Lucky # 30

This quilt marks the 30th one I have ever done!! And the fact it is going to my nephew, excites me, since this landmark quilt is staying in the family.  That's amazing to me. I'm dubbing this the filmstrip quilt and thought it was appropriate since it was a superman quilt. Filmstrip and comics seemed to go together nicely. It worked up really quick. Maybe that's what I love the most about it. It was approximately 4 1/2 hours start to finish for the quilt top. That's ironing, cutting, and sewing. The best part is the whole top was made from scraps. I call that a slam-dunk for fabric stash. My goal for 2014 is to whittle that stash down quite a bit so that it all fits on one shelf in my craft room. (Wish me luck with that, right?)

An "Antique" crock pot

Today, a little tute on how to make this cute "antique" crockpot. I'm doing my kitchen in the new apartment in blues and creams and whites. On a super small budget I had to get creative. 

A while ago (like 4 or 5 years ago) I bought a set of paper mache boxes similar to this. Buy a new set here (also the location of the photo source). 

The smaller two were used as Christmas presents long ago and I have been packing around the single biggest one through 4 moves with no idea in sight of what to do with it. When we moved into the new place and I had to redecorate again. 

I wanted it to look like the old crocks with the handles so I headed to Home Depot and bought one of these 2 inch white birch cabinet door pulls. Marked the center of the lid and put a small hole in it with a quilting needle and attached it with the screw that was included. If I ever do this project again I would get a smaller screw than the one that came with it. Like, much smaller. 

Photo Source and Buy here

I painted the whole thing with the Ceramcoat Plaid brand acrylic Antique White craft paint (purchased at Wal-Mart) after the handle was attached. I had to do 2 coats to get it to be covered evenly, but this paint dries quickly. I let it dry completely and actually let it sit for a few days but you shouldn't have to necessarily wait that long. I had the letter stamps that I bought a couple of years ago at a scrapbook expo and used SEI's blue ink block. The blossom is from the Moravia stamp collection also from SEI. The project was so simple and it really shouldn't have taken me as long as it did. I love it! 

And I think it fits in beautifully with the rest of the decor. This whole shelf of decor cost me right around $15. The lettered all-white crocks were $2 and were lettered with similar techniquesand the two small pitchers and the small cream crock I got at Deseret Industries for $7. 

A Wreath

A few years ago I had made a simple wreath for myself and my mother-in-law asked if I could do one for her. I spaced her asking and she spaced asking so I was off the hook for a bit. Right? So this year moving and all, I noticed how much crafting stuff I have. In an effort to use as much of it as possible before the next move sometime in the future when the hubby finishes school I decided to make this for her for the Thanksgiving festivities. The leaves and cattails I got from the dollar store. The ribbon, flowers, 14" grapevine wreath and berry picks came from my favoritest store in the whole world Hobby Lobby.  

Beauty... and well, Beauty

This is my costume this year for Halloween, I wanted to go as Belle. This is the first year that we didn't coordinate. When I get a picture of my husband's costume I will post it too, but for now here's mine. 

The gather on the shawl dropped right before this picture but I didn't notice it until after the picture was already taken. One of the other girls at work came dressed like Snow White. We didn't plan on having a Disney princess theme, it just kind of happened so we wanted to get a picture. My dress is made complete out of a yellow sheet set I found on Ebay.  (Solid yellow sheets aren't as popular as you might think). The skirt took both the flat sheet and the fitted sheet and the shawl is made from one of the pillowcases. I was pretty excited how it turned out. I found the gloves on-line (and was kind of disappointed they didn't really match the yellow of the sheets but that's hard to do when you order them from two very different places.) The wig I got at Joann's for 60% off. All-in-all it turned out pretty great. I was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest.

Linking up with crazy mom quilts

Quick little blanket

This blanket was meant to be a present for a birthday party, but like usual I procrastinated overextended myself so we went with plan B. I turned it into a doll quilt for our toy room since little items like that are lacking a little. It was made completely from scraps. I thought it was pretty cute. 

Linking up with Amanda Jean this week.

Witch Hats

Recently at church they put me on the Relief Society Committee. We do the activities, offer compassionate service, etc. It being October and all, we had our Halloween party. If I hadn't been so distracted I would have gotten pictures of the tables all decorated. Nancy did a wonderful job on the decorations and I hope she got pictures of it. We had an amazing cooking demonstration by one of the ladies. She made the most delicious potato and ham soup and bread  bowls to go along with it. mmmm. 

Anyway, I was in charge of the caramel for the caramel apples and the centerpieces. 

They are all made from paper and ribbon. After working for a bit making a temple in the craft room of the LPF I was able to whip these babies out. The papers are a combination from Hobby Lobby and SEI

I thought they turned out pretty good for first timers and some paper and ribbon.

I was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest, but the link is broken so I didn't post it. 

Duck Dynasty Party

Welcome to the 100th POST!!! What a way to celebrate it by sharing three of my loves with you. My nephew, party decoratings, and Ducky Dynasty!!

 My nephew turned 12 this week and LOVES Duck Dynasty and especially Uncle Si. His mom called 4 days before the party asking for some help with the decorations. 

This is what I came up with. The sign is a tablecloth I cut up so the tree would line up and look like one long tree. Then cut out some letters on contact paper on the LPF. My mother in law had the two branches and the short log. 

The cattails are real and I spent the morning clipping them alongside the creek in town. The mesh camouflage fabric was borrowed from a friend, and the "LOGAN" letters were strung between the two branches with wire. 

My sister in law made the cupcakes and I already had the cupcake stands, which I made myself. They are hotplate covers on top of painted terra cotta clay pots. 

I made the boxes. The tutorial is found here. My cousin had the antlers from her husband collecting them while hiking and the three mallard duck decoys I bought from a classified ad $5 for all THREE!!

To make the cardboard deer, I cut out a small one on the LPF out of paper and blew up the images using a projector. 

The snakes I found at the dollar store and they were already spiral-ly so I wrapped them around the log and the two branches on the dessert table.

 And I put this log on the present table.

All in all, it went pretty well, and the total cost for the decorations came to $18.60!! Less than $20. That's my kind of party!

My nephew loved the board so much, he carefully peeled off the "birthday" letters and made it his new headboard. It's the little things that make him the most happy. I was so glad he asked me to help. 

Make your own decor boxes

My nephew's birthday was earlier this week and he had a party yesterday. He's having a Duck Dynasty party and so we wanted to do some decorations with cattails. Since they are still in season here, to keep costs down, I cut real ones. The only problem was, I needed something to display them in. Trying to keep costs down as low as possible, I decided to make my own. I kind of just made it up as I went along. 

First, you will need a sheet of medium weight cardboard that is 19" wide by 32" long. I used a yard stick and a boning/scoring tool  to make the creases. The score marks are made at 7 1/2", 15", 22 1/2", and 30". You will want to measure how wide you want the box and then add a 2" tab along the sides to glue it together with. I folded as I went to make sure the creases were good and straight

 Then I cut a square that was 7 1/2 x 7 1/2" for the bottom and wrapped the tab around it first, hot gluing it in place.

I held the tab down for several minutes to make sure the glue was holding. 

Then glued the rest of it together with a very liberal amount of glue going the whole length of my tab to keep the box intact. I placed weights on it (these are decorative river rocks) and left them there for a good half hour to make sure the glue was dried and holding. 

ta-da!! Two of them.

And this is how they turned out. I bought some camo fabric from Joann's and wrapped it around adding another two inches to each end so it could be folded in and under. On the bottom I taped the fabric down with some painter's tape, and on the top I pinned it down using regular sewing pins. I also pinned it in the back where the fabric ends met. Then tied burlap and orange ribbon around it. Those are real cattails that I cut from the little creek in town. I got the slivers from the pokies around them to prove it. ;). I thought they turned out fantastic! If I say so myself. 

Polka Dots and a Monkey

One of my friends asked me to make this for her as a present for her aunt's birthday. I was happy to oblige. It's been a crazy month with my new job, becoming host home parents for special needs adults, and family functions every weekend, it's been busy. I need to get some blankets done and other sewing projects, but now I'm just trying to get a new routine down.  

Anyway, the only stipulations she had was she wanted blue and white and a newsboy cap. She left all the designs up to me. Pleased to say she thought it was cute. I love the little dress.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Sew Can She

Another Scarf

I thought when we moved to our new apartment I would have all this time to sew. Not so. It seems like the only thing I have time for these days is crocheting and that only gets done at my graveyard job. It's a lot easier to take some yarn and hooks than it is a sewing machine. I found the pattern for this on Pinterest and the pattern here. I changed it slightly. Instead of 9 rows of single crochet I did 2 rows single crochet, a row of double crochet, row of single crochet, a row of double crochet, and 2 rows of single crochet. It worked up quickly and I can't wait to wear it!

Linking up with Amanda Jean's Finish it up Fridays over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Projects, Projects, everywhere!

I had so many projects get done the last 10 days. Having to start all over decorating a house again after only being in our first purchased home for 2 years, I feel like I just finish doing all of this. Oh well. Such is life. :)

These were the curtains I did for the bathroom. I loved this material and it only took a yard. I did tab curtains similar to the tutorial found here, I used thick interfacing rather than bias tape. It was quick and easy. I didn't bother lining them. The goal was just to avoid giving the neighbors a show every time I took a shower. Mission accomplished. 

The paper on canvas photo was my dad's Father's Day gift. It's himself and my late grandfather when my dad was 4 or 5. I found the picture in the middle of a bunch I scanned in when we lost my grandpa suddenly 3 years ago. This week was the anniversary of his death and was also the first opportunity I had to give it to him. He kept thanking me over and over for it. My dad usually isn't emotional except when it comes to his daughters and his dad. They were very close. 

I figured out some ribbon holders. Since having to downsize from our house to an apartment I need to figure something else out. These were simple. I just cut a hanger in half and bent the cut ends up just slightly. Slid the ribbon on and hung it. Kind of simple, but it works for now. 

The crocks were originally purchased to use as utensil holders and I had always meant to decorate them, but never got around to it. When we moved in to our apartment there is like 8 drawers compared to the two I had available in my house so the spatulas and spoons could go in a drawer. The idea for these were born after several searches on Pinterest for antique crock pots. I used ink and stamps from SEI then sealed it with some spray on acrylic. If you rub it, it will smear, so I will have to figure something else out later, but for right now, it works wonderfully.

Our room. I had wanted to do this in our house, but just never got around to it. In an effort to limit the number of nail holes in the walls I turned to the vinyl that is better suited to walls and won't peel the paint. I order it from Regional Supply. They are cheaper than ordering direct from Cricut and it cuts out beautifully on the LPF. The pictures are more examples of the scrapbook paper on canvas. The paper and embellishments also come from SEI. I'm kind of a scrapbook snob. 

I love the scrolls with my clock. We got it on sale from a furniture store that is closing. It's close to two feet in diameter. I've packed it around for 4 years. 

I'll be linking up with Amanda Jean over at crazy mom quilts. Go check out the other projects!!

Quick and the Dirty... ok, it's just Quick

It's a small and simple finish this week, but a finish none the less. And this one isn't actually for me. I had made one similar to it a couple of weeks ago, and after posting it on facebook, one of my dear friends I've known for about 12 years, (has it really been that long Angie?) requested one. 

These scarves are so quick and simple. Since I'm trying to use up my extensive yarn stash before I buy any more, these are good ways to do it, especially since doing the scarf the way I did uses two different colors and a size Q hook. The is a plum and charcoal gray. Love it! It's done and all ready to send off to Idaho. Hope she enjoys it, whether it's used for a summer accessory, or for those bitter cold Idaho winters that are sure to come in a few short months. It snowed in Idaho this week BTW. 

Linking up with Amanda Jean

Just a little something

It seems like I've been doing a lot of projects lately involving babies. It could be the fact that in the last 6 months 16 friends and family members have given birth, so I've kind of got them on the brain. In the last 3 months I've added 3 nieces and 2 nephews. So, when my sister-in-law asked me to do the headband for her baby's blessing day to match the dress she bought, I was more than happy to do it. I saw the dress itself once and then had her text me a picture of it. It was hard to see on the screen of my lame phone that I've had  for almost 5 years, but we made do.

There's a certain level of difficulty that comes from not being able to physically have the dress in front of you to match it, but I think it came across pretty well. Other than having to shorten the elastic right before the church service, it went over pretty well.

Baby "K" didn't pull or tug at it at all, and it stayed on her head and turned out just how I wanted it. Because I work graveyards I was able to work on it while at work so I walked in one night with my styro-foam head and put it together.

Mom loved it, and I felt good doing it. 

Linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts. Head on over and check out all the amazing finishes. I love her linky parties. They always motivate me to get stuff done!

Snips and snails and Super Hero capes

 My little nephew is turning 3 tomorrow. He is all boy, there's no doubt about it. It loves walking around in his Batman pj's saying "I'm Batman" in his best deep voice. Since I did his sister's Cinderella dress for her birthday just three weeks ago, I didn't want him to feel left out despite the fact that we are moving tomorrow!!! And we just determined this move was happening a mere 10 days AGO!!!

Since he is all boy and his sister got a whole dress, I knew these would go by much faster so I did 2. He was so excited. I gave him his present in the car and he looks at his mom and said " Can I get out and run around in my Batman cape?" She obliged and I wished I'd gotten pictures of the little squirt running around with his cape trailing behind him.

I did these with a simple rectangle that was about 24" X 30 " and pleated the top so they would fit around the shoulders. I did two 6"x2" strips and added velcro so he could put it on and take it off all by himself. The designs were cut out on the LPF using the same cartridges as here.

Score one for Aunt Tiff!!

Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish it up Fridays

My New Obsession

Making and wearing these scarves has become my new obsession on the clothing front. They are so easy to make and only take an hour. We learned how to do them at a super Saturday event for church they appropriately named "Craftaholics Anonymous."  I got the boutique sashay yarn at Wal-mart, but then found out that Joann's has a ton of colors.   I LOVE them. So comfortable and so easy. Two of my favorite things. Can't wait to make one in every color!! And my sister informed me that she wanted one for her birthday in a couple of weeks. Since she just gave birth to one of the cutest little Utah Jazz fans ever, I will probably have to oblige. ;)

I also finished this infinity scarf that I started at the super Saturday event. It was crocheted with a size Q crochet hook and double threads. Not the easiest hook, but the scarf came together quickly. Looks like I'll need something new to wear it with. *wink

Linking up with Amanda Jean

And While We're on the Subject of Babies

This week was full of finishes. It was so productive despite the fact I worked both my jobs this week. I am quitting my full-time day job and switching to 2 days a week working graves. Well, to get the grave yard shift I had to start before I finished my day job, so I put in almost 60 hours this week. But I did manage to get several projects completed. They'll come up in other posts you'll see in the next couple of days. My greatest accomplishment was this : MY FIRST 5K!!! A year ago I was knocking on 200 lbs, and today I'm around 171. I did not train for the 5K like I should have, but made myself finish it

This was an order for a friend, whose got a friend having a baby next month. We hit some bumps in the road getting to this getting done, but it is finished! I think it's adorable. I bought extra yardage of the brown bubble fabric. 

The center strip has velcro attached to it so that it is easy to peek in on baby without having to lift up the blanket. 

The mother-to-be is doing the room in pink and brown and owls so this is what we decided to do for it. I got the fabric at Joann's and through some cleverness on my part (I know that doesn't sound very humble, does it?), We got the owl figured out for the side. The baby's name is going to be "Amory". It was put on with iron-ons cut out on the LPF. I'm excited to say I've got the covers down to a T these days and it only took me about 5 hours to complete it. 

Linking up with Amanda Jean over at Finish it up Fridays