Little Birthday Things

Greetings Bloggy People!
Wow, this summer is zooming by, I have so much to tell you and so much still to do! Before I get too scattered thinking about aaalll that other stuff, let's back up a minute and and look at some cute (if I do say so myself) little things I made for my pal Pam for her birthday, some I made, some I just tjuzed up a bit.

Like I mentioned in my last post I am woefully behind in birthday making this year, like seriously, a few months behind. Actually, if I'm being honest I feel behind in just about everything right now, Lord help me, there's never enough time to get it all done, so many balls in the air... At any rate, I personally don't mind a bit if I receive a giftie some months after my actual birthday, but I sure don't like doing that to other people (sorry Melissa, sorry Dez - I haven't forgotten your milestone birthday's, I promise, I swear.). For my dear Ms. Pam, her birthday coincided with our vacation to her home town of Portland, Oregon and there was no way I was turning up empty handed on her birthday, I do have some couth. But still, right to the last minute I was working on her pressie, on the train and my hotel room the morning of her birthday. Last minute Lisa, that's me!

In fact, these photos were taken in the window sill of the hotel room right before I packed them up and met her for a really nice day spent futzing around together along with my sweet hubby (who's birthday was also the the purpose of this trip, more on that later). And can I just say, the light there in Portland, it's gorgeous! I don't get pictures like this here at home... sigh... So! On with the goodie parade!

A few months ago we were having a conversation about mini's and Pam's desire to create a doll house, in particular we were both gaga for these rugs. Ah-ha, inspiration! So I set about making a punch needle mini rug. Somewhere along the way I thought, "wouldn't it be neat to start a room for her?" and since we're crafty friends I thought a craft room was a nice start so I expanded my initial idea a little more...

Here is the finished rug, a whirling, swirling sea of blue accented with little French knot roses in shades of mauve & pinks. I've only ever done punch needle once before and it was a looong time ago and a stamped pattern at that, which I vaguely recall was similar to coloring within the lines but with a needle. I don't remember much about it though and was surprised at how much floss punch needle takes, this little rug which is approximately 3"x 6" took 5 skeins of DMC for the base. Round and round and round I went. I enjoyed the process once I got the hang of holding the punch properly. Once I got the rug to a size I liked and stitched in the flower sprays, I cut it out of the fabric it was stitched on (14 count Aida), glued it to some wool blend felt, then blanket stitched the two together. I kinda like it!

Good lighting is essential for good crafting so Pam's little room needed a light! I made this one out of things I already had in my various crafty stashes. Beads, washi tape & a pretty little button are all you need to make this mini lamp. I used this tutorial. I genuinely love it, it's stinkin' adorable.

A crafter also needs a comfortable chair, preferably a pretty one. I bought a simple plain wooden chair and painted it as best I could (be gentle, I'm no painter), I also bought the little craft basket, it was already put together but the basket was also plain so I painted that a sunny, mellow yellow - much cuter.

Anyone who crafts is *always* short on space, so I also gave Pam a craft cabinet. Purchased in plain wood I also painted this little cabinet inside & out and make a teensy bunting with washi tape to decorate the front.

Just for kicks I wanted to make a couple of things to go in the cabinet, since Pam and I love embroidery so much I had to make her a tiny skein of floss (tutorial here - not in English, but you can manage with just the pictures). Look how dinky it is! 

And lastly, maybe my favorite tiny thing, a wee stack of fat quarters! I used the smallest prints I could find in my little stash of 30's repro fabrics from this project (still in the works). I think they're so cute all tied together!

Just for scale here's another picture, see how little? I love little things! I used this tutorial to make the fat quarters.

So there we are, a few little things to start out a miniature craft room. Nothing too matchy, but they all kind of go nicely, don't you think?

Mini's are fun. I have very very little experience with them myself, but I sure enjoyed making these little bits, even if they aren't perfect, they sure are cute!

In a happy turn of events, guess what Pam got for her birthday? A dollhouse kit! So now she'll have a few things to start off with and I'm so pleased I could be a little part of it. Pam has the touch for mini things, just look at her new beach themed fairy garden, so I just know her doll house will be darling! I can't wait to watch it come together slowly but surely.

I hope not to be away for so long between posts this next round, I have so much to share with you guys! It's becoming difficult, sometimes a downright challenge to keep up with blogging, but I'm digging my heels in, I will do better! I started this blog in part to remember and document all the different little things I make and right now many of those things are stacked up in my computer and need to get out, so I'm hoping I can find my rhythm again and be more regular about posting. I so love to share these things and seeing what you all are up to as well, the blogging community is a great one and I definitely want to stay involved!

