A Few DIY Projects with a Yard of Fabric

So, Thomas and I bought a new bed in January of last year.  Our old bed was worn out because we didn't have the money to buy a good one when we got married.  So, we saved up a little extra money so that we could upgrade to a king-size bed.  Awesome!

Of course, changing the size of the bed meant that we had to change the comforter, etc.  So this was my chance to redo all of the colors in our bedroom.  I was ecstatic!  I love decorating and picking out colors and painting (even though we're not painting the apartment we live in now).

I decided that I wanted to go with a neutral bedding set (black, gray, white) and then add in accents of coral.  I thought that this would be a cool idea so that I could pretty cheaply give our room a face lift by changing the accent color in the future without having to splurge to buy an all new comforter set, sheets, etc.

Here's where the problem comes in... I picked coral.  In fact, I became married to the idea that I wanted coral accents.  And well, I'm a little picky about my color of coral.  It can't be too orange or too pastel.  And the other colors in the fabric must be gray, white, or black.  And as you might know, that's a pretty tall order to fill.  But I had pretty much the perfect color of coral in my bridesmaid dresses for my wedding, so I knew exactly what I wanted!

So for the past year and few months, we've had no coral accents in our room.  It's true that I have found several coral things that I liked, but I'm just not willing to pay $60 for a stinkin' decorative pillow.  Really, my budget has been quite minimal, so my mom inspired me to get my craft on.

While she was here, we spent the last day of her visit shopping.  We'd been looking for something coral just about everywhere we went with no luck.  But, our last stop was Hobby Lobby (I love that store!), and we (my mom) happened to spot some perfect coral and white fabric!!!

So, with her ideas flowing, we snatched it up and grabbed a couple of bags of "fiber-fill".  Add in some cute black buttons and a little bit of adorable ribbon, and here's the result.  (I still have quite a bit of fabric left, but I'm not quite sure what I want to do with it yet.)

The plan was to make a cute little decorative pillow for the bed, and here it is.  A couple of seams on the outside, some stuffing, and the final closing stitches, and I was done.  For a little extra something, I grabbed the cute black buttons on sale at JoAnn's.

We had only bought a yard of fabric, but I still had so much left, so I decided to use an old picture frame to make a little bulletin board.  I just cut the fabric to the right size, wrapped it around the picture frame and used a regular old stapler to staple it on the back.  Finally, I snazzed it up with some absolutely adorable ribbon (also from JoAnn's).

It makes the perfect little photo board.

Woohoo for DIY!  I made both of these items (with fabric and pillow filling to spare) for less than $20!  Just imagine the possibilities when you decide to try something out for yourself!

Another Maxi Skirt

I mentioned a while ago that I had some new fabric to make another maxi skirt with, and this week, I finally got around to making it!  I also mentioned that I am a very impatient seamstress.  Meaning that I will skip steps if I don't see them as absolutely necessary, and I will go off pattern if the pattern makes it look harder than I think I could make it on my own.

All this combined with the fact that the fabric I chose was a knit (in general harder to sew than woven fabrics), it had stripes (more things to match up and make straight), and I wasn't following a pattern to begin with, I was a little worried about how the skirt would turn out.  I have made some things in the past that, once they're finished, disappear into the back of the closet and never get worn until I finally throw them out.  That's what comes from not being willing to follow directions.

But, surprisingly, the skirt turned out pretty well!  Meaning, I will actually wear it!  Woohoo!  It's a very similar design to the aqua one I just made, but I tweaked a few things to work better for this fabric, etc.

So I finished it up this morning and snapped some pictures!  Though the colors may not show super accurately here, it's coral and black striped!

Little Bits of Random {Lundi Little Lovelies}

I couldn't really think of a cute title for today's post because it really is just random.  Several randoms strung together.  So, no catchy title...

Since I did not get around to blogging on Thursday... or Friday... or Saturday... I have quite a few little lovelies to share!  I may save a few for later this week, but we'll just have to see as I go along.

(Also, I still have a recipe all ready to go, but I haven't taken any photos yet, so I'm waiting on that.  Hopefully tomorrow... though that's what I said last Wednesday...)

Little Lovely #1:  I made this on Thursday and Friday.  

 

Just a simple skirt with some a-dor-able aqua/teal linen.  It turned out pretty well; there's just one part that looks a little funny, so I'll probably go back and fix it a bit.  It also needs some more time under the iron, which makes sense since this fabric's been in my stash for... ahem... several years.  It's pretty fun when something I sew comes out well because usually I get in a hurry and take shortcuts so that things don't turn out as well as they should.  I'm pretty impatient when it comes to sewing.

