Thursday, April 28, 2011

Pincushion Eye Candy





When you were a kid, did your mom have one of those tomato shaped pincushions? Yeah, mine too.

Well lo and behold how the times have changed! I can not believe the range of pincushions I have seen!

Pears
left: from pinpinn, right: from applesong



You know my baby's first birthday party is going to be airplanes. So I'm slightly obsessed with them right now. Look at these cuties from etsy!


Flying high
left: airplane from lifepieces, right: clouds from SeaPinks



This beauty from England caught my eye.

photo by namolio



Moda is a well-loved designer fabric among all the sewers I know.


This sweet pincushion is from PiccalilliPatchwork.



Last but not least, venture into the animal kingdom! Hedgehogs, squirrels, sheep, rabbits, oh dear!
Left: Turtle from fluffandfuzz, middle: birdies from AliceandElsie, Right: dachshund from rabbitsmoon

A Little Knick Knack
Tidy Mom

Monday, April 25, 2011

DIY Wall Art

My father-in-law recently painted our bathroom for me. It was builder white and we got paint called "Pearl Ash Gray" from Walmart. It is a very light gray, but it adds a bit of color and warmth that the bathroom was previously lacking.

I wanted some wall art to go with it and when I saw some crocheted flowers from an etsy seller, I knew I had to have them. Jmaeson makes these adorable little flowers. She even has butterflies now!
She sweetly worked with me to get the right color yellow flowers I wanted and even created a custom listing. I purchased 9 flowers from her for $4.50. Then I picked up this black frame from Walmart for $3.
If you already have a frame at home, skip buying a new one and paint the old one whatever color you need!



Next, I laid out some paper choices and my flowers. Get the feel for what works together. I decided on the blue paper to give my bathroom a pop of color in addition to the black and gray accesories already in there.
I just cut my paper down to size, and then used a tape runner to adhere the flowers. Even though my tape runner is white, you can't see it through the flowers. You could use a glue pen or even double sided tape if you wanted to.

Next, put a nail in the wall. You'll notice I didn't have a traditional hammer.

Hang and admire your handiwork. Also, notice how ugly the switchplate is.
bathroom

Thanks Janie for helping me get the right color of sweet yellow flowers! I love the framed design and it adds some color and texture to my bathroom while still fitting with the casual, simple feel of the room.

If you'd like to check out Janie's shop, click here. I am in no way paid or endorsed for this post, I just happen to really like her flowers and thought you might too!

Total project cost: $7.50 Not bad my friends!

Linking Here:
Craft DIY Ideas LINKPARTYBUTTON

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Look what I just bought...



Do you pick out your own Mothers' Day gift? This was a year when I definitely did!

I have spent months looking for an elephant necklace. I wanted one to wear as a reminder of the baby that we lost. (We buried him with a stuffed elephant and later learned that elephants also grieve losses and even cry!).

And then I found this beauty.




Tonight I finally put it in my cart and ordered!

Shizendesigns has been great to work with. We talked several times to make sure I was getting just what I wanted! They are even going to engrave my children's initials on the back.

There is a super adorable tiny version of the elephant necklace too:





Some other great Shizen Designs:
I did not get a discount or freebie or compensation for this post. Just wanted to share one of my new favorite shops!

If you are so inclined to shop with Shizen Designs, you can do so here.

Participating in some bloggy parties:
Weekend Bloggy Reading
A Little Knick Knack

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Easter Egg Fillers


Can you believe Easter is this week? I thought I'd have more time to plan!

Let's talk about what to put in the eggs for an egg hunt! We're hoping to have a few neighbor kids over Sunday afternoon for an egg hunt.

Of course candy is always popular! What else can you fit into an egg?

Silly Bands
Erasers

Money (always popular)

Stickers

Mini slinkies

Mustard packets (wouldn't that be a hoot? Just to watch and see what the kid do when they open an egg and out falls condiments?)

Mini Stampers

Finger Puppets (these Veggie ones are adorable!)
via littlefox71 at etsy

Mini vanilla wafers

Special shaped crayons like these:
via LilDoodlers on etsy


What about you, what is going in your eggs this year?


Linked up at:

Monday, April 18, 2011

Easter Giveaway



The Easter Bunny Garland kit that I just posted about, is up for grabs at The Country Chic Cottage! Ends April 22nd, just in time for Easter. (You can make the garland and use it next year, okay?)


I'm giving one lucky person a kit and a stuffed little "peeps" fella. He needs a good home. His ear has been nibbled off!


What are you waiting for? Go enter!

Friday, April 15, 2011

HaPpY Friday!





I just saw this listing for fabric come up from one of my favorite shops on etsy:
via fabricshoppe check it out, they are awesome! just save some fabric for me!

How cheerful and wonderful is that fabric? It inspired me to look for other happy things on etsy and I came across a lot of rather friendly looking clouds.


Happy Cloud Brooch from HannahDoodle in the UK.


These cheery mary jane shoes instantly brought a smile to my face!





Even handmade soap got in on the fun!





Awesome happy cloud wallet from CheshireNat



I wish I could put these cloud wall decals in every room of my house. Or maybe the ceilings. You HAVE to be happy when you look at them!


Happy Friday everyone! Hope your weekend is full of HAPPY clouds, happy fabrics, happy families!

P.S. I'm sponsoring a giveaway over at The Country Chic Cottage. It will go up Saturday or Sunday so be sure to check there and enter!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

One hundred and ten bunnies

Remember my big stack of cut out peeps bunnies?






Here is what they looked like all laid out getting ready to cut. And the baby trying to investigate.


I've been putting some of them to work making Easter garland for my house!



Cute, right? You might remember I had made a peeps garland before just hand sewing. This time I used my machine and it was a lot easier!

I ambitiously hoped to use all 110 bunnies to make garland for every single window and mirror in my house.

Someone should have slapped me silly! I don't have time for doing that many!

  
Linking up at these fine blogs:


Monday, April 11, 2011

Spring Sale--Part Two

This is one sale you do not want to miss!

Lunchbox Notes are buy one set, get one set FREE!

For a limited time only!
Which sets will you choose?


Sports fan in your house?


Maybe this masculine set for the man in your life?

Simply purchase two sets and I will refund the cost of the FREE set to you via paypal! Easy breezy! No coupon codes to have to remember!

To see all the available sets of Lunchbox Notes, you can visit my etsy site!

Enjoy spring and take advantage of the sale to score some Lunchbox Notes to send with your kids (or kid-at-heart husbands!). A little note from you can brighten their whole day!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Spring Sale: Part One

After a long winter here in the midwest, we are seeing signs of spring!

One of my little purple flowers out front bloomed. Don't ask me what kind it is. I have no idea. This is coming from someone that darn near considers dandelions to be flowers. Details, schmetails....it blooooomed.



I'm celebrating with a Spring Sale on select items in my shop.

This vintage green dish has been popular and featured in multiple treasuries. Green is the sign for new life and Spring, so on sale it goes!
You can snag this beauty for 35% off for a limited time here. Only 1 available!