Curtains are Done!!

It has been a busy busy times here, getting the house ready for the holidays, all the festivities, Christmas Cards, etc... athen on top of that I am working on some custom curtains for a customer. The same customer I made these for. I have to say I was really nervous about the constructions of these curtains. This was a total of 11 yards of material (face material and lining) to make these 72" wide curtains!! Doesn't that seem excessive??? But I used every foot of that material only leaving scraps!

They are done and I hope she is as pleased as I am with them!!

Dining Room Curtains

As an added touch she had me make a matching table runner.

Now that I have completed these I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I can really begin to enjoy working on all of my holiday crafts and projects!!

The Tunic Top that can't wait...

As any good mom I did not pull out the notes, flier, and artwork that were sent home from my daughter's pre-school during Thanksgiving Break until the morning of her first day back to school. I see her beautiful Thanksgiving artwork, oops that would of been nice to display during Thanksgiving...oh well, next year. I see her her worksheets practicing her letters and I see the December Calendar of Events.

It catches my eye that on December 2nd is Christmas Spirit Day "Wear Christmas Colors"

To most that would not be a big deal, just pick something out of the closet that is red or green. HOWEVER, on my Christmas Project Plan #31 was "Make Lawson a Pillowcase Tunic Top." Which happens to be for this VERY PURPOSE! Guess what got moved up VERY QUICKLY!! That left me 2 days to complete.

Dang people for being so on the ball!! You make me look bad!!

Luckily, I had the material, a 1/2 yd remnant my grandmother gave me this summer, so all I had to do was buy the green ribbon for $2.

Here is the finished Tunic Top. It is a Pillowcase dress that could fit a 18mo old as well (don't tell her that or she will not wear it anymore.)

Here you can see the length really well.

#31 on my Christmas Project Plan is complete!!! Hopefully nothing else catches me off guard this Holiday Season, but if it does oh well!! I refuse to stress over the small stuff this year! Or that is what I am telling myself....

5 Year Christmas Tree Skirt

I am the self-proclaimed "Procrastinator" for a reason...It has taken my 5 years to make a new Tree Skirt. How do I know it has been 5 years? The proof is on the receipt that is still attached to the material...


I remember purchasing this at Walmart when my husband was buying a duck stamp!

If my memory serves me correctly in November 2004 I was 4 months pregnant...did not have a sewing machine and had a month to make a skirt. What in the world was I thinking? There is no way it was going to get done then.

Then last year I decided I was finally going to make a skirt...and I did get started...I made the pattern using a little 9th grade geometry...but I never finished it, and put it back in the attic.

FINALLY, early October 2009 I pulled out the skirt and MADE myself FINISH!! Because I don't want to make another tree skirt until I make my daughter one...I decided to put some extra love into this skirt to make it extra special and one that I won't want to replace.

I hand stitched gold thread around flowers


Added some red roping...


TA-DA it is FINISHED!!

After 5 years it is done!!

Now we are ready for the Christmas Tree!!!

Thanksgiving Decor Brings up Fond Memories

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was wonderful. To be with my family, in my home is so unbelievably special to me!!

As for most women I LOVE having the opportunity to pull out the nice china, silver and crystal. Not only is it all beautiful, it brings back so many memories!! Ones that I love to reminisce about...

My china was started by my husband's Grandmother, Fitts, while we were dating. She had the foresight to start me on my pattern because she knew we would be married one day and she would most likely not be there. That was approximately 4 years before we finally got married (she was a wise woman.) Then many many people have contributed to our pattern for wedding gifts and/or Christmas gifts!

My silver was an anniversary gift from my Grandmommy. What a treasured, timeless gift! I am so lucky to have a full set of silver!! I love eating off it. As they say "Food always tastes better off of silver." I have to agree!

Lots of my accessories to the Lennox Holiday pattern my mom and dad have purchased for me over the years. These pieces are really the accent touches that pull it all together, some examples are the chargers and the napkin ring. There is LOTS more but I pull that out at Christmas.

I realized while eating dinner that I have lived in this house for almost 4 years, been married 8 years and it was the first time my parents had eaten with my fine china, my silver, and in my dining room. I am not sure why it took so long! I guess it has never worked out for them to be at my house for a holiday!!

My centerpiece was my fall centerpiece but I just added some Holly leaves and berries from the bushes outside.


Then my daughter had her hand (literally) in decorating our home. She made 20+ hand turkeys and stuck them all around the house.


More examples...

I am so thankful for my memories from the past & being able to create new ones!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Preparing for Baby- Door Hanger

It is no secret, my sister is having a baby and I am excited!! Every time I turn around I see something else I would love to make her!! I got the idea one night to make her a Door Hanger with her bedding fabric. To make it EXTRA special I wanted to monogram it. Well, Auntie Maridith doesn't have Embroidery Machine so I had to come up with another alternative.

Trust me if you LOVE monograms....you will want to read on....

I read how to do this originally on Neither Hip Nor Funky.

You use Plain old Freezer Paper that you buy at the grocery store. I printed the letter I wanted, cut it out, traced it on the dull side of the freezer paper and cut out the inside. Lots of cutting, but worth it.


I positioned it on the fabric, and pressed onto fabric. TIP #1 : Be sure your iron DOES NOT have water in it! TIP #2: If you do not like the placement after it is pressed you CAN remove the pattern and press again. You can do this up to 4 times!

Use regular acrylic paint mixed with Textile Medium and Paint! Do not use brush strokes...dab going up and down if you use brush strokes it can get under the paper! I waited until the paint was slightly dry to pull off. Here is the results. Perfect crisp lines!

I added trim and ribbon and it is FINISHED!!

Now let's hope when my sister and her husband meet their new baby her name will start with an "M" or they are out a really cool door hanger!!

Twice Remembered- Baby Blanket

Do you have an old lovie (blanket) from your childhood or your children's childhood that is now sitting in storage? My sister did and now her lovie is a teddy bear for her baby girl!

What better way to make a Mother-to-be cry!! I think she likes it!

Lauren even had to smell it to see if the "smell" was still there.
Twice Remembered Baby Blanket from one generation to the next!

I didn't just make one...I have made two!! Lawson saw me making this for the new baby and said "you have never made me a bear" (guilty as charged) Now Lawson has a matching bear!!

Give Thanks- Fake Pumpkin

I have not been posting much because I have been working have been TOP SECRET. They have been presents to my #1 reader, my sister! She knows most of what I am making for her but I don't want her to see them until her Baby Shower this weekend! After the baby shower I will show you all the baby things I made her and peanut!
However, because I am slightly A.D.D, and get bored abnormally QUICKLY especially when cutting out and sewing 16 tiebacks for the crib bumper. I decided to make something for myself. I am selfish like that.

I decided to complete my "Pumpkin Project" that I saw on V-Spot Blog.

Here was my completed "Fake" Pumpkin. It already looks delicious.
I have seen where people have hand written on the pumpkins sweet notes "Be Grateful," "Give Thanks," or "Thankful." If I trusted my hand writing I would of done the same thing, but I don't. So I printed out some phrases and cut them out with fine little scissors. I was planning on doing "Be Grateful" but that was WAY to long and I wanted to continue to be "grateful" so I went with "Give Thanks."

Once cut out, I ended up going over the letters with a black marker just to cover any white that was showing. I used Mod Podge to glue it on the pumpkin.
Then I added a ceramic dish and fake leaves. Here is my finished pumpkin.

I love having this simple display as a reminder of all the things I am so thankful for!!