Spring Cleaning and Curtains

While my husband has been gone the past month, I resolved that the time I was here in FL without him would be my time to get some things done around the house. Things were going really good until my daughter got strep throat, again. But, I feel very accomplished none the less. I finished up these curtains the other day. I'm doing really good at being thrifty in our decorating. I would rather use money on things like fabric! We had these curtains

and I sewed the top down and sewed on some ribbon


and they became tie up curtains.


I like how they look, despite being not quite long enough to cover the rod.

I wanted to do as little to them as possible in case down the road, in a new house, I would want and/or need them back to how they originally were. I also discovered it is hard to take pictures in our living room. We need more windows.

Pom Pom Tulle Skirt Tutorial

I wanted to make something with pom poms that my daughter could have (meaning, she can't get to them to stick in her mouth; she still loves to put everything in there!). Due to this, the skirt idea came to me. She loved it. She kept playing with the pom poms and we kept going over all the colors. The only thing I wish is that I had made it "poofier". Here is a little tutorial on how to make one too.

Supplies:
-Tulle or some other kind of see through material
-Pom poms
-Elastic (no wider than 3/4 in.)
-Matching thread to tulle for sewing machine (I use darker for illustration)

Directions:
1. A) Take waist measurement and add 10 inches (Ex of my little one: 20+10= 30 inches wide)
**If you want it to have more poof, add more inches than this**

B)Take measurement of desired length and add 1.5 inches (Ex: 6 + 1.5= 7.5 inches length)

2. Cut one large rectangle that is (2 x length) by width. (Ex: 15 inches by 30 inches)


3. Sew the length sides together to form a tube. (From Ex.: the sides that equal 15 inches)


4. Fold in half lengthwise with the sewn seam on the inside.


5. Place pom poms in between the fabric fold.


6. Fold the opening top of the tube down 1.5 inches and pin in place to make the casing for the elastic.

(I forgot to take a before pic for this one, so it's pinned down but #7 is done).

7. Sew around the top fold about 1 inch down (so elastic can fit it). Leave an opening to put the elastic through.


8. Thread in the elastic by attaching a safety pin to the end.


9. Sew elastic ends together.


10. Get elastic all in the casing and sew the opening closed. Trim off excess tulle from the waist seam if necessary.

All done. Enjoy :)

Twilight Tide Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Twilight Tide Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Pom Pom Filled Vase

Another quick but cute pom pom addition is this centerpiece. I have seen this done with candy as well if you want to try it that way. To make, you need to have two vases. One big one and a smaller one that fits in the middle like this. That way, you can easily add fake flowers or put water in it for fresh flowers. I had no fresh flowers at the moment, so I added some silk flowers I had laying around. I added the pom poms in by layers and used a fork to held spread out the first two layers. After that, the pom poms did the spreading pretty well on their own. My daughter loves it because of all the colors. We have gone over what each color is a bizillion times already today, which helped give us something extra to do today.

Fun with Pom Poms

I am just loving all the bright cheerful colors of things that are out in the stores now. I noticed the beautiful pom poms in the craft store and my mind began flowing with ideas. Some are to use up some things in my craft supply (I really need to bring down the size of my stash!). So I will be sharing some fun ideas for pom poms the next few days starting with these:
Pom Pom Toothpick Embellishments!

How cute is this? Having hor' dourves or fondue? Brighten up the plate by gluing on pom poms to the toothpicks.

Playing Around

Some of the more fun things I've been doing amidst this rain filled time I have been in VA is playing with flowers for my upcoming best friend's wedding and making origami butterflies. The flowers are dying (I waited too long to take the pics!), and they are just some of what my friend wants to use.

I just bought the basics and some fill ins so she could have an idea of what things will potentially look like. I just love flowers and these were so pretty! In case you like any of them, they are hydrangeas, calla lily's, spray roses, tulips, and some other stuff I forget what it's called.

This is a box full of origami butterflies that I am going to use at one of the future bridal showers. The colors just brought a little color to my day today. I used this tutorial.

Modern Pirate Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Modern Pirate Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Up, Up, and Away!!!!!!!!!

This is a simple little cape and mask I made for my cousin's little boy, Super Dylan. I had made some for my nephews before, but this so far is my favorite. Two more little boys in my family are having upcoming birthdays and will be receiving a similar cape and mask as well. I remember when I worked with little kids how much they loved to dress up, so I'm sure they will have fun with this. It's fun to make "boy" stuff every once in a while since I only have a girl so far.

To make it, I free styled it completely. I simple folded a yard of fabric and half and cut it similar to how you might cut out a tree skirt.

