Easter Egg Bunting

To quote Heather on Pinterest: "never enough buntings"

(Side note: Anyone else obsessed with this site? Heidi, please join and collect style images for me. Thanks.)

This paint chip garland was way too cute and too easy to pass up.

Trace, cut, hole punch, string, repeat.

I love how it turned out!

A simple, sweet addition to our Spring decor.

We were sitting in the back yard last night enjoying a fire in the fire pit and I was stringing the eggs on to the ribbon. Matt kept snickering, but when I was finished he looked at the garland and commented, "I can't believe you made something so cool out of paint chips."

Awww :)

Burst of creativity

On July 1st we started the P90X workout program, which includes at least an hour (up to an hour and a half) of exercise every single day. Between work and Mason and making a bunch of healthy food, I haven't had much time to create, that is, until a trip to the thrift store gave me some inspiration for a couple of simple projects!

The three shirts in the above photo had some stains on them, so those just needed a quick soak in some pearl grey Rit Dye.

Mason's went from dingy white to hides-the-drool-better grey.

That weird green pillow thing above? It looked like the perfect shape for a portable buckling activity for Mason. He is obsessed with buckles right now... the car seat, the high chair, the Ergo...

I had all the fabric, felt and ribbons so I picked up 4 buckles in various sizes for him to buckle and unbuckle for as long as he wanted during our drive last weekend. It worked! Not bad for a weird $1 find.

The basketball hoop was also $1 and has a tab that the ball hits when it goes through the net and makes a cheering sound. It looked like fun but it was so ugly! Two pieces of scrapbook paper and some Mod Podge later...

Finally, the mirror in the picture was another thrift store $1 find. It is the first time we've had one in the car and I think I get more entertainment out of watching Mason make faces at himself than he does. :)

You would think that would satisfy my urge to be crafy for a while, but it actually only motivated me to start on a couple of other projects I have had on my list. Who needs sleep, right?

Have a great weekend!

Crate & Barrel-Inspired DIY Wall Art

Mason's room has been rearranged a few times since his nursery was completed and lately it has felt a bit... disjointed. It was time to get things coordinated once again. Blame it on my OCD. Or my affinity for symmetry. Or having a full day off work.

I'll share some pictures when I have all of the details finished, but here is a little art project I finished this week:

The inspiration? This set of wall tiles I found at Crate & Barrel. It was another case of, "I bet I could make that."

I had some canvases left over from my fabric sign obsession and paint from the trim in Mason's room. First I painted the front and sides of four canvases.

Next, I chose the images I wanted to use for each canvas and traced them onto wax paper. You basically create a reverse stencil by applying overlapping strips of painters tape and then cutting out the design. Just peel off the wax paper and there you have your "stencil".

Stick the tape right on the canvas and paint over it. Let the paint dry and peel off the tape. That's it!

Easy wall art to match Mase's circles and primary colors bedroom. Updated pictures of the rest coming soon.

Khakis turned...

40's inspired sun cap (tutorial found here)

And playtime-friendly snack bags (tutorial found here)

Tage had a pair of pants with a hole in them and you can imagine how excited I was to be able to use them for some kind of project. I actually made that sun cap twice (it was too small for Mase's big ol' head the first time) and made two of these nifty snack pouches and I have a bunch of fabric left over. If I made the pouches again I would sew the velcro onto the inner fabric before putting all of the pieces together (the tutorial has you attach the velco at the very end). We'll use them all the time-- I used ripstop for the inner pouch so they are washable-- and they fit a whole sandwich with room to spare.

In case you were wondering, you can even stick a treat into the outer pocket. That might be my favorite part! 

Weekend project anyone?

Easy hand-stitched cards

I am a stationary person. Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty of texting as my primary form of communication as the next person, but there is a certain satisfaction in writing a handwritten note. Maybe it's because my mom forced me to write thank you notes for everything growing up (and I still do-- thanks Mom.)

