Poinsettia Pillow Tutorial

I saw this pillow in Pottery Barn last year and loved it.  It seemed simple enough to replicate, so I gave it a try.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Craig, however, is wondering what it's purpose is, if he can't lay his head on it. 

Here is what you need:

Pillow or pillow cover

1/2 yard cream (or other color) felt

Embroidery floss and needle

Jingle Bells

I already had a extra pillow laying around that looked similar to the original, so that saved a step.  The pillow I used is 14 inches square.  It looks like the PB pillow uses a linen of some sort.  Mine has a velvet like texture.

Start by cutting out petals from the felt.  You will need 5 large, 5 medium and 5 small.  I measured from the center of the pillow to the corner and then made the largest petal a little shorter than that length.  I didn't use a pattern for cutting them out as I wanted them to look different from each other.

Next, iron the petal on medium heat to make a center line.  This also gives some dimension.

Arrange the 5 largest petals in star like pattern.  For you math nerds, place them 72 degrees from center to center.  Pin down and use all 6 strands of the embroidery thread to stitch down the center of the petal.  

Arrange the medium petals in the spaces between the larger petals.  Stitch in place.  Repeat with the smallest petals.  It got a little difficult to sew through all the thicknesses, so I switched to a longer needle and that made it a little easier.

Place the jingle bells to your liking and stitch in place.  I couldn't find small bells that I liked, but these larger ones do the trick.

And there you have it...a quick and easy project.

Have fun decorating for Christmas!

Disneyland!

In early November we went to Disneyland for the first time as a family.  We had such a great time!  Going mid week in Nov. was a great time as we were able to ride most the rides and meet most the characters.  Grammy Judy came along and added to the fun!  Despite the downpour of rain on the third day and no naps for Ian, I'd say the trip was a success.  It truly is a magical place to little ones!  We loved seeing the look of awe on Breanna's face when she would meet the characters.  Bre's favorite rides were Dumbo and Casey Jr. and Ian couldn't get enough of the Tea Cups.  Here are just some of our favorite pictures.

Grammy enjoyed the tea cups too!  

The only characters Ian would smile for were Mater and Lightening McQueen.

That's because they were plastic. 

Grammy treated us to a fantastic breakfast at Ariel's Grotto for Bre's birthday!

Can't wait to go back...I would love to see it decorated for Christmas!

So thankful for....

And for the blessings that aren't deserved, but so generously given!

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving 

   and his courts with praise; 

   give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; 

   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalms 100:4-5

Halloween 2011

The kids are asleep in their sugar induced comas after a fun night trick-or-treating with the Meyer fam.  This year Breanna went through hundreds of ideas of what she wanted to be for halloween, until she settled on Strawberry Shortcake.  Good choice, Bre, she was my favorite as a child.  It was fun making the floppy hat and green stripe tights.  Being as Ian doesn't have an opinion about these things yet, he went as Dr. Brady.  We used a lab coat I had made a while back for dress up.  He charmed plenty of people tonight, with his good bedside manner.

Getting geared up!

In anticipation of our Disneyland trip coming up, I sewed this shirt for Ian.  We are spending three days at the "Happiest Place on Earth" soon and we are getting so excited about the trip.  We won't tell the kids exactly when we are going, because Breanna would be far too excited to sleep!

I made the reglan tee from 2 unused tees of Craig's and then used the 

freezer paper method to put on the image and name.  

This method is seriously easy and turns out so well!

Can't wait to see Ian's face when he sees Mickey!

Decorating for Fall!

It's so fun to decorate for Fall.  This year, I was hoping that by decorating earlier, it would stop being 95 degrees outside (didn't work).  My neighbor Tonya and I have been having fun getting ideas from blogs and recreating them ourselves.  Oh the trouble a couple crafty stay-at-home moms can get into when blog hopping.  Here are some of the things we created.

Fabric covered pumpkins

from the 36th Avenue

DIY Apothecary Jars

by Design DNA

Burplap Wreath

inspired by

Craftiholics Anonymous

Tonya's wreath turned out much cuter (maybe I should run down the street and take pictures).  Her idea came from this bubble wreath tutorial.

 The best part is that these crafts were done rather frugally as we found most of the supplies at the dollar store or Goodwill.  Now where is that Fall weather?

A Worthy Cause

Where did the last month go?  Time has been flying by with Cubbies, Bible study, birthdays, birthdays, birthdays, and a little weekend away to the coast.  We've been having a great time this fall.  

I wanted to tell about this wonderful ministry that my friend shared with me at Bible study.  We have been praying for her niece, Abigail who was diagnosed with leukemia this summer.  Another one of Abigail's aunts started this ministry where they collect "bling for balding babies" and they give it to kids going through chemo.  Abigail delivers some of them herself.  Isn't she a cutie?  Check out the website.

Abigail's Bling for Balding Beauties

If anyone wants to get involved, she is collecting headbands (comfy ones), beanies or hats. I know some of you are pretty talented at that kind of thing!  This of course tugs at my heart, because I remember how important it was for my brother Jason to have fun hats when he went bald from chemo.  And side note...these families are in Visalia!

I see a little silhouette..

 I found a fun and easy project while blog hopping at 4am.  That was after completing 3 days of Bible study (my body reacts strangely to caffeine....I was WIDE awake!)  You can find the tutorial on creating digital silhouettes here.  It does require having photoshop.  I have a very old version, but the instructions still worked.  

I used Microsoft Publisher to make the collage as I am not that familiar with photoshop (I wish I was!).  

The collage now has new spot on our mantel.

Can I keep the kids this little for a while?

Chicken Wire Frame

I found this idea to make a chicken wire frame on pinterest, so last Saturday our little family set out on a search at yard sales for a nice wooden frame for a good price. Well I actually found a contender at Goodwill at the very end of our quest. I will save the before picture for the end (it makes me laugh!) Here is the finished frame:

I started by removing the "art" out of the frame, then sanded primed and painted it a nice yellow.

We found chicken wire at Lowe's and spray painted it using a dark brown Rustoleum paint to make it stand out more against the wall.

I mixed brown acrylic paint with a gel medium, then rubbed a small amount of it onto the edges with a rag to give it a more aged look. I don't know if those were the appropriate materials to use, but it was what I had on hand.

I then used my handy staple gun to staple the chicken wire to the frame.

Now I use it to display sewing projects.

(A little sneak peak of what is coming to the shop)

While I was working on this project I was thinking about this verse:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!

2 Corintians 5:17

It reminds me of how Christ can make a change in our lives and make use of what we may consider useless.

Quite the find, right?

Breanna thought it was very pretty to begin with!

A master makeover

After 3 years of living in our house we finally got around to painting our master bedroom. I wanted to create a focal wall behind our bed and just mentioned the idea of wallpaper. Craig thought I was crazy and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered the condo we owned in Fresno where we stripped EVERY room of the 70s wallpaper. Nope, wallpaper was not an option. After searching the web I found stencils that gave the look of wallpaper and ordered this one:

Rabat large stencil

Warning: The website states that stenciling is "Easy, Fast & Fun!" Umm, lets say "Tedious, takes several days (with kids), but beautiful."

We are very happy with the result!

We painted the trey ceiling the darker grey in the stencil and the walls the lighter grey.

The ultimate compliment is that Craig keeps saying that it feels like we have a fancy hotel room.

A fancy hotel room where our daughter does the wake up calls.

I am thankful that he goes along with all of my crazy projects!

Santa Barbara

About a month ago, we took a fantastic vacation to Santa Barbara with my family. Well we took about a thousand photos, so it was hard to narrow down which ones to post, which is probably why is took me so long to do this post. The weather was perfect, the views were awesome and it was so much fun spending some relaxing time with the family.

On this trip Bre got over her fear of the water, both in the ocean and pool. She never got further in the water than in this picture, but that is a huge improvement to the screaming and crying of the past.

My kids dug for hours in the sand. Ian even didn't eat TOO much.

The rental house had a gorgeous pool and we spent hours in the water.

Did I mention the awesome views..hee hee.

Mom & Dad got some R & R

Alex & Ian became closer buds and had fun playing together.

A trip to the zoo is always a must.

S'mores around the firepit.

The aquarium on the wharf. Perfect for our little kids.

We had a nice diner out on the wharf.

My childhood friend, Stacey, came and took pictures of us. She lives in the Ventura area now, so it worked out perfectly.

Stacey did a great job...I love how they turned out in spite of the crying babies!

I can't wait till our next trip back. Craig would really like to retire here, but I wonder how many jobs we would have to work to make that happen...just a dream I guess!