Two new Great Nieces

We had two new Great-Nieces born this year!
I'd been seeing HomeGoods store advertisements on TV for quite some time now and was finally able to shop at one! When I was on a business trip last month I looked up a HomeGoods and convinced one of my co-workers that we HAD to go! And boy did we have a good time! I found these great banks and baby blankets there (as well as several other fun things).
I used a paint pen to put the babies names on their piggy banks (simple dimple).

Brooklyn Headband

I found this headband in the dollar spot at Target and decided to personalize it for my great niece.

Live Love Laugh Blankets

These blankets were my "go to" gifts for Christmas this year. They were super simple to stitch out, but turned out looking quite nice!

Neveah's Christmas Gifts

I love having nieces to make girly gifts for! These were two of the gifts I made for my niece Neveah. I love the raggy flower on the jacket and these were two of the first items made on my new embroidery machine which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Applique's came from Planet Applique

Christmas Towels

I found some really fun Christmas designs this year. These two made really cute towels. Unfortunately, the burgundy one, which says "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" didn't photograph well...it looks great in person though!

Fun Stuff

I had so many Christmas gifts and baby gifts to make this month that it became a blur! This was a fun "gift" that I made for a white elephant game. The embroidery was done on an actual roll of regular toilet paper!! I'd been wanting to try this and this seemed like the perfect time! :)

Laundryroom Art

I've seen numerous similar hand-created art work all over blogland. I purchased the frames at a local thrift store for $.99 each the rest of the materials I had on hand. I may have to redo the definition picture as I'm not thrilled with the end result...but I'm gonna live with it for a few days first. The clothes pin graphic came from graphicsfairy.com and the laundry definition was "lifted" from Pottery Barn.

Monogramed Hand Towel

I love the look of embossed towels. I decided to try a couple different files one free one and one purchased. I'm much happier with the purchased one from embroiderydesigns.com

Practice Christmas Towel

I downloaded this great free embroidery file from sewforum.com and wanted to try it out on a "practice" towel prior to investing in better quality towels. This is a dollar store towel I picked up quite some time ago. I really like the quality of the file and can't wait to try it on better towels!

Where has time gone?!

Wow! I can not believe that November is almost over! Where has the time gone?! My class is done (until the new one starts in January), Thanksgiving is over, and our year long remodel is coming to an end (thank goodness)! I FINALLY had a couple of hours to do some crafty stuff (pics coming soon)!!!! Now that the remodel is wrapping up I can finally spend some time decorating the house...only in time to realize it's time to decorate for Christmas! :) I'm anxious to get pics back on the walls, knickknacks on the shelves, curtains hung and throw rugs back on the floor!!

Now the biggest decision of all....are we going to list the house for sale or stay put? We have such conflicting feelings. We've found the house we'd love to buy...but with the housing market in the dumps we've been faced with the reality that buying a home is great right now, but not so much for selling. Which is kinda obvious, but disappointing when faced with the reality of what we can put on ours as an asking price. Decisions, decisions!

Welcoming baby Zenith!

Gifts for our newest neighbor!!

What to do with old barn wood?

Make signs of course!!
A friend of mine gave me a piece of the siding off one her family's old barns that was torn down. I debated forever on what to make with it! I knew it had to be a sign.... my original plans were to make a "welcome" sign. Then I saw the Paris sign in the Ballard Designs catalog and thought "A-Ha"! Wouldn't directional signs be a cool use?
The signs are 24" in length and approximately 7" high. I used the CraftRobo to cut out the stencil (I used shelf liner) and painted with acrylic white craft paint. I put two sawtooth hangers on the back and a piece of felt (to protect the wall). The first name is the town we live in, Casnovia, and the other two are the nearest cities.

Ballard Knock Off Components

Materials to make cube:
Stool ($1.00 from local thrift store)
Drop Cloth (under $10.00 from Home Depot)
Foam (left over from other project)
Batting (left overs)
Staple gun & staples
Acrylic paint & fabric medium
Craft Robo
Vinyl
2 yards of cording ($0.58 from Joann's)
Thread
Sewing Machine

Ballard Cube Knock Off

I completed my Ballard Designs "knock off"! Mine is not an exact replica as I wanted something I could throw in the washer if when it got dirty. Living with three males and two dogs....well, it's bound to happen! :)

A sewer I am not

I have always admired those who have the ability to look at a garment or project and recreate it. My sewing skills are not so refined. Don't get me wrong I can get by, but it's at a very slow pace and with my seam ripper nearby!
Well I am proud to say that I learned a new technique today. I made piping! I found an awesome video on You Tube that showed exactly how to do it. The video was about 9 minutes long and she made it look easy, so I decided to give it a whirl.
It wasn't too bad, and I am quite satisfied with my first attempt. I only had to rip out one short seam!!! I didn't take a pic of the piping by itself, but I will"show off" my newest project tomorrow featuring my piping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cy82Ga64Ys&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Loving the tags!

Who doesn't love Ballard Designs?? But seriously, sometimes their prices blow me away! If nothing else their items often encourage me to follow up on my own comment of "I could make that"!!
I've been on a tag "kick" lately and when the new catalog arrived with these in it I said "hmmm", then I saw the $25.00 price and said "I could make those!" LOL!




So again I go rummaging through my craft stash and come up with these items:





And the result is these: