As I PROMISED

So at LONG last HERE are some very current projects I have been working on! HOORAY!
What you see below are pictures of an advent calendar I found at The PURL BEE. This website is LEGIT! YOU WILL all DIE! So here are some things i learned and will not soon forget:
A. Wool felt rocks
2. Plastic felt does not
B. I will be making this again next year with REAL WOOL FELT.
the other stuff doesn't sew well... it falls apart under my needle...
C. Kristina was right..
3. I will pay more and shop on Etsy for proper materials next time.
D. I LOVE to embroider, I should do it more!

YOU LIKE?

Drumroll.......

Here is Hattie Ann's most recent dress: 

And I learned a lot with this dress...

1. I LOVED this high quality fabric I purchased during the Gucker Girls reunion.

B. There is A LOT that this pattern LEAVES out...

3.I am grateful for the HELP of Kathy Chase.

C. Bias tape is OVER RATED.

(I had very little fabric left from the bodice so i decided to just turn the edges in and get it the crap done!)
4. Hattie WILL NOT WEAR THIS DRESS!!!! WHY???!!!!
Oh well I can save it just in case I have another little girl who WILL wear it!

SEE Who needs Bias tape?!

Thank YOU Hailey for all the AMAZING FLOWERS AND BOWS! 

Hailey is Kathy's daughter and was also at Gucker girls weekend.
She is a creative genius! I LOVE her hair bows!
Check them out at: navyperl.blogspot.com

Here is a stack of 13 Jammies some cut out some not... Waiting for me...
I must be insane!
After you and I talked on Black Friday Jen, I went back to Jo's and purchased MORE flannel...
1.49/yard?!! I HAD to!
MISS YOU GUYS!
I will post finished pics...

Dear Jen and Kristina,

I CANNOT stop thinking about you two. I feel like I owe both of you an apology... I am SO sorry for NOT phoning more. Please forgive me. I PROMISE to do better. I simply cannot lose contact with either of you.... Okay, now onto the craft portion of the evening...

I have been up to a few things. Halloween costumes of course, which you saw on our family blog, but also a dress for Hattie: 

{sorry for the grainy photo this is the third time i have uploaded this picture...}

{i am farther along now...I PROMISE to post pictures of the finished product ON Hattie!}

Christmas Jammies for our cousins, and that is pretty much it. I have been using my camera as a creative outlet as well... I pretty much LOVE photography and its many many applications, and ways to tell a story in a picture. I take a big deep breath when I go to take a picture of something these days. I LOVE my NIKON! 

We are going tomorrow to look at a house to buy/renovate. We found out about a mortgage that allows you to fix up the house prior to move in. This particular house we have looked at before.

Go here to read about the land and what this house was used for up until the College that owns it decided to sell... Pretty cool stuff. Although I think it makes Vermont sound like the Arctic.... wait it pretty much is... any way... go here to the actual online listing.

{sorry grainy photo}

Former class rooms and lab for Center for Northern Studies. Built as a large cape and back addition. 9.2 acres of mostly mixed woods. A naturalists heaven. Dwelling has many rooms that would work as bed rooms. First floor has front entry, two bedroom size rooms to the right, a large kitchen with wood stove , 3/4 bath, then a very large class room/living room at back of building. Large laboratory in walk out basement with 1/2 bath. Second floor houses a large library with 4 reading rooms suitable for bedrooms. Above the kitchen is a large second living room and 2 bedrooms adjacent. There is a recent standing seam metal roof. Would make an attractive home, school, office, you decide.

Above is the description on the listing. Shannon and I are very interested in having LAND... It is really appealing to be able to snowshoe on your own property or raise your own chickens, or horses, or make your own out door hockey rink... We have a large, loud family and need to have space to roam and explore... lots of room for two more houses... just saying...

So I started doing some research on new kitchens and living rooms, trying to nail down my "style" the kind of decorating I want to do to this home.

The following are some pictures I LOVE!

Kitchens:

Same kitchen different view:

Living Rooms:

Also, I just made an idea book on this weird website. I have 38 MORE photos to bore you two with...I hope this link works...

I want both of you to know how very much I ADORE you. I am thankful for each of you, EVERYDAY! THANK YOU for being my friend even if I am 3,000 + Miles away! I have NO doubt that the distance can seem trivial...

