Craft Favorites Friday: Completed Projects

For a slightly different spin on Craft Favorites Friday, I decided to post about a few projects that are complete or almost complete around our house. :)

1. Laundry Room sign

I saw this cute laundry room pun on a blog awhile back and thought I would love to make one for my home. I LOVE fun puns. It stayed on my list of "craft ideas" for several months. But I decided January was THE month. I bought the piece of wood at Michael's and already had the craft paint. I played around with different fonts on my computer and used them as a guide. My favorite part may have been drilling the holes for the ribbon. I love power tool projects. :) [I was so excited when Matt received a drill at one of our wedding showers!] In no time at all, the sign was ready to hang. I'm not certain I will leave the ribbon the way it is, but I like it for now. :)

2. Guest Room Headboard

We have a double bed in our guest room without a headboard. I knew I wanted something as flush with the wall as possible to maximize floor space around the bed. I thought I would keep an eye out for a simple iron scroll headboard or something. But in the back of my mind I wondered about making a headboard or faux headboard. I saved pictures here and there I found online of faux headboards, but the idea of using fabric always stuck with me (imagine that!). While my mom was hear visiting last weekend, we stopped at JoAnn's, pillow sham in hand in order to match colors. I looked at some stripes, but the quilt on the bed is striped. I considered polka dots, but they didn't lend a grown up feel to the guest room, happy though polka dots may be. Then we came across a pattern that had the perfect colors and would compliment the quilt. I couldn't believe it! They had just enough yardage on the bolt to cover the 6 canvases I had bought weeks earlier MAJORLY discounted and even have enough left over for pillow to go on the bed. :) For this project, I got to use another tool! The staple gun was perfect for covering the canvases. I even learned how to reload the staple gun. :) All the canvases are covered now and just waiting for a time Matt is home when Asa is also awake long enough for us to hang them (the wall they will go on is a shared wall with Asa's room). I'll post an updated picture when they are actually in place.

3. Valentine's Decor

I had these beads in this hurricane for the Christmas season. When I was packing up Christmas decorations, I decided to leave the beads out for Valentine's Day. I think they add a sweet, catchy splash of color to the den. :)

4. Asa's photos

We recently got to pick up Asa's most recent portraits. Our "first year" package with the photographer includes an 8x10 from each session. We are slowly building a collage of sorts in the hallway. I hung the photo from his last shoot this past week. I love seeing his bright, shining face grinning at me as I walk down the hall. And I marvel how that little baby boy has already turned into the 7 month old Asa. Time is flying.

5. Christmas Cards

In my parents' home, my mom always did one of two things with Christmas cards. She either taped them to the inside of the front door in a cross pattern or she hung them from ribbon off the stairs. When we moved into our home, I looked around wondering where I would display our Christmas cards. I considered and tried a couple of different things, but I settled on covering our laundry room door. We are in the kitchen all the time, so we get to see the cards all the time. :) It is a fun treat to see our family and friends smiling at us while we cook, eat, and play. I am especially excited to start a new tradition I have heard about from several families. When we take our pictures down (very soon, it just makes the door look so bare when they come down), we will be placing them in a basket. Each night before dinner, we will draw a card from the basket and pray for that family. We can keep cycling through them as the year progresses. I am so excited to start this with Matt and Asa!!

6. Silly Sammy Sign

We have a sweet dog, Samantha, who is a 3 year old mutt (Rhodesian/lab mix) and very much a "people puppy." She LOOOOVES her people. She has transitioned to life with Asa amazingly well. One thing she does NOT do well is keep her tongue to herself. She is rather notorious for this (we always work on it and it improves during the summer.... then everyone's legs and feet are covered during the winter and we retrain all over again in the spring when skin comes out of hiding ready to be licked), as evidenced by the hilarious sign my parents gave Matt for Christmas. It now hangs over our back door (the door we use to let Sammy out into the backyard). It cracks me up. :) And it's true. So very true.

Baptismal Gown

Just a few pictures of our little guy actually IN the gown I sewed (with Mom's help!) for his Baptism. He was baptized about 2 weeks ago on September 20. We are so thankful for the blessing of this covenant baby :) and PRAY that God will draw him to Himself, that he will walk with God all his days and be faithful to Him. Since Asa is such a long and lean baby, I added ribbons to each side seam so I could tie back the excess fabric. We think he looked awfully sweet! :)

(Asa woke up right as I passed him to Rob... and he wasn't too thrilled about that) :)

Baptismal Gown

Back when I got my embroidery machine, I started dreaming of making a baptismal gown for any child(ren) God would add to our family. We considered using the gown my brothers and I were baptized it, but in the end I hoped to be able to make something for our kids to use and have the option of passing down.

