Mailbox Decal

It's been a vague "oh ya gotta take care of that" thing on my mind for a while now that we have no address marker, ANYWHERE on our house. The day I realized it I had to say to Josh "really?" Are we those people? lol.. anyways...

I decided to make decals with my Silhouette. Nothing ground breaking but it's cute! I'm going to use the same design to make a plaque to hang up by the door.. maybe it won't take me quite as long to get that accomplished!

I would like to say that it is driving me completely insane that it's crooked. That is all.

Padded Camera Strap Cover

Two weeks ago I was at Joanns and saw fabric that made my heart go pitter patter. I stood there running my hand along it trying to think up a project that I needed it for. Alas, it was not fitting the bill for my current to-do list. I went home, but just kept thinking that I had to have it! So what does one do? Search blog land until I find a project that I MUST have that fabric for!

That's when I went to The Cottage Home, for this tutorial. It seemed fairly straight forward, and it was. I was able to complete the entire thing while Jack took a nap, and I knocked two birds out with one stone - learning how to use fusible fleece, and make a ruffle for the first time! Here is a close up the ruffle, it's been flattened with an iron, and the edges sewn down.

Here she is, in all her pride and glory! Don't mind Jack's activity mat. To justify my purchase (but come on, lets get real here, I got a quarter yard of each, for $0.87 each, no justification needed!) I told Josh that I made this because he says the strap always digs into his neck. He smelled my lie a mile away, and said thanks for making it girly LOL. Whoops, busted. Aren't the fabrics cute?!

Sponge Bob Cart Cover

Back when I was pregnant and we were filling out our registry at BabiesRUs... I was really disappointed with the selection and cost of the cart covers.  They were either super girly or super lame.  It didn't take long for me to snuff my nose at them and declare that I could make one cuter.  Fast forward to few weeks ago when Jack graduated to his big boy car seat and all the sudden we couldn't just tote him around in his carrier anymore.  Crap.  One raised-eyebrow-smart-alecky-humorous-look from Josh and I went to Joanns on a mission.   Sponge Bob is big in our house - Josh and the girls LOVE him, and I think hearing him all the time while he was still in my tummy, Jack has loved Sponge Bob from the day his eyes could focus on the TV screen. So when I saw this fabric, I grabbed it.

Then it sat on my sewing desk for a month.  Enter more raised-eyebrow-smart-alecky-humorous-looks from Josh.  Ok so the problem was... I got a McCalls pattern but it was way more complex than I needed - pockets.. ruffles (ruffles for Jack? ahno) and I'm horrible and winging it so I kept putting it off.  Then Josh reminded me that I spent a grand total of $8 on fabric and if it doesn't work, then there really isn't much lost.  So I went for it. 

Whatya know, it turned out!  Here is what I did:

I cut a 45in square out of both pieces of fabric (sponge bob, and coordinating fleece for some added softness), rounding the corners.  I measured 16 inches in (based on internet searches for cart measurements) and cut two 5 inches squares for leg holes.  I put right sides together (like a pillow case) and stitched all the way around, leaving a few inches to be able to flip it right side out.   

This next step you can do as I did but I don't recommend:  While right sides are still together, stitch leg holes together using a thick zig zag - realize that you hadn't turned it right side out yet, try and rip the stitches out but since you did a thick zig zag it's not going anywhere, and have to cut your 5 inch holes to 5.5 inches.

Once I flipped it right side out, I stitched the leg holes (again)... since I wasn't sure if this was even going to work, I left the edges raw.  I did choose the zig zag stitch because I thought it might reinforce it a little better than a regular stitch.  If I were making this for someone else, I'd go the extra step to hem it. 

Next I went back to the hem around the edge, going in about an inch and creating another hem all the way around.  I did this so the elastic would stay in place. Once it was stitched, I fed the elastic through, sewed the ends together, and stitched up the hole I left at the beginning and it was done!

I might be biased, but isn't he so stinkin' cute?! 

Linking to:

Monogrammed Wreath

I made one of these over the holidays for my sister, and have been wanting to do one for our home ever since.  I don't share the last name yet, but figured close enough, I don't feel like waiting! 

 They are ridiculously easy to make.  I got the wreath at Joanns for $3.  I spray painted it black because I really liked the way it looked when I did Lizzie's.  I was purposely sloppy about it so some brown showed thru.   I made a bunch of fabric flowers (and managed to burn the crap out of my finger on the very last one thank you very much), and added some shells I had on hand.  I got the V (again, from Joanns) for $1, and painted it a deep plum color that I love.  Attached some ribbon and thats it!

Canvas Art

For the longest time our bedroom was in a very sad state. I always ended up spending the time on all the other rooms in the house. It managed to fall into this room of just a bed and a dresser and a place to stash a pile of clutter here and there when unexpected company showed up. Little by little we have been adding things and making more of our space... I'm loving the process! It's funny how new linens can make you just want to sink into bed for 5 minutes longer each morning and the chore of making your bed not so bad for a while. I noticed the other day we had absolutely nothing on the walls, except for some lovely art work from Kali. ;) More on that another time.

I've been on the "little birdie" popular band wagon for a while now.. so after seeing a few similar ideas on line, I decided to try painting a tree branch on canvas and adding a few touches.

Here's how it turned out:

I painted the canvas a light blue that I liked and added some white streaks just because it seemed like a good idea. Now, for the next part, I totally admit I cheated. I found an image I liked, and then I used a projector to trace the image, and painted off of that. Crafty I am, an artist I am not!

I knew I wanted to add birdies, and the image seemed a little flat. So I decided to cut the birds out using my silhouette. I love how they turned out! I didn't take a close up shot, but I purposely printed on plain white card stock and then painted them to add a little texture. in person you really see it.

I'm so pleased at how they turned out!! As usual I was anxious to get the girls' approval and ego-boosting ooohs and ahhs... however, since just Kenzie was here last week, her response was a little lackluster (she's still got that little kid brutal honesty), so I'm happily awaiting Kali's return on Friday to see what she thinks. ;)

On the birdie route, here was something else I picked up at Michaels. They were half off! So cute! I decided to add the mason jar and flowers for good measure. I love the little touch of spring it brings to our room.

Now I need to tackle curtains!  Wish me luck!

Sisters, Sisters...

So many projects, so little time.  I have so much stuff I want to share but barely have a moment it seems to even pull pictures off my camera.  So shhh, I'm taking a mini break at work and using an iphone pic!  Life has just been crazy busy, and this last week was no exception - although nothing that we thought it would be.

Last week was Spring Break for the girls, and we were supposed to pick them up Wednesday around lunch time and have them thru Sunday.  We had big plans.. one is still top secret because it is post poned, and the other was a surprise overnight trip to Disneyland.  Josh and I have been waiting forever to do this and were so excited we could barely see straight.

Then Monday afternoon we got a horrible phone call.  Kali took a nasty spill on her bike and broke her leg. Not just a horrible afternoon at the doctor and get a cast kind of break either... she was in the hospital until Wednesday night.  Talk about a flurry of emotions.  I am happy to report that she is doing great today, and did not need surgery.  She broke her leg in 2 places and will need a full leg cast, that she'll hopefully get today assuming the swelling has gone down enough.   

Poor Mackenzie has just been beside herself.  She and Kali are so close, she really leans on Kali for just about everything - down to what shirt to wear and what snack to have.  So we were a bit surprised when Kenzie said she still wanted to spend the week with us, without Kali.   She was a trooper and we managed to have some fun on our own. :)

Kenzie asked if we could make Kali something.... so here you go, those who made it thru my long winded intro:  our craft project for Kali.

Kenzie chose this picture from a recent hiking trip we took.  She painted a board hot pink (of course!) and we thought of a bunch of cute sister-duo sayings to cut out of vinyl on my Silhouette.  Drilled some holes, hung some wire, and we were good to go.  Kenzie brought it back to her mom's house and reported that Kali loved it.

