a place to get my craft on

My fantastic husband is getting me the best birthday present this year.
He is building me a craft room.

You'd think for someone who loves to craft and sew that I'd have a huge, dreamy space.
but the reality is I don't.

As a matter of fact, anytime I want to sew, I lug my sewing machine and serger downstairs,
and set up shop in our formal dining room.
and by the end of my sewing session, the room resembles that of a tornado.

As I plan and dream and try and figure out to use my space best, I am excited but also a little overwhelmed by it all.  {I don't like to make anything easy}
So if you are from HGTV and reading this, sure go ahead and come gift me my dream craft room.
My husband wouldn't mind a bit!

The most important part to planning my craft space is
O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.A.T.I.O.N {wow that took some thinking, shift + letter, then period, repeat}
right now, nothing is organized, and often when I do try and tidy up,
it takes me even longer to find what I am looking for.
I want every single thing to have a special place.

A cutting table is also necessary for this space, as well as, plenty of fabric storage.
and of course a desk, big enough for both my sewing machine and serger.
and an office section, where I can keep my computer and have a designated space to blog.

Another important touch, I want to have an area of Presley's craft supplies.  A shelf that is all hers.
Sometimes blogging and sewing and having a handmade shop can take away from time with her.
As much as I try not to, it happens.  But, if she can be alongside me, then it makes it better. 
Not to mention, she is getting to express herself creatively, and that's important to me.

So ya, the hubbs has his work cut out for him.  I am beyond lucky that he is a good DIYer and can make pretty much everything I want for this space.

Between planning and discussing and pinning, I am starting to get a vision and ready to get this project underway.

my craft room inspiration board

1.    2.   3.   4.   5.   6.   7.   8.   9.   10.

I am really excited about this project, and even more excited to have a place of my own.  One more step closer to my goals and dreams of this little hobby becoming a business.

Any advice or organization tips for a craft room are welcome.

Have a creative day lovelies!

Hoop Art Ornament

Really, this is too easy!  Like for reals, I didn't even take pictures of the step by step because there's nothing to it.

Hoop Art.  I love it!  It's fun, the sky's the limit, and above all else it's cheap.  I like to embroider, but like anything it definitely takes practice... and well, I am working on my lettering.  I found the littlest baby embroidery hoops at the craft store, and thought they were so cute.

so, I turned them into ornaments.  All you need is some baby hoops, some fabric for your hoops, some embroidery thread and needles, a little hot glue, and something to hang your ornament with.  Easy peasy right!  I loved these so much that I actually sent these out as gifts to friends and for ornament swaps.  and I should have taken a picture of the one's I sent because they definitely got better each time. {this was my first}

all righty friends, there you have it for today!

christmas rag quilt tutorial

Last year, when I was "homeless" {OK there's my dramatic side again}
the hubbs and I sort of went crazy in buying Christmas stuff for our house that was being built.
Including some oh.so.comfy Christmas flannel sheets...

I was so excited to get these puppies out of the package and get them on our bed...
and then Presley asked, "mommy, where's my Christmas sheets."
shoot, major mommy fail!  I hadn't bought any.  Oops..
I ran to target to get some flannel sheets for her bed, only to find they didn't have any cute Christmas ones to match her room, so I opted for some polka dot flannel, and knew what I had to do to make my princess happy.. I ran over to Joann and bought some Christmas flannel prints in hopes of making her a rag quilt. 

Now, I have never made one before, and had never really been in love with them, but was on a time crunch and didn't want to spend weeks making her a quilt for her bed like I did with her last one.  Coincidentally, flannel was 50% off at Joann {score} and I got a few yards of a few different prints in hopes I could throw something together.

Immediately after getting home, I went to the ole Internet to get some ideas.  Like I said, I wasn't particularly fond of the square rag quilts and was thrilled when I found this tutorial from Dana // The Wonder Forest.  Unlike others I had seen, no squares but instead used strips and there you have it!  I was ready to rock and roll. 

First, devise a plan... I had two different penguin prints that I wanted to be the main focus of the quilt,  I also had some red snowflakes, black and white chevron, pink polka dots... I decided to that I wanted my penguin strips to be 6 inches wide and my non penguin prints 3 inches wide.  In cutting, I added an inch to allow for seam allowance.

