Halloween Costumes

This year I made 2 Belle costumes, one for a friend and one for her daughter. I have a good picture of the dress for her daughter, but I don't have one of her dress.

I also made a dress for myself last minute- so it wasn't completely finished, but it worked. My DH needed a vest for his costume so that was another last minute addition- it wasn't perfect, but it worked for one night and we had lots of fun. :) Here we have the Toy Story gang. My DH is Woody, I'm Bo Peep, My niece is Jessie and my nephew is Woody. :)

Fun with Bleach & Paint

My sister and I decided to try out freezer paper stencils, bleach, and paint. We had fun figuring it all out, but we both liked the way the paint turned out better. Next time we'll need to heat set the paint though because it washed out really easily. :( But it was still a fun project. :)

On my shirt I bleached the front, but I wasn't careful enough and it got some bleach on the back. So I tried to cover it up with another painted one, which worked until I washed it. Of course that left me with more symbols on my shirt than I wanted. Next time I'll just have to be more careful!

My sister did a funny shirt titled "Turtles have no business on a trampoline" :)

Sneak Peek

Here's little peek into what has been keeping me away from blogging... aside from everyday life and 2 kids under 2 that is... :)

Unpainting

This is a nice little bookshelf I picked up at a yard sale for $5. They painted this fake wood shelf that they probably got from Wal Mart or Target with Latex paint. And it was scratched. Bad. So, I decided to unpaint it. (I have decided that this s the best way to describe it... despite my husbands literal translation. :D) It took me a lot longer than it should have, because I kept pushing the little voice out of my had that was telling me to try getting it wet. Turns out the 8+ hours I spent peeling the paint and making a HUGE mess could have been closer to 2 hours if I had just rubbed a wet wash cloth over the paint and watched it come off in huge pieces. Oh well, you live and you learn. :) Also, I left the back brown because it is on a different material so it didn't come off... and they primed that part first too. But it's okay because brown works in my front room. :)

Here are my before pictures:

During:

After:

Bright Flower Pillow

Today I made a pillow for my younger sister that matches her new bedspread to go away to college! I love the way it turned out... I was tempted to keep it for my little girl. ;) Again, this is based off a pillow tutorial I found on Make It and Love It.

Recovering

I got this rocking chair at a yard sale out of the 'free' box. Two of my older sisters had pink chairs just like these growing up, and I thought it would be easy enough to make a new cover for my little girl. So I gave it a shot and here's what I got...

Before

After

Sunburst Curtains

My kitchen was in desperate need of some TLC... and I thought it would be good practice... so I made some curtains today. I told my sister-in-law about my project idea and she had some fabric that had been used for a different project and was kind enough to let me re-use it. It wasn't what I expected, but I still like the way it turned out. And now to see how well it works against the sun light.... tomorrow. :)

Flower Pillow

I decided to try to make a super cute pillow I saw on Make It and Love It,and with some in put from my sister in law, added some random buttons to add a little character to my pillow. :) I used left over material from the quilt I made for my son because it just so happens match my front room pretty nicely. :) I like the way it turned out and I am working on making a super bright and colorful one for my little sister to take to college with her. (I'll add pictures of hers when I'm done.)

Crocheting

I saw some super cute Butterflies that I wanted to try to crochet, but since I've only really done blanket edges in the last 5+ years, I decided to start with the flower and work my way up to a heart. They are so cute and tiny! My hook isn't technically the right size, but I think they turned out pretty good anyway. :)

Bed Spread

So I don't have a picture of the whole thing, but I do have a couple close ups. The first is a before picture, and the second one is an after picture. The bed spread is reversible so the trim is a different color on each side. (There wasn't enough at JoAnn to do it all one color, but I love the way it turned out!) I am done with the bed, and next is the couch. I will be making a couple pillows and cute throw for the couch and then on to curtains for the bathroom! :)

More Pillows!

Here are the rest of the pillows for the bed. :)

Pillows

So I am trying my hand at making decorative pillows for a lady that my sister-in-law is doing some Interior Design work for. I am pretty excited about how they are turning out. I love learning how to do new things! :)

Nursing Covers

So I decided that I wanted a nursing cover. It is getting a bit warm for a double layer flannel blanket, and I wanted to see how hard they were to make. I decided to look it up, and followed a tutorial by Little Birdie Secrets and it was so easy! I LOVE my new cover! It is perfect... maybe not in every way- but I love it just the same. I have now made 3. 2 for myself, and one for my sister. :)

Pink Dinosaurs: Take 2

I can't believe it. I washed my fabrics. I serged my fabrics. I crocheted my fabrics. And when I was all done, I washed my blanket... and got more pink dinosaurs. I am so sad, but it's what I get for not listening to myself and just doing brown on the other side. I guess it' a good thing I have a daughter too. Pink dinos are awesome as far as she's concerned. :) No more red flannel for me for a while. :/ (I know it doesn't look pink... but it is.)

Flannel Blanket

I decided to make a flannel blanket for my little guy. I serged two pieces of flannel together and then crocheted the edges. It is a bit hard to get my hook through both layers, but I just wear a bowling wrist guard and it gives me something soft between my palm and the other end of my hook. I love the way it turned out and am excited for his dinosaur blanket next! Don't worry- I got new material. :)

Pink Dinosaurs

I bought some super cute dinosaur fabric from Jo-Ann for one side of a blanket and some red tie dye fabric for the other side. Well, I was so excited to get started on the blanket when I got home that I threw the fabrics in the washer together. Trust me. I realize my mistake. I was really sad because the dino fabric turned SO pink. I tried a few things to get it out, I even put some bleach in with it one of the times I washed it, but nothing worked. So instead I now have pink dinosaur fabric that I'm not sure what to do with, and am going to get some new dinosaur fabric. :) I have also washed the red one a few more times and I think I'm safe on that end. I hope they still have my dinosaurs!

Boy Quilt

I finished the quilt for my little boy! I decided to do something a little different and I did the stitching in dinosaur shapes. I did 4 different dinosaurs and just made a pattern. I think it turned out pretty good. My sister made the dinosaurs that I traced onto the quilt and I absolutely adore them! She did a great job. I also did a few squares made up of rounded zig zags that seemed to go along with the dinosaur theme. I think this blanket was a little bit easier because I felt more comfortable hand stitching, and I think I did less than I did on my daughters quilt. I am so glad I finished his blanket, it had been patiently waiting to be hand quilted for a while now, and I was starting to wonder if it would ever get finished. It did, and just in time too- We are headed out to the hospital in a little bit to be induced! :)

Oh, and sorry for the phone picture, I didn't want to unpack the camera and laptop. :)

Girl Quilt

Today finished my first real quilt! I did all the work from beginning to end, including the hand quilting. I am so excited and a little bit proud of myself for finishing. It was hard, but in a really enjoyable way. I really loved putting time into something like this for my daughter, and I think it turned out pretty good for my first quilt. I am pregnant now with a boy and his blanket is pinned and waiting to be sewn together, but I think I need a little break from all the tiny stitches. I am on a time limit though- I want to be done by the time I have him... I'm due May 26th... so I guess I can't wait too long. :)