Anna in the spring

I must say I love Anna Maria Horner's stuff. It is so unique and generally cheerful. I've been working on this dress for the last 8-9 months...FINALLY finished it, just in time for spring.

misc doings

Here are a few miscellaneous things I've made in the last few months and weeks.

These are oven mitts. I love them! These are a great and easy gift idea!

In the fall we did quite a bit of camping with the boys. I made them matching camping pillowcase. They adore them and will hardly let me take them off their pillows long enough to wash them. I LOVE making these pillowcases. They whip up so fast and they turn out so professional!

A beautiful patchwork stocking. This was a lot of fun to make and a great use of scraps.

For Mandi aka Sister G.

I made Mandi a green wrap shirt. This color is perfect for her bright and happy personality.

I also made her this simple black skirt with pockets. It is just below the knee and has a slight a-line. She is currently on a mission for The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a classic piece for any missionary wardrobe! I hope she likes them!

Chair Reupholstery

Back in the summer, I was contacted to reupholster this chair. I personally like the green.

Maybe it was a bit worn out and a bit abused and old, but I liked the retro green.

Anyway, my client wanted it reupholstered and had a red gingham fabric chosen for it. All in all it turned out really well. My client was very happy with the way it turned out and was excited to add it to her living room set!

Here's a little Before

...and After

The J.J. Handbag

I recently designed and made this darling clutch for a class that I taught. I love how it turned out.

It's just the right size for the essentials: keys, lipstick, money. Being a mom, I usually have a HUGE bag full of diapers, wipes, bottles, snacks, change of clothes, emergency bribes....I'm sure you can relate. But when I go out on a date with my husband or just go somewhere by myself. I really don't want a huge, messy, bag on my shoulder. This bag is perfect.

and it's reversible.

My friend Jan, over at Bumbletees kindly named this bag for me. The J.J. Handbag. I'm now officially a handbag designer.
I'm almost thinking of making a tutorial for it.

the four maids

Remember that 100% silk dupioni that had the horrendous crease in it? Well, I've been a little busy sewing bee and made these vintage dresses out of it.

Now they're off to meet their wearers. Four Bridesmaids. I'd say for maids they're pretty dressed up! Although I guess that's one of the perks for being a bridesmaid.

They turned out exactly how the bride wanted them (I couldn't be happier). I can hardly wait to see them on the bridesmaids. But we must be patient in such things, the wedding isn't for another 4 weeks.

Invisible zippers are wonderful! They look so professional, and pleasing to the sewing eye.
I was especially happy with the way these turned out.

There's something very satisfying in making 4 of the same dresses, 4 different sizes, and not mixing up the pieces, not even once. You can't see it, and that's the point, but each of these dresses have side pockets. What a fun way to make them a little less formal to wear them at other occasions.

When I get pictures of the four maids actually wearing their dresses, I'll be sure to post them.

Once upon a time I tried to start a business making custom crib sets. It didn't really go too far, but I think part of that was my lack of desire to put the effort in when it was needed. I like to chalk it up as a learning experience. Here's one of the sets I made. Don't you just love the sweet bow? I need a girl! (no, I'm not pregnant)

This was my first time doing boxing. I definately learned a lot doing that!

The death and Reincarnation of Pink Floyd

This is Pink Floyd.
My husband bought this during college from a grandma. I guess she gave him the matching curtains as a bonus when he bought it. Thankfully he didn't keep those.

Very soon after we were married we put this denim cover on it. This is the only picture I have of the blue cover on the couch. I really didn't want to do another upholstery job after the other red couch we did. Erick started the process before I could snap a picture. AND, he did most of the work on this couch! No joke. (sorry I got a little 80's lingo in me)I just found these videos of us working on them. I guess it might give you a little insight into the life of people who reupholster furniture...or it might just give you a little insight into me.

The night those videos were taken (which was back in JUNE 2009-YIKES) we basically finished the entire couch. We only had 2 steps left. Seriously. two. But, since it was totally functional and the last two steps were the boring ones, it sat in our living room for n.i.n.e. months unfinished. Most people didn't even realize it wasn't finished unless we pointed it out to them. So there it sat. Looking mostly like this, except without the cute pillows. We kept the nasty, Pink Floyd original cushions on it for a while.

notice the arm rests and the bottom piece

Then I found these pillows at Costco. I'd thought of making my own, but hadn't gotten around to it and for $7 bucks they could totally finished. So I picked them up. I think it was definitely worth it since the pillows are what actually motivated us to finally finish.
They went perfect with the couch, the decorative wall art and the curtains. I think they bring the whole thing together.

Then last week we took the plunge and spent 2 hours finishing this

and this

And now we have two matching red couches.

Hanging around

Here's the story. I have this huge wall and nothing on it. How long have we lived here?
Then I saw this great tutorial over at All Things Thrifty. Love that blog.

I knew I had to do it. Some projects just sorta linger. This wall art was no exception. I started it with TONS of enthusiasm and thought I would be done in a week. Then that week ended and another started, and another, and another...I just kept running into small problems that made it so I couldn't finish. The first thing was the blade broke on the jig saw. Off to Home Deopt. Then I ran out of primer uggh! Off to H.D. again. Then, the paint I picked out didn't look the way I envisioned it, so I had to get different paint....Let's just say I know the guys at Home Depot now.

But, with the help of my sweet husband they are finally hung. I have to add that they are hung perfectly level, perfectly even, perfectly centered in the wall. My husband rocks at stuff like that!

Oh yeah, and of course Everett and Ryan helped too.

Taa Daa (as Everett would say)

That's better don't you think?

A little before and after

What started out as our 5 dollar Craigslist nasty couch...
went from this:

to this:

To

finally finished!!
Who says one man's absolute disgusting trash isn't another woman's red couch treasure?