I cut 6 7inch strips of each penguin print and 6 of the other fabrics at 4inches long the whole width of the fabric...

 and then cut your quilt batting the same sizes as the fabric strips you just cut.  The quilt batting I bought was from Joann and was on a huge roll and yes I felt ridiculous carrying it to the cutting table but I managed.  The quilt batting will be longer then your fabric strips, but that's ok, don't take the time cutting it to the right length! yet!

 press your strips...

 now make a sandwich.  one flannel strip {right side out}, quilt batting, and another flannel strip {also right side out}

 pin your sandwich together to ensure it isn't going anywhere...

 now's the time to even up those strips... just take your rotary cutter and cut off the excess fabric and batting...

 lay out your quilt the way you want it... I knew mine was going to be a little too narrow but I was planning to put a border around the outside to help with this... but, I got lazy and didn't end up adding it after all...

 sewing a line down the middle of each strip is basically your quilting...

 now start sewing your strips together. 

 front side view..

 back side view...

 I had enough fabric left over to make my own binding to finish off the project... it's super easy to do with a little ironing and a lot of steam...  I cut several 3 inch strips for my binding...  iron {with steam} one half of your strip to the center..

 and repeat with the other side..

 and now iron in half again.  I have no pictures of attaching the binding step because my mom always does this step for me.  I know right! I am spoiled and doing the binding is not my thing, but she is a pro at it.. so it's just easier.  but if you don't know how and want to do your own binding yourself, here is a wonderful tutorial to teach you how.  I know I should probably review it myself, but for now, this little trade works for my mom and I. {don't judge}

after attaching the binding, you are ready to do a little snipping...

snip your seams every so often...
throw it in the washer and snip again... all of those loose threads and what not...

 then get to snuggling...
this little princess is very happy with her Christmas quilt...

 

 

cost

flannel // on sale 3.99/ yard {6 yards total}

quilt batting // 50% off 4.99 per yard {2 yards total}

thread // 2.99

yarn wreath + my little helper

I was super excited to do this post, one because I wanted a fun wreath for my vision of my Christmas mantle, and two because I am in love with my new camera and will take any excuse at shooting some pics...

and having the best assistant/wreath model around helps as well...

here goes...!

supplies:

yarn

wreath

felt

fabric

glue

scissors

I bought the el cheapo wreath from wally-wold...

You know, the straw one that's like 2.99 or something crazy like that.

And I am so lazy, I didn't even take off the plastic wrap.

Hey, it worked out just fine.

I left it on because said cheap wreath sheds straw like mad...

So, dab a little hot glue on the backside of your wreath, place your yarn over glue,

and get to wrapping...

no exact measurements.

Eyeball it,

and be prepared for a nice forearm workout.

<finished yarn wrapped wreath>

modeled by the cutest 3 year old in her Ariel night-gown

that turns her into a princess when she wears it.

Yes, it's true.

I ripped a strip of my red stripe ticking for the wreath holder...

cut several olive green felt leaves

and a handful of red circles...

pinch leaves and add hot glue at the base to give them some dimension

hot glue leaves on just so

and then your red circles over top like that...

{good descriptions or what}

just peak at the picture...

it's pretty stinkin easy!

finished product, ready for hanging...

mine went to my mantle

on my picture frame turned chalk board

and I think it fits nicely up  there!

I've been trying to dabble in the whole chalk art thing...

the secret?

Hello! a chalk pen.

did you know about them?

I have been trying to write with my daughter's big, fat sidewalk chalk

and then wondering why the heck mine looks like poo.

yes, chalk pen

I love you!

Mommy, take my picture..

this I have been hearing a lot lately

she gives the cheesiest smiles ever

and I want to have every single one on camera

you know, for when she is in high school and I need leverage...

the time will come...

no but for real...

I love this little face

and never, ever want to forget it!

the skinny

wreath // 2.99 wally

yarn // sale 2.99 each

felt // .39 each

there you go,

make a wreath!

and retire the fatty sidewalk chalks and get a pen.

I'm pretty sure I am going to start painting walls in chalkboard paint

because I am officially obsessed!

a busy weekend + JOY wall display

How are all my friends on this Monday morning?  Today, I have declared as a stay-in-our-jammies, snuggle-on-the-couch kind of Monday.  Well, it's cold outside for one, and I am exhausted from the weekend for another, and major reason... I have to work tonight, and the thought of it is making me tired...

