Blissful Meandering Giveaway at A Beautiful Life

So exciting!!!!!  

Sarah over at A Beautiful Life is hosting a giveaway week.  I have joined the fun and will give away one item from my Etsy store to the winner.  She will choose a winner using random.org this Saturday, January 8, 2012.  She has a great blog and I am honored to be a part of her giveaway week.

You can check out the giveaway here:

A Beautiful Life Giveaway

Pink and Gray Valentine's Day Wreath

Last night, I was in Joann's and just couldn't pass up this adorable fuzzy fabric.

So, since it's kinda pricey I was trying to think of what I could do with a small amount.  A few weeks ago, during worship, I thought of making a wreath using a fabric tube.  Lots of times during worship, my mind wanders to some kind of creative place and this idea just seemed to jump out at me last night.  

I have been making wreaths out of foam pipe insulation from Osh thanks to this pin on Pintrest. 

(BTW, I must confess that I am COMPLETELY in love with and addicted to Pintrest.)

Tip:  I have found that the pipe insulation that works best for me, without kinking, is 3/4 inch with a 3/4 inch wall.

  Since the wreath begins life as a tube and not a ring, it worked perfectly to cover it in a fabric tube.  

I started with 1/4 of a yard of this fabulous fabric.  I folded it right sides together and used my sewing machine to sew the length of the fabric together.  I'm sorry, but I didn't take a pic. :(

The last time I bought pipe insulation, I accidentally bought it a size bigger that I usually do.  So, it was quite the wrestling match getting my fuzzy fabric tube onto the foam pipe insulation.  Hehehe

But, after pulling and tugging for a while, it was a success and I was able to duct tape the ends together to form my wreath.  I made some felt flowers and added them.  I made a little hanger for the back and tada.  Here it is!

I really like it!  There is something so wintery about it, which wasn't intended, but makes me happy.

Bright Valentine's Day Wreath

Well, I started out making this wreath as a Valentine's day wreath.  I had some flannel left over from a project I made for the Yard Supervisors at our school.  (Hand Warmers)  So, I cut the fabric into rectangles with my pinking shears.  I wrapped each piece around the end of a pencil and glued them onto a straw wreath form.  I used THIS tutorial from My Greenbrae Cottage.  Wow, that took a REALLY long time.  When I was finished, it just needed something more. So, I experimented with flowers.  I tried sticking to the traditional Valentine's Day colors but they really didn't pop.  So, I decided to go with bright colors, and here is the result!  I'm not sure that I am finished with it yet.  I feel like it needs a little something more, but for now.....

Okay, it's been a few days and I have added a couple more flowers.  

Here is the updated version.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have all had a fabulous Christmas Day!

I just had to share this pic of my beautiful daughter today.  

She has been the best gift we have ever received.  

Many blessings to you,

Craft Boutique Tomorrow

Hi all, I hope you are enjoying beautiful fall weather where ever you are.   I have been working like a mad woman to fill Etsy orders and prepare for a Craft Boutique tomorrow.  I have focused on home decor items for this boutique.

Here is a quick pic of my display set up in my living room as I was planning it out.

I got some of those adorable little frames from the Stocking Stuffer area at Michaels and framed some of my favorite quotes.

I also Mod Podged some square Ikea Mirrors and added a little paint to some of them for dimension.

I made some Pom Pom Flowers.

And the rest are all wreaths.

I will check back in after the weekend to report on how it went.

Gray and Yellow Love

I have made my next wreath for the craft boutique.  I LOVE it so much, I may have to make one for myself too.

I have been making wreaths covered in felt rosettes for a few months, and I love them.  But, I was trying to think of a different felt flower that would be cute on a wreath.  So, I decided to attempt it using this little puff-like flower.  (This Felt Flower Tutorial is linked to pic if you are interested.)

I used a little smaller strips than I used in the tutorial, about 4 x 9 because I was covering an 8 inch wreath and wanted the flowers a little smaller.  

The first thing I did was cover the 8 inch straw wreath in felt by wrapping and hot gluing felt strips.

Next, I made the felt flowers.  I made all but one of them using gray and one in yellow.

