Glittery star fish decoration project!

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

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...

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!!!

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!

   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...

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

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

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!