new shop listing
The aprons are up! I took a bunch of pictures of them this afternoon, but it was cloudy and only a few turned out. I’ll try to take some more another day. :)
middle of the night inspiration
The idea for these little votive hangers came to me a few nights ago, during one of my (increasingly frequent) middle-of-the-night episodes of wakefulness. I think my average per night is up to three times now, and occasionally four. Just getting ready for those late night sessions with Little One!
I made something similar using mini jelly jars a while ago, but that night I had the idea to use some of the many glass votives that I have stashed here and there. (I suppose one could have too many votive holders, but I haven’t gotten there yet. Or maybe I’m not the type of person that can have too many?)
I used some 18 gauge aluminum wire in about 18″ lengths, and twisted it to make a ring that would hold the votive.
Then I took the loose end and wrapped it under the base, looped it around the ring and made a hanger. Twist the final loose end in place, and …
… that’s it!
a couple of new ones
this afternoon
This afternoon I am:
-making up a few more aprons (with a new, tweaked design)
-thinking of something to use this piece of material for.
Maybe a wall hanging for Baby #2? I was thinking of using a bold/graphic piece, but really didn’t find what I wanted. So I settled for this aqua print. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe I’ll edge it with brown ………
Mother’s Day Silhoutte
I saw this idea a while ago over on Prudent Baby and tucked it away in the back of my head to use for Mother’s Day.
The ladies over on Prudent Baby used the idea to make artwork from pics of Zoo animals, but I thought it might be a fun and different way to do the silhouette of Emma that I am trying to give to my mom each Mother’s Day. It turned out to be pretty easy (and fun! I haven’t messed around with water colors in a while!).
The hardest part was getting a clear profile photo of Emma. She was sooooooo busy that morning. :) I finally just turned on the TV and sat next to her with the camera, waiting for her to stop “telling” me about everything she saw and just “zone”.
Also, I didn’t have any watercolor paper on hand so I just used some heavyweight textured scrapbooking paper. It worked fine, but I think watercolor paper might have been just a little nicer. I’m sure Mom – Grammie – will love it anyway!
If you’d like one yourself, I have a listing for custom silhouettes over on Etsy.
I was about to toss out the scrap that I had used for the template and then decided to tape it up instead. Pretty cute! And I get to keep and enjoy it, too. :)
May Day with last year’s flowers
These were some of the flowers that grew in my porch pots last year. It was so nice to have a bit of color growing, something fresh and pretty (and free).
This year it seems that the flower seeds – or my flower pots – are on strike. I am having such a hard time getting anything to grow! I plant the seeds, they pop up, and then wither away (yes, I do water them, and no, not too much).
It’s almost as if something is killing all of them ………. or they decide to give up once they realize that they will have to grow on a shaded balcony. *sigh*.
And I had so wanted to have a few flowers to cut for the table this year.
a DIY skirt for a bed with side rails
Here’s a project that I just finished {a DIY skirt for a bed with side rails}. It’s not shop related, but I thought you might like to see anyway. :) And, just because you might like to see how I did it, it’s a kind of tutorial, too!
This is our bed. So comfy, with some gorgeous bedding, too. But, since I had never gotten around to altering the bed skirt to fit the bed frame, all the stuff that we are storing under it (we live in an apartment with limited storage space) was visible to anyone who walked by the doorway. That was something I decided to finally fix!I already had the bedskirt that came with our bedding, and it was the typical bed-in-a-bag kind that is supposed to lie between your mattress and boxspring. Since we have a solid bottom bed we don’t have a boxspring, and the side rails of the bed are in the way and would get covered if I was going to just spread the skirt before putting the mattress down.
So … I cut the side panels off of the skirt.
That took a little bit of courage since it is from the Martha Stewart Trousseau line at Macy’s. If I messed up it wouldn’t be cheap to replace!
I took a pack of 2″ wide sew-on Velcro and cut it into 1″ wide strips, lots and lots of them.
I pinned the female sides about 8″ apart on the outside (the side that would be showing) of the bedskirt panels, and sewed them in place using my machine.
I then took my husband’s staple gun and crawled under the bed to staple the male sides of the Velcro to the inside of the side rails and panel at the foot of the bed, 8″ apart again.
John walked into the room as I was doing this and laughed – it must have been a pretty funny sight to see me, 8 months pregnant, with my head and arms under the bed and my belly and feet sticking out!
The last step was to stick it all in place!
Ta da!
If you are joining me from A Vision To Remember, The Persimmon Perch, Market Yourself Monday, or Craftastic Monday, Welcome!
an old and favorite poem
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“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree …
flower pin tutorial
Here it is! The thing I was working on – other than compulsively organizing our apartment in preparation for Baby #2 – is this little flower pin tutorial. Enjoy! :)
(by the way, this is a great way to use up random scraps of fabric that you might otherwise toss as you are spring cleaning your stash)
start by sewing – with a doubled thread to prevent breakage – through the end of the strip to anchor your thread and gather the end. this will be the center of your flower.materials:
fabric – a strip (at least an inch wide) cut from a 45″ piece of material, selvage to selvage
scissors
needle and thread
pin back
fabric glue
Cut a piece of fabric at least an inch wide (your flower will be twice as wide as your strip). I used a quilting weight fabric that was 45″ wide for this flower, but you can use any type in any length. The length that you use will determine how “full” your flower is.
continue to sew a running stitch along one side of the strip, pulling the thread to gather it every few inches.
once you have sewn and gathered about 12″ or so, begin to coil the strip into a flower, sewing it in place as you go…
…continuing to gather, coil and stitch until you come to the end of the strip.
It should look a little like this.
Sew the pin back on and knot off the thread. Almost done!
Glue a snippet of fabric over the bar of the pin (this part allows you to hide any messy stitches).
Ta da! That’s it. Rather simple and quick, unless you are interrupted, that is ……… some of these flowers have taken me more than a day to complete. :) And, if you want the one I made for the tutorial, you can buy it here in my Etsy shop.
in progress
I’ll show what it is in a little bit. :)
For now it is in progress in between enjoying the Spring weather, keeping up with Emma and doing a bit of Spring cleaning. Oh, and trying to get Emma’s baby album put together before Baby #2 shows up!