In need of a birthday card last week I scoured my card box but couldn't find just the right one. Somehow these hand-stitched cards from Make and Takes came to mind. I love when I find a project that I already have supplies for! Embroidery thread? Check. Cardstock? Check. I improvised and used a nail instead of a punching awl. I totally cheated and used the birthday candle and flower templates from Make and Takes, but if you're more artistic you could hand-draw a design or use any image really.

Then I got to thinking you could probably do this with a small hole punch and ribbon, on a larger scale. One day when I run out of embroidery thread (or patience for punching tiny holes with a nail) I'll try it and let you know how it goes.

Have a fabulous weekend! Here's a little preview of ours: ocean, mountains, and Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Yes, you read that right. 5:30PM cannot get here soon enough...

Fabric signs

Thanks to Julie at Joy's Hope, I am pretty much addicted to making these.

Aside from sharing the link to that tutorial, I decided to post these pictures for a few reasons.

To thank my friend Kim for tolerating all my handmade gifts. Ella is the recipient of far too many of my "I want to try that!" whims.

So that one day when I actually learn how to sew (and get a fancier sewing machine than my 10-year old starter Singer) I can look back and laugh at myself see improvement. It is a fluke when I can sew a straight line.

Put a stop to any misconceptions that I am at all talented at this crafty business. I just find enjoyment in it. By no means am I good at it. Which means, YOU can do this stuff too, self-proclaimed "non crafty" people.

See that "a"? This sign was the BEST one. You should have seen the others up close. Kim, you should probably hang those signs very high in Ella's room.

Adventures in fabric dying

It sounds silly, but I have been looking for an excuse to try fabric dying. I found this tutorial and thought it would be a good way to "renew" some stained white clothes Mason has. I imagine it would work well for someone who is having a second (or fourth) child as you can turn pink onesies into brown, yellow into purple, white into whatever.

You get the idea.

An inexpensive packet of die (purchased with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn) turned two of Mason's white onesies into a perfect shade of Irish green. The dying process was super easy and when I initially took the onesies out of the die the coloring looked a little uneven but after washing and drying them, they looked great.

Embellished with some fabric and ric rac, that onesie is now ready for St. Patrick's Day. I am working on another one using freezer paper stenciling. We'll see how that goes...

Happy Birthday Vinny

Mason's friend Vincent is 2 today!

Mase was actually due February 26th, so they would have been almost exactly a year apart. 11 months is close enough though. As Mason grows it is fun to watch them interact and begin to play together. (P.S. Jaime, I totally jacked this picture from Al's Facebook.)

For Christmas Vinny got a Home Depot Work Bench and as soon as I saw it I knew he needed a personalized tool belt to go with it. To say Vince's family is "into sports" would be an understatement, so of course the tool belt had to include something sporty. Here is the tutorial I used. We hope he likes it!

Weekend Fun

Work, work, work...

...at least for mom.

It was a Daddy and Mason weekend. The boys hung out, visited family and took lots of naps.

Between jobs I finished a few Christmas gifts, and finally made curtains for the kitchen.

(Okay, so Tage forbade me to sew another stitch on any other project until I did them, but it is so nice to have them done!)

 Tomorrow: Homemade Kahlua!

I should be...

Cleaning.

Napping.
Sewing curtains for my kitchen.

But no.

I got sucked into this.


You can too!

Julie makes it very, very easy.

Plus I'll end up with 9 festive scarves I actually plan to use as gift wrap (killing two birds with one stone with being environmentally responsible and including something handmade with each gift.)

So here you go...



And if you're up for more of a challenge, check out Heather's scarf along!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider...

The irony here is that I have severe, and I mean severe, arachnophobia.

I have to say though, our little Peanut makes a pretty cute spider.

Complete with a fly dinner!