Speaking of a busy weekend.. remember when I said I was going car shopping?
 OK are you ready for this?

BAM!  Be jelly!  A minivan driving momma!  It doesn't get much better than that.  I'll spare you the many reasons why this is good for our family from space, to expansion {no not currently}, to finances... I never thought I'd be sporting the minivan but for now, this is IT friends.  Awesome-sauce!

and since I took one for the team with my minivan purchase... I also got a little reward.

that's right, Christmas came early for me.. I had to convince my husband that it made entirely way more sense for me to start using this camera now instead of waiting until Christmas. I mean we wanted to take lovely photo's of us actually enjoying the holiday right.. So yes, I have been taking pictures of anything and everything in my path. and YES I am loving this upgrade.  and also, excited to brush up on my skills and hone in on my inner photographer. {right}


so Let's get down to business...

************************************************************************************************************************************************
continuing on my 12 days of DIY Christmas lovelies...

another sign/wall display/sits on a plate holder DIY
{mine is sitting beautifully on my mantle}

the JOY wall display

I had originally planned on making some sort of sign for my mantle that said JOY, however, the craft store was not cool with that, because they were out of O's.. OK, I am actually glad they were out because I improvised and replaced my O with a holly wreath and think its cuter...

first step... spray paint your letters. I love the metallic spray paint and I went with bronze. I think the metallic silver is bomb, but it just doesn't go with my house.. but either way will look great.

 I had a piece of thin MDF from home depot, that was left over from another project... so find a board, whatever size you want.. Or else ask the gentlemen at home depot to cut it to size, or in my case my handy dandy hubby cut mine... I would guess mine is 2 1/2 ft by 1 1/2 ft...

 I had {still do} a ton of left over red burlap from my Christmas skirt tutorial, you can read about here if you missed it {it's a good one}.. and I cut it a fuzz bigger than my MDF board

 pull the edges of the burlap around your board and staple them into place.  pull it tight as you go

 if it's not perfect, don't fret.. the burlap is really forgiving...

 tada! nice work..

staple your wreath in place, yes staple, don't worry it will still look OK...

 I stapled the wreath in place underneath where the leaves were, knowing that I would just dab some hot glue to keep those leaves down and hide my staples...

hot glue your letters in place.. and ...

display that baby for all to see...

You just made an easy peasy and absolutely adorable JOY sign...

cost:
MDF 6.77 per sheet {I only used about a quarter of mine}
burlap // on sale for 2.99 a yard... {you could get away with 1/2 yard for this project}
letters // on sale for 1.50 each
spray paint // I had laying around but you can get it for around 3.00 at home depot
holly wreath // 50% off at Joann 2.99

I'll be back tomorrow with some more goodies... until then, peace I'm out!

noel canvas

How are all you lovely people this Saturday morning?  I am pumped it's the weekend and have a busy saturday in store for myself.  from car shopping, to christmas shopping, a little handmade shopping at the local holiday mart... {wow, thats a lot of shopping} and I may also see a little bud light and KU basketball in my future as well... WOO HOO Saturday!  and yes, I am still decorating for the holidays... because well, you just can't have enough holiday cheer in your home!

so, you want to make a super easy canvas to display for the holidays? 
well, here you go!

 first, gather your supplies.
you will need some pain, mod-podge, spongey paint brushes, scrabook paper, thin wood letters, a canvas and some scissors

 next, paint your canvas.  I chose red but you can do any color you'd like...

 I decided to leave the edges white in the hopes of mod-podging slivers of scrapbook paper.. you can do this or paint the sides..

 paint your letters... I knew in planning out my letters that I wanted the NO on top and the EL on the bottom to form a square... So I decided to pain the N and L in an olive green. let dry

 trace and cut out your O and E in scrapbook paper.

 now go ahead and put a layer of mod-podge down on your letter and then place your scrapbook paper and another of mod-podge on top of that..

 let dry

 postition your letters on your canvas.. once they are just right, hot glue them down.. {yes, they will stay}

 next, cut out some scrapbook strips and mod-podge them to the edges...

use a pretty plate stand and put it in your special place and there you go! 

cost
canvas // 40% off at Joann 5.00
paint // .99 each
letters // 1/49 each
scrapbook paper // .49 each {it only took one sheet}

now get crafting and have a lovely Saturday...