Easy gift idea

I take no credit for this idea, it was all my daughter Charlotte. Who is 8 years old. If she had her own Pinterest she would easily surpass me in followers, she is that cool:)

It was her idea to put two carnations into a Starbucks cup, and surprisingly it was beautiful! 

Attach a gift card with ribbon and you have a great easy gift!

Thank you sweet Charlotte. 

 

Romantic belt tutorial

Lately while at my thrift store (I can call it that since the ladies that work there like to have my kids call them Aunt "whatevertheirnameis", I love that place!) I have been buying any wide belt that I can get my hands on.

I mean, the belts are only 99 cents, quite a bargain. Even cheaper is when you discover in your own closet a slew of your own quite outdated belts. I may have even squeaked in delight when I saw some thin, probably fake leather, belts of my own. So I grabbed some embroidered trim I've had for years, my glue gun, and made something fabulous.

Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway!!! :)

Here is what you will need:

• Eyelet trim, mine is about 2.5 inches wide
• A thin belt
• glue gun
• sewing machine (you can probably just glue the whole thing to be honest)

Measure from the belt hole (?) you are most likely to use to right before the loop on the oppisite side.
Multiply that number by 1.6.

Cut 2 pieces of eyelet trim using your above number.

Sew or serge these 2 pieces right sides together.

Ruffle this piece, setting your machine to the longest stitch and highest tension. On my machine this is 9 tension and 5 stitch length.

Fold over the ends of the trim and sew for a nice finished hem.

Lay the ruffle flat now, smooth, and make sure that it fits the belt, between the holes and the buckle.

Start glueing! To make this easy I first glued the ends and worked my way in. Then I glued one side at a time. Take care to keep the ruffle centered!

Voila, you're done!

 While I was trying to get some pics of the belt, the little one wanted some love!

 Linked to the following parties!
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://thehillsarelivin.blogspot.com/
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-sugar-and.html

Tree branch earrings and a GIVEAWAY!

Lately I have been looking at our fireplace, dreaming of fires that will never get started. You see, we have a wood burning fireplace with a crazy draft so we have it covered and blocked. In the eight years we have been here in this house we've had about 2 or 3 fires. Dead serious. So what to do with all of this firewood?

I am thinking about painting the owl all white. What do you think?

Make earrings! In the past I showed you how to make buttons out of tree branches and this is basically the same idea. Of course you can always make the buttons and glue them to an earring post. That is what I am going to do in addition to this earring.

Here is what you will need:

• Tree branch or twig/ log
• Hand saw or miter saw
• Mod Podge
• Earring hooks
• Jewelry pliers 
• Drill
• Jump rings
• Scrap paper if desired

1. First you cut your tree branch, mine is about 1.75- 2". Cut it about 1/8" thick.
2. Drill a hole into the top of the earring, fairly close to the top to accommodate a jump ring.
3.  Cut out your image onto scrap paper...endless possibilities!
4. Mod Podge your paper onto the earring. I also made a plain pair that I just lacquered. Equally pretty!
5. Mod Podge over the whole earring and let dry!
6. Attach jump ring and hook
7. Wear and enjoy!

 Now for the GIVEAWAY! You can win any of the following necklaces and 2 winners will be chosen. All you have to do is:

Follow me via Google Friend Connect and let me know which necklace you would choose. ***EDIT- since I am giving away 2 necklaces, please put your 1st and 2nd choices in your comment:). I didn't think that through, haha!***

That's it! Good luck! Oh, and let's close the giveaway on November 16th!

The choices:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Linked to:
http://thegirlcreativepartyblog.blogspot.com/
http://sewcando.blogspot.com/
The DIY Showoff
http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/
http://beckieandbrad.blogspot.com/
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.mybackyardeden.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.luckystarlane.com/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/
http://www.thethriftyhome.com/

Tree initial wall art- Tutorial!

I really don't know what to call it so I will let you decide:). It is a tree with mine and my husbands initials on it, so it is an initial tree, right? haha. Anyway, I had a wall in the new bathroom that needed filling and since I have a collection of embroidery hoops I decided on this.

Supply list:
embroidery hoop- I used a 12 inch one
muslin or another thick cotton fabric
acrylic paint for the tree
Fine tip paint brush
Embroidery floss
Embriodery needle
Hot glue gun

Optional

Grosgrain ribbon for flowers (or fabric for leaves if you prefer)
Needle and thread for grosgrain flowers
Ribbon for hanging
Paint for embroidery hoop


First you start with some muslin or other thick cotton fabric and an embroidery hoop. You can paint the embroidery hoop at this time or leave it until last (to decide how you like it once complete) like I did.

Then using a disappearing ink marker I sketched out my tree, heart, and initials. To make the bark in the tree I took my marker and rolled it in my fingertips while drawing a line down. It worked great, so try practicing that "technique" on some scrap paper!

For the heart I used a basic running stitch using red embroidery floss.

For the initials I used a split stitch so that it looked a bit more polished.

Both stitches are really easy.
Below are examples of each stitch for you!

  

Running Stitch

Split stitch

Here is the end result of my hard labor:).

Now it is time to begin painting your tree. I have an assortment of acrylic paints, the $1 paints at craft stores. I would have preferred brown for the tree but the room it is going in is blue and black so I needed a darker shade. I settled for a brown/ blue/ gray/ green that I mixed. Using a fine tip paint brush I traced my outline, adding few additional touches here and there:).

Deciding that it needed a bit more I thought I would add some fabric leaves or some embroidered hearts throughout. I ended up making some ribbon flowers that I am still not committed to, but I do love them!
Take 4 inches of grosgrain ribbon and burn the ends to prevent from fraying.














Tie a knot at the end of your threaded needle and sew a running stitch at the bottom of the ribbon.

Pull that stitch tight to create a flower or yo-yo.

Notice the Emergen-C in the back. Yeah, I am sick. Awesomeness.

Here I go through the loop at the beginning knot and double knot my thread to secure.

The result...if I were brave enough to commit to these flowers! haha!

***Now is the time to paint your frame if you decide to or haven't painted it already!***

Notice the pins in the back? Yep, that is me trying decide on the flowers!

Pull your fabric tight and tighten your hoop screw.





Cut the excess fabric as you would trim a pie.

Then hot glue the fabric over onto the hoop as shown.

At this point, if wanting a more polished look or if giving this as a gift, add ribbon to the inside for a nice touch.

Finally, loop a ribbon through to hang and admire your work!

PS, you will see that I was noncommittal with the flowers. What do you think? With or without?

 Oh, and a great part to the day? Seeing this in the mail!

How cute is she???

Do you follow Enjoying The Small Things and Kelle Hampton? You have to! She is an amazing mother and photographer with an even more amazing story. I love her and don't even know her, although I picture myself as her bestie at times.

Anyway, I donated what I could to the walk that she participated in for Nella (her daughter born with Down's Syndrome) and I got this super sweet thank you letter from the Hampton's. Oh, and Nella thinks I am a rockstar which earns her a place on my fridge:)!

Linked to the following parties: