A Christmas Dinner

Last weekend we hosted a Christmas dinner for our friends. It was such a good night. I had so much fun decorating my table. So I have two projects that I want to talk about. The first was my little party favor... I did chocolate snowflakes. I was actually looking for a snowflake cookie cutter and could only find this chocolate making kit at the store... so I thought why not. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Second project is my silver table runners... I thought it would be something different then place mats. The flowers are organza fabric cut into circles and then you melt the edges by bring them close to a candle flame.



And here are a few fun pictures from the evening : )

DIY Christmas Balls Tutorial

I made this little guy for my mom. It's a pretty easy craft, it just takes some time.
You need:
-a Styrofoam ball, mine were about a 2 inch diameter
-fabric cut into many little circles, about 1.5 inch diameter. (Also you'll need one long strip for the loop to hang the ornament)
-large beads (Large pearls would look great with white fabric)
-glue gun

First I glued on the large beads, just randomly around the ball. Then I glued the long strip together to form a loop and then glued that on to the ball. Then with fabric circles you put a dab of glue on the middle and fold the fabric around it. On the outer tip of the gathered fabric put another dab of glue and then stick it to the ball, between the large beads. Then you just keep repeating this until the ornament looks full.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

My house is looking very festive this week. I took some branches from a fallen tree on the weekend and gave them a coat of white spray paint. I then put them in these glass vases I bought along time ago, but have yet to really use them. A few blue lights (and my husband gave it under lighting) and they are a great winter statement piece for our living room. This project turned out so good that Icouldn't help but get in the deck-the -halls mood.

My First Typography!

I have been wanting to do a typography poster for a long time. I have probably spent one month trying to come up with a cool phrase to print... but I never did. So last week I painted this frame I bought at the thrift store and I really want to put it up... so Idecided to make a quick typography print... and I love it!

I choose "party rocking in the house tonight", which is from a song me and my husband have been singing alot lately. (Usually we change the words to "polly rockin in the house tonight" ... polly is our dog) But anyway, here it is... with my husband and his gross movember mustache too.

Renos Revealed!

Here is my three week bathroom reno! (I think 2 of those weeks was spent on taking down the wallpaper)

A few before pictures

This renovation cost me 85$... but that is pretty misleading since I used alot of supplies I already had in my house. Let me brake it down for you:

Martha Stewart Living beadboard paintable wallpaper 24.99$
Wood trim on top of wallpaper (we already had one piece) 10$
Silver mirror from Homesense 30$
Glass knobs, found on ebay, 20$

Taking down the wallpaper

Stuff we already had.... wallpaper paste, paint, baseboards, spray paint, vintage wood frames and all the other decorations.

So here is a list of what I did... painted the room a beachy weathered grey color, put up beadboard wallpaper and wood trim on top of it. Painted the baseboards, wallpaper and wood trim the same white color. Spray painted the existing lighting fixture white, spray painted some old frames white, put new glass knobs on the vanity and white cupboard, and bought a new mirror.

The new knobs

The frames, before and after

I love the bathroom now. I can't believe I left it for so long! When I pass by sometimes I just walk in and look around. It's so fresh and bright!

Finished Project!

Bathroom Sneak Peak!

I am almost finished my mini makeover in my main floor bathroom. I have taken down all the wallpaper, painted...walls, light fixtures and trim..., and then put up some more wallpaper! I just need to find a mirror and get all the details finished. I ordered some cute glass knobs from ebay... can't wait to put those on! I just love being in the bathroom now! It was a little bit of work... but so worth it! More picture will come soon.

Sweater Mittens

I got this idea from this lady's booth at the St. Norbert Market. Her's were made with felted sweaters... but I just happened to have a knitted sweater I picked up at the thrift store (I was planning to make a sweater pillow but never got to it) so I used that. I made a lining for the mittens out of fleece.
The trick to making mittens out of fabric is that the thumb is not on directly on the side of your hand. It took me a few tries... but you have to make the back of the hand a little bit bigger then the front. I used the cuffs of the sweater as the cuffs for the mittens. One thing I didn't really like was the seam between the cuff and the mitten. It was pretty thick and bulged out.
It was a pretty fast craft... minus figuring out the pattern, but I think for the 10$ it costs to buy a pair of mittens... I might just recommend that : )

Halloween Treats

A few treats me and mom made this year.

Needed a little change

Oops. This is what I said to husband when he came home to me pulling down the wallpaper in our main floor bathroom. Ahhh. This is what I said to myself as I cut off my pony tail. Sometimes you just need to jump start a change.

Three Little Pigs

This is my baby with two of my friend's babies. This was the first time they had all been together so a picture was in order...and I thought it would be fun to dress them up. I made them little fleece piggy hats and a piggy nose. Oh, and it was fun! Let's just say the above picture, which is heavily tweaked by my husband, was how I thought the photo shoot would go... below is how it actually went. But honestly, I love the below pictures just as much... if not more. It was an amazing visit... I am so glad Max and I have great friends!

Popcorn Owls

My and my mom made these little guys for Halloween.... I love them!

Quilting Hoop Displays

I love quilting hoop displays... I'll be honest, I have one myself, but it is kind of a flop. I did all white lacey fabrics in the hoops on a tan wall, and the wall is pretty large and my grouping looks too small. I'll have to try again with funner fabrics on a different wall I think... and maybe it can look as good as these photos...

Marlene's Space

Tilly's Cottage

Needle Book

Apartment Therary

Diary of a QuilterDesign Delight

A Birthday Present

Here is my latest project... a birthday present for my sister who is soon planning on moving out. It was my first time using spray paint of furniture. I think the finished project looked great... but it took 4 cans of paint, so a more expensive option then buying a can of paint.