Fabric Flowers

Do you remember this project from WAY back? I just winged it with the bag....but I promised a tute on the fabric flowers. I know, I know....I make promises, then take thirty five years to follow through. ;-) BUT....here it is! With a felt backing they are easy to either pin or sew onto whatever you can imagine!!

These flowers are SUPER easy to make...mainly because there's no right or wrong. I love those kind of projects. Basically you will need some fabric and a little felt circle (or square or triangle....whatever floats your boat.)

Now I'm going to share my super spy secret. Do you know how to make a TINY piece of silk go A LONG WAY? I'll tell you. Cut back and forth lots of times...but don't cut all the way through each time. See above photo.




You'll end up with this. A LOOOOONG strand of silk (or whatever fabric you like)!



Next, plug in your glue gun and wait for it to heat up....and enjoy a nice chilly diet cherry 7-up. It's the best beverage for doing DIY. Oh and if my husband Santa is reading this.....I'd like some glue sticks (the mini kind) in my stocking. (hey it's never too early to give your husband Santa hints...he he he)



Back to the project at hand. Now glue the corner to the circle.

Here's the easy part. Twist, scrunch, glue. Twist, scrunch glue. Lots of times.

Keep going...we're almost done!

Ta da. Okay, you got me. This is my second flower. The first was....well...shall we say "not ready for its close up". It takes a bit of practice...and a light hand with the glue gun. I went crazy with the first one. I can't promise you won't have A TON a little glue stuck to your fingers. I mean, we are artists....artists suffer for their art. Look at van Gogh, he cut off his ear. I'm not asking you to do that. Well.....he was mentally ill, suffering from syphilis, and drank a quart of turpentine before doing so.....but hey, he suffered for his art.

A little glue on your fingers isn't looking so bad now, eh? ;-)

linking up to:

Weekend Wrap Up Party

Ruffle Bag

Last weekend I had a FABULOUS birthday party to attend....for THE miss eff....and I certainly couldn't show up looking like a hobo....so......I needed a new bag. I was feeling ruffly....we all have those days, right?

And flowery. Okay, so maybe I looked like a ruffly, flowery hobo.
I'll post a quick tute on how to make these super cute flowers soon!
(Don't hold me to that though.....cucumbers are taking over my life. I think I hear one sneaking in the back door right now.)

I'm always jealous of the fab photos all the blogger girls have of them holding a cute bag, etc. There are no grownups in my house during the light of day to take photos (besides me and sometimes I don't feel much like a grown up either).

I have two little boys. Who tried their best. ;-)

Linked up to:

Weekend Wrap Up Party

Sundae Scoop

Free Organization!

This is the beginning. The beginning of a little boy room remodel. My boys have informed me they would like their room to look different...more "big boy". I've had this free free cheap cheap project rolling around in my brain ever since, because let's face it....boys need organization!

We started with this. Target diaper boxes (which we are finally almost done with...YAY!!) I used cloth diapers with both my boys...until my youngest decided to get ENORMOUS before he was potty trained...and I couldn't justify buying the whole next size in cloth for just a few months. We have also been organizing closets and getting rid of t-shirts that are GINORMOUS (do you remember the '90's?) They came in VERY handy for this project!!!

First I taped the box flaps down inside the box.


Cut the t-shirt into pieces to cover the box.



Sew it all together, stretch it over the box, add a felt star and VOILA! Super cute, FREEEEEEEE organization! I have three more boxes to cover and add to their "big boy" room! These boxes are really sturdy and could be covered in ANY fabric to match any decor! Go crazy! :-)

I also snatched up a FREEEE set of lockers on Craigslist....
I'm seeing a theme developing here. ;-)
I'll show updates as they happen!

Oh! And don't forget to enter my basket giveaway HERE!!!!

Linking up to:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Made it Monday at Persimmon Perch

Just Something I Whipped up at The Girl Creative

Making the World Cuter Monday

The Coupon House

When the weather looks like this......

And a pile of this spills out of the cupboard first thing in the morning.....

It's time for a fun project!!

