Some Big Things For Me

Sorry about the absence this week.  We have family in from out of town and my time has been very limited at home and near the computer.  Speaking of which.  I will be taking next week off from the blog.  There is something exciting going on and I need to dedicate all of my time to that.  Rest assured, I have an awesome tutorial ready for the following Monday and I can't wait to share it with you!!  Here's a sneak peak...

Also, my college roommate and I are in the process of opening an Etsy store.  She is even more creative than I, so it only made sense that we join forces and put our crafty minds together.  I can't wait to show you what we've been working on! We focus on accessories for Mommies and their boys.  We have a few things for girls, but as mom's of boys, we wanted to cater more to our own demographic.

I have officially sent off the invites for my sister's baby shower!  AHHH!!!  This is really happening.  I love that my little sister is going to have a baby :)  Time to get down and dirty with shower details.  I'll be sharing ideas with you along the way!

Also, look for a giveaway coming soon.

Man, there is a lot going on between now and the end of the year.  How exciting!!  Now, back to real life.  It's bath time for my boys!

From Wine to Spooky

Let me show you another quick project from my Halloween mantel.  This is something simple you can do and personalize to your theme in just an afternoon!

See the black wine bottle on the right?  Let's make one of those!  It all started when I found some spooky labels at Design.Wash.Rinse.Repeat thanks to Pinterest.
                                       

I grabbed an empty wine bottle and spray painted it black.  I loved how shiny it was!  I printed off the labels and cut them out.  I grabbed my spray adhesive to attach the paper to the bottle.

Spray the back of the paper and slap it to the bottle.  I spray painted right over the wine label so I knew exactly where to place it based on the placement of the label.  Here's the thing to watch out for, though.  I didn't like the whiteness of the paper.  I was going to darken the picture up somehow until I used the spray adhesive.  It kind of spotted up the paper.  Fortunate for me, I liked that look.  Otherwise, Modge Podge might be a better choice.  I added an orange ribbon to top it off.  

What a super simple decoration.  You could even do the same thing for Christmas with a white bottle, red ribbon and scrapbook paper.  The best part of this project...IT WAS FREE!!!

Pumpkin Streusel Bread

One of the best things about Fall...PUMPKIN!!!  Baking with pumpkin.  Smelling pumpkin.  Seeing pumpkins.  Picking pumpkins.  Tasting anything pumpkin!  Need I go on??  My Fall Pinterest Board is full of pumpkin stuff.  I am determine to try them all before the Christmas season starts.  I tried the Pumpkin Streusel Bread and I must say, this one is going to be hard to beat.  It was awesome!  Plus, I was able to share the wealth with several people.  Those are the best recipes.

I got the recipe from Darla over at Bakingdom.com.  Darla, way to go!  Love it!  There was only one change I made and it was purely because I didn't have the ingredient on hand.  

Just be sure you don't burn your mouth on these babies as you're waiting for them to cool and can't help but take a bite!  I did but it was oh so worth it!!

SYTYCD & Wicked

So, I missed the finale of SYTYCD last night.  I know you're shocked, but I had good reason!  I went to see
                                             
It was awesome!!  Anyone who loves Broadway shows must see this one!  This was my second time.  I was actually more excited to see it this time than I was the first time.  Since "The Wizard Of Oz" is my all time favoritest movie ever, I was worried that Wicked would mess that up for me.  Thankfully, it rocked and didn't really touch the story that is so magical to me.  Plus, Defying Gravity is one of the best Broadway songs ever!

So you see, I had a good reason for missing my show.  I did catch up today and let me flat out say, I was wrong.  Well, let me restate.  America did not vote for the two I picked last week.  I had Cyrus and Tiffany as my favorites.  I loved all four and wasn't disappointed that Eliana and Chehon won, but I think a piece of me wanted Cyrus and Tiffany to win.


Congrats to Eliana and Chehon for winning season 9!!

Baby Quilt

Along with the Halloween crafty time this past weekend, I also tried my hand at quilting.  Now, when I say quilting, I mean the most basic of all quilts possible.  My cousin's baby shower was Sunday and I decided Saturday to make the quilt.  I know that sounds nuts.  Who can make a quilt the night before a baby shower??  Anyone can.  On Pinterest, of course, I was browsing quilts looking for something easy I could make for my little nephew on the way.  I saw this picture.
                                   
It took me to a tutorial on Ode to Inspiration.  The fabric caught my attention but the tutorial won my heart! It was perfect for me.  There is no angle cutting and piecing together which are the two things that I want nothing to do with!

For real directions, check out her tutorial.  Here's a very quick run down of what I did.   I got 1 yard of flannel in a solid color for my bottom and used it for the size of my blanket which was 36x42.  I cut the middle fabric as wide as I wanted (I didn't measure) x 42.  I cut my two coordinating fabrics just like she did - the length of the quilt, 42", but had one coordinating fabric bigger than the other.  I sewed the coordinating fabrics together and then sewed them to the middle making one large rectangle.  I put my batting on the floor first, then laid my bottom piece on top, face up.  I laid my top piece face down on top.  I pinned all the way around leaving a gap of about 8-10".  I stitched all the way around except the gap.  Turn that baby right side out.  Where the gap is, fold it in and around.  Top stitch all the way around.  I then top stitched around each individual fabric to give it a quilting effect.  That sucked!!  I guess "they're" right, whomever they are, when they suggest you get a walking foot for quilting.  It bunched and I had to fix it a few times which was kind of a pain, but in the end it was totally worth it.  Here's how baby Kinzley's quilt turned out.  Mommy Emily loved it and that made it worth the slice I took off my index finger when I was cutting fabric.  Oops!

Thanks Maysem for the tutorial and inspiration!!

Halloween Mantel

Guess who put up her Halloween mantel today?  Me!!  Normally my fall mantel is up beginning of September, but this year I'm slacking.  Shhh...don't tell anyone!  I switched things up a bit this year and added a few Halloween items.  I had to make those items before I could finish decorating.  It's still a simple mantel, but I really like how it turned out.  Here's a spooky night shot. (Am the only one who has trouble with the word mantel?  Mantel or mantle?  I always forget.  Dont judge!)

I made everything but the orange pumpkin at the end and the candles flanking it.  Even a few years later, the candles still smell like pumpkin.  Yum! 

I know this picture is out of focus but I think it's cool.  It reminds me of a full moon on a dark night.  Yeah, I'm totally in a Halloween frame of mind now!  In other news, let me show you how I made this wreath.

I told you they were simple projects with great impact.  This wreath is totally simple but I definitely love it!  I got my inspiration here but didn't want the flower.  It's cute on the door but would've been too distracting for what I wanted.  Here's a quick run down.

Get yourself a wreath that can be spray painted and some Pumpkin Orange spray paint.  It must be Pumpkin Orange because that just makes it cooler!

Spray that baby and let it dry for a day or two.  You want the spray paint smell to go away.

Get some black lace.  Get the cheapest you can find because you are going to just cut it in strips.  I used sewing pins and pinned the lace in place on the back.  Wrap the lace around the wreath, pinning as needed.  If you want the lace to be permanent, you can use hot glue.

Wrap, wrap, wrap until your wreath looks like this.  Simple and chic and the focal point of my mantel.  Next week, I'll tell you about the pictures and wine bottle.



Linking up to these fabulous blogs!!
Vintage Gwen                       The ArtsyGirl Connection
Lil Luna                                Seven Alive
Happy Hour Projects           Serenity You

Better After Feature

I shared with you my love of the Better After blog here.  I wanted you to be as inspired by all her before and after pictures like I was.  It was because of her blog that I was inspired to paint my first piece of furniture.  Three pieces of furniture later and one pending, I'm so happy I stumbled across it.

I knew I wanted to write Lindsey and tell her how I found inspiration in her blog and send her pictures of the pieces I had done.  I actually had to work up the courage to do it. She's like an actress.  She doesn't act, but lots of people look to her blog for entertainment and inspiration.  She is followed by many.  She's super witty too.  She's like the most popular girl in school.  I definitely had to work up the courage to email her.  I was glad I did though.  She was very sweet with her response.  Popular and sweet.  Those girls are the worst because you can't hate them for being popular anymore, you become friends.

Today I am super excited to say that I was featured on Better After.  That's right folks, I'm blog famous on a whole new level!  I'm as giddy as a little girl in a Barbie store.  Little girls still like Barbie's right??  If you still haven't, go check out her blog!!  Be sure you have days and days to look through her archives, though.  That's what happened to me.  I'm so glad it did, though!