These...

...are AMAZING!!! No more Reese's Cups for me...these are so much better! These tiny little bites of heaven came from Trader Joe's, which is my new favorite place. I'm not sure how I ever lived without it.

Snowed In!

We woke on Monday morning to snow, lots of snow. Well, "lots" by our standards since we get snow once, maybe twice, a year (sometimes none at all), and when it does snow, we're lucky if we get an inch. Monday afternoon a "wintery mix" moved in, and it started to sleet and rain. The temperature was still really low, and that 7 inches of snow became encased in a layer of ice. That meant that everything around here pretty much shut down. Luckily, I had bought a bunch of fabric at Hobby Lobby over the weekend, so I didn't mind one bit that we were snowed in. Here are a couple projects that I've been able to complete:



I bake a lot, and I was tired of my dish towels falling of the handle of the oven every time I opened the oven door. So, I fixed the problem. I came up with this idea. It's not a new idea (it's a variation of those crocheted ones that were popular back in maybe the 70's or 80's), but I love the look of the fabric ties in place of the crocheted ones.


I didn't take pictures while I was sewing these because I didn't know how they would turn out. But basically what I did was made a sash and attached it to the dish towel. It was really easy. If you can sew in a semi-straight line, you can do this.


I've had the idea for this pillow for several months but never completed it. I figured it was time to finish it.


It all started with this pillow that came from Hobby Lobby. I really don't know what possessed me to look at pillows, especially ones with the letter "Y" embroidered on them. Our last name doesn't start with "Y," nor does it contain that letter at all, but for some reason I picked it up anyway. I don't know if you can see that little yellow price tag, but it says $2.50! This pillow was originally $30 (am I the only one that thinks that's an absolutely insane price to pay for a pillow?), and the "Y's" were the only ones marked down. All the others were still $30. I knew I could do something to cover up that "Y" and make a really cute pillow, so I threw it in the cart. Okay, so I threw 2 in the cart. I'm just being honest. I had a few ideas in mind, so I headed for the fabric section. After looking (and looking and looking and oooing and aaaahing and drooling a little) at all the fabric, I decided that I would make some flowers like these to attach to the pillow.


I picked up this fabric. To make the flowers, you need some type of thin, satiny fabric. I chose a poly-satin, and I bought 1/8 yard in each color, a chocolate brown and a buttery yellow.


When I got home, I cut a bunch of different-sized circles (as many as I could get out of the fabric). They don't have to be perfect. They actually look better if they start out a little bit irregular (not too irregular; they should still resemble a circle).



Then I used the flame of a candle (you could also use a lighter) to burn all the way around each circle. The flame will basically begin to melt the fabric and cause it to sort of scrunch up a bit (Just don't hold one spot over the flame for too long, or it will start to melt like crazy and drip liquid poly-satin everywhere. Don't ask me how I know this.), and you'll have something like this...


I began to stack the pieces, starting with a large circle and gradually stacking smaller ones. You can make these as large or small as you want. I decided to use alternating colors for this project, but I also love the look of using only one color. Then I sewed the pieces together with just a few small stitches. The stitches don't have to be perfect. They'll be covered up.



I then sewed different-sized black beads to the center of each flower and tacked each flower onto the pillow. I love the way the pillow looks on our guest bed. It matches perfectly, although I didn't originally intend for it to. It just sort of worked out that way. I love it when that happens!

Miscarriage Awareness Month

Unless you live under a rock, you're probably aware that it's Breast Cancer Awareness month. Those little pink ribbons are everywhere, so I'm not sure how anyone could miss it. My mom is currently undergoing treatments for breast cancer, so I am immensely thankful for all the awareness and support that is going on right now. A few weekends ago my family (including my mom) and I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It was a truly awesome experience, one I'll never, ever forget. We all said that we hoped to participate again next year. I hope that it turns into an annual tradition for us. All that being said, I read today that October is also Miscarriage Awareness Month, and October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I never knew there was such a thing. Miscarriage isn't something that's openly discussed, at least not in my experience. For many women, there's a lot of shame regarding miscarriage. It's also a very painful subject. And it's a subject that only a limited number of people understand. I was so glad to find out that there's a group of women trying to raise awareness for miscarriage and infant loss, no matter how small that amount of awareness is right now. Breast Cancer Awareness is huge now, but at its inception it was small and relatively unknown. I hope that one day Miscarriage Awareness will be just as widely known. I'm not at all comparing miscarriage and breast cancer. They are both traumatic and terrible in their own ways, but they're different. I would never compare my miscarriages to what my mom is going through with breast cancer. Never. But every woman who has experienced or will one day experience a miscarriage (or multiple miscarriages) needs other people to be aware of how often miscarriage occurs, that it's an excruciatingly painful experience, that it needs to be dealt with as sensitively and lovingly as any other loss, and that she is a mom, too. For more information visit The Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day website, and spread the word.

Goodwill, The Dollar Store & My Attic

I'm in the process of decorating the house for fall. I'm wanting to do something a little different from previous years without spending a bunch of $$$, so I've been busy crafting and re-purposing and creating. Here are a couple of my favorite projects.


A couple Dollar Store vases like this...




Along with a couple Dollar Store candlesticks...




And a little Gorilla Glue (this stuff is awesome, and I swear you could build a house with it)...




TaDa! An apothecary-esque jar!




I love how they look on the table in our foyer. Everything inside them and on the table is stuff I already had, for a grand total of $3.50. My favorite thing about these is that I can use them all year round. I think they'll be especially pretty at Christmas.






This is my mantle from last year. I did pretty much the same thing the year before that, so I wanted a new look this year. I haven't actually done anything to the mantle yet, but see those 3 pumpkins made out of sticks (2 on the left and 1 beside the lantern)? I turned them into a pumpkin topiary.




First, I painted the leaves green. They were orange (not really sure why, and not really sure why I allowed them to stay orange the last 3 years either), which matched absolutely nothing in my house.




Then I took this little urn, which I got at Goodwill for $0.50, took out the moss and styrofoam, weighted it with some rice so that the topiary wouldn't be too top heavy, and then hot glued the moss and styrofoam back in.




Finally, I hot glued (my hot glue gun really got put to work today) the 3 pumpkins onto the top of the urn and then added some leaves and berries and twiggy things. Here's the final product.



This is one of my favorite things that I've ever made. I love how it turned out! The best part is that it cost me $0.50 (the cost of the urn). I already had everything else and just re-purposed it all.

A Few Things I've Learned From My Crafting Adventures

I need a new pair of crafting scissors. This is a pair of Fiskars safety scissors that I've had since I was in 3rd grade. 3rd grade! That's very close to 20 years ago! Notice that they're purple. Evidently, I was still going through my "Purple Phase" when I got them. During my purple phase everything had to be purple, and I mean everything. I'm pretty sure that phase lasted entirely too long and that it almost drove my mom crazy. When it comes to colors, I've branched out considerably since the 3rd grade, and my hands are slightly larger. Not to mention the fact that safety scissors weren't really meant to cut through wire and other such things. These poor scissors have been through enough. It's time to let them go.




Gorilla Glue is really hard to get out of your hair. Thanks to my mom for helping me chip it out. And for laughing with me (at me?) the entire time.




I need a craft room. My living room looks like Hobby Lobby exploded.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is my mom's birthday. She's an amazing mom, truly amazing, and she's mine! Although, I do occasionally share her with my sister. My mom is the strongest person I know, a fact that has been reinforced over the last 7 months. She's also the least selfish person I know. She knows me inside and out, and I love the fact that she understands me so well. If anyone deserves a wonderful birthday, it's my mom, and I hope that she truly does have a wonderful day!

Busy!

I promise I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been busy. Busy traveling to Kansas for my cousin's wedding and to visit my hubby's family...




Busy with various crafts and sewing projects (more on that later) and busy hanging out with this adorable little guy...



I mean, who cares about blog posts when you've got this cutie pie to love on? Look at those crinkly, sparkly eyes and those squishable cheeks! He's not mine, but he melts my heart anyway!