Clipping coupons is all the rage again....because let's face it....everyone needs 25 cents off a bottle of salad dressing. It's the prudent thing to do. AND, I have the most awesome mom who clips coupons FOR ME. She knows exactly what we use, clips the coupons, sends them to me in the mail. Is that not awesome?

Projects using up stuff I already have in my craft room are even better....because my husband thinks he's going to drown in fabric samples...they're just all so pretty, I can't turn them down! Obviously, my coupons need a new home as well...so....here we go!

On a side note....have you ever shopped for craft supplies at the hardware store? I know you have, because you're all SO crafty and thrifty. :-) True Value is my F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. hardware store....oh and I love Ace too....but at True Value they have those fun little bins of hardware that you can poke through and buy one of this and one of that. I know, I'm a weirdo. Well anyway, they have really pretty d-rings and other things that look GREAT on bags!

Oh, and at True Value approximately 73 people will ask if they can help you find something...awesome. I think they giggle at girls in the hardware aisle digging through the goods though. ;-)








So, on to the project. I wanted my coupon house to have a square bottom....this took math. I don't advise math and crafting at the same time. I stared at this piece of fabric for a while....and then had to cut a little more.







Sew it all together and the coupon house was born.
And that cute little D ring was only 30 cents in case you were wondering. Love it.

Sorry, no tutorial here....seriously I just keep sewing until it looks right....
while trying to avoid the math.






The first coupon found it's way inside the house pretty quickly! I used chipboard (from the back of paper packs) as dividers.






The coupon house and I then wandered around the house looking for a spec of decent light to take a photo. There's not much light to be had when you're living in Forks, WA for the day. (That's for all you Twilight girls ;-)....speaking of...I think it's a good day to start reading from the beginning again. ;-) I digress......








Oh, and by the way I had a little corrugated plastic scrap in my felt food supplies...perfect to hold the bottom straight and rigid.

Meet all your new friends Miss Coupon House! :-)

Linking up to:

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home

Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Favorite Things Friday at A Few of My Favorite Things

Fresh Spring Pillows

My pillows are dressed for spring and looking oh so fresh. I teased here with the pillow potential...then got sidetracked with helping to get the Mill Creek Cafe open....then there were thirty gajillion other things....and now my pillows are back on the radar. There were a few hiccups in the pillow production process, but all is well now. The window seat is once again a very intriguing place for little ones with the fresh pillows. :-)

Free Pillow Makeovers

My pillows are kicking up their heels and trying on their pretty spring clothes. Valentine's Day in our house doesn't involve a lot of pink or romantic fluffy objects (remember I live with three men) so I try to keep things neutral...not too butch, not too girly. My decorating scheme after Christmas has gone in the direction of spring...but a little icy spring. Lots of icy blues and reds, naturals...definitely appealing to me at least.

My pillows are getting a springtime/Valentine's Day makeover...or at least a slipcover makeover. I love these pillows for fall/winter...the turkey is a favorite (from this post)...but spring is coming and they need a little slipcover pick me up until fall arrives again. The pillows all tried on their new clothes and swapped and traded until everything looked right. Don't you just love fabric remnants? Had these laying around. They're in the sewing room now, almost ready to walk down the runway....check back!

LOVE the velvety red rose fabric...and the icy blue "wood grain"....and the embroidered silk....

oh I love it all, who am I kidding.

And just so you know, this is the face men give you when your pillows are "trying on clothes". Boy, let me tell you, they're impressed. ;-)

Lookin' Snazzy at the Farmers' Market

In my vein of thinking all gifts should have purpose. Is that wrong? I've never had a complaint...so I guess that means no...or maybe that I have really polite family and friends? Well whichever it is, I enjoyed making this practical (yet snazzy) gift for my dear brother and sister in law. Gardening, practicality and being super cool are their fortes....so what better to give them than a handmade bag to visit their own garden with or one of the trillion fabulous farmers' markets in Wisconsin? (Yeah, they're cheesehead transplants...is that what they're called? Cheeseheads? I don't know...they live in WI, we'll leave it at that)

For the bag I did a very simple square bottom, tall design with straps long enough to go over the shoulder, in a neutral, burlappy (that's a word, I swear), natural fabric. For the image I strolled on over to one of the coolest blogs ever Just Something I Made and snatched one up here. L.O.V.E. H.E.R. Cathe has the most amazing ideas EVER. So basically I did what she did....except I used iron on transfer paper for light colored fabrics. Make sure to REVERSE the image before printing...didn't do that the first time and cursed myself for wasting a sheet for days. I'm over it now...I think...well maybe not...but I'm trying.

Love how this project turned out...I was so happy to give it as a gift and hope they get lots of use out of it.

Cupcakes, Purses and Spending Cash

What little girl doesn't love cupcakes, purses and a little spending cash? Hopefully this one does! This was a fun Christmas present for a little gal in our life...definitely a girly girl. We have a shortage of girly girls in our house, so it is always fun to do a project that involves pink! I started with a cupcake template from....hmm.....if I think long and hard I may remember (check back later). Cut the cupcake pieces from felt and then sewed them together.

The purse itself is a cream colored denim with a soft cotton lining in a pretty blue print. The very handsome handle is a piece of ribbon found in the clearance bin at Hancock Fabric....the whole spool of ribbon was $.25!! So this handle nearly broke the bank at a whopping penny. Yay, i love bargains.

And of course every girl needs some finances. Grabbed this AWESOME idea from the VERY COOL blog, Just Something I Made. I am no whiz at manipulating PDF's, however, so this took a little fanoodling in Publisher to get it just right.

Fun project! Now I need to find a few more little girls to do projects for....I've got some pink fabric burning a hole on my craftroom table! ;-)

The Tooth Fairy

Apparently, with kindergarten, so brings the loose teeth. Just a few short weeks ago Marshall noticed his VERY FIRST loose tooth. Where does the time go? Didn't he just grow those teeth? Alas, with the imminent tooth-losing event threatening to happen at any moment we needed a way to communicate to The Tooth Fairy that a tooth was indeed lost, and hidden under a pillow....so.....The Official Tooth Fairy Pillow was constructed. A boy tooth for Marshall, a girl tooth for a very sweet classmate who is also about to lose a tooth. There are little pockets on the back of the teeth to keep the "real" tooth safe.

Marshall's question to me....."what does The Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she collects?" Hmm....might need to Google that one. ;-)

The Pillow

Handmade. Is this something most kids know anything about anymore? I've always...ALWAYS (just ask my parents) prided myself on MAKING gifts. There is just something special about the anticipation of awaiting the look on your gift recipient's face when they open a gift that you know you have put careful consideration, time, and love into. Marsh attended a classmate's birthday party this week....fun event for him. When we received the invitation I pondered long and hard about what I could MAKE for this little guy's gift. Boys are definitely more difficult than girls, but certainly not impossible.

This pillow is what I landed on. Marsh has one similar to it and enjoys it, so I decided to go ahead and give it a try for this birthday gift. I have to admit I held my breath a little as the birthday boy tore into the bag....hoping (praying) he wouldn't spit in disgust at the thought that Marsh had given him "home decor" on his very important day.

To my delight (and I have to admit, surprise), the pillow seemed to be his favorite gift, as he expressed a heartfelt thank you for it and how it would "go" with his room. The birthday boy's mom even waxed on about how it was handmade and that I'd taken the time to MAKE something for him. I assured her that I enjoyed making his gift and was glad he enjoyed it. In fact I ran into mom out and about today and AGAIN she mentioned how much he loves the pillow and carried it around all night.

Makes you wonder, huh? At our very core, what we want is to know others care for us and that we're worthy of time and energy being spent for our benefit and enjoyment. Sometimes we need to take a step back and think about what will benefit our little ones...more money being spent on plastic from a faraway land or a gift crafted from things we already own, with love and care.

Well, I'm off to make a few more Christmas gifts for the special little guys in my heart.

More photos soon....hopefully my kids don't read my blog ;-)

The Little Bag That's Stolen My Heart

I know it's wrong, but I'm coveting this bag. I'll just have to make another. This was a Christmas gift, so I knew all along it wasn't for me and that I just needed to get over it....but I just haven't...I'm having bag envy. I can just see myself, bopping around Fish Creek....Door County that is...little bag under my arm, looking cute. And I suppose it should have a "J" instead of an "A". ;-)