flower and bead necklace

Have you seen that fabric with flowers all over it? I can't seem to quickly find an example on the web, (whenever I search, just floral fabrics come up) but my sister-in-law in getting married and her daughter's (our niece) dress is made with an overlay of this flowered fabric. I was making a little pin for the flower girl out of the black flowers and had a few extra flowers to play with. A friend at work was wearing a super cute Anthropologie necklace that inspired this one. I can't find it on the website now, but the "chain" was made from a strip of sheer fabric. I had a scarf from my days as a hostess (my first job) so I cut one up and came up with this:

The beads are from a beloved necklace that broke. I sewed them on between some knots I tied as I could not string them on with a needle (too thick). I knotted some other random places and even sewed back back forth in a few other places. I like the asymmetry of it. I also love that it is lightweight because I cannot stand heavy stuff around my neck, especially during pregnancy!

reversible halloween/fall bag

I've never made a reversible bag before, but I decided to last night because it seemed easier than another project I wanted to start, but realized it just was not going to happen without my mom's superior sewing assistance (more on that in a week or two when i get the help!). It took me a while with pregnancy brain to figure it out (I know, sad) but I did it after squeezing my eyes shut and visualizing and concentrating harder that usual. :)  All I can say is "I did it my way"--don't know if it is the correct way. In fact, I know it wasn't, but oh well, the end product is fine with me.

AND the cute owl pattern covers a multitude of sins!



cowboy party ~ hobby horse

Our son turns 3 at the end of the month so that means it's time for party planning! We're going for a cowboy or wild west theme. It is fun because we get to incorporate his Halloween costume into whatever party theme we are having! That it until he let's me! I've been saving up some cowboy ideas that I've seen on the web for a while now and since October is jam packed with fun things to do, I needed to get a move on making his gifts and planning his party.

This first thing I made this weekend was a hobby horse. I first saw this tutorial on lightbluegrey (I love that name! and I love Hetty's header!). I saw another great tutorial on dandee, which I loved as well. I combined to two with things I had on hand.

The only things I had to buy were the socks and the stick. I bought the socks on clearance at Target for $2.00 (for 2 pairs so I get to wear one) and the stick I found at JoAnn's (which was cheaper than at Home Depot and the perfect length). I had a 40% off coupon so it cost about $2.00 as well. So for $4.00 I was able to make this hobby horse and give myself a pair of grey (my favorite color) socks!

I stuffed the horse's head and then felt it was not opaque enough, so stretched the 2nd sock of the pair over the top. For the eyes, I used some old buttons and added a hole punch of black paper for the pupil and glued it on top. The yarn I found a few months ago at the thrift store, knowing it would some day come in handy! Since I don't knit or crochet, I had no idea what I would use it for, but that is why thrifting is so great! You just know!

I can't wait to see what our son thinks of it!

bird magazine art

I realized a few days ago that I had not handmade anything for my niece's upcoming 14th birthday! I always try to make at least one thing for her, although it is getting harder and harder to find things a teenager wants that her auntie can make her! I think it will be money and gift cards in addition to a handmade gift from here on out!

I remembered that I saw some interesting bird art on canvas the other day over at Crap I've Made. I thought perhaps a teen may appreciate some collage art with a twist (fingers crossed) so I tried it out. '

I like how the paint crackled since there are so many layers of paint. I did not go through the extra steps that Char did. Once the paint was dry, I went over it with another layer of Modge Podge (love that stuff!). Thanks for the great idea Char!

I hope our niece likes it!

flash card decor

 I found these amazing animal flash cards in the dollar bins at Target a while ago, I fell in love with the gorgeous photography of the animals. Each card describes an action the animals does (i.e. Dogs beg, hippopotamuses chomp, fish swish, etc). They also had animals sounds flash cards, but since my son already knows the sounds, I felt this was more age-appropriate.

 All I did was use teeny tiny clothes pins and pinned them to an orange pom pom strand (from the 70's that my mom gave me a while ago. SCORE!). I teetered a little on the stool and rocking chair while I hung the banner and had a scary moment. I probably should not be teetering on anything with a belly as big as mine,  but that was the hardest part of this "project" (well, I can't really call it a project).

I took down my son's flying pig painting with glittered wings that I made 15 years ago to put this banner. It was probably about time!

This is the view my son has from his bed. I hope he will spend many hours looking at these beautiful animals.

Try to ignore the Ranger flag-that is the husband's contribution to the room decor. At least it is graphic and kind of modern!

tiny acorn garland

I found these tiny little acorns at work the other day and gathered some up. I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew something would come to me....and it did!

A tiny acorn garland!

It hardly needs mentioning how to make it, but just in case, here goes.  Take tiny acorns that you or your kids have collected (or big ones for that matter) and hot glue them on to a jute string or rope. There you have it! Easy, free (if you have the jute) and cute!

Happy Fall! Now the temps just need to drop like 40-50 degrees and I'll be a happy camper! It's still in the 90's here! Ick!

halloween tree and bats!

I found this cute little Halloween tree in the Target Dollar bins for $2.50. I love it because when Halloween's over, it stores flat. The only problem was: What do I do with it?

 Ornaments were the answer, but since there is not an abundance of tiny Halloween ornaments, we made some!

My son and I made the ornaments (bats, witch's hats, pumpkins, leaves, a cat and my son made a little flat piece on to which I drew a pumpkin) from Filo dough. It was only 99 cents a package at Michael's the other day!

Last night I spent some time in front of the TV (Six Feet Under rerun) cutting out lots of black bats and hung them up this morning with that sticky stuff you use in dorm rooms (what's that called?).

They make our dull dining room a little more festive.

We're Halloweening over here already!

painted doormat

I actually had energy enough to do 2 projects! I made 2 painted door mats this weekend. One for everyday use and one for Halloween. I got the idea from Lowe's magazine and added freezer paper stenciling and painters tape to make the design. And mine is way cheaper. I have enough to make 5 or more rugs for under $18 because I had everything but the rug on hand. I wanted to make an Initial rug like this.

Halloween version:

Here's how I did it.

I plan to make one for Christmas sometime soon too! The possibilities are endless!

hello.

I'm feeling a bit better and have been knocking down my 1000+ google reader "to be read" blog posts from some of my favorite bloggers. wheew! it's hard work. I came across this one today and I had to share. It's a major moc giveaway from Freshly Picked!  Go enter!



 



 We found out this week we are having BOY, but these mocs are still rockin'!

pregnancy body pillow

Hello there. I have enough energy to post this because the project was already done! Hurrah! It is also 7am and I tend to feel better in the mornings.

I made this body pillow during my first pregnancy because my store bought one got tossed in one of our moves. Instead of using one long pillow form, I used two regular size pillows. As it turns out, I prefer the 2 pillow method better--more comfortable and "bend-y". Added bonus, since I don't normally use a body pillow, I don't have to store the bulky thing.

I adapted the closure method. Typically there is a zipper on one of the long sides. I opted out of this for one major reason: I don't do zippers. As luck would have it, I prefer my method of closure better anyway. I did not like the zipper side touching me and with this new method, I don't have this problem. I used the same fabric and made two ties to attach to the open pocket of the body pillow cover.

Is it just me, or is really hard to sleep on your left side all during pregnancy? My left arm gets all cramped up and I need to mix it up!

And since these photos are pretty bad and boring at that, I will leave you with a photo of our child labor program. :)