My Husband's Office Has Great Sticks

When I saw this tutorial over at The Painted Hive I knew I had found my fall wreath.

We stopped by my husbands office on the way to Ikea one Saturday and when I saw all the sticks on the ground I knew they were wreath worthy.  It took about 5 minutes to collect them and the kids oohed and ahhed at each one they found.

I used a wreath form I already had and wrapped it with jute twine, but Kristine made hers out of a cereal box--so smart!

I think a smaller wreath form would have been better.

There, that's better.  This was a fun and simple project and I had all the supplies in my stash.

Candy Corn Wreath

A little candy corn, a little glue gun, a little braided jute, a couple of cute supervisors and voila, a candy corn wreath.

Mise en place

As you can see, we were in the middle of a snack when motivation came over me.  I had to strike while the glue gun was hot.

Step 1 of the fall mantel, complete.

I am linking to YOU:create because she motivates me.

Also linking to:

Footstool Slipcover

This is another project that, due to my lack of sewing skills, should have NEVER worked.


A few years ago I "reupholstered" a footstool  I found at Home Goods.  I never warmed up to that scary clown monkey fabric and finally decided to give it a new look.  Click here if you want to see the creepy monkey fabric.

So, here we go with the slipcover.  I cut and pinned a piece of fabric to fit the top.  So far, so good.

Next, I cut a bunch of strips to make the pleats.  My friend Pink (I can call her a friend, right?  After all, I met and sewed with her once) gave a great tutorial on making knife pleats.  She said measure twice around and add about a foot.  Well, you should really do that.  I only added about 6 inches and I came up short and had to add another section.  Grrrr. 

I sewed the strips together and hemmed the edges.  I eyeballed it because I am too lazy to pin.

Then I had a piece of coconut cake and caught up on a sweet mom from our church that is fighting pancreatic cancer.  Please pray for Leigh.

There is no getting around pinning and ironing on this part.  Again, I eyeballed it because I am lazy and I enjoy "good enough" sewing.  A real seamstress would probably measure each pleat for precision.

Chloe woke up from her nap at this point, so I got a little help.

I pinned the pleats (right side, to right side) on the footstool.

Next, I attached the pleats.  I was amazed all this fabric fit through my sewing machine.  I was also shocked I didn't break a needle with all those pins.  I removed the ones I could see as I went but I ran right over a few.

And here she is, my little beauty.

...and the rest of the room.

I am linking this to YOU:Create and Works for Me Wednesday, go check 'em out. And don't forget to go to Pink and Polka Dot's Slipcover party!  She taught me everything I ever needed to know about making slipcovers.

Make Maternity Pants from Pants

I am the world's laziest and most amateur sewer.  I had one of those wild, pregnancy, nesting, I can do anything moments and I made my own maternity pants out of a pair of pants I already had in my closet.  I mostly wear skirts in the summer and when I'm pregnant but a pair of khaki pants are a good stand by.  I took a million photos to try and show you how I did it.  Click on any of the photos for a closer look.

I put on a pair of pants one size larger than my pre-pregnancy size and while I was wearing them I stood in front of the mirror and drew a line under my belly--yes I wrote on my pants with an ink pen, I didn't have a fancy disappearing ink pen like a real seamstress.  You can see the pen marks in the photo above.

Then I measured my favorite pair of maternity jeans from the top inseam point (i.e. the crotch) to the top of the waist band.  You will use this measurement to see how large to make the panel.  What, huh?  Just keep looking at the photos, it will might all make sense.

 Cut out the zipper as close to the zipper as possible.  

Sew the fly closed.

Have lots of help from cute kiddos and a really messy craft table with hardly any room to work.

Have your husband come and rescue the kiddos when you start to really think through how in the world you are going to get this sewing project to work out.

Cut the extra fabric out just above the pen markings and don't panic...these pants are trash now anyway if this thing doesn't work!

Find a stretchy tank top/camisole you don't wear and use it for the panel.

Turn it upside down, right side out.

Pin and sew starting from the front and working all the way around the back and stop at the front.  Huh?  Just look at the pictures and try to understand how a lazy, amateur sewer makes it all happen.

 Admire the back and how nice it looks.

Now, try and figure out how you are going to get the front to look as nice.

Pinch, fold, contort, pin and shove through your Target sewing machine.

 Admire the front with amazement.

Try on and smile with no make-up and a messy table in the background.

I did it--I made maternity pants out of pants. 

I am linking to Works For Me Wednesday, even though I wasn't completely sure when I started this project that it would work!

Mittens in July

Oh how I wish I didn't need these.  But they worked great and I have wanted to make them for a long time.  This was another project that took only a few minutes to create, yet has been on my crafting list for years.  Decades maybe.

These mittens were in my stash.  I picked up a few pairs at Target when they were 48 cents after Christmas.  I thought I would use them to make stuffed zebras or a bunny or a referee or a prisoner or who knows what.  But they were 48 cents and they had a life in them, I just knew it.

They came to life the other night when I needed drug free pain relief.  I am pregnant with our third baby and since I am "of advanced maternal age" I try to take extra care to avoid toxins.  I do this even when I'm not pregnant so I can do things like eat Swedish Fish and drink frozen Cokes without worry.  Welcome to my world people, I can rationalize anything.

I filled the mittens with rice and hand stitched the ends closed.  I didn't feel like threading a needle so I just used a needle from my pin cushion that still had a length of thread attached.  Hence, the mismatched thread.  Who cares about matching thread when you are in pain?

I put them in the microwave for a minute and put one on top of my head and one across my eyes.  Ahhhhh, sweet relief.  Sorry, no photo of that look.

I am linking to YOU:create and if you haven't read
her post from yesterday I highly recommend it.  I am still mulling it over and reaping the benefits.

Sometimes Better, Sometimes Worse

I am a visual person.  I have a very hard time visualizing what things are going to look like until I see them done.  That doesn't even sound like it makes sense.







Anyway, this often leads to perfectionism because I think if I can't do it perfectly I don't want to do it at all and since I don't know what it will look like I can't possibly do it perfectly.  (I give God so much material to work with I'm surprised He even knows where to start!)


The Nester has been such an amazing friend to me because for the last few years she has encouraged me with constant reminders that It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful! I was blessed to meet her in real life a few months ago for Slipcover Day and she absolutely lives the way she writes and makes everyone feel like a friend.

I am not afraid to try things and mess them up. It might take me a year (or two) to get started, but I eventually get to gettin' and tackle the thing. Starting is the hardest part for someone inclined towards perfectionism.

Gitzen Girl is starting a new weekly feature called YOU:create and I plan on joining her every Thursday.


I am going to tackle some of these crafty ideas I have had floating around in my head.

That frog prince lamp at the top of this post...it was in Noah's room when he was a baby and when Chloe was born I had this great idea to paint it to match her room--it ended up looking like a poisonous frog and I gave it to the charity bin.  I hope someone rescued it and made it beautiful again.

Goodwill Chair Makeover

I saw this chair at Goodwill and it was marked $4.  We always seem to need extra seating and this chair was an easy target for a makeover.  I figured if it didn't work I was only out a few dollars and some spray paint.

Before:

After:

Furry Murray gave it his immediate approval.

The process was simple.  I unscrewed the seat and used Stanleah to attach this chicken fabric I bought a few months ago because I loved it, but had no idea how I would use it.  Then I sprayed the chair with a coat of Kilz primer and 2 coats of Rustoleum Heirloom White.

What are you making today?