my Sippy Cup Leash tutorial.

DIY Garden Journal & Seed Packet Organizer

2010-05-10T08:42:00.003-05:00

My Mom is a super gardener - in fact, she started all of these plants from seeds! She is already a very organized person but I was brainstorming ideas of something special to make her for Mother's Day and I thought I would make her a Garden Journal and Seed Organizer! That way she can keep all of her information in one place - and in style.

I found this gorgeous three ring binder at Tuesday Morning for $4.99. I think I am going to go back and buy a few more. So pretty!

In Excel, I created four templates and put them behind sheet protectors:

Seed Starting Notes
Catalog Wishlist
Future Reference
Garden Chore List

You can download the templates for yourself by visiting Scribd. **Please note that you must download the Excel file - the PDF conversion that is viewable from the Scribd site has ruined the formatting, but the Excel file is still workable and printable. Go to "Download" and then select the .xls file.**

I got the ideas from looking at some garden journals out on the web. They are kind of plain but Excel sucks and wouldn't let me be creative with inserting images.

The journal currently has two sets of templates so she can start to prepare for next year while still tending this year's garden.

I really wanted to create a place for my mom to organize all of her seeds packets. I bought some photo album inserts from Office Depot to create an area to store the seeds. There is also a little slot for a gardener to make notes for next year. "Make sure to buy some more of these." -Or- "These seeds sucked. Don't buy again."

I also added a notebook with Modg-Podged coordinating scrapbook paper on the front. My Mom currently has a notebook with notes and pictures of all the seeds she started. Hopefully she will just add that to her binder and use the new one when needed.

Lastly, I thought it would be a good idea to tie a pen with a ribbon - that way she will never be without a pen. I am ALWAYS scouring my house for a darn pen that works.

I like these binder pages because they are durable but big enough to hold fat seed packets. She can also see the front and the back of the package for sowing information, etc.

Notes behind sheet protectors is great if your fingers are dirty from working in the garden.

Organization makes me happy. I wish I was better at it!

I love you Mom!!!

Mom and Johanna

Mom and Me

Lamp Stand Revamp

2010-05-08T10:51:00.002-05:00

I bought this at Hobby Lobby a few years ago for about $15. The black doesn't really go with Johanna's room.

I primed and spray painted it Glossy Ivory by Krylon. I love their paints - the angled sprayer really puts on a good coat.

I had some lace scraps given to me by my Mother in Law that I thought would be perfect for this project.

I Mod-Podged a few coats over a lace square onto the top of the stand.

When the Mod Podge was dry, I sprayed a clear acrylic coating on top to make sure it was water proof because we sometimes sit sippy cups on top.

Hot glued some lace around the edge.

Looking much better already!

Yay! A revamp that cost me less than $3. And the lamp I revamped looks even cuter on this revamped stand.

Noodlehead Gathered Clutch

2010-05-05T16:07:00.003-05:00

Another "Crafty to Do" item to check off of the list.

I actually figured out how to make this adorable Gathered Clutch @ Noodlehead thanks to Anna's awesome tutorial. I just love it!

"How can I destroy this?"

I first saw this clutch on Made as Dana shared some wonderful ideas on how to celebrate Mom for Mother's Day.

I picked out some fat quarters at Joann's on sale for $1.49 a piece!!! I should be able to get two clutches out of these fat quarters by mixing and matching.

Here it is - ready for me to take it on the town. I really want to make a bunch of these and experiment with different fabrics and configurations. Anna said she is going to make a pattern available for sale on her website so keep checking back with her.

Here is the inside of my clutch - there is a divider pocket and a card holder. FUN!!!

Some of my notes on this project:

First of all - I couldn't figure out how to get my darn zipper foot to work. The Bernina book and website were not helpful. It said to adjust my needle position to left or right but when I did the stupid machine sewed a zig zag stitch which actually sewed the foot to my clutch. Come on Bernina - this machine is supposed to be pretty smart, right? Maybe the owner is not but at least give me some better directions so I can fix it!
Next time I want to make sure the card holder is in the back piece of lining. It actually is on the other side of the gathered front but I'd like a person to see it when opening and looking into the clutch from the front. Maybe I misread the tutorial but next time I will now how to piece the fabric to achieve this.
During the last step that has you sew a 1/4" seam allowance all around the exterior and interior pieces, I left the opening on the side of the lining and not at the bottom. I was able to turn the clutch right side out OK, but when I came to top stitching the lining shut it was VERY HARD because I had to fight with the zipper, etc. I will not do this again.
I should have sewn the interfacing to the exterior pieces right away because as I was working I noticed I had a renegade piece of interfacing laying around. Then I accidentally stitched it to the lining piece - the front of the clutch has two pieces of interfacing and the back has none. No a biggie but kind of stupid on my part.
Dude, I broke two needles sewing this clutch. I need to learn my way around a zipper.
Lastly, I had a *&^%#@(* bobbin problem and was getting a giant threadball on the back of my work. AAHHH! Luckily, this post helped me fix it.

Do You Have Lead Paint? If Your Home was Built Before 1978 then Read This

2010-05-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

Was your home built before 1978? If so, there is a high probability that there is lead based paint lurking beneath your walls and windows. Warning: Lead based paint is highly toxic, especially to pregnant women and children!

I want to share some information with you. I recently had a lead paint scare and was completely unaware of the dangers of lead paint until I happened to stumble across some information while doing researching on remodeling.

We recently moved into a Prairie Four Square home built in 1913 and have been completely overhauling every square inch. This includes sanding and repainting trim and baseboards. Since our home is almost 100 years old, there is literally a 99% chance that somewhere in the home there is lead paint.

First a little background information. In Kansas City it is required to have all children tested for lead levels at 12 months, and then every year after depending on which zip code you live in (we live in a high risk zip code because our neighborhood is very old). Johanna was tested at 12 months and I never heard anything from the pediatrician so I assumed there was no problem. However, before Christmas I roughly dry sanded their trim in her bedroom and really sanded down the trim in our bedroom to prep it for painting.

The problem: Dry sanding can release lead dust that can infiltrate almost every square inch of the area you are working in and you can track it through your home. I did not know this – I thought paint chips were what I should really worry about.

Lead dust is so small you can't see it and it is easy ingested or inhaled. I found all of this out AFTER I had done all of this sanding without a mask. And, I hadn’t done a great job of cleaning it up in our bedroom because I had more work to do.

I was panicked – I called my OB/GYN and Johanna’s pediatrician scared that I was going to have organ failure or shave 10-20 points off of Johanna’s IQ. (I am a panicky person and also a borderline hypochondriac. At least I realize this). I was told to have my lead levels tested. I did and was OK. YAY!

I found out that Johanna had tested an “8” at 12 months. This is an acceptable number but the threshold for unsafe levels is “10.” Most children in Missouri test under a 1 around her age. This means she was already at a high level before we moved to this old house. I was VERY WORRIED!