Little Lovely #2:  I sat around yesterday afternoon between Christmas parties and made these.

I've made paper snowflakes each year since we've moved to Florida.  Sometimes Thomas helps me, and sometimes (aka. yesterday) he sits on the floor and plays Call of Duty while I make them.  :)
It's just something silly and fun I enjoy doing.  Since I took this photo last night, I've actually made a few more!  Fun fun!

Little Lovely #3:  Our Christmas boxes from my parents arrived today!  Yay!!!!!  So our Christmas tree has more presents under it, a few new ornaments (presents we got to open early), our stockings are hung, and the nativity scene is displayed (albeit on the dvd case since we don't have anywhere better).

This nativity scene is really special to me, because it was a gift from one of my aunts when I was really young.  She painted all of the figurines herself.  And since then, it was my job each year to set it up when it was time to decorate for Christmas.  My mom surprised me by sending it with our gifts.  So this is the first year (in about 20 years) that it won't be displayed in my parents house, but in my own.  Aww!  It's a little sentimental to me if you can't tell.

Little Lovely #4:  Christmas is on the 10 Day Forecast!!!  Woohoo!!!  And there's only 7 days left until my in-laws get here!  I can't believe it's coming so fast!  I need to finish my shopping!  Yikes!  (Wow, there are so many exclamation points in this post!  And there's another one)

Also, I got to go have lunch with Thomas today!  So that brightens up any day!  All in all, this Monday is going pretty darn well!  And it's a nice mellow day after the crazy Christmas party weekend!

Happy Monday!

The 6 Month Project {Wednesday Wins}

Well, I'll tell you what, it can get really frustrating when a project that should only take a week or two ends up becoming a six month, painstakingly slow project.  But that's just life, isn't it?!  Especially with changes we're looking forward to or lessons we're learning.  For example, I'm pretty sure God's teaching me a lesson in faith right now.  With quitting my job and not being sure what is around the corner, I am really learning that I have to have faith that if I seek Him and His will, God will not let me fall.  And sometimes I feel like God is waiting for me to lean fully on Him trust Him completely before He tells me what's next.  Now, I know that I cannot fully understand His motives and His ways, so this may not be the case.  But I find myself thinking, hurry up already and have some faith!  This is taking for-ev-er!  But, sometimes, we and other things get in our way, and things just don't happen on our wishful time schedule.

Such was the case with this scarf!  I got this project started on the loom in JANUARY, and I just finished it and pulled it off the first week of June!  Yikes!  I surely wish this had not sat in the corner gathering dust for six months... but it did.  Life just gets in the way.  Things get busy.  Hobbies aren't always on the top of the ever-growing to-do list.  However, since summer started, this scarf became a priority!  And FINALLY, after hours and hours of sitting at the loom (in front of movies, of course), it is finished!  Yay!  So, here are a few pics of the new accessory!

Also, one more photo of my adorable kitten.  I had jeans on for part of the day and just laid them across the bed when I changed, and here's the result.  A sweet kitty zonked out on them.  She's so adorable!

What a Weekend!

How's your weekend going?!

Mine is GREAT!!!  I have been so incredibly productive in the last 28 hours that I had to make a list of things I wanted to blog about!

So, tomorrow is Thomas' birthday, but since Sundays are pretty busy for us, we spent most of today celebrating!  And hey, why wait until your actual birthday when you could celebrate for a whole weekend?!

I have been contentedly stuck in the kitchen the past two days.  So, here's the rundown of my weekend so far:

 First homemade cheesecake with fresh blackberry sauce!  Click here for the recipe!

Two chicken casseroles (one for us and one for a friend)!

Sewed a dress!  Pics to follow.

 One of the hubby's faves for breakfast, Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Delicious Chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight (Thomas' favorite and his own recipe)!  You can find this recipe here.

New bread recipe from Pinterest!

AND... perhaps one of the most interesting things: I ran this morning.  And nothing life threatening was chasing me.  How 'bout that?!  (FYI, I don't run.  Period.  The last time I ran was in an airport when I was trying to make a flight.  And I can't even remember the time before that.)  So, I felt all healthy and awesome today!

So, I've got some recipes to share with you!  Check back for them soon!!!

Happy Saturday.  Now back to hanging out with my birthday boy!  :)