hello...anyone there?

Hello.  My name is Chris and I used to blog a lot, but then life got really crazy...and it's been a few weeks.

This post is mostly for those who noticed my absence and checked up on me (thank you!).

Christmas Tid-Bits 2012

Hi all.

It's that busy, wonderful time.  I've been stitching up a storm in my spare minutes, and enjoying decorating our new home for Christmas.

Our Christmas tree is covered with memories.

Twine Pom Pom Garland Tutorial

I'm not sure if you remember or not, but a while back I discovered that cotton twine makes fantastic pom poms with really fun texture.

I figured out a way to make my new favorite pom pom into a garland for our Christmas tree.  Want to try one too?

Sundance Catalog Inspired Clock Revamp

Sometimes things just turn out like you hope.  This is one of those projects!

What a difference paint can make.

Lima Bean Wreath + DIY Wreath Form

I am slowly working on some art work and fun things for our dining room wall.  (We've also been putting in sprinklers and finishing that room downstairs!)  I'd seen this sweet wreath on pinterest, and wanted to try my own version.

I just loved the texture!

So I've finally started hanging pictures.

This unpacking and figuring out where to put things sure takes a while. I've deliberately taken my time hanging pictures...and there are still lots of blank walls!

However, I wanted to put up my cherished photos of our children.

I'll share some thoughts on why I put things where, and next week I'll share some tutorials on how I did a few things.

My favorite lights

Finding lighting for our house was exciting.  I had only $1000 allowance in our budget to work with, and so I had to get creative in the sources I used.

Early on in designing how I wanted our home to look (see my new house pinterest board for more good ideas!), I saw these gorgeous Rustic Glass Pendants from Pottery Barn.  I just had to find a way to afford them!  

Caution...painting in progress.

I like to paint. Really I do. But, painting an entire house is hard. And messy. And smelly. (The label claims to be low VOC...I'm not convinced!)

Despite the hardships, I am so happy with how it's coming together.

Ruffled Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial

This is the project I didn't need to do...but really wanted to!

Since February, I've been making little decorative pillow covers that fit an 11" square pillow form.  I think I've now covered every season and some holidays, too.  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Ruffled Christmas Pillow
2. Easter Pillow
3. Winter Chenille (not blogged yet, sorry!)
4. Red, White and Blue Pillow
5. Valentines Pillow
6. Spring into Summer Pillow
7. Fall Pillow

Love @ Home

We've had some issues in our home lately. Like being mean just for the heck of it.

Fabric Pumpkins

Sorry for the prolonged absence...my computer is having issues. Between that and not finding boxes where certain cords were located, I'll just summarize by saying it's been a frustrating week.
I did get something done, however.

Work in Progress Wednesday

I have begun my magnum opus.  Magnum opus is Latin for "great work".  I usually tackle things that take me a couple days at most, and this quilt is going to take months...especially as we begin building our house.

The very necessary curtain + mini hemming tutorial

When we first moved into our rental, the only thing covering the front door window was half of a garbage bag. Classy.

I had to make a curtain...ASAP.

Beach-Inspired Cafe Curtain Tutorial

I'm still trying to find my groove...and figured this was a good time to repost my tutorial for making the cafe curtain in my old laundry room (it originally aired at The Country Chic Cottage Beach Bash).  I hope the new owners like it as much as I did.  :) Stay tuned for this month's Sewing 101 on Saturday.  It's a great one!  

Easy Laundry Room Update

I showed you HERE, how I made my laundry room cafe curtain.  I thought I'd show you the other simple things I did to make the laundry room a happier place to manage the mountains of laundry a family of six generates.  This is what our laundry room looked like shortly after we moved in:

Can I tell you how much I hate vertical blinds???

Red, White and Blue

Independence Day Celebrations are coming up.  I have been insanely busy this week, and can't disclose too much at this point.  Not wanting to drop completely off the map, I thought I'd show my latest version for the banner wreath and seasonal pillow:

Ballard-Inspired Triptych Landscape

A while back, Jessica at Running with Scissors posted a fun triptych landscape painting she made for her mantle.
Here's her version:

Fabric Roses

Last spring, my bloggy friend Anj @ SnowyBliss posted these beautiful fabric roses.

via SnowyBliss

Making my own stencil...and how it turned out.

Goodness, the last week has been crazy.  I'm actually staying at my parent's house for a few days, and am blogging with photos I uploaded before I left. I thought I'd show you a fun project I pulled together a few weeks ago.   I wanted to stencil a wall in our master bath, but needed to do it as cheaply as possible. 

Spring into Summer Pillow

I've been sewing like a crazy person around here. Between the sew-along and Easter I'm a bit swamped. I wanted to be sure I posted this pillow so I could enter it in the Blogger's Pillow Party.

Since making the heart pillow, I thought it would be fun to make different covers for different seasons. I made this pillow cover for spring. Eventually I'll do a post with all of the seasons once I have them finished.