Parental Units

I just have to take a minute and brag about my parents. I will argue with anyone that they are the most amazing parents in the world. The love and support they have for my brother and I is beyond incredible. Throughout my 23 years of living, they have been the most caring, loving, funny, crazy parents a young woman could ask for. Did they drive me absolutely nuts at times? Yes, of course they did, but what else are parents good for, right? Well, much, much more and I am grateful for that. :) They have taught me how to love, how to live, how to be happy, how to be hopeful and grateful, how to laugh, how to see life as it is, how to treat others, how to have confidence, how to love 80's rock, how to see the good in people, how to be reasonable and respectful, how to look for the bright side, how to be honest, how to be a friend, and so much more. They are two of my absolute best friends and I cannot imagine life without them. I hope that I can be a mother like my mom and have a husband like my dad. Words cannot express the love, respect, and how thankful I am for them. Thank you mom and dad - I love you so very, very much!

"H"appy Home

Happy doors make me happy. So I guess it'll help when I get home every day. 

I bought the wood letter from Hobby Lobby which was $12.99 (I think) but used the 40% off coupon and got it for $8 something. Not too shabby. Now, with this letter, I sat and sat and thought and thought. At first, I wanted to paint a herringbone print, but that would have taken me hours. Then I wanted to something crazy like paint a bunch of different colored flowers, but I'm not really an artist. Then I wanted to do this and this and what-not. Finally, I wanted to do something simple, shocking as that never happens.

The pink is Pearle Holly Berry by Martha Stewart. I loveee her pearle paint line! It's not so shiney and cheap-looking I guess, they're just pretty shades with a slight pearly shine. As for the side of the H I used Daffodil Yellow acrylic paint. I did a couple coats, let it dry, hot glued some fake daisies, and hung it with twine. :)

Total time: 20 minutes

A couple months ago my friend, Allie, wanted to do something crafty with a bunch of sea shells. She's from Charleston and loves anything nautical. So she bought the letter A (same from above) and I helped her cover it with all of her sea shells! Turned out cute and even cuter in her room!

Spring it on!

After a few days of absolutely beautiful weather and Spring break jitters, I changed my desk! I went with all pretty spring colors of course. :)

I used the canvas I had for my Christmas desk, made tissue flowers using this tutorial, bought fun flowers at the Dollar Tree, and made a fabric banner with scraps of fabric. 

I also made another canvas that isn't shown on this part of my desk. I found it on Pinterest and had to make it!

Patch me if you can

Time for patches!

Super easy - super fun :)

Materials:

- Tank (Mine are Hanes from Wal-Mart for $5)

- Piece of paper in the shape wanted

- Scrap of fabric for patch

- Matching thread

- Scrap of iron on fusion

- Scrap of stabilizer

- Sewing machine

Directions:

Step 1: 

Find a tank and choose the shape you want for your patch. 

(The less small curves the better)

Step 2: 

Cut out your shape on a piece of paper. 

I just printed the Arkansas out at the size that I wanted.

Step 3:

Take your patch fabric and iron on fusion. This will make it a tad bit stiffer.

Step 4:

Pin the paper to your fabric and use it as as stencil to cut around.

Step 5:

On a left over piece of fabric play with your stitch length using a zig-zag stitch. This will be for around your shape. You will want it pretty tight but not too tight. On the left you can see beside the 0.3 that the stitches are really really tight. At the bottom you can see the 0.5 where the stitches are looser, which is too loose. On the right you see the 0.4 where it's not too tight and not too loose. You will have to play with your machine to see what length you want. The width I used was 2.5cm and length 0.4cm.

Step 6:

Take your shape and pin onto stabilizer. This will make it really "patchy" because it stiffens it more, but don't worry, it dissolves when you wash it. Using the stitch you found from step 5, stitch the fabric onto the stabilizer keeping the center of the foot on the edge of your fabric. If you have a lot of curves, you will have to pick up your foot and turn in tiny increments at a time. It can be tricky but do-able.

Step 7:

Now that the stabilizer is sewn on, carefully rip off the excess by holding onto the stitches and gently pulling the stabilizer away. Trim with scissors if needed.

Step 8:

Pin your patch to wherever you want it on your shirt. 

I recommend trying it on to make sure you like the placement.