My pediatrician told me to have her retested – the original method of testing was a finger stick, and this method can skew the results if the finger is not properly cleaned or is contaminated.

I contacted the Kansas City Health Department, who actually have a Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. It is a problem in big cities with older homes. The KCMO Heath Department uses the same finger prick method (the alternative being a venous blood draw) but they assured me they triple cleaned the area and had accurate results. Plus, their testing was free.

Johanna screamed and screamed during the testing, but two weeks later I was relieved to find that her lead levels had dropped to a “1”. Really, I can’t tell you how relieved I was.

Being that I am a librarian who researches everything, I read all I could on lead paint removal and its dangers. I found government pamphlets, blog articles and even read scholarly journals I accessed in science databases.

I wanted to share the information that I found to be the most helpful. The below article is great – it tells you about the dangers of lead paint and gives great explanations and even pictures on proper methods for renovation in older homes.

We now think that Johanna’s levels were high at 12 months because our first home was built in 1929. We had torn down a wall in the kitchen and most likely released lead dust throughout our house that was embedded in the carpet. In this home, Johanna learned to crawl and probably was exposed to lead dust found in the carpeting. We had done this renovation 4 years before she was born.

Please, please, please read this information and take it to heart if you plan to do any remodeling in an older home – especially if you have children, are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. No one tells you these things. I still feel lucky that I happened to run across on article on lead dust and children. We have now regrouped and do things differently. No more dry sanding and we decided against stripping some molding that has 5 layers of paint – most likely at least one of them is lead based.

Also, new laws have just recently been passed requiring contractors to be trained and certified in EPA-approved methods of containing and cleaning up work areas in older homes. Many complain that this will increase the cost of home renovations, but can you really put a price on your family’s safety? Make sure to check with any contractors or remodelers to make sure they are certified and plan to use safe practices.

Also, if you have any questions about lead paint or would like to test your home for lead paint, contact your local health department. They may even have a special division for lead paint safety.

Lastly, if you think your home has been contaminated, please don't freak out and cause yourself to have heart palpitations like I did. Here is a great article published in Pediatrics that talks about lead exposure in children and how loving, nuturing homes are what is really important for childhood development. Email me if you'd like anymore information. shelleycarney @ gmail dot com

Lead Paint Safety

Book Recommendation: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2010-05-05T09:10:00.001-05:00

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Rarely do I give a book five stars on my Good Reads account, but this book was definitely worth all five. In fact, its average rating on Good Reads is 4.5 stars – that is almost unheard of.

Set in Jackson, Mississippi during the turbulent early 1960’s, The Help is told through the eyes of three extraordinary women. Minnie and Aibileen are black maids who have worked for countless uppity white women who are extremely racist, even though they all say they believe in “separate but equal.” The third, Skeeter, is a recent Ole Miss grad who runs in the same circle as the maid’s employer but has an uneasy feeling about how the maids are treated.

In a seemingly self serving attempt to become a published writer, Skeeter decides to write a book filled with anonymous stories from the maid’s perspectives. Here she learns how some of the maids have raised countless white children in Jackson and have loved them as their own. Some maids become confidents and secret best friend to their employers, while others are treated horribly and accused of stealing and ill-will.

Skeeter’s attempt to set the truth free runs the risk of ruining the lives of all the maids in Jackson, as well as her own social standing within the community. However, as tensions rise in the South, all the participants know that this book could possibly be an agent for change and that their stories must be told.

The book is poignant and funny at times, while other parts make your heartache or blood boil with anger. It is a book that is hard to put down and by the end you feel like you have three new friends.

My favorite books have carefully crafted character development, and Stockett molds her writing around the inner thoughts and emotions of her characters.

I was hesitant to read a book about set during the Civil Rights Movement, because that time period makes me extremely frustrated and angry. However, this story is very clever and tells a new story. Stockett was able to draw from personal experience growing up in the Jackson with a maid who raised her, and this insider knowledge shines through in an intimate and well crafted story.

Pick it up at your local public library and let me know what you think!

DIY Sewing Machine Cover

2010-04-26T14:53:00.002-05:00

Yay! I finished something on my Crafty To Do List!
I saw this easy tutorial for sewing machine covers here at Sparkle Power and knew I needed one of these!

So - yesterday I went to Joann's and bought some AWESOME fabric and was so excited that I started cutting out the project last night and just finished it this afternoon. It was quick and easy!

The tutorial was great! The thing I struggled with the most was uneven fabric strips so to make sure my strips were straight before I sewed them together, I pinned them loosely and then pressed them from the front to make sure I had a straight pressed seam to use as my guide. This worked very well! If I would have used the presser foot as a guide I wouldn't have had a straight line.

Also, I remeasured the strips before sewing the front and back together. I'm glad I did this because my blue strip was uneven. I readjusted my measurements by 1/2" but the cover still fits the machine very nicely.

I love "flair" so I added a ceramic button on the front - first I hand sewed it on and then added a little hot glue to make it so it wouldn't tilt forward.

I am happy that the cover is reversible!

Thanks Sparkle Power for a great idea.

My machine comes with a hard cover but I have found that I am more inclined to sew if my machine is set up and ready to go! Plus, now I love looking at my machine dressed up it's custom made couture.

Another Brass Lamp Spray Paint Makeover!

2010-04-20T11:09:00.001-05:00

Here is the brass lamp I grew up with - my parents had it in their basement and we really needed a floor lamp in our living room since there are no overhead lights. Gotta love those 1980's brass lamps. They are EVERYWHERE! Plus, this lamp hold 4 lightbulbs. So goodbye to our drably lit living room.

I primed it first with the best primer ever - I would HIGHLY recommend priming your brass before painting.

This stuff works great! Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Coverage.

Then I did two coats of this Rust-Oleum Hammered in Dark Bronze (However, I was hoping the end product would have looked more brown that it did. The finish is more of a pewter color.)

The finished product - lamp shade from Target $24.99 but I saw that
Wal-Mart has a similar shade for $10 less.

I am happy with the results. The hammered paint looks really great and coats extremely evenly. We hope to eventually get newer, nicer lamps but this looks pretty good for now. I even got a compliment from the mail carrier when I was "revamping" outside!

Felt Banana Tutorial AKA "Mimi's"

2010-04-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

This is to go with my grocery store set in progress. So far I also have eggs and bread.

Turn right side out.

I just looped some brown floss through the end to create a stump look. Little extra work but totally worth it! Johanna has tried to eat this "mimi" a few times now and really loves playing with it. Bananas are one of her favorite foods - I wish I had her on video doing her cute little sign for banana. It looks like she is peeling her finger in a toddler sort of way. Here is a video when she first gets her hands on her "mimi."

Front Porch Chair Cushions

2010-04-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Our front porch is where we hang out. I love it! We can watch people walking by and there is always something going on across the street at the park. That means I want a super-comfy and fun porch area.

Needed: Fun chair cushions.