I found a great pattern during one of JoAnn's super pattern sales and stashed it away. The closer Asa's arrival came, the less likely it seemed I would get it sewn before he was born. I just hoped I'd have time some time after he was born! Then he took his SWEET time coming, and Mom and I had all this extra time on our hands! We made a prototype out of muslin to learn the quirks of the pattern, and then we ended up having time to make the real thing, too!

We also made "under armor" for the gown, as Matt says his son will not wear a slip. :)

It was a really sweet thing to sew the gown with my mom and to know Asa and any other children we are blessed with will be baptized in this gown--sewn with lots of love and prayers! And he will hopefully be wearing it next month. :)

How we pray for you to walk in the ways of the Lord, Asa, that you would do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and love Him with your whole heart all your days--just as God's Word says of your namesake!

For real

Yesterday I sewed my nursing cover. It felt very "real" to be making one for ME and not for someone else. How crazy is that? I found the front fabric online on clearance. At the time I ordered it I wasn't sure what I would use it for. When it came and we found out we were having a boy, it just seemed right for the nursing cover. The back material I found at JoAnn's.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I just still can't believe it's for me! :)

Asa's Mural take II (complete!)

Please read more about this project in the post below, but I went ahead and finished up the mural this afternoon. Here are pictures of it completely complete! :)

the tree, with its little friend the raccoon :), and a bin of toys

our "carved" initials

Looking up at the leaves and branches

Matt insisted (in the nicest sort of way) that I "sign" my work like a real muralist :)
(don't mind the baseboards... they'll be replaced eventually anyway, though not anytime soon--don't worry! We're not completely crazy!)

Asa's Mural

All along, we (I/my husband sweetly went along with it) had a vision for a nursery with vertical stripes painted. I actually first saw the idea in high school and loved it. In high school, I also saw an HGTV design show where they did a backyard/forest theme in a nursery. As part of the decor, the designers painted a tree on a wall and hung a birdhouse on the trunk. I thought it was SUCH a sweet idea and filed it away in my brain.

"All these years later," Matt has so sweetly and diligently helped me bring that vision to life. He marked and painted all the lines in the room, which was a huge undertaking. And he has encouraged me as I thought through the tree mural I wanted to do on one wall. He has done a ton in the room, and I told him I wanted two projects: the tree mural and curtains. He's been chomping at the bit for the tree to be painted for awhile, but he has waited patiently until I was done with teaching. This week I really wanted to get started on it, because we were both excited about it and I knew it was mostly a matter of working up the nerve to begin freehand drawing and painting on the wall (eek!).

Last Saturday I drew the tree trunk and branches on the wall. On Sunday we picked paint colors, and on Monday I began the painting process. He has been SO supportive and encouraging the entire time. His affirmation is such a gift to me, especially when stretching and trying something I've never done before. :)

As it stands today, there are a handful of leaves I need to touch-up, one place on a branch I want to smooth out, 1-2 leaves I want to add, and lastly I will paint our initials on the tree as though we carved them in (and add Asa's and his birthdate... once we know when that is). :) I can finish it today or this weekend at the latest. But I had to go ahead and show you--we are sooo excited! Matt also stained one of the birdhouses (the other 2 will be stained as well and are on display on shelves in the room) and hung it on the trunk. We love the whimsical touch it adds to Asa's forest room. :)

As I was painting the tree, I thought of all the other things it can lead us to talk about with Asa. We can talk about the seasons (since it's a kind of difficult concept to grasp in Florida, in my opinion) :), but more importantly we can talk about our family tree and most importantly the tree of life and Jesus, who hung on a tree. We are so.... excited seems like not quite the right word, thankful? reverent?... to share with Asa all God has done from the beginning of time. All He has done for us in our lifetime--and in our families before us. How we pray for Him to grow and flourish like this tree, with roots deeply drinking from the Father, the True source of Life.

Take Cover!

Nursing cover, that is. :) I actually managed to take pictures of the nursing cover I made for a friend before I delivered it to her... at the hospital! She got the fabric to me the end of the week, and then she went into labor Saturday night! On Sunday afternoon we got to go see the happy, healthy family and deliver the now-needed nursing cover. :)

My friend and her husband picked out the fabric--I love their choices. :) I have to admit, I sewed the top seam three times because I just wasn't happy with it! Her contrasting dark brown thread showed every little imperfection on the front as I tried to sew tightly next to the boning in the neckline. So I ripped out the seam after attempt #2, put a spool of light blue thread on as my top thread and left the bobbin of dark brown thread to go with the underneath fabric. PERFECT! MUCH better. :)

front fabric

back fabric

I even matched up the stripes! :)

2 Blocks Down....

??? to go!

I have now sewn 2 blocks for Asa's wonky log cabin quilt. I honestly haven't decided how many blocks I'll make/what the quilt's final size will be. I'm just kind of taking it in as I go along. :) When Mom was visiting to help us with the nursery, she and I found some great blue cotton that really makes the blue in the quilting fabrics pop. I'm thinking I may make the quilt 4 blocks x 5 blocks. Maybe 4x4... we'll just have to see. It's been nice, now that I have the hang of it, to know I can just sit down at the machine and whip out a block in a decent amount of time. :)

Without further ado, here are the 2 blocks I have made so far...

The first block I made

The second block I made

Both blocks together

A Little Bit of Crafting

I stayed home to take care of my sick husband one day earlier this week... and now that has landed me home for a sick day myself! Despite living as separately as possible in the house this week, I caught his bug. Anyway, on Tuesday I spent a lot of my time in the back of the house making embroidery designs (while he dozed in the front of the house). I only finished sewing one so far, but I wanted to share it with you! And there are plenty more ideas brewing where this came from.

In case you didn't know, you will very soon find out that I am a BIG fan of puns and other silly phrases. :)

stud muffin

Just how many silly burp cloths can a baby boy have? We might soon find out! :) Actually, I'd like to put some designs on some bibs and maybe even onesies, too (they just take so much prep for all their knitted stretchiness!). I'll try to do some more and post them soon! :)

Until then, stay far, far away from our house so you don't get sick! :)

Baby Kit

So, here's the "big" photo shoot. :) It's really just a little something, but such a simple something to make for a little someone. :)

All you need is a washcloth and some ribbon!

Fold part of the washcloth up, pin your ribbon, sew sections up the folded part to hold baby's toiletries... I just used some things I had left over from a baby shower diaper wreath, so not everything in mine is really toiletry-oriented. :) But it's easy to roll everything up, tie it up, and then throw it into a diaper bag or overnight case. It keeps thing organized and easy to grab. :)

I'm also pinning a casserole tote!

Warning:

::BIOHAZARD::

I posted this onesie I embroidered this weekend on my personal (family) blog and had more responses than I anticipated. So, I thought I would take it to my crafting community here :) and see what you think. Etsy potential? I want to try the next one a little lower (further down the back of the onesie).

Meet Isabella

We drove up to SC after work on Friday and arrived around 1:45 AM. After catching up with Matt's parents, we went to bed! On Saturday, we got to go over and spend the day with Matt's sister and her family.... including ISABELLA! :) She is happy and healthy, and Lakey is doing such a great job!

Without further ado, here some pictures...

Lakey and Isabella (isn't Lakey's smile wonderful??)

Isabella with her mommy and daddy

Uncle Matt with Isabella!

Me holding Isabella for the first time and getting a good look at her :)

I was just a little bit in heaven... just a little ;)

You just have to love these (not so!) little feet :)

We did eventually see both her eyes WIDE open, but here was our first peek at one (after the bath where she peed on me and shortly before she spit up all over me :))

Latest Nursing Cover

This nursing cover is for the same recipient as the cowboy burp cloth. :)

close-up of the ribbon I found that matches perfectly! :)

back fabric with coordinating pocket (from front fabric)

Close up of the fabrics (and terry cloth corner)

On a Roll...

You're going to get so sick of seeing burp cloths.... I finished my first pack of them, so you'll have a short break until I can go buy another pack. ;) In the meantime, I'm hoping to whip up a few napkins and monogram them. We'll see how the weekend goes...

First up, we have this:

It's for my friend, Jamie, whose baby shower I hosted and posted about back at the beginning of June. Well, Miss Katherine Elizabeth arrived last week! Everyone is back home and doing well, which is a praise, of course. :) As I was perusing embroidery sites yesterday, I found this ladybug alphabet. They had one sample letter for free--a K! Now, that will, hopefully, be great for us at some point because our last name begins with K. But in the meantime, I thought it would be perfect for little Katie! I had some ladybug fabric stashed for a project for Matt's sister--and I had more than enough. So, I took a section for the bottom of the cloth and added the pom-pons as well. I hope she likes it! :)

I also tried this:

My first applique with the embroidery machine! A couple who was in our small group has moved to Texas and are expecting baby Dusty in October. There is a "shower by mail" I was invited to "attend," so I thought I'd try something a little different. I actually used the FABULOUS 4D Embroidery Extra software to convert a cowboy boot clipart into an applique design. Then I used my oh-so-cute cowboy fabric to fill it in and decorate the bottom of the cloth. Lastly, I made an embroidery design of a sheriff's badge (also using clipart and the software) and put Dusty's name inside. It should be going in the mail on Monday... hopefully it will be well-received. :)

Embroidery Day 2 :)

Isabella's mommy and daddy are huge football fans and Carolina Panthers season ticket holders, so I thought this next little project was in order....

I also originally planned on a set of 3 coordinating ladybug cloths, if you recall.... and I finished the 2nd one. Only one more to go! :)

The first 2 together