I did it!

First just so you know the blog is kind of under construction. 

I'm trying some stuff out so it's kind of weird right now.

Moving on...

I did it! I actually finished a project in a timely manner.

Here's my little Kokeshi doll...

Sorry for the horrible picture I've been getting home super late this week.

I used to love counted cross stitch as a kid and am happy to be picking embroidery up.

I'm working on something for Mother's Day that I think is really fun.

Yay for finally moving through my creativity block!

In case you were wondering...

I would be the worst boy scout ever. 

Not only because I'm a girl but because I'm apparently never prepared!

I sat down to finish up my make up roll. Needed to add the interfacing.

Go into my craft room and sift through ALL my fabrics.

I had no interfacing. I was convinced I did. 

So basically I suck but at least I keep it real right?

That's what I keep telling myself.

I did cut out my second piece of lining to store my brushes
and I laminated the other piece.

To cut out the second piece I just folded my original template pretty much in half.

This was my first time laminating and I think I did alright. 

Words of advice: DEFINITELY IRON FIRST. 

I don't know if I really like the lining laminated but it'll help keep it clean so oh well.

Luckily the laminate has a grid 

which made it super easy to trace my template and cut out.

Here it is in it's finished glory. 

It looks a little wonky but once it's all pieced together I think it will look good.

I will be going out this weekend to get some interfacing. 

So crossing my fingers this thing will be done by Monday!

When I said I meant it?

So a couple weeks ago I said I had a new project to post...and I quote "really mean it."

Well I suck and I barely even started it!

Trying to start and finish a sewing project the weekend of Easter is just not a good idea.

Everything is closed on Sunday and I forgot to go Saturday
so I didn't have fabric until the next week. 

I started with this really pretty maritime chevron fabric from Riley Blake. 

I have been planning on making a brush roll and a new make up bag for some time
but couldn't find any fabric I loved.
Until this aqua chevron.
I loooove it.

But I needed to find some kind of lining fabric.
 I started out looking for a light pink or a stenciled white.

I ended up with this great white fabric that has silver pin dots.
I got the last yard.

Here's what I'm working with:

My big girl camera is acting funny so I had to settle for some iPhone pics. 

Now I've never really been good with patterns.
I'm more of a figure it out as you go girl. 

So I used some tissue paper to use as my template. 

I measured my longest brush with some extra room to figure out the dimensions. 

Then for the length I just laid all of my brushes spaced out.

I left some extra room in case I add to my collection.

I used a CD that just so happened to be laying on the table to round out my corners. 

Like I said I'm a figure it out as you go kind of girl. 

Well this girl forgot about interfacing! 

It would've been so much easier to cut out the fabric 

if I had remembered to iron on the interfacing.

Oh well you live and you learn. 

After I pinned my template to my fabrics I lazily happily cut them out.

Here is what I was left with:

p.s. you should always iron your fabrics beforehand. OOPS!

So I ran out of time and didn't get to finish
 but I did lay it together to see how it would look.

I'm very excited! I'll be back Wednesday with the finished product.

I still have to add interfacing, cut out another piece of the lining to secure the brushes, 

possibly laminate the lining, and bind the whole thing... 

I love it so far though! 

I will also have some measurements when it's all said and done.

Yay for Monday!

Yay for Monday...said no one ever. 

Oh well I actually made an effort in my appearance today so that's a win for the week!

 Got to enjoy the little things.

In other news I was pretty absent from the blog last week...like non existent. 

But I actually got projects done! I finally put up my shelves in my craft room. They've been sitting painted in the garage for a few months now. I finished a very small project/present for my AOII littles that I'm going to send them for Valentine's Day. I've also had the stuff for that for about a month.

I made them these cute little key fobs. I used some general direction from Prudent Baby. 

I did not fuse the fabric to the cotton webbing. 

Super easy project and now I want one for myself.

We had sweet and sour chicken twice this week! Homemade and it's amazing... 

I made it Wednesday and the boyfriend requested it again yesterday. 

He's one of the pickiest people I've met so I oblige him when I find something he really likes.

I took a picture of it cooking but not the finished project...yeah I'm that smart. 

Anyways here's to a good week! I'll be back tomorrow with Tuesday Topics since I totally missed that last week too. But projects are getting done and that's all that matters!

High Five for Friday

I didn't have to come into work until 10 today because of a little snow storm that hit yesterday...

it was nice for extra couple hours of sleep. 

But I do wish they would've just given us the whole day off. Yep I'm a grump.

But let's be positive. It's Friday! So I will be off in a very long 4 1/2 hours. 

Today I'm linking up to From My Grey Desk..

Yes I took a picture while driving...if it helps I was at a stop light. 

This picture doesn't even show how much snow I had up by my house.

These are just some things I'm crushing on as of late:

1. Artisan Mini Salt Cellar from Anthropologie

2. Chiffon Maxi Skirt in Mint from Express (I actually just bought this!)

3. Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter I'm a craft tool nerd..

