Late Christmas mantle decor and stockings...

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.

Christmas...palooza?

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 :)

Heather's fall mantle...

 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! 

NURSERY REVEAL FINALLY!!!

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

The last teaser I promise...

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...

Another sneak peak. Mod Podge Star...

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!

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

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)

Cute Photo Block tutorial...

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.

Quilt finished! Hooray!

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...

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...