I bought the above decorator fabric and Belle Buttons at Joann's and then used this wonderful tutorial for Button Throw Pillows from Sew Much Ado.

I modified my measurements to fit two 16" ugly pillows I already had. On the second pillow I created a centered envelope to mix up the look. I am happy with how they turned out! I am pleased that with this design I can remove the covers to wash.

Outdoor pillows sell at Target for at least $12.99 per pillow. Mine cost about $6 a piece. I am going to make more but just need a trip to the thrift store to pick up some old ugly pillows to transform!

The view.

Spring is Here!

2010-04-13T14:25:00.001-05:00

That's all. I love you springtime.

DIY Recovered Chair

2010-04-06T15:34:00.010-05:00

We bought two of these chairs at a garage sale for $35. I loved the angles, the condition of the wood, and the dark antique walnut finish.

I wasn't the first person to have the idea to recover these chairs - there were three layers of fabric.

I selected this beautiful French quilted fabric by Waverly purchased at Joann's from their decorator fabric section. I believe it was $21.00 a yard on sale.

This project took me about 20 minutes. I lined up the fabric to make sure the pattern would look fabulous on the chair then I flipped it over, starting stapling and trimming and viola! Finished!

Hi little chair - you look fabulous and comfortable! I can't wait to recover your mate in the same matching fabric. Twins forever!

Swiffer Me Cheap - Fleece Dusting Alternative

2010-04-06T15:19:00.000-05:00

I have had a long standing theory that fleece would be excellent for dusting. I developed this theory when my daughter's fleece pants would act as a magnet for dog hair and dust while crawling and playing around our house.

Now it is springtime and our dog is shedding like CRAZY! Plus, we live in a 100 year old house and I am constantly vacuuming and dusting. You may not believe me from the pictures below, but I dust our house weekly and often vacuum the darn floor 2-3 times a week.

I had almost forgotten about my plan to buy some polar fleece for cleaning until I came across some excellent tutorials from Sew Much Ado.

Reusable Swiffer Duster
Reusable Swiffer Sweeper Pad

However, I didn't have a Swiffer Duster handle and I already have mopping pads. But, I was able to create an easy and just as effective solution for dusting!

Buy some remnant fleece ($1.75!!!) and cut it for rags. No sewing required because this stuff doesn't fray!!! I had an old Swiffer Sweeper so I was able to cut the fleece to size and then "stuff" the rags into into the grippers.

Wow, I cannot tell you how pleased I am with my new dusting helpers. I picked up so much dog hair that I was too embarrassed to show you the entire picture. Just remember - I DO clean my house on a very regular basis, but my dog sheds enough every day to clothe a smaller naked dog.

Dust removed from notorious dust "magnets" - T.V., window sill, mantle, window dormer

Here is the fleece stuffed into the Swiffer grippers. This baby stayed put and caught a ridiculous amount of dog hair. Plus, these are washable and reusable and CHEAPER than buying even the off brand of Swiffer products (Swoofers).

I hope this doesn't gross you out too much!

The culprit! Don't worry, I still love you Kujoe.

Simplicity Felt Food Patten

2010-04-05T11:19:00.001-05:00

Simplicity Creative Group - Craft

Wow - felt food is really catching on! Simplicity has created a felt food pattern. Joann's and Hobby Lobby often have patterns for $1-$2 so I will be keeping my eye out for this!

Nightstand Revamp of a Revamp

2010-03-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

This used to be a natural oak then I spray painted it black a few years ago to use as a television stand. However, I am not into black furniture anymore. So...I decided to paint it AGAIN! This time, white! I just primed it and painted a few coats of a glossy white and then slightly distressed it with sand paper. Now it looks much better and we really needed a nightstand in our guest bedroom. Yay!

Guest Bedroom Photos

2010-03-22T16:52:00.001-05:00

Here are photos of our guest bedroom. It is pretty much done for now - we will need to paint the ceiling, refinish the floor, and also fix the heating grate but we finally are at a point where we can enjoy the room!

The wall color is "Haze" by Behr. Trim is "Decorator White" by Behr.

There's Johanna's Puppy Pails quilt!

Here is a nightstand I revamped from a different revamped project. The clock is an antique "Little Ben" wind-up. The vase is by Gonder. I am really into antiques right now. I found both at an antique mall in Wichita.

This room has two nice sized closets!

And a door that leads to the sun porch! See our awesome ceiling fan and light? Now we even have a light switches in our bedrooms thanks to Vince!

I just love how the door knobs brightened up with a little cleaning.

Here is the door to the hallway - lots of work to do there!

BEFORE!!!

The art I purchased off of Etsy.
Two prints are from Strawberry Luna.

"W" is for Whale and "N" is for Nightingale.
I really love the "X" is for X-Ray print, too!

The other is a bird collage from a shop that has been closed.

Yay! Two rooms done upstairs - only 3 more to go!

I sewed my own window sheers! And I love them!

2010-03-01T17:32:00.001-06:00

I had no idea how expensive simple things like window sheers are - the cheapest I could find were $6.00 a panel at Wal Mart and they seemed wrinkled and too shiny. My daughter's room needed some privacy but I am on a budget here. I wasn't going to spend $40+ on sheers.

I decided to be brave and put to good use the Bernina sewing machine I was fortunate enough to be gifted by mother in law.

At Joann's, one of my favorite places, I found a lovely sheer, linen looking decorator fabric for $3 a yard!!! I bought 9'5" yards of that gauzy gorgeous material and then became afraid. Would I actually ever use this stuff? I was afraid to sew.

I even went to return it at Joann's, but once the friendly sales associate started measuring my cut for the return, I fell in love again with the beautiful fabric. I told myself, "Shelley, you can do this!"

It really wasn't too hard - the trickiest obstacle was finding enough space to correctly measure each panel of fabric (and enough time!). Once I had all my panels cut, I just turned under my seam 1/2", sewed a really loose and long straight stitch, and then finished the top at 3". I had read that when using sheer material to put your stitch length on the longest it will go. This worked for me! And it really only took about 2 1/2 hours total.

The sides of the material were already finished! A benefit of buying the decorator fabric. I then finished off the bottom with a 1/2" seam stitched, then turned over with a 2" hem. To make them straight, I hung up the curtains and measured from the floor. (I don't really know sewing terminology so I hope this makes sense.)
**update** - Here is a good link from Sew 4 Home that shows how to measure and sew guazy sheers. Just adjust the hem pocket to fit your window rod.**

They are hung with tension rods from Wal-Mart and I have a beautiful Batenburg Valance I am going to hang over it.

They add adequate privacy from the street while letting filtered light in. I am really proud of them. It cost me about $28 to sew them and I think they are comparable to $10-$15 a piece panels you could find at Target. I just got lucky with such a beautiful, inexpensive fabric. Check those clearance isles ladies!

There was even some left -over for my daughter to play with. Here she is looking very holy.

