Do You See a Treasure?!

A few of my favorite places to shop are garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, and craiglist!  You really never know what you are going to find!   A few years ago I would have never said that, but I can't imagine buying something brand spanking new again!  I like to find things and make them into how I want or just leaving them alone, old and chippy looking!  

Yes, I think I have turned into my mother.  Many moons ago, she used to drag me through antique stores for too many hours on a Saturday afternoon.  I thought I was going to die!  Little did I know, I would love it so much when I was older!  However, I try not to drag my kids to these places when I go look.  One, I don't want to torture them, and two, I don't want to have to pay for something expensive that they happened to accidentally break while walking by {and if I am being honest, the latter of the two reasons is probably the real reason}!

Recently I found these magical pictures on craiglist and I just about died.  I started to drool a little bit, then sweat, then pant.  Do you see those frames?!  The book rack?!  I can't even imagine what else is going to be there!!!  I immediately called the seller and made an appointment to go to and look through everything.  Tomorrow's school day won't go fast enough.  Seriously.  I can't wait.  Leaving straight from school, picking up the in-laws and heading over! 

And speaking of sales, grandma's HUGE estate sale in the east valley in coming up very soon.  In fact, they have to have a presale in October {before their big November sale} because they have so much this year, along with community garage sale at the same time!  Email me if you want to know more! 

DIY Crayon Roll

So here is my second {and my favorite} project from last Friday's "Fabulous Friday" spent with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, the crayon roll!  I was so excited when I saw it on the list, as I was have been dying to make these!  In fact, if my friends/family with kids are reading, this is a sneak peek at your kiddos Christmas/birthday presents this year!  I made the canvas fabric flower for Lola's room, so I went with more boy colors for this crayon roll, so I would have something to bring home to Kyan!  Without further adieu...

Supplies Needed:

Two pieces of fabric measuring 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches (they can match or not, your call)

One piece of fabric measuring 6 x 16 and 1/2 inches

One piece of flannel fabric or lightweight fusible interfacing measuring 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches

Ribbon (approximately 36ish inches?!)

Sewing Machine and coordinating thread

Crayons

How To:

Step One

Place one of your 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches of fabric across the flannel fabric.  Take the larger piece of fabric (6 x 16 and 1/2 inches) and fold it in half.  Pin it to the  fabric/flannel, with the two ends towards the bottom.

Step Two

Measure and mark at 8 and 1/4 inches.  From there, measure an inch to the left and to the right and mark.  Continue to do so until you get to the end of the strip.

Step Three

 Once you have marked and measured each inch, sew a straight stitch from the bottom of the fabric (that has the added folded fabric) until you get to the top of the folded fabric, back stitch to make sure it holds.  Clip off extra thread.

Step Four

Take your ribbon, fold in half.  If it has a design, like mine did, put like sides together.  Sew a straight stitch over the ribbon.  I went back and forth to make sure it would hold!

Step Five

 Place your other piece of fabric that measures 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches on top, like sides together.  Sew around the edge using a straight stitch, leaving {about} a two inch gap where the ribbon is.  It will make it easy to do the next step.

Step Six

 Cut the corners off pretty close to the stitch.  This helps when you turn your fabric and doesn't make the corners bulky.

Step Seven

Turn your piece inside out {which will reveal the correct side}!

Step Eight

Once you have your correct side all out, sew along the edges using a straight stitch one last time {I ironed the piece out before I did so}.  When you sew along the edge, you will close up the 2 inch gap/hole that was previously there!

Step Nine

Add crayons!

Step Ten

Roll it up when you are finished.  Stick it in your purse, diaper bag, drawer of your cabinet...wherever!

If you can sew a straight stitch {or can get close to it} you can do this project!  It is so easy and it literally cost me next to nothing, as I had the fabrics and the ribbon!  

These will make such a fun gift to give and can be customized for any boy or girl!  I plan on adding a coloring book or two to go with it!

Fabulous Friday w/ Family

This Friday I got to hang with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, for an evening filled with girl time, food, and crafting!  You know me and my camera, I needed pictures and wanted to make sure that I got one of the three of us {which ended up four, as Lola wanted in there too} and now I know where the hubs gets his feistiness from about taking pictures {look very close at the picture, I couldn't not put it on her, I thought it was hilarious and spoke volumes about Rae Lynn Friday night}!

So here it is close up, without the bird, sort of!

Once in a while, Donna's {MIL} church organizes these evenings and we were finally able to go to one together!  It was a blast!

 And, I got to hang out with Alyssa for an hour or so and that pretty much made my night!  I miss seeing her beautiful face each morning in homeroom!  If I haven't mentioned her already, she was the glue that held me together at times!  She was my key finder, organizer, story teller...you name it, she rocked it!  Love every chance I get to spend with her!  The first picture pretty much sums up our relationship and I think is my favorite from the night!

 Basically how the evening works is this; a list of crafts is presented to the women of the church and they have the option to sign up for any or all of the crafts.  You pay for the materials, but have options to pay a little bit less if you bring your own fabric {for some of the crafts}.  I signed up to make two of them, but am kicking myself that I didn't make one more {the boys watch}!

So tonight, I will show you the first of two of the projects that I made:  The flower canvas.

I opted to bring my own fabric, since I have way too much of it in my closet and because I have been itching to do a project with the fabric I found at grandma's estate sale last year, I just was waiting for the right one!

What you need:

21"x21" {give or take} piece of fabric for the back of the canvas

1 yard of coordinating fabric {I choose to have them be the same, but lots of women did not}
18"x18" canvas

Staple gun

Glue Gun

Scissors

How to make your own:

 Take the 21"x21" piece of fabric and staple all four sides to the the 18'x18' canvas

Next, take the yard of coordinating fabric and cut {or tear, like Rae Lynn did...I just couldn't with the fabric that I used} into strips.  I did mine about 3", Rae's seemed closer to 2-2 and 1/2"...just saying.  The thicker they are, the fluffier the flower is {I think}.

 Next, sew the strips using a straight stitch, getting it ready to gather {or ruffle, as I would rather call it}.

Then beg your mother-in-law to help you ruffle the fabric so that you can go work on the next project!  She did this by pulling on one end of the string so that it bunched up or gathered.

Then, glue the pieces of fabric down onto the canvas.  Start on the outside and work your way in.

Time ran out at this point, so we packed it up and dropped Donna off at home and then headed back to my house to finish working on our projects!

Here is mine, all finished.  I plan on hanging it in Lola's room.

And here is Rae Lynn's, she plans on hanging hers in her bedroom or bathroom or her new house when it is finished!

Same project, two totally different looks!  I love them both, even if it was after midnight when we finished them!