A Christmas Decoration Story

Background Story  

Several years ago when I first bought my sewing machine (and I had never sewn anything in my life) I decided to make Christmas stockings.  (see original stockings here)

They were super cute stockings but not very functional due to the fact that I was VERY inexperienced sewing.  Although the pattern was probably plenty big the stockings kept "shrinking" because I wasn't getting all the layers in my seams and kept having to re sew and re sew seams.  Please keep in mind that I was self / blog / online tutorial taught to sew.  I had a little instruction at the store where I bought my machine but it was more of a "how to turn your machine on and make it go" than a class of how to make items.  I have a great friend Kathy that I email with questions and send pictures of all my sewing projects because she KNOWS how far I have really come in my sewing skills.      

The Christmas Tree Skirt and Stocking Story

Once upon a time on a day very close to Christmas 2013, the hubby and I visited the local craft / fabric store to look for fabric for stockings and a tree skirt because it was on sale (one of my favorite words).  Our fake tree had bit the dust this year and I wasn't motivated to start or finish this project because the tree that we had up was about a foot and a half tall and had a total of 10 ornaments on it. I was waiting for the after Christmas sale (there's that word again - I got my $359.00 tree for $97.00!) to get the tree that I really wanted.  So making a tree skirt for a tiny tree was NOT high on my priority list.  We got the fabric that we liked(on sale!!!) and when I got home it was just laid to the side.  

Too many other fun Christmas things to be doing...like opening gifts with these three cutie pies.

   

The story continues on cold night in Tennessee weeks later.  I was putting away stuff (you know - the stuff that you just lay down when you come in a room) and picked up my Christmas fabric to take it to my sewing area.  I picked up the retiring tree skirt because for some reason it didn't make it into the Christmas boxes that had been put away.  I knew that I was eventually going to make the tree skirt and I wanted to get the diameter from my old tree skirt before putting it away.  I went ahead and started measuring then just decided to make a tree skirt. 

I've never made a tree skirt. I don't have a pattern for a tree skirt.  I did know what I wanted so I jumped in feet first.   

     Things I wanted in a tree skirt:  double sided, a ruffle, & ribbon closures.

I used my old tree skirt for the size estimates.  Cut my circles. Made my ruffle. Made my quilt sandwich with a layer batting, ruffle, and ties included.  Then I started sewing.  I think the end product turned out quite nicely.     

The next day it was time for new stockings because if I don't finish them now they may never get done. 

I went back and used the same tutorial that I had on my original stockings.  I only made two changes.  1. I put the stocking pattern onto a piece of card board and made my pattern an inch wider ALL the way around.  This allowed for bigger stockings which we find more user friendly. 

2. Then I matched a cute little green ruffle from my tree skirt onto my stocking.

Here's the result. 

    And they all loved happily ever after.

The End

Cold Saturday

Well - It's been a while.  The last couple months of the year are always a busy time for us and more so this last year than ever before.  I go back in my head to my New Year's resolution to do one tutorial blog every month in 2013.  That SO did NOT happen.  It was a great goal just not one that I was able to make happen.  Too many other things were more important and hey - we all have to prioritize.  

One of the things that I also let fall behind this year was my scrapbooking.  I love to have a full 12 * 12 album with pictures of events and special occasions that have occurred through the year.  I old fashion scrapbook with paper and adhesive and actual printed off pictures.  Don't get me wrong.  I have some digital albums and I think that they are wonderful but I like taking the time to embellish pages and tell stories from my pictures.  I love sitting down with family and friends to look them over and see the laughs and smiles that they bring.  But it too was something that I let fall to the side.  

A couple of Saturdays ago I was unexpectedly NOT BUSY!  Alone in the house, crappy weather outside, no where I had to be, nothing I had to get done so I glided down to the craft room for a little bit of scrapbooking.  It was wonderful!  I had to put away the sewing and fabric paint supplies to make room.  I flipped on the TV, made a cup of hot cocoa and got started.  

First I sorted....

       Not only do I print pictures but I keep mementos from our trips.  Ten years can pass and I will look back in a scrapbook and say oh remember that - but I might not necessarily have a picture of something but a memento that reminds us of a good time.  I sorted all my pictures and mementos.  

