Valentines

This is Madison's first year to exchange Valentines. I have been thinking about them for a month now.  I wanted to design them myself so they could be personalized.  Here is what I came up with!

I bought cellophane bags which we will fill with candy.  The Valentines I designed will be folded over the opening of the bags and stapled to secure them. We are going to assemble them today! I can't wait. Madison is excited too!

Pants for Girls & Boys

I am so excited that I now have a pattern for pants for boys & girls. Actually, I took a pattern I had for girls' pants with ruffles and created my own pattern for boys.  I simply added enough length to replace the ruffle and create a hem. It is as simple as that! Here are some recent ones that I have made.  I apologize that my full length pic of the boy's pants is blurry.  I didn't realize, and I have already given them away so I can't take another pic.

I already did a post of the little girl wearing the outift, but I wanted to give some close-ups.

Girl's pants & shirt:

FYI: The frayed edges are intentional! :)

Boy's pants:

No, you are not going cross-eyed.  The pic is blurry!

Dedication to the Lord

My son, Brantley is 2 months old. We dedicated him to the Lord at church yesterday. What an awesome and powerful day. We just made a huge commitment to raise him in a Christian home. It is our job to be Godly parents and to raise Brantley to love the Lord. We made this same commitment when our daughter, Madison, was about 4 months old.

When my daughter was dedicated, I asked my grandmother and mother to sew a dress for her.  It was beautiful. I wanted Brantley to have a handmade outfit as well, but I didn't want to ask them to sew it since I didn't decide to do it until 2 weeks ago.  So, I chose a simple  dedication bubble.  I used the Creations by Michie pattern #126.

I learned a lot while making this bubble. I had never before sewn tucks or a Madeira trim.  The placket was new, as well as hand embroidery. The cross is hand embroidered using a padded satin stitch.  The small dots are called French knots.  This bubble definitely contains its fair share of flaws, but I am proud of it anyway.

Following church, our family went to lunch. There we were able to meet our niece who was born on the same day as Brantley.

Check out my husband's haircut....I did that!  He trusted ME to cut his hair.  I thought it turned out pretty good!

Pacifier Clips

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION:
The following picture shows my original materials.  HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend the Snap Plier tool that you see in the pic.  It was expensive ($22.49), and it didn't work for me.  Maybe mine was defective, but there is a much cheaper/easier tool to use.

I do recommend this tool.  It was only $7.49 and much easier!

Cut a strip of ribbon about 17-18 inches....depending on how long you would like the strap to be.  Seal the ends of the ribbon with a lighter. Feed one end of the ribbon through the mitten clip and fold the ribbon in half.  Use pins to hold the ribbon together.  The ribbon should now appear to be about 8 1/2-9 inches. (**You do not have to double the ribbon, but I wanted the pattern to appear on both sides.)

Sew along the edges in order to connect the ribbon together. Make sure that you also sew directly below where you fed it through the clip.

Fold the end of the ribbon over about 1 inch.  Follow the instructions on the back of the snap tool package to add the snaps. It is as easy as that!

VOILA!

Check out other DIY projects at 

Tatertots & Jello

&

Tip Junkie

Shelf & Picture Frames

Here is another little project for Brantley's room.  I did not think to take a before pic, but if you can, imagine that this shelf and these picture frames used to be black.  My sweet hubby spray painted them a glossy white to match the trim in the room.  I decided to add a few embellishments to help them coordinate with the bedding.  I can always remove the ribbon and they can be sprayed with a fresh coat of paint when the bedding changes. I can't wait until the frames are filled with pics of my sweet little man. He is due 4 weeks from tomorrow!

Diaper Organizer

The nursery is ALMOST ready for our baby boy! He is due exactly 1 month from today.  The colors in his nursery are navy blue, lime green and white.  We painted the walls a khaki color.  I have been working on several little projects for his room that I want to show you before I show the finished nursery.

I picked up a couple of wooden baskets at a yard sale several months ago.  I put one in my daughter's bathroom and I saved one for Brantley.  It started out yellow.  I painted it navy blue with intentions of adding vinyl initials or his name to the side.  HOWEVER, I found this adorable lime green alligator at Hobby Lobby last night.  It was already painted.  PERFECT.  I simply hot glued it to the side and added a green ribbon to the handle.  I think it pretty stinkin' cute! Check out my before and after pics.

