Fresh Poppy Design Quilt Patterns

The 4 Year Old Quilt

2011-10-28T00:46:00.003-05:00

Hi! Welcome if you're visiting! A quick little intro, my sister and I design quilt patterns and a little over a year ago we started Quilt Story. Since then we don't blog as much as we want to here :( But please stay, look around and then head over and see us at Quilt Story!

I decided I wanted to make quilts for my boys this year for their birthdays. My Sawyer turned four on June 20th, so on my birthday May 24th I started his quilt! At that time it was the fastest I finished a quilt until this quilt just recently. I got Dino Dudes from Michael Miller at Natasha's Shop Skye Reve and knew this would be the perfect prints for a little guy. I am so in love with color lately, I couldn't wait to get going.

It's square and the perfect size for a kid. (I don't have the exact measurement in front of me and he's currently sleeping and snuggled in it! But it's somewhere around 48" x 48") When he opened it he said, "Oh, it's just a blanket." But later he had more enthusiasm for me :)

It's a really simple and great pattern that we'll be adding to our shop in a couple of weeks. If you'd like us to notify you when it's available let us know in the comments or email us at myquiltstory@gmail.com

I decided to do a focus square in the middle. Those dinos are just too cute! Plus I love fabrics that lend to fussy cutting.

I just did simple straight line quilting.

Sawyer picked out the backing. I showed him a few minky fabrics that coordinated with the quilt top (he hadn't seen it) and asked him which his favorite was. He chose red! I was really surprised, I don't do red a lot and I never do red for my boys ie clothes, decor, etc.. I am so much more of a blue/green girl. But I am really happy that he took me out of my comfort zone! (And I washed it probably ten times with white fabric swatches to be positive it wouldn't bleed.)

I don't have a full shot of the backing on this, totally spaced it. I did get some snapshots though. Through the center of the red minky on the back are more squares, then his name appliqued and a heartfelt quilt tag. I did a tutorial on the embroidered quilt label HERE.

\I went with orange dots for binding, I thought it fit in the colors but didn't stand out too much.

I just love this local park where I did the photo shoot. I'm in Arizona so I get these lovely palm trees for my background. This palm tree had the perfect notch to hang my quilt from. I think I'll be taking my next quilt here too!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you'll head over to Quilt Story and see our other quilt there, here's a little peak:

And thanks so much to Amy for hosting the festival! You're the best!

Bliss Easter Dresses and Vest for the dude!

2011-04-24T10:08:00.000-05:00

My Mother in law is the best! She made these darling Easter dresses (and vest for Wes) for my family!

How nice is she?

sadly, and not surprisingly this was the best family shot I got!

They look like they are nice and innocent and sweet children. They are not! Sophie is the feistiest 3 three year old on the planet, don't let the daintiness and cuteness fool you. Wes, okay, he is innocent and sweet!

and snuggly!

Ahh...my little Pup Pup, just as sweet as she looks!

This is "best friend Addie" she gets at least 20 birthday invites a year! Her social life is exhausting!

We call him Moose or Moose head. Love the vest!

This girl grew about 4 inches this year! Gorgeous! Love her!

Some may think I take advantage of my Mother in Law, but she says she feels cheated if she doesn't get to sew everyday. And she says when she makes the little dresses, she imagines her grandkids in them. So I will continue to provide her opportunities to sew!

HAPPY EASTER

Fabric credit: Bliss

Pattern Credit: Simplicity Hannah Montana 3515

Sandi Henderson: gracie

Vest, Simplicity 5366

Finally!

2011-02-01T01:16:00.002-06:00

Eeek-a-licious! Has it been that long since we posted?? We've been busy with our upcoming Block Party (join!) and with market coming this spring, Heather and I have been working our little hands as fast as we can trying to prepare. I have a couple of sneak peeks to share today, hope it looks fun to you!

We moved this last summer and with moving comes new design opportunities (and challenges). I love the excuse of getting to do something new, I guess that's a good part of moving. I am making over my kitchen completely, and so far I love it! Since we're in a rental, changing light fixtures, cabinetry and flooring isn't an option...but I am so happy that our new place is really nice and up to date, that helps a lot.

I've painted my table and chairs. L-O-V-E! I have a problem with aqua, I have it everywhere. I decided to paint the table a really soft blue and the chairs white. I kinda adore it. Only time will tell how it holds up, I hope it does okay though!!

And new window treatments. I've obviously decided to go with aqua and red, and really if I'm going to be bold and cheery, the kitchen is the place to do it! (Right??) I've ended my two and a half year stand-off with the color red and have welcomed it back into my life with open arms! :) I think we'll get along this time.

I've been considering adding a giant piece of red ric-rac along the bottom, what do you think? I'm currently working on a clock for the space and soon a table runner and maybe a quilted wall hanging? So I'm ambitious, but I'm hoping to fit things in here and there and get it all "done" in the next month or so.

And a sneak peek at some new projects:

This is all part of a new baby pattern that I'm finishing up writing and will be available in our shop soon. It's not a quilt which is new for us, but I think it will be really fun and useful. Just looking at all those happy baby fabrics makes me smile :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make sure to check out my linky parties for other fun things, I'll be linking up! And of course, make sure to share your own fabric project at Quilt Story.

Late Christmas mantle decor and stockings...

2011-01-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

Okay, I am not going to go into it, but I was not the most prepared Christmas decorator/blogger this year. I just got behind and couldn't catch up. I didn't get out a lot I normally do to decorate, but enough that it looked like Christmas and the kids didn't seem to notice. Lesson learned!

Anyhow, I still wanted to post these stockings, better late than ever.

As Megan said, we grew up with stockings like these. The last couple of years I had wanted to make them, but I only think of in in December. This year when my parents selfishly went on another vacation, my older sister Amy and I crashed their house again. We sent them text messages with pics of what how much we were trashing their house, and how they could do nothing about it. And I mean trashed! Amy and I like to make our mess and then clean up at the end (I mean end of the weekend.) It took us nearly 2 hours to clean up. Pathetic! We also enjoyed many murder shows and Bravo show marathons. FUN. After a whole weekend (minus a break for a triple feature) I barely finished mine. It was a lot of work. Amy has 10 children, so she didn't even come close. In the end I LOVE how they turned out. They have been hanging since I brought them home late October. The kids love them. I decided I would rather have them have a connection to their stocking, rather than the most gorgeous stocking that matched my room decor...

When are you going on vacation again M & D?

Here is our little family. We are a little outnumbered with girls, but thanks for little dude on the end to try to get the numbers more even. Bless his little heart, I feel bad for whoever he marries one day. I wonder if my girls will be nice. (I told my husband I want Wes to become a Co-dependant mama's boy when he grows up, he got mad at me, don't all Mom's want that for their little boys?)

Here is my simple Christmas mantle. I think I like it at least as much as last years, but this year was much easier for sure!

Can you find little Clarise joining us in this photo? Cute?

Okay, I got some clearance garland last year at Christmas, and it was perfect for my chandelier. I think I may keep it up, it is super pretty and sparkly huh?

Thats all, sorry for the slacking of posting on this site. Megan and I have been busy with our quilting. Too much crafting to do, not enough time.

Winner and Last Minute Idea

2010-12-20T00:35:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay, I meant on Friday to post the winner of my stash...but I forgot! Drumroll...

And follower #34 is Kwiltmaker! Which is very exciting for us to have a true reader win, she's been with us since the beginning! Congrats! The other winner is announced on Quilt Story.

A couple of months ago my niece was going to take the ACT's. We'd been texting back and forth about it and I decided to create a funny little study package for her. The great thing about this idea is you can be totally creative about it and turn it into a gift for anyone!

Take packaging like this.

Remove labels.

Create new labels. I use photoshop. You could make them by hand with paper, online with picnik, etc.

Then you're left with a cute package like this!!

Christmas...palooza?

2010-12-13T00:01:00.004-06:00

First, this is Heather, and let me just write a quick THANK YOU! Everyones kind wishes and comments for my birthday were so so so appreciated. I love that I haven't met most of you in real life yet you'll still take time to write something nice. I had a great birthday too, by the way :) And remember, Megan's giveaway from her own fabric stash is still going through Friday. Check this post out to see more and to see the fabric!

Hi, it's Megan now :) We had such a good response last time I posted with a title including palooza, so what the heck, right? I've got some pics of my own holiday decor that I wanted to share. Let me remind you all that I'm the budget sister...with a hubby in school and two little ones, money is tight to non-existent!

I busted out all my Christmas things and to my horror I thought, "How on earth did I decorate last year?!? This stuff is awful!!" To be fair, we've moved, so that always throws a wrench in things. I finally "finished" this past week and here's what I came up with.

For starters, my stockings!!!! My sweet sisters made these for me as my Christmas gift. I was beyond giddy when I opened them. These were the stockings of our youth!! I have mine somewhere, in a box, but these are so nostalgic for me :) In the toe they added the snowflake and embroidered each of our names. Love, love, love.

I did have to tease them a little. My girl is WHITE. Like pure white as snow. My hubby and boys are a nice golden, but apparently felt doesn't come in "Caucasian".

I needed some height on the ends of my mantel, but honestly almost everything was out of my budget. I found these at Hobby Lobby. The candle and glass were 50% off each, totaling $5 for both. Then I picked out a golden ornament, also 50% off for $1 and tied it all together with some tulle. For that price I'm quite pleased!

In the middle I have three different glass vases and an apothecary jar. These are just from around my house. I filled them with ornaments I had from the past...ones that are glass and actually break.

fabric is Groovy by Caleb Gray for Robert Kauffman

Here is a project a friend and I made. If you look closely it is still missing the 0's and 5's, and I have my family name to add to the bottom :) We got the idea a Pottery Barn advent calendar, I don't know if it is sold out but I can't find it to link it, sorry. It turned out to be quite the ordeal to make, I'll have some pretty funny memories of putting this together! I told my little boy that an elf comes every night and leaves candy for him until Christmas. He checks first thing every morning. And several times throughout the day :)

The wreath and garland are from JoAnn's. So cheap. They do all their Christmas and holiday things on sale pretty much immediately. It was all at least 60% off, less than $10 for all of it.

I guess just trust me, this is a great improvement from where I started!!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Birthday Giveaway Palooza!

2010-12-09T01:07:00.002-06:00

Today happens to be my amazingly super-talented sister Heather's Birthday!!

Now I would never reveal her age, I am way too loyal to her to do that. I mean, seriously.

However what I will tell you is that she is much older than me. 7 1/2 years to be exact. :)

Malibu CA 2006 (?)

Sometimes I've found myself wanting to curse her for having a birthday in December. But then I realized it isn't her fault so I took it up with my mom (or should it be my dad? Ew. So not going there.)

There are three sisters in our family. Our oldest sister Amy is uber talented...especially at making babies. She has 10. That's why she isn't able to be in all our crafting adventures...but one day! All three of us girls (and sometimes mommy too) talk on the phone. All. Day. Long. Really. If you're wondering, we make it happen with a blue tooth.

Daily we discover our new craft callings in life. Today I was meant to be a machine quilter (I've officially quilted one table runner) and she an embroidery expert :) I'll let you know about tomorrow.

I don't know how it happens. But we always get the same crafting bug. This time last year we were both knitting hats like nobodies business. We haven't touched knitting needles in months. A few years before that we were beading bracelets...making aprons...paper scrapbooking...We have problems.

But one thing we both LOVE and never waiver. Fabric. Quilts.