Then I prepped my work area...

I had to clear a space off my tables.  My scrapbooks - top right- stay near my work area.  I ran out of bookshelves for them in our living room plus they are great inspiration when I get stuck.  If I don't clear everything out and have a good clean space to start in I get way off track. I hot cup of coca was also a yummy way to start off the morning. Got me energized and ready to go. 

Then I worked.  I stopped and changed out a few loads of laundry.  Stood up for some stretches.  Worked a bit longer.  Ate some lunch.  Came back and worked some more.  

And the end result was - 25 pages done and a feeling of accomplishment. 

I was able to get all my events done that I had the pictures printed for except our vacation to Las Vegas.  That will be another cold wet Saturdays work.  

Things really haven't slowed down but  I also know that some days I need to take a little time for myself.  This particular Saturday was one of those days.  I ended the day with supper with the hubby and a chance to show off what work I had done.  It was a day for Stacey...that I really needed.  

Cheers to the new year friends!

In loving memory of Stephanie Sutherland

She has lost this battle but she has won the war.  

Our friend Stephanie Sutherland went to be with the Lord last night. 

She is so much more than a wife, mother and daughter. 

She is

a child of God 

faithful

brave

compassionate

loving

humble

graceful

caring

courageous

honest

kind

modest

considerate

generous.

She will be missed by many but will never be gone because she lives on in the hearts of so many that were fortunate enough to call her friend. 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a dirty word in my book.

It's a dirty word in my book.  The C word- CANCER. 

I don't know if it is because I am older and pay more attention, dr's are catching it earlier and some treatments are available, or if there are more cases out there but it seems like cancer is a disease that effects so many more people now than it did even a few short 15 or 20 years ago.  I am not saying that cancer wasn't prevalent then by any means but that it seems to affect so many more people now.  I don't know that I can name a single friend in my life that hasn't been affected by cancer.  Either they've had it themselves or a friend or family member has.  

I know many people that fight the hard fight daily.  They take their treatments...battle the side effects and give cancer a big wave of the finger.  They are strong and weak at the same time.  They battle and hurt and still smile through it all. They pray for successful treatment and celebrate every milestone whether it be a shrunken tumor or the regrowth of hair.  They are heroes of a different sort.  Those who have been dealt a crappy hand, put on their poker face, make the best of what they were dealt. 

As friends and family we pray and celebrate with them.  They are surrounded in love and support.  I have family and friends that have been and are currently battling that dirty word. 

From the sideline, it's hard to know what to say, what to do, to be comforting, to understand the whys.  

The harder I think about it the more I come back to the same bible verse. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord - give it to HIM.  It seems so simple.  Yet so hard to do.  

Everything comes in God's time - give it HIM.  

I've given it to Him. 

 I've screamed and yelled. I've asked why.  I've lain exhausted and crying at the thought of the wonderful people I know that are in pain because of this horrible disease.  And I know that those actions do me no good.  I still shed tears.  But then I pray, knowing that I might not understand or like God's timing but He has a plan.  

He will make straight my path.  

He will lead me in the right direction.  

He will give me the right words to say.  

He will lead me to be the ear to listen, the shoulder to cry on, the comforting hug, the maker of meals, the bringer of a favorite food.  It doesn't seem like much but it's what I feel led to do.  What he leads me to do.  I pray - I pray for a cure, comfort, less pain, good days, a loving family, an understanding caretaker.  

To those fighting the good fight - there are warriors that stand behind you - there to catch you when you stumble, there to pray for your needs, there to wave a finger at cancer right along side you.  

YOU DO NOT GO INTO THIS FIGHT ALONE!             

               

For those who have lost the battle - they have won the war.  They are celebrating their lives in Heaven, free of pain.  They dance the streets of gold.  They wait for us to join them in that glorious place in God's time.  We carry on them in our memories and in our hearts.  They live on here too.  

In honor of those fighting the fight - Debbie, Stephanie, Anna, and many more

Celebrating those who have found remission - Jennell, Gina, Donna, Danny, and many more

In memory of those who have won the war - Dee, Jerry, and countless others   

Pinterest Party

I will preface this whole entry by saying - there are no pictures.  :(  We partied and made projects.  I didn't even have time to snatch up my camera.  Sorry Ladies.   