SO! What have you guys been up to? Do share! And let me know what you think about my little foray into the world of mini's! Have you done mini's? Point me to them, I want to see!
oxo,

Lisa

Reflecting On 2013

Howdy!
So yeah, I've never done one of these look back mosaics of all the things I've made in the previous year, but this year I thought I would, I think it might help light my fire a bit and help me accept that I'm not quite the lazy chump I sometimes feel like, I've been struggling with that lately.

Less than some years, and more than others. I've only got two hands and I work full time so I can't (and not sure I'd want to) pump out the number of projects a lot of folks can, but then again this has never been a competition. I make things that interest me in the moment, for fun swaps, and gifts for my family & friends - because it makes me happy. Making makes me happy and like the hokey pokey, that's what it's all about.

  I don't really plan ahead very much either. If you'd asked me what kinds of things I was going to make in  2013 at about this time last year, I wouldn't have guessed any of these things. Whimsy & inspiration are powerful joy rides!

I've found it's been fun to take this look back, some of these things (like the Valentine's Day makes) have been packed away for almost a year already, seeing them again has given me some neat "oh yeah! I made that!" moments. Let's peruse, shall we?

These things are more or less in about the order I made them, it made putting these mosaics together a heck of a lot easier, links to details about each photo are listed below.

1. Crazy Quilt Heart 2. Valentines Door Wreath 3. String of Hearts 4. Pennie Pockets 5. Scrunchies! 6. Just A Dash Quilted Table Runner 7. Organic Tea Towel 8. Celtic Knot Pillow 9. Hexie Hand Towel 10. Fabric Covered Binders 11. Super Butch 12. Dear Deer 13. Felt Flower Pincushion 14. Homemade Laundry Soap 15. Sashiko Rainbow 16. Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

1. Felt Circle Bunting 2. Burlap Bunting 3. Paulette's Pincushion 4. PAM 5. Hockey Hexies 6. Dez's Tiny Cake 7. Embroidered Birdie Bunting 8. In A War 9. Striped Pants 10. Summer Stitching Club 11. Impromptu Quilting 12. Double Hourglass 13. Pumpkin Pincushion & Fimo Pins 14. Vintage Inspired Halloween Box 15. Halloween Kitty 16. Vintage Trick or Treat Bag

1. Boo Bunting & Pipe Cleaner Cats 2. Coffin Curio 3. Halloween Poppers 4. Embroidered & Beaded Halloween Pin 5. Halloween Door Wreath 6. Lighted Halloween Garland 7. Fancy Witch Hat 8. Fimo Pumpkins 9. Miniature Fireplace 10. Dia De Los Muertos Skull 11. Hexie Mug Rug 12. The boot!

13. Painted Sunflower 14. A Little Blackwork (and scissor obsession) 15. Mermaid WIP 16. Embroidered Candy Cottage

1. Pipe Cleaner Snowman 2. Lil Cow Poke Pillowcases 3. The Big Tote 4. Embroidered Felt Christmas Stocking 5. Batik Dream Pillowcases 6. Sparkly Forrest 7. Whimsy Christmas Pillowcases 8. Vintage Inspired Christmas Ornament

Not too shabby, eh? I've enjoyed seeing these things again, a lot of them have been sent all over the world and live with other people now. That makes me feel a bit warm & fuzzy.

I cooked a few extremely good (read picture worthy) things too!

1. Ham, Potato & Corn Chowder 2. Cinnamon Muffins 3. Salsa 4. Greek Cous Cous Salad 5. Ricotta, Baby Zucchini & Penne 6. Birthday Margaritas! 7. Minestrone 8. Zuppa Toscana 9. Mexican Pizza

(These are all here)

Food is goooood.

 And then there's these guys...

Oh yes, these babies o' mine. They do consume me. I'd bet that dollars to donuts every stitch I've stitched, is equal to one or more kisses on their furry little heads. I love them ever so...

I guess I wasn't as lazy as I thought I was this year... That chunk at the last part of the summer was a real bummer, I don't recommend fracturing any part of your body, friends. Its a drag and that walking boot was no joke. Also, it takes forever to heal. I'm still having problems with my ankle, in fact I'm going back into treatment for it shortly, it's not acting right and I have a lot of years ahead of me, so it needs to get with the program.

I'm looking forward to seeing what will materialize in 2014, there are some big things underway! Ok, so mayybe I plan a little... *wink* 

I hope you'll stay with me on this journey, it's fun to share and I love seeing what you're up to, too!

oxo,

Lisa

Merry Little Things

Hi Everyone!