Do you want to help make this Heather's best birthday ever?!!?

Me too.

My part...I'm giving away some of my own stash to one of YOU!!!

Now I would give that entire stack away if it weren't for shipping charges!!

I am giving away about 2 yards from the fabrics above (if you have a fave let me know I'll be sure to include it) to one of our followers. So if you already FOLLOW...you're already entered :)

This is a great way to bulk up your stash...for FREE!

So...if you aren't already FOLLOW us! I've said it before, but our self-esteem is greatly related to our follower #. Seriously. We both get really giddy when we have a jump.

But wait...there's more! :)

I am giving away another 2 yards to a FOLLOWer on our blog QuiltStory...so hop on over :)

Thank you all soooooo much for making our blogs so much fun to do.

We love and appreciate all of you for your comments, participation, support, creativity, you are all amazing!!

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HEATHER

Love you sister.

I'll also be linking up to some of these parties.

Edited to add this giveaway will run for 1 week thru next Thursday December 16th and I will announce the winner Friday December 17th. Thanks :)

Introducing Douglas McSheeperton!

2010-12-01T22:47:00.002-06:00

Welcome my new friend

DOUGLAS MCSHEEPERTON

Isn't he just precious?

I made him over thanksgiving weekend.

He seriously makes me smile, that sweet face!

I was drawing with my daughters a few weeks ago. I tried to draw a deer. It turned into a sheep. Instead of starting over, I was so happy with my sheep I kept at it.

made this mini wall hanging yesterday. Late into the night. I found some perfect fabrics in my stash if I do say so myself.

Much to my surprise the children are not fighting over him, I think I will hang him in my room...would that be weird?

He is cold, even though is has a big wool coat, he needed a cute hat and scarf to keep really snug.

Anyhow, Douglas McSheeperton embroidery pattern is in our etsy shop. You can make your very own Mr. McSheeperton! It is a PDF pattern, meaning we will send you over email the pattern and you can get started on him immediately. Instant gratification!

Hope you love him as much as I do. Stitching was fun, I have already started a new project (to be revealed in a couple weeks!)

Heather's fall mantle...

2010-11-21T22:32:00.000-06:00

Heather's Fall Mantle

I guess I best be showing you my fall mantle. Being that I almost have to switch it out for Christmas. I am just behind on life over here, give a girl a break!

What I like is the fact that I didn't change much from spring (I never got to summer), just switched out a few things. I really didn't want to start from scratch, and my daughter really wanted to do it. We knocked it out in like 20 minutes.

I love how it turned out. Just nice and simple. I think I like it better than last years...

Have a happy Thanksgiving this week!

A Turkey Tutorial

2010-11-16T00:01:00.004-06:00

If you are visiting from Sew Much Ado, welcome! Stay a while!

Do you all know the fabulous Abby of Sew Much Ado? Well...you should :) Last week she had a Copycat Challenge where readers submitted their copycat work in three categories, accessories, home decor and clothing. Right now they are voting on the finalists, so you can check out the best and vote for yourself.

Abby asked Heather and I if we would be guest bloggers during this challenge. Um...YES! I set out to make a home decor copycat, and here's what I came up with!

First, the inspiration:

these darling headbands from Pottery Barn Kids

...and although I thought for 12 seconds of making these for my boys, I decided on something that would get a little more use...

My interpretation:

I just am loving embroidery hoop art lately

Want to know how to make this also?

Okay.

The tutorial is just below, but I wanted to introduce you to Little Christmas House.

The pattern for this little cutie is available in our shop, you could also purchase a kit!

Embroidery Hoop Turkey Art Tutorial

Materials:

9 inch embroidery hoop
Muslin (enough for a 11" circle)
Fusible web (like Heat n Bond)
10 or so felt varieties
matching embroidery floss
needle

Step 1: Using the embroidery hoop as your guide, cut about an 11' circle from your muslin.
*Note: works best with a Dora pencil

Step 2: Using this pattern, trace each piece individually onto the paper side of the fusible web. (For the feathers make sure to go a little longer "into" the turkey body). Cut roughly around each piece, lay the shiny side paper onto the back of each felt piece and iron. TAKE YOUR TIME. Start out with a low heat and have another fabric in between the iron and the felt. Some felt could burn and be altered through ironing. **Be wise and refer to the directions on your fusible web packaging**

Step 3: Peel the paper off of the felt. This should leave a nice shine on the back of the felt. Using the same method for ironing felt as in step 2, place all of your pieces onto your circle of muslin, and iron into place.

Step 4: You're ready to stitch. But first we need to separate your embroidery floss. Embroidery floss has 6 strands of thread in each piece. I used only 3 strands for stitching everything except I only used 2 strands to stitch the words.

Step 5: Stitch! I used a back stitch for everything.

Step 6: I used a little trick for the words. I tried to use a pencil to trace the words onto the felt but it would not work. What I ended up doing was traced the words onto wax paper, pinned it into place on the banner and stitched through the wax paper onto the felt/muslin. It worked fabulously.

Step 7: Pull the muslin on all sides to tighten the fabric. Once in place, trim sides to about 1".

Step 8: Hot glue the edge to the inside of the hoop.

TA-DA!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Megan's Quilt Finish

2010-10-28T21:56:00.003-05:00

Hi to everyone new who may be visiting our blog...welcome and take a look around! :) Friday is a few short hours away and it's the start of Blogger's Quilt Festival from Amy's Creative Side. My sister Heather and I have been anxiously awaiting this event for a while and we hope you like our quilts!

A while back I purchased some of Joel Dewberry's fabric line Deer Valley. I wanted to re-do my bedroom in aqua's and gray's with a little bit of orange in there. It took me a long time to decide what kind of quilt I wanted for the end of my bed...so I used some traditional piecing and a modern layout, and I present my quilt

And my pieced back (I just can't resist piecing the backs these days!)

Scrappy binding just fit perfect with this quilt and all the colors.

A closer look at the blocks.

Do you remember my not-so-ready-for-a-reveal bedroom post?

Well I had a list of things I still had left to do.

Among them, a cute pieced blanket for the end of my bed :)

And I've decided to sell this quilt pattern!

For the next week starting NOW thru Thursday November 4th Heather and I are putting all of our patterns on SALE.

That's right.

click on the image to head straight to our shop!

You don't have to read that twice, buy one get one FREE.

Okay you can read it again, it's a cute image afterall.

So please head on over to our Etsy shop and take a look around.

While you're at it, you can pre-order Gaggle of Geese!

Just sayin'.

Don't forget to see my sister Heather's quilt finish!

NURSERY REVEAL FINALLY!!!

2010-10-19T00:37:00.002-05:00

Okay, he is only 15 months old,

but his nursery is finally finished...

let Little Dude take you on a personal tour...

These were an easy fix. Just bought Ikea white panels, and added the cute Amy Butler fabric to the bottoms. I plan to add a tutorial to the blog. Super easy...

My Husband did the board and batten (is that how you say it?) Walls. Well, he did the woodwork. I did all the painting and caulking. NOT FUN! However, I am in LOVE with how it turned out. I want it all over my house. But easily over 20 hours on that project alone...

Seriously! How cute is he sitting up there? There is the cute elephant painting my Mommy dear made for him. Also the quilts are from me and my aunt. I don't have all his baby quilts here. There are 5 of them. (If you count Megan's. And should we? I mean she still hasn't finished it!)

My Father in law built me this book case years ago for my girls. I repainted in this pale aqua. I need to give my Mom a little time to get her life back in order from her vacation, then I plan on putting her to work. I want gray fabric liners for the baskets. Pretty please Mama?

I found this vintage window frame at a little craft fair about 5 years ago. It has never looked so cute! I put some cute Rylee Blake fabric to back it, and I love how it turned out. Then I just added some little cup hooks to hang his hats. Cute?

I found this little shadow box at TJMaxx. It is so hit an miss there, but sometimes you can find the perfect little gems. Inside are the hats I knit for him when he was a newborn. Heart pang...sparkly tears... We want to freeze him in time and it isn't working!

My Mother in law made me the CUTEST baby blessing sailor outfit ever! It fit him for the 2 seconds he was blessed, then off it went. How were we to know he would be so huge? But I knew it would make for darling decor. The dandelions are made with vinyl on one of those cricuts I don't have but want desperately! I had a super nice friend make them for me :)

I have a tutorial for this too. This cute fabric chandelier. It is from Ikea. I just remade the shade. Super easy, super custom, super cheap! ($13 bucks)

These frames above his bed are from Ikea too. I took the photos inside. He was only 2 weeks old...man what is this salty discharge coming from my eyes???

The bedding I made with my Mother in Law. She is the best to craft with. I just cute and measure and she sews like a crazy woman in a labor camp. I let her have breaks occasionally, but not much. We had fun making them together. We didn't finish, so naturally I send the crib skirt fabric back with her with detailed instructions and a deadline of when I would like it shipped back. She was several days early!

The children cracked me up goofing around in the corner (especially Sophie's face).

Okay, now that this post took me as long to complete as the room did...I am OFFICIALLY finished with his room and ready to move to another.

I am so happy with how this turned out. I kind of want to kick him out and move in myself. I had such a hard time with a boys room. No flowers or pink or ruffles. It took me a while to work it out in my head.

What I love the most is that almost everything in that room is made by me or someone in my family. It is totally unique and custom. The only problem with going this route, is that your baby may be 15 months old before it is complete.

I hope you all love it as much as me. Linking to these parties...

The End

Spooky Runner

2010-10-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

I am having so much fun this year increasing my Halloween items...next year will be so fun when I open up my box and remember it all again. (Isn't that the best?!)

A few of weeks ago Heather and I got a grab bag from Material Girl's Quilts in Utah. We were gid. dy. (yes two words) when we saw that there was not only Halloween fabric involved but Boo to You by Riley Blake.

Of course we knew we had to make a runner.

We both made a brick pattern. I have a large brick pattern going across the middle of the runner. On each side I have a smaller brick pattern running in the opposite direction. I believe my larger rectangles are 5 x 8 and the smaller are 2 x 5.

And a scrappy binding. My new fave.

Heather and I each made one right? Well she sent me a picture of her finished runner via text and I noticed that she had enough fabric to make a good size runner using only the larger rectangles.

Hmmm.

We supposedly split the fabric.

Who cut it you ask?

Do I have to answer?

The last teaser I promise...

2010-10-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

This is the last sneak peak of the nursery before the big reveal. This whole room has taken way too long. And sometimes I need to go to the store and just buy something instead of having to make everything. It is super cute, and super custom and I can't wait to show it off...

I am trying to paint the book shelf, it I do get it done, or I don't get it done, I will post it next monday promise.

I think everyone will like it. It makes my heart skip a beat each time I walk by...

Halloween mantel on a budget!!

2010-09-28T00:01:00.003-05:00

I finished my mantel and it came together in probably 15 minutes...I was a happy little camper to say the least! AND I probably spent $10 total. (Some things I had from before.) So here is what I spent and some little tips I've got, hopefully you can find something useful!

Halloween buckets stacked on top of each other: $1 each Target 1 spot.

Glittery haunted house: $3 Kirkland Home (are these anywhere else other than AZ?? Love it!)

Glitter skull: Dollar Tree, $1 :)

Black birdie: Present from my mommy

Old medical book: Free from my honey's school!

Black crow: Dollar Tree, $1

Skulls in apothecary jar: Dollar Tree, $1

Candy Corn in Walmart glass: Probably $2 for candy and $1 for the glass

Tip: REPURPOSE! For 30 days you can mess up some of your other decor to make your mantel, table, etc. adorable! The candle stick I spray painted and it is usually in my kitchen, I paid $3 for it originally. The apothecary jar is usually in my bedroom with seashells. I also tied some leftover fabric strips around the top of the lid. And I left my little boys in the frame up...they aren't too spooky but I thought the gray frame still worked fine!

Spider: Dollar Tree, $1

Cute banner: From Ms SewSara herself

(there are so many tutes out there on how to make one of these cuties, so fast!)

Spider/web: Also from Ms SewSara!

There you have it! My Halloween Mantel on a Budget!

What are your holiday decor on a budget tips?

PS Don't forget to check out these great linky parties, including Get Your Craft On!

Boo!

2010-09-24T17:49:00.001-05:00

I want to make lots of monster creatures.

I made this little guy for our mom, and I guess I kinda invented him. He's crocheted, and I used this free ball pattern for his body alternating colors every four rows. His arms started with a chain four and increased to eight I believe for probably 5 inches. His eyes, mouth and ears are all made of felt and stitched onto his face. I was happy with this quirky little guy!

Our mom loves to host a Halloween party with loads of grandchildren. So I wanted to add to her cute decorations, and I love me a banner.

Using a cardboard template and rotary cutter I got my perfect triangles and sewed them to a ribbon. Using fusible web I traced the letters and ironed them accordingly. A good tip: If you aren't the best with your applique skills (me) it's awesome to use invisible thread. I think colored thread can make more of a statement, but until I can sew straight better, I'm sticking with invisible thread.

And there you go! Happy Halloween everybody, can't wait to check out all the goodies and eat a few too.

Let me know if you need any more specifics!
PS This was a re-post from last year, however it's probably new to you, right??? :)

Fabric Bracelets

2010-09-21T00:01:00.005-05:00

I recently got back from a 2 week vacation back to my "home". I had to leave my love here and got to go stay at my parents with my two little rascals.

We had a blast.
We missed the man.
I spent many a craft night, afternoon and a weekend with my dear sister Heather.
Miss you.

About an hour after I left she sent me a text of a picture of her giant crying eyeball. Sad.

Earlier this summer I was flipping through a catalog of a fabulous designer. I wanted to cover myself head to toe with fabric I love it so much. If it were socially acceptable I'd drape myself in fabric. (Seinfeld anyone!? :)

Immediately I got out my scrap fabric and started on a bracelet I designed in my head.

We are very impulsive.
Heather has paused a movie, ran to her bathroom and cut bangs to match the actress. No lie.

This is what I came up with.

Since this summer I've been debating about offering a tutorial on how to make these or selling them or both.

They are made with scrap fabrics into small yo-yos and then glued to a thin elastic piece. They are simple, but take a decent amount of time.

I quite like mine and wear it often. It gets me that much closer to my ultimate goal of being covered in darling fabric. :)

What do you think?

PS If you are interested in purchasing one, contact us at freshpoppydesign{at}gmail{dot}com!

And check here to see the wonderful parties we're linking up to!

Another sneak peak. Mod Podge Star...

2010-09-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

MOD PODGE STAR TUTORIAL

Okay, here is what you do. First buy one of those giant metal stars. Spray paint it black.

Make a pattern out of card stock the size of each of the angles. It will always be the same shape, you just have to flip it over for every other angle of the star. You know the drill. Mod Podge. I got all my pieces down, then did 1 coat over the whole star.

Next you are going to do a wash on the angles. Alternately, you can "ink" the edges of each paper before you mod podge. I like to do a wash. Just acrylic paint with water.

Get an angled brush and dip the edge in the watery paint. Go along all the edges of the shapes. This is very forgiving. Just to make sure you do it on top of the mod podge layer, otherwise you would be painting raw paper and it wouldn't be forgiving.

FINISHED!

You have your star...

We'll be linking to some fun and crafty parties here, check them out!

Sneak Peek...nursery...

2010-09-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

Why does everything take so long for me?

Maybe it is because I generally make nearly everything in the room myself (or with the help of a giving mother and mother in law)

Sometimes it would be easier to just go online and buy everything. Maybe Weston's nursery would be done by the time he was born. Not after he was one year old!

I have been in my house for over 5 years and my Master Bedroom has still never been finished. (part of that is being a scaredy cat).

I just need to focus my ADD and get this done. I think I have all the bits and pieces, but I need to get them on the wall, hung, etc. a little mad at myself about it all...

Okay this "board and batten" (or whatever you call it) Was a pain in the butt serisously. I think between my husband and myself it was about 25 hours labor. (When was the last time you and your husband had that kind of spare time?

Was it worth it? I LOVE IT! I want trim work and moulding all over my house!

Pinky Promise a reveal super soon!

Our Mommy is the nicest Mommy in the world...

2010-09-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

Turns out I (Heather) am a taker not a giver (lets be honest, so is Megan). Several people in my family agreed. So a few months ago I bought canvas, paint, and found a cute photo online. I brought everything to my Mom. Told her in detail what I wanted. What I wanted different from the online print. Then I gave her a 2 week deadline.

Does that make me a taker?

Fortunately for me, my Mother is a giver...here is the canvas she produce for me, ahead of schedule by about a week...

SERIOUSLY! Does it almost make you cry? This is for Weston's nursery. I LOVE IT! I have a thing for elephants because of Dumbo. All my girls loved dumbo when they were around 2 years old. Plus I really love the Baby Mine song. Alison Kraus has a beautiful version.

That is me and Weston (no fat jokes please)... The grey and aqua are the colors of his nursery. (which will be revealed within 2 weeks..promise!

Our Mother can make or do anything! She is an artist, decorator, sewer, quilter, crafter, plumber, handyman, tiler, wallpaper..er, hardwood floor installer... etc. Seriously everything!

She is the best Mommy and Grandma ever!

I don't want to be sentimental here, but really, people get jealous of just how nice our Mom is. She is such a compassionate person. When we have babies we are in Heaven because of how she cares for our other children and pampers us like we are at a spa. She cleans out my fridge regularly, and my car. She is a little OCD about cleaning...but that is another post where we will mock her!

Love You MAMA

(She is a loyal blog follower too)

Pottery Barn Tray project...

2010-09-03T09:38:00.001-05:00

I didn't want to post this because in the end I am not super happy with it, but I thought I could get advice from you all?

I got this pottery barn tray just like this at a outlet type sale. It was $5. I imagined all the grand things I could do with it. First spray paint it all...

Second, tried unsuccessfully to line up some cute scrapbook papers...

Slapped it together...Don't like the seams....don't like the glare...

Love the pretty tray table and all of it's potential...

Sprayed the cute birdie too...and found the darling vase at DI.

Now, what to do?

Wallpaper?

Fabric???

Tile???

ANY ADVICE PLEASE???

Do you have a fabric project?

2010-08-31T09:57:00.000-05:00

Do you have a fabric project from the past week? We'd love for you to link up and share it on our Quiltstory blog. Today I'm sharing my finished quilt top for my bedroom (finally)!

I cannot wait to get it back from my aunt and start to bind it. It's a good throw size and it will lay across the end of my bed.

Heather has been painting her little heart out all week, finishing up baby Weston's nursery. You're gonna be blown away, seriously. I can brag this much because she's my sister, right?! Really she is quite talented, her finished rooms could be in magazines. Do you remember Sophie's room??

I am so sorry if you just had to clean up the barf from all of your computer (out of cuteness of course). Click here if you want to see that original post again!

Stay tuned, this week she will be sharing a major sneak peek of Mr. Wes' room!

Cute Photo Block tutorial...

2010-08-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

1. Buy a block...(in Utah Woodworks sells a little kit with the block, bulldog clip and plastic slide thingy) Otherwise it is about 3.5 x 3.5 square block. Sanded, and edges are rounded a bit.

I just did a wash in black along the edges since they will be showing.

2. All the supplies you need are here.

3. Photos I ordered from Costco in smallish sizes. Cute scrapbook papers and a few embellishments. (roberts)

4. Invite Jeff Lewis along. (flipping out, bravo, funny!)

5. Cut papers just smaller than the square, about 3 and a quarter. Mod Podge down, add pics and mod podge on top of those too...

6. When it is all dry, glue on brads, ribbons, flowers etc. Mine is for my baby boy Weston. So no girly stuff.

7) Chipboard accents like the "W" are fun. Just mod podge cute papers on, and cut out with exacto knife. I did this to the checkers chipboard frame too...

Finished. Cute in a stack of three if I ever get to the other two.

I mounted the photo on chipboard for the bulldog clip. This is also fun to switch out the photo.

Finished! Hope you like.

Lolly Jane!

2010-08-24T08:56:00.006-05:00

Today we are blog swapping with two darling twin sisers Kelli and Kristi! (Oh how we wish we were twins!!) There blog is packed full of darling DIY projects and ideas. Check out this darling argyle wall, or these adorable headbands (really just see how they made them!). Today they are going to share another creative project just for us! Please share the love and visit Lolly Jane boutique!

Hi Fresh Poppy Design fans!

We are SO excited to be guest blogging with Heather and Megan today! Our first blog swap...yippee!

Our names are Kelli & Kristi, we are twin sisters livin in the Valley of the Sun {AZ!} who LoVe to create!

We have a DIY blog, Lolly Jane boutique, named after Kel's nickname growing up {Kris couldn't pronounce Kelli so called her Lolly.. Jane is also Kel's middle name}. We show off a variety of crafts weekly and today we're going to show you how to make art from a plain ol' canvas.

After seeing this cutie~pie idea at my sis in law's house,

I realized I had a blank canvas & a random wooden "S" sitting in my Goodwill pile. {Use your coupon at Michaels, Joanns, HobbyLobby for a smokin deal to get a canvas if ya don't have one lyin around.}

At first I thought I'd alter the sweet dreams idea for my girl's room then thought,

"Hmm..my 7 yr old is grumpy about sharing a room with her 16 month old sister and sister starts with S so let's do a sister canvas!"

First I painted the canvas pink, my older daughter's fav color.

Then I cut a stencil from my vinyl cutter.

{You could freehand or use Word for yours if you don't have a cutter}

Next I slapped it on the canvas & painted the exposed canvas brown:

Lastly, I filled in the hearts with different shades of green just because.

And now my older kiddo can be reminded how much she'll appreciate her little sis when the gap in their age lessens. :)

There you have it. A sample of what we love to do on our blog: share ideas with you!

{Best part?-cost was FREE since I had everything on hand, love that.}

Hope you had fun with us and a MAJOR thanks to Heather & Megan for letting us steal a day away from their DARLING blog!

:)Kelli & Kristi

Thanks girls!! That's darling artwork and it looks sooo sweet. Sisters are the best! :)

I'm thinking there's a giveaway

2010-08-23T00:01:00.002-05:00

How would you like to win this?

melodies by exclusively quilters mint

or this?

melodies by exclusively quilters pink

You can!

We are giving away these fat quarter bundles (2 yards total!!) to two lucky readers! Our new advertiser, ladybug quilt shop, is oh so generous!!

Hop on over to QuiltStory where you can enter!!

It's easy peasy.

That's an idea!

2010-08-19T16:11:00.003-05:00

Welcome to another installment of

That's An Idea Thursday's!

Okay, well welcome to the first That's An Idea Thursday...

Maybe sometimes on Thursday we will share a simple idea.

Quick story behind it.

One of Heather's darling girls used to suggest some activity/project/whatnot and follow it with

"Is that an idea?"

Never specifying if it's a good or bad idea, just that it was an idea.

Moving to Phoenix a couple of months ago we found ourselves with a fireplace.

I know I know...why do they have fireplaces in Phoenix??

I didn't take a before photo, but it just had one of those blackened metal things in it to hold wood.

I played around with a few ideas. At first I thought I'd get some big glass cylinders (whatever they're called) and do three across with some big fatty-boom-batty candles in them.

But that can be quite expensive.

Then I decided I would just fill it with random sized and off-white colored candles.

(Don't look too closely, they could be arranged a bit better!)

I got a "starter" candle set at Ikea for $10.

I think there were 5 of various heights.

The rest I had around my house and some I got from my cousin who was moving.

You could easily find some at a garage sale or a second hand store.

I like it too because when Christmas comes around and it's a crisp 66 degrees (hehe) we can light up all these candles while we prepare Santa's cookie plate.

Is that an idea??

linking to some fabulous parties, make sure you check them out!

Quilt finished! Hooray!

2010-08-16T04:00:00.003-05:00

The pretty purple quilt is finished! That was a quick quilt for me. I am proud :)

If you want more pics and details...go check me out at QUILTSTORY today...

Burp in Style!

2010-08-11T17:47:00.001-05:00

I made up a few gerber diaper burp clothes...super fun, easy and cute! Just a little heat and bond, I did a straight stitch right close to the edge...

If your machine has the capability, play with the embroidery stitches. Makes is personal and a little extra cuteness doesn't hurt anything!

I used my funny little animal prints. Love how they turned out...

And if you think your baby only needs burp clothes for the first few months, I have been using these on my 3 year old girl. Yucky noses, faces etc. I think I will need them around for quite a while!

Hope you like! linking at amylouwho

A Gaggle of Geese

2010-08-06T11:32:00.001-05:00

I'm getting closer....

Progress is being made for my quilt to go on the end of my bed. I think I have as many flying geese as I need, eek! Now I just need to figure out my blocks and then the tough part...the layout, and more blocks, and whatnot.

Spoiler: Boring quilt talk

Before I asked what kind of block everyone thought I should do. And I'm a brat, because I went against what was suggested...I just had Dutchman's Puzzle in my head so long I couldn't see it otherwise. I have been using this method mostly, it creates four geese at once and wastes no fabric and is sooo fast! But for pieces that are not large enough I've been using this method.

I had decided I wanted brighter flying geese on the inner part of the block and lighter on the outside (layout #2). I also decided to try doing each block by color (layout #1).

So there is an OBVIOUS winner right??? Layout #1 it is.

On to more exciting things....

2 features for us today!

Have you been to Life in the Fun Lane? Who am I kidding, of course you have!

Okay, if it's slipped through you must go there if you are considering refinishing furniture. Absolutely inspiring.

Today she's featuring my new tv console! :)

And another cute blog, Gen X Quilters is doing a little spotlight on me today. Fun!

And I do use the phrase "scrumptious Panamanian" so you may have to go read that.

Thanks ladies!

PS HAVE YOU SEEN THE YOUNG VICTORIA?

I have to use movies to give myself a little motivation for working out.

The last two days was The Young Victoria.

Loved it.

Wanted to watch it again.

And maybe one more time.

I ran into the office just to tell my husband about it.

So..you should see it too.

Guess what's a little embarrassing about this? Heather and I are half Brits right? Half English to be exact. I've been to England three times. I've done all the touristy things a couple of times. Growing up my mom had a really posh coffee table book that was titled something like The Kings and Queens of England.

I didn't remember the story.

At all.

She is the longest reigning sovereign of England.

Don't tell my dad.

Phew. I don't think I have rambled so much or linked as much in a post.

No. I. Didn't.

2010-08-04T10:14:00.003-05:00

We moved. And had to leave behind our entertainment center. And we wanted a new TV. What's this a recipe for? Compulsive refreshing on craig's list.

(There are hundreds of posts of furniture in my area daily!!)

So I snatched this little gem up. We wanted something that was tall so our boys couldn't get to the tv, check. (The power button on this tv has been snapped off from repeated torture.) We also wanted something with storage, check. We wanted something sturdy, solid oak, check. Oh and something that I could paint, check. And cheap, check.

Afters many hours and extreme heat, I give you our new tv console:

(because console is way cooler than entertainment center)

Okay, I love it. So much cleaner, fresh and happy than before and DEFINITELY better than the card table we were using.

Here's what I did.

I purchased everything at Lowe's. (No I was not paid to say that, but desperately wish that I was!)

removed doors and all hardware
cleaned everything with soapy water and dried
applied Klean-Strip Sander Deglosser, twice (left)
one coat of Valspar Primer (latex)
two coats of Valspar Glossy paint, color Du Jour (latex)
attached new hardware
hot glued in fabric
adorned with extra large tv

oh, and I spray painted my hinges black! I didn't want to mess with trying to find the right size.

Let's talk about this fabric.

Before the insert was embossed glass with designs...not my style and hard to cover.

I thought a lot about what I would use to cover those doors, and though initially I thought fabric, I kept it deep down for fear of being mocked for my dumb idea :)

One magical night, soon after it had dried, I teasingly placed a piece of fabric over the empty space.

{insert heavenly choir}

Not only did I LOVE the look....but remotes work through fabric!!!

The long and short of it is, I cut a piece of fabric about 1 inch larger in width and height than the size of the hole. I would squirt a section of hot glue with my left hand and follow with my right hand adhering the fabric. In the end I went around and trimmed the excess fabric. Eventually I'd like to get some trim or piping and glue it around the inside edge to give it a more finished look.

Originally the right side was intended for a tv. We're using it for more storage.

These boxes are from Ikea. They are made to fit about 15 dvds each, it is $5 for 2 boxes.

There you have it! I have another painting project (kitchen table and chairs) and I've got all the stuff....but I need a painting hiatus.

I will definitely be linking this project up! Make sure to check out these parties!

Glittery star fish decoration project!

2010-07-29T21:00:00.001-05:00

I tagged along on my husband's business trip to San Francisco last week and while roaming the city alone, I came across this magnificent glittery star fish. It was $20, a little steep in my book, but it made me think of...

these pewterish starfish, shells, sand dollars I got last year at Target. I found them for half price so $8. I bought a set for part of my mother's day gift,, and one for me. I felt bad later and returned them. The next week I found them on the shelf for 80% off, so $4. And I rebought them! (and never regretted it) then I thougt of...

This glass cake stand with a doam that my mom found at Ross for me and knew I had to have it for $11...which made me think of...

my dear cohort, Spray Paint. White high gloss spray paint...and I went to town...isn't the underside detail pretty?

Put them together and what have you got???

Sparkly magical sea life decoration!

I added it to my armoire that you saw a few months ago...

remember this armoir cost me under $300 with little fixing upping and no painting!!! you can check out that before and after here...

Hope you like it!

I will be adding this post to some of these fun linky parties...

Meet my friend Sara

2010-07-27T12:40:00.007-05:00

Today I'm trading blogs with my bestest crafty friend, Sara. Do you know how I met Sara? I moved to Missouri where my husband would be going to school. Sara and I knew of each other, but for several months hadn't really talked much. One day in Walmart (the only store in town) she spotted me. I was on the phone with my sister, of course, and she came over with a card and her number and said to call her and we should hang out that afternoon! And so, we did...and since then we have had many a crafty date. Oh how I wish I could be like her and make friends so easy! She really is such a great friend, and today she is sharing a tutorial with us, so here is Sara!

(ALSO Sara is part of the Midsummer Blog Party and giving away an adorable minky blanket, go here to enter.)

Hi, I'm Sara.

a.k.a. SewSara.

I guess I'll tell you a bit about myself.

I love to sew and create.
Sometimes the ideas in my head are better than the finished product. Actually, most of the time.
But it's all about trial and error. My kids don't know the difference when I make them pj pants and the crotch hangs to their knees, right?

My tagline on my etsy shop says, "making use of my home ec degree." It's true. I went to college for this. Ha! I never taught high school like I thought I would, but it makes for a fun story anyway (and all those fun student loans to show for it).

Some of my favorite things in this world are: fabric, polka dots, mod podge, spray paint, paper goods (I loooove office and stationery stores), diet coke, donuts, the color red, and oh yeah - my three kids (Max, Ruby, and Simon).

This is my first time doing a blog trade ... I'm excited! Thanks for having me, Fresh Poppy Sisters!

I'm always on the lookout for cute towels to make bibs for my kids. I usually can't find them so I make them like this (or this). But they are way more time consuming that way. (That's why you don't see many in my etsy shop right now).

The towel makes it so much easier. And these are my favorite because they last forever -- even my 5-yr-old and 3-yr-old still wear them when we eat spaghetti (they call them "spaghetti bibs") or do art!
And now that baby Simon (my 6-month-old) is tasting his first foods, he's wearing them, too.
And I can just wipe his face with the towel bib ... it's great.
Plus, I hear that some of those plastic bibs have nasty chemicals in them.
So -- keep your eye out for cute towels! I look in the kitchen and bath sections.

I found this towel at the DOLLAR STORE, so I pre-washed it to make sure it didn't fall apart.
So far, so good. I guess we'll see if it stands the test of time.
If not, I'm only out one dollar (obviously).

You should be able to click on any photo to see it full size.
I never know if I'm being detailed enough, so please ask questions in the comments if
I've left out anything!

Now... prepare the ribbing for the neck piece.

Make sure you cut it so it stretches length wise.

This is 100% cotton rib knit. If you're not sure what to buy, ask at the fabric store

and they should direct you to the right stuff.


I have an applique tutorial here. Or Megan did one here.

If you try it, I'd love to hear from you!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and hope it made sense.

Please leave a comment for Sara (don't we all love those??), go to her blog, become a follower...ya know, the works!!

PS Linking to our Weekly parties here, The Shabby Chic Cottage and somewhat simple, and Amylouwho, so check them out! Oh and we're new party goers here:

A new art project...

2010-07-24T23:43:00.001-05:00

I caught my 3 year old working on a craft project yesterday. I thought since this is a craft blog I could share it. Funny Funny stuff, you won't be sorry you watched...

Giveaway Winner, and Girly MOD TWEET quilt top!!!

2010-07-23T00:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, lets start with the girly quilt top that I am SUPER happy with. I kept trying to envision the finished quilt top and I wasn't totally happy with what my brain produced. But the real thing turned out FAB if I do say so myself! Seriously I am in love with this quilt and the fabrics. So this is definitely a girl or boy pattern...

I love all the bright colors. These are all mainly from Amy Butler's Love collection. The aqua and green really pop.

Added a wing this time. (It is in the pattern too)

Now I am not being dramatic here. But this may be ruined!

I am going to attempt to machine quilt this myself...

I got a nice sewing machine for Mother's Day and I have been playing around with the freemotion quilting. I am ready to give it a try on a real quilt...scary!

I will start, and if it is going bad I always have a seam ripper handy. Doesn't that sound fun?

Any advice from anyone?

Okay, on to the winners of the patterns...

SY, MERI DRAKE, K. DAVIS, CARLA, and DESERAE... email me your addresses and I will send you all out your patterns.

Thanks for all the nice comments from everyone.

And Peeps, we are just a few people away, please get us to 300 followers??? Pretty please??? Megan and I get really pathetically excited when we have such milestones :)

GivEaWaY and a new modern boy quilt pattern!

2010-07-19T05:00:00.005-05:00

This is a story of Little Baby Brother Buddy Dude. Seriously, do you love him? Do you want to bite his cheeks? From the very bottom of my heart I really didn't think I was missing anything by not having a son. My four daughters filled my heart. I thought a boy would just be for my husband. I knew I would love one, but absolutely did not know how much I would adore him!

He came into our lives 1 year ago. He reminds me of Big Baby on toy story. He is giant. 98% height. Super bald. And pure perfection! Finally getting a boy meant tons of new decorating options...which brings me to this quilt...

I named this quilt "Mod Tweet", sort of the modern "Sweet Tweet". (My original pattern that has been very good for our little business...) Anyhow, when I thought to decorate a boys room I didn't want to do the blue and brown thing. I feel like I have done that, and I wanted to different than what was being done in most boy nursery's. So I thought and thought and finally came up with gray and aqua. I LOVE how this quilt turned out. Within a month I will be posting this guys nursery and it is darling!

Plus, check the minky backing. Have you seen anything so magnificent? L-O-V-E !

I went back and forth about making it a pattern or keeping it original for my baby. In the end I sold him out for a little extra cash...(that is the kind of person I am...) So here you have it...

If you buy this pattern, just think of Big Baby Brother Little Baby Buddy Dude. Please. Click here if you are interested in purchasing this pattern.

Last but not least. We are giving this pattern away to 5 different commenters here and on QuiltStory.

* Leave a comment and tell us which is your favorite pattern of ours, 1 entry.

* Become a follower or subscribe, 3 entries.

(Just tell us in a new comment if you are already a follower/subscriber)

* Hop on over to QuiltStory and repeat, 4 entries.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Oh and YES, we are linking up to some fabulous parties, so make sure to check them out too!

Left over Minky project idea...minky balls...

2010-07-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Check out these adorable minky balls! Our mommy made them for our babies with leftover minky. She acutally made about 30 of them. I think the idea was to sell them on etsy, but she decided it wouldn't be worth it. I think she donated them all because she is nice! I would have saved them for never ending babyshower gifts.

There are tutorials out there. Sorry we don't have one for you. But make sure to add a cat toy inside. Better than jingle bells because the bell will not ring inside of all that stuffing. But the cat toy has the bell inside a plastic ball, so it is protected.

Our babies love these. Plus, and more importantly, they look super cool and hip while playing with them. Speaking of super cool and hip. I bought the huggies cool dude denim diapers for Weston. We love them on him. The older sisters laugh and laugh. If you haven't seen the commercial for them, I highly recommend it.

I don't know when or if I will attempt one of these, but definitely a project to put on that "to do someday" folder. Right?

Linking with AmyLouWho.

Adopt a Bird

2010-07-12T05:00:00.004-05:00

While my house still looks like this....

I decided to do this...

While my boys did this....

Here's what I got!

Love how my ceramic piece turned out. I was so tired of that mustardy yellow that matched nothing.

As for the frame and topiary...they still need some work.

I used a really fancy technique. The bird had a lot of red in it, so I spray painted my finger and quickly ran it over the bird so I didn't get any finger prints. Fancy right? Maybe not the greatest paint job but I'm not counting on a close-up critique.

If GRAY is the new BROWN,

Then BIRDS are the new what?

...toll painted wood?

...raffia tied dry flowers?

...Yankee candles?

I decided it was about time I invested in some birds. So I adopted some from my local Michael's crafts, all for only a couple bucks!

Here's this precious one who was in dire need of paint.

Honestly, I'm not too thrilled with the turnout, more bland than I was hoping. I could re-paint it turquoise or white...or leave it. What do you think?

I've got one more room to unpack and organize. The office/craft room.

Wish me luck.

Check out our linky parties, we'll probably be linking up this week!!

FP Sisters v. Lake

2010-07-07T01:17:00.001-05:00

I had a fabulous 4th of July weekend, mostly because I was reunited with (only one) of my sisters!! Heather and I (Megan) got to meet up at Lake Powell in Arizona. I just moved 1000+ miles and I am so much closer to my whole family now. Plus I live in a city that has a Target. Fab.

Heather insisted that she and I were first to go tubing. Bring it.

Fresh Poppy Sisters 0, Lake Powell 1.

Can you tell which ones are siblings? ;)

The adorable bronze boys are mine, and the gaggle of girls and Big Baby are Heather's. And I got to meet her baby for the first time! Darling Mr. Weston. Twas a pleasure.

Enough of the sentimental crap. I've been itching to craft, quilt, sew, create, photoshop...and I am just holding myself back...trying to be responsible or something like that and get settled in my new place. Instead I find myself folding laundry and organizing new cupboards while watching Forensic Files at 10 o'clock. Boo. Well that's all gonna stop because I got new quilt fabric.

Actually I have fabric for THREE quilts that are all in my head, 2 original patterns too. I might explode if I can't do some of this stuff soon!! So while H and I met up I got scraps from her latest quilt and it completed my set.

(By the way, you are all going to be barfing of cuteness all over the place when you see her new bird pattern. It is being printed now!!)

Remember when I posted the half finished bedroom? Well this is going to be my throw quilt for the bottom of our bed.

Lately I decided I really want to make a traditional block quilt using a modern layout and fabrics. I've narrowed down my block choices, wanna help me decide?

I found this cute quilt blog called Modify Tradition (is she reading my diary? This is exactly what I want in my new quilt!) and she has some great block tutorials. Here it goes:

Forest Path OR Starflower OR Dutchman's Puzzle
Remember I'm using the fabrics above with a white background.

Which is your favorite??
PS I'll probably link this bad boy up to some parties, so follow our tab above and join the fun! And we are featuring a new quilt first thing tomorrow morning on QuiltStory, don't forget to stop by!

I finished! Quilt top...

2010-06-28T16:27:00.001-05:00

I finished the quilt top. I took my little fifteen minute breaks I talked about here and they added up to this. Now I did have to stay up late 2 evenings to focus on it for a couple hours and finishing up. I can't just leave my pieces out on the floor overnight due to the tiny humans walking around my house...but here you have it.

I hade to remake a couple pink blocks due to the lack on contrast between the sashing. And I ended up getting that burnt orange post fabric because what I had picked out originally would definitely have not worked because they were purple. But I am super happy with how it all turned out.

I have it off to my fabulous aunt to do the machine quilting. She does such a good job, and she gives me a discount. :) thanks Wendy. And everything she does is custom. If you want her email, contact us.

Plus my purdy roses were in bloom and it was the perfect backdrop for the quilt top.

So I should be getting it back soon and I will post the final project.

linking at amylouwho

Singed flower headband tutorial...

2010-06-23T13:42:00.002-05:00

Singed Flower Tutorial...

Hi folks, today we are going to learn how to make singed flower hair clips or headbands. I didn't invent these, I have been seeing them around blog land lately, but I will show you what I know, and add in some tulle (which I haven't seen yet...)

Supplies needed:
Scissors
Synthetic silk fabric (don't get the real thing, I tried, doesn't work) anything synthetic is fine.
tulle
matches
beads
headband, or hair clampy clip thingy.

Don't get perfect here. Just cut three circles each smaller than the other. My largest here is probably 4 inches. But you can play around with this. These do not have to be perfect circles.

Okay, this was a little hard taking a pic. But all you do is light a match and move it around the edges of the flower. You mostly want the heat on the fabric, not the flame or it may burn and get black. Which is fine for some colors, but not alot. You will see the fabric start to melt and bend and pucker. Do this to all three...

Next cut 3-4 2 inch squares of tulle. (don't break out a ruler or anything, just eyeball it)

Fold the tulle in half, then in half again.

Then round it off with scissors...

Now if you have any miniature humans around you begging for food, you may have to make a grilled cheese in the middle... You can see I started to hot glue my layers.

Just put a blob of hot gule in the center, add a layer, etc. Then at the top, do a big blog and add 3 beeds. Some folks are more of perfectionists than I am, in that case, you can do this with a needle and thread.

Hot glue to the head band. And I don't think I need to say this, but please offset the flower. We don't want people walking around with a flower on the tip top of their head..

Ta Da! You are done!

Now sit back and admire them on your head, or in this case your cute daughter's head...

Now look at your cute flower headband....

Now look at your mess....

Now look again at your flowers...

Now the mess...

Was it worth it????? What do you think???

linking up to amylouwho

Starting a new quilt!

2010-06-17T12:33:00.001-05:00

Okay, Megan and I are Sucky McSuckerson's. We try to act like we are these big quilters, but then we crank out a quilt about every 6 months each. Pathetic (said with an english accent, because we are half brits). So I decided I am going to take advantage of the little tiny 15 minutes I get here and there. This week has been crazy, I have all 5 kids home, 3 birthdays, summer camps, piano, gymnastics, dance etc. But I get little breaks here and there. (In fact, I wish I were using this little break that I am spending blogging to you folks, sewing...lol)....

My oldest daughters favorite color since she could speak is purple. She LOVES it! I finally gave in and bought the paint (the second one in the sample) when Lowes was having a sale. We haven't painted yet, but I am making this throw for the bottom of the bed. I love this fabric line. It is a "little house" print by Annette Tatum. Super pretty. So I will finally be a nice Mom and let her do the purple thing.

So I cut away. Then I pin and press while I am watching TV with my husband. I come and sew whenever I have a little pile ready to go. Mostly I only need 10 or fifteen minutes to sew the little piles then press later. It is actually working out great! I am quite impressed with how much I have finished in a week's time. I really try to wait for 3-4 hour blocks, or craft weekends, but I think this is how I am going to have to craft.

I am lucky in that I have a craft room right off my kitchen. I promise to share pics one day, but there is always the last things that never seem to get done (in my world.) And it is always too messy from crafting or stashing my crafts purchases, that it wouldn't look nice in a pic. I am going to reveal it soon...bless my heart!

Here are a few of the finished blocks. I am hopefully going to be piecing the whole thing together within the next week so hopefully I will reveal the finished quilt top in a week. Wish me luck. And good luck to all you other Mom's that only get 15 minute craft increments. I feel your pain!

Going to link to some of these parties...

My Spring Mantle...

2010-06-14T01:45:00.004-05:00

My spring mantle. And yes, it is barely spring here in Utah. Our winter just ended a week ago (cross your fingers for no more snow.) I figure I can leave this mantle up for a couple more months and skip summer mantle all together!

Anyhow, I have the rock wall behind my mantle. I feel like the accessories compete with it. I rather like all the white dishes against it, they stand out a lot. I filled the glass apothecary jars with eggs and twigs. I really like the colors, so I pulled from the egg colors for my other accessories.

I also love the cement bunny at the end. It was only $5.99 at Ross before Easter!

Found another cute ceramic teapot at Ross, $6. And my mom found that cute candle stick at TJMaxx, just had to buy it for me. (I love it when she has that urge!)

And another photo of fatty fat head on the spray painted ceramic cake stand. Makes me happy!

Going to link to some of these parties...

I'm Dreaming AND a reveal...

2010-06-09T06:00:00.003-05:00

It's official. I am moving 1,400 miles away. Whoa. I have 10 days.

I recently made over my bedroom...although there are a few things I'd like to still do with it. So,

today I was dreaming of all the things I could add to my new room once we arrive in Arizona. See, I'm moving from ~~what could be compared to~~ a really crappy place to a really nice place. I've got hardwood floors throughout. Which means a lot of rugs. And I'm finally ready for my room to be DONE!

