No. I. Didn't.

We moved.  And had to leave behind our entertainment center.  And we wanted a new TV.  What's this a recipe for?  Compulsive refreshing on craig's list. 

(There are hundreds of posts of furniture in my area daily!!)

So I snatched this little gem up.  We wanted something that was tall so our boys couldn't get to the tv, check.  (The power button on this tv has been snapped off from repeated torture.)  We also wanted something with storage, check.  We wanted something sturdy, solid oak, check.  Oh and something that I could paint, check.  And cheap, check.

Afters many hours and extreme heat, I give you our new tv console:

(because console is way cooler than entertainment center)

Okay, I love it.  So much cleaner, fresh and happy than before and DEFINITELY better than the card table we were using.

Here's what I did.

I purchased everything at Lowe's.  (No I was not paid to say that, but desperately wish that I was!)

• removed doors and all hardware
• cleaned everything with soapy water and dried
• applied Klean-Strip Sander Deglosser, twice (left)
• one coat of Valspar Primer (latex)
• two coats of Valspar Glossy paint, color Du Jour (latex)
• attached new hardware
• hot glued in fabric
• adorned with extra large tv

oh, and I spray painted my hinges black!  I didn't want to mess with trying to find the right size.

Let's talk about this fabric.

Before the insert was embossed glass with designs...not my style and hard to cover.

I thought a lot about what I would use to cover those doors, and though initially I thought fabric, I kept it deep down for fear of being mocked for my dumb idea :) 

One magical night, soon after it had dried, I teasingly placed a piece of fabric over the empty space.

{insert heavenly choir}

Not only did I LOVE the look....but remotes work through fabric!!!

The long and short of it is, I cut a piece of fabric about 1 inch larger in width and height than the size of the hole.  I would squirt a section of hot glue with my left hand and follow with my right hand adhering the fabric.  In the end I went around and trimmed the excess fabric.  Eventually I'd like to get some trim or piping and glue it around the inside edge to give it a more finished look.

Originally the right side was intended for a tv.  We're using it for more storage.

These boxes are from Ikea.  They are made to fit about 15 dvds each, it is $5 for 2 boxes.

There you have it!  I have another painting project (kitchen table and chairs) and I've got all the stuff....but I need a painting hiatus.

I will definitely be linking this project up!  Make sure to check out these parties!

Cover that shade!

We've been MIA, once again.  Have you been to our QuiltStory blog?  We've been so excited, we've been working hard on it all week.  Whether you make quilts or just admire, go check them out.  And let me say, these aren't your grandma's quilts, these are vibrant darling quilts that I'd love to have in my own home!! 

my aplologies to grandma's and grandma quilt likers :)

Plus in the morning we'll be featuring my fabulous friend Sara and I'd love to see her get many comments!!

I've been meaning to post this for a bit.  My lovely friend Sara gave me her lamps when she moved.  ...this really isn't a before picture...see they used to be brass lamps and she made the first great leap by spray painting the bases.  I LOVE the color, so I decided I wanted to cover the lamp shades with new fabric, and here's how I did it.

Let me apologize for the awful photos.  With two babies, I do most my crafting at night, thus ugly pictures.

I really wanted to get a white based fabric with some maybe a little aqua design to cover the shades with.  Shockingly I was unable to find such a fabric at Walmart or the local quilt shop.  I decided to make my own by stenciling.  More on that in a minute.

1. Roll your shade along the wrong side of your fabric tracing the top and then the bottom with a pencil.

2.  Cut about 1/2 inch larger than your pencil line on the top and bottom.

This is how I made my own design.  Do you know about Freezer Paper? It's awesome and can be used in many ways.  It can be purchased at most grocery stores.  There is a paper and shiny side.

3. On the paper side trace your image and cut out.

4. IRON the shiny side to the right side of your fabric and sponge paint into the stencil!  You can make whatever image you want, and the paint won't bleed through the sides.  ALSO, you can reuse the stencils over and over, it irons on and peels off easy peasy.

 5. Trickiest part.  Using Aleene's Tacky Spray adhere the fabric to the shade.  It's sticky and this took some trial and error.

6. Hot glue your edges by folding into the shade.  Add a trim if you'd like!

Ta-da!

When I move to Arizona (we're counting down the days!) I'd like to find the perfect trim for the top and bottom.  I'm pleased how they turned out, definitely a statement!

How to make a tie shirt

After having my second little boy I knew that I'd have to get creative if I wanted to make things for my little boys!  I can't remember where I first heard of or saw tie shirts, but I love them.  They are just nerdy enough to be perfectly adorable!

I searched through blogs and etsy observing how everyone else made their shirts, and finally settled on the way that I love :)  I will share with you here how I make my tie shirts, and hopefully you'll love them too.

Materials needed:

-plain t-shirt or onesie
-heat n bond or some kind of fusible web for applique
-fabric for tie (scraps)
-sewing machine

Step 1:
Trace the tie pattern onto the paper side of your heat n bond.  I separate the two pieces, the knot and the tie.  I like the pattern of the knot to be in a different direction than the pattern of the tie.  I have included my templates for you here, in sizes 3-6 months and 2T.  Using a ruler you can make these shorter/longer and wider/thinner.  My suggestion is that the tie is within 3-4 inches of the bottom of the shirt.  I find if the tie ends too high on the shirt it's just nerdy enough to be down right nerdy.  Roughly cut around the pieces and iron to the wrong side of your fabric, like so:

Step 2:

Following the directions of your heat n bond, cut exactly around the tie, peel of the paper and iron to the shirt. It's now ready for you to sew around. Sew.

Step 3:

Stand back and admire! They're that easy. I think the trickiest part is picking the right fabric stripes and plaids work amazingly and the right size and length for the ties.

Step 4:
Adorn cute cousin boys with matching tie shirts.  Perfection!



As always, we will be linking these cutie pies to some linky parties, so check them out.  Seriously you can find some amazing talent at these parties!

Two Blankets, Two Ideas

I've recently made two pieced blankets for friends, and when I finished I thought they were the perfect patterns for a variety of blankets!  I am going to give you a semi tutorial.  Meaning if you've had a little experience on the machine, you'll be able to make these too.

(They are not difficult to make in the least, however, I am not doing a step by step how-to)

This was for my sweet friend Sara's new baby boy Simon.  I had a few 1/4 yards of fabric and was thinking and thinking of how to piece it and not have it look weird or like leftovers (which they weren't!).

My favorite part is the middle strip.  It'd be cute left alone, or with a variety of applique's.  I considered argyle diamonds, spelling out "sleep" or "Simon"...and ultimately settled on stars!!

On a side note, I made this ball to go with the blanket.  I always feel like I have to have a little something extra to go with "main" present.

Here are the measurements for this blanket.  The finished size is 38" x 23".  The measurements in the diagram below are what I cut the fabric, prior to sewing.  My seam allowance is 1/4".

Here is my pieced blanket #2.  This is a car seat blanket.  Heather and I discovered these about three years ago when we were making blankets for our soon to be babies, who were born only two days apart!  It is so nice to have a small blanket to squish around your newborn, instead of a full size blanket that you have to fold 8 times to get around them.

The same story for this one as well, it would be adorable without any applique at all...however an initial, heart, crown, etc. could make it so sweet too!

They can be finished by binding the edges or just simply turning inside out with a finishing stitch around the outside.  Either works. 

And when the baby gets older, it's a great little blankie to play peek-a-boo with :)

I always have to try and sneak one of my boy's in a photo shoot.  Guess it was Ollie's lucky day!

The finished size for this blanket was 24" square.  Once again, the measurements below are what the pieces were cut to, prior to sewing. My seam allowance is 1/4".

There you have it!  Two basic patterns to make a variety of easy pieced blankets!

If you are feeling adventurous and want to give one of these a try, please link us!  We'd love to see your finished project.  If you are a little nervous but would like to try it out, contact us because I'd love to answer any questions.

Happy Mother's Day!!  As for me?  Looking forward to snuggling on the couch with my oh so busy husband and watching a movie of my choice.  Mmmm can't wait.

What did you do?

Linking up to a few parties today: The Girl Creative, Between Naps on the Porch, It's So Very Cheri, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can Do, Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog, Sew and Tell w/AmyLouWho and Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

Mini Makeover Part 2 & a tutorial

Part two of mini makeover: I've seen these cute little blockies around and just had to make some for my Oliver.

Wanna make some to?

Here's how to make adorable lettered fabric blocks for your baby.

You'll need:

• Six 3.5" squares of fabric per letter (36 for me)
• Heat n Bond
• Scrap fabric for letters
• Letters traced or printed from your computer
• Batting
  

1- Trace your letter onto Heat n Bond and cut out roughly around the letter (remember to do the letter in reverse).

2- Cut out six 3.5" squares for each block you want to make.

3-Following the directions on the Heat n Bond packaging, iron each letter onto one square.

4- Sew around each letter.

5- Sew 4 squares sides to sides together.

6- Pinning the top and bottom squares to the ends of the "coming together" block, make sure to match the corners and then sew around. This can be tricky, it kind of takes trial and error to learn how far to go to on the corners.

7- Leave a small opening to turn your block right side out with, and then stuff it with batting. Hand sew the hole closed.

If you wanted a crisper more square look to your blocks, I bet if you added some interfacing to each square it would give you that effect. I wanted a softer more playable look for these.

There you go! Now you have some cutie-patootie soft blocks for your baby.

How lucky am I that OLIVER is six letters? As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Partying with AmyLouWho and My Romantic Home.

*Tear, sniffle*

Heather and I like to keep things light on our blog, but today I'm going straight up serious.

June 20, 2009 was our son Sawyer's 2nd birthday. Around 2 am that morning my husband was driving across many states to catch up with me and the boys while we were vacationing in Utah, and to make it to our boy's big day.

I was sleeping at Heather's house. Around 8 am she knocked on the door where my now 2 year old, 6 month old and I were sleeping. She was standing there, a phone in one hand holding onto the door frame with the other. She was shaking like crazy and whispering for me to come to the door.

When I got to her I remembered my husband had been driving through the night. The first thing she said was, "He's okay, but Ernesto's been in an accident."

He rolled. He flipped. He crossed the median into the other lane of traffic. He landed upright. A mother and daughter were the only other car on the road, and they came to his side and called 911.

He was taken in an ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Wyoming. They did all kinds of tests, and miraculously he was okay.

A reunion more special than Sawyer knows.

I vividly remember seeing my boys awake a few minutes after hearing the news and their huge brown eyes staring back at me. For a moment I allowed my mind to go to the place where my husband wasn't coming home...it made me realize more than ever before that he is irreplaceable to us.

Now, to bring it all back to crafting, where ultimately everything must go :) When he was taken to the ER they cut all of his clothes off him. He was wearing a nice brown button up shirt that was cut to shreds. When we got all of his stuff I knew I wanted to somehow use that shirt as a reminder of all the emotions from that time.

The brown border and "families" are from his shirt.

I started with a piece of muslin and traced "are" and "forever" with pencil onto the fabric. I embroidered those words. I printed and traced "families" and used fusible web to attach it to the muslin. I hand appliqued this because my machine skills are not that great on such small letters. Then I pieced the borders to fit in a 8 x 10 frame ($3 at Walmart). I put a thin piece of quilt batting and didn't use the glass.

I love how it turned out. It makes me happy every time I see it. I stressed a lot about how I would use it, what I would say, I wanted it to be perfect. But ultimately I went simple, and for this project I think that was just right.

We're at these linky parties: A soft Place to Land, Skip to My Lou, Amy Lou Who,The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Cottage Instincts, Twice Remembered, Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Between Naps on the Porch.

Sparkly Love

When I saw Heather's Winter Mantel, I was really jealous of her sparkly bird and wanted to add a little sparkle to my own house. Heaven knows, me being the only girl in the house, there isn't much sparkle to be had.

It was pretty easy. I traced out "love" onto a cereal box, preferably something unhealthy and sugary, such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch. You can do it freehand like me, because I was lazy and didn't want to go print something off, or trace a word you printed from your computer.

Next I applied one coat of white toll paint, my glitter was iridescent and so I wanted the background white. You can probably skip this step depending on your glitter. Than you apply a layer of Mod Podge, which you must have handy at all times during crafting...and shake on your glitter!

It as the perfect compliment to my mantel, I mean entertainment center. I'm not as fancy as Heather.

Do you have any quick and easy Valentine's projects? It's 6 days away, we have plenty of time to decorate.

We're partying with Kimba at A Soft Place to Land, The Girl Creative, Today's Creative Blog, It's So Very Cheri and Reinvented Trash to Treasure so go check out some creative ladies!

C is for celebrate

Earlier in this crazy month, my co-crafterson Heather celebrated her birthday! I made this cute banner for her, and considering she has four daughters, I'm hoping it will be put to good use :)
These come together pretty fast, and they are also cute just plain without any letters. Use a ruler and cut out a triangle from an old cereal box to use as your template. Use pinking shears (zig-zag fabric scissors) to cut the triangles from your fabric, and they won't fray. Then all you have to do is sew the banner to a ribbon and you've done it! One thing I discovered with this one, I overlapped each flag a little and I like how it hangs a lot better than others I've made.

Won't that be great at birthdays and events? I don't even have one :( That's on my craft list. Happy New Year everyone !!! We're partying at Between Naps on the Porch, The Girl Creative, and A Soft Place to Land.

DIY Ornaments

We just gave our first free tutorial, what the heck, let's do another :) I recently created a whole bunch of templates to make felt ornaments, my new favorite stuff to work with, just look at my chickens! So I am going to call this a mini tutorial, because I don't have pictures to go along with it. For starters I have uploaded the templates for you to use here and here.

I decided to make an open stocking for each of my boys so I can stuff a little candy in them :) All of the other ornaments are stuffed with regular cheap batting!

HOW TO: Print off templates and cut around one template, let's say the stocking. Pin the paper to your felt and cut around (remember to double up for front and back!) Cut scraps of felt for the top, toe and heel if you want. Use a running stitch to attach each of these to the top layer of felt. You can also use fabric glue to help you on your way :) Finally, I did a blanket stitch around the entire stocking. I found this site helpful to learn the stitches, and I'm sure if you typed in any of the stitches someone would show you on video on youtube.

(I used a running stitch, back stitch, whip stitch and blanket stitch)

They make me so happy. I want to make 804 more.

Let me know ANY questions you have!

(PS the owl is not an original idea of mine, it comes from a crafty magazine a few years back...I just wanted you to know I'm not that amazing. Oh, and I'd add some googlie eyes to him.)

PS We added this to AmyLouWho's Sew and Tell Friday's.

A Holiday Runner

Heather and I are many things, but when it comes to our crafts, one of those things is not humble. How cute is that runner? And even better, you can make it, and we'll show you how! Our very first tutorial to show you how to make a holiday or winter table runner!

And what else is great? Choose fabrics accordingly and this can last you all winter, or it can be a spring runner. Endless possibilities I tell you.

To start, materials needed:

*1/3 yard green fabric for center

*1/4 yard aqua fabric for sashing

*1/2 yard pink fabric for border
*3-5 Fat Quarters for circles

*1/4 yard brown fabric for tree

*1/2 yard hot pink fabric for binding

*2/3 yard for backing

I totally dropped the ball here, there is no photos of me putting the background together. BUT you can do it! If you can read, sew straight and iron, you can make this, promise.