Did you have a nice little Christmas? I hope that it was cozy and merry and bright!

Mine? Well, I slept through most of it. No kidding, about 20 hours on Wednesday. Worst cold ever. Coughing, hacking, flop sweats and looking like an extra zombie from the Walking Dead, slime and all. Yee-uck. All my plans, dashed. Christmas dinner? Ha! I'm embarrassed to say that my poor husband and I had Carl's Jr for our Christmas dinner. Ooof, lets call that a "keeping it real moment".  After so much sleep on Wednesday, I felt a LOT better on Thursday and since I took a couple of days of work I made it up to my hard working husband who himself had to return to work and made him a nice Christmas dinner on Thursday, only a day late, not so bad :)

So December was a pretty busy month and I didn't make anywhere near the amount of Christmas goodies and gifts I as I have in years past, and what I have made (and am still making) are yet to be delivered, so I can't share much just yet, but I do have a few little things...

Like this cute little vintage inspired ornament

I went on a pipe cleaner binge early on in December, pinned several cute things and hoped to make a bunch of them. But you know what they say about good intentions, right? Teehee...

I also made this little ice skating snowman. 

Just fun little things... Also this year I actually got to display my little bleached out, dyed & glittered trees that I made last year. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, so I simply put them on a little tray and filled it with "snow". 

I put them under the white/candy colored in our guest room this year, they're so pretty. As much as I love them, I won't be doing them the same way again, my friend shared this pin with me and I think I'd really like to try this next time I want to use little bottle brush trees.

I really like the way these all look sitting together though, each one is different from the others, I like the variety!

So what kinds of little things did you make this season, do tell and point me to it, I'd love to see!

oxo,

Lisa

Burlap Bunting

Hi Everyone, happy Friday!

A couple of weeks ago was the 20th anniversary of two very special people in my life. They decided to recommit in simple, intimate to-do, just a few family members in attendance around a little backyard bonfire. I made a couple of simple decorations to add to the festivities.

Burlap Bunting, all packed up and ready to go.

Hey look, I crocheted! Ha!! I can crochet a straight line around the world, lemme tell you. But to turn, and actually make something... not so much. I'm trying though, I'm on lesson 8. It's very slow going (mostly because I haven't worked at in months!). But again, straight lines, to tie into a pretty bow, no problemo.

Here it is all draped across my fireplace...

Couldn't be easier, I cut several layers at once on the big cutting mat on my craft table with the rotary cutter, and then did a very quick running stitch with cotton twine through the tops. I think I made about 30 feet in just under an hour and a half, start to finish. 

I made some felt circle bunting as well. Cut every single one of those circles by hand, too. With scissors.

I ran them one after another through my sewing machine with a zigzag stitch, easy peasy.

Fast, easy, pretty & festive! Perfect for an impromptu backyard weddin'-non-weddin'.

I like these kinds of quick projects, instant crafty gratification.

What's your favorite fast project? Do tell!

oxo,

Lisa

Fabric Covered Binders

Hi Guys!

Today I wanted to show you something I did last weekend, a very quick, simple little project which came out great, and that you might like to try yourself. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was a good one; easy, useful, cheap (and by cheap, I mean free!) and pretty. What more could you want in a Pin? 

I followed this pin to the source, gathered my materials (I already had everything I needed), and jumped in. I used some old binders from work, ugly, and still in good shape, but headed for the trash. I nabbed them just in time! As you can see, it doesn't matter what kind of binders you start with, they'll be totally covered when you're done.

The directions are very easy to follow, and in just a few minutes, I was done! I covered two of these binders in a half hour, which included finding fabric in my stash, pulling everything together, ironing the fabric flat, cutting & assembly.

 Viola!

I am going to use these binders to stash my embroidery & sewing patterns and stencils. I picked up a packet of clear, heavy weight page protectors to store small pieces of patterns and templates and help keep everything organized.

This is my current and very dysfunctional pattern storage situation, it's a mess! One binder with everything squashed in willynilly. This is no good, patterns and pages are constantly slipping out and falling everywhere. Yuck.

(Yes, I do have a Barbie on a Vespa. Whut?)

Now everything has a home and sits together nice & pretty, until I pull it out and make a mess, that is! Haha, that's kind of the name of the crafting & making game though, isn't it? As my husband often says "Where Lisa goes, mess follows." He's not entirely wrong, but I keep trying.