For starters, I'd like this vanity for my room.

Wouldn't I look adorable in that chair working on my blogs? (I would.)

Then I'd like this chair to be sitting in an opposite corner:

That's where my husband would sit and look adorable reading medical books...zzzzzz...

And for our feet, I've been swooning over so many amazing rugs, this is what I want to be the last thing my feet touch before I snooze:

New rugs by Ms. Amy Butler...there were sooo many cute ones I just couldn't decide.

So you want to see what this all matches??

My Kinda Bedroom Reveal.

BEFORE:

This .jpg is titled shame. This was at the start of my re-do.

PS Did I mention I did this in about 2 1/2 days?? I was crazy and decided to surprise my husband. I started on Friday and he came home Sunday afternoon.

AFTER:

My fabric inspiration was Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley.

Call me a dumbo-head. I have all these mirrored frames (to help with my accent color gray) and I didn't think about all the reflection possibilities. I'm gonna work on that in my new place.

Imagine this:

slate gray duvet cover and matching shams behind my accent pillows
headboard raised a little
pieced quilt laid across the bottom with all my colors
an Amy Butler rug on my hardwood floors

that's the plan...

I showed in a tutorial here just exactly how I made those lamps.

And here I talked about re-making this memo board.

What did I do?

Here's the checklist:

spray painted headboard

stenciled and covered lamps

spray painted and stenciled memo board

spray painted a mirror and shadow box with my wedding bouquet inside (not pictured)

made 3 easy (no trim, just slip in the back) accent pillows

filled existing frames with photos

the pictures above the headboard are from our favorite vacation so far...the royal mile in Edinburgh Scotland on the left and Canterbury Cathedral in England on the right

Any tips? Never share a half-finished project as a reveal in blog land. It's in bad taste. :)

PS We love to party, so check out our linky parties because we're linking up!

Before and after Cake Stand...

2010-06-07T09:00:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I apologize if this cake stand made you throw up in your mouth a little bit. WHich is exactly what happend to me when I saw it on the clearance rack at TJ Maxx. I almost missed it's potential. I have been looking for a cake stand, not for cake (not that I have anything against cake...my butt could tell you that...) but for decor. They are not cheap! And since I consider myself to be thrifty, I couldn't just fork out $50 bucks for one. Anywho, with some white all purpose spray paint.... drumroll please...

Pretty huh! Now that your nausea should have settled I hope you enjoy. She had a pretty shape with the ruffled edge. I just topped her with a big fatty fat head bird, and a candle with a strip of raw edge fabric that matched my spring mantle...I will post the rest of the mantle in a couple of days...

Hope you liked!

Going to link to some of these parties...

Cover that shade!

2010-06-03T00:12:00.003-05:00

We've been MIA, once again. Have you been to our QuiltStory blog? We've been so excited, we've been working hard on it all week. Whether you make quilts or just admire, go check them out. And let me say, these aren't your grandma's quilts, these are vibrant darling quilts that I'd love to have in my own home!!

my aplologies to grandma's and grandma quilt likers :)

Plus in the morning we'll be featuring my fabulous friend Sara and I'd love to see her get many comments!!

I've been meaning to post this for a bit. My lovely friend Sara gave me her lamps when she moved. ...this really isn't a before picture...see they used to be brass lamps and she made the first great leap by spray painting the bases. I LOVE the color, so I decided I wanted to cover the lamp shades with new fabric, and here's how I did it.

Let me apologize for the awful photos. With two babies, I do most my crafting at night, thus ugly pictures.

I really wanted to get a white based fabric with some maybe a little aqua design to cover the shades with. Shockingly I was unable to find such a fabric at Walmart or the local quilt shop. I decided to make my own by stenciling. More on that in a minute.

1. Roll your shade along the wrong side of your fabric tracing the top and then the bottom with a pencil.

2. Cut about 1/2 inch larger than your pencil line on the top and bottom.

This is how I made my own design. Do you know about Freezer Paper? It's awesome and can be used in many ways. It can be purchased at most grocery stores. There is a paper and shiny side.

3. On the paper side trace your image and cut out.

4. IRON the shiny side to the right side of your fabric and sponge paint into the stencil! You can make whatever image you want, and the paint won't bleed through the sides. ALSO, you can reuse the stencils over and over, it irons on and peels off easy peasy.

5. Trickiest part. Using Aleene's Tacky Spray adhere the fabric to the shade. It's sticky and this took some trial and error.

6. Hot glue your edges by folding into the shade. Add a trim if you'd like!

Ta-da!

When I move to Arizona (we're counting down the days!) I'd like to find the perfect trim for the top and bottom. I'm pleased how they turned out, definitely a statement!

Is it YOU?

2010-05-28T23:52:00.000-05:00

Are you the winner of 5 of these patterns??

If you're name is

ktquilts

then yes!!! Congratulations!

Not only does ktquilts follow us here, but she's also following our new blog, Quilt Story. Are you? :)

We've been overwhelmed by your responses to the giveaways and the new blog, so thank you. We did have some great assistance from the Blogger's Quilt Festival...but that didn't stop us from being full of ourselves all week. Heather and I regularly talk about how many followers we have, and I had no idea how much my self-esteem relies on that number ;)

Hop on over to Quilt Story and see if you've won patterns over there or the fat quarter stack. Also check out two of the quilts we featured this week, they are inspirational!

I painted a cute girl....

2010-05-27T11:21:00.004-05:00

Okay, I painted this girl a couple months ago with my little girls. We had it all planned, the two little babies went down for a nap and we broke everything out. My three girls each had a canvas and paint shirts ready to go. I went to etsy and found a cute painting to "inspire" me, (it is almost exactly this, but her girl was prettier and sadder, and her ground was way better) It was actually alot of fun as I hadn't painted in forever!

My dear is the most talented of all, especially painting. I am trying to have her do a tiny business and do custom painting....we will see, hopefully soon she will have a blogspot. Anyhow, I didn't just whip this out, I have had lots of training from my Mom. (Thank you Mommy dear) But whenever I paint, I think I want to paint more.

This sweet girl is on the wall in my craft room. The colors go quite well.

Come back tomorrow and we will announce the giveaway winner!

Linking to some of these fun parties...

Quilt Festival Extravaganza!

2010-05-20T22:50:00.004-05:00

I love the word "extravaganza" and use it every opportunity I get. Makes everything fancy. Okay, focus.

I am so excited to be posting right now! For a few reasons, first Park City Girl AMY is having her blogger's quilt festival which we've been waiting and waiting for! You must go check out all the amazing quilts people are making.

Speaking of amazing, my mommy designed this quilt for my sweet baby boy! Isn't it precious? I love everything about it, the sailboats, the water...the colors. I adore.

Megan and I are so lucky to have such a talented mom, let me tell you she put so much thought and time into every bit of this quilt, and I am so grateful. It will live through our family for generations to come I'm sure. And yes, this bad boy will soon make it to the printing press to be one of our patterns :)

The next reason I am so excited to be writing this post? We are launching our new blog, bold, we know. Bless our hearts, but please indulge us. We are absolutely giddy over it.

It's called QuiltStory and it's a place where we want to share other's amazing quilts and stories that go along with them. We want readers to come and admire as well as quilters to make their submissions. Please go and check it out!

Finally, the last reason I'm excited and quite frankly why you will soon be excited, we're having a
FABULOUS GIVEAWAY (extravaganza)!

Choose 5, count it 1-2-3-4-5!!! of our patterns!! And for those of you maybe a little intimidated by the quilting, you could also win:

A stack of 5 fat quarters to do what your heart desires. Now the giveaway for the fabric is only on our Quiltstory blog, however we are giving away 5 patterns on this blog AND quiltstory! So basically there is eleventy billion ways to win.

How?

- 1 entry per comment

- 3 entries per follower

- 5 entries if you submit a quilt and story to Quiltstory (details there)

Please state in your comment(s) what you have done, and make sure to enter both blogs! We will announce our giveaway winner at the end of the quilt festival, May 28th.

How to make a tie shirt

2010-05-19T08:40:00.001-05:00

After having my second little boy I knew that I'd have to get creative if I wanted to make things for my little boys! I can't remember where I first heard of or saw tie shirts, but I love them. They are just nerdy enough to be perfectly adorable!

I searched through blogs and etsy observing how everyone else made their shirts, and finally settled on the way that I love :) I will share with you here how I make my tie shirts, and hopefully you'll love them too.

Materials needed:

-plain t-shirt or onesie
-heat n bond or some kind of fusible web for applique
-fabric for tie (scraps)
-sewing machine

Step 1:
Trace the tie pattern onto the paper side of your heat n bond. I separate the two pieces, the knot and the tie. I like the pattern of the knot to be in a different direction than the pattern of the tie. I have included my templates for you here, in sizes 3-6 months and 2T. Using a ruler you can make these shorter/longer and wider/thinner. My suggestion is that the tie is within 3-4 inches of the bottom of the shirt. I find if the tie ends too high on the shirt it's just nerdy enough to be down right nerdy. Roughly cut around the pieces and iron to the wrong side of your fabric, like so:

Step 2:

Following the directions of your heat n bond, cut exactly around the tie, peel of the paper and iron to the shirt. It's now ready for you to sew around. Sew.

Step 3:

Stand back and admire! They're that easy. I think the trickiest part is picking the right fabric stripes and plaids work amazingly and the right size and length for the ties.

Step 4:
Adorn cute cousin boys with matching tie shirts. Perfection!

As always, we will be linking these cutie pies to some linky parties, so check them out. Seriously you can find some amazing talent at these parties!

From drab to fab

2010-05-15T09:57:00.001-05:00

It is pretty rude of me to refer to this as "drab" considering my dear sister had made this for me. However, she should be flattered because I love it and have had it in my room for several years! I have changed my bedroom colors and the frame was in need of a paint job, so I decided to just re-do the whole thing.

My finished project! I took it apart in the back and using a stencil I painted the Fleur De Lis onto plain white fabric. Then I spray painted my frame, I believe the paint is called "Ocean Breeze".

It just looks so fresh and happy now! As you can tell, I can't bare to place any memos on my memo board. It just looks too pretty as is!

This was a small part of my bedroom makeover, which I will be sharing soon. I went from creams, sages and blue to aqua, turquoise and white with some touches of gray and burnt orange. It is so nice to finally do a little bit in my bedroom, it is always the last spot to get some love :)

Check out our linky parties button accross the top...see all the great places that we like to link up with as well as get fabulous ideas!! Hope you check them out soon!!

Two Blankets, Two Ideas

2010-05-09T00:23:00.008-05:00

I've recently made two pieced blankets for friends, and when I finished I thought they were the perfect patterns for a variety of blankets! I am going to give you a semi tutorial. Meaning if you've had a little experience on the machine, you'll be able to make these too.

(They are not difficult to make in the least, however, I am not doing a step by step how-to)

This was for my sweet friend Sara's new baby boy Simon. I had a few 1/4 yards of fabric and was thinking and thinking of how to piece it and not have it look weird or like leftovers (which they weren't!).

My favorite part is the middle strip. It'd be cute left alone, or with a variety of applique's. I considered argyle diamonds, spelling out "sleep" or "Simon"...and ultimately settled on stars!!

On a side note, I made this ball to go with the blanket. I always feel like I have to have a little something extra to go with "main" present.

Here are the measurements for this blanket. The finished size is 38" x 23". The measurements in the diagram below are what I cut the fabric, prior to sewing. My seam allowance is 1/4".

