Paint Chip Color Matching.

Wandering through Home Depot with the hubs one weekend, I got distracted by all the pretty color combos in the paint aisle.  Inspiration struck.  Color matching rut no more.  Pick up one (or three) of your favorite combos not just for home color inspiration, but also for craft color inspiration. They make for pretty pictures too. =)

spring.

 summer.

 fall.

Happy color matching!

Hearts on a Garland? Yes Please.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and everything is coming up hearts.  Now, I love crocheting hearts year round, but it gets kicked up a notch in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day.  Rather than making a 3 ft or even 12 ft garland (I don't have the patience for that haha!), I went with a 12" mini garland.  This way, I could hang it on a message board or something similar without it getting in the way of, well, the messages.  

I started off crocheting a set of 6 hearts.  You can find my tutorial here.  I whipped up these little pretties during my lunch hour so once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take long at all.

I then measured out 12" of mint and white polka dot ribbon (Dear Lizzy via American Crafts) and lined up my hearts.

....and then I realized, "How am I going to connect these to the ribbon?"  Originally, I thought I would sew the hearts onto the ribbon, but being at work I didn't have my sewing machine (haha).  Instead, I kept the tails of the hearts and tied them up in a bow onto the ribbon.  I think it worked well. =)

Here is the final garland :)

Super easy and quick to whip up--my kind of craft!  

Happy crafting!

New year faith renewal...and a little craft tutorial

I think we all could use a little spiritual motivation and faith renewal no matter what time of year, but it seems to be fairly prevalent with every coming new year.  Resolutions that motivate us to "stay strong", "be healthy", "put more happy in our life" are all very common but unique to each individual making them.  Each resolution is special and a reflection of the person's past experience and hopes for the future.  

In thinking about my resolution (and I have the hardest time keeping one), I wonder what motivation I need to keep that resolution.  What it boils down for me is faith--faith in knowing that everything will be okay because we believe God is holding our hands and guiding each of our steps.  When we fall, He picks us up and when we succeed, it's all because of Him...so we dance...like no one is watching...and sing....like we're on American Idol.  We stay HAPPY in all that we do and thankful for this life.

Now the tutorial....which is completely related.  =)

To help us keep our thoughts in place and where they should be, I wanted to put up motivational sayings in our home as a constant reminder of God's blessings to us each and every day.  Pretty Print Shop is a fabulous Etsy shop that specializes in digital prints that serve to motivate and inspire.  Hannah, the owner of the shop, designs each and every print--such a talented person and I'm blessed to have met her at the Penelope Lane Holiday Boutique last November.  She has these beautiful designs below, all printed on high quality photo paper--everything so bright and cheery.

I decided to decoupage these prints on canvas (those ones that artists use to paint on).  I wasn't sure how they would turn out because I didn't know if the paper type (glossy photo paper) made a difference with the Mod Podge.  Using a sponge brush, I applied more than a thin layer of Mod Podge on the canvas and then lay a print on it.  

It worked out well and I was very happy.  

I waited a few hours for the Mod Podge to dry completely and then applied another thin layer to the top of the prints to seal them and add a bit of glossy sheen to them.  I really liked how they turned out especially with the texturing of the gloss resembling the texture of the canvas.

 `

I will hang these up in a spot in our home where we will see these every day as daily reminders of God's blessings. Such an easy little craft with lots of meaning--right up my alley!

Happy Crafting!

Fall Fun: Glittered Clothespins

Fall is, hands down, my favorite time of the year.  The change in weather, start of school, Halloween, Thanksgiving....all of that...I just love it.  

I thought I'd try my hands at a craft that had some "fall-like" themes.  Enter glittered clothespins....sparkly clothespins...in sparkly fall colors of pumpkin, gold, green, and orange.   Playing around with clothespins seems to be my craft of choice these days.  I don't usually like glitter, but this little 

craft turned out pretty well and was so easy to do.  

Supplies:

adhesive tape

glitter

clothespins

I found all of these at my local Jo-Ann's Fabrics.  I didn't want to commit to a whole bottle of glitter so these little glitter sample packets were just perfect.  

First I lined the clothespins with the adhesive tape and trimmed it to fit. It isn't too sticky, but sticky enough to stay put.  