Step 9:

Sew it on to your shirt using a straight stitch and sewing right along the inside of the zig-zag stitch.

Step 10:

Wear! :)

Happy girl

Spring break has finally arrived for this busy girl, and man has it been great so far!

I got to see three of my very best friends in two days which never happens because we all live in different places. Ashton is a married, soon-to-be momma that lives in our home town, Hayley is in chiropractic school in Kansas City, and Dani is a graphic designer in St. Louis. Needless to say, it made me so incredibly happy to see them! Then last night my brother invited to over for a bonfire at another friend's house on the lake. Perfect weekend with friends and family! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with Hayley :(

Oh and I finally snuck in a mani! :)

[Shurt]

Knit circle shirt - easiest top ever! So simple.

I used a knit that I love from Hobby Lobby (you might recognize 

the fabric as I made an infinity scarf in the lighter blue last month).

Materials:

1 yd knit fabric (or something stretchy)

Sewing machine

Fitted t-shirt (for measurements)

 Directions:

 Fold your fabric in half so it is wider than it is tall. If you are using stripes like me, make sure when you fold it over the lines match up. Next cut, pin, and sew! If you're like me, then a picture is easier to understand. So take a look at picture below:

You're going to cut along the dotted lines. Make sure you do not cut the fold though - except for the neckline. I did a v-cut in the front and barely a dip in the back. I hemmed them for a more finished look (optional). I also hemmed the bottom of my shirt, which includes only between the lines sewn (again, optional). Easiest shirt ever! Have fun!

Be Mine

Burlap and Chevron Heart

 

 

Materials:

1/3 yd Burlap

Scrap of Chevron or other fabric

Wal-mart bags or fiberfill

Black thread

 Wire hanger

Directions:

Fold scrap of fabric in half and cut out a heart (half since it is folded). Place it on top of a larger square piece of burlap. Stitch around the edge of the heart leaving a 3-4 inch hole, so it is now one piece with the burlap. Fill the chevron with fiberfill or Wal-Mart bags (I used about 8-9 bags) using a butter knife to stuff them up in the top. Sew the hole shut once you're happy with the fluffiness. Next take another square piece of burlap and place underneath. Stitch around the heart about an inch away for a border. Cut the burlap in the shape of the heart and fray the edges with your fingers. Take your wire hanger and bend or cut so the hook is gone. Poke each end through your burlap at the top and bend to each other. Bend or cut access off. Tie a ribbon and hang over a door using a command hook on the back!

Inspired by a friend on FB I decided to make my own! It's a little bigger than a boys' basketball.

Guac-a-mole

Guacamole fan? I sure am.

Here is my favorite recipe!

Ingredients:

3 avocados

Great Value's Garlic and Lime Salsa

1/2 of an onion

1 TBLS margarine

Lemon juice

Salt

Garlic Powder

Paprika

Directions:

Dice your onions and throw them in a saucepan of melted margarine - sautee until liking (I like mine extra caramelized so they were pretty brown.) While they are cooking, cut and mash 3 avocados in a bowl. Add two-three spoons of salsa, a dash of salt, a couple shakes of garlic powder and paprika, and a few big squirts of lemon juice. Place in fridge. Once your onions are done, place them in another bowl and into the freezer to cool off before adding them to the guac. After about 5-10 minutes, add onions to guacamole and enjoy! 

Don't forget to keep at least 2 of the avocados pits!! 

Place them in the bowl with the guacamole, this is help it last longer and not brown!

DIY Laptop Sleeve: Tutorial

Here is a laptop sleeve tutorial. It's simple and can be done in about an hour!

Materials:

1/2 yard exterior fabric (flower fabric from Hobby Lobby)

1/2 yard for lining (I used faux gray suede - super soft)

Scrap of fabric for flap

Batting

1 Button

Sewing Machine

Needle and thread (for button)

First, measure your laptop. 

Mine is a 15" Macbook Pro so it ended up being 14.5" W x 10" H x 1" D

You will need to allow for seam allowance. I added 2.5 inches extra because I used double batting. Total equals = 17" W x 12.5" H

Step 1: Cut

Two rectangles of exterior fabric measuring 17" W x 12.5" H (or insert your numbers here)

One rectangle of scrap fabric for flap. You can make it the height you want, keeping the same width as everything else. So mine was 17" W x 7' H.

