Yucky Frame to Fabulous Dry Erase Board

Yesterday was 50% off day at Goodwill here, so I got lots of fun things. Not as many as I hoped because it was CRAZY. People were everywhere! But I did pick up this frame:



And already with the hardware on the back! Score!


Anyway, with a little white paint, some cleaning up, and some cute fabric, I turned it into a dry erase board! Quick, simple, and cheap!

Fun Wedding Gift

On Saturday I went to a bridal shower for my friend Sallie. She's getting married SO SOON!

Yay for getting married!

Anyway, I knew I wanted to make something, but I just couldn't think of something. I thought an apron would be fun but I didn't have a lot of time. Then I thought of this little idea:

His and her pillowcases! I appliqued the letter of their first names (Sallie and Garrett) in the middle, added a little strip on the side, and there's an instant present!

Niece's Christmas Present...check!

I just made the world's simplest tutu for my niece.

Directions:
1. I folded the tulle in half and cut 3 inch strips. Then I cut those strips in half length ways.

2. Sew together a strip of elastic to form a circle for the waist.

3. Knot the strips of tulle to the elastic until you've gone all the way around enough to satisfy you.

4. I added a little ribbon for a bow and Voila! A very easy tutu.

I love all the fluff!!

Luke's Christmas present...check!

I FINALLY finished Luke's present: a blanket and matching pillow.

He just started sleeping in his toddler bed, so he really needs these!

This blanket was SO easy! Actually, so was the pillowcase. I decided I'm a fan of tying blankets for little kids instead of quilting. So much easier and they don't know the difference.

And I L.O.V.E the fabric! The cowboy/cowgirl combo is soooo adorable!!







And...the pillow. I only had strips of fabric to work with, so it's a little off looking. Oh well, Luke won't judge me.



All ready to wrap and put under the Christmas tree!

Receiving Blanket

I'm getting more excited about my little girl coming and gracing us with her presence.

I actually haven't made/bought as much as I thought I was going to. Maybe I'm still in disbelief :)

I DID make a receiving blanket to take to the hospital, though. I bought all the fabric from JoAnn's on Black Friday: the flannel was $1.29/yd and the super soft fabric was 50% off because of my sweet coupon!

I made 5 x 5 squares and decided against using batting for this blanket. I wanted something I could fold up quickly and through in my diaper bag.







P.S. I'm OBSESSED with pink and green for this little girl!

WINNER!!

The winner of the $20 gift card to CSN Stores is LIZ!! Congrats! I've sent you an email.


Liz's comment: "If I won, I'd probably get a new rolling pin!"

Thank you everyone so much for participating in this giveaway! Go check out CSNstores.com for more fun stuff! Happy shopping!

AMAZING Giveaway!!

{THIS GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED. THANK YOU!}

Guess what I have for you?

Free money!

Okay, well, not exactly free money, but I have a $20 gift certificate for one lucky winner to...

CSN Stores!!!

What, you haven't heard of it? That's weird.

They have seriously cute BRIEFCASES... Go check it out. Right now, go!!

But that's not all they have. Oh no. They have:

- Furniture
- Home Decor
- Fitness Equipment
- Shoes
- Jewlery
- Toys
- And oh, so much more...

And you get $20 to go and buy yourself something! Or your mom or friend or whomever.

OKAY. Here's the deal. Here are the various ways to enter this giveaway:

- Leave a comment. Simple.

- If your not a follower already, BECOME one. And tell me.

- Tell me what you're thinking of buying with your $20. Go to CSN's website and peruse. You might as well get a good idea now, before you win!

Do all three and that's a triple chance to win! Woohoo!

Here are just a few things that I loved (they seriously have THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of items to chose from):

Murval Paul Patent Petite Hobo with Bow in Black ($40)



My Baby Sam Paisley Splash in Lime Lamp ($60)


MukLuks Women's Layered Sweater Boots ($44)


Orrefors Orion 5.75" Mini Bowl - 6464211 ($40)


Also, they have Free Shipping and if you hurry and order, your order will be to you in time for Christmas! (They also ONLY ship to the U.S. and Canada.) Also, PLEASE don't post on CSN's Facebook page. THANKS!!

Giveaway ends Wednesday, Dec. 01 at 12:00 p.m. Central Time Zone.

Organization = Better Decor

I decided to tackle organizing the built-in bookcase today.

And it makes the area look a TON better. Who knew...just organizing can make your house look so much cuter?

A few organization gems I realized today:

1. I really didn't need all the junk that was on my bookshelves. I redistributed some things and put some things in a Goodwill pile.

2. Less really is more. Some things just needed to come off to make it all look better.

3. Personal momentos really add a cute touch to a bookshelf. Like our Dublin, TX Dr. Pepper glass bottles. LOVE those.

4. If you haven't used it in over a year, toss it. I was talking about magazines. I can never give up books. I become attached.

Nasty, old bookcase:


New and improved:


Oh yeah, a little close up on those blocks:





Cute, eh? Oh how I wish I had a vinyl cutter!

Table Runner

I recently made this table runner as a gift and I think it turned out really cute.

It helped me practice quilting with my "feed dogs" down. Yes, I am a beginner, so do not mock.

I hope the recipient liked it!

Cloth Diapers

It's been FOREVER since I posted!!

I have a husband around plus a toddler, so they keep me busy during the day.

My wonderful friend gave me a pattern for cloth diapers, so I made a couple for Luke to try out. I love them! I think we'll definitely use them for baby #2.

I think Luke is getting kind of too big for the biggest size in this pattern, so I'll have to just make some for the new baby. But they can help save us money, so I'm all for it!

Anybody have any cloth diaper stories?

You wish your mom was this cool...

Yeah that's right. My mom MADE this for me! She took my old car seat and recovered it in this adorable fabric (Bliss for Moda). We got a tutorial from Etsy, but really all it said was to cover up the preexisting parts, so it wasn't really worth the money. I helped, but my mom was definitely the brains and talent behind this operation.

Isn't it awesome??? I just pray that that ultrasound technician got it right...

Fall Quilted Wallhanging

Remember THIS project?

I made it into this:

Candy Corn Wreath

My good friend Emily had a fun craft she wanted us to do.

She was inspired by this:



from the Woman's Day magazine.

Soooo...we started!

1. Emily bought small wicker-ish wreaths from the dollar store. We covered them up with some black tape we found at Ace Hardware.



2. Then we hot glued candy corn onto the taped wreath. (Note: Use hot glue! No other kind of glue works!)



3. Pretty wreath! This was as far as we got at Emily's.



And here's mine!

Potholder and WINNERS!

For my mother-in-law's birthday, I tried to make her a potholder (without a pattern).

It turned out okay... why did I not switch out my white thread for my brown thread??

DUH.

Oh, well. I suggest if you're planning on making one, to add double the batting. Just so you don't burn yourself.





And now for the WINNERS of the Cute Pouch Giveaway:

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 17 Result: 15 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats Adrienne, Patrick, and Bella!!

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 17 Result: 9 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats Kristin!!

Thank you everyone for participating! Keep checking in for fun crafts and giveaways!!