Yesterday

A quick hello, a small project and then I'm back to cleaning.  This is the busiest time of the year for us, with 3 birthdays in a 1 week span, it gets a little crazy.  We are hosting a small birthday party for my oldest tomorrow so it has been non-stop cleaning for the past few days.  As I was dusting my living room yesterday, I decided to update my mantle arrangement.  I'm not sure why, but arranging my mantle is very challenging for me.  I either have too much on it or not enough on it and it just turns into a thorn in my side.  Yesterday I kinda just threw this arrangement together and I actually like it.  Here is the result.

I also have a bare wall next to the mantle that at one time has a piece of art on it, but I then moved it to a different location.  I don't mind having the bare wall, except with how the other walls are decorated in the same room, it didn't look balanced.  I had to put something on there that was small and light... if I put something that was dark and heavy, it would have just been too much.  I spent less than $8 on the embroidery hoops and I used some of my favorite fabrics from my stash.  I trimmed off the excess fabric on the back and hot glued the salvage onto the frame.  So far so good.

I have some other projects in the works, but with the craziness of the season and an upcoming trip, it might be a while before I get to them. Until then, Happy crafting!

Sewing Kick

I made another shirt last week.  We carry this pattern for the Schoolhouse Tunic at the store and it looked easy, and comfy to wear so I gave it a go.

Years ago I bought a 100% cotton "tapