Spool Dolls

I saw similar style dolls at a friends house and thought Avery needed some.

Heck, why not personalize them a little and make Jeff and I and the grandparents.

Should have done the lips a little darker... First time.

Kinda silly, Kinda fun!

Avery seems to like them... banging them on everything in sight that is:)

Ornament Wreath

I saw this beauty last year on Eddie Ross and put it on the "to-do" list.

A few weeks ago Melissa and I found these beautiful ornaments at... get this...
The Dollar Tree!
Seriously, go there today and buy them before they are all gone!
(this is why we crafters have to plan ahead!)

I followed this tutorial and it was looking SO PRETTY! I went to hang it up on the door and take a picture to share with you when I slipped and ...
Dropped it!

Half of the balls broke off and I screamed and tried not to cry.

So if you'll excuse me... I have a date with my hot glue gun.

Skipping October

October has been a cRaZy month. We started the month out in Idaho and ended it in Florida.

I do not have one Halloween decoration up in my house...
not one.
So, I thought I would share my SPOOKY banner and glitter pumpkins from last year.

At this point I don't think I will pull out my fall decor either ( can you say party pooper?).
I'm thinking Christmas.
I know, I know, it's only October but when you're crafters like us you have to plan ahead right?!
Christmas crafts here we come.
Oh, and we have a GREAT friend/ neighbor Christmas gift idea for you!

My Special Day Chair Cover Tutorial

Okay, here it is in all it's glory...

My Special Day Chair Cover Tutorial!!

First things first my friends.

1. Measure the back of the chair you will be using. Be sure that you measure the height from the seat up and the width on the top and bottom. This is the most important part to assure that your chair cover will fit nice and snug when you are all done.

Add 1/2 inch to all sides for your seam allowances.

2. Trace your letters on to your iron on adhesive paper (heat n' bond or such).

We found a font we liked on the computer and printed it off for our letters.

Don't forget to trace them backward on to the paper side of your adhesive, then iron on your fabric and cut them out.

3. Iron on your letters one at a time and then sew around it.

We went with the couple times around messy look since well, the once around was pretty messy and didn't look nearly as cute!

REMEMBER: Don't get ahead of yourself, make sure you are sewing your letters on before you sew anything else together. Trust me on this one... it will make your job MUCH easier!

4. Now for the 'MY'... We used a 5/8 in grosgrain ribbon and folded and tucked it to add dimension.

Take is slow and just continue to fold and adjust the ribbon while you sew till you get the look you like. Lower your needle into the fabric then lift the foot and you can turn your fabric every which way.

5. Cut your fabric for the back of the chair the same size as the front PLUS enough to overlap at the center and to add hook and loop.

About 1 1/2 inch added to the middle of both back pieces should give you enough to have 1 inch overlap and 1/2 in seam allowance.

6. Sorry, no picture: Sandwich, right sides together, the front piece, ric rac and the back of your chair cover (after you have finished off the back center and the bottom 'hem'!) Sew around the outside edge of your sandwich.

If you haven't already added your hook and loop, do it now (you could have also sewn it on when you finished of the back center edge).

WHAA LAA!

Could it be any cuter?

and

My Special Day

Been out of town... now I'm back. :)

This is one of my FAVORITE things Melis and I made while she was here.

We got the idea from Little Birdie Secrets, here.

You can use it for any special occasion... who wouldn't feel special sitting in that chair?!!!

Seriously, so so so fun to make!

I got to be the first to use it on my birthday (while eating my favorite pumpkin dessert, YUM). Let me tell you, I felt sPeCiAl! ;)

What do you think... Want a tutorial?

and

Don't be cheap and lazy like me: Glass Etching

Well, Melissa is gone and even though we still have a house full it seems so quiet around here. We ALL miss her and baby Avery (especially her little... okay, not so little high-pitched squeals ;).

Back to life I guess which is kind of a bummer for me but hey, fall is here and I LUUUVVV Fall.

Time to start sharing all of our crafts, wahooo! We were soooo busy and have a lot to share with you.

I thought I would start with my first attempt of glass etching.

I wanted to do a scalloped edge around this raised bowl. So, I followed this tutorial at Create Sudio. Well, I kind of followed it up until it said "dump a ton of the Armour Etching Cream on to your stencil" at which point I thought -This stuff costs $12.00 I'm not wasting it- so I laid out a thin layer of etching cream and lived to regret it.

After washing it off it looked terrible! Needless to say I had to do it again to try to even out the mess I made. In the end it turned out fine but next time I do this make no mistake, I will follow the directions instead of being cheap and lazy (oh, and she says you can reuse the etching cream so it is not so wasteful... so there you go).

ANyway, here is the result:

Not perfect but hey, it was my first try. ;)

Thank You!!

The Pumpkin recipes are AWESOME!

I can't wait to try them all... ummm, like today.

My sis is the best.

Don't you worry, we are still crafting away and taking lots of pictures.

I can't wait to share everything with you!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

As Kathryn mentioned I am here... we are together again at last!! Oh the crafting we are accomplishing. Problem is, we are to busy crafting and feeding the children and cleaning up after the children that there is NO time to post about all the crafting:) That will have to wait till after I leave. ANY HOW!! The reason I am really posting to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHRYN!!!

What can I say about Kathryn? She is just the sweetest best big sister a girl could ever ask for! She is an amazing mother and such a good wife to her hard working husband. She is always a shining example to me. I call her for advise and help all the time and I don't know what I would do without her!

I still want to be just like my big sister!

So I was thinking about a gift we could all give to Kathryn for her birthday and to show her our appreciation of all of her great crafting ideas and inspirational projects...

PUMPKIN

Kathryn loves all things Pumpkin flavored so I am thinking let's all share with her your favorite pumpkin treat recipes.

She will love you!!

... more than she already does!!!

Can't wait till Monday

Okay, I think I'm going to do it... I'm scared... but... I think I'm going to do it... maybe.

Now for some BIG news!

Guess who's coming to visit me in Kentucky...

(if you don't know who this is just look at the right sidebar ;)
For 3 WEEKS baby! You know what that means...

There will be a whole lot of crafting going on around here.

Next week we are meeting up with our very creative friends from Amazing Mae, The Polka Dot Chair, and Create a life you love.

Don't worry, we will take lots of pictures and share all of our projects with you.

Also, I'm starting to think about Christmas, are you? I have an idea for neighbor/ friend gifts but I have to try it out to see if it will work first so stay tuned.

PS I went yard sale shopping this afternoon and I hit the mother load! A table saw and china cabinet (that needs a little TLC). SCORE!

Stain My Oak Banister?

Did you see this over at Southern Hospitality?

Here is her banister before:

(Whoops ladies, I got a little confused! This "before" photo is from Censational Girl who also stained her banister. Go here to see her amazing transformation. She also painted and added moulding. You'll love the "after" it is BeAuTiFuL!)

Now, here is Southern Hospitality's Before:

Okay, you are not going to believe this...
are you sitting down???


Here is the after:

Be still my heart...
I Luuuuvvvv it .
Now, here is my banister:

Look familiar?

Censational girl sanded and prepped all of the oak. Southern Hospitality just put on the stain without any prep work.

I'm a little nervous about staining it but how can I NOT do it??
Of course I would also stain the wood on the steps (it is the only hardwood in the house so I don't have to worry about it matching anything else).

Has anyone else out there done this?

What do you think...
should I do it????

Just a thought

I've had this quote on my fridge for several years now. It's funny, I put things on my fridge so I will see them and read them often but it doesn't take long and I no longer notice them.
Anyway, it caught my eye today.

It's a miracle!

I've tried it all when it comes to cleaning my gas stove top grates.

I've soaked and scrubbed and sworn (j/k, I would NEVER swear ;0)

those nasty grates over and over and when I'm finally done with all that they don't look much better...that is, until last week ...

BEFORE: Now that's just gross people.

I put the grate in a zip lock bag, sprayed some ammonia in the bag, sealed it, and let it set over night. The next day the gunk just wiped off like nothing... I'm serious!

AFTER

Yep, it's pretty much a miracle.

Adjustable Headband

I am all about keeping my hair out of my face these days. So instead of putting it in a pony every day I have reverted to headbands.

I LOVE this one because unlike every other one I've tried it doesn't give me a headache 2-3 hours in.

To make your own you will need: 1 yard of ribbon, hot glue gun and plasctic cord spots with 2 holes (I bought these ones at JoAnns, I would like to also purchase them in white and clear but they don't carry those colors there... I will have to keep on the look out)

I put a thin bead of hot glue along the center of the ribbon so it doesn't slip out of my hair. I stopped 4-ish inches from both ends as to get just the majority of the ribbon that will be on my hair. (does that make sense?)

Put the ends of the ribbon through the holes in the stopper.

Loosen or tighten to comfort! Easy Peasy!!

Baby asleep, no makeup, pj's, bleach trays= time to craft.