For Mase's first Halloween our plans were low key: take a walk around my dad's neighborhood. Grandpa Flint still lives in the house my brothers and I grew up in so the neighbors remember us trick-or-treating every year growing up. I thought it would be fun for them to see the next generation. We went out early, made the rounds, and got home in time to put baby to bed and turn off all the lights and pretend we weren't home so no one would ring the doorbell and wake him up-- sad, I know.

Being that we didn't have much to do (and Mason wouldn't know either way) I went really simple with the costume. A long black skirt I already owned made into a spider web using yarn and hot glue, the Snugli baby carrier outfitted with a red (eco)felt hourglass and a few extra black-tube-sock-legs stuffed with tissue paper. Add a couple of large decorative flies caught in the web and one attached to Mase's pacifier and we were good to go! Easy, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly in that I used very little new material, rather made use of things we already owned.

Maybe next year we'll dress Tage up as a can of Raid.

No tricks, just treats

How CUTE are these candy corn drawstring bags??? They were super easy to make and took me about 15 minutes last night to make two of them for my little cousins, Lauren and Melanie.

Here is the tutorial I found via The Crafty Crow. These are the same talented ladies whose tutorial I used for the Easter egg drawstring bags.

Enjoy!

Pacifier Clips

It has been a while since I've posted a project and this one has been sitting in my blogger que. Mason likes his pacifier when he's getting sleepy but he won't fall asleep with it in his mouth so we use it most when we're out for our evening walks or in the car. We have one pacifier clip and it works okay. The clip part isn't the greatest.

I saw this stinking cute owl pacifier clip on Give Away Today and it was all I could do not to order one! Okay so it was only $6.75 (around $8 after shipping and a 15% discount) but I was going to wait a day to see if I won the giveaway first. It figures that that evening I went to Joanne's for fabric and happened across some super cute adhesive backed ribbon that looked like the ribbon in that stinking cute owl pacifier clip. Of course my next thought is, "I bet I could make that..."

If Tage had a nickel for every time he has heard me say that he could finally buy the flatscreen TV he has always wanted!

At any rate, here's what I did...

Gathered the ribbon, my sewing kit, some eco-felt and a hot glue gun.

Purchased snaps along with the ribbon at Joanne's to use to secure the clip to the pacifier. The most time comsuming part of this process was sewing the snaps onto the ribbon! Before doing that though, I cut a 16" length of ribbon, peeled off the backing, and folded it in half (so that it adhered to itself.) If I make these again I'm going to use a 20" length of ribbon because the 16" is border-line too short in the end.

At the other end of the ribbon you'll secure whatever you're using as the actual "clip" part of it. I opted for one of these hair clips. I made Mason's first and used hot glue to attach the clip to the ribbon-- failure. He pryed it off after a few uses. When I made the next one I sewed the thing on, which worked much better.

The fun part for most people, cutting out your felt shapes, comes next. This is always the hardest part for me because I do NOT have an eye for stuff like that. Heather, on the other hand... well that's why she has a shop and I do not. :) So if I can manage to fashion a somewhat owl-looking creature out of felt, you can too.

I handstiched some body parts on and added a little detail. If you double up the thread it stands out a bit more.

Then you take that cool fusible material stuff and iron it between your felt creature and another piece of felt cut roughly the same shape. You can tell by my picture above that when I say "roughly" I clearly mean roughly. Not pretty. I'm sure yours will be pretty though. Especially if your name is Heather. Or Julie. Ugh.

Thankfully (for me) when you finish ironing and the felt pieces are happily fused together your mistakes are forgiven and it looks just fine.

Now you hot glue the felt form to the end of the ribbon that has the clip. The hot glue worked well for this function. Mason has yet to pry them apart.

Here is what it looks like when it's finished.

There you have it, the finished pair-- don't make fun of my felt shapes! Someday I'll be good at the whole "creative" side of craftiness. Um, or not. Either way, this pacifier clip cost me less than $1 to make. Think of the possibilities with all the cute felt creatures (monograms? or fruit? vegetables maybe?) you can create to add to the end of the clip! Check out Cranberries and Capers for lots of cute ideas.