Two rectangles for lining:

One needs to be the same as the exterior, so 17" W x 12.5" H.

The other needs to be the same width, but you have to add the height of the flap and exterior piece together. So it will be 17" W x 19.5" H (12.5" + 7")

Four rectangles of batting that are the same as the exterior size = 17"W X12.5"H

You will have a total of 9 pieces of fabric/batting.

*It's better to have too much extra than not enough fabric!

Step 2: Overlap

Here you will pin the flap onto the WRONG side of your bigger lining piece. Make sure to line up the edge of flap to the edge of interior fabric. Hem all sides, then you will sew all sides. (See next step for alternative front flap hem) The lining that is still visible is the same size as the exterior pieces. So the back will be the exterior, then the flap will fold over to the front.

Step 3: Hem the Flap

OPTIONAL: Here I decided to hem the edge in the pattern of the chevron instead of just straight across. To do this cut the chevron so there is one strip (off-white for this fabric) extra that you can hem. You will need to cut only the extra strip at each point up to the next strip (yellow). Then just fold it up so the strip you want to see is visible. Press then stitch. 

I did two lines just for fun :)

Step 4: 3 Pieces together

This step you will need to add one exterior piece to the piece with the flap. First, press the top edge (that will go long the flap). Then place the rectangle so the exterior and lining fabrics are wrong sides together, and sew only along the top edge where it barely overlaps the flap. 

Step 5: Batting

Lift the exterior fabric up and place two pieces of batting in between the exterior and lining. Make sure to place it all the way up so it is against the seam by the flap.

Step 6: Layer

Layer all of your pieces together! Here you will place your largest piece (with the flap) lining right side down, with the batting on top, then the exterior piece that is already sewn together. Then place the other exterior piece on top right side down, two pieces of batting, then interior piece wrong side down. It will look like this:

Step 7: Pin and sew!

You will need to pin all three outsides together. It is super thick so make sure you get all the pieces lined up and pinned well. Stick your laptop in to make sure it fits and to see how much you can take it in. I could take in just under an inch on each side since I used extra at the beginning.* Sew along the edge. Cut off the extra fabric from the seam. Mine ended up being super snug (which was just what I wanted). When you are done, turn it right side out.

*I had to sew this a couple times before I got every layer all the way around since it was so thick. I just scooted in a tad more each time to get everything. Make sure to check to see how your laptop fits before you make it too tight. 

Step 8: Button

Measure and mark where you want the button hole on the flap. My machine has a button hole foot so I just up it in the machine and it did it by itself (after I read all the instructions and did a test on a scrap of fabric). After that, place your laptop into the sleeve then fold over the flap. See where the button hole lines up and mark where the button will be. Sew on your button.

Now you have a super cute laptop sleeve! :)

Easy Smeazy

Here are two of my six projects I completed this week. They were super simple and fun!

Here is a "pencil pouch" that I will be using for my fabric scissors, measuring tape, and other small sewing gadgets. I found my fabric at JoAnn's. It was a fat-quarter for $1.99, inside is a piece of felt that was 34¢, and the zipper was $1.89. All totaling to $4.22. :) 

I found the tutorial here.

_________________________________________________________

My other project was a new make-up bag. Mine is too small and is getting a little dirty. So I decided to make a new one! I used the French Lavender Tweed for the outside and Babyville Boutique Waterproof PUL fabric in green for the inside (both found at JoAnn's). The PUL fabric is mostly used for reusable diapers (okkayy...I know, I know, weird) - but it was perfect for the inside of a make-up bag because it's waterproof and can be wiped down or washed!

It turned out to be my favorite! I found this tutorial here.

"Sew" much fun

I finally have some time to sit down and do some sewing! YAY!

I went to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's this week and found some great deals on fabric.