I hope you'll give these a shot if you're into organization, you could use them for all kinds of things, like recipes  checklists, storing bills, idea books, anything really. They couldn't be easier and the options are unlimited as far as fabric goes. Let me know if you do, I'd love to see!

oxo,

Lisa

Make Do & Make New

Hey Y'all,

Did you have a nice weekend? Ours was pretty low key, but on Sunday we had a chance to get the scooters out of the garage and be in nature for a bit, it was a gorgeous, crisp day. We went to the Consumnes River Preserve, and walked a couple of paths, then stopped for a late lunch at a famous local joint. Best darn pork chop ever, and we sat next to a Hells Angel. For realsies. We fit right in with all those Harley guys on our Vespa's, lemme tell you what.

Where was I? Oh yes, making do and making new. I like wreaths on the front door, I think they're pretty, and I like to change them up for the seasons & holidays, but I don't want or need a stack of wreaths taking up space, and have you priced a pretty wreath lately? They're spendy! I have a couple different ones that I can change up with a little imagination and very few, or NO pennies, like this one! 

Made new for Valentines Day.

I have a pretty good stash of felt, both synthetic and wool blend, so I cut out some simple heart shapes with the pinking shears and sewed & stuffed them. I attached them to this pretty, but plain, white flower wreath with safety pins. I clipped the pins around some of the stems of the wreath, which is great because nothing is permanently stuck to the wreath and I can switch it up whenever I like.

Using scraps from the hearts, I cut a four small triangles and chopped letters out of some white, felt scraps to spell out, love. Oh, la, la! I punched some little holes in the corner of each triangle and ran the whole thing through with bakers twine, which I tied to each side of the wreath. Easy peasy and I didn't spend one red cent.

But this is something new, and so simple! The little hearts, pictured above are those stiff, felt stickers they sell for every holiday at JoAnn's. The package was $2.99, but marked 50% off. I bought two packs, so for a whopping three bucks I made five of these long strings of hearts, stuck back to back with more bakers twine in between. The hearts are adorable, they're printed to look like they're stitched, which is perfect for the embroidery lover, such as myself (and a bunch of yous guys, too)!

Here's how it would look if y'all were coming to visit. Come on over, I'll put the kettle on!

I know I'm not reinventing the wheel or anything with my remixed wreath, but I thought it was cute and it surely was cheap (hello, it was free!), and sometimes that's the name of the game.

I hope you liked the peak at my porch! Do you decorate for the little holidays? What do you do, and where do you do it, do tell, I'm always curious about these kinds of things, post links in the comments if you've got one, I'd love to come for a visit!

oxo,

Lisa

Showered With Love... And Sugar!

Hello Ladies!

Are you ready for pretty picture overload? It took me a few days to sort out and edit the photos, but at last! I can reveal my biggest, and most favorite project of the summer; a bridal shower for my best friend, Melissa. I've been working at this a long time, and the day went so very fast, as they tend to do, but I tried to get good pictures to show you guys, so here we go!

 I think think is the most pictures I've ever attempted in one blog post, so get yourself a nice cuppa tea and get comfy, this is going to be a long one!
(As always, if you'd like to view any of the pictures in large format, just click on the image to open it in full screen)

 ♥

Oh! I'm so excited I'm jumping ahead of myself, let's go back to the beginning!

To greet Melissa's friends & family and signal them to the right house, I painted a sign to put out in the front yard.

I propped it up on the lawn with a Shepard hook hung with a pretty, white wreath with a ginormous pink pinwheel flower.

Streamers to start the festivities and usher everyone on the way to the porch. I love steamers!

You can't see it very well in the picture above - it's hanging up by the front door, but this is a bunting I made a few weeks ago. I learned how to do a tiny rolled hem in order to make this bunting, just 1/8" hem! I used this tutorial to teach myself, the directions are clear and concise. I've had this fabric forever, it's so pretty and pink and... frothy! It has a sort of flocked, velvety feeling. I found five full yards of it wadded up in the corner of an antique store, it was in perfect condition. Five dollars!

I held the shower out in my backyard. We have a long patio, a big shade tree, and the whole yard is surrounded by a fence shrouded in ivy and honeycuckle. I love our backyard and I really need a hammock, but that's a different story. Let's take a spin!

I had 16 guests so I rented  tables & chairs and topped the tables with my favorite vintage tablecloths from my small, but growing collection. 

I kept the tablescape simple, just the centerpiece (lemon scented topiaries from Trader Joe's) and the plates topped with a pretty napkin and each guests favor, a sandlewood fan. It was supposed to be scorching hot that day, so I chose fans as favors to keep everyone cool, but as it turns out the weather was perfectly beautiful!