Linking to Christina's Adventures

Cost Break Down:

Wooden plaque from Joann's $3.99 (with 50% off coupon)
Pink paint $.59
Vinyl lettering - used Silhouette, already had vinyl
Wire to hang - already had on hand
Picture - $.20 to print

Total cost:  $4.78

A Personal Post

My blog started more of an open journal forum for me, to talk about the latest trials and tribulations in our crazy family.  As I started to get into crafts it took over, and I love that, it keeps me busy! But today I am feeling the need to go back and talk about something important to me. 

When I was 3 months old, we lost our mom.  Being so young, I obviously don't have any memories of her. I feel I have gone through different phases of accepting it and acknowledging it.  I think it's pretty understandable that as I started my journey of becoming a mom, a lot of new feelings surfaced.  I finally understand what I lost in loosing her.  There is a bond that Jack and I have that is stronger than anything I can explain.  I think not having that has made me realize how badly I want to have that with him - poor guy, LOL ya, I'm so gonna be that mom in his life! 

Anyway, she was buried at a local cemetery that I regrettably don't visit as often as I should.  Last night we decided to make an impromptu trip over there so Jack could finally 'meet' her in that respect. 

I admittedly felt a little odd taking pictures. I had an image of Jack 15 years down the road telling us how creepy we were for taking pictures but there was just something so peaceful about Jack in that moment that made what is usually a hard visit for me to make, quite serene.  I left with a happy heart!

One thing about Jack that everyone comments on are his crazy blue eyes, since  Josh and I both have brown eyes.   My mom had blue eyes, so I like to tell myself it was her gift to us, so I'd see a little of her in him every day.  I know realistically it's a genes but hey, whatever makes you happy, right?

Then I added this one because it's so stinkin cute and it's my blog and I can :)



Kitchen Cafe Curtains

Remember a few postings ago when I asked if fabric was cute or not? Well, I splurged and got it!  I couldn't make my kitchen curtains fast enough, I was so excited.  Wouldn't you know, the down fall of the whole hanging curtain debacle would be Josh and I?  Apparently.. we are unable to purchase curtain rods like normal human beings.  First Josh purchased 2 rods that were too small.  Then I picked up what I thought was a 2-pack but was really a double rod... All I wanted to do was hang my curtains!

Now, don't mind the rest of my kitchen/living room in the picture.  We have officially outgrown this home and can't wait to move to a bigger place but it's just not going to happen for a little while yet.  So these curtains are my first attempt post-accepting-we-are-here-for-at-least-another-year-so-I-better-make-it-cute-and-as-liveable-as-possible.  So look at the pictures as an opportunity to see all the cute things I can do to make the space awesome while we are in it! 

I haven't been home when lighting is optimal so my apologies for the harsh lighting...

 Hiding behind the 2 bottom panels is an AC window unit.  We are so grateful to have it but man it's an eyesore!  You can see the little top of if sticking thru the window. All the more reason to just cover it all while not in use! Hmm... I also need to pretty up that space on the wall where a phone base is no longer needed!

I am so in love with them.  Next I want to make a fitted curtain for the pocket window on the door just to the left of this window.  I also think I'll have enough fabric left over to make cute place mats.

All I need to do now is finish those two things, get a farm house table with a bench, paint the cabinets white (woohoo, Dad aka landlord gave the green light.. I'm scared to do it though!) paint an accent wall and hang a shelf... I can do it!!

Pencil Pouches & More Silhouette Fun

I have spent the day with a cranky, teething 8 month old and two poor little girls with the stomach flu.  What a day. There were moments of chaos and ickiness but in the down time I actually got a few sewing projects finished up that I had been meaning to do.  The plus side to staying home all day!

Anytime I clean out the girls' backpacks there are always a ton of broken crayons and pencils at the bottom.  I was tired of throwing them away so I decided to make these little pouches.  I found the cute fabric on sale at Joanns. 

I just ordered smooth heat transfer paper for my Silhouette so this was a thought out opportunity to try it!

