Spiraled Yarn Circle Garland

Whoa.  Two posts in two days. Shocking. But I wanted to share this fun tutorial to make this happy little garland.  I shared it last week on Kimberly's blog...bugaboo, mini, mr. and me.  She has a great Yarn It All series going on sharing all things yarn.  It is awesome.

I have been drooling over all the colorful crochet garlands I see out there.  So I decided to make my own version without the awesome crochet skills but still all the pretty. I am excited to share it with all of you!

Here's what you do to start making cute little yarn circles with the help of some paper and glue...

It's pretty easy and quick too!  If you don't have a circle punch just trace and cut a circle with scissors. I suggest using card stock the same color as the yarn in case you have some gaps. Also, I find hot glue to be the easiest to work with since it dries so fast and keeps the yarn from un-spiraling. You just have to  be careful not to burn yourself.  I have worked with hot glue so much I think I no longer possess fingerprints. :) 

Here it is in my Spring Vignette that is still a work in progress. Fun!

Hugs and blessings!

Distressing Paint w/ a Sponge

Hey sweet friends!  OK,  I know.  I hardly post anymore.  The last few months have been full of tons of stuff and my priorities have heavily shifted on family and helping my oldest with school. My poor girl is having a tough time in math.  But...I also have been focusing a lot on my house too.

I do love crafts.  But I have a sweet spot in my heart for decorating. I've always been too shy to share stuff on my blog because I kind of wing it when it comes to decor and furniture redo's but I figured I could start sharing with you some upcoming things I have planned.

For those of you who don't know, we bought this house about 2 years ago but 3 months after moving in my husband lost his job (he found an even BETTER one now) in the middle of us remodeling our master bath. And to this day, it sits unfinished.

And the rest of the house needs some work.  I love our house but we still need to tweak things to have it fit the way we live.  So I hope to share this journey with you friends to keep me accountable to get it done.

But in the meantime I have small little projects I am working on.  One project is this set of shutters we found for free on the side of the road.  It looks like they were a closet door or something. My plan was to cut them half to make four shutters are create a headboard for out queen size bed. But they come up short. And if I kept them intact, and lie them horizontally, they are too long. Bummer.

So I think I may use them for interest in a bookshelf vignette or something. Not sure what.  I have enough memo boards but I do love that idea.  I just don't "need" it.  Wall space in my home is precious and I don't want to clutter them with too much "stuff."

But I did decide to distress them a bit with paint.  I ended up using a sponge instead of sandpaper to do this so that I could go faster and layer it with paint for the look I want.  I wanted it to kind of look like it had paint layers peeling back over time.

 So the first thing I did was paint it a really pale blue...almost white but dry brushing it lightly.  

When it was dry to the touch, I took a really wet sponge and lightly wiped it back and forth to start peeling back paint.

Then I used a darker light blue and did the same thing.  Dry brushed it one and sponged it off.  I did this several times leaving a bit more paint on then the last time. This is what it looks like with a lot of dark wood showing though. I was looking for it to be lighter so using a light grey paint, I began covering up more of the dark wood.

This is actually the back but wanted you to see the color before :)

I like both distressed looks but ended up happy with this lighter look. 

The sponge made it much easier to work with.  Faster too.  I found that the less wet the sponge was, the harder it was to get the paint off.  So I kept the sponge wet but not soaking wet and full. It was so much easier then using sandpaper and much faster too. :)

So here it will sit in my bedroom next to my ugly fake tree until I can decide what to do next. :)

(So sorry for the weird pictures.  Something is up with my camera but I can't figure out what I did to it.)

Until the next time my friends!

Easy Fabric Flip Flops

Spring is almost here which means a fun wardrobe change like sandals and flip flops to show those toes!

Although us Floridians wear flip flops all year...even when I wear a sweater you can see me sporting the flops. :) I have...I think...1,002 pairs of them.  OK.  Maybe not that many but I have more than I can count. Dressy, casual, beachy, girly, whatever.  And my crafty self loved the idea of making my own using fabric scraps to make them custom and super fun.

I had the privilege to speak to a fabulous group of women last week for a local MOPS group about gift giving ideas for Spring. This was one of the projects I shared and I figured I could share an easy peasy tutorial using flips flops for my girls.  (It's been WAY TOO LONG since I did one).

Oh and sorry if the flip flops don't look pristine.  They were worn a few times by my little pinks until I snagged them to pretty them up. :) Here goes...

I know there are other fun tutorials out there by taking the whole thong out and just using fabric...so cute! Check out this one and this one from The Mother Huddle which are FABULOUS!  I just happen to prefer the support these give while making them feel a bit more comfortable and a whole lot prettier.

Oh, and please know I will be getting back to visiting all of you very soon.  Life has gotten VERY busy for me so sadly I have not been able to visit all you fabulous friends in A LONG WHILE!  Just know I appreciate every one of you who read my blog even with YOUR busy lives and schedules and it means so much to me knowing you come to visit again and again.

Hugs all my fabulous friends!

linking to:

tatertots and jello

lolly jane

crafty scrappy happy

it's overflowing

A Pretty Baby Shower

Happy Sunday y'all! 

 It has been a jam packed week over here with all the baby shower planning.  But yesterday was the day and we had such a lovely time.  So I just wanted to share some of the fun things I made to put this party together. I don't have a lot of photos because playing the hostess makes it hard to pick up a camera.

My friend Laura made these amazing cupcakes...they are SO GOOD! And I love that the cupcake picks were really tall.  I like the look.  I made them from a curtain panel I thrifted and some buttons.

I know you have seen me do a paper doily garland before but maybe it is still exciting since I added buttons? Hmmm...

Yes.  Yes, I believe it is in fact thrilling to see a paper doily garland and now with added buttons.  

I made this with bakers twine and double sided tape.  So easy.  And I used what I had on hand to cut costs too.  Thrifty and thrilling.  Oh yeah.

 

This was the only decent shot (even with an arm in the pic and looking a tad overexposed) I got of the embroidery hoop art hung over the fireplace.  Thought you might want a peek. :)

This is my BFF opening my gift to her. I am smitten with this diaper/messenger bag from the etsy shop, ikabags. I love, love these bags and I am so getting one for me! Here are some of my favorites...

Stripes make me ridiculously happy.

The shop is from France so you will pay extra for shipping but the quality of these handmade bags are amazing!  I love them and wished I owned about 10 of them.

Now back to other party details...:)

I made these cards for all the guests to write a prayer, blessing, or well wishing for the baby and Kelly. They are made with scrapbook paper and embellished with bakers twine and buttons.  I had so much fun making these!

I found the frame on the side of the road ready for the trash during a little ride to look at Christmas lights back in December. Since my arm is still weak, I had my husband do the work of sanding, painting and adding the chicken wire to the frame. Then I just hung the cards with little wood clothespins.

Here are a bunch filled out.  Aren't they so pretty like this?

The favors waiting by the front door were 4 oz mason jars filled with sugar scrub.  A friend and I put these together and made two batches to fill 24 jars.  One batch (doubled the original recipe) was 5 cups of sugar, 2 cups of olive oil, and 8 tablespoons of lemon juice. I got the recipe from Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming. Her original recipe makes 12 oz so we just doubled it to save time.

I would have tied them up with string and pretty labels but with around 22 women there, I was just plain done in!  And I figured the pretty tops were enough. :)

So happy I got to share this with all of you wonderful friends.  

Have a fabulous day!

P.S. Sometime today or tomorrow, check out sweet Kimberly's blog who will be doing a series on parties all week.  A great bunch of bloggers are sharing tips and tricks and I think some of my ideas will be included today.. 

Go check it out!:)

Embroidery Hoop Wall Art

Well here I go again.  I am in PARTY MODE.  I am planning a baby shower for my very best friend in the whole wide world this Saturday. Kelly is having her 3rd child and it is her first GIRL!  Being a girl mom myself, I am pretty excited and can't wait to meet her precious daughter. 


So one project I have done is this HUGE embroidery hoop wall art. I think it is 2 ft in diameter. Kelly is naming her daughter Elizabeth Joy and I thought it would be so sweet to make something to both decorate for the shower and also bring home for the baby's room walls. I plan on putting it above my fireplace since it is pretty large.

Here's a photo with my lens cap so you can see how big it is.

I used a pink and white striped bed sheet as the background fabric and free handed the name lightly in pencil.  I then just embroidered over the lettering with a back stitch.

The flowers are made from fabric scraps and all have a button for the center which ties into my "Cute as a Button" theme. 

I hope to show you more and I am praying Kelly listens to me since I banned her from my blog for the week. :) I think this idea has lots of potential for other creative word fun!  Hmmmm...I need to find a way to do this somewhere in my craft room. :)

Happy Crafting my sweet friends!

A Day Shopping in My Old Neighborhood

Today was one of those days where I wonder why I don't have more like them.  After dropping off my oldest child at school, I decided to spend the day in my old neighborhood in Dunedin, FL. 

(not my house but wish it had been)

Dunedin is a fabulous historic town with cottage homes and perfect rocking chair front porches along brick paved streets.  It is right near the water where you have view of Clearwater Beach.  The town sports a fabulous downtown area with restaurants, antique shops, and boutiques. There are a ton of weekend activities like antique and craft festivals, a weekly farmers market, and holiday celebrations.

And we used to live in walking distance to downtown.

I miss it.

But...we rented because a place like this is pretty touristy, and can be pricey.  But I miss being able to walk downtown for dinner and an ice cream cone, or walk to the library.  We even had an AMAZING playground and park in walking distance next to the marina. It really is a sweet place to live.

So today I took my Ella to that very park after knowing exactly where to park before the crowds came.  Local knowledge is rather handy. :) And I decided to take photos of my day to let y'all get to know me a little bit better.  So come shopping with me. 

And I did get permission from all the shop owners to take photos.

First we hit the Farmer's market which is always packed.  Produce, cheese, fresh bread, homemade salsa, gourmet coffee and jams, fresh flowers and plants...all just fabulous. I about fell face first into those pastries there. 

This place, Merchants on Main, is pretty sweet with so many beautiful antiques. I fell in love with that ticking bolster pillow white tool box looking thing. Oh that round table!  And I was so bummed when this woman scored this chippy blue window frame with hooks on it.  I even made suggestions how she could use it!  I am either really nice or highly stupid. (wink)

This antique place is called Knot on Main Street and actually had another location ON MAIN STREET but it closed.  And this just reopened after BURNING DOWN!  Talk about a town with some resilient local merchants!!  I love this place and was actually on the hunt for something specific. No go but these old windows, chalkboard frames, and crates were talking to me and making my heart so happy.  I ached to take it all home with me.  And that dresser still might!

Then there is this amazing shop, Rainbow's End Quilt Shoppe.  It is the largest quilt shop in Florida and they boast 20,000 bolts of fabric.  I walked in and almost fell over! They carry every designer I have ever heard of and it is so GORGEOUS...a total happy place for me.  And I bought nothing.  If I bought anything...I would have spent $500 in 2 minutes. But I did love those little handmade cinch bags tied together like a little garland.  How cute is that? (top left photo) ♥

Well, there were more places I visited and I could show you my daughter Ella swinging on the swings or eating an ice cream cone but are you even interested?  Well, heck...I'll share anyway.
Here's Ella enjoying our day...

Such a fun day doing what I love with someone I love.

Can't get better then that. :)