Christmas is Here...

I cut the material out for this in October....then it sat around until last week when I decided I was going to finish it....it's just too bad it shrunk a little funny. I might try to fix that a little. {just not right now!}



if you remember my tree skirt and stockings, you will remember that they all match! Love it!

Vinyl makes everything better.....

I had a friend ask me to help with some vinyl...so because I was making her's, I decided to make me a few things. {made with Printing Press cartridge on the Cricut}

Amy cut me the wood for the Believe sign....and I got the metal sign at Hobby Lobby {at 50% off} it already had the white outline on the sign. LOVE how they turned out.

Jingle All the Way......

I was asked to teach a class at the library...we are making Jingle Bell Wreaths. They are super easy and turned out super cute. I will give you a few instructions {but they are really self explanatory!}

Cut a piece of bailing wire {really thick wire} about 34" long. Make a hook at one end.



Buy 2 packages of 1" bells - {I got mine at Hobby Lobby}. You need about 50 bells.

Thread all the bells onto the wire. You will want to shake them a little to get them as close as possible. When you get to the end, make another hook and hook the two end pieces together. This is the hardest part, make sure you get it as tight as possible.



Make a pretty bow. Add to wreath and you are finished. You can also add a loop to hang the wreath from or hang it from a doorknob.

Give Thanks!!

What a wonderful time of year!  I am so grateful for the many things I have been given, especially my ability to create fun and beautiful things.  I am grateful for fun children that keep me on my toes and a wonderful husband who provides for our family.  I know I could go on and on but I thought I would keep it short and simple today.

I have been wanting to make this since I bought the vinyl last week, I finally had a minute to pull out my Cricut machine and make it.  I used the cartridge Lyrical Letters since I love that cartridge.   It also had the Thanks already together so I didn't have to link them.  I put it on the back of my "Happy Haunting" block and so now I have a multiple use block - LOVE THAT!!!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving - my sister is traveling today to my house and so we are going to have our Thanksgiving dinner on BLACK FRIDAY - I hope that isn't too crazy.  I never have a desire to go shopping on Black Friday so it doesn't matter to me what day we have it - just that I can spend it with family.

Don't wash your curtains!

I was being very productive on Monday....I cleaned the house, did 7 loads of laundry, cleaned the storage room, organized...you name it, i did it.

As I moved into the kitchen, I vacuumed all the cobwebs off the walls {and no, there were not Halloween decorations}...then I thought I would take down the curtains and wash them....well, that turned into a whole new project.

This is what they looked like when I put them back up



Seriously, they shrunk like 6" off the floor. {I hemmed them when I bought them because they were WAY too long}

So, now what am I going to do? I'm not going to have my curtains 6" off the floor. I could add a border on the bottom, but it would look kind of dumb. Then it hit me. The perfect solution.

About a month ago I was at Hobby Lobby and they had a piece of upholstery fabric on clearance for $2/yard. I bought a yard. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. But now I know.

I cut the curtains about 10" down from the top and added this.....



The top and bottom borders are denim and the middle is the upholstery fabric I got at Hobby Lobby. I LOVE them! They are perfect and even cuter than they were before I washed them.



and now they touch the floor again!

One hat, two hat, pink hat, pumpkin hat???

Here is the beautiful model wearing her pink hat.  I have to say the nurses loved it and all wanted to know how to make one.  Thanks Liberty for making her the star of the show!!!

Then for Halloween I pulled out this one.

Isn't my pumpkin so cute???  She was supposed to be dressed up as a little black cat but she never really liked the cat hat I had for her, but she didn't mind wearing this cute little number.

I have to say although I can make many things from fabric and yarn, I think this little girl is numbered among my most favorite creations.  She is so sweet and everyone loves her from the minute they meet her.  I'm glad that this creation is over and now on to dressing her up and making her one of the cutest little girls I know.

For the instructions on how to make them here is the post that Liberty put all the links in.  Enjoy!!

New Bling!

I've really been into making jewelry lately...it started with that darn bead store in Utah {that I totally love} and I've been hooked ever since....so here is my newest creations! I used chain between the beads and LOVE how it turned out! They are a bit "chunky" but I'm into that right now!

Baby in Pink

Baby Esther arrived safe and sound, early Friday morning. {October 29th @ 4:28am, 7lbs 14 oz, 20 3/4" long}.



I couldn't wait to take this cute pink hat to her and take some pictures....unfortunately when I went the the hospital on Saturday, I forgot my camera. {we did take some on Amy's camera and I will get them when they get home.}

Congratulations to Amy and her family! I will have to do double duty for the next few months while she recovers! {shouldn't be a problem!}.



Originally found HERE....but Redesigned without the top and just used the same color yarn. The flower is on a clip so when the hat is too small, she can still use the flower.

The Last LINK

It's always good when your child is happy with his Halloween costume. This was a special request for this year.

It turned out great and he is VERY happy with it.

Do you know who Link is?? {he's from the video game Zelda}.



I started with THIS pattern, I used the shape of the top without the points at the bottom. I cut it on the fold so there is no seam down the front. I used fleece so I wouldn't have to finish every edge. There are several different versions of Link, I used the simplest one I could find. he has a shirt under the green one that looks kindof like chain, so I added a "V" at the neck and on each of the sides to make it look layered with the chain fabric.



Then I used some leather like material and made a sword holder. {it doesn't work great, but it will work for a few nights!}. The sword is kind of heavy so it pulls the holder down.



I found this cute leather bag at Hobby Lobby and Tanner made it to go with his costume.



I used the hat from the same pattern. I used fleece with fusible interfacing. I just serged the edges inside, it worked perfectly. His only complaint is that I made him get his hair cut and now it's not long enough to look like Link. {sorry!}



....add some church pants, and a pair of boots from the thrift store and you get one HAPPY LINK!



Happy Halloween! Hope it's a GREAT weekend. Stay Safe!

It's never toooo late......

to make more Halloween crafts. It's almost a whole week before the "big day" and I just finished a few last minute Halloween projects. {some of them have been on my list since last Halloween!}

First up....Halloween Wall Hanging. {I just couldn't have the fall tree on the wall with the cute spider table runner.} Enter NEW Halloween wall hanging. Super EASY! I made a spider web in the middle square



then sewed squares all around the middle one...and added tabs at the top. I was done in less than 2 hours. total.



and the back is just as cute as the front.



then I made some towels {with fabric I bought last year to make towels!}



and last, I made some SUPER cute black pails with googly eyes for my visiting teaching sisters and filled them with caramel corn {recipe found HERE}



Hope you all enjoy your week of Halloween festivities. I know we will!

Mini Fabric Pumpkins

After making some more fabric pumpkins for our craft group class I figured I would make a couple of these cute pumpkins.  They are not very big.  I found the idea on Family Fun crafts.  They are super easy and don't require much then a scrap of fabric, thread and a stick from outside.  I think my circle I began with was about 9 or 10 inches.  They turned out pretty cute.  I haven't glued the sticks in yet but they seem to be holding.  They used a plastic bag to fill the pumpkins but I chose to use the stuffing I used to make our pumpkins.

Do you like them?  I sure do.  Although I need to stop making pumpkins and fall decorations, I am running out of room to put them.  I may have to look through what I have and get rid of some things.  Oh, well, it is so much fun to make things like this.

Another easy blanket project

I bought a remnant fabric at garage sale this summer.  It was the really soft yellow and white fabric in this blanket.  I then bought a remnant at JoAnn's of fleece of both white and yellow.  Then the other night I thought.  I want to make that blanket.  (I have been sewing like a mad woman since this baby is coming in 2 weeks and I wanted to sew some Christmas presents before she comes.)  This project was just one of those, "hey, I don't have anything hanging over my head projects and I want something easy."  So I cut the fabric into 9 inch squares and then serged it together with the flatlock seam on my serger.  It looks like this when you pull the fabrics apart.

I'm not sure if you can see how it looks but it is a really cool seam.

I then took that same stitch and ran it all around the blanket.  I had to repair a couple of places with a zigzag stitch after it was all done but I have washed it and the seams are staying together.  It is so soft, my daughter thinks it is hers and walked around with it for a couple of hours after I made it "petting" it over and over again.  I hope that she can share it with her new sister.  (She is 5 after all.)

I think I made it in less then an hour.  It is another take on the rag quilts that Liberty loves to make.  Except you don't have to clip any seams. 

Here are a couple more pictures of it.