I then poured a small bit of the glitter on a piece of paper.  Peeling the adhesive backing off one of the clothespins, I dabbed the sticky side on to the glitter making sure it had an even coat and tapped off the excess. I'll probably add a thin layer of glossy mod podge to these so that the glitter lasts longer on the clothespins and so that the itty bits of glitter don't get all over the place.  

Wallah!  Easy peasy glittered clothespins ready for hanging up all that fall goodness in your home.

Now go make lots to add to the "fall-ification" of your home, work space, craft space, etc.

Happy Crafting!

Scrappy Scraps: A colorful mess.

What a beautiful messy pile of color, huh?  These scrappy scraps are the result of fabric tape making sessions.  After spending time selecting fabric, looking at color combos, and all that, it's hard to just throw them away.  So, I've kept them in a bag under my desk at home waiting to be used for some new project.

I tried making a scrap fabric garland and quickly realized that I suck at that.  My attempt at knot tying made my craft fail worst.  

So the other night, I was prepping product cards for Penelope Lane Boutique (Sept 28th in Seal Beach, CA--it's going to be fun!) and needed a cute and functional way to display my stuff.  I looked at the bag of scrappy strips and wallah!  Cute little product cards with a touch of personality.

I really liked the way these turned out.  It also gave me a way to hide the price tag--not too obvious but obvious enough if someone is looking for the price.  

So if you're looking for something more than baker's twin, jute, yarn, or ribbon to dress up your product cards, use your scrappy scraps and go wild.  It's worth it. =)

Happy Crafting!

DIY: Sweet Little Ruffle Pillow

My sister is about to enter her 3rd year of med school in  Washintgon, DC.  (I miss her--she's my shopping/crafting/coffee & tea drinking buddy.)  While I was chatting with her the other night, I got the sense she was kind of homesick so I wanted to send her a little care package from home to help her get through the long days of rotations and sleepless nights.

 I found an old pretty pillowcase at my mom's house that she has had forever.  I thought it would be nice to send my sister something that really came from home.  Enter in this sweet little ruffle pillow.

Granted, I've never made a pillow before, but I thought I'd give it a shot. The pillowcase was pretty long (must have been for a body pillow or something) and so I just trimmed it to make it more like a mini pillowcase, but a pillow...made from a pillowcase....you'll see below! =)
(Disclaimer: My sewing technique is not very good, but I think I did alright!  Please comment below if you have any questions on my "technique" LOL!)

Supplies:
pillowcase (you'll trim this down to the size pillow you want); ruffle trim (enough for all 4 edges of the pillow); poly-fill; scissors; Fabric-Tac & pins (not pictured)

Had to get in a shot of my handy dandy sewing machine. =)

Lay your pillowcase flat and cut it to size (cutting through both layers).  I cut mine to about 14" x 16".

Cut all around until you've trimmed any excess fabric.

Turn your two pieces inside out making sure all sides match up as much as possible and then pin the corners.  This helps keep the pieces in place for sewing.

Sew the two longest sides together and one short side together, leaving about a 1/2 inch edge.  Remember to keep one short side open.

Turn your fabric outside in so that the "right" side is out.

Stuff your pillow with the poly-fill making it as fat as you'd like.  Use your hand to even out the fill so that your pillow isn't too lumpy.

Pin the open side closed.  This makes it a bit easier to sew.

Sew the open side shut making sure the poly-fill is nice and snug inside the pillow (this is about 13" x 15").

(Optional step: dab a bit of glue along the flaps of the side you just sewed to help them stay flat.  This will help when you add the ruffle trim.)

Using the Fabric-Tac, line your ruffles with a thin line of glue (to about 6 inches to start--don't add glue to your whole piece just yet).

Place your ruffles along the edge of the pillow (along the seams) adding glue and pressing down on the ruffles as you go (glue side down).  Another option is, instead of adding glue to your ruffles, you can also dab the glue along the seams of the pillow and then press your ruffles in to them.  I think this gives you more control over the glue and placement of the ruffles (I'm kind of OCD that way!)

The ruffles should lay like this, covering the seams of the pillow.

When done, the pillow should look something like this (not bad, huh?)

I decided to add a button to the pillow to give it a little bit more character.  I used a button making kit to make the button out of a piece of the ruffle.  I then sewed it through the front of the pillow to the back to give it that "pressed in" look.