4. Cupcake Desk Calendar from KTFDesigns (I'm seriously in love)

5. This quilt from SirBubbadoo is really adorable and I might add it to my project list 

Have a great weekend!

Let there be....darkness!

We usually keep our house pretty dark. We don't really ever open up blinds or curtains and our room is usually pitch black throughout the day. One thing we could not get around was our back door. The door has a huge window and let in a ton of light into the living room. Usually right onto the TV to create an annoying glare. I always knew I wanted to cover it with some kind of window treatment but just couldn't figure out what to do. I didn't want to drill into the door so I figured it was just something we had to deal with. Until I discovered that there are magnetic curtain rods! 

Via: Lowes

The rods were $13.97 a piece and I needed two. So not the cheapest they could be but it's okay since I saved money in the other part of the project. 

I started looking for curtain panels but all of them were way too long so I would have to hem them up a lot. Then I remembered that some people in blogland were using table cloths as curtains! I headed on over there and picked up a plain brown table cloth that was the exact length I needed. You want to double the width so you can get a good scrunch going on. 

I took everything home and almost got super lucky. The hem on the table cloths was open but a little too small for the rod. Oh well...I pulled out the sewing machine and just folded over the ends to create a rod pocket.  

After I got everything up I was left with this:

Sorry for the crappy picture...it blocks so much light I had to turn on the overhead light. It blocks out so much light, our house is literally dark all day. I've actually been opening the blinds to let a little light in.

The boyfriend loves it...he says I've created the perfect "gaming" environment...he's a nerd.

The dogs have only pulled it down once on top of me. Let me tell you those magnets are heavy duty. 

It was the perfect easy project. Total cost? About $35. The table cloth was only $9 with a coupon. Half the price of a curtain panel and lot less need for adjustments. Plus it will be super simple/cheap if I decide I want to change it out.

High Five For Friday....

I'm really ready for this week to be over. Not because it was particularly draining, just ready for a couple days of no work. I had my first sale on etsy and it has definitely motivated me to do some creating. I also have to baste, bind, and quilt (not necessarily in that order) my quilt for quilt for kids. So it should be a busy weekend for me....

I did finish my cousin's birthday present a little early.

He's gonna be 7 and all he talks about is how cool Star Wars is....he's never seen the movies. He mainly likes the lego versions of the ships so I felt this fabric was most appropriate. It's backed with black cuddle dot minky and bound with red bias tape. p.s. I will never use this stuff again. I really prefer to self bind the blanket with the cotton fabric. Take a look at the blankets in my etsy store they are self bound.

My sewing machine also decided it wanted to throw 25 temper tantrums during the making of this blanket. No kidding...threads were breaking, bobbin was too loose, bobbin would run out because it was wasting so much... adjusting the tension, width, length, rethreading 25 million times.... nothing helped... so frustrating..

But the good news is I'm 12 days early for his birthday! YAY! I have to ship it so since I was productive it won't be late....like everything else I send my cousins.


Moving on! Yay for Friday! Baby Stetson will hopefully be here today! I'm so excited! (that's a lot of exclamation points).

Sewing Rut....

Sometimes I find myself in a sewing rut... I usually have yards and yards of fabric and no motivation to do anything with it. I have no problem starting projects, cutting the fabric, and pinning them. Then after all the really tedious work is done I have no motivation to finish them... it stinks and makes no sense.

But there is hope! I actually found a way to get motivated that really works for me. I make something to donate. In May during one of my hardest ruts I found a woman that was collecting simple dresses to send to little girls in Africa. They had to be light cotton (because of the hot weather) and have no zippers or buttons (because they can break). The cost of new clothing for these girls could send them to school for a month which includes all the necessary supplies. I made two pretty cute pillowcase dresses, that way when they get to tall for them they can wear them as shirts... It really helped motivate me to get sewing again. It helped me enjoy sewing knowing I was helping someone else.


Alas, here I am in another rut. A person really can only stay motivated for so long. So here I am again working on a project to give away.

I've never really quilted before. The last quilt I attempted to make, I was a sophomore in high school. Same size squares? Who needs them! But this project really couldn't have been any easier.

I got in touch with the program, Quilts for Kids. They are partnered with Downy Touch of Comfort.

Together they send out everything you would need to make a beautiful quilt (minus the batting). The finished quilts are then donated to children in hospitals.

Look at that face! The quilt brings something bright and fun into a not so fun place. I can't wait to finish my quilt and hope it gives comfort to some child. 

I feel drawn to this cause especially. My grandma died when I was about 5. She was terminal with lung cancer so my grandparents were at the hospital a lot. While my grandma was in her appointments my grandpa would go visit the children's wing and noticed they didn't really have a lot of toys. I guess because most toys are plastic they are not safe in a hospital environment. So he asked if they would mind if he made some. Over the course of my grandma's battle with cancer my grandpa sought comfort through making these toys. Before his death he had donated over 2,000 wooden toys of all shapes and sizes. Hippos, puppies, elephants, anything you could imagine in every color. 

I would love to continue his work with something like this. 

Here's the link to request a quilt kit! I'll be back when I get some batting and finish mine up.