If I could give one tip to any new users... after you apply the heat, let it sit a minute and cool before taking off the transfer paper.  I couldn't figure out why it wasn't sticking - I was being too impatient!

 Sorry for the bad lighting, the sun disappeared before I could take decent shots!

Off to do a mountain of laundry....

Kitchen Canisters (first Silhouette project!)

After hearing me justify all the reasons why I would use a Silhouette on a daily, if not hourly basis, and showing Josh blog post after blog post of craft ideas I was dying to try if only I had a Silhouette.. SIGH!  Yes, I was as dramatic as you would expect.  Anyway, Josh surprised me with one!  Not only that, but he got me a ton of different colors of vinyl to get started with.  I had always wanted to add to these black canisters we got a year ago or so... here's my chance!

It was so easy and all I can think about is all the possibilities! I can't wait.  Josh should just realize now that probably everything in the house is going to be labeled in some cute fashion from here on out. :) 

I can't wait to get started on some new projects!!

More Burlap Signs.... requested by the girls!

After I had made my first burlap sign in the spirit of St. Patty's Day... I quickly received requests from the girls to make them signs of their own. I asked what they wanted after some pondering I got the request from Kali to do a "family" sign, and predictably, Kenzie said "surprise me"... lol that girl will do anything to avoid making a decision.

For Kali's I printed out the letters, broke out the exacto knife and what felt like years later was ready to use it as a stencil.

This is where I will now gush and tell you that I USED MY NEW SILHOUETTE (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to make Kenzie's. I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to have it and will refrain because it will take over this posting. Just know, I'm in love.

Kenzie has an extreme love of horses, so I found the image online, imported that bad boy in.. and cut it out, using the negative space on the paper as a stencil. I can't wait for them to see tonight when they get home, they'll love em!

My Craigslist Steal

I am always so jealous when I see people go "oh I found this giant piece of furniture on Craigslist for $1 and I transformed it into the centerpiece of my house"... because that never happens to me. Everything around here on Craigslist is 99% of the time a rip off. So when I found a nighstand for $10, a day after ours literally fell apart, I was shocked, and grabbed that bad boy up.

Here he is... ahem.. feel free to ignore anything you see in the background there... in my defense the garage is sooo not my territory!

I kinda wished I could cut the designs out of the corners because I wasn't crazy about them, but I wasn't brave enough to try, so I left them as is.

See that handle? Would have been nice to remove it, but it was sealed with two nails that were not moving for anyone... you'll notice my paint marks later... OH WELL!

30 minutes of sanding and about 600 coats of paint later.....

Like the paint on the handle? sigh.

I debated about scuffing it up to 'antique' it but with nothing else in my room like that, I was afraid it would just look beat up. I figured I could always do it later, so I left it alone.

Yay for Craigslist Deals!

Girl's room re-do

We live in a tiny house. like 960 square feet kind of tiny.   So, it seemed like a smart space saving solution 2 years ago to get the girls bunk beds.  They had actually been begging for a while but there is a certain lil' clutzy red head I didn't trust to not jump from the top.  So we waited until we could scare her enough about it she was mature enough to know better.  I was disappointed to see a lot of the sets at Target, Walmart and even Ikea seemed kinda flimsy.... it just didn't seem like a good recipe with these daredevil children.  So when I spotted a set on Craigslist where the owner boasted is 220lb son launches himself onto these on a regular basis I was sold... I went with practicality over beauty and the girls got this bad boy:

Sooooo dark. But they served their purpose and the girls were excited.  Note the "Princess Purple" walls they were SO excited to paint.   Anywho.  The honeymoon ended a year later when no one wanted to deal with being on top bunk anymore.  But alas, we had filled the room no longer needing space for 2 beds.  So we deterred them for as long as possible before they practically went on strike a few weeks ago.  Here's what the rest of the room looked like.  This was an old picture.  That small chest has been removed and a bookshelf PACKED with books is in it's place.

It really wasn't that great, but it worked.  Anyway, we set out for a plan to change up what we could.  Jack has a tall white dresser, and we knew we'd need something skinnier than what they had now, so my plan was to swap out dressers.  Wow.  That is a COMPLETE pain in the neck. Clothes. Everywhere.  But, we got it done.  We took down the beds, got them some bulletin boards and.....

Tada!  Yes, they have 1.5 million stuffed animals. 

Hi Gismo.

Side note:  Thank GOD I am taking a photography class so I can learn how to take pictures LOL.

It's really nothing major but the gasps and awwws, and the girls wanting to go to bed at 6:45 to be in their room pleased me enough. 

While I was sitting in their room completely taken apart I wished I thought it thru a bit more before I started because I would have painted.  The purple is cute, but nothing matches!  The girls want to make new duvet covers, and add curtains and such and there is no way to match both their personalities, and that paint color. 

I am looking forward to all the little things we'll be doing now... like I said, new beds, Josh is going to build something (Just dicovered ana-white.com... where have you been my whole life?!) and all the little accessories.  I'll post pics as we actually get stuff done over the next few weeks.

Old School Silhouettes

In my many adventures getting lost in blog land I've seen the classic silhouette pictures (that admittedly sometimes look creepy) come back around again. The girls are growing so fast, I'm always interested in ways to preserve their cute tiny little girlness while we can! So I thought this would be a fun rainy day project to try this weekend. (ended up being the only area in SoCal to have clear sunny skies this weekend!)

This was so super easy. I took pictures of the girl's profiles, and printed them out on cardstock. I carefully cut them out with an exacto knife, and painted the paper black. I found some cute scrapbook paper at Michael's to use as a background, and framed the whole thing. I had the oval frames already.

Whatdya' think?? The girls loved it!

P.S. Thats Kali up at the top, and Kenzie down here below.

Linking to Christina's Adventures

Cost break down:  Frames, already had but saw at Walmart for $4 each

Carstock at Michaels:  $1.50

Scrapbook paper for background:  $2

Paint: on hand

St Patty's Day Burlap Decoration

I have seen different variations of these burlap signs for a while and have been wanting to try one.  When I happened to see a frame I knew would be a perfect size, I finally went for it. 

I don't have any St. Patrick's Day decorations really so I thought this was a good holiday to start with.  I found a font I liked and printed out the word "lucky".  Then I sat for what felt like an eternity and painstakingly used an exacto knife to cut out a stencil.  You can be pretty certain a few muttered comments about how a Cricut (or as Josh calls it, a Grasshopper) would have made this MUCH easier, and nicer!

After I (finally) cut it all out, I just used it as a stencil and painted away.  It's not perfect, but I like it that way.  Once it was dry, I used some dark green cardstock for the back, secured it with some brads, and there you have it!

Necklace Holder

So… Ok. I really need to get better about taking pictures. Phew. We got that out of the way.


A few weeks (ok like several) ago Katie (sister) challenged me with a craft project. She needed a necklace holder. I immediately had a few ideas.I ended up going with a necklace/earring combo. I started with a 12 inch square frame I had for a project that never happened, and painted that brown.

 Next I went to Joanns and got this fabric… I looooove this fabric and can’t wait to find an excuse to use it somewhere in my house. The only downside was choosing a fabric with a symmetric pattern kinda backfired. I can tell it’s not lined up just right. Anyway, I lined it with some quilters batting, then hot glued it all to the back of the cardboard that came in the frame.

The last thing I did was drill have Josh drill holes so I could screw in some hooks, and I was good to go!

Yep. That’s a pic in my bathroom. Sigh.  Katie swears she loves it!  Kali already asked if we could make ehr one, too. :) 

Cute or have I been window shopping for too long?

Our kitchen is about to get some much needed TLC in the form of paint, and TONS of it.  More on that to come.  But like any normal chick, I am already thinking curtains and accessories.  The main color scheme will be white and yellow.  But the kitchen opens up into the livingroom that is more black, white and brown.  So keep that in mind when you look at this fabric sample.  Is it cute? Or do I need to walk away form fabric swatches for a while and clear my head?!