BEFORE (oops I almost forgot to take the before pic)

AFTER

Check out other DIY projects at :

Tater Tots and Jello

Book Wreath

Somehow I stumbled upon a blog yesterday.  It is called  According to Kelly. Well, she had a featured blogger friend named Lindsay write a guest post on her blog.  It was a tutorial on how to make a Book Wreath.  The BEST part about this wreath is that it only costs $2!!!!!!!!!!!  That's right, folks, TWO SMACKEROOS!  If you make it and hate it, you can chunk it and not feel bad about the wasted money.  So, I took myself to the Dollar Tree today and bought a wreath and a book.  I choose a Christmas novel. I wondered if I might like to read the book, but I figure with a 3 year old and 4 month, I will not be reading any novels around Christmas time this year. So, I gave myself permission to destroy a perfectly good book.  I think it was worth it.....what do you think?

I think the only thing I did differently from the original instructions was I wrapped the wreath in pages first. My wreath was green.  Lindsay's was white.  I figured the green would really show through if I didn't cover it. Here are the photos I took as I constructed my wreath.


Step 1: Gather supplies (wreath, book, glue gun, brown paint)

Step 2: Paint the edges of the book

Step 3: Cover the wreath with pages from the book

Step 4: Begin to cover the bottom of the wreath with folded pages. Check out Lindsay's tutorial for more detail instructions.  She even provided a video tutorial.

Step 5: Flip it over

Step 6 (optional): If you are 35 weeks pregnant. This is a good time to stop for a snack! Mmmmm.  Vanilla yogurt with granola!

Step 7: Start covering the front of the wreath with the folded pages

I am not sure of the wreath's final destination, but for now....this will do.

Thanks to Lindsay and Kelly for sharing this tutorial!

Nursing Cover

I FINALLY got to finish sewing my nursing cover, and I LOVE IT!  I can't wait to use it with Brantley...only 9 1/2 more weeks until I am due!  For those of you who are curious, I followed the instructions provided by Angel at TaDa! Creations. It was sooooo simple to make!

Thanks, Angel!

Pottery Barn Look-Alike

Maybe you noticed all of the lanterns in one of the latest Pottery Barn catalogues.  They filled them with candles and seashells.  I have wanted something to use as a centerpiece for my patio table and thought this would be perfect.  I live on the gulf coast.  I need a few seashells in my decor. So, did I order a $50-$80 lantern from Pottery Barn.....NOPE!  I took my 40% coupon to Michael's Craft Store (after looking a few other places first) and bought a beautiful lantern for about $15 (regularly $24.99)!  I bought a $3.00 candle, and the shells were free from my mother-in-law.  I tried to collect my own shells while at the beach last week, but I didn't find any that were big enough.  FYI: You can buy a package of beautiful shells at Hobby Lobby....maybe they have them at Michael's. I don't know, I didn't look.  I still want to buy a starfish to prop up against my candle.

You can check out their versions here.

Here is my version:

Bow Hangers

I have made a couple different styles of bow hangers. The first one I made was for my little girl.  I made it before she was born.  I used the inner hoop from a small cross-stitch hoop set. I wrapped it with ribbon, securing it with hot glue.  I used about a yard of ribbon for the "tail." I did no sewing.  Everything was done with hot glue. You can't see much of the hanger, because of all the bows.  My grandmother used to make them for me, but I have figured out how to make them myself!  I'll show you my bow making method in another post. What I like about this style is that you can hang it on a door knob or anywhere.  We currently hang hers from her curtain rod.  I know that sounds weird, but she can't reach it, and that is a good thing. Otherwise, I would be picking up bows off the floor all of the time!

 

I recently made this one. I used an unfinished wooden cross from Michael's Craft Store. You will also need a sheet of scrapbook paper, paint, brush, Mod Podge, some sort of hanger and a hot glue gun.

Materials:

I forgot to include my hangers in the initial materials pic. You will need a hammer if you buy this kind of hanger.

First, paint the sides and back of the cross. Wait for the paint to dry.

Lay the cross (or initial or whatever you chose) FACE DOWN on the back of your scrapbook paper. Trace as close as you can. (Please ignore the yucky looking spot on the back of the paper.  That is where the bar code was.  I tried to remove it.  Bad idea, I guess.)

Cut out the shape.  Cut just inside the pencil line.  Lay it on the object and see if it lines up perfectly.  You may have to trim in certain areas.  You don't want any of the paper to hang over the object.

Brush a layer of Mod Podge on the unpainted face of the cross.  Carefully lay the paper cross on the wet Mod Podge.  Brush a layer on top of the paper and the sides of the cross.  I let the first coat dry and applied a 2nd coat of Mod Podge to the top and sides. Then, use a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon tail.  Use a lighter to seal the end of the ribbon to prevent fraying. Attach your hanger to the back.  VOILA!