STEP 1: Start with 1/3 yard green fabric for center, using a rotary cutter, board and ruler, cut the piece to measure 10.5" x 36.5". Then cut 1/4 yard aqua fabric for the sashing into 1.5" strips.

Finally take 1/2 yard pink fabric for border and cut it into 3.5" strips.

STEP 2: Using the aqua 1.5" strip, match up to one side of the green center fabric. (You will have a good amount of sashing hanging off one end). Sew together, trim to match and press. Repeat on opposite side and then top and bottom.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 using the pink 3.5" strips.

Step 4: Make 75" of 1" bias tape using the 1/4 yard of brown fabric for tree.

Now, I used a bias tape maker that you can get at most fabric stores, I got mine at JoAnn's. It is cheap and easy, you feed fabric through one side and it come out the other where you starch and iron it, and then the ends are turned in! Ta-da! You could also make your bias tape using a fusible web (we'll use that on the circles in a minute) or you can purchase it.

Step 5: Using the main picture at the top as your guide, cut and place the tree and branches to your liking. The length of the main part of my tree is 33". Using a temporary hold glue, I used Aileen's from WalMart, paste it in place. Sew all the way around your tree and branches with invisible thread (my preference) using a tight zig-zag stitch.
Time to make circles! I've uploaded the template I used here, there is a 5" circle (cut 3), 4" circle (cut 4) and a 3" circle (cut 2).

Step 6: It is a good idea to make temporary circles from printer paper as a trial to make sure you like the size and placement, like below in photo 1.

Step 7: Using my template or your own, trace three 5" circles, four 4" circles and four 3" circles onto the paper side of the fusible web. (I used Heat n Bond lite found hanging next to the sewing notions at WalMart.) See below photo 2.

Step 8: No photo for this step. Roughly cut around the traced circle (not the actual circle, maybe 1/2" or so outside of it). Place the non-paper side of the fusible web on the wrong side of your fabric and iron. Once cooled, cut around your actual circle.
Refer to the directions on whichever type of fusible web you purchase, they may differ from my directions.

Step 9: Peel the paper away from the back of the circle and place exactly where you'd like it on your runner. Iron. Ta-da! See below photo 4.
You're almost there!

Step 10: Sew around the edges of your circle. I chose to do mine a little more decorative for fun, I sewed in about 1/4" with a hot pink thread. You can use the invisible thread again here if you'd like, it's up to you.
And....you did it!

Step 11: Stand back and admire. Show anyone within the walls of your home. Jump up and down. Giggle. Now compose yourself, you look like a fool.

It's just a runner.

:)

Don't hate me, you're thinking, man this is awfully thin?? Well there are a couple more steps to completion. It needs to be quilted. And I quilted mine on my own, bless my heart, there will be no tutorial for that. I recommend hiring a professional, my aunt always does ours but she's hundreds of miles away and I just wanted mine done immediately. You can find affordable women with long arm quilting machines who would do an excellent job. I'd ask at a local quilt store for a recommendation.

Shortly after handing it over, you'll receive the blessed call that it is ready. You'll pick it up and can't believe it's even more gorgeous than it left. All that is left to do is bind it, which is actually one of my favorite parts, because you can watch TV while you do it. I'll be posting a tutorial on how to bind a quilt (or table runner) in about a week! Stay tuned!

Please, if there are any mistakes or clarifications, let us know! Leave a comment or drop us an email! Happy quilting :)

PS We've linked with a few parties, we love them! A Soft Place to Land, DIYblogspot, the shabby chic cottage, 320 sycamore,and Today's Creative Blog so check out all those other amazing things. Also, See Mommy Sew is having a tutorial contest all of November, so go enter yours, and amylouwho for sew and tell fridays!