To decorate the columns on our roomy, but boring, white patio, I wanted big, bold, colors that shout happy!

I also made three long lengths of felt bunting to hang between the columns. It was soft and fluttery and did I mention... colorful!

Ooooh, color-ific!

Speaking of color, how 'bout this guy? My family and I saved TP rolls for months to make this piece! This eco-easy wall art was inspired by a piece I found on Pinterest. Simple and fun, lots more ideas can be found here. And here's a good place to state that, Pinterest was INVALUABLE to me in planning this party. There's so much good stuff out there for us crafty peeps, and Pinterest is a fantastic way of keeping it all organized and under control. Here's mine, come find me!

 I just never get tired or bored color, I love them all, especially bright, happy ones!

I spy the blushing bride!

Ahh, the sweets buffet! There's so much to see here, let's dive in to all these goodies!

A mix of homemade and... not homemade.

Hoo-boy, Cherryheads & Lemonheads!

And cake! You guys, the cakes! I made both of them, the recipe for this chocolate dream was from my favorite blog of all time, Alicia Paulson's Posie Gets Cozy. I've long admired her beautiful cakes (all of her cooking, actually) and have wanted to make one for a long time, so I was happy when she posted these cake recipes recently, I used this one with the Cloudburst Frosting. I topped the cake with fresh strawberries, blackberries and blue berries. The white cake (pictured above), a Blackberry Cloud Cake was inspired by this one, but I'll admit to some short-cuts here, I used blackberry, not raspberry, and Cool Whip instead of the fancy (read: time consuming) ingredients in the original filling. It was incredible. I could have scarfed the whole thing by myself.   

Candy covered Rice Crispy Pops, inspired by the ones in this post.

Fun fact: my boss gave me a small, bright red, desk-top Jelly Belly gumball machine as a birthday gift several years ago. It's been collecting dust in my office for years, so I brought it home, gave it a coat of pretty pink and viola, instant upgrade! It was a happy accident to find Skittles in the same colors as the party pallet, these are called Skittles Blenders.

Strawberry cupcakes, yum!

Marshmallow Poles, so pretty, so tasty!

These are my favorite, they're called Champagne Bubbles!

Not to be confused with regular, but no less pretty, wedding bubbles.

More tasty treats, blackberry yogurt covered pretzels, lemon cookies, salt water taffy and citrus gummies. You'd think I was trying to dole out cavities, lol!

Good ol' Country Time Lemonade

♥

Paper straws & pretty napkins.

Oh, and let's not forget about the cocktails!

This drink was deelish and perfect for a hot day, it's called Skip And Go Naked and came from Susan Branch, I modified it for a crowd, and the crowd loved them!

There she is, the lady of the hour, my beautiful friend!

After a light luncheon (that I totally forgot to take pictures of), we played games...

(this one's called Poke The Bride, and I'll let the picture do the talking)

Cut the cake...

 And watched Melissa open her gifts.

These wee monsters were my gift to her, made just for us by Chelsea of Love & A Sandwich. Melissa chose the pink one, I got to keep the blue♥

To send my guests on their merry way, I had a few more sweets and a hint of what to look forward to at the wedding on the way out the front door. I do love a fall wedding.

Here's a shot of the backdrop for the desert table, sans desert. I'm really pleased with the way this came out and thought you might like to know a bit about it. I spent several evenings leading up to the shower sewing ruffles, ruffles into crepe paper, that is. It's very simple, and gives a lot of bang for the bucks, I used this tutorial. 

To make this background I ran a long piece of wood trim through the top and bottom of a vintage bed sheet, then stapled long pieces of the ruffled streamers to the top of the sheet (securing it in place to the wood trim), then hung the whole thing at the top of the patio wall. To add a finished look, I added a swag of white balloons. I pinned the streamers to the backdrop here and there so they didn't blow around quite so much. Simple and effective, and if I haven't used this word too much already, pretty!

I really enjoy hosting parties, I throw my whole self into them and give it my best. Plus, your best friend only gets married once, and I wanted to give her a beautiful little party. Melissa really enjoyed herself and loved all the details. She stayed the weekend with me, and we ate breakfast out under the tree the next morning. It was lovely. I couldn't have pulled this party off without help from my mom and my husband, they're the best support team ever! 

I wish you all could have been there too, I would have saved you a Skip And Go Naked! 

Well this has been quite the epic blog post, and it's way past my bedtime! Did you make it to the end? Hello? Just kidding, teehee! Let me know what you think! Have you guys thrown bridal showers? What kinds of things did you do, tell me all about it!

oxo,

Lisa