Here's the package I sent to my sister: Chuao Chocolate in Rocky Road (soooo good and perfect for National Chocolate Day which was on July 28th), a hoop that I made using crochet flowers (the first hoop I've ever embroidered!), and of course, the sweet little ruffle pillow.

I spoke with my sister tonight right after she opened up the package and she talked in that high-pitched, happy/crying voice of hers when she receives a care package from family.  Needless to say, she loved her package and is probably nestling her head in her pillow while savoring her Rocky Road chocolate as she clutches her hoop to her heart--just kidding about that part, but really, she is probably doing all that as I type this.  Love my sister.

Happy Crafting!

Shabby Chic Desk Memo Board

Where do you come up with your fantabulous crafty ideas?  I know for me, this often happens while I'm driving and sitting in traffic.  When some idea pops up into my head, I go in to a I-need-supplies-to-execute-this-fantabulous-idea mode.  Before you know it, I'm taking the next off ramp to the nearest Michaels or Staples or wherever I can find supplies for the project....and it's a good way to beat the traffic!

This happened the other day for me when I was thinking about these frames I purchased on sale quite some time ago sitting in our garage, not getting any crafting love.  "Turn them in to small desk cork boards", I thought.  Fantastic!  So here's a quick how-to on how to make these easy 

and darling photo frame desk cork boards =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supplies:

~ any size photo frame, desk or wall, with a sturdy back

~ cork board squares--easier to cut and thicker than the rolled sheets (Staples)

~ flat-head thumb tacks (Staples)

~ pretty embellishments (Michaels)

~ utility knife (helpful in cutting the cork board squares)

~ E6000 glue

 Find your notes, pin, and you're done!  This turned out better than I thought it would.  I use mine on my desk at work--it adds a nice unique way to organize my notecards and other reminders 

I write to myself during the day.

 It also works a nice little frame, minus any notes.  You can use it to display your other pretty thumb tacks.  (Hello Kitty doesn't seem to mind either!)

Have fun crafting this little jewel!  It's easy as pie!

Happy Crafting!

Baby legwarmer coffee cozy--woot!

My littlest little loves those little baby legwarmers, but we always lose them....everywhere.  There's always one or two lying here and there, but the matching pair always seems to disappear somewhere....never to be found again.  So what to do with the lone legwarmer?  Make it into the cutest coffee cozy ever.  When I say "make", I really mean slip-it-onto-your-Starbuck's-grande-coffee-cup-or-over-your-mason-jar and you're-set.   I've seen this done with socks, but this is by far the easiest to me because it's no-sew! =)

The baby legwarmers are the perfect size to squoosh, stretch, ruche, and clean (just toss in the wash).  The ribbed ends hug the container in just the right way so that the container 

doesn't slip out of your hand.

 Find yourself some baby legwarmers and have fun rocking your itty-bitty legwarmer coffee cup/mason jar cozies! Your beverage containers will never be the same. =)

(...off to find more pair-less baby legwarmers!)

Happy Crafting!

Springy Fabric Tape Clothespins

One of my favorite (and useful) things to make are fabric tape clothespins.  Because the clothespins come in different sizes, you can use them for a variety of things (hanging up photos, making them in to magnets, holding papers together, etc.).  Decorate them with different fabric designs and you can match the clothespins to pretty much anything.  See below for a super easy how-to!

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Gather different sized clothespins, a pair of sharp scissors and strips of fabric tape.  (Check out my fabric tape tutorial for an easy way to make the tape.)

 Cut your fabric tape into smaller strips to fit your clothespins. (I used clothespins that are about

 1.75" x .25" and was able to fit 3 of them on a 1.75" wide piece of fabric tape.)

 Peel off the backing of the fabric tape and line up the edges of the clothespins to the edge of the tape (to minimize cutting).  Make sure to press down firmly on the clothespins to make sure the 

tape sticks...and they will because the tape is super sticky!

 (This is where super sharp scissors come in handy!) Trim the tape close to the edges

 of the clothespins and wallah!  Super cute clothespins!

 

I just love making these little things!  I use them in my office to hold loose memos, notes, and 

miscellaneous reminders.  

Easy enough, right?  Now go make lots! =)

Happy Crafting!