Muntedkowhai Necklace Give Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click here for your chance to win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crochet-A-Long

Look at this beautiful crochet-a-long that Lion Brand is doing next:

I'm hopping on board and will be going to buy my yarn soon. I am thinking doing a yellow or green yarn. The pattern is only free to download until March 23. Here is the introductory post for their project and here is the post where Heather talks about choosing yarn (you can use different kinds that what the pattern calls for. She explains how to figure it out). If you crochet, join along. I think it will be fun and produce a cute jacket.

Purse for my mom

Amidst all the sickness and business of helping with weddings, I was able to finish this purse for my mom just in time for her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM :). I love love love how it came out. I was so tempted to keep it for myself. It's a new pattern I designed and am trying out. To the inside, I added a place to hold a water bottle and a key clip to put keys on so they don't get lost in it. I used fabric from Heather Bailey's line Pop Garden and brown corduroy on the outside.

How To Eiffel Tower Vase Centerpieces

I have received quite a few emails about the tower vase centerpieces I have posted in the past. I decided I should do a post solely dedicated to how I made them and what I have learned in the process. This might be a long post, but I will cover as much as I can to bring any help I can to those endeavoring to make this type of centerpiece.

First, let's discuss a cheaper way to acquire the tower vase. There are always those 20% off your entire purchase from Michael's in bridal magazines that you could use. Glass vases are typically cheaper at wholesale florist shops as well. See if anyone has any you could borrow (the ones I bought for my wedding have been used in 4 other weddings as of now!). If you know other brides to be and they want to use that type of vase, go in on it together, splitting the costs. You can also rent them, but in this area the way the prices are you might as well buy them and not worry about the hassle.

Second: What can go in the bottom? You can fill the bottom up with a variety of things to add to the centerpiece. Here is a short list of options if you choose: fish gravel, rocks, gems, sand, moss, floralytes, coffee beans, jelly beans, fake water stuff, real water, etc.

Third: How to arrange
The first simple arrange is both cost effective and easy to do. You could use any type of larger flower for this. Just take about 3-4 flowers, place them in the vases so they are on different levels, and then add some grass like plant or you could add stick like accents. Here is one I put together in 1 minute from some flowers laying around.


Second is another easy and cost effective arrangement. Go to the craft store and find a "bunch" of flowers that you like. Example:

Poof them out, place in centerpiece, and then arrange to your liking.

Very little hassle at all. You could add some more flowers or greenery if you want it more filled in. Here is one we did but added two large purple white lilies and some butterflies to it.


Third way to arrange is with a styrofoam ball or a bouquet holder. For the styrofoam ball, use one that is a decent size (this one is too small, but all I could find to show how)
and that would be soft enough to squoosh onto top of the vase. Use flowers and greenery to cover the ball to achieve the look you are going for. It's basically the same thing with a bouquet holder, but you just decorate the holder the way you want then just stick it in the vase. Many of the pictures below use that method. You can do that for real or fake flowers. It's easier to transport that way as well because you can have the vase and top seperate while traveling.
Here are some pictures from flickr of some centerpieces made up.

1. bright yellow; 2. purple; 3. orange and yellow; 4. orange and red; 5. pretty in pink; 6. white

**Please click on link to find out more about the photographer and designer of these pictures.**

Fourth is to use feathers! I found this neat tutorial on Save on Crafts. Isn't this neat looking? I might cost a little, but it would be easy to make. The lights used in these arrangements are the floralytes mentioned earlier.


Last, is to add a tree branch and decorate it to your liking. Here is one with moss in the bottom and a tree branch from my parent's back yard. I'm going to add origami butterflies, but you could use the feather butterflies, birds, ornaments, jewels, crystals, etc. to decorate it.

So there you go. May this help many out there acheive their wedding dream. Blessings.

Giveaways!!!!!!!!!!!

Cinnamon Sticks giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Baggu giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laundry Shirt Dress giveaway!!!!!

A Different Kind of Boutonniere

I have been in Virginia this past week with the intent to work on some wedding things for my brother's wedding and my best friends wedding that I am matron of honor in both. Unfortunately, I have been awfully sick as well (following my husband and my daughter who both went through the ringer with it). I have used my energy when needed though. Something I am currently working on are what to do for my brother and future sis-in-law's wedding concerning boutonnieres. They don't care too much, but I was searching flickr to see what "nontraditional" boutonnieres I could find, i.e. no real or silk flowers. Here are a few neat things I found.

Starting top left:

1. Button boutonniere 2.Bright buttons boutonniere

3. Feathers, acorns, and more 4. "Boot"oniere

5.Beaded 6. Brown leaves 7. Origami flower

Here are two more pictures I found that were neat. The first is a felt flower boutonniere and the next is another origami one. Now, we just have to figure out what to do for their wedding.....

My hubby's birthday

In the midst of all that's been going on, we did have one very fun day of celebration for my husband's birthday.

It was simple, just the three of us. I made this picture frame as part of his gift. It's made with shell's we collected from the beach here in Florida.

Enjoying the cake :)