Oval Frame Revamp - Lace, Pearls & Vintage Inspired Buttons

2010-03-01T17:09:00.016-06:00

I bought these oval frames at a thrift store for $5 each. I loved the lines and shape - they are solid hardwood and beautiful

I decided to spray paint them white to use in my daughter's room - I used two coats of white spray primer and then applied two coats of a clear gloss spray for finish. The paint job looks amazing! No brush strokes and a silky shine - it really catches the light but is not a wet looking gloss.

I then needed an idea on how to decorate these. I wondered around Joann's for about an hour, picking up things and then returning them to the shelf. There were a few ideas I had that I ended up abandoning - one was to use a crushed velvet background and put in silk butterflies or fancy, yet elegant, die-cut scrapbook embellishments. I couldn't find the right colors and textures. I also thought about putting in decorative mirrors. Then finally, I found these adorable button sets. They were each $2.49 a piece for a pack of 6-8 buttons and I found two sets of vintage, feminine style designs. I also bought some faux-silk fabric in taupe and an assortment of beautiful lace and ribbon trimmings (about 1/2 yard of each).

I covered the old backing from the frame with a double thickness of cotton batting, then hot glued the faux-silk onto the backing.

Then I designed a pattern with the trim, cut and applied with hot glue. I laid out my buttons to get a desired look - I had to twist off the button loops with a wire cutter but didn't break any, thank goodness.

I then cleaned up the glass and fastened my new creation into the frame. I had an old pair of vintage pearl clip on earrings I glued to the front of the frame to add an extra element of elegance.

I am really happy with how this project turned out and I think it looks beautiful in my daughter's room. The best thing of all - it cost less than $25.

Felt Egg Carton & Paper Mache Eggs

2010-02-08T13:07:00.000-06:00

Make your own felt egg carton!

With paper mache eggs!

I am making a grocery felt food set for Johanna. I have made some bread, and I also made some cheese but I didn't like how it turned out. Redo!

I want to make a soup can, bananas, milk carton, better cheese and a bag to finish the set. Here are the instruction on how to make an egg carton!

You will need the starchy felt for the carton - it is sold in the same area as the regular felt and comes in long rectangles. The eggs I used for this project were paper mache and from Hobby Lobby. You can find them in the same isle as the wooden toys - they even have wooden eggs. Mine were 3 for $1.00.

Let's begin!

1. Start with a square piece of paper that measure 4.5"x4.5". Fold into thirds to make nine equal size boxes. Create a little 5 sided box and then trim your corners off at a slight angle. Essentially, you are creating a plus sign (+) but with slight angles to create the egg crate look. You don't want a perfectly square egg crate - think angles!

1. Trace and cut out six crosses.

3. Begin to hand sew each cross into an individual egg crate.

4. Here are all six! This is a little time consuming, I'm not going to lie.

5. Now sew together all of the individual crates.

6. Not it's time to make the lid. Flip the crates over onto the remaining felt and trace about a 1/2" on three sides. The back side can be close to 1.25". The extra room will allow for the hinge.

7. Clip the front angles to form your lid.

8. Pin your lid in place and form to a shape that fits your crates.

9. Hand sew the lid to form and remove pins.

10. Align your lid and hinge in place, pin and hand sew to finish.

11. Paint your eggs. I used a glossy acrylic paint with numerous coats. When dry, spray with glossy finish for added protection.

12. While your eggs are drying, embroider "eggs" through two pieces of coordinating felt. I added Velcro dots to the front of my crate and covered with a scrap piece of gray felt to secure the carton.

"What's this?"

"Hey, there are fun things to throw inside!"

"This is cool, Mom!"

"Time to go hide these or throw them to places unknown."

"The incredible, edible, egg."

Brasso to the Rescue! Updates on our house progress.

2010-02-08T10:24:00.001-06:00

Wow - it is amazing how a little Brasso can take off 100 years of gunk. One on the charming features in our old fixer-upper are the antique, original door handles. However, the are in pretty bad shape. But...with a little Brasso and hard work they are looking much shinier. They still have that "antique" look because it was impossible to get them looking brand new, but I think they look much better. So far I have cleaned three sets from the guest bedroom. Things are moving slow but at least they are moving!

More painting! We have been working on and off on the guest bedroom for 4 months - but we had to paint all the trim, the windows, the doors, etc. We are now almost done with the finishing work. I finally scraped all of the paint off of the windows. The mullions on one window had never painted and on the other window they were bright blue. I didn't sand or prime so it took 6 coats of paint!!! I cried on many different occasions when painting this room. I also taped off the wood floor to paint the base trim but the paint ended up bleeding onto the floor. This weekend I scraped it off and it is looking much better. When I painted Johanna's room, I actually sanded, primed the windows and cut in the base boards without tape. I am learning! One of my biggest problems is that I get tired of working on one project and jump to the next. Before we start painting the next room, our bedroom, I want to completely finish the guest bedroom and Johanna's room.

Here is our heat register - it is original and very cool but as you can see the previous owners were not too worried about slopping paint everywhere. I started to clean this with some Brasso to see what would happen and the top started to shine. I guess this register is solid brass, too! It will look beautiful when it is cleaned up and refastened properly to the wall. I need to figure out how to remove the old paint that is slopped on here.

Here is our new light and fan - the previous fan was UGLY! Also, we didn't even have light switches in any of the bedrooms, but thanks to my amazing hubby, we now have new lights and matching light switches! Our walls are lathe and plaster so Vince had to carefully figure out where to drill while navigating the planks in our attic. He cut a hole in the wall and then I would bang a long wire up through the hole in between the walls and then we would try to listen where the noise was coming from. He actually was able to find the right spot in three rooms without drilling through the ceiling! Good job, hon!

I just have to finish caulking the trim and windows and then I can decorate. More photos to come!

DIY Play Kitchens

2010-02-01T11:44:00.001-06:00

**Update - my kitchen is complete!**

Now that I have made all of this felt food, I need to make an adorable play kitchen for my daughter! I had a Strawberry Shortcake plywood stove and refrigerator growing up and some of my earliest childhood memories are me at the age of 2 or 3 making something delicious in my kitchen for my pretend husband, Larry.

Johanna inherited a fun Fisher Price playhouse from some of our friends, and although it is super cute and fun, once I saw the DIY play kitchens, I KNEW I just had to make one of my own.

I am currently on the search for an old nightstand or coffee table to begin this project. Here are some links to other DIY play kitchens I have found on the web. What do you think?

Odeedoh: Five DIY Play Kitchens
The Haynie Family Blog: Cute Play Kitchen - one of my favorites
Odeedoh: DIY Play Kitchen Roundup
Odeedoh: A Play Kitchen for Bella
Out of the Crayon Box: DIY Play Kitchen - one of my favorites

If you find any would you add the links in a comment?

Sippy Cup Leash

2010-01-29T15:03:00.004-06:00

Problem: Sippy being dropped on the floor, especially at restaurants, by 14 month old.

Solution: Create a "leash" to help dropped or thrown cup from hitting dirty ground.

