Entryway Redo {or why I decided to make a mantel}

Moving to Texas has come with some upsides and some downsides. We are renting a three bedroom, 1,400 sq/ft house for less that then rent was on our two bedroom, 900 sq/ft apartment. However, this wonderful house has a very dark entry way and no fireplace.

My favorite thing about our last apartment was my fireplace and mantel. It was wonderful to light a fire and read a book on rainy days. Also, my mom was super jealous of the mantel so she helped me decorate it. She even bought me the GORGEOUS Lenox vase that was a pretty penny. It has to be one of my favorite things I own. 

Once we moved, the mantel decorations stayed in a box. I wasn't particularly thrilled with this, but I just couldn't think of anywhere else to put them. My mom passed away not long after we moved out here and I just really wanted to have a fond reminder of her in my house. So I decided I was going to deal with the dull entry way and my desire to have a mantel all at the same time.

I found this poor beaten up shelf at Thrift Town for free {well, it was $5 and I had a $5 off $10 coupon so let's just call it free}. A good coat of paint made it pretty again. I added the beautiful vase with hydrangeas, the compas like iron wall art, and three candles to it. It was missing something, so I decided to add the scalloped paint chip framed art to it. I'm really glad I did. I think it finishes up the look. Here's the tutorial on the art piece. It was easy and super cheap!

Come party with me!

Birthday Week Box {or i heart pintrest}

This is the first of may Pintrest inspired projects. Another day, I'll write my love letter to Pintrest!

The hubby turned 26 a couple of weeks ago. While I enjoy doing something special on birthdays, I tend to make a week out of it. That way, if one or both of us have to work or do other things on the actual birthday, there are tons of opportunities to make the other person feel special. 

To kick off birthday week this year, I gave hubby a birthday week box.

I got the idea from this pin which lead me to this wonderful post. I found my pill organizer at the Dollar Tree (score!). I decided to make my own little notes and stuff the compartments with a note and Starbursts. I also added a little gift (replacement Bucky Balls) on his actual birthday. The notest ranged from reasons I love him to giving him a night off of doing the dishes. 

The hubby got a real kick out of opening each day's note. He would leave me "angry" texts if I wasn't up before he left for work and he had to wait to get home to see what the day had in store.

This was a fun, incredibly affordable way to express my gratitude and celebrate my husband throughout his birthday week. I think I'll make it a yearly tradition!  

Here's where I'm partying at!

Whale Lovey {or I need to learn how to slip stitch}

I was looking through all the wonderful tutorials at Craftiness is not Optional and came across this adorable whale lovey. I immediately knew I had to make it! I printed off the pattern (which if you click on the link to Google Docs and then click download link on the right you can get) and went to my stash to find the right fabric. 

I gathered my supplies and it was off to the races.

I printed out the pattern at 75%. Little Miss is only four months old and I wanted something that she could grab on to. 

I taped the two pieces together and then pinned the pattern to fabric folded. I didn't want to have to cut out the pattern twice!

I cut out two eyes out of felt. {Don't worry...I eveneed them up before I sewed them on!}

Because I didn't have another color of felt that I thought would work, I just colored the eyes in with Sharpie.

Make sure you sew your eyes on before you do any other steps! {I nearly forgot!}

Pin, right sides together and sew. Leave a 2 in. gap in the bottom for turning and stuffing.

Make sure you clip the tail. I was really impressed with how well the tail turned!

Turn right side out.

I wanted to add jungle bells for a little bit of sensory fun. In order to reduce the likelihood of a problem if this cute little whale busts open, I used a scrap and sewed a little pouch.

Stuff this guy full. I used a chopstick to help get the stuffing up in the tail. {Make sure you overstuff the sucker. Polyfill settles!}

Hand stitch this little guy closed and you're good to go! I need to learn how to slip stitch so that I can close up these loveies in a neater fashion. 

I think I'll be making more for friends' little ones and for baby shower gifts!

Click to find out where I party at!

Onesie to Dress Refashion {or we're the real Aggies}

My hubby and I met during undergrad at the University of California, Davis. I graduated with a degree in sociology and hubby got his BS and MS in mechanical engineering. Even after the hubby finished his master's we stayed in the area. Both of us loved our time at Davis and have a lot of Aggie pride.

Since moving to Texas, we have made friends with a lot of Texas A&M grads. They're under the silly impression that they're the Aggies. Really, I guess we can both be the Aggies as long as they're aware we're the better Aggies. A dear friend thought it was necessary we got this point across.

So, she sent us a darling onesies for little miss. This 3-6m onesie was a good size {meaning lots of room to grow} everywhere but in length. For some reason it was SUPER short. So, I decided to take matters into my own, rotary cutter armed hands.

I decided to turn the onesie into a dress. It just so happened that I had a white shirt with a bit of a hole in it. It made for a perfect skirt fabric.

I measured how long I wanted the skirt to be on little miss and then marked where I wanted to cut the shirt with a pin.

I then used my rotary cutter and sliced that sucker up. And then I yelled at my rotary cutter that has a propensity to fall apart.

Next, I ran a basting stich {my first basting stich none the less} and pulled to gather the skirt.

Next, I picked a random {I mean carefully considered} spot on the onesie and marked it with a pin.

Another go with the rotary cutter. This time, no catastrophic failure. 

I pinned the right side together.

And then did my best to sew a straight line.

And ta-da...UC Davis dress. I can't wait for little miss to parade this dress around church next Sunday! 

Where I'm Partying:

i {heart} nap time

Covered in Strings {or why I hate hot glue}

I recently sent a friend a picture of Little Miss with a felt bow headband. Despite some concerns about being bold enough to wear it, she requested her own. Since her birthday happens to be coming up I hoped right to it.

Purple is her favorite color. Low and behold, in my random stash of felt I had a beautiful color of purple (that also happend to have fun sparkels). So that was easy enough. Off to Hobby Lobby I went to buy headbands (among other things). Well they come in a two pack, so I had to come up with another idea. 

A couple of months ago, I bought a row of flowers with the intention to do something with it. Oh, how many times Hobby Lobby makes me buy something to do something with! Well I finally found that something. Well, at least that something for one of the flowers.

So I cut out a single flower, added some hot glue, and vola!



Now, for the bow I followed this tutorial {very} loosely to make the bow. Only I used hot glue. I hate hot glue. But little miss doesn't take that long of naps so I was under a time crunch!

And here they are. I can't wait for pictures of her wearing them!

Here's Where I'm Partying:

I {Heart} Nap Time