It's all her fault :)

At the beginning of October my Grandma graduated to heaven and officially became our newest guardian angel. I was very lucky in my life to have two fabulous grandmas that were both really crafty and talented in many ways. I like to think that I got some of their talents. :)

When I was 8 years old, my Grandma started me on scrapbooking. She talked to me a lot about how important it is to keep journals and records to give to our children. I started scrapbooking that day and never looked back! Whenever Steven would laugh and joke about how many scrapbooks and journals I have, I would just tell him that it's my Grandma's fault! :) In fact, that is part of the reason I started this blog. I wanted to be able to have a record of all the fun things that I have made and since it is online, I could hopefully reach some of my family that isn't close by.

For her funeral I was put in charge of pictures. I love pictures, probably too much. When they say that a picture is worth one thousand words, I say that a picture is worth one thousand gold bars. The amount of pictures I have on my computer will proove it!

I didn't want to do just some plain old frames for my Grandma. She was a sweet, fun lady. She couldn't have just plain frames! But another issue was that there were too many pictures that I wanted to share. Being the problem-solver that my husband is, he suggested that I get a board and "cutesy is up" (those are actually his exact words, he is adorable!). I went to Walmart and got a plain cork board and covered it with yellow fabric. Easy!

I added a few rosettes and a bow and called it a day! We had her scrapbooks out and her high school year book. We displayed her blankets that she made. I'm telling you, she was an amazing crafter!

Ironically, I had found this quote on Pinterest just a couple of days before she left us. I think that it fits perfectly with all our loved ones. Pooh Bear comes through again!

Recipe Apron

Last week was my sister Alexa's 16th birthday! Seriously, I can't believe she is driving and dating already. Alexa loves to cook and bake and she is dang good at it. One thing that I love about Alexa is that she is all about the homemade kind of gifts. That's my kind of girl! :) So I decided that she needed her own apron, but I wanted to add something special for it.

Here it is! Cute, right? (Her and the apron!) I wish I could give you a pattern. I am new to the sewing world so following a pattern is still a work-in-progress, let alone making a pattern! I just eye-balled it. I would sew a part and try it on and fix it. (And repeat!)

I got this cool pattern on ebay. There are cute cooking fabrics in a lot of stores, but I wanted something that looked vintage-y to go along with the next part that I did. I thought the fabric worked perfect.

I took recipes from my mom, grandma, and abuela. I scanned them into my computer and printed them out on fabric paper. I wanted to make this a generation apron, so hopefully she can add a recipe and maybe give it to her daughter one day.

One of my favorite parts is that my grandma had written a note to Alexa on this recipe. I think that it makes this more special to her.

I had a recipe from my abuela that I had done on the right side of the apron. Well, I'm not sure if the paper was too dark or what, but it didn't show up on the fabric. I spent some time taking it off and when my hand started cramping, Steven took a turn for me. :) Crafting involves a lot of mistakes and retakes! A good crafter also is quite skilled at covering up their mistakes!

And that is why there is a heart on the side now. :) But actually, I thought it was pretty cute with the apron. So I just have to get another recipe from abuela so that I can add that to the apron.

Happy Birthday Lexie-Lou! We love you!

Witches Night Out

Happy Halloween! It's not too late to get a costume together if you haven't already started! My sisters were going to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village last weekend and they wanted some fabulous hats.

Here is what we came up with!

First, we started with a plain black hat from Walmart. They were $1.39. There was a gray wig attached, so we just cut that off and hat the perfect hat for a steal of a deal!

This first hat was made with a green boa and a big green feather (both from Hobby Lobby). I had gone to Tai Pan and they had a sale on all of their Halloween decorations. That purple skeleton was part of it, so I got it for $.99. Sales are a beautiful thing!

This hat also has a boa and giant feather. The skeleton was from Tai Pan. It came in a four pack for $2.50! What I love the most is shopping after the holidays and getting everything super discounted. Then you can use it for next year's crafts! Torri also used a silver skeleton for a necklace and it turned out so adorable (in a scary skeleton sort of way!). :)

I think that this last one is my favorite! I had this scrap fabric to use. I started trying to wrap it around the tip so that it was smooth, but that wasn't working out. (That is the OCD in me!) But then I started to wrap around all gathered up and I think that it ended up cuter that way. I just hot glued the whole thing on and it stuck on really well. All those spiders came in a package from Walmart. And isn't the tulle fun? We made it so they could pull it over her face or it could drape the back. So fun!

Happy Halloween everyone! (It's the best time of the year!)

Look Who Is Featured!

Do you remember this quiet book that I posted back in March? Well Jocelyn over at the Quiet Book Blog invited me to post on her blog! Her blog is so adorable and has a ton of quiet book ideas. Go on over and check it out! Thank you Jocelyn for finding me! :)

A Wreath for Mom

It was my mom's birthday a few weeks ago and I know that she loves getting things to hang on her front door. 

I decided that she needed something fall-ish...

This was super easy to make. I went to the dollar store and bought one of those wicker-ish wreaths. I cut up my burlap into strips and just spun it all the way around the wreath until it was completely covered. I then sprayed it with gloss so that fuzzies wouldn't get everywhere. 