Challenge: Needs to accomodate multiple style of sippy cups and be adjustable for various restaurant high chairs. And be cute.

Supplies:
3' - 3 1/2'of "leash" material (I bought mine in the notions section of Joann Fabrics.)
Center Release Buckle (Also available in the notions section of Joanns)
Heavy Duty Snaps (I used regular Sew On Velcro the first time and don't think I would recommend it. I'd go with the snaps.)
Elastic
Large Button (I bought that button pack at Joanns)
Optional - coordinating ribbon and extra large buttons for embellishments

Step #1: Thread the leash through the female end of the release buckle and sew the end to hold in place.

Step #2: Thread the male end of the release buckle through the opposite side of the leash material so that it forms an adjustable, snapable loop.

Great - it fits and hangs nicely on my high chair! I also tested it with the tray on - just had to snap onto the side leg.

Step #3. Now, measure around a sippy to see where you should sew your snap. Leave a little "leg room" to make sure it will snap around a fatter sippy cup - or take your fatest sippy cup and use that for your test. The elastic around the button is what really keeps it secure. The snap is just for added security.

Step #4: Sew on a heavy duty snap.

Step #5: Sew elastic fastener. Cut a piece of elastic that is 6 1/4" long. Fold in half, pin and then sew a really stretchy long zig-zap stich to secure. For added embellishments, take some cute ribbon, create peaks, pin in place, and sew little zig-zags where the peaks are pinned.

Step #6: Attach elastic fastener with machine and hand sew a large button to the front of the cup loop.

To secure sippy cup, simple position elastic band around cup handles and under the button and fasten snap in back. This cup ain't going nowhere!!!

It works on different styles - anything with handles!

Long enough for kiddo to get a drink - but short enough to not hit the floor!

This picture shows my first version with the Velcro - the cup would not hit the floor but the Velcro would not hold. I ripped out the Velcro and attached the snap, now it holds like a champ.

We have used this at two restaurants already. It fit each high chair, no matter the length to the ground because it is adjustable.

It was VERY nice because Johanna tried to throw her drink on the ground 2-3 times at each restaurant because there is no cup holder - and because she is a little onery. I can say that I was very satisfied I didn't have to retrieve her cup off of the floor and pick off lint and food particles. The other moms in the restaurant were jealously eyeing my hand made contraption.

Gorgeous Green Glass on the Cheap

2010-01-29T14:22:00.000-06:00

I bought these beautiful hand made glasses for $1.99 each at Tuesday Morning. If you can stand the clutter and the frustration of not being able to push a cart through half the isles, then I suggest checking at T.M. There are some great deals to be found!

Lamp Revamp - Spray Paint a Brass Lamp

2010-01-25T15:00:00.002-06:00

Create a beautiful lamp for any room by repurposing an old brass lamp!

I found this 80's fabulous brass lamp at the Salvation Army for $2.96.

Bought some Ballet Pink spray paint $4.99 - coated one coat primer and then finished coating with 2-3 coats of all purpose spray paint.

To add extra beauty, I repurposed a vintage clip-on earring I had bought years ago.

I simply hot glued a strip of light green velvet ribbon ($.25), removed the clip on the earring and hot glued the earring to the velvet ribbon.

Don't you like the picture of my daughter enjoying cake all over her face? That was from her 1st birthday.

Add a lovely lamp shade - mine was $14.99 from Tuesday Morning - and you have a gorgeous new lamp for under $25.00.

My Favorite Reads from 2009

2010-01-25T11:38:00.001-06:00

I LOVE to read and am lucky to have access to an unlimited number of wonderful books. The past year I read a number of books but there are three that really stood out as excellent reads. I would like to share and recommend them to you.

1. Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This book is one of the best books I have read in the past five years. Normally, I wouldn’t have picked out this book on my own but it came highly recommend by a fellow librarian. It is a beautiful gothic mystery translated from Spanish. I am not generally a mystery reader and translated books tend to be off-putting to me. However, I devoured this book - after turning the last page of this book I literally sighed as a tear sprung to my eye. Gorgeous, haunting , with exquisite language. The beginning is a little slow and the number of characters and subplots can be a little confusing at first. But – keep reading and soon you won’t be able to put it down.

2. Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks
This is by the Pulitzer Prize winner author who penned March, another fabulous book. Brooks is a wonderful writer who molds well developed characters. The story takes place in a small English village in 1666, where a bolt of cloth has brought the unfortunate seeds of The Plague. The village decides to quarantine itself from the rest of the world for a year and tragedy soon unfurls. Be prepared to weep and be haunted by the images and characters, it is not a happy story. However, the wonder of the human spirit is inspiring and the book somehow manages to leave readers satisfied and hopeful.

3. Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel – Jeannette Walls
First of all, if you haven’t read The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, READ IT! I don’t think I have ever met anyone who read it and didn’t like it. Secondly, this is her follow up – she calls it a “novel” but also notes that it is about her Grandmother’s life and most of it is true, she just had to make up all the dialogue and couldn’t offically pen it as a biography. It follows Lily Casey Smith, a true feminist who didn’t even realize it at the time. Lily survived breaking horses, tornados, floods, and prohibitionists with humor and grace. A fun, inspiring, an easy read. You also learn more about Jeannette's mother and her childhood.

Just can't stop the dance!

2010-01-20T14:37:00.001-06:00

This is just too cute not to post. It is my daughter dancin' up a storm. Don't think we are hard-core hip hop fans. Just listening to the radio - but music with a nice "bass" line is what gets this baby shaking it!

Soup Exchange - Yummy Idea!

2010-01-20T14:01:00.006-06:00

Do you LOVE soup as much as I do? Isn't it the best thing to make during the long, cold months of winter? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, then you may consider having a soup exchange with your friends!

To get the exchange started - send out an email to your list of best girlfriends and see who would want to commit to such an event. Pick a night, a hostess, and then start emailing around your recipe ideas. We tried to avoid duplicates.

Make up a list of items to help out the hostess and encourage each participant to bring one: bowls, spoons, crackers, bread, drinks, cups, butter spread, DESSERT!

We had seven participants total, a small enough number that we each brought a zip-loc bag of our delicious soup for each friend. If you have more than seven and don't want to make a quadruple batch of soup then propose some sort of soup lottery - for every bag you bring you get to take a bag home.

Each friend brought a pre-frozen or fresh bag of soup to exchange, secured tightly in either a zip-loc bag or a zip-loc container. Some quantities varied - I put about 4 cups in each bag, enough for 2-3 servings but some soup bags were just a serving or two. Depends of how big of a soup pot you have! I made a triple batch and had to use two pots.

Most of us also brought a small sampling of our soup to share during the actual get together. We sampled, gossiped, snacked and chased babies all night. It was a blast! Then we loaded up our coolers or grocery bags and headed home with our newly coveted soups and made room in our freezers.

I have already defrosted and eaten two or my six soups. Delicious!