PS I have lost 4 pounds since getting the IUD out, and slowly, ever so slowly my emotional health is improving. I am feeling more like my old self everyday. 

Well, heres to our craft blog and ULTRA personalized posts!

Yours Truly,

Molly Ann

Post at last…

So, to prove that the craft blog has not completely died… I am here, posting some things. Halleluiah! I don’t have much of anything to share. I scoured my house looking for things I have made (there’s not much).

I threw away our old water bottle carriers after Jen one-up’t me and made some totally awesome ones and made mine look like trash bags! I felt rushed to make them because Jefferson needed to bring a water bottle every day to school. So, I whipped these guys up the day before his first day… in the middle of moving. The kids chose their main fabrics and I choose the coordinating. Grant has the trucks, Jefferson the outdoor animals, and Reagan the pink. I assure you, they’re all the same size in real life. This picture makes Grant’s look ginormous. (Wow, what a really long description for such a simple thing. I’m feeling really wordy today…. sorry!)

I cut this board with my circular saw (which was invigorating and frightening at the same time). Then I painted and screwed on some hooks. The mason jar is held up with a pipe clamp. I don’t really want to show you where I got the idea from because hers looks so much nicer, ha. But I guess I have to give credit where credit is due. Here it is... Mine isn’t a key hook though. I’ll hang some hand towels (it’s in the bathroom, in case you don’t see that ugly toilet). The most exciting thing is that it cost me $3 to make, yeah!

I finished my mini baby blankets. It seemed an appropriate time to finish them. I was actually due the 3rd of Oct (tomorrow), so I feel some closure instead of pain. I’ll put them in my keepsake box. No one will ever see them. I just wanted to share them with you girls. 

The binding wasn’t completely done when I took this picture. But, I finished it up today during conference.

I know this is personal in nature, but there is a crafty purpose to showing you these pictures I used iron-on transfer paper to write a message for each baby. It was really easy to do. I wrote the message, then flipped it backwards in photoshop (I suppose it could be flipped in any program). On the girl blanket I just ironed the piece directly onto the fabric, then hand stitched around the edges. With the boy blanket I ironed the piece onto a coordinating fabric, then slipstitched it onto the quilt. I wanted to do it both ways to see how they look. I prefer the one on the boy blanket. I think it looks more like a cute, personalized label. I plan on doing this on ALL my quilts now (even the ones I’ve already made). Some I will put a message, others probably just my name and a date. I think it’s important to personalize the quilts, especially if they are gifts!

 

Okay… now I have a questions for you. I am reupholstering this chair. There is no turning back… I’ve already taken the fabric off of it. But I’m at a stand still because I don’t know what fabric to replace it with. Both fabrics are shower curtains and a weightier fabric. Both cost me close to nothing. Which ever one I don’t use will become the shower curtain in my guest bathroom. Really… I can’t decide!

This cream and green one?….. this one is subtle and I am partial to it. My mom thinks it’s ugly. But I like the fact that it’s more neutral.

Or this bright one?…. this one is fun, but I’m scared I’ll get sick of it quickly. It does match my mirror better, but I don’t plan on having the mirror in my living room forever. Shoot, I don’t know… it is more cheery.

Hi! Here I am for your viewing pleasure. Oh goodness, see the foam on my chair… I told you, no turning back. anyways, I am showing you this AWESOME mirror I found at thrift city for $7. I’m going to put it above reagan’s dresser. I can’t decide what color to paint it still. You both said pink. I still don’t know. I’m too indecisive. What’s going to happen is I will choose a color, paint, then regret my choice. Oh well. I’ll show you when I finish it.

I also plan on making this for Reagan’s room. I think I’ll make the butterflies colorful instead of just white. I think it’s pretty.

So, I finally decided what to do with the boys room. I was debating between nautical or maps. A recent trip to goodwill helped me decide. I found this adorable duvet cover. It’s pottery barn. I LOVE IT! It’s wrinkly and gross in this picture, but trust me, it’s wonderful. Too bad I have 2 boys and only 1 duvet cover. I found the same one on ebay. $150…. what the!!!! Oh well. I cannot wait to get started on their room.

