Birthday Crafts

Well it’s that time again…  Craft giving by pinning!  This time it’s for Birthday presents.  My mom and Aunt have their birthdays one day apart and we celebrated this past weekend. 

Here is Mom’s Board:

I was happy to see a mixture of pins…  some crafts and some actually gifts.  A nice mix to give some ideas!  Mom had a theme of: earrings, orange pillows and homemade beauty products. 

My Aunt’s Board:

A mixture of outdoor ideas and a mix of artwork ideas. 

So which ones did I choose??

          

And here’s how it went down:

 

I found pillows (cushions) @ IKEA for $3.99 each – BARGAIN! I took out a little of the stitching and removed all the stuffing. I then printed out a large “R” for my Mom’s last name.

 

Cut out 2 sheets of freezer paper.  Trace the “R” onto the non-slick side of the freezer paper.

 

Using an exacto knife cut out the negative images.  Use another sheet of freezer paper inside slick side up.

 

Center the “R” on the pillow.  Using a medium iron no steam – iron the freezer paper.  It will create a fusion between the two.  Make sure you’ve gotten a good fuse between the edges.

 

Using acrylic paint the image.  Apply at least 2 coats.  Let dry overnight and pull off freezer paper.  Refill pillow (I used some extra polyfil to make them feel a little more full.) Sew closure back together.

 

And voila pretty monogrammed pillow!

You can use this method for so many different things.  You can do t-shirts, totes, etc!

Menu board:

You can find the 8 picture frame @ Wal-Mart for $10.  They have them in black and brown.  I also went to Michaels and grabbed some scrapbook paper and stickers.

  

This was a super simple project and turned out so cute!!

  

You use dry erase marker to write your menu each week!  I love this and *may* be making me one of these as well!!

It’s about time for me to start pinning for my birthday in July!  Wonder what will end up on there??  Have you been working on any projects lately?

Some updates

Well Lord knows y’all need some updates since I can’t seem to write a blog post recently to save my soul!

Today I happen to click over to the “Look Around” page on this little ol’ blog of mine and noticed that I’ve made some updates to the hizzy and haven’t let y’all in the loop! 

And before we go any further, I just need to say it’s hard to be a fulltime-working-another-job-than-blogging photographer.  {did you follow that?}  That is to say it’s difficult to get good pictures when the sun is on it’s way to sleepy time.  So until day light savings time changes next week {YAY!!}– these pics will have to do…  please excuse any harsh sunlight you may see!

We’ll start in the living room…  as of right this minute this is the picture on the “Look Around” page:

So a few changes in here:

New drapes	Layered rug on rug
New Chair &  reupholstered	Different cocktail table
New Lamps	Desk area added
Accessory Changes	New throw pillows

I’m really enjoying the kind of “layered” feel that‘s working in here.  Of course there are tweaks to be made…  I need to raise the drapes (and actually sew them), etc. But I like the addition of the white touches that bring a little lightness to the room as well.

Dining Room:

I know we’ve talked about this room a lot…  and you probably felt like it wasn’t getting any action, but I have made some changes although there’s still more to do!

Changes in here:

Light fixture	New Rug
Window Treatments

Still hoping to get my chairs done…  do you remember?!?  But I’m still on the fence on color.  Loving the drapes and the rug although a rug with white probably wasn’t the best choice for the high traffic area it’s in but you only live once, right??

Master Bedroom:

Just a few little touches in this room…

Updated Pillows

New Lamps

The lamps in this space we’re too small so on a lunch shopping trip @ TJ Maxx I found these lovely grey ginger jar-esque.  I moved the lamps out to the Living room (you can see in the above picture.)  I also found the black pillows at one of my other favorite stores – HomeGoods.  They are perfect…  the little nobbies on the pillows are grey, pink, and gold.  I took the existing pink pillow and had my mom cut it down and sew it to fit an existing filler.  Then I took it to L & M Monogramming and had the snazzy “L” embroidered on.

One last update…

I alluded to this a long time ago but never officially updated you guys on the hallway..  I painted it the same color as the living to brighten it up a bit.  I added a mirror from IKEA, which I am loving!  It’s so nice to have a full length mirror to see your outfits in and it totally opens up the space as well!  DUAL purpose – Love it!

So that about does it for changes around here…  what have you been working on lately??

I’m off to update the “Look Around” page ☺

Pinning for Friends

We have some good friends that are purchasing a new home!  It’s a super cute bungalow cottage!  I can’t wait to actually get inside and see the house.  They should be closing any day now!!

These past couple weeks I’ve been pinning ideas for them on my lovely addiction:  Pinterest!  We had dinner one night and talked a little bit about design direction.  Years ago before blog land exploded and there was anything like Pinterest, I would always ask my clients to compile an “idea file.”  The best way to do this was with magazines; pulling out any pictures of rooms they like the “feel” of.  And Pinterest has made this SO much easier.  It gives you a glimpse into your clients mind because we all know that you could say one thing but I would visualize something completely different.

Anyhoo…  I thought I’d share some of my favorites that I have pinned for my friends.  Here’s the whole board, if you want to check it out!

Sarah Richardson

Meredith Heron – via decorpad

via House Beautiful

via Sarah Richardson

Houzz

Gorgeous, right!!?!  I look forward to seeing the new house and what direction we’ll be going on!  Hopefully I’ll be able to share, hint. hint.

Crafty-Madness!

You’ve been checking out the crafts that we made for our families “Christmas Craft Challenge” and I’m super excited to share all the crafts that I received! 

You may want to check out my Christmas Craft Challenge board via Pinterest

So many fun ideas!  So I had no idea what to expect on Christmas morning.  I was under the impression that we were making ONE craft per person, but I should have known with my family there’s no such thing as just ONE present!  They out did themselves with the amount of work they did!

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Yes – I know!!  Crazy awesome cool, huh?!?!  I was blown away!  We all really enjoyed this idea of making something for each other but next year we’ve made a couple more “rules” for the challenge. 

•  Must have more options on our boards •  Now we’ll have all year to work on the crafts and find “deals” •  And I say a limit on the amount we do!!  We’ll see if they’ll agree to that!

Overall I would HIGHLY recommend this!  It would be a great way to exchange gifts with friends as well.  A homemade gift just means so much!!  What were your favorite gifts this year?  Did anyone make something for you?  I have to say I did enjoy getting my craft on – it had been a while!!