Pinterest Party - Burlap Wreaths

I hosted my first Pinterest party; it being the second I have participated in since my pinning obsession began a couple of years ago.  Who doesn't love Pinterest?!  With Spring on the way, and my Easter décor coming down next week, I decided to invite some friends over to create wreaths inspired by this one:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/93952197/rustic-burlap-ivory-and-jute-wreath-love.  This Etsy seller has several beautiful, rustic wreaths available if you aren't into trying your own...but I love trying new crafts so I wanted to do it myself.  I had most of the supplies already on hand, too, so that helped inspire me to try my own.  Here are the ones I made...yes, I made two.  I couldn't settle for just one and I wanted to try a couple of different times to be sure I made a good one. ha!  So here they are.  Sorry I do not have pictures of my friends wreaths - they turned out really great! 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like: HALLOWEEN!

I don't know why, but I am super into Halloween this year. I think the older my kids get, the more enjoyable it is for them...less scary, maybe. So last week I spent a day making my home look more like Fall, but specifically decorating for Halloween. These spiders and the scared cat are cut from vinyl. The patterns came from a magazine. They are pretty large cuts, though. The cat really kind of weirded out all of my kids the first day it was on the wall! ;) The Haunted House was actually built by my son in Kindergarten last year. And the wreath was decorated by me. I bought a cheap grapevine wreath, spray painted it black, and then used some embellishments and ribbon I found at WalMart recently. Thanks for looking!

A New Fall Wreath

So, a few things have been keeping me busy from crafting -- just to mention a few: canning, vacation, and sending the kids back to school and setting our new routine again. But last week I was able to put together this wreath, a slight variation of this on-line tutorial: http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/08/v-and-co-how-to-hydrangea-wreath.html. I didn't heed her advice and buy enough hydrangea stems, so I ran short and opted to just try something different. Therefore, see the burlap flowers? I decided I would try my hand at those since my dear friend made a wreath -- with burlap flowers -- for me last Christmas (see the center of my blog header? I love that wreath!). And I think burlap fits well with the look I was going for: Autumn-like and to coordinate with the bathroom I painted two years ago and have never really decorated since I couldn't decide what to do! The burlap flowers were easier to make than cotton or felt rosettes because the burlap is more bulky and quicker to wind up. I like the overall look of it in my bathroom (it's a 1/2 bath in our downstairs -- that's why the wreath is touching wall-to-wall!). The burlap I bought in the scrap bin at Jo Ann's a couple of years ago; the hydrangea stems and other stems I got at Hobby Lobby on sale last week; and the buttons and pearls I had in my stash. (PS - The tile "because nice matters!" was made by the same friend who made my wreath. She's so talented!)

Smurfette Costume

Hi! I just want to share some pictures of a Smurfette costume that I made for Carly for Halloween this year. I bought some white fleece at JoAnn's (too much - I have 3 yards leftover!) because it's always cold on trick-or-treat night here to create her dress and hat. I used the tutorial for this shirt: http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/06/reversible-sun-top-tutorial-by-from.html and made it into a dress instead. For the hat, Brent and I traced our own pattern on a paper bag, but it took us three times to get the size right for her head! (Don't look too closely at the pictures or you'll see punch and pizza sauce on her outfit from the party!) Then we bought some blue tights and "long johns" from Target, used some face paint for the blue skin, and attached a flower clip to the side of her head...and voila! Smurfette is here! She already has blond hair and I tried flipping out the ends but by the time we traveled out-of-state to the party, it was done and not as cute when it was picture time. Carly loved the outfit...until the when we attended a birthday costume party and the face paint started to dry and tighten on her skin. She didn't like the way it felt. But she endured and everyone bragged that they couldn't believe how much she looked like the Smurf from years ago. Thanks for looking! PS - Jayna and Adam's costumes were much easier to put together...thank goodness! I'll post pictures of their outfits on Halloween for our family blog.

Burlap Pillow

I followed Tomi Ann's instructions and the video she included here: http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/2010/08/porch-rocker-pillows.html, and I made this pillow for my own porch. I added some lace along the sides when I sewed it up, and I chose a different design, which I created with my Gypsy. It was pretty easy, and I made three of them. Two I gave away as gifts to friends last week when we had our day out to a craft fair in a nearby town. It was a lot of fun! Thanks for taking me out, Tia and Stephenie! I am totally going again next year, no matter what!!! Anyway, back to the burlap pillows, these definitely add a Fall touch to home decor, but since they are rough and burlap has a small odor, I am keeping it outside on the patio. Thanks for looking! :)

Ucreate with Me! August Challenge

At Ucreate this month, Kari issued the challenge for us to create table runners with her. The link is found here: http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/08/august-create-with-me.html and the tutorial can be found here: http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2010/08/table-runner-tutorial.html. I was so ready for this challenge that three days after she issued it, I had my runner done! I love decorating for Fall, and with the season up and coming, I wanted to do a runner in shades of Fall colors. I already had a lot of the fabric scraps laying around, and the rest I picked up at JoAnn's in 1/8 yard cuts. It was just enough! I really enjoyed sewing this and "quilting" it! It wasn't too terribly hard, but I did have to watch a few tutorials on YouTube on how to do the corners and to find out what a "blind stitch" is. It is reversible, and the brown butterflies are on the backside. So here it is! Pumpkins, Fall, leaves, Halloween, etc. - here I come!!!

Bows...and More Bows!

A new friend I've made recently showed me a simple way to make cute bows. I didn't feel like much crocheting or scrapping tonight...so bow-making became the event of the evening for me. I really like the way these turned out -- they are very "in season" right now. Thank you, Elizabeth Brown, for helping me learn how to make these. And by the way, my fingers were too big to hold the ribbon well and thread through them, so Brent went out in the garage and quickly put together the peg board you talked about to help me make them. It took him all of five minutes, but I still believe he's such a sweetie. Thanks for looking!

Happy Halloween!

From Jayna the Ballerina (tutu handmade by Mommy), Carly as "Hannah Montana," and Adam as "Spider-Man." And please don't forget to vote on November 4th!!!