I made a crowd-pleasing recipe given to me by my mom. You should give it a try:

Hearty Sausage Potato Soup

This recipe taste great both ways - full fat or low fat. I have made notes below on how to trim down the calories.

1 lb. sausage, cooked and drained (can use hot and spicy - I like to use the reduced-fat sausage)
2 lbs. frozen hash brown potatoes (sliver sliced)
1 chopped medium onion
¾ c. thinly sliced carrots
¾ c. thinly sliced celery
3 cans chicken broth (42 ounces - sometimes I will use 4 cans for a thinner soup.)
1 can cream of chicken soup (or reduced fat can)
8 oz. cream cheese (I use Neufchetal reduced fat)
Optional - 3 to 4 crumbled pieces of bacon

Mix together in crock pot. Cook on LOW for 6 hours. Thin with milk or broth if needed. You can also simmer in large stock pot on low heat for an hour or until veggies are tender.

This event was a hit and I think it become a tradition. The hostess even sent us home with a book of each person's recipe. I am lucky to have such wonderful "cooks" as friends!

Gas Station Gift Exchange

2010-01-06T15:17:00.004-06:00

My hubby and I had some of our dear college friends over for a holiday party. We decided to spice up the party with a "Gas Station Gift Exchange." Every person was to stop by a gas station and pick up an "interesting" gift for $5 of less. Then we did a white elephant gift exchange and had a fabulous time!

For the gift exchange we drew numbers and decided that a gift could have no more than three owners, meaning it could be stolen by other people only twice. We also let the person who drew #1 have a final steal at the end of the game. You have to decide if #1 can steal a gift that has already had three owners.

The head massager and bass fishing koozie were pretty popular gifts. I brought a Slim Jim and 5 Hour Energy Drink. Now that's nutrition. I should have included some Funions - now that would have been sweet. The "doo rag" also was stolen twice. Who knew you could buy a doo rag at a gas station? Or a head massager for that matter.

We also encouraged people to wear their ugliest Christmas sweater if they were so inclined.

Some gifts were pretty interesting...we sure had a fun time!

Sew a Loaf of Felt Bread

2010-01-04T16:25:00.005-06:00

I am working on a grocery set for Johanna and thought I would start with a loaf of bread. I also wanted the challenge of cracking the bread making pattern and was successful so I thought I would share.

1. Cut out two uniform bread slices from cream felt. I just winged mine but you could look up a clip art template and use it, too. My loaf turned out to be pretty large so you may consider smaller bread slices.

2. Sew the first bread slice to the camel colored felt, right sides together (this only matters if you have pen or pencil marks on your felt). Start by sewing the bottoms together, then pinch and turn your felt and sew the right and left sides to create a box shape. I used about a 1/4" seam allowance.

This is what it will look like when you turn it right side out.

3. Now decide how long you would like the loaf, and trim your camel felt.

4. Repeat step two and sew on the remaining bread slice, right sides together. I had pen marks on this slice and had to make sure that when I flipped the bread right side out, the side with the pen marks would not show.

5. Now you will attach the top of the loaf. I used champagne felt for the top because I didn't have enough camel felt. With right sides together, sew bread top to first bread slice from just under the rounded part of the slice across to the other bread slice. If this were real bread, you would be making the crease from where the bread pops over the bread pan.

6. Now we will sew the puffy bread top. This step is the hardest step - you will have to pinch and sew the champagne felt to the cream colored felt. Make sure to go slow around the curved areas. You want to pinch and turn the felt so that a nice arc is created. Do this to both sides - one side is harder than the other because when you flip the felt the cream bread slice is underneath the champagne color and harder to see where to sew, but go slow and you can do it.

7. Now sew a straight line on the remaining open edge to completely enclose your bread. Trim the seam.

Here is your inside-out bread loaf. Now what?

8. Clip a small slit in the bottom of your loaf. Turn inside out, stuff, hand sew shut the slit and embellish with thread if you wish. I took six-string embroidery floss and sewed some brown lines through my bread to give it better shape.

Yummy bread.

You could make a little bread bag out of some vinyl if you wish.

Happy baby!

Next project - some cheese!

Shameless Bragging

2009-12-22T19:02:00.005-06:00

Just wanted to show off the goodie bags I made for my neighbors. I actually know and like my neighbors since we've moved. Yay! And I playing around with the new Nikon D3000 I got for Christmas...and my birthday...and next Christmas.

Contents:
3 Kinds of Cookies
Hot Chocolate on a stick
Hershey Kisses Tents

Hot Chocolate On-a-Stick

2009-12-20T14:32:00.005-06:00

From the first moment I saw this at The Idea Room, I just KNEW I had to try it. How fun!

Amy used the instructions from the Giver's Log, another cool blog with fabulous gift giving ideas.

The hardest thing was trying to figure out what type of chocolate to buy. First, I bought some baking chips but then read that they don't have enough cocoa butter to really work. I looked at some of the baking chocolate at the Grocery store but it was $2-$3 a bar. Very cost prohibitive for me - I wanted to make enough to bring to my cookie party and to give to neighbors.

I decided to look at The Dollar Store - they actually have a large milk chocolate bar for $1 each - 5.3 ounces each. The second ingredient was cocoa butter!!! I bought six bars which made two ice cube trays full when combined with the sugar and cocoa.

I just followed the directions and my chocolate turned out great! I dissolved a stick in milk last night and it was so decadent and delicious.

The only notes I have are that with the first batch I did pipe it through a frosting bag. However, the stuff is THICK and was hard to squeeze all of it out of the bag. For the second batch, I discarded the piping bag and just scooped and pushed the chocolate into the ice cube trays.

I also had to put one batch into the freezer in order to pull the cubes out - it was a little soft. I think I didn't put as much sugar and cocoa in the second batch because the first batch seemed so thick. However, they both ended up working and tasted delicious!

After I decorated the cubes with some white chocolate and sprinkles, I let them cool and then put two to a cellophane bag. They looked absolutely adorable.

One neighbor accused me of trying to make him fat. I wonder why?!?

Cookie Party

2009-12-20T14:07:00.007-06:00

This year was our 5th annual cookie party. I look forward to it every year - my closest girl friends, wine, babies, and tons of cookies!

We get together and each bring a few dozen cookies. This year, the hostess provided a hearty potato soup, some snacks, wine and hot apple cider. We then have a $10 gift exchange. I ended up with some lovely smelling, decadent lotion and shower gel. Then it was time to fill our boxes full of many different kinds of cookies!

Vince was waiting up for me when I got home and had to sample the box. I would say us ladies out did ourselves this year. There were some wonderful cookie creations!

Anna, our hostess, even sent us home with customized recipe cards from everyone in attendance. She designed us each a little avatar from Designhergals.com. It was so cute! Mine had short brown hair and was holding a stack of books while standing in front of a sewing machine - "Shelley's Super Spectacular Treats"

This year I made some new recipes - Buttered Rum Meltaways and Chewy Molasses Crinkles from the Martha Stewart Cookies book. I also made Almond Toffee Sandies from the Taste of Home's Best Loved Cookies and Bars book. I thought all three recipes turned out to be great. My favorites were the almond cookies. Yum!

