Paper Pumpkin Kit

In the midst of having "Larynyitis" and preparing for Livy's Minnie Mouse birthday party,

 I spent a few minutes crafting some cards.

This 'Wahoo' card came in a kit (all supplies, even the stamps & ink, included!) as a set of 4 cards- I was able to create all 4 in under 30 minutes:)

I love the buttons and gender neutral color scheme:)

If you like what you see, you can receive a similar crafting kit, 

sent right to your door each month through 'Paper Pumpkin'! 

Contact Gramma to get signed up for your Paper Pumpkin kit!

Having 30 minutes to craft each month, with no guesswork involved, is SO satisfying:)

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

DIY Candy Cane "JOY" Banner

I know it's "only October" but I'm itching to put out Christmas decor already & so is Livy:)
So, with that in mind, I was thrilled to participate in a recent Stampin' Up! Banners" class, hosted by Gramma...

...where fellow crafters dove into fun supplies & got busy making gorgeous banners!

There were "boo" banners with burlap and black sparkles...

...there were "fall" banners with wooden buttons & gold glitter...

...and there were "joy" banners- I opted to make mine "candy cane" style utilizing the awesome included stencils...

...vs the equally lovely, jewel toned version with stamped ornaments since I decided to use candy canes as our Christmas decor theme this year:)

To add some bling to my "vintagey" banner, silver snowflakes were stamped on red card stock and cut out using the Sizzix Big Shot...

...and some lovely rosettes (via the Big Shot) were added with silver metallic ribbon curly cues:)

The jute twine helps to keep the look homey & vintage and I just LOVE it!

Can't wait to hang it up!!!

And here's the kit where you can make your own banner- Gramma just finished one for Baby M's room that I'll be sharing soon so sky is the limit on design:)

Thanks for looking,

Tiffany

DIY Shoe Reashion

Yeah!  I just completed my first shoe refashion & I'm so excited- it worked!

I was inspired by this DIY post and after finding the perfect pair of heels at Goodwill over Thanksgiving weekend, I couldn't wait to try this out!

I've been wanting some 'low & pointy' heels for a while...who knew they were orphaned & waiting for me at Goodwill?  And they weren't even paired...I had just about given up hope when I finally spotted the 'twin' across the store!

The shoes were exactly the style I was wanting & in good shape on the outside, however, they were looking a bit fatigued around the inner seam...

...and wanted to prolong their life for as long as feasibly possible, a plan of rebirth was hatched:)

So, heels in tow, I purchased some bias tape to achieve a more neutral & monochromatic look as opposed to the inspiration pair.  I went with khaki bias tape which should work well year round:)

I followed the tutorial (it's great!) with just a few tweaks:

• I used 1/2 inch bias tape only vs 1/4 + 1/2 inch- there had obviously been a run on the 1/4 inch khaki bias tape, leaving me with no other option!
• I made my bow a bit smaller based on scale 

Tip: less is WAY more with fabric glue.  I'm no connoisseur of fabric glue but mine seems to be a bit gloppy and so I ended up with my first shoe resembling the above, and then promptly redid it!

 I found that a light smear of glue was all the bias tape could handle before leaking through to the other side...patience...breathe...

Ha!  That's a laugh!  I got a bit antsy as I was trying to get this finished before tucking Livy into bed so there are a few little spots of glue peeking through- hoping they'll dry completely????

 Also, I found using my handy dandy little clip magnets made clamping my bows a breeze!

Snapping pics at night- pardon the horrendous lighting!

 So in approx one hour, I had a brand new pair of shoes!  And it really was pretty easy:)

Refashion Cost:
Shoes- $7.99
Bias Tape- $2.29
Glue- free (already had it in my growing stash!)

Total cost= $10.28!!!  And what I love most is that these are unique and I won't feel badly about replacing them a ways down the road:)

Thanks for stopping by,
Tiffany

Anchors Away!

Happy Patriot Day!  During our recent Labor Day jaunt to Kid to Kid, I picked up a basic black & gray long sleeved T-shirt ($2) for Jonah in hopes of adding some applique- I've been dying to try some applique so here's my first effort.

I spent all of 2 minutes googling my desired applique template, printed it out with my handy dandy printer and cut it out:

Then I pinned the template to some red felt that I snagged from Sweet Stamper (handy dandy Mother!) and cut out- this was accomplished with my eyes half closed as the kids ate breakfast, so imagine my surprise when I saw that it looked decent!

Next I top stitched the anchor with some doubled black thread- I didn't use any fusible stuff as it's a smallish piece, wasn't going to experience a lot of wear/washing and the felt naturally 'sticks' to the jersey:)

My stitching was a bit messy ensuring that Jonah's shirt would have that 'homemade' feel- Olivia had commandeered one of my arms to snuggle with while I was trying to stitch:)

 Next I found these cute metal buttons at Hobby Lobby (for a whopping $1.35)- they came in a 3 pack so I opted to just use all three:)

Here is Jonah's completed 'Anchors Away' T-shirt; I love how it turned out, especially as this was my 1st try with applique!  My top button shifted a bit while stitching but oh well...I'm learning to embrace the imperfections of my efforts to actually get things accomplished:)

And Jonah loves posing for pictures in his new 'designer' T-shirt, just like the 'Cuban Ham':)

Let me know if you have any questions & stay tuned for more applique:)

Tiffany

So Tweet!

 

One of the items on my 'to do' list was to fashion a hair clip organizer/system for Olivia- it's ironic since she doesn't keep hair accessories in her hair for more than 5 minutes usually but still, I'm determined...

I started with this 'tweet' metal bird cage (flat on the back side) that I snagged at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off making it just $7- matches Livy's room decor perfectly too:)

 

I then wound some of my Stampin' Up! ribbon in Pink Pirouette (still available) all through the slats- I wanted a care free, 'don't play by the rules' sort of pattern to mimic Livy's crazy hair vs 3 lengths just hanging down straight.

 

This allowed my to graduate Livy's clips in a more interesting pattern too:)

 So, here it is, chock full!  And some of Livy's 'plain Jane' clips are hanging in the silver organza bag as I ran out of room!  I still need to add the flower centerpiece to the top and trim the ribbons tails (which of course are not even as I was refereeing munchkins while working on this!) but Livy is quite enthralled with her new addition to her room and I'm thrilled to have a now empty drawer to fill...hopefully with toys perpetually on the floor!



Since I've not been impressed with the standard gerber daisy attached to 3 plain ribbons for a hair clip organizer, I was quite chuffed with creating something totally unique for my little pixie:)  Now we just need to tackle getting that little pixie to keep her clips in her hair, short as it it:)

*NOTE- will post a final picture when it's complete:)

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany