Baby Gift Ensemble

I am really enjoying getting to do a lot of sewing right now and I have been trying new things, such as this version of a "Boppy" pillow cover from "Made by Marzipan" called the "Poppy Pillow Slip Cover".

I have a friend who recently had a baby and thought it would be cool to make her a "custom" cover for her nursing pillow!

She likes the mustache theme and is into camo, so I made a matching bib and burp cloth to go with the Boppy cover.

I found the pattern for the bib at "Alice and Lois" and the pattern for the burp cloth at "Cloud 9 Fabrics".

Supplies/Tools Used for this Project:

Fabric - Alexander Henry Fabrics, Nicole's Prints, De Leon Design Group DE#7567 A "Where's My Stache?" (2011)
Fabric - JoAnn's, Flannel, Gray Camo
Pattern - Poppy Pillow Slip Cover - Made By Marzipan
Pattern - Bib - Alice & Lois
Pattern - Burp Cloth - Cloud 9 Fabrics
Thread - Coats & Clark - 100% Polyester - Gray S910 H6 600
Zipper, 18"
Scissors
Straight Pins
Iron
Sewing Machine - Janome New Home 49360
Clear Tape (to tape PDF Pattern Pieces together)

This combination made for such a cute baby Gift!

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Valentine Love Letter Keepsake Box

I know it might be "Old School" now...but back in my day, we wrote letters on paper to people we loved and cared about and what better way to store those precious memories than in an upcycled embellished old wine box!

My Sister recently sent me a ton of personal love letters that my Dad had sent to my Mom when they were dating and newly married and he was in the service.

These are precious to me and I wanted a way to store them where I could find them easily, as one day I want to read them all and gain more insight into my parent's relationship. Unfortunately they experienced rocky times in later years and ultimately divorced which was a sad and confusing time for me, but I know these letters will remind me of the love they once shared!

When Angie and Carolina announced the upcoming "Craft Lightning" for Valentine's Day...I knew this project I had in mind would be perfect for these special letters!

For those of you who are new here...Craft Lightning is a great series for craft & DIY bloggers that is hosted by Angie from the Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 minute Crafts, where bloggers/crafters are challenged to create a quick craft that takes 15 minutes or less...minus drying time!

For this project, I kept it simple to meet those requirements...but you could of course get more fancy with this wine box and add more customized graphics or photos, or even stain it and give it an "antique" look!

So many fun and creative ways you can decorate these boxes and upcycle them into something useful and beautiful!

Not only can this box be used for special love letters, but it would make a cute collection box for a child's valentines from school or special photos near and dear to them or to you!

Here is a short video showing the steps taken to make this love letter keepsake box:

Here are the tools and supplies I used for this project:

Supplies/Tool List:

(*Disclosure: Some text may include affiliate links)

Wooden Wine Box
Rust-Oleum Primer and Sealer
ACE Enamel Spray Paint, Antique White/Cooler Beige
Paper Napkins, Heart Themed, (From WalMart)
Scissors
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Mod Podge
Foam Paint Brush
Rubber Stamp, Love, By Craft Smart
Q-Tips (if necessary for touch-up)
Ink Pad, Red, Studio G, Dye Ink*
Krylon Workable Fixatif
Mod Podge Gloss Sealer

* One note about the materials I used...I was a bit inexperienced in using ink on wood and probably did not use the best type of ink or medium to stamp this box. The ink I used was a "dye" type ink and it did not adhere well to the spray enamel paint on the wood and it never really fully dried to where I could coat it with Mod Podge.
What I did to remedy this situation was spray over the stamped areas with a light mist of the workable fixatif. I let that dry and then lightly sprayed it a second time.
Even then, I was not able to cover it with Mod Podge because it began to "bleed" red when I did.
(That is why I needed the Q-tips...to try and fix my messy looking, smeared boo-boo!)
So, I ended up just using the mod podge on the napkin cutouts and after the ModPodge and Fixatif dried...I covered the entire top of the box with ModPodge Gloss Sealer and it worked great to seal the whole thing so it looked shiny and the stamps didn't rub off!
(I think in hindsight I should have used either pigment stamp or acrylic paint to stamp with...oh well...live and learn!)

Hope you are inspired to create by visiting my blog today and be sure to click on the graphic below to see lots of other great Valentine Inspired projects from Crafty Bloggers!

(*Stuff-n-Such, Lisa Hall, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com)

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http://www.craftsalamode.com/2017/02/what-to-do-weekends-party-211.html

Halloween Pumpkin Centerpiece

Halloween is almost upon us and I have been so busy with all of my sewing projects that I almost forgot about my Craft Lightning Project!

I wanted to make something fun to dress up my plain old boring dinner table, so I decided on this Pumpkin Centerpiece made from a faux carvable pumpkin from the Dollar Store.

This cute project can be completed in 15 minutes or less if you are in a hurry!

When I started out...I took out a ton of my craft stuff just to get some inspiration and ideas...

You can see my MESS here...

I tried different combos to get an idea of what I wanted...like adding faux leaves,spanish moss and ribbon to the pumpkin, but after a lot of experimentation, I settled on ric-rac, lace and bead trim to give the pumpkin a bit of a Steampunk look.

Here is a quick photo collage view of the steps I took to make this project:

Here are the supplies/tools I used for this project:

List of Supplies/Tools used:

Faux Pumpkin, Carvable (from Dollar Store)
Old Candlestick (from Yardsale)
Craft Mat, Inkssentials, Ranger Ink
Black Braid Ric-Rac Trim, (Decorative Trim Brand sold at Hobby Lobby)
Orange & Black Ribbon, Polyester and Wire
Black and Gold Lace, 3-1/2" wide, (Unknown Brand, from craft stash)
Thread, White, 100% Polyester, Excell Brand
Sewing Needle
Scissors, Wescott Brand, Craft Scissors (from WalMart)
E6000 Glue
Ad Tech Glue Gun, 2-Temp, Cordless
Glue Sticks, Ad Tech, Multi-Temp
Beads, Gold, (small...exact size and brand unknown, from craft stash)

I am always happy to participate in the Craft Lightning Series of Quick Crafts hosted by Angie at The Country Chic Cottage and Carolina at 30 Minute Crafts!

Be sure to check out their blogs to see more fun, creative and super fast Halloween Ideas!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Halloween Centerpiece!

As always, I love hearing from you, so leave a comment if you'd like or come visit me on social media (see links in my blog sidebar).

Veteran’s Day Card

I've been away for awhile… summertime is so busy for me and hubby that it's hard to stay on track with my blog!

In between our summer trips and my latest sewing project I decided to make a card and even though Veterans Day is several months away I decided to go with that theme for this card.

This card can also be used as an Operation Write Home “Any Hero” card.

If you haven't heard of Operation Write Home you can learn more about it here. 

It is an awesome organization that supports our troops by sending blank handmade greeting cards to them in the field, where they often do not have access to these items.

I come from a military family and currently have a son who is in the Army guard and a son-in-law who is in the Air Force so these type organizations are near and dear to my heart!

In addition Veterans Day is an especially important holiday for our family as we have a long legacy of relatives who have served this country proudly and we are most grateful to them and all the troops past and present who have served this wonderful country!

For this card I wanted a special message of thanks, so I searched the Internet for famous military quotes and came up with one by John F. Kennedy one of the most famous ones no doubt!

I felt it was really appropriate for this card.

I typed the quote into a Microsoft Word document and then printed it out on my laser printer.

I decided that I wanted to give the quote a bit of an aged and distressed look, so I wrinkled up the paper and stained it using brown ink and then dyed it further using coffee.

After that, I used a wood burning tool to burn around the edges of the quote.

I used Mod Podge to glue down and seal the quote on the cardstock.

On the inside I stamped a sentiment from the Pink By Design Stamp Set: “Our Troops”.

I stamped the back of my card with an "OWH" stamp and my custom stamp from PSA Essentials.

Here is a photo showing all the tools and supplies I used to create this card:

List of Tools & Supplies Used For This Project:

Lexmark X4975 Ink Jet Printer

Fiskars Paper Trimmer

Xyron Mega Runner

DuraSharp Pointed Scissors

Scribe/Awl

Plaid Wood Burning Tool

3M Superfine Sanding Pad

Foam Paint Brush

White Ink Jet Paper

White Card Stock

DCWV The Mariposa Cardstock Matstack (6.5"x4.5")

Camo Print Paper (From Stock-on-Hand)

PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

OWH Clear Polymer Stamp

Pink By Design Clear Polymer Stamp from "Our Troops" Set

Clear Acrylic Block for Stamping

EK Success Brands,Inkadinkado Dye Ink Pad, Black

Studio G Pigment Ink Pad, Tan Brown

Studio G Pigment Ink Pad, Dark Brown

Eyelet Outlet, Pearl Brads, Lt. Olive Green, 8mm

Offray Grosgrain Ribbon, Brown with Green Stitch, 3/8"

Berwick Offray Spool O' Ribbon - Poly/Satin Ribbon, Olive Green, 1/4"

Mod Podge, Gloss-Lustre

Glue Dots Mini, 3/16"

Glue Dots, Glue Lines, 1"

Therm O Web SuperStik Glue Stick

Elmer's Craft Bond Precision Tip Glue Pen

Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Winner Announcement!! 100 Follower Giveaway

We have a winner in my 100 Follower Giveaway!!
Drum Roll please....
And the winner is:

#13, Christy from Christy Blade Handmade!!!
Yay! Congratulations Christy.
Please e-mail me with your mailing address so I can get your goodies sent out to you!

Here is a short video showing how I picked the winner, in case you are interested.

Sorry about the quality of it, I used my webcam and it usually does a decent job, but I guess because I was filming the computer screen it didn't work so great.

Thanks again to all who entered and who have come to visit my blog!