Felt Breakfast - Eggs, Pancake, Bacon, Oh My!

2009-12-09T15:57:00.004-06:00

This was the very first felt meal I made. Johanna is now getting big enough where she wants to play with it. I actually took it to Mass last night and it kept her distracted for a few minutes (that is like hours when it comes to church time distractions). I like it because if she drops it (when she drops it) there is no sound.

There are MANY breakfast tutorials out there. I started with this Lily Bean video - it gave me the necessary knowledge to really get started doing a variety of felt projects. Check out my post on how to get started in felt food.

I made up the pattern for the bacon and pancakes. Just sew two wavy strips for the bacon, turn, stuff with batting and then sew shut the end. Then sew a thin piece of "fat" down the middle. For the pancake, sew a circle on doubled tan felt, clip a small opening, turn and then handstitch on the syrup and butter to cover the clipped opening.

The orange slice was a circle folded in half, stitched up, clipped, turned and stuffed tight. I then handstiched the light orange color to cover the clipped opening. The white "pulp" lines are embroidery stitches.

I also made the red carry case out of two pieces of felt, sewed along three sides and turned inside out. I handstitched a vinyl window into it but from now on I am going to machine sew some vinyl into my little felt bags. (I used the vinyl from a recycled onsies bag and then found that you can buy lightweight vinyl at Joann's). My plan is to put some velcro on the top to make it enclosed and then decorate it with a little "Breakfast" logo.

I have also been saving those vinyl bags that onesies come in to store felt food and toys.

Johanna loves taking each item out of the bag and then dropping them on the floor. Sounds fun!

Felt Pizza

2009-12-09T15:22:00.006-06:00

Pizza is probably my favorite food so I just had to make a felt pizza for my daughter, who is starting to love pizza just as much as me!

I started with a dinner plate and created a circle on a piece of wax paper. The dinner plate I used is smaller than pictured here - whatever size plate you use will roughly be the size of your pizza. I then found the center of the circle using a ruler and divided it in to four equal slices. Cut out one slice to use for your template.

I then took two pieces of tan colored felt and double stacked them - I was able to trace all four pieces of pizza onto the double stacked felt. Make sure to leave room between the traced pieces - you will not use the traced lines to actually cut out the pieces so leave room for a seam allowance around each piece. It is easier to sew directly on your traced line than eyeball it.

Here is a good video by Lily Bean that shows you how to sew the pizza slices, turn them inside out and then add the toppings. I sewed an edge on my pizza slices to create a crust and didn't stuff it very full - it is thin crust!

My pizza differs a little from the video - I sewed on "sauce" and "cheese" toppings seperately - for the sauce I just cut a piece big enough to stick out under the cheese (it doesn't run the whole length of the pizza piece.) You can't have a pizza without sauce! I also stuffed my pizza with batting instead of stuffing. I liked that the batting is flat and didn't make my pizza too fluffy.

Then I cut out some toppings and hand stiched them on - for the pepperoni I used the felt called "Cranberry." I haven't gotten all of the toppings sewn on yet - some kids may prefer their toppings to be loose so they can actually build the pizza.

I think it would be cute to cover a small hinged box in felt to create a pizza box!

O' Christmas Tree

2009-12-07T15:46:00.005-06:00

I LOVE my Christmas Tree! I used to work for a wholesale Christmas company and I decorated MANY trees for showrooms and trade shows. I learned a few tricks along the way.

A few of my favorite tricks are:
Decorate with floral. I buy floral picks from Hobby Lobby at 50% off. I also buy floral bushes and then cut off each flower to decorate my tree.

On my current tree I have three different colors of poinsettia, as well as floral picks of pearl and bead sprays, feather picks, even glittery grape picks.

Make sure to add depth to your tree. Never just decorate the outer most part of the tree. Shove floral picks and Christmas balls and ornaments deep into the tree. This gives lovely depth and dimension.

Always wrap your ornament strings onto the limb - this means, don't just let your ornament dangle but take it and wrap the string around the limb until there is no more dangling string.

Make sure to add dimension with your lights - again, do not just string lights on the outermost part of the tree. Stuff lights deep into the tree to create dimension.

I just wish I had a better camera to really show how pretty my tree looks. I just love it!

Oversized Thank You Cards

2009-12-07T12:09:00.005-06:00

I never seem to have the right size envelope to send 4"x6" photos to family and friends. Once at Wal-Mart, I stumbled upon some 5.5" x 7.5" plain white card envelopes. I bought a pack and was then inspired to make oversized Thank You cards for Johanna's first birthday.

I have a beautiful scrapbooking stack and need to use it up so I thought I would make a template big enough to fit the envelopes and then decorate from there.

Supplies:
Oversized card envelopes
4"x6" picture
Scrapbooking Picture Mount Squares
Goodies to decorate

I sent out about 10 of these - way cheaper than buying really nice Thank You notes big enough to hold photos. These are perfect for the Grandmothers to display on their fridge!

Baby Swaddle Blanket & Burp Cloth

2009-12-07T11:35:00.004-06:00

One of my best friends just had a baby!!! For her shower, I wanted to make her something sweet and I turned to my fellow crafters for some ideas.

When I saw this post by My Longest Year via One Pretty Thing I knew I found the perfect gift idea. When I had my baby, I LOVED the huge flannel hospital blankets and I was sad I couldn't take one home. They were just the perfect size and weight to swaddle baby into a snuggly baby burrito.

I also thought it would be fun to pair a matching burp cloth - you can never have enough! I first saw an idea for an appliqued, dyed burp cloth on This Mama Makes Stuff.

First I found some super cute material. I love the color of the accent fabric - Jill didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy, plus she is a KU fan, so I knew this fabric would be perfect! I love the birdies and trees. So Cute! It is from the Heidi Grace collection at Joann Fabrics - the blanket is made of cotton flannel. I was lucky because Jill knew the baby would have a "j" name no matter the sex. Otherwise I may have appliqued a birdie or waited until after the baby was born.

My Longest Year had some cute ideas to pair with the swaddle blanket - I printed off a swaddle guide from this website and I also attached a note to let Jill know the many uses for this HUGE blanket.

Use for:

swaddle burrito
nursing cover
pack and play travel sheet
pack and play privacy cover
car seat cover
tummy time blanket

Notes - the font is Minya Nouvelle from Open Office.

Felt Donuts!

2009-11-20T11:26:00.003-06:00

My mom made these for Johanna. I sent her the links to this site and this site she whipped us these adorable, zero calorie baked goodies. She made french knots on the tops because we didn't want Johanna to eat any beaded "sprinkles."

Johanna has really had a hankerin' for sweets since her first birthday.

