Homemade Holiday feature!!

Ruche launched their very lovely Homemade Holiday look book and I am so elated to have 2 projects featured!

The first one using a jar with alcohol ink polka dots and lace to hold your embellished gift. I should do a more detailed post about this because Tim Holtz's alcohol ink is amazing! It was my first time painting on glass and I'm holding back from painting all over our windows! After the polkies I added Hambly lace rubons.

The other project is something that I have done in years past, it's a book gutted out with a present inside. I did this for my brother a couple years ago and even made sure that his book was the perfect size to hold his Instax too. He's the one who got me hooked on my Instax in the first place and has stacks of pictures laying around. I added twine and vintage buttons and made pinwheels with the extra paper from the book.

Check out the rest of the Homemade Holiday projects & outfits... you'll be humming Christmas Carols in no time!

InLinkz.com

The cutest witch you've ever seen

Yesterday we were supposed to jump on a hay bed and take a Ride To a Witch at Gardener Village but someone (me) didn't look at the calendar right and we were a day early. Whoops! Thank goodness there was a witch around every corner of this festy village.

This darling hat originally had an invitation to a witch hat party but seeing it's the perfect size for Lola's noggin' I dressed it up with some fabric flowers and added a headband for her to wear. How cute of a mom would I have been when she met the witches wearing her witch hat?! (Mother-of-the-year nominee here I come!) Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'm not that mom. I'm the mom who's brain is mush and we missed the hay ride & had to feed ducks popcorn instead. ;)

This was about the time my kids nearly jumped into the pond... and thank goodness Collin was there because there is no way I would jump into that smelly swamp after them. Oo00ookaaaaaay, but only after I took off my boots.

This scene is reminiscent of the fruit stand photo. (Why yes, I do often look like a frantic mom.)

Happy Friday!!

Teaching another Something Splendid class is exciting! Be sure to join us for our Thankful class. Here's all the goodies that are included in the kit. (Including a really pretty grey trim.)

one for me. one for you

Here is another cute idea for a friendship bracelet from April of Second Sister using photobooth photos of her and Miss Margie... & using junk jewelry. I met April through Spark no 1 and she is helping Margie with all the planning for Spark no 3!

This year, with the arrival of my little Lola, I had to make some changes in my work load and this included the difficult decision of not planning Spark anymore... I loved every part about Spark and I miss all the fun planning but I am happy because it's definitely in inspiring hands and is sure to be a magical event! You should go!! :)

To make the bracelet: Start by scanning in your photo booth pictures and resizing them to about 50% to fit inside a charm frame. She soldered the metal for her frames using a solder iron. Or you can find similar frame charms here and here.

Then, use wire and pliers to attach charms and beads for each bracelet.

Everyone has photobooth pics with their bestie... what a fun keepsake!

April has other beautiful pieces at her Secondsister shop and her gorgeous Jackaroo line will be released this month.

Check out other friendship bracelet ideas for my summer series: One for me One for you

quick + cute

This post is going to be quick which can also be said about this simple craft idea.

Ribbon flags. I threw these together for Lola's baby blessing on Sunday. I needed something... anything... and I remembered seeing these somewhere online for a wedding. So I grabbed some ribbon, buttons, rhinestones and lollipop sticks. As much as I wished these were lollipops on top the ribbons would do.

Gather ribbon, buttons, rhinestones and lollipop sticks. Cut about 6 inches of ribbon.

Fold in half. Loop one end and pull the other end through.

Cut ends to look like flags. That's it!

It was so quick I didn't even give Collin the chance to say anything like, 'why I are you making those'... 'waste of time'... blah blah blah... ;)

I added the jar to my mantle with the jars of hearts.

Happy Friday from us.♡

crewcuts diy tips

My sister brought over the Crewcuts catalog and I love it. Besides wishing some of the clothes came in my size I gushed over their DIY projects.

-Adding zig zag stitching, beads and weaved in tulle to leggings.

-Using fabric markers to draw polka dots on a dress.

-Dressing up a cardi with fabric scraps.

I'm finishing up a couple DIY embellished shirts I've been working on to share soon. Hope you had a great weekend!

PS your comments for my last post are making me laugh... coming up with a good reason for me being lazy. ;)

Storytelling Frames

You might have already read this at Ali's blog but I wanted to re-post it here...

In a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living there was an article about a little girl's birthday party where they displayed a wall of "scrapboxes." Right then, I tore out the pages and was ecstatic to start celebrating my daughter's memories in a frame. Yeah, I know it is reminiscent of shadow boxes and can be considered quite cheesey, but hey, who doesn't like cheese? ;) Honestly though it is a fun and creative way to document and showcase pieces of my daughter's lives.

Think of it as your own storytelling wall. What story do you want to tell? What stories do you want your children to remember each day?

First, choose a wall to decorate. Because of the content of the frames I settled on a wall in my daughter's play room. I'm so glad I did because my oldest daughter was completely elated when she walked in and saw all these wonderful memories. Her eyes got so big as she recalled horse back riding for the first time & one of her drawings so I know she will enjoy seeing the pictures everyday.

