"S"

NEVER throw away Anthropology catalogs.  If you do, send them to me!  It hurts me deeply to cut them up, but they are full of such stunning colors and pattern that make me so happy to decoupage with them!

I got this large "S" (yes, for Stamper) from Michaels.  I have a square punch for scrapbooking so the square cutting was a piece of cake!
The "S" is sitting on the window hanging above the couch in my living room.  I'm going to group family wedding pics in and around it.  Isn't the pic of my grandparents in their car so cute!  I love it!



And here's a little sneak peak of 3 canvas' I decoupaged with the same paper on another wall.  I'm going to do a silhouette of each of the kids on those- I'm still trying to figure that out.  

This was such a fun project!  Do any of you decoupage?  What things have you done?  I'd love to see your work.  My e-mail is on the side.  If you send me a picture I'll post it here.

circle pins

I don't know what to call these.  I used this link I found recently and made my own version.  I made them into pins for a skirt refashion that I'll post soon.  I'm anxious to try hair clips also.

new project

Have I mentioned I LOVE TO DECOUPAGE? :)  I'm working on something new for my living room wall.  More to come soon!

who, me?

Thanks to Cathy I have my first ever little doodad to put on the right column of my blog!  Now I'm supposed to tell you about some things I'm addicted to.

*COFFEE* It's sad.  I get major headaches without my best friend and comfort drink.  I kind of loose track in the morning and just keep pouring cup after cup.  It lasts till about noon if I'm at home.  It's probably good for me to get out more often!  The worst thing about having the flu last week was the insane headache I had for 2 days because I couldn't drink coffee!

*YARD SALES*  It takes such incredible will power for me to pass up a yard sale sign!  Some of them actually call out to me.  ha ha ha... I need to drive with blinders on.  My kids are starting to look for signs now.  When Jonas was little he always pointed out houses that had especially junky yard ornaments or lots of stuff around them and scream, "yard sales!" even though they weren't having one.  He never understood why I passed those up.

*FABRIC*  I usually find this at those fabulous yard sales!  The yard sales with old people are the best!  They usually have boxes of fabric or old crocheted or quilted things... that will be me one of these days... boxes of started and unfinished projects that my family will have to sell at yard sales when I'm too old to keep crafting! ha ha ha - what goes around comes around.

*BLOGGING*  obviously... I spend too much time on here...

*MY KIDS*  I just love staring at them and listening to their voices and seeing how they think, draw, imagine, create, learn, dream, sing... one of my favorite things about this house is the hole in the girls door where the door knob has never been put on.  It's the perfect peep hole for me straight to Kate's crib.  I love to watch her singing and talking to herself in her bed before and after sleep.  It's precious.

Dress- up clothes (fast and easy!)

Here's a quick and easy way to make dress-up clothes for your little princess.  If your special little girls are anything like mine they live in dress-up clothes so make sure to reinforce all the seams!  This set was actually something Ella helped me with.  It was a gift for her little friend.

SKIRT

1.  Ella helped me choose fabrics and rip them to the desired length and width.  The length here was for a 5 year old from the waist to the floor plus 3 inches (1 1/2" for the elastic casing at the waist and 1 1/2" for the hem).

2.  Sew the strips together.  The more you use the fuller the skirt will be.

3.  Turn under the top to form an elastic casing.  Run elastic through and finish.

4.  Hem, try on and twirl!

SHIRT

1.  This shirt is very simple.  It's 2 rectangles of fabric.  I didn't measure the width, but the length is about from the armpit of the child to a little below the waist (however long you want)

2.  Sew the side seams together and hem the bottom and the top.

3.  Gather the top edge 

4.  For sleeves cut 2 more rectangles.  Again, the width doesn't matter, but the length would depend on the height of the child.  Hem the edges of these rectangles and attach to the front and the back of the shirt.  

5.  Embellish however you want.  Here Ella chose buttons and a fabric to gather for a ruffle effect on the straps.

gift bags

This year I tried to be resourceful with Christmas gifts!  I usually don't have very much time to make gifts, but I did a little bit of planning ahead this year- VERY little!  These are a few of the bags I made (all with stuff I already had) to hold small gifts in.  The bag was both a gift bag and a reusable tote!