My new bed-

Or at least new bed spread. I decided when I came home from New Hampshire that I hated my bedroom and that I've always hated it ever since we moved here. I was trying to decide why it was so ugly. I figured out it was the bed spread. We have this velvety red/maroon blanket that we bought at Costco when we first got married. We paid almost $100 bucks for it. I don't know what I was thinking. But that was before I had a sewing machine. I thought you had to spend that kind of money for a bed spread. Well, at least I could've bought a cute one. This one was something you would expect to see at your Grandmother's house. Good quality, but lacking all cuteness whatsoever. So, I decided to change that. I looked at Anthropology for ideas and found two bed spreads that I loved. The one that I absolutely adored had fabric flowers sewn all over it. I knew I couldn't hope to recreate it with out it looking like a cheap craft project gone wrong. So I decided to try to copy the other one. I love how it turned out.






Here's how I did it: I bought four sheets at an estate sale. (Yes, they are used sheets, and if that grosses you out then I'm sorry. I did wash them! If I had to buy new sheets I couldn't have afforded to make it.) I sewed 2 sheets together lengthwise. I drew horizontal lines every nine inches with a disappearing ink pen. Then I just gathered the fabric as I sewed. When I had all the gathering complete (And I wanted to rip out all my hair at this point) I sewed over the gathered seams with some bias tape that I found at a yard sale several months back. Then I cut the remaining sheet to fit the size of the duvet that I had and sewed the gathered cover to this sheet right sides together, leaving an opening to turn it right side out and slide in the duvet cover. I finished by sewing 2 pillow shams with the same gathering technique and then 2 throw pillows with some lace that I also found at a garage sale.

Super easy! And I am not the only one who is enjoying my big, fluffy, new cloud.


Cost: 4 used sheets: $2.50
2 spools of thread: $3 (I used a lot of thread for this project!)
Bias Tape: $0.25
Lace: $0.25

Total Cost of duvet cover and 4 pillows: $6.00

Backpacks for Laura's twin cousins

Laura has the cutest twin cousins ever. Unfortunately they live on the other side of the country and we don't get to see them very often. When we saw them last May, I kept thinking how much fun it would be to have twins and make matching clothing and accessories. So, for their birthday I made them some matching backpacks using a pattern I found here: http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/10/toddler-backpack-pattern.html
I used this pattern to make a packpack for Laura for her 2nd birthday. She loves it. She loves to put her snacks and stuffed animals in it so she can take them with her wherever we go. Now she keeps talking about her cousins, Zoie and Eliza, and their backpacks.

Trees

We just got back from a very fun summer spent in New Hampshire. I lived less than an hour away from my sister, her five kids, and her big house that she just moved in to. I don't know what was more fun: spending time with my sister or decorating her house. (She is pregnant with #6 and is under doctor's orders to be off her feet most of the day. Unfortunantly for her, and fortunantly for me, that means that she needed someone to help with home decor projects in their beautiful new home.)

This was one of my favorite things we did:

I got the idea from this blog: http://thelovelylittlethings.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.htm.
I drew the trees with a pencil on the wall and then filled it in with white paint. I think it turned out so cute. I want to do some in Laura's room. Do you think my landlord would appreciate some free tree artwork in his home?

We painted this bench yellow and made some pillows for it that matched the quilt that we made for their bed.

Maternity Clothes and Birthday Party Aprons

I made this skirt a while ago, but I've loved it so much I just had to share. I found a tutorial (http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2010/03/refashioned-jeans-to-maternity-skirt.html)for making jeans into a maternity skirt. I used a pair of jeans that I found at a thrift store for $ and an old T-shirt. The project was simple, fast and turned out so well. The next day I made a pair of maternity pants out of an old pair I had sitting around. I don't think I will ever buy maternity pants/skirts again. It is so much cheaper to make them, and they fit better. Sorry, the pics are horrible. Peter is the worst photographer in the world, I think. I tried to take these myself which is almost as bad as having Peter take them. You get the idea though.




And here is a picture of the cute little aprons and chef hats I made for Laura's birthday party. I had so much fun making these up. I figure they were a pretty cheap party favor since I didn't have to buy anything and just used bright fabric scraps that were left over from making my birthday banner. My favorite is the one little boy's apron who got a jean pocket to make it more manly.

Halloween Decorations

I love Halloween for two main reasons: 1. little children in costumes are adorable and 2. Halloween means Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. So, it always makes me happy when I get to put up a few Halloween decorations becauseit reminds me that in a few quick months I will be decorating for Christmas and setting up my Christmas tree, which is my favorite time of the year.

A couple of years ago, my mother-in-law gave me this cute dish towel with the haunted house on it. It was too cute to use as a dish towel so I spray painted (I love Wal-Mart $1 spray paint!) a frame I found at a yard sale for a $1 and put my dishtowel in it for a spooky Halloween picture.

I love my candy jars! They cost me $1 to make. I bought these glass jars and glass candlestick holders at a yard sale for 25 cents a piece. Then I glued the jar to the holder and filled them up with candy. The expensive part is keeping them filled with candy. In spite of my strict instructions that they are only a decoration, my husband is really enjoying having candy in our house, which is unusual for us. I thought candy corn was just a decoration. I didn't know people really liked to eat that nasty stuff.

Laura and I found this stick on a walk this morning and I thought it would make a good haunted tree. I spray painted it black and stuck it in a formula can that I modgepodged some fabric on. I found these little skulls at the dollar store and glued some string to them and hung them on the tree. I'm not quite sure how long this decoration is going to last because Laura keeps trying to pull the ornaments off the tree.


I bought a huge box of fake flowers at a yard sale for $2. Mixed up with all the flowers were some red and white poinsetta flowers. There is probably nothing I hate more than cheap, fake poinsetta flowers. I've just seen too many people stick them in their outside flower pots during Christmas and then leave them there until March. Hideous! So, I spray painted them black, covered some buttons with orange fabric and made a Halloween wreath for my door. I had to add a few orange flowers so that the black flowers would stand out against the dark wreath.


Happy Halloween!

This and That

I had book club at my house last week and we discussed "The Great Divorce." The book is awesome and I give it 5 stars. It is a very inspiring book that tells the story of a man who finds himself in Hell and learns what he must do to make it to Heaven. I tried to make our refreshments match the theme. i don't have any serving trays so I spent a few dollars at Goodwill buying candlestick holders and plates. Then I spray painted the candlestick holders and glued them to the bottom of plates to create some fun serving platters.



I made this apron for myself a while ago out of an old pillowcase I bought at an estate sale for a quarter. I had some extra left over so I made an apron for Laura. I know it was a waste of time because she could care less, but it just looks so cute hanging on a hook in my kitchen.



I made this little green polka dot halter dress for Laura a while ago. It is still my favorite. I am going to be sad when summer is over and she can't wear her cute summer dresses anymore.


I bought a big gold framed mirror at a yard sale for $2. I used my $1 spray paint from Wal-Mart and painted it red. I love spray paint. This is a horrible picture, but I think it turned out pretty cute.

Happy Spring

I made a spring wreath to celebrate the 70 degree weather we were enjoying today. Man, I love summer.

Here is the Laura's little chair that I upholstered for her room. This was my first time doing it and it was a learning process. It was a lot of fun and now I want to recover another piece of furniture. Laura loves to sit in her chair and make it rock.




I also finished the black apple dolls for Laura's shelf.