My Hobby Lobby deals:

1.25 yd Off-White Knit - $11.24  (Used the 40% off coupon) = $6.74

1 yd Burlap = $3.99

3/4 yd Brown Jersey Knit = $3.74

1/2 Lace Knit = $1.43 (Originally $4, found in the scrap bin because of small pink spots)

1/2 yd Yellow Chevron = $1.61 (Orinigally $4.50, found in the scrap bin that had "soiled" on the label because someone wrote on the top 2in x 2in corner)

The red chevron was purchased at Hobby Lobby last month. It's 3 yards and I used the 40% off coupon to get him for $18 instead of $29.97 :)

Total: $17.51 

Total Savings: $10.01

My JoAnn's findings:
Fiskers Fabric Cutting Set - $53.99 which was 40% off = $32.39

2.5 yds French Lavendar Tweed - one sale in the red tag bin for $10 that was then 50% off = $12.50

1.25 yd Aqua Herringbone Suiting - $16.24 (Used the 50% off coupon) = $8.12

1.25 yd Heather Blue Spandex Knit - $13.76 (Knits were 40% off) = $9.74

1 yd Suede - $12.99 (not on sale)

2 Fabric Quarters = $1.99 each 

Total: $79.72

Total Savings: $47.24 

Let the sewing begin!!

Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

My absolute favorite meal is roasted lemon garlic shrimp. It is ammaaazing!

Now, I'm not one for measuring, so when it comes to ingredients I just wing-it. 

It has worked well so far..

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

About 1/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon, zested then cut into wedges

1 tbls lemon juice

Parsey Flakes, mostly for color

Salt and Peper

Fettuccine

1 1/2-2 tbls butter

Minced garlic, I use the kind in the jar

1 pound fresh shrimp, medium-sized, deveined with tails off  ($5 bag at Wal-Mart)

Instructions: 

          1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In an 8x8 glass baking pan combine olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley leaves. Olive oil should literally cover the bottom of the pan, if it doesn't drizzle in a little more. Season with S and P. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, checking every few minutes, if it looks like it is getting too brown remove and proceed to next step.  Meanwhile cook pasta, drain, and set aside.

          2. Remove pan from oven, add butter and move it around a little to melt, add shrimp, garlic of your preferred amount, and the lemons wedges, toss to coat with oil mixture. Bake for 8-10 more minutes or until shrimp start to curl and brown, check often.  If the shrimp is still pink, flip it to the boiler for a couple minutes. Serve over pasta, enjoy!

The left over butter /olive oil in the pan is perfect to roll corn on the cob in!

 

The original recipe was found here. I tweaked it a little more to my liking. :)

Glitter me - timber!

Another DIY that I did this weekend - a glitter mason jar with flowers. Cheap, easy, and pretty. It was super simple and took less than 5 minutes. All you do is coat the inside of the jar with mod podge, pour a fair amount of glitter in, put the lid on the jar and shake. After some good shakin', check inside to see if more glitter is needed and add accordingly. Let it dry for a couple of hours and use it as a vase, pencil cup, for make-up brushes, etc. It's not necessary but I used a top coat spray to help the glitter not get on everything I pull out of it.

I used Martha Stewart's Aquamarine glitter (found at Michael's)

To infinity, and beyond!

First of all, I love scarves, especially infinity scarves. I think they are a perfect accessory! I've always wanted to make one. So after many, many trips to Hobby Lobby and Joann's looking for the perfect knit fabric, I finally found the one. I found it at Hobby Lobby for $8.99/yd but use the 40% off coupon to get it for $4.50 (yay!). It's a beautiful combo of lace and turquoise and it was super easy to make. I found the tutorial here. Only difference was I used 1 yard of fabric rather than 2 and it still wrapped around twice. :)

I'm so glad I have my own sewing machine!

 Happy girl!

Flannel

"Oh, Brother" - the words of my boyfriend when I told him I got a sewing machine for Christmas.

...Get it? (Brother is the brand) Haha. Anyway, I love my new machine! It's a simple one which is perfect for me. Since I was home on Christmas break, I thought I would make some pajama pants (with the help of my mom of course). I got to use her nice sewing room and all her goods. :) We started with a pattern that was only 2 parts - each leg was one piece of fabric that you sew together at the crotch. But, me being me, I wanted pockets! So my mom really helped me on that part. We ended up taking the pocket pattern from a pair of scrubs and cutting our original pattern in half (so there were 2 pieces of fabric per leg = 4 total) . 

After some math, pinning, sewing, ironing, more pinning and sewing, and elastic I was done.

And I decided to make a matching pair (pockets and all) for my oh-so-loving boyfriend. :)

Bushel and Peck

For Christmas, my family is doing a "Secret Santa". We have never done it before, but now that (almost) all the cousins are married, we're trying something new. We thought about a theme, but ended up just going with whatev - so we'll see how this goes. :) Anyway, I decided to make a canvas (of course) of a song my Grammy used to sing to all of us kids when we were little. Now I just hope they don't somehow come across my blog in the next day haha. 

