Thursday, December 23, 2010

Loopy Blanky

Tonight I was able to make it to A.C. Moore to finally pick up ribbon that I have been needing to work on a blanket for our youngest, Aaron. Inspired by this wonderful woman and mommy, Kayteedids, who was also nice enough to give me a few pointers I was able to create my first loopy blanky. This was a very easy project and seriously it took me longer to pin everything, than it did to actually sew it! Here' my "loopy blanky", enjoy and as always leave some love!

~E


Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Rosette Headband

Well I sat down today and had my first attempt at making a rosette headband, and it was super fast and easy to make! I made it out of a headband I bought from CVS and scrap material I had lying around! Beware of the hot glue gun though...man those things get really really HOT!
Glue gun:1 Mommy:0 <---not fun! Check out the pics and tell me what you think :)

~E


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Toddler bed blankets

After making Aaron's car seat cover last night and feeling so accomplished I decided to sit down this afternoon ~while our oldest was in preschool~ and make Angel and Ayden's new blankets for their toddler beds. When Angel originally got his toddler bed (nearly 2 years ago) we bought him a sheet set that had a cars and fire truck pattern. Needless to say 2 years later the comforter is dunzo... there is absolutely no life left in it, and he's not into cars or trucks anymore! So at my last trip to Joann's I picked up fleece material to make my oldest two boys new comforters. Angel was with me and he picked out his own Spiderman material and I picked out Ayden's Cars pattern because he is still OBSESSED with cars! I paired each fabric with solid fleece to match on the reverse side! I think they turned out great and were super duper easy to make :) Enjoy!

~E







Monday, December 20, 2010

Car Seat Cover

I just couldn't wait to post the latest project I worked on and finished tonight! So what does one do when they A. have a baby in the winter and B. have become a germophobe and can't stand strangers reaching in and touching their newborn baby (without permission)? Why they make a car seat cover of course! Thanks to Vanilla Joy and her wonderful and super easy tutorial found here on how to make a car seat cover! I ordered the fabric from the Fabric Shoppe on Etsy! This is easily becoming my favorite place to order fabric, she's got the BEST around :) These days to not have to leave the house with 3 kids for fabric is a dream come true! I think the cover is absolutely adorable (if I may say so myself!) and I am soooo glad to finally have something to keep all those strangers at bay! Enjoy the pics :)

~E







Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Changes

Slowly but surely you'll start noticing little *touches* I'll be adding to my blog. I feel like minor changes and adjustments need to be made to make this the best blog it can possibly be. I'll be trying new layouts, signatures, even perhaps trying to blog on a more scheduled basis. In the next few months I am hoping to really have a focus to my blog, perhaps a new name, as well as get it up and running with more followers. I'll be counting on Face Book and Twitter to hopefully get the word out there, as well as counting on YOU too! Growth happens a little at a time and I am hoping this will be a great addition to my Etsy shop! Fingers crossed XxX

~E

Dream a little dream

Here it goes... I'm laying everything on the table (p.s. this is something I almost NEVER do)!

Lately I have been so inspired and influenced by the many sellers on Etsy that I have started to think that one day I could open my own successful shop! As a little girl growing up I loved all things arts and crafts... at one point in time I was even in an arts and crafts club through our local recreation department. Lately I have felt that passion for arts and crafts enter my life just as it did when I was a little girl. I know that right now I am no where near ready to sell any of my projects I have made but after each project I complete, or for the ones I am filing away in my head to work on in the future, I always think to myself "this would look totally cute in my shop!"

My children have been my biggest inspiration in this adventure I have dreamed up. Everything I have created so far has been for them. The majority of me just loves a new challenge of making and creating a 100% hand made item rather than buying from a gigantic chain store where everybody will have the same thing. A tiny part of me loves knowing that I can save huge amounts of money by making these items rather than, again, buying from large corporations. Before I discovered Etsy I never knew that a market existed for the type of items I want to create and sell. Etsy has completely opened my mind and eyes to a whole new possibility. I think too that there is a special feeling that comes over a person knowing they have just purchased a hand made, unique item rather than something that has been mass-produced. To know that someone has personally sat down and made an item for you gives you a nice warm, fuzzy feeling!

Confession: Until now these are just thoughts I have kept to myself- none of this has ever been spoken aloud, written on a little piece of scrap paper, scribbled on a napkin, or jotted down in my blackberry. Practically every "crafty" item I come into contact with these days, whether its a picture I see or an item someone is wearing my mind automatically goes into crafter-mode.I begin to wonder what materials make up the headband/bracelet/accessory and I immediately start putting together a list of items needed to make the product as well as how I could best present it on my "shop". I'm inspired by colors that work well together, shapes that compliment one another, even patterns that are so different they are just enough alike to work well together. All of this, this entire process that I am going through is making me HAPPY and that is how I know this is something I truly want, and need to at least TRY to go for. This has begun to consume my thought process and for me that was the first light bulb that went off in my head that this could actually turn into something I have always wanted but just recently figured out how to do it.

From here on I would like to ask that if you have ANY input, or constructive criticism I am all ears! Over the next year or so I would really love, love, love, to take the time to perfect my crafty-ness so that one day I can open my own Etsy shop.

They say everyone has a niche right? Perhaps this is mine...

Merry Christmas!

'Tis the season! I feel like I have been away from this blogging thing forever, but ahh it feels good to be back. Ok...semi-back! Things are still crazy at our house, we haven't found a routine yet, but things are starting to feel slightly back to normal so that's a good thing, right?! Ha ha!

So the Christmas season is upon us and the busy-ness of it added to our already hectic schedule has made the month of December fly right by. Aaron will be exactly one month old tomorrow and I can't believe Christmas is a short 9 days away (eek! single digits- insert wide eyes and open mouth here)! I can safely say we are 98% done with our shopping, our tree is decorated, and the presents are wrapped.

Today we took the boys to the mall to get our annual family Christmas ornament and hopefully a quick picture with Santa. Fortunately we were able to accomplish both of these tasks and nobody had a tantrum or a meltdown (my husband and I included LOL)! You'll notice in the Santa picture there are only 2 children pictured...UNfortunately this year our 2 year old has decided he is scared to death of Santa so he wouldn't go anywhere near the big red guy! I figure 2 out of 3 kids isn't bad ha ha! I also snagged a really sweet deal on 2 Land's End jackets, one for winter and one for spring/fall, as well as a fleece vest! Confession: They are all TOTAL Mommy clothes and I absolutely LOVE them :)

Next week we are looking forward to our oldest son's Christmas play/party at his school as well as family coming in for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations! Until then I will leave you with these pictures to show our Christmas spirit thus far!

~E


"Baby" Angel at Bounce U last week with Santa!


Family Christmas Ornament 2010


2 out of 3 kids with Santa!


Our Christmas Tree 2010