Last month about 10 -12 friends got together at my house for a preholiday Pinterest party.  We all know how difficult it gets to get together at the holidays so we decided an October Pinterest party to get together make a few projects and hang out was the perfect plan.  

It was the perfect plan.  We had the best time.  

 

Since there are no pictures I'll make this short and sweet.  

We picked four projects:
Glitter Covered Mason Jars

Melted Snowmen Ornaments

Freezer Paper Painted Shirts

Coasters from Scrap book paper, tiles and modge podge

We picked these four crafts because they were pretty easy, didn't take a lot of time, and could all be done in one night.

There were 4 crafting stations where we could work on things so we all 

just rotated around to where someone else wasn't.

I don't think would have been as easy with more people....It would have been crowded.

 

These are the Pinterest links that we based our crafts from - with a few improvements:

Glitter Mason Jar 

This super easy Glitter Mason Jar tutorial got us started on the right road.  I got the large grain glitter and I liked it better than the fine glitter.  After we let the dry for a few minutes we sprayed a clear sealer coat to help keep the glitter from coming off on everything.

Melted Snowman Ornament

This again was another quick tutorial on what products to use in the Melted Snowman Ornament.  I wouldn't have thought of the peppercorns.  In addition to what she has, we added cut triangle slivers of bright orange scrapbook paper for the snowman nose, small buttons for the eyes, and short pieces of red material as a scarf.  Be careful not to stick your finger in the glass ornament because something didn't settle the way you wanted it to.  Said ornament will break...we know from experience.  If what you dropped on top of the salt doesn't settle right give it a good shake and then sift it back and forth and everything rises to the top.   

Tile Coasters 

The perfect tutorial to make quick a quick and inexpensive gift.  We made sets of 4 coasters for less than $1.00 for the sets.  Our only change was to hot glue small felts squares to the back instead of modge podging shelf liner on.  Either way would work fine.  

For the Freezer paper painted shirts I looked at several different tutorials.  They were all basically the same - pinterest search freezer paper shirts and you will get a bunch of different ideas.  We used my Cricut to cut state shapes from the freezer paper, ironed them on and started painting.  Just always remember to put a piece of cardboard between your layers of shirt so that you don't have paint bled through to the next layer. 

 

All in all the pinterest party was a hit.  We all brought a pinterest inspired food which made for a tasty treat.  We were able to socialize and still feel productive. We didn't spend a lot of money doing it.  And who has extra cash to spend this time of year anyways???

 We'll do this again in the spring.  Maybe we'll do just 1 or two projects but make them a little more time consuming.

 

Do you have any ideas for a pinterest party?  Please share      

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween.  It's a fun holiday to dress up, go outside the box, and be a kid again.  

We have trunk or treat every year at our church.  Russel and I are more often than not the only adults dressed up but the kids enjoy it and so do we.  

A few years ago Russel convinced me to get him a gorilla costume.  I decided if we were going to get one we would get a "good" one not a cheap fall apart one but with the stipulation that it needed to be worn more than once.  Well - this gorilla has been worn and worn and worn again.  Below are some pictures from Halloween's for us through the years. 

 If there is one thing we do together, it's that we always have fun.  

I love these pictures because each one makes me remember something about each year.  Now would that have happened had we not dressed up and gone "outside our boxes"?

The year we were....

little red riding and the big bad wolf - Russel had just had knee surgery

little bo peep and mustache man - we had spent time at Chris' making way for his new cabin

I was the gorilla with the tutu - my friend Denise was "guiding" me walking around down town during the day and walked us out into the middle of on coming traffic (no one was hurt)

cowboy and milk maid - I saw the biggest grin ever on our friend Morris' face

gorilla and lady from king kong - I ripped the back of my dress out putting it on 

Yes - we may technically be "too old" for Halloween but we're still young at heart.  Are you?

Happy Halloween!

Baby Girl Owl Shower

So you've seen the baby boy shower that I attended for my friend Allison. It was beautiful and only got me more excited about  the baby girl shower for my friend Katie.  

Katie's only request was that I use this super cute pink and green invite she found online at Cutie Patootie Creations.(click the link to see the invite - I didn't take a picture!) 

I loved the invite too so I decided to create her shower around the invitation theme.  Who (pun intended) doesn't like some sweet pink and green owls?  And who doesn't go to Pinterest for all sorts of creation imagination!!!!

Here's the lovely mommy to be Katie.  She's such a sweet friend and I was so excited, along with a couple of other college friends, to be able to give her a shower to welcome baby Raylyn to this world. 

 So here' the shower for that little sweetie to be!

The decorations:

Outside to direct everyone to the correct house was our owl baby banner - 

It didn't last long after the shower started as it really started showering after the party started. 

Paper + Rain doesn't blend so well.  

For the hearth - A banner made from my Cricut and tied together with tulle and a laundry line with owls, onesies & bibs that I made for baby Raylyn.

 

 

All the ruffles are a result of me learning online how to make a ruffle.  I had no idea all I had to do was turn my thread tension up.  There is a GREAT tutorial at Super Mommy or Not.

 It was so easy.  The monster bib is from  Stubbornly Crafty which I frequent often for her tutorials and free patterns. 
Ladies - that is how I learned to sew - from the free patterns online.  These ladies are my sewing heros!

On to the party table - a green mason jar with pink and green daisies, bingo gifts, wishes for baby cards, bingo cards and an instruction sheet with owls.  

 

I made the Bingo Cards and Wishes for Baby in Microsoft Word and then converted them to PDF's.  I took them on my flash drive over to Office Depot and had them printed on a card stock.  Three of the wishes for baby were on each sheet and two bingos on each sheet.  I cut them at home with my paper cutter (they charge $.07 a cut - so I did it myself).  This made the bingo cards about $.30 each and the wishes for baby about $.20 each.  I uploaded all these pdf's to an earlier blog entry.  This way you can use them too. 

 

 All the owls were all cut on my Cricut using the Create a Critter cartridge (actually my friend Stacy's cartridge - then I went out and bought my own).  

The mason jars (with handle already attached) came from Old Time Pottery and they had several different colors.  

The daisies came from Joann's.  I used some in jars and the remaining ones we pulled from the stems and used as table decor (you'll see that further down). 

We also had a late night diaper table.

  We used Sharpies to write on the diapers.  I didn't realize how hard diapers were to write on.  I hope that Katie and Chris get a good laugh during those late night diaper changes.  

The metal owl on this table came from Old Time Pottery.  The fabric owl is one that I have made.  I love sewing these little owls.  It was one of my first sewing projects and still remains a favorite. 

The Food and Drinks

We kept it simple - tea, water, pink lemonade, cupcakes, chocolate dipped preztels & oreos, sausage balls, little wienies, & pasta salad - but delicious. 

 

The yummy cupcakes came from The Sweet Stash and The Cupcake Collection which are both in downtown Nashville and have phenomenal cupcakes.  The Sweet Stash's almond wedding cake are my all time favorite.  Teri and I made the rest of the food and it was tasty even if I say so myself.  

We had water, pink lemonade, and sweet tea out of pint mason jars.  My hubby drilled holes in the lids so that we could thread our drink straws in and not worry about knocking them over.  Bright green tags let us know who's drink was who's.  

The Photo Booth

Out on the back porch we set up a photo booth.  It's pretty easy to do with a few cut out props on bbq skewers, a cheap flat grey sheet from Walmart, my camera on a tripod and a camera remote.

We had too much fun.   

The Take Homes

I wanted everyone to have something to remember their time celebrating baby Raylyn so I thinned my hens and chicks to plant these baby pots of hens and chicks for everyone to take home.  

I hope that they grow well.

Thanks to my sweet friends Teri and Kristie for making this shower one that Katie will remember.  

They made food, took pictures, moved gifts, motivated game plan...and had crazy fun with me in the photo booth.  

Other than the photo booth pictures Kristie took all these wonderful pictures to show what fun we had.  

  

Last plug (but definitely not least)...that adorable chalk board that you keep seeing in all these pictures came from my friend Cari Deer Owl Designs.  I sent her a copy of the invitation and told her I needed a chalk board.  She had this made up in no time flat and it was perfect. 

Hope that you thought Katie's Owl Shower was a Hoot.  We did!

Stacey