Another Painted Pearls and Freezer Paper Stenciling

So when I find something that I like I do it a lot. Like, I have a stack of shirts just waiting to be painted in one way or the other. I have an idea for a new twist on the painted pearls and can't wait to try it out. Last weekend we had a birthday party to go to. My friend celebrated both of her kids birthdays together because the dates are pretty close.

If you don't know, I'm quite the procrastinator. I used to get a rush out of doing a project for school last minute and it's continued into my adult life. I plan ahead but I don't do ahead so well. I'm working on that this year.

Anyway, I needed two gifts and didn't have much time so I stuck with what I know.

I love how the painted pearls came out. I didn't do as many strands this time but it's still fun and the birthday girl was happy. The cowboy hat shirt was cute too, though I really didn't like the pocket on the shirt. I was almost tempted to take it off but if that went wrong I'd be stuck without a shirt. I also should have layered my freezer paper better so I didn't smudge and I realize the name is off center but I don't think the birthday boy noticed.

You can see my other painted pearls here and here.

Thanks for visiting! Be sure to come back tomorrow {April 1st} for a giveaway, and that's no joke. ;)

A Laundry Sign

Sometime last year {during my blogging hiatus} I came across this tutorial for a burlap laundry sign. It started my love of burlap and desire to cover my house in it. While I've {mostly} gotten over that urge I still love burlap. I was impressed that you could print onto burlap. Well, impressed that she could print onto burlap. My printer {Dell} did not share the burlap love. But I still wanted a happy little sign to pretty up my laundry room. If I must spend time in there it may as well be pretty right?

So, instead of printing directly onto the burlap I used iron on transfer paper. This was not an easy thing to iron onto burlap. Doing it over I would have used a canvas, duck cloth or drop cloth instead. I also would have trimmed it up some. Making the definition was the easiest part. I copied & pasted the definition from an online dictionary. Then I went through and changed up the font or bolded or italicized {is that a word?} the occasional word. Totally random.

See? Too much iron on stuff. But from further back you can't tell so it still makes for a happy little sign. I stuck it in a dollar store frame and hot glued a circle and two yoyos made from flour sack cloth on the corner.

I have another laundry make over to share tomorrow. I need to clean up/organize my laundry room so it's a more pleasant place to be. For now my sign  will do.

Thanks for visiting!

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TypeA - Anything Goes 

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

 

I Didn't Win but YOU Might!

I received such awesome feedback on my air guitar t-shirt last week. I was a little bummed that I wasn't a top contender but there was some stiff competition, so many fabulous ideas & talent! I was happily surprised to find my entry was even featured at Ucreate! There are also a lot of new followers and I have now matched the number I had at my previous blog, so there will be a giveaway! I don't blog for comments or features or followers but it feels great to get good feedback. I blog because I love sharing ideas and inspiration. I blog because I firmly believe that everyone has some creative bone in them, even if it's a small one, and just maybe they'll find some inspiration here.

Okay, now onto something crafty! It is still National Craft Month after all. :) This is a coffee cozy I made.

I made these for Christmas gifts for several coffee addicts drinkers I know. Along with a gift card to a local coffee shop it made a great gift for my son's teacher too. I thought the zebra stripe fabric was a fun{ky} touch and the orange lining pops. Some had large buttons like this one and a few had two small ones. I kept the prototype for myself and churned these puppies out in a few sittings. I lost track of how many I made. They are a fairly quick project and you can use larger scraps of fabric to make them. It's a great assembly line project. If you're going to make one go ahead and make five or ten and keep some on hand for a hostess gift or any time you are short on time and in need of a gift. Or am I the only one who procrastinates and time gets away from me?

You can find the tutorial here. Then find some scraps {or head to your local fabric store} and whip up a cozy {or a dozen} and enjoy your fashionable {& reusable!} cup of coffee.

Thanks for visiting!

Giveaway Update!

March has been a fun crafting month for me. I have several more projects to share with you and hope to make up for my short hiatus when life interrupted. I mentioned in this post that I had an item to giveaway if I had enough followers. Right now there are 23 sweet people following my blog. My other blog reached 25 followers over the years I was writing there. It's been exciting to see such a jump this month. I love sharing my crafty projects with others. Especially with those that think they aren't creative or crafty.