Here is my pieced blanket #2. This is a car seat blanket. Heather and I discovered these about three years ago when we were making blankets for our soon to be babies, who were born only two days apart! It is so nice to have a small blanket to squish around your newborn, instead of a full size blanket that you have to fold 8 times to get around them.

The same story for this one as well, it would be adorable without any applique at all...however an initial, heart, crown, etc. could make it so sweet too!

They can be finished by binding the edges or just simply turning inside out with a finishing stitch around the outside. Either works.

And when the baby gets older, it's a great little blankie to play peek-a-boo with :)

I always have to try and sneak one of my boy's in a photo shoot. Guess it was Ollie's lucky day!

The finished size for this blanket was 24" square. Once again, the measurements below are what the pieces were cut to, prior to sewing. My seam allowance is 1/4".

There you have it! Two basic patterns to make a variety of easy pieced blankets!

If you are feeling adventurous and want to give one of these a try, please link us! We'd love to see your finished project. If you are a little nervous but would like to try it out, contact us because I'd love to answer any questions.

Happy Mother's Day!! As for me? Looking forward to snuggling on the couch with my oh so busy husband and watching a movie of my choice. Mmmm can't wait.

What did you do?

Linking up to a few parties today: The Girl Creative, Between Naps on the Porch, It's So Very Cheri, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can Do, Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog, Sew and Tell w/AmyLouWho and Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

Dapper little DUDE!

2010-04-29T09:36:00.010-05:00

Okay, this is my cute little dude (and yes we call him that often.) This is his new outfit that my Mommy and I made him. We made the hat using the same pattern Meg used here on her easter outfits for her boys. I LOVE this hat. He has three now, and more on the way. The shirt we just used wonder under and zig-zagged the edges. And the old man pants are from an 85 cent McCall's pattern my mom still had from the super olden days!

We used Riley Blake all star line for this outfit. Love Riley Blake! I wish she was my friend and would send me scraps regularly!

I know! He is the cutest baby ever! This baby gets hundreds of kisses a day literately! (70% from me, 20% sisters, and 10% daddy) So yummy!

I even kiss that drool! To be perfectly honest, I thought I only wanted a boy for my husband's sake. I imagined me and the four girls going to lunch, chic flicks, shopping, and what would my husband do? Then I had him, and who knew! He is the best! I didn't know I would be so in love!

The old man pants are super cute! We made really deep pockets, and lined them in the star print. Nobody can see it, (including him) but at least I know his little pockets are full of stars and it makes me happy.

PS he is super popular when he wears this outfit!

PPS linking at fireflies and jellybeans amylouwho remodelaholics and somewhatsimple, the girl creative, skip t my lou , metamorphosis monday, its so very cheri, todays creative blog, and oopsie daisy, a soft place to land.

Before and after kitchen pendants....

2010-04-22T09:24:00.000-05:00

This my my BEFORE pendants over my kitchen island. I didn't like them for FIVE years!! They made me throw up in my mouth a little on a daily basis. (that could have been the dust on them, or the pregnancies) Builder basic brushed nickle and frosted glass.

Here are the afters:

I like these MUCH better. I love the scrolly rod iron. And most of all I love the beaded old fashioned glass. Pretty!

We got see though light bulbs that look way better than frosted glass.

Sorry about the boring post. I have been a little slow on the crafting lately. I miss it desperately. The children have been off track, which leaves little time for crafting.

Heather

The Bad Sister

2010-04-14T09:39:00.003-05:00

See, I'm the bad sister. We take turns posting, and it's my turn to do a few...well see the last post?? Over a week ago! Heather and I are always talking about our blog, what we can post, what we can giveaway, how to get more followers...but execution on all these ideas is just so hard sometimes :)

I guess I can blame some of it on Easter, right? Do you want to hear a tragic story? Well I guess "tragic" in the context of crafting. I have a new sewing machine that has been giving me problems since I began using it in January...it has brought me to tears and cuss words too many times. Well Saturday night, the night before my boy's will make their grand appearance in their Easter outfits, it stops working.

IT WILL NOT SEW, AT ALL.

I was just making hats for them, and I had one loop around to finish my baby boy's hat, I had already finished my older boy's:

Cute hat huh? Wouldn't it have been doubly cute on baby Oliver too? Oh well, I get my machine fixed on Friday.

(by the way, the hat pattern is by Izzy and Ivy designs: Jack n Jill Hat)

On to my next project...so a friend and I are lucky enough to host a project night once a month. We are part of a club for spouses of the school my husband attends...and we have LOTS of fun. It's awesome because we get to decide what projects we do, so we poke all over blogland and Etsy and get to pick from all the adorable projects. I especially like this month since we made fabric flowers. Since I don't have a daughter, yet, I love doing girly things. We found this flower tutorial on Maize in Montana. I love how they turned out, and who doesn't love a fabric covered button:

And the second flower we made I ADORE! They are my new faves. (You can kinda see I'm wearing a GINORMOUS one in my Easter photo). They are cute 5 petal flowers and the tutorial was on Pink Paper Peppermints . I like these so much because they are different than so many of the flowers that I've seen lately. And they are equally cute using different fabrics as they are using the same:

There you go, that's what I've been slaving over. Now I am the formerly bad sister :)

We've linked up with We Are THAT Family. and amylouwho.

A Grown-up Idea

2010-04-05T20:40:00.005-05:00

Do you have a hard time finding a gift to make for grown-up people? Because I do. (And no, this isn't an infomercial). When my friend celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago (Happy Birthday Gen!) I went scouring through blogs trying to find something I could make, and I came along these.

They were super easy to make and I love how they turned out!

Instead of using napkins, I made some cute designs in photoshop and printed them on to cardstock.

They were simple and inexpensive...the only thing that took time was the drying. Her tutorial is great, so make sure to read hers if you're going to make them. The basic idea is you mod podge paper to the front of the tiles and also over the top of the paper to seal it. Then hot glue corkboard to the bottoms. And to finish, you spray with an acrylic sealer.

And yes, you can buy most of this (except tiles) at Walmart. The finishing spray was with the craft things and the corkboard was in stationary!

Voila! I am so happy to have a grown-up gift idea to add to the list. Linked at Today's Creative blog, Reinvented, Craft Edition, Silly Little Sparrow and soft place to land!

Easter egg craft project...

2010-03-30T11:23:00.003-05:00

Repost from 2009
Easter Craft

How cute are these? There are tutorials on a few sites, but I liked this technique at this site...super easy, and cute.

You will only need cute scrapbook papers, probably lightweight, mod-podge, and glitter. I glued little paper flowers and rhinestones to cute them up a little more...

Plus these are great crafts for kids (not too young, pretty messy) probably 6 & up. My girls had fun making them. Hope you like them, and Happy Easter! Check out This is the year for other mod podge projects!

Easter tree...

2010-03-27T11:15:00.003-05:00

I made a cute easter tree. After I found these small sparkly hanging easter eggs at Roberts, I knew I needed a cute tree. All ya'll need to do is go and clip some branches. These worked great because they had buds on them, and the buds are perfect to hang the eggs from.

Of course my 2 year old loves to redecorate it and put everysingle egg off of one branch. It is funny and I just let her do it and then a day or so later, rearrange it again.

I just got a cute terra cotta pot from Roberts. It came all aged looking. Then I put in floral foam. Stab in your branches randomly and add the eggs. Put some cute moss on the foam. Easy Peasy.

Then plop in on your cute spring runner and you have a cute easter spring display! Linking @ a soft place to land and Today's Creative Blog.

Spring quilted runner....

2010-03-25T11:14:00.002-05:00

I found this cute little bunny friend leftover on clearance last year. I love him! I guess it is a her because of the pink and the cuteness!

My Mommy, Meg and I made some cute spring runners last year. We went and bought a cute fabric line (I am not sure who it is now, I think MODA) And we just invented and played. I planned on making one for each season, but this is as far as I got.

Super pretty spring colors!

We did just a raw edge applique and doubled up the flowers. Then we did that chenille strip that frays when you wash it, for the middle of the flower.

I hope you like it. These are my favorite colors of all, soft light spring pale pastels. Now if spring would ever STAY here!!!Linking @ a soft place to land. and Today's Creative Blog.

Mini Makeover REVEALED!

2010-03-22T00:54:00.002-05:00

Emphasis on the mini.

You see, we're moving in a couple of months...and my baby has been sleeping in an office with a crib. I finally decided I wanted to make a few little things to make it his own room. When I was debating whether to do it in my head, I realized I decorate for Christmas, Valentines, and all these things that are just weeks, so I could definitely do this!

I started with the idea for artwork, three cars/trucks:

I decided to get canvas from Walmart...it was about $7 for all three, I painted around the border since my walls are already white, and mod podged the cars on. I used inspirations from Pottery Barn to create the cars and traced it onto scrapbook paper.

The one below was intended as a police car, and I used the yellow just for color. But once I put the siren on I realized it kinda looks like a cab! Either one works though.

So here is the bedding and pillows which I did make all of them, but not recently. If you've been following our blog for a while, I showed off my older son Sawyer's room a bit ago here...see I am one of "those" moms. Before I had kids I vowed I would never be walking around with two babies (that weren't twins). Well guess what? I did it. My boys are 18 months apart and so Sawyer moved into the toddler bed and Oliver moved right into the crib!

And this old clock, I had a post about this here.

And this corner is just in case he forgets his name. Wow! That's what happens when you make crafts at different times with no plan of where they'll go. I also mod podged over that shelf, we had it sitting around with no use and it was too old to return, it worked perfect!

Here is where told how I made the memory tin that reads "Oliver" and here you can learn to make the name blocks too!

Consider it revealed! It looks so much nicer than before. Promise. And no, you don't see the other wall because it's a desk :) I think when we move I'm going to hang the artwork with ribbon on some bright orange knobs, would that be cute?

Thanks for stopping by!

Partying with Between Naps on the Porch, The Girl Creative, Skip to my Lou and It's So Very Cheri.

Mini Makeover Part 2 & a tutorial

2010-03-19T00:23:00.010-05:00

Part two of mini makeover: I've seen these cute little blockies around and just had to make some for my Oliver.

Wanna make some to?

Here's how to make adorable lettered fabric blocks for your baby.

You'll need:

Six 3.5" squares of fabric per letter (36 for me)
Heat n Bond
Scrap fabric for letters
Letters traced or printed from your computer
Batting

1- Trace your letter onto Heat n Bond and cut out roughly around the letter (remember to do the letter in reverse).

2- Cut out six 3.5" squares for each block you want to make.

3-Following the directions on the Heat n Bond packaging, iron each letter onto one square.

4- Sew around each letter.

5- Sew 4 squares sides to sides together.

6- Pinning the top and bottom squares to the ends of the "coming together" block, make sure to match the corners and then sew around. This can be tricky, it kind of takes trial and error to learn how far to go to on the corners.

7- Leave a small opening to turn your block right side out with, and then stuff it with batting. Hand sew the hole closed.

If you wanted a crisper more square look to your blocks, I bet if you added some interfacing to each square it would give you that effect. I wanted a softer more playable look for these.

There you go! Now you have some cutie-patootie soft blocks for your baby.

How lucky am I that OLIVER is six letters? As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Partying with AmyLouWho and My Romantic Home.

I made new living room Pillows

2010-03-13T17:12:00.004-06:00

So a few weeks back my older sister and I snuck into my parents house while they were vacationing in Hawaii. (sorry Megan, and sorry Mom for that matter). We decided to have a last minute craft weekend. I made these pillows. We didn't only craft, we went out to eat and saw a triple feature! My ideal weekend!!!

