why i've been a bit absent..

I"m getting ready for my 2nd ever craft show. So, i've been busily sewing and crafting in every spare moment. Wellllllll,  that's not true...in my spare time i've also been keeping up with all my favorite blogs, pinterest, and tv shows. Don't worry, i know how to keep my priorities straight. :) Anyway, if you're in the Greeley, CO. area, you should stop by! This show/ market is held in a super cute old building turned theater in downtown Greeley and will be lots of fun.

Ok, so here's a little of what i've been working on lately...and don't you think that handy andy hasn't been put to work as well, because he has! And he keeps coming up with such great ideas for my little booth that its almost getting annoying.... i shouldn't even joke, because honestly, some of my ideas are really, seriously brainless. For example, i wanted some pole type things on either side of my table to hang bunting on.

* My brains thinks like this: "I'll find some 5 or 6 ft. long dowels at hobby lobby(?) then i'll get a couple of tin cans, fill them with cement, when it's almost dry i'll shove my ginormously long dowels into the cans and hope they stick up straight. Then i'll put the cans inside a couple pots and kind of push them under the the 2 sides of the table and then string my bunting across the wobbling, possibly snapping dowels. riiiiight."

* Handy Andy's brain thinks like this: "First of all, does my wife's brain reeeally think that illogically??

Either way, I'll get a couple 2 feet dowels, find two substantial aspen logs from our wood pile, drill a hole in the center of both. Fit the dowel into the hole, put the log on top of either side of the table. String bunting. done." SO smart. 

Well, that's all for tonight. I have a bit more sewing and pricing to do and then i'll be sure to share some pics from the actual show next week. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

harvest...halloween.. DRESS-UP day

I could definitely do without all of the scary and ick on this holiday, but the fun of letting these little people dress up and run around makes for a pretty great night.

I think big family/group themed costumes would be awesome, but as the kids are getting older, they have opinions. This year, their opinions fell in the "ninja", "bunny princess" and "doggie superhero" categories. :)

Will put his costume together all on his own...even down to where he wanted his face paint.

Sophie knew from the beginning she wanted to be a doggie. But then about an hour before our party she began to get "super hero" dreams in her head. Thanks to my hot glue gun and lots of old t-shirts, i quickly made a super hero cape with an "S" on the back. She was delighted.

Madelines' two favorite things in life these days are bunnies and princesses. The combination of the two was obvious.

Here we are visiting our best neighbor, Charlene.

Ben was, of course, a sock monkey. And he played the part perfectly: cuddly, squishy and adorable.

Handy Andy out did everyone and threw his clown costume together in "LITRALLY" (parks and rec, anyone??) 15 minutes AND provided tons of entertainment with his unicycling and juggling...seriously, his talents are endless...

We went "treating" with a big group of friends around one of the loveliest, old neighborhoods in our city.

Look at all those beautiful princesses....and doggie ;)

It was a super lovely night. The kids scored some awesome candy which Handy Andy and i thoroughly enjoyed sorting and gleaning from that night.

DIY- Vintage Suitcase Makeover pt 2: map lining

So, after i removed the lovely, but smelly vintage lining and cleaned it reallllly well, i started thinking of what to line it with. My first idea was a vintage bed sheet, which sadly failed. The second idea was using my ever so handy road atlas and it worked perfectly! :


1st Plan : FAIL 
Materials: mod podge and vintage sheet
Method: Pre-treated the fabric w/ mod podge (coated it, then let it dry over night)
Put a 2nd coat on the dry fabric and coated the bottom of the suitcase with mod podge and then slowly tried to cut, fit and press it around the bottom and edges of suitcase
Problem: Did not stick, was not smooth, bunchy corners...majorly annoying

Here's a picture of the stiff, peeling, bunchy corners. I had such high hopes for a cute vintage sheet lining....oh well.

2nd Plan: SUCCESS!
 
Materials: Road Atlas!!, Hot glue gun and a little mod podge
Method: Used smallish pieces of atlas, hot glued around the edges of the paper, put a little mod podge on the center, kept layering, hot glueing, cutting...painted a top coat of mod podge over the top when the inside was completely covered in atlas paper.
Problems: None, except that after the first fail, i was sooo done with the project waaay before it was actually completed. :)

 - the little pieces of paper were able to fit the curved corners perfectly and the hot glue did a great job of keeping it stuck-yay!

