Think I'm Going to Have to do This

I found a blog called No Big Dill this evening. I've seen it mentioned before but now I'm in love. Her most recent project is this and I think it's awesome. I think I'm going to have to give it a whirl. We'll see how it pans out. the possibilities are endless. Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, The Prayer Tree, The Gorilla Did It, Alexander and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Caps For Sale, The Magician's Nephew, Rainbow Fish....just thinking about made me excited!!!! I can't wait to see what I come up with. Maybe I'll alternate letting the girls choose a book and then make them something inspired by their choice. Hooray!

What I Did With My Time Today....

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been doing a lot of waiting. And that didn't change today! Yep, still waiting. So I thought I would do something fun and creative to keep myself busy and my mind off the fact that my little guy has chosen to continue to gestate rather than joining the family as a full fledged member. So I decided that it was time to decorate for Valentine's Day. I didn't want to get Feb 10th with a brand new baby and be caught un-prepared.

Well, the random, unexpected snow storm didn't deter me. I packed up the kids and we headed to the Dollar Tree. As much as I wanted to decorate for Valentine's Day, I remembered that I don't have a lot of V-Day decor to start with and it's all packed up in the storage. So we picked up some odds and ends and combined that all with stuff that we did have lying around the house and I got to work. I had a lot of fun. I used an old package of napkins, a thrift store frame that wasn't being used, some red spray paint that my FIL had in the garage, branches from the backyard, candles and a bunch of other fun stuff.

I only did the mantle because decorating the entire house freaks me out regardless of where I'm living and that pretty much applies to all holidays aside from Christmas. I just try to focus on one main area and call it good. Also, if I do any more than that, guaranteed, I'll forget to pack something away when the holiday is over. Now without further ado, here are the pictures of the finished product.


I started making this wreath last year around Valentine's Day but I never got around to finishing it. Well, one nap/quiet time, two episodes of Glenn Beck and many burned fingers later, I finished it! BTW, all the fabric on it is the remnants from my wedding dress.


My favorite part is the section with the branches, pom poms and red frame. I got the red frame from a thrift store in Castle Rock. It was black so I painted it red. I got the branches out of the backyard and made the pom poms out of napkins from Ikea. I hung them with fishing line to make them look like they're floating. So fun!

The opposite side from the branches. The mirror with the doily was fun and easy. I got a dollar store mirror, painted the frame red, and glued the doily to the mirror using a simple Elmer's glue stick. Fun! My sister made me the framed quote. There's a fun quote for all the special times of the year and it's so fun!

These birds started off really ugly from the dollar store. Well, out came the red spray paint and now they're love birds! I like them a lot although Siobhan liked them better the other way. I guess taste comes with age.

Here is the final product. I stuck with a consistent/traditional color pallet of red/white/black (big surprise coming from me). That also worked really well with the white mantle which was good as well as working with a bunch of stuff I already had. I had so much fun doing this project and it was a great way to take my mind off of the fact that I'm not currently resting with a baby sleeping on my chest.

The End.

National Sewing Month #1

Since one of my goals during National Sewing Month was to take pictures of my completed sewing projects, I figured I would/should post them as well.

The first project that I completed is one that I started on a whim. There is a craft blog and now a book called Graft Hope where there are a collection of projects that can be donated to specific charities. Read all about it here. For Pediatric Cancer Month, their project for September was pillowcases for pediatric cancer patients through the charity ConKerr Cancer. It's a really neat project and a really fun/easy sewing undertaking. So I joined in. But the deadline is Sept 15, so i started last week and I just finished 6 pillowcases. I sewed three last Friday night and three more yesterday. Here's how they turned out.

The great thing about this project is that each pillowcase only takes 1 yard total of fabric. So I hit the sale tables at the Cotton Shop (different day from when I saw someone get arrested) and got some really fun but inexpensive fabric. I was also able to destash which is always a good thing. I bought some fabrics that are not represented here because I couldn't find anything to coordinate with them. So I'll use them for other projects. I love doing projects for myself and my family, but it feels really great to do something for others once in a while who will benefit greatly. There's still time to get your pillowcases done because you don't need to ship them. Go here to find a regional representative who can collect your pillowcases.

National Sewing Month

I just read on Dana's blog that it's National Sewing Month. How fun is that? Just the thing to get me motivated! Even though I already had plans to do a bunch of sewing (hey, I always have the plan, right?) I thought I'd set some goals for myself to coincide with this awesome month celebrating creativity. Here's some the things that I want to accomplish during the rest of the month.

*Finish the pillowcases that I'm doing for ConKerr Cancer. These are pillowcases that go to children suffering from pediatric cancer. I've already made three but I'd like to make a bunch more. I need to get going on it as I only have until the 15th.

*Make cow jammies for Kate as a much delayed birthday present.

*Start photographing my completed projects.

*Join the Craft with Me fun over at U Create. For September, we're making fabric pumpkins that are super fun. Then I'll get the fall decor out.

*Get my sewing closet organized and finished up so I can have a workspace that is all my own (more or less). Every time I sew, I bring my sewing machine up to the kitchen table. I don't think my FIL appreciates it too much.

*Of course, watching plenty of Project Runway! Call it inspiration!

*Make some stuff for the new baby. Nothing extreme. Maybe some burp clothes or a changing pad or these super cute 'loveys'. I'm just not sure how they will translate for a little boy. Maybe if I don't ruffle the edge. We'll see. I may need to make the lovey at a later date because Minky fabric is expensive.

*Finally settle of the fabric for the bedding in the girls rooms.

*Try to figure out how to make an astronaut Halloween costume for Siobhan. Or figure out how to convince her to Tinker Bell.

*Make something for myself. I don't know what, yet, but something.

Those are my plans. It may be ambitious, but I think I can do it. And the kicker of this all, I want to spend very little money as I have been put on a spending freeze in regards to fabric and craft supplies. I may be able to squeeze some money out for one or two projects, but I think doing it all on a budget will be a good thing. I'll post pics of the projects that I complete.

If you want to participate in National Sewing Month, go visit their website (click on the link) and see what they have going on over there. Also, go visit Dana's blog MADE. She has a bunch of links to other people who are celebrating as well as some of her own ideas. So, here's to making the most of naptime!