Anyhow, I was hating these old pillows here, and I have wanted to spruce up the living room without alot of time or money spent. Luckily I have neutral main furniture so I can switch things out every couple years. I still liked the window treatments so I wanted to match with that. This was a mitered pillow. I just google searched how to mitered pillow and found tons of links. I put zippers into these also.

The large pillows are really simple. No trim or anything. I fell in LOVE with the fabric so I thought that was enough. I think I wish a little that I put of a ruffle or pom poms. But I knew if I complicated it to much I wouldn't get them done for months. Check out the dresser and hutch here. It matches nicely. I will show pics of the whole room once I get the coffee table refinished.

Linking to AMYLOUWHO!, and My Romantic Home.

$270 dresser and hutch makeover!!!!

2010-03-08T17:58:00.009-06:00

Okay, remember my dresser from my living room? It was perfectly cute and I got it at the furniture outlet for $150. (normally $600) I was happy with it for a while, but I wanted a hutch really bad. So I got the one you see on the left. It happened to match color perfectly, it wasn't made to be a set. I found the top at the same outlet center, about 3 years after the dresser. I was so excited!! And it retailed for $900. It was marked $150. I put aside all self respect, and asked for 20% more off, and he said yes! So I got it for $120. We hauled it in the house, and propped it on top of the dresser, and it sat like this with a bunch of crap on it for like 2 months!!! And it is the first thing you see when you walk into my home!!! SICK!

So I wanted a pretty fabric backing on the hutch. But I didn't want to commit to wall paper. So I got foam board, measured out the openings, and went to town. First measure, then Cut and split the foam board.

1) Tape foam board together if it isn't long enough. Use white tape, or it may show through.

2) I used thin quilt batting to soften out the board.

3) I used spray adhesive spray the batting to the board.

4) Smooth and trim off excess.

1) Using a rotary cutter and guide, cut fabric 1" bigger around edges.

2) Iron alot and make sure every wrinkle is out.

3) Tape the back holding really tight.

If you are an utter moron like me, and think that 23 plus 23 equals 56, you may need to use a calculator! Or have to start over like me!!! (and have to go out and buy more foam board, and fabric)

Get your dear sweet handsome husband to hook you up with some new trim on the no trim drawers on the hutch part...

Shop the house, hobby lobby, and ross for some accessories...

I did something TOTALLY original and like nothing you have seen in blogland, I decorated with white ceramics, and birds and their nests...I know, I am a trend setter!

Ross was the BEST resource for most of these white ceramics, and the most expensive item was $5.99. The white dishes with the cut outs were from hobby lobby a few months ago. Most expensive item $11.99.

LIGHTS Off....

LIGHTS On

Final product!!! I am so pleased and proud of this peice of furniture. I think I could sell it in 10 years and get my money back. I hope you like how it turned out!

Partying at cottage instincts, soft place to land, metamorphosis monday, its so very cheri, making the world cuter, reinvented, persimmon perch ,

the shabby chic cottage, somewhat simple, amylouwho, finding fabulous, furniture friday,

feature yourself friday,

Mini Makeover Part 1 & . . .

2010-03-04T10:50:00.012-06:00

We are moving in a few months, but I can't stand that my baby's room is an office with a crib in it. So I am doing a mini-makeover, complete with a little wall art, a mod podge shelf and re-doing an old clock.

I think I got this clock from my mom. Sorry momma, hope it wasn't a treasure of some sort.

It's oak around the outside with a gold rim. I know, it screams baby.

PS I know babies can't tell time, but I actually use this a lot, it's the perfect line of sight in my hallway.

And... I actually kinda love it. I took it all apart and painted the outside and the rim. Then I mod podged a simple car in the middle, which is going to match my artwork.

Part two coming in a few days!

ALSO THERE'S A GIVEAWAY!!!

There's a great site that is hosting a giveaway of our patterns. All you have to do it go the the Quilt Qua site and leave a comment on which TWO of our patterns you'd like to win!

If you're a beginner, I'd suggest Sweet Tweet and Crazy Daisy.

If you've had a little more practice check out Serenity Now, Tutu Pretty and Snakes, Snail & Wiener Dog Tails.

So please go sign up to win some of our patterns! We'd love to get lots of comments, and who knows maybe we'll have another pattern giveaway soon *wink, wink*

I'm linking with Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, The Girl Creative , Between Naps on the Porch

It's so Very Cheri, Reinvented, A Soft Place to Land and The Inspired Room!

It's a win-win.

2010-02-28T22:07:00.010-06:00

I am LUCKY enough to have in-laws that live in Florida, hurray! So over the holidays we went to visit, with my then 11 month old. I saw this fabric highchair on Homemade by Jill and made it quickly before our trip.

Can I say I'm a genius? (For deciding to make it.)

It worked out so amazingly, so easy to keep clean and small to pack, it is so super handy!

Really, if I we didn't have this we would have been having to hold him and try to feed him and get messy ourselves...plus he likes to be messy and eat on his own so it was a win-win.

A view from the back, as long as there are some kind of holes or slats in the chair, it will work.

We even put our two year old in it now and push him up to the table so he's "stuck" and has to eat his dinner :)

Mmmm...delicious!
I also made him about 6 bibs before we left, I was in desperate need of them. So late one night I went to Walmart (my only craft option...I know) and they ONLY have iron-on Velcro...WHAT? So I tried it, left the heat on longer than recommended, and it still didn't stick all the way. Ugh all that work and I ended up tying the ends of the bibs together. Boo.

We're partying so go check out some other creations! Twice Remembered, The Girl Creative , Skip to my Lou, A Soft Place , Today's Creative Blog, Reinvented, Cottage Instincts AND AmyLouWho.

My favorite quilt thus far...that I made...

2010-02-18T10:25:00.006-06:00

This isn't my favorite as far as tender memories go. No baby or child attached to this quilt. But is it my prettiest because I am in LOVE with the fabrics. I made it for my bedroom. And I LOVE it. This is still my favorite fabric line in 2 years! It is from House Inc's fabric line. I made this dress out of it too.

I love me some vintage looking prints. I love the blues and browns. I love the faded flowers!

I really loved this pattern too. It was fun to follow. The pattern I got out of American Patchwork and Quilting. I think it is from Heather of Anka's treasures.

Okay, check out the beautiful quilting my aunt did. I LOVE getting my quilts back from her, the quilting makes the quilt so much prettier.

And doesn't it look pretty on the porch swing? I love to snug in it. I feel like it came out of an old trunk. I hope you love it half as much as I do. Thanks for looking.

Linking at amylouwho, and a soft place to land. Also, my backyard eden

Tear, sniffle

2010-02-15T09:01:00.010-06:00

Heather and I like to keep things light on our blog, but today I'm going straight up serious.

June 20, 2009 was our son Sawyer's 2nd birthday. Around 2 am that morning my husband was driving across many states to catch up with me and the boys while we were vacationing in Utah, and to make it to our boy's big day.

I was sleeping at Heather's house. Around 8 am she knocked on the door where my now 2 year old, 6 month old and I were sleeping. She was standing there, a phone in one hand holding onto the door frame with the other. She was shaking like crazy and whispering for me to come to the door.

When I got to her I remembered my husband had been driving through the night. The first thing she said was, "He's okay, but Ernesto's been in an accident."

He rolled. He flipped. He crossed the median into the other lane of traffic. He landed upright. A mother and daughter were the only other car on the road, and they came to his side and called 911.

He was taken in an ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Wyoming. They did all kinds of tests, and miraculously he was okay.

A reunion more special than Sawyer knows.

I vividly remember seeing my boys awake a few minutes after hearing the news and their huge brown eyes staring back at me. For a moment I allowed my mind to go to the place where my husband wasn't coming home...it made me realize more than ever before that he is irreplaceable to us.

Now, to bring it all back to crafting, where ultimately everything must go :) When he was taken to the ER they cut all of his clothes off him. He was wearing a nice brown button up shirt that was cut to shreds. When we got all of his stuff I knew I wanted to somehow use that shirt as a reminder of all the emotions from that time.

The brown border and "families" are from his shirt.

I started with a piece of muslin and traced "are" and "forever" with pencil onto the fabric. I embroidered those words. I printed and traced "families" and used fusible web to attach it to the muslin. I hand appliqued this because my machine skills are not that great on such small letters. Then I pieced the borders to fit in a 8 x 10 frame ($3 at Walmart). I put a thin piece of quilt batting and didn't use the glass.

I love how it turned out. It makes me happy every time I see it. I stressed a lot about how I would use it, what I would say, I wanted it to be perfect. But ultimately I went simple, and for this project I think that was just right.

We're at these linky parties: A soft Place to Land, Skip to My Lou, Amy Lou Who,The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Cottage Instincts, Twice Remembered, Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Between Naps on the Porch.

happy love day

2010-02-14T00:08:00.004-06:00

(this photo is of my sweet son Sawyer)

We hope you all are enjoying your day of love with family and friends!

We truly LOVE making this blog, creating things to share and making friends in blogland.

So thanks to all of our fans, I feel awkard just writing that, we truly LOVE each and every comment we receive (you have no idea how often we check) and we LOVE each and every follower (a number we check even more).

Thanks to you guys for making us feel so LOVED! Have a happy day!

♥♥♥

Fresh Poppy Design Quilt Patterns

The 4 Year Old Quilt

Bliss Easter Dresses and Vest for the dude!

Finally!

Late Christmas mantle decor and stockings...

Winner and Last Minute Idea

Christmas...palooza?

Birthday Giveaway Palooza!

Introducing Douglas McSheeperton!

Heather's fall mantle...

A Turkey Tutorial

Megan's Quilt Finish

NURSERY REVEAL FINALLY!!!

Spooky Runner

The last teaser I promise...

Halloween mantel on a budget!!

Boo!

Fabric Bracelets

Another sneak peak. Mod Podge Star...

Sneak Peek...nursery...

Our Mommy is the nicest Mommy in the world...

Pottery Barn Tray project...

Do you have a fabric project?

Cute Photo Block tutorial...

Lolly Jane!

I'm thinking there's a giveaway

That's an idea!

Quilt finished! Hooray!

Burp in Style!

A Gaggle of Geese

No. I. Didn't.

Glittery star fish decoration project!

Meet my friend Sara

A new art project...

Giveaway Winner, and Girly MOD TWEET quilt top!!!

GivEaWaY and a new modern boy quilt pattern!

Left over Minky project idea...minky balls...

Adopt a Bird

FP Sisters v. Lake

I finished! Quilt top...

Singed flower headband tutorial...

Starting a new quilt!

My Spring Mantle...

I'm Dreaming AND a reveal...

Before and after Cake Stand...

Cover that shade!

Is it YOU?

I painted a cute girl....

Quilt Festival Extravaganza!

How to make a tie shirt

From drab to fab

Two Blankets, Two Ideas

Dapper little DUDE!

Before and after kitchen pendants....

The Bad Sister

A Grown-up Idea

Easter egg craft project...

Easter tree...

Spring quilted runner....

Mini Makeover REVEALED!

Mini Makeover Part 2 & a tutorial

I made new living room Pillows

$270 dresser and hutch makeover!!!!

Mini Makeover Part 1 & . . .

It's a win-win.

My favorite quilt thus far...that I made...

*Tear, sniffle*

happy love day

Tear, sniffle