I think I jumped the gun on this one (we have been having an ice storm and a snow storm all day today), but all the same, I'm excited for spring and nice weather so I can wear this dress!

I got this fabric from Broom Corn for 75% off. I think it was $2.5 or $3/yard. I'm so excited to have something bright to wear to church. It seems like most of my dresses and skirts are dark colors...a tendency that I really do try to stay away from, but I just gravitate to black. I don't know why. I just like black. No, I'm not Gothic. I just like black.

But, I branched out this time. I went a completely different direction than black.

I just noticed that in the picture above it looks like I only have one leg. I don't know why. But I didn't have an amputation if you're wondering.

The pattern I used didn't have sleeves that I liked so I mixed and matched patterns to get this sleeve with gathers on the bottom. I think it goes well since the rest of the dress has gathers too. You may remember this method of gathering from when I was a guest blogger at Sew Much Ado. That's the method I used to get perfect, gorgeous gathers--the first time =)

For the un-named Haynie boy

My SIL is having her first baby in May. I am so excited for her. And lucky her she's having a little boy! I guess I'm a little biased since I don't have any girls and I think my boys are AWESOME.
Every boy needs a tractor. Especially an Idaho boy. Even more especially my brother's son. So until he can actually ride one, he can snuggle with one. These self binding blankets are awesome. Here's a great tutorial if you're wondering how to do it.

I've been wanting to make one of these new born gowns from a t-shirt for a long time! So, what better excuse? I used this tutorial. It's great and easy to follow along.

Covering Nakedness

By covering nakedness I mean my windows, my walls, my living room. My living room is bare. Completely bare. We have lived in this house for over a year and we have nothing hanging on our walls. I think when people come over they wonder if we are planning to move soon. No. We're not planning to move soon, it's just that we don't have anything we want to hang on our walls. But we're working on that.
So, to cover the nakedness of the windows, I made these curtain panels. They match the red couch I'm recovering (I mean the couch that has 2 steps left to finish and it's been that way for the last 6 months, YIKES) perfectly! I love the height it adds to the room and the splash of color too.
This is just a sneak peek! I'm working on hanging some things up, getting a few lamps, tables, plants, mantle pieces etc....that's coming soon. Real. soon. (i hope).
p.s. did I mention I got this fabric 60% off?!! I was excited!

Salt Dough Ornaments Tutorial

Making and decorating your own ornaments is a tradition that my family used to do and now my husband and I do it. It's a great family activity and makes many memories. Each year when we get the ornaments out it's fun to remember who made which one and to remember Christmases of the past.

So, for those of you who don't care if your tree has 'unique' ornaments....here's a DIY tutorial.





Description: Handmade painted Christmas ornaments

Materials Needed:

Salt

Flour

Water

Paint



1. Make this salt dough recipe

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1.5 cups water
Knead for 5 minutes.

**This recipe makes A LOT!! I made about 30 cut-outs and still have extra salt dough for Everett to play with. If you're just doing it for ornaments and don't want left overs I would recommend doing half the recipe or even 1/4 depending on how many you want to make.

2. Roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to make the shape of your ornaments. You want the dough to be fairly thin, try to keep it about 1/8" thick or so, I would definitely not go more than 1/4".

3. Cut holes in the ornaments so they can be hung with ribbon, yarn, thread...etc. I used a pen cap to make my little circles.

4. Place ornaments on a greased baking sheet or with parchment paper.

5. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

6. After they are cooled down, go to town and PAINT!

7. Run a ribbon through the hole that you so delicately cut out!

8. Hang on your tree and enjoy!

Everett painting his first ornament, good job!

I wish I could say this bell and the star were ones that I painted, or my husband, but, they aren't. We invited some friends over and they busted out their hidden talents of painting! Who knew!

Can you see the palm trees and the building on this one? My camera kept giving glare...

Check out this shepherd scene!! Good job!

I spy bag tutorial

I made an I spy bag for my son several months ago and he loves it! It is great for church, the car, air planes, the doctors office, or any time you need your child to sit still for a little while. And, they make a perfect stocking stuffer. Since they are so fun and versatile, I've decided to make a tutorial.

Description: an I spy bag that is 8" X 8" with a 3.5" X 3.5" window.
Materials needed:
Fabric rectangle 8.5" X 16.5"
Clear vinyl (heavy weight) square 5" X 5"
Approximately 4-5 cups of dry rice
Small 'I spy' items
Thread

Directions:
1. Cut a piece of fabric 8.5" X 16.5"

2. 2.5" down from one end of the rectangle and 2.5" in from each side, cut a square that is 3.5" X 3.5"

3. Cut a square piece of heavy weight vinyl 5" X 5".
Tip: make sure to use the heaviest weight of vinyl you can find. If you use lightweight your sewing will tear it and the items could also cut it.

4. Place the square vinyl on the wrong side of the fabric centering it over the square whole you cut. Use masking tape to secure a couple of the corners to keep the vinyl from sliding.

5. Use a blanket stitch from the right side of the fabric to sew the vinyl into place. It's fun to do a contrasting color that makes the peek hole stand out.

6. With right sides together, fold your rectangle in half 'hamburger' style. You will have 3 raw edges. Sew around these 3 edges leaving a 4 or 5 inch gap. Turn the bag right side out.

7. Put a variety of I spy items in the bag. You can find lots of little things at the dollar store. Fill the bag a little over half full of dry rice, 4 or 5 cups.

8. Turn in raw edges where you left the filling gap and edge stitch shut. Hooray! Now you have a nice I spy bag for keeping your child sitting still.

I have plans to make a little laminated label with each of the items listed on it. That's in the works. I'm going to attach it with a ribbon and sew that on to a corner.