Merry Christmas!

We miss you Grammy!

1D

Here is a very simple One Direction canvas I painted for one of my girls that had a Birthday this weekend. She is in LOVE with them and wanted a canvas to join the rest of her poster wall. I couldn't turn her down! Surprisingly, for the perfectionist that I am, this didn't take me very long at all. It's an 11x14 canvas, and I used a thin red paint pen and a medium tip black paint pen. Took about 20 minutes! (This normally would have taken me about 45 minutes because something always goes wrong.) Maybe I'm just getting better. :)

Happy 15th Birthday, Natalie!

Patterns

This past weekend was wonderful. My mom came in to spend some time with me and do a little Christmas shopping. We spent the most time in Hobby Lobby (of course) wandering around getting idea after idea. I get my creativity from her. Although she loves fabric and sewing and I love paper and painting, we meet in the somewhere in the middle. Together we will think of some spiffy stuff.  :)

Anyway, I got to work on a project I have been putting off. I had bought some cardboard letters that spell "HOGS" a while back at HobLob but I never did anything to them. They were meant for a wreath, but they were too heavy to glue to decomesh. So they sat in my Papasun chair for a while. I finally thought of another idea and finally found the time to work on it.

First, I painted the letters white. Then I picked a print for each one. The H is chevron, O is houndstooth, G is argyle-ish, and the S is just vertical stripes. As I do on canvases, I drew everything out with a pencil. Once I stenciled every pattern on I went to town with a thin black paint pen. Now, the patterns were super easy - except for houndstooth. I looked up the pattern online, and imagined the process in my head. I'm not going to lie, it took me about 3 hours and a lot of double-checking. But once I figured it out and got the hang of it it was pretty easy. I will put a tutorial up later. After the patterns, I colored the sides of the letters black. Once they were done, I painted my canvas in a Razorback red and painted the edges black as well. Then I stuck the letters to the canvas!

 

This one was super fun to make!

Winter Thoughts

Soooo since I'm a teacher, I needed to come up with a "winter bulletin board" theme/saying. I've Googled and Googled and spent hours searching Pinterest and blogs. All I was seeing was "It's 'snow' secret..." or "There's 'snow' way...", which are all cute and fun. But I needed something a little, let's say, older, since I am a secondary teacher.  Anyway, after hours of looking, I gave up. Then one day (not even remotely thinking about my bulletin board) I came across a list of Christmas card ideas when - BOOM - I saw "Ice Ice Baby." I instantly sang the song and thought of a layout for it. I knew I would somehow use it as my winter saying. Yes, it is very cheesy, but it reflects a little more of my own personality...

Just start a singin'.

Now, here I went again with the canvases. I just used my paint pen and went to town. When I do these, I go to a font site first (usually dafont.com) and I search for a font that I like. Once I find one, I type in my words, draw on my canvas with a pencil, then go over with the pen. Fortunately, (and I have no idea how) I was blessed with a very steady hand. When it comes to tracing a straight line, it's not a problem. Wish everything was that easy for me (ha). Oh, and the snowflakes were another Dollar Tree purchase. :)

Enjoy the Little Things

Since it's almost Christmas, I needed to exchange my fall desk decor. It took me a while to decide but I finally did. (I can never make up my mind.) Hobby Lobby has been having a special on some canvases (Pack of 2 16x20 for $7.99, Pack of 2 11x14 for $5.99, and Pack of 2 8x10 for $3.99) for quite awhile so I have definitely been taking advantage of that. I bought a black paint marker that has literally become my BEST friend - he makes life so much easier. Below is my computer desk at school. I covered the bottom with burlap, like a skirt. It's just hot glued on. I added some red chevron fabric (that I also got at Hobby Lobby and used the 40% off coupon) that I will do something else with after Christmas. Maybe a new pillow. :) On the right is a mini Christmas tree and lights that go around the desk. On the left is my twine vase that I made last week. Then of course, my canvas. I saw it on Pinterest, and have always been a person who truly does enjoy the little things. So I decided to make my own! 

Simple.

I painted another canvas and I was very pleased with the result! :)