Oh, baby!

I have been sewing like crazy the past few days, and am about ready to ship everything off to its new owner.  So exciting.  My dear high school soccer couch will be having a little girl here soon, and I've been wanting to make something handmade for her to welcome the new bundle of joy.  I finished this baby quilt/play mat yesterday and I just love how funky all the colors are. 

I also like how it doesn't shout "girl!" like crazy.

 

She'll be getting these burp cloths I finished too.  Love that panda fabric

 

 

And, I had to make myself something too.  Finished this quilt for myself today also...well, almost finished.  I still need to bind it.

 

 

It's been a great weekend sewing. Have you sewn anything lately?

Map Art Print

My husband is in the navy, so "home" has been many places for us.  I'd say we are pros at packing and moving our belongings from place to place.  No matter where we live, whether it be an apartment, house, etc., I know that we will always find new adventures as long as we are together.

 

This is why one of my favorite quotes has always been "Home is wherever I'm with you."  Isn't that the truth though?  Home really isn't a tangible place, is it?  Home, to me, is being with the ones I love no matter where that is.

 

I wanted to put this quote somewhere in our house, and be able to pack it up and take it wherever the Navy may lead us in the future.  I came up with this....

 

 

 

Super simple (and cheap) to make.  My favorite kind of craft.

 

As we passed by a welcome center along I95 one day, I quickly let out a little scream and had him stop.  You see, the scream was because at that exact moment a craft idea had entered my head and they tend to present themselves as tiny little bursts of excited screams.  It's annoying- I can admit that.  He, so nicely, pulled over and let me run in to find the perfect map. 

 

Once home, I scanned that baby in my computer and pulled it up into word, enlarging it to the portion of the map that I wanted.  I applied the "film-grain" effect on top of the map picture, and then typed my words into different text boxes and placed them where I wanted. 

 

Then....printed it. 

 

Simple as that.

 

I got this cute frame from TJ Maxx a few weeks back and added it to the ever-growing wall collage in our master. 

 

I know this will always have a place in our home.

 

What about you? Do you have a favorite quote?  Let me know

pallet-"ish" art

I've been crushing hard on some pallet art over here.

 

But, you see, I need to clean my garage out and since I had some spare lumber instead of pallets, I decided to utilize those instead. 

 

I'm stopping my craft, thrift, etc. hoarding ways and cleaning my garage.

 

ha, who am I kidding?  I'll probably go thrifting tomorrow.  It's just what I do.

 

Anywho, I pulled out some wood, cut it to the sizes I wanted, stained the wood, and then attached them how I wanted with wood glue.  I still need to brace the back with some actual support, but the wood glue is holding strong for now.

 

I fell in love with this print a while back, and wanted to replicate something similar for our wall collage in our master.

 

link: http://pinterest.com/pin/33917803416640685/

 

I used some of the emerald paint at lowes, which happens to be the color of the year.  It is beautiful, and you should definitely use it for something soon...like now-get on it!

 

I free-handed the bike on the wood with a pencil, and then printed my words out and made a little stencil.  Super simple.  Once painted, I let it dry and then went back with a sander to rough it up a bit. 

 

 

 

I love it!  It is the perfect addition to our collage wall now.

 

Have you made any pallet art lately?  Will you be using the color of the year (emerald) paint for any projects soon?  Let me know, I would love to hear :)

Chalkboard, Chalkboard On The Wall

I am so obsessed with chalkboards right now.

 

My grandmother and I went thrifting several years ago and I got this vanity mirror for around $10, I believe.

 

I loved it and I just had to add it to my hoard small collection of thrifts. I have this problem of buying things and not having an immediate purpose for it, so I stashed it away in the garage and saved it for a rainy day....which was the other day.  I pulled it out and got to town making this.....

 

 

 

 

I just love the idea of chalkboards so much.  Write a pretty quote, jot down some notes, keep track of bills...the list is endless. 

 

I chose to put a smidge of one of my favorite songs...every time I see it now it puts a huge smile on my face, which is way more than it was doing adding to the clutter in my garage.

 

  

Now the trouble comes finding the perfect spot for it.  I'm thinking about adding some knobs/hooks at the bottom and using it for our entryway-what a wonderful place to rest our hats, coats, and our sweet dogs' leashes, huh?

 

what have you done with chalkboard paint?  Are you as obsessed as me?

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

It's Me Again

I've tried this whole blog thing before, and here I am crawlin' back for another go at this.  Does anyone else just get so burnt out on something that you give up on it?  Well, that was me with blogging......... but I'm gonna' stick it out this time. 

 

 Hold me to it.

 

 School has been out for a couple months now (except for an online class), and it has been a much needed break to get our house in order, craft a little  lot, and just enjoy this wonderful summer in southern Georgia.  We've been here for over three years now, and it's just now starting to feel like home even though I can't wait to one day get back to the home that truly holds my heart, Tennessee.  One of the ways this place is starting to feel more like home is because I am finally decorating our little rental the way I want.  My husband, bless him, has helped me paint these walls to brighten it up and still loves me even when I come home dragging thrifted furniture and other finds through our front door.  I thought I would share one of my favorite projects that I finished a few months back and that has finally found the perfect spot in our home.  I've had this dresser all through high school, and it has traveled with us from state to state as we move with each new set of military orders we receive. 

 

 

Please, overlook the bad picture quality.  Although this piece was beautiful, I wanted to give it a little bit of a facelift to brighten her up...she was too dreary and dark for my taste. 

 

 

 

I am pretty happy with the way she turned out...she's the perfect spot for our living room TV.  I'm loving the dressers used for other purposes I am seeing everywhere right now, and I certainly was quick to jump all over that bandwagon.

 

 

I love white, aged furniture.  What about you?  What's your favorite color of paint to re-do furniture with?  Lemme' know :)

 

Oh, and bare with me while I get this blog lookin' all pretty. I need to brush up on some tech-savvy-ness .