So if I get over 25 followers by the end of this month {March} I will have a giveaway announcement the first week of April. I already have the item ready to go, just needs an address to go on it. Will it be yours?

I am having so much fun with this blog and truly appreciate all of the positive feedback and nice comments I've received. Thank you for reading {and commenting!}.

By the way - does anyone have a tip or pointer on creating a button? I'd love to have a button to share {along with the html code below it} but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. TIA!

Air Guitar T-Shirt

Last month one of my favorite blogs to read, I Am Momma Hear Me Roar, announced a contest for a boys top and I knew I had to enter. I love making girly things for my daughters with bows and frills and fun over the top-ness but I also love making fun things for my son. He already has his own sense of style. He loves wearing ties, bow ties & hats. He has a favorite t-shirt that he has outgrown but refuses to give up. I see a sweatshirt facing the same fate soon.

His school dress code is solid shirts and pants without extra pockets. Simple and easy but not much fun. After a few days of thinking on it I knew I wanted to make him a fun shirt using freezer paper stenciling because it's so much fun. But I wanted a little something extra. Here's what I came up with.

 

He loves it. I'm happy with how it came out, though doing it over again I would keep everything black. Against the white freezer paper the gray looked good but not as much against the t-shirt.

 

Do you see the stitched guitar strings? I used a zig zag stitch on one to give movement. Now he can rock out and do the robot {he really does} with his 'air guitar' t-shirt.'

Thanks for visiting!

Edited to add - Click here to read about my giveaway update!

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Gifts for a Baby Shower

I love any excuse to make something. Holidays, birthdays and special occasions like a baby shower. I am one of those people that don't follow a registry. I use it as a guide for color schemes mostly. A friend of mine is expecting another little girl soon and is using pink & brown to decorate her girls' room. She has made several things for the room already and it's super cute so I thought I'd make a couple things she could use in there.

The first thing I knew I wanted to make was this wipes case band. I saw this tutorial at Less Cake More Frosting recently and have been waiting for an excuse to make one. {I'll be making one for my own wipes case soon too} Her directions were great and the project was a pretty quick one. My band isn't as wide because my store didn't have 3" wide elastic but the 1.5 still worked.

I also covered a travel wipes case for her. My BFF made one for me when I had Delilah and I love it. I used this tutorial as a guide. The store I bought the wipes at didn't have the simple lid. If your only option is this style of lid I would drive to another store to find the simple one. This one works but took much longer and I don't like the gap in the middle.

Lastly I personalized shirts for her girls using freezer paper and my Cricut. I love love love freezer paper stenciling but really dislike using my exacto knife to cut letters. Mostly because I am impatient, often rush and they don't come out very nice. Using the low pressure setting on my Cricut the freezer paper cut smoothly & quickly.

 

I added a couple of bows and voila! Thanks for visiting.

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What I Whipped Up Wednesday

My Take on the Burlap Wreath

 

During the Christmas season I saw wreaths all over the blogosphere. Wreaths made from ornaments, candies, yarn, ribbons, coffee filters and burlap. This really is when my love for burlap began.

We have limited space and even more limited storage space so while I enjoyed looking at all of the DIY Christmas decor I didn't make any myself. Instead I used fabric with colors I'd like to have throughout our home. Blues, greens, oranges and burlap and ruffles. {I really should have ironed that fabric}.

 Quick tutorial, tips and cat toys after the jump.

A Quick Hello :)

Yikes! Has it really been two {plus} weeks since I've posted something? I didn't mean for that to happen.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks around our house. Three weekends in a row at least one of us has been sick, we had an incident that threw me for a loop and I've been trying to catch up on housework and projects.

I'm still behind. And trying to prioritize things. Housework often falls to the bottom of my list because it's just not as fun as sewing or gluing things. I have three projects to work on that I'm entering in a couple of contests and a baby shower this weekend. Yet my free time was spent on three other things that have nothing to do with any of those. And I still have things to mail off.

I need some chocolate and a good list with order so I can take a deep breath and get to work. But for now I'm snuggling my sweet baby who is teething and not feeling well.

I will have pictures and projects to share soon. And hopefully better grammar and more organized thoughts.