I am eventually going to make a bakery set for Johanna complete with cupcakes, cinnamon roles, donuts and maybe a cake. This is a start!

Chicken Wire Hair Bow Holder

2009-11-20T11:13:00.005-06:00

I am sure you've seen these around the blogosphere. I first saw one from Sometimes Fariytales Do Come True via Ucreate and thought I would make my own. It is really hard to keep track of all those hairbows. You may notice that I am missing the color pink on my holder. I use those the most and they seem to wonder off.

I literally made this in 15 minutes. I bought the fabric and frame at Hobby Lobby and the chicken wire at my local hardware store - Hobby Lobby and some hardware stores do not carry chicken wire. Or if they do, you have to buy like 20 feet of it. I did find one hardware store in my neighborhood where I could buy it by the foot. It was $.35 a foot. Nice!

I attached the fabric onto the picture frame board with hot glue. The hardest part of the project was getting the chicken wire stretched onto the frame board and into the frame. I had to hammer and stretch the wire. There was a point where I didn't know if I was going to get the wired board into the frame. However, I prevailed.

I really love this project because it is cheap, easy and practical.

Western Sizzlin' Felt Steak Dinner

2009-11-20T10:36:00.008-06:00

Ok - I hope you could have guessed what this actually is without reading the post. The first time I showed my husband he had no idea what it was. After I told him, he laughed and said "It looks like an '80s Western Sizzlin' steak dinner." I am sure the steaks still look the same as they did in the 1980's but we haven't been to a Western Sizzlin' in ages.

Anyhow, I thought it was cute! I first got the idea from this cool Etsy shop.

I made it without a pattern - just winged it so I bet you can, too.

Steak:

Double up tan felt and cut out two long ovals. Also cut out a long tan strip for the steak sides, and a smaller cream strip (same width) for the "fat strip." Make sure to leave room for the seams - you can decide how fat you like your steaks.

Cut out thin "grill mark" strips out of darker brown fabric.

Then sew the grill marks onto the top of the steak in a gridlike pattern. I then trimmed the excess grill mark fabric. Then measure with your tan felt around the steak, leaving room for the "fat strip." Sew right sides together one side of the "fat strip" and one side of the tan strip. Remeasure around the permiter of the steak, leaving room for a seam, and then finish sewing the cream fat strip to the tan strip. You should have an oval sewed at this point that is the same diameter of your steak oval. Then match the ovals together and sew the strip on to the top of the steak, right sides together - make sure you leave enough seam so the felt won't rip if pulled.

Now you will sew the bottom of the steak onto the other side of the thin strip leaving room to turn inside out. You kind of have to pinch the seams together at this point - this is the harder part of the project. If you have ever made felt sandwich bread, it is the same method.

Turn it inside out, stuff and hand sew the stuffing opening shut.

Potato:

Double up your cream felt and cut out two fat ovals, leaving a seam allowance. Sew together leaving a small opening for turning. Turn, stuff really tight and hand stich shut.

For the removable skin - Double brown felt and make a boat shape that is similar in size to your potato cut out. Fold over the tops of the skin and sew a seam. Then with ride sides together, stitch around the round part of the skin. Turn and stuff in your potato.

For the butter and sour cream. Sew a square and/or circle. Clip a small opening and turn. Stuff and hand sew shut opening. I cut some small chives for my sour cream and then used my machine to stich them all on.

You can also add some velcro dots on to the toppings to secure onto the potato. If you sew velcro with your machine - DO NOT USE THE STICKY VELCO. It will gum it up. A mess!

Green Beans:
Sew some green tubes, turn, stuff and straight stich the ends shut.

Johanna has no idea what steak is but she liked throwing them on the floor. You may also see the key lime pie slice in the background. This is coming soon to a blog near you!

Shelley Inspired

Prudent Baby Fat Quarter Apron

Felt Sack Lunch *Plus* Felt Juice Box Tutorial

Gingerbread House Kid's Party

Felt Italian Dinner - Mostaccioli and Meatballs, Salad and Bread

Entry Table Revamp

The Bathroom Remodel Begins!

Here's My Free Shutterfly Christmas Card!

I Love Shutterfly Holiday Cards! Fun Promotion!

Wendy's Chili Recipe

Felt Soup Can and Chicken Noodle Soup

Prudent Baby Nap Mat/Bed Roll

The Best Darn Sugar Cookies Ever

The Adventures of Cupcake Girl!

DIY Fabric Roller Shade

The 15 Minute $15 Fall Wreath

Halloween Costumes - I Prefer Cute over Scary

Bathroom Remodel Sneak Peek

Hey Shorties! Hem those pants - How to do a blind stitch hem

Kitchen Sewing Projects

Bridal Dress Favor Box and Other Shower Shenanigans

Bedroom Photos

Wallpaper Wall Art

My New Favorite Store - Francesca's Collections

Johanna's DIY Play Kitchen - Mission Accomplished

Refrigerator Pickles - Pass and Fail

Front Yard Plantings

Fabric Lined Crate

Black Bean Dip

Sugar and Spice Reading Bench

Vintage Sewing Pattern Wall Art

Happy Father's Day!

Diaper Pouch

Bare Minerals vs. Avon Smooth Mineral Makeup

"Reading Is Cool" Etsy Find

Inspirations - William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement

It's Feeling Like Summer in Kansas City!

Sippy Cup Showdown

DIY Garden Journal & Seed Packet Organizer

Lamp Stand Revamp

Noodlehead Gathered Clutch

Do You Have Lead Paint? If Your Home was Built Before 1978 then Read This

Book Recommendation: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

DIY Sewing Machine Cover

Another Brass Lamp Spray Paint Makeover!

Felt Banana Tutorial AKA "Mimi's"

Front Porch Chair Cushions

Spring is Here!

DIY Recovered Chair

Swiffer Me Cheap - Fleece Dusting Alternative

Simplicity Felt Food Patten

Nightstand Revamp of a Revamp

Guest Bedroom Photos

I sewed my own window sheers! And I love them!

Oval Frame Revamp - Lace, Pearls & Vintage Inspired Buttons

Felt Egg Carton & Paper Mache Eggs

Brasso to the Rescue! Updates on our house progress.

DIY Play Kitchens

Sippy Cup Leash

Gorgeous Green Glass on the Cheap

Lamp Revamp - Spray Paint a Brass Lamp

My Favorite Reads from 2009

Just can't stop the dance!

Soup Exchange - Yummy Idea!

Gas Station Gift Exchange

Sew a Loaf of Felt Bread

Shameless Bragging

Hot Chocolate On-a-Stick

Cookie Party

Felt Breakfast - Eggs, Pancake, Bacon, Oh My!

Felt Pizza

O' Christmas Tree

Oversized Thank You Cards

Baby Swaddle Blanket & Burp Cloth

Felt Donuts!

Chicken Wire Hair Bow Holder

Western Sizzlin' Felt Steak Dinner

Felt Sack Lunch Plus Felt Juice Box Tutorial