Finally, I used hot glue to attach all of the flowers to the wreath.

I adore this wreath, but I must admit it did not turn out the way I envisioned it.  I thought that you would be able to distinguish each of the little flowers.  But, instead the flowers just look like loops.  Oh well, I am still in love!  Maybe next time I will try spacing the flowers a little further apart, or maybe not.

Here are some other shots:

Here are some link parties that I frequent, I may link this project to some or all of them:

 Marvelously Messy,   Under the Table and Dreaming,   Flamingo Toes,   Lamb Around,   Cherished Treasures,  Petite Hermine,   Nifty Thrifty Things,  Skip to my Lou,   Sumo’s Sweet Stuff,  Making the World Cuter,   The Girl Creative,   Singing Three Little Birds,   Tuesday Treasures, One Project at a Time, Mad in Crafts,   11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven,   Craftomaniac,   Creating My Way to Success,   Sew Can Do,   Embellishing Life,   C.R.A.F.T.,   It’s a Blog Party,   Me Making Do,   Sarahndipities,   The DIY Home Sweet Home Project,   Funky Polka Dot Giraffe,   Today’s Creative Blog,   Hope Studios,         Ladybug Blessings,   Tip Junkie,   A Silly Little Sparrow,   Giggles Glitz & Glam,   Not JUST a Housewife,   Reason’s to Skip the Housework,   Little Birdie Blog,   The Blackberry Vine,   Blue Cricket,   The Trendy Treehouse,   Lil’ Luna,   The Thrifty Home,   Seven Thirty Three,   Sew Much Ado,   Handyman Craftywoman,   Sweet Craft Cakes,   Tea Rose Home,    Twin Dragonfly Designs,   Elements Interiors,   Fun to Craft,   The Shabby Chic Cottage,    House of Hepworth’s,   Somewhat Simple,   Rhinestone Beagle,   Yesterday on Tuesday,   Kojo Designs,   While He Was Napping,   Tatertots and Jello,   Bubbly Nature Creations,   Funky Junk Interiors,   Creation Corner,    A Few of my Favorite Things,   It’s a Hodgepodge Life,   My Romantic Home,   The Shabby Nest,    Frugal and Fabulous Design,   Sun Scholars,      Whipperberry,   At the Picket Fence,  Fingerprints on the Fridge,   Home Sweet Farm,   Young & Crafty,   Freckled Laundry,   Iron Violet Designs,   Fireflies & Jellybeans,   Be Different Act Normal,    Craft Envy,    Along for the Ride,   A Vision to Remember,    Saturday Mornings,   It’s a Crafty Life,   Childmade,     Sew Can Do,  

Fall Fun

Yesterday, we embarked on our annual tradition of going to Banducci's Pumpkin Patch.  We love this adorable place that symbolizes fall in every way.  I discovered it two years before we were parents, and it has been a tradition ever since.

Here is my daughter, marching in ahead of us.

This is me and my daughter.  They have little vignettes set up all over the place for families to take photos.  Actually, this year they had a really cool photo booth set up my a photographer.  She was also there offering to take family shots.  It was a pretty good deal, but I was on a mission to capture the day myself. 

There are a few of these beautiful wagons filled with pumpkins set up around the farm.  We saw several families sitting their babies in the middle of the pumpkins for a photo op.  I'm sure they turned out SO CUTE!

I'm pretty sure that I got a very similar shot to this one last year.  Whenever my hubby sees these squash, he puts it up to his ear and calls our daughter.  Of course, she is 3 and thinks that he is the funniest man on the planet. 

My daughter just couldn't resist climbing this interesting tree.

I just couldn't resist all the photo ops, you wouldn't believe how many pics I ended up with from this outing.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Let's take this "Perfect Pumpkin" to the cashier!

I just love how this pic looks!  My daughter is making sure that Daddy is paying the man for that pumpkin she laboriously chose.

One last photo session on our way out.  Then it turned into a tickling session, because my daughter REFUSED to smile for even one more pic.

Wherever you are, I hope that you are enjoying this beautiful fall.