Have a great day!

Keeping It Real

Recently, I read this post at Not JUST a Housewife. I completely related. There have been several times I've read a blog and compared myself to the writer's home, decor, clothes, etc. There have also been times that someone has commented on how I 'keep it all together'. The short answer to that is, I don't. Just ask my husband. ;)

Most of my day's events revolve around my children and their moods and schedules. If the baby is having a fussy, clinging to momma day there's not much that gets done around the house or on my lists. After the kids go to bed I spend 1-4 hours cleaning dishes, folding laundry, sweeping, and cleaning up. Even after that there is often at least one load of laundry that still needs folding, one sitting in the drier {or washer if I forget}, many more that need to be washed and more dishes in the kitchen. And that's ignoring the big mess of crafting supplies on the table. Generally throughout the day the one space that stays clean is the rug because that's Delilah's play space. At least it was until she started crawling quickly and making a b-line for the dog food. Now she keeps us all on our toes.

There is a point to all of this, I promise. Like many moms I'm often overwhelmed with chores, needs of my children and hoping to use the restroom in peace at least once in the day. When I take pictures of my projects or whatever I'm sharing with you I crop out the mess with my lens, because who wants to see my messy table? But without the mess I wouldn't have much to share on my blog or in life in general. That doesn't sound like a fun way to live.

When taking pictures I'll try to remember to zoom out a little and share some of the 'real' with you. But first I'm going to clean the bathroom because that's a must before company visits. Here's a recent picture I took of myself wearing a pretty hair clip I bought from a friend who makes & sells bows and other pretties. And all of the 'real life' captured in the background. Full disclosure, my table looks like that on a daily basis.

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Trying Something New #1

Yikes, I am late on this post! I'll do better tomorrow. National Craft Month or not there's still housework to be done and small children to tend to. We had beautiful weather. I opened a window, hung my diapers out to dry and caught up on mundane tasks like dishes and laundry. I also finished up two more of these puppies.

National Craft Month {!}

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Does this make you happy? It makes me happy. If you've been around my blog for long you've figured out that I love to craft. Crafting covers a wide range of hobbies. Sewing, painting, re-purposing, scrapbooking and anything that involves glue are all crafts. I like to do some of each.

I love making things. It's an outlet for me. I like quick projects that give me instant gratification but also enjoy projects that have more time involved, it's usually worth the pay off in the end. I love to decorate our home and repurposing or making something usually costs less and I can make it look just as I pictured, or pretty close. I love that my kids get excited when I make them something {most of the time} and that if something is broken or torn I can often figure out how to fix it. Crafting does have practical application, it's just not as much fun. Maybe one day we can share pictures of the useful but not as fun things we've fixed/crafted?

Goals & Gifts

Good morning! {or afternoon or evening depending on when you're reading this} My day started off with a nice surprise. I was featured on a blog I read. {Squee!} As I was reading her linky post I thought to myself "maybe I'll be featured sometime if I take better pictures"...and then there it was. My poorly lit photo. If you haven't visited Sugar and Dots you really should. After you're done admiring my feature :sarcasm: check her out.

Recently my to-do list {that I finally started writing down} has been a catch up list. One of my goals for 2011 is to remember & celebrate birthdays of those I love. I've had a birthday list/calendar on my fridge for years and generally remember birthdays. But I haven't done well at sending a gift or a card or making a phone call. We're at least 18 hours away from family so I can't pop in for a visit or attend a party. Which really would make the whole thing a lot easier.

  

I found tutorials/inspiration for these bows, which are a gift for my now seven year old sister, at Girly Things, great instructions and tips.

I made this tutu and headband for my younger sister that just turned five. Simple no sew tutu and headband inspired by Bonnie, we're in a crafty online group together.

So far I've made these gifts for two of my younger sisters {one birthday in January, one in February} but as I type this they {along with some Christmas gifts} are waiting to be mailed off. It's an improvement and I'll take it. In my large family there is at least one birthday each month so odds are in my favor that at least one person will receive their gift, card or phone call on time right? {Really I have no excuse for missing the phone call do I?} 


Does anyone else need to make a trip to the post office today? ;) Thanks for stopping by!

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