I’m going to make one of these wall murals. This is a painted sheet, stretched over a frame of wood. Genius! Shawn doesn’t like this, but too bad for him because I do! wouldn’t it be cool with glow in the dark paint outlining the continents?

So, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Sorry, this post was more about what I’m “going” to do, rather than what I’ve “done.”

I love both of you and miss you dearly. Really, I’m not just saying that. I do.

I hope this craft blog picks up. Molly… it’s your turn. There’s got to be something you’ve worked on. Or, just make a post about what you “want” to do someday.

Bye

The Zig Zag & Ottoman

Am I allowed to be in-love with something I'm working on? Cuz I can't figure out a way to describe how I feel about the beginnings of this quilt in any other way. Seriously. I LOVE IT! I got the idea from my friend Alison's sewing blog and my intent with this quilt was to use up all my random scraps of fabric; cute and ugly alike. And, you know what I'm finding, when it's all scrambled up like that with other fabrics of the same color, it's hard to really see the ugly ones! Perfect!

I also swore I wouldn't buy any new fabric for the quilt top...I had to fold on that one when I didn't have quite enough gray...but since I LOVE gray these days and I have 2 boys who could use funky beach hats for the Oregon coast, I figured I could justify it. :)

Anyway, this is just half of it...I still have 7 more zigzags to sew up and attach. If you guys are looking for a way to get rid of your random scraps (and I'm talking even the itsy bitsy pieces that you just couldn't part with because you love the fabric too much to put it in the garbage but there's not enough to use anywhere else) this is the quilt for you!
And here's my finished ottoman.

It's totally not perfect, but not too bad for my first attempt at reupholstering. No, I am not going to do the chair...my fingers were SO sore after just the ottoman, so I listed it Craigslist. This morning. Brandon has insisted that we keep the ottoman though...even though it doesn't really match anything...he has said multiple times that it is now officially his favorite piece of furniture in our house. Funny boy.

Anyway, it's kinda hard to see the fabric in the top photo, so here's a shot of it close-up.

Just something neutral...hey, it was only $3 a yard and I didn't wanna spend crazy cash on an experiment. I did get WAY too much though, so I'm lookin' around trying to figure out what else it could be used on...maybe our glider is due for a new look. ;)

Recent Stuff

I made these "count down" blocks...don't know if you've heard of "Pick-Your-Plum"...it's kinda like groupon, only it's just craft stuff. Anyway, about a month ago, they had the supplies to do these. I thought they were super cute...unfortunately, I don't really like the way mine turned out. I think I should have just done something more nuetral...like painting over the vinyl letters in black or gray and then peeling the letters off so the letters were white. Oh well. Too late now, unless there's a way to remove layers and layers of modpodge.

Craft Warehouse is closing their store on 185th. All their fabric is now 50% off. My craft closet is getting out of control. Here are a few pics of my ever-growing stash.

Other than the zig-zag and food prints, I don't have specific plans for any of it.
Zig-zag: Ties (Won't that be ADORABLE)

Food prints: Oven mits and chef's hat for the play kitchen - thanks Kristina for being my inspiration there. :)

Maybe some stockings (I could use two sets) with the Christmas fabric...

So, if you have any ideas, feel free to shoot them my way. :)

I did make this skirt last week. I found the fabric on my first visit to the bins. So, it was like a $3 skirt after picking up some 2 in. elastic for the waist and some cheap cotton for lining. Not bad. I REALLY like the fabric. You can't tell in the picture, but it has kind of a shine to it and it's a little stiffer than your regular cotton plus it has kind of a vintage appearance. Brandon was not super impressed...with the print that is...I think it reminded him of dirty grandma drapes or something.

I have also been attempting to cut up every scrap of fabric that is too small to do much else with(or that I just don't like anymore) into 3 in. squares...I'm planning to do a zig-zag quilt to take outdoors. Sorry for the crummy photo...here's my progress so far.

I have also been disecting our ottoman. The fabric was totally falling apart, so I decided to see if I could re-apoltster it...we'll see if this project is a success. Seriously, lots more work than I imagined. So far, I've got it all taken apart and now I'm just taking the fabric peices apart so I can use them as a pattern for the new fabric. I guess if all else fails, I 'll just chuck it in the dumpster...in the name of "decluttering" of course.

Miss you ladies!

Jen