tulle pom-poms + garland tutorial

I promised a tutorial after my last post. It took a little longer than anticipated. I ended up having my granddaughter, Madi, spend two whole days with me. I like to give her my full attention when she visits. She's also a talker, so getting anything done is a little difficult. :) She is seriously one of the most hilarious little people I know.

Then I was called to a new position at church. I know. I did not see that coming. I loved my calling as RS Meeting Coordinator and I will miss working with so many wonderful women. More on that later.

a simple surprise: Easter decor

While Ella was at school the other day, I spread some Easter love around her room. She was so surprised and thought it was wonderful! 

simple project | sleeve pumpkins

 Well, hello fall. Yep, it's full-on here and gorgeous in Utah.

My friend Marci and I took a little jaunt to the Heber/Midway area last week. It was so, so fun. All the way through Provo Canyon, we were ewwww-ing and ahhhh-ing over the colors of the fall leaves against the dark green of the pines.

We arrived early for Marci's appointment, so we stopped at a thrift store we really like in Heber. (We may have planned it that way. ;)) The store is called St. Vincent's. We checked out the vintage clothing together and then split up.

chicky-boo meet ella-phant

I had a GREAT birthday! Friday I went to lunch at Rubio's (yummy fish tacos!) and a quilt shop in Payson I'd never been to (Gracie Lou's) with my girlie friends, Marci, Jen and Marina. (Yes, the same-same goofy ones from the girls' getaway. Love them!) Then on Saturday Lynn and I went to lunch at PF Chang's with my brother, Steve, his wife, Deanna, and my niece, Jessica. They'd never been (can you believe it?) and it's one of my favorite places to eat. It was great to catch up with them. So many birthday wishes on Facebook, text and e-mail. Thanks so much everyone, it made my day extra special.

I've looked at Heather Bailey's pincushion patterns so many times and couldn't get over how darling they are. Seriously, I've wanted one so much. I've considered making one, but there are a lot of small pieces so I haven't. Even better...check it out!

 

karson's car quilt & burper pads

We've all been sick around here. First Madi and Kate, then Ella, now Lynn and I. Eck! Lynn and I settled in for a good week of being miserable, but we seem to be getting over it a lot quicker than the others. Lots of water, rest, essential oils and Theraflu seem to be doing the trick.

I got Karson's quilt quilted (thanks, Jen!) and stitched on the binding this week. I love stitching on the binding. For me, the handwork is the reward for all the rest of the work. I decided to wash it before giving it to the kids. I love the way it crinkles up and gets soft and yummy smelling.

punch it, margaret!

Me, Marina, Marci and Jen

Yep, it was one of those weekends. I laughed myself silly. I love these girls!

super saturday projects {oct 2010}

Here's the line up of the projects for our October 9th Super Saturday. They're awesome! I know a lot of you are thinking Christmas gifts already and signing up fast.

{CELEBRATION BANNERS}
Taught by: Kim McCrary
This class is designed to give you the basic skills of creating three banner styles for any occasion or celebration. Create this delightful Halloween trio and then change up the papers for any theme or color scheme.
Cost: $3.00

shop hop 2010

I've been a total blog slacker lately. I've been diligent in trying to get the home projects I mentioned in an earlier post done. I get easily side-tracked but was able to accomplish some of them. Plus I've been taking time for myself and doing a little sewing. It's been years since I've used my sewing machine to sew something other than scrapbook pages or paper crafting projects. I'll update on my progress in both areas (home and sewing) later.

I desperately needed some girlfriend time this weekend, so Lynn took Ella for the day on Friday. I went with my friends Maggie and Crystal, to a few stores on the Quilting Shop Hop 2010. These girls are so fun. As always, we had a great time.

This Model T was parked outside one of the quilt shops, so we hopped aboard.

This was my absolute favorite stop. I'd never been there. It's in South Jordan. You take the 106th exit and turn west, then turn left on Redwood Road. It's in a nice shopping area on the left by Cafe Rio. The store is delightful and filled with amazing fabric and samples galore.

There was so much inspiration and the owner and the girls who work there are so sweet and helpful. They gave us tiaras made from sparkly silver pipe cleaners--totally vintage looking. You can bet Ella snagged mine the minute she saw it.

So much stuff to love. Attached to our tiaras was a 25% off coupon for next month. We've already planned our trip back.

I didn't purchase much throughout the day--three retractable tape measures (Ella broke my last two, so I thought I'd better stock up. They were only $1.50. I paid seven our eight dollars each for my last ones.), some darling fabric to make a skirt for Ella and an embroidered pillow for a thank you gift.

We had lunch and hit the cookie store for some sweets. It was a great day off. I came home inspired and rejuvenated.

aprons and sock monkeys

Carol's comment on my "kitchen organization" post...

Now, I'm not picking on you, but where is your apron? I have gotten into aprons in the last few years and love them - store purchased and hand made. Ask Deanna to show you the one I made her for Christmas. I hope they're not just for 'old ladies' any more!

got me in a creative mode again. I love aprons. I have two, but they're both butcher-style and very boring. Definitely functional. I wear them more out of necessity than style. When I'm cooking, I get a grease stain splattered on my favorite shirt or when I'm cleaning it's a bleach stain--never fails. I've been looking for some simple apron patterns--both functional and stylish. Making them out of a sassy fabric would serve both purposes. I need to see Deanna's. (Deanna, why don't you post it on your blog?) Anyway, until I do find what I'm looking for, I thought I'd start with a smaller project to satisfy my creative needs. I finally ordered the kit to make one of these for my own little monkey.

































So fun and vintage! Madi's great grandma (and Ella's grandma) made this one for her, but Ella has somehow claimed it as her own. The kit is on sale ($14.99, sale price $12.99) here for either size--medium or large. This is the large one. And it makes two monkeys. You supply your own stuffing. They also have a blue elephant kit that's adorable. Either one would make a great Valentine's gift. Don't you think?

I can't stand paying shipping, so I rarely shop on-line without a promotion code for free or reduced shipping or a discount. If you decide to order your own kit, type 9763 in the promotion code box at checkout and your shipping will drop from $7.99 to $1.00. Two sock monkeys for $13.99. Love it. I'm thinking I'll make the second one for my niece, Sierra. She loves to shop vintage/second-hand shops and I thought of her when I saw it. (Deanna and Carol--don't tell!)