Next, gather decor pieces including frames, photos and some mementos. The white frames are from Ikea with about 1 3/4 depth which gives a great space to fill with keepsakes. Here are a few ideas I used in my frames.

FAVORITE TOY
Pair a favorite toy with a favorite memory. Think of a photo/story/toy that illustrates something your child loves at the moment. Or if your child has grown think of something they loved and possibly shaped who they've become. For my daughter it is animals. She loves animals and one of her happiest moments was riding a pony for the first time. Her smile says it all. I included several horse figurines that she loved to play with but has grown tired of. Of course once she saw them in the frame they looked so fun again. Thankfully, I was prepared with others she could play with.

CHILD'S ARTWORK
This is often my favorite keepsake to showcase in our home. I don't think we realize how much it means to our kids when they see that your hung their school work on the fridge or display it in your studio. I included crayons for added color and playful touch.
FAVORITE MEMORY
One of my favorite memories is having tea parties with my daughter. I included actual teacups glued inside the frame. I took out the glass because they wouldn't fit with it but was still happy with the result. I printed the photo in black and white so it wouldn't compete too much with the other colors. Lastly, I added a couple of rub ons from my line craft line, Dear Lizzy.

EVERYDAY ITEMS
Since my daughter's famous rain boots couldn't quite fit in the frame, I thought of the next best thing... her sunglasses. She adores wearing her shades so much that when I was making this frame she wandered off with them, despite the fact that they don't fit her anymore. I will replace it with the originals once I find the treasure hunt she's put me on. You could also include clothing, swimsuits, newborn outfits, hats or even shoes.

BOOK
I love that children create an attachment to their favorite books and want to read them over and over. Not only do they remember the story but all the fun times you spend together reading. I included a strip of photos of my daughter reading with the date and title of book, "Pinkalicious." You can tell this book was loved and it was okay to frame this one since it has been replaced with a new one.
MEMORABILIA
In my studio I have a cloth box from KOLO where I store nostalgia and pieces of our adventures. In this frame I included a photo from a carousel ride, tickets I saved, & embellished with a flower by Prima. The options are endless for items in this category including: clothing tags, movie tickets, menus, postcards and love notes.

FINISHING TOUCHES
Along with the frames I added decor pieces and vintage keepsakes from my childhood including Disneyland records my Mom saved all these years and a vintage camera from my Grandpa.

Other decor items include a clipboard with favorite quote that I can switch out easily, photobooth pictures of my little brother, a retro record album, vintage cuckoo clock, Instax photos, a silhouette, "&" from Anthropologie, and finally some music note fabric.

La La Love You

♪ The best part of waking up ♫... isn't Folgers in your cup but coffee filter garlands.

Since Spark, my cha Dear Lizzy Booth and now Valentine's decor I've gone through 1800 coffee filters. 3 jumbo packs. Sheesh that doesn't include Rhonna and Margie's. After we took down all the garlands for Spark, which was A LOT, even Collin missed them. So I was happy to decorate for Valentine's Day & if you've been to Dear Lizzie boutique the entrance to their store is so fabulous! Right then and there I knew I needed some filter fun strung for February.

The La La Love You print I got a couple years ago and used it for inspiration in my book. One of the jars is filled with cute plastic conversation hearts and the other one is filled with love notes. (Margie had love notes in her booth at cha and I loved reading one everyday.)

The heart boxes are my favorite-with the big chunky hanging crystals from House of 3. My Spark sister Rhonna posted a tutorial for making the coffee filter flowers on her blog. She's very serious in the video but don't let that fool you. If she could she would have been squealing and dancing around while she filmed! x0 There was a hot glue gun involved so that was probably why. ;)

The X & O are wood letters I got from Roberts then glittered the heck out of them. I forgot to spray paint them before. Painting them about the same color of the glitter helps with coverage. Since I must of been too excited to start modpodging I forgot that step, which wasn't that bad just meant lots more sparkle. Okay possibly some frustration which led to trash talking the glitter too.

Looking at this reminds me... it's time for new family photos. Any recommendations? Wish Maggie was closer!!

Loving this song: Corner by Allie Moss

you can fly... you can fly...

My little nephew had the cutest Peter Pan party over the weekend. My sister is a mini Martha Stewart and goes all out. I think I even heard her say that she didn't sleep the night before... ha! That's Camille for ya-she amazes me & always goes above and beyond.
I helped her with the invitations & wrote a letter from Captain Hook inviting all the Lost Boys & Girls to Matthew's party. She painted a ship found at Hobby Lobby & the clothes pins to look like Peter Pan & Wendy. She was so inspired by a birthday party posted over at the Cookie magazine blog via Cup of Jo that she had to recreate it for Matthew-- There was a cake walk, kids dressed up, a tee pee & a treasure hunt.

Sprinkle some pixie dust on me, please. To the second star on the right and straight on til morning...

bag and birthday recap

The gifts for our precious mothers are still in the works (meaning I haven't figured that part out yet.) But at least I sewed the gift bags together...
At one of my recent ventures I picked up a little felt bag for Avery with some goodies in it and was excited to recreate my own for presents. I love it because you can reuse them but they don't look like they've been reused. My sisters and I are always giving each other presents back in the same bags-makes me laugh.
If anyone is interested I will put together a tutorial... It was pretty easy, so let me know.

Corduroy Flowers, buttons & large flower are from the Scarlet Lime May kit.

Speaking of which, the winner of the Scarlet Lime May Kit is:

{VICKI} said...
Welcome to GA! I live in Alto, GA--wish I could be attending with you:(These colors would go with just about anything-- love them So I would just scrap what ever photos was next on my list!

The winner of Christy's Eye for Design class is:

kreativeimagination Yay!! You won! Send me your info via email.

Thanks for all your birthday wishes and sweet comments! Big hugs to you for making my day even more special!

Turned out to be a great day! Lunch with Collin at Cafe Rio blasting Adele in the car. Later we all met for a mad game of kickball/baseball, ate pizza, opened presents. Our fam-love them!

Can you believe my birthday blog card? haha! Yes, Collin is hilarious! Yes, he has me laughing all the time and I'm glad you get an idea of the kind of craziness he brings to our home. Yes, I am going to make him live up to his giveaway promise-speedo and all. :) Nope, he doesn't have a blog. (Not sure if the blog world is ready for that;) but he has a photoblog here and follow him on twitter for some more laughs (PixelPop is his username).

K & randomness

It's one of those cozy, rainy days... I love these kind of days. Avery's got the right idea, it's perfect for reading. This Thursday I'll have time on a flight to Arizona where I'll teach at the Creating Keepsakes convention to start a good book from your suggestions. :) It will keep my mind off missing my girlies. (We won't talk about that right now.)

A couple weeks ago I decided that I was tired of walking into our family/tv room and seeing the back of this sectional. So I moved everything by myself... yeah not the smartest idea. Then after I moved the tv I was sick of the blank wall-- I got some ideas from a fabulous blog SanFran Girl by Bay & started hanging up random things. The good thing is that I used this awesome hanging sticky stuff from my sister (I think it's by 3M) that doesn't take the paint off for all the K's that way I don't feel bad when I have to move them. It's great for people who frequently change their mind, like me.
-I would love to cut out their silhouettes every year to see how they change. Quincey has the cutest baby profile that I've ever seen. Need a bigger frame for Avery's silhouette but like I said I just grabbed stuff that was in storage etc.
-Collected Ks from random places covered a couple with Vintage Yummy paper.
-Pictures of Collin with Avery and Quincey & me dancing with my daddy.
-Painted chalkboard paint on the glass of one of the frames to write messages, hang polaroids & a cute calendar.
I dug deep for this post after getting a few comments and emails asking me about the console in the background of some photos. I found it at D.I., painted it with 'Lagoon' by Sherwin Williams then distressed it and added some hardware. Love restoring old things.

Look at little Avery. :)

winners

Thanks for all the chalkboard help from my previous post.
Collin thought it would be a good idea to start small-so the globe was my experimentation. I'm happy to report the results were better than I expected. It's new home is on my bookcase so I can dream about fun places where I hope to explore someday.

The random winners from yesterday's giveaway are:
Liz said:
Some days we have cake for lunch.

Colby said:
Some days I wish I were young again... remembering what life was like with no bills. ;)
Yay!! email me your addys!! :)

knee highs aren't just for the lunch lady

I've gotten quite a few emails about making bows... here's how I make nylon headbands that are so soft and stretchy-perfect for babies.


Q-Biscuit gives it two thumbs up.


I'm not a professional bow maker, so if you are, please leave us some tips:)
*Start with one knee-high length nylon
*Pin together the toe to the bottom of the elastic part that would sit right under your knee if you were wearing them
*Sew in a loose setting so you can gather it
*Cut off that extra nylon piece
*Pull the top stitch to gather the nylon
*Then simply glue the flower to the nylon OR
you can glue a piece of ribbon around the seam then interchange clips with flowers on them.
Capiche?

I'll show you how I make the flowers on clips in the second installment of 'Liz's attempt to make her girls not look like boys.'


it's late... nigh-night!

Where is Spring?

I can't believe it's snowing!! My poor daffodils!

I guess I should be grateful for this weather otherwise I wouldn't have wanted to be inside working on my weekend project and new hobby.

My sister found out that she is also having a little girl so we decided to each make a quilt. I'm now officially obsessed with quilting. Mostly because the 'Ginger Blossom' line of fabric is so stinkin' cute!! Collin went to a conference for our church Saturday night so Avery and I watched 'Enchanted' and I sewed all the squares and borders together.

Do you love the baby bump? I wish Collin would have been home to take a picture when Avery had to sit on my lap as I sewed. It was a tight squeeze! :)

Since this is my first quilt I kept it simple with 4.5" squares and a top and bottom border. I'm excited to finish the rest-or I guess pay someone to do the embroidery design. :)