I bought the wooden S from the Wood Connection. I sanded and stained it. Then I took my embroidery thread and wrapped it. In the beginning, I was trying to get the string really close together. I soon realized that just wasn't going to happen, but actually I liked the look of it. 

I added some giraffe print ribbon and a flower that I already had and BAM! Wreath finished. :)

Now I want to make one for me!

2,557 Days

Seven years ago tonight this really cute boy kissed me in the park. I don't think that either of us knew what was in store for us that night! It was the last night of the summer before high school started. Boy, did I really like him! There was one Valentine's in church that the young women had a lesson from the Bishop. His name was Bishop Harrison. Him and his wife were so wonderful. They talked to us about love. They told us that they believe that you can be in love when you are young, it is just a different love then when you are older. They taught us about how love grows over time and it changes, even from year to year.

I got that lesson when I was 12 years old and I think about it all the time. When I got that first kiss in August of 2005, I definitely loved this boy. Like my Bishop taught us, I know now that love does grow over time. I don't love Steven the same way that I did that night, or the same way as when he took me to senior prom, or the same way as when we got married. I love him a whole lot more. He is my best buddy in the whole wide world. Every day I am so thankful that he is mine!

It is a big joke in my group of friends and family about how scared I am to have a son. I just love girls. I feel like I totally understand them and I love all the drama and glitter and dolls that come with it. But... If I can raise a boy like my in-laws have, then I will be more than happy to have a son! I hope that I can do as good of a job as they have. Every time you have a great spouse, you have to be grateful to who they come from. And I am so grateful for them. They have taught him to be the perfect husband!

Since we have been married we don't celebrate August 27th anymore, because our wedding date is much more important. But I still can't help but make a cute card to remind him how much I just adore him. :)

I love you Teddy!!

Fun {and cheap!} Summer Clothes!

Summer semester is officially over and I finally don't have any homework! It's a serious miracle. Well this semester has been completely insane and I have been craft deprived. It's safe to say that I went craft-crazed over the past weekend.

First up.. my easy-peazy summer dress. I found this dress on the Sweet Verbena blog. She is great at doing the tutorial, so you might want to head over to her blog.

I got my fabric at NPS which is off of California Avenue. If you haven't been there to buy fabric, please please go! This amazing jersey fabric is 60 inches wide and for one yard it was $1.29. Seriously. You cannot find cheaper fabric in the valley.

I started out just like she did. My fabric is 60 inches across and I folded it in half. I made it about 65 inches long. So my final measurements at this point were 30" x 65 ".

I then stitched down the side so I had a tube shape.

Next I stitched closed the top so it was like a giant pillow case.

To make the neck hole, I went to the center of the dress (where my stitching was). I cut a straight line down 6 inches.

To make sleeves, I went to the side and cut out 8 inch long slots.

At this point, I hemmed up the sleeves but I left the neck. I think that the neck line looked cuter without the hem.

*So here is where I made some changes. I liked the dress, but it just seemed really bulky around my sides. I wore it around a few times and made a few different changes to it, but it still seemed like it wasn't working for me. So last weekend I brought it to my sewing station one more time.

I decided that what it needed was more contouring. This jersey just hang really heavy so it needed more shape to it. The original pattern would probably work if the jersey was light and thin.

I ended up taking 4 inches off each side of the dress and I contoured the middle just by hand. I had also cut it too short the first time so I added a fringe onto it.

I can't even begin to tell you what a difference it made! After all was said and done, I love this dress. The best part? Because I got the fabric so cheap, this dress cost me less than $3!

Next up! My $2 skirt!!

I saw this link on Pinterest. I fell in love with it! I knew I had to try to make it. My mom had given me several ripped jeans last week that I could have to sew. I took the top of one of her jeans to make this skirt. Cost: $0. (I love that number.)

Then bottom half is actually an old sheet from the D.I. Cost: $2.

I started with the jeans. I had to cut them a bit shorter than the Pinterest picture because there was a huge hole. When you are cutting it, make sure to not cut the pockets.

This is the cute fabric that I got!

First thing, I folded and ironed a hem on the sheet. It was about an inch and a half.

Then pin it to the outside of the jean.

As you sew, ruffle the fabric.

Hem the bottom to length and you are done!

I also recycled some jeans that I had...

I have so many jeans with holes in the knees and it drives me crazy! I saw this link on Pinterest and thought it was such a cute idea. I just cut the jeans off and put some of my extra fabric on it. Super easy!

Last but not least! Another super cheap skirt! I {love} super cheap clothes. Have you seen my circle skirt post? I made this one just like the circle skirt on Dana-Made-It blog. The only thing I did differently is that I made a tube instead of a circle. I didn't even hem the bottom because I thought that it look better. I got this fabric at NPS ($1.29 fabric baby!) and I bought the elastic with a coupon at JoAnn's. Again, less than $3!

Crafting and sewing can be so cheap, you just have to be willing to look around and find the right deals. The better the deals, the more fun the crafting is! :)

Only a few weeks left of summer people! Soak it up!!