If you missed the first part of the Suitcase Makeover project, click HERE

linking to: tutorial tuesday

DIY: Vintage Suitcase Makeover pt 1

I've been on a vintage suitcase mission for awhile now and have been able to find some great deals on some really fun ones. The only down side is, they often have an overwhelming "grandma smell". The first whiff is kinda nostalgic but then its just too much, especially because i'm hoping to actually use these suitcases for storage and don't really want to pass that scent off to everything i put in them.

So, i thought i'd show you how i gave this little blue samsonite a makeover.

STEP 1: Remove the silky lining

              -I could pull out most of it but did need some pliers and then eventually some back-up strength from Handy Andy to rip out the parts that were tacked down.

STEP 2: Once the lining was out, there still remained this decaying fuzz stuff which was the backing to the silky lining. I got it wet with a general cleaner and then used one of these scraper things to get it all off.

STEP 3: It still smelled after all that so i made up a mixture of water and bleach and scrubbed it clean

Ta' Da!

Click HERE  see how i covered the inside!

linking to tutorial tuesday at lollipops

baby shower gift fun

I got to celebrate 3 mommas and their new babies this weekend.One was a double surprise shower that was SO, SO fun.  Our church has now successfully pulled off at least 6 surprise baby showers. (one was for baby ben and me!) We're pretty proud of our achievements.
Anyway, I went with some basic go-to gifts: burp cloths, bow-ties and burt's bees. 3 B's. :)

I was pretty excited when i saw this "Extra Energizing" body wash. I knew it would be the perfect remedy for these exhausted moms with newborns! ha, If only sleep could come in a bottle! :)

Since the two mommas at the double shower both had boys, bow ties were, of course, in order . 

(Tutorial HERE)

Here's a detailed pic of the felt applique.

Felt is so easy and so wonderful to work with- no fraying or folding and comes in such beautiful colors

I got the terry cloth from towels that were on clearance at Target. The quality is SO much better than that which you find at a joanns or hobby lobby...
And the tan and blue linen are from old linen clothes of mine. I'm always happy to raid mine or my sister's "discard" pile for fun fabrics to use in projects.

Well, that's all. Baby showers are such wonderful excuses to get creative and enjoy celebrating an adorable new little life.

linking to somewhat simple

sock monkey hat

Are you ready for waaay too many sock monkey hat pictures? great, cause here they are and you'll probably get to see many more in the coming months. :)

Ben got this hat for his birthday from Nana. She and i picked out from THIS ETSY STORE, the gal made it specially for him and then sent it out within a week from ordering.

 It is the cutest thing ever...well, besides the little boy who is wearing it.

 It makes me SO happy i can almost forget how bummed i am that snow is predicted for this wednesday.

 She also makes super cute Owl hats along with other animal/color variations. Go check her out!

it's the little things that make life happy. We love you little monkey :)


linking to lifemadelovelyMonday

DIY: Map Book Favors

Here's a little how-to for the map book favors i made for ben's birthday party. Super easy, but pictures are fun anyway.

ben's "World's Most Adorable 1yr old" birthday party

Here are some pics from Ben's party. You can see the invites here. The theme was loose but worked great with things i already and the style of my house. 

The road atlases i used to make the invites came in super handy for some easy bunting. I loved how it turned out and was kinda sad to take it down. 

And then i just shopped my house: globes, old books, alphabet cards, a vintage suitcase, scrabble tiles, fun fabric, and best of all, a cute baby boy who wore the same overalls that Will wore at his first birthday party. :) awww

The bow-ties were fun to pass out to the guests. i used lindsey's quick no-sew tutorial for these.

Here's Ben's very own smash cake. He wasn't too interested in eating it...poor guy, i hardly put any sugar at all in the cake or frosting so it was probably a bit of a let down! ha.

I love these pictures of Will. He was soooo excited for Ben's big day. side story: in the morning while i was drawing the world picture on the chalkboard, Will was busy writing a sign for the front door with Ben's name on it. As he walked by to tape it to the door, he paused by the chalkboard, and said, "oh wow, that looks great Mom, its so cute!" There's seriously nothing like the affirmation of a 6yr old. :)

We told him that he could help Ben blow out his candle... i thought for sure he would just go for it and get it over with quickly, but instead he gently blew so Ben could take it all in. So sweet.

Happy 1st Birthday Ben. You sure are loved!

Oh, and here are the little favors for all the sweet cousins and siblings...

And....just for my own fun, here are 2 pictures of Will on his 1st bday wearing the the little overalls. :)

Linking to  lollipops