Strip Rag Quilt

Every time I pull out my sewing machine, M asks me if I am going to make her a blanket.  So one day back in October I took her to the Jo Anns and we picked out some fabric for me to make her a blanket with.  I had seen this tutorial on Pinterest and new that's what I wanted to do.  After getting it all sewed together, I realized I gave it WAY too much seam allowance (for the rag part) and I had to un-stitch all of it!  I then went back and only did a 1 in seam allowance, instead of a 2.5 in.  It made a HUGE difference and it turned out super cute.  I finished it just in time for Christmas!  She was pretty excited to have it, but the husband and I tend to use it more than she does... go figure!  Either way, I love how it turned out!

Christmas Wreath

Ever since Halloween, when I had this wreath on my door, I knew I wanted to have one for Christmas.  I just loved how it looked every time I pulled up from being out.  I looked online A LOT to find the perfect one for my door.  Then I came across this one.  It was being sold on Etsy for like $40!  I knew I could make it for a whole lot cheaper... and I did... For about $12!  I love the way it turned out, and it helped that I did have some of the supplies on hand.  I made it just like my Halloween wreath and then just had a few things to it.  The one on Etsy was done in Burlap, I did mine in a cotton (2 yards cut into 6x1 in stripes) and then I had some Black vinyl stuff that I used for the belt.  I used a piece of cardboard that I cut out an painted for the belt buckle and then I got the letters at Hobby Lobby.  I then painted the letters white and used a clear glittery nail polish over the top to add some sparkle to it.  Tying on the stripes on is VERY time consuming, but I just did it at night while I was watching TV... It made the time go by so much faster! Then to hang it from my door, I just tied a white piece of ribbon to it to create a loop to hang it from the hook.

Window Valence and Room Make-over!

When we moved into our new house we had blinds on the front up-stair windows and roman shades on all the others in the house, except our kitchen window.  The window above the kitchen sink was just a big plain window, but you could tell the people before us had some kind of window covering/hanging because they left a curtain rod there, in fact, all of the bedrooms had curtain rods as well.  I decided I wanted to try my hand at making a window valance.  And I have to say... I LOVE the way it turned out.  In fact, I loved it so much that I ended up making one for my room and two for my daughter's room.  Our spare bedroom has one too... It is just one that came with our guest bedding.   I didn't realize how easy they are to make until I gave it a try.  I am glad I did... It makes a room feel more complete!  You can check out this tutorial on how to make a quick and easy window valance.

Best picture I could get because of the lighting.

Room make-over

        When we moved here my daughter (M) was still in her toddle bed, but was out growing it.  My parents were coming in August and were bringing us half (hopefully we'll have need/room for the other half some day) of a bunk bed that my dad had made 25+ years ago.  It was brown and pretty beat up from 7 kids, so we decided to paint it white, which also makes it feel a little more girly. We had to prime it, sand it and then repaint it.  It was a lot of work, but with the help of my amazing dad we got it done!
       I also took the letters from M's room and repainted all of them to go with the new bedding for her bed.  I painted them white and then did paint splatters of the different colors in her bed spread.
        We got her bedding from Ikea, which is just a duvet cover, which I LOVE because we had a nice down comforter, which was kinda ugly, but still worked so I was just able to cover it up for $20!  Then when my parents came we went out to Ikea again, and they had the same comforter in the As Is section so we grabbed that and I was able to make matching window valances for her room and I hope to one day make a bed skirt to go with it.

     I love the way her room turned out, now if only she could keep it clean :)

Before

After

Melted Crayon Art

This melted crayon art has been a big hit on pinterest.  When my little sister came to visit, we decided to give it a try.  It was a lot of fun to do, but kinda messy.  I recommend doing this outside and with something you can throw away under and behind it.  I used wax paper to keep my bricks clean of flying melted crayon!

 

 

After we finished it, I hung it up in my little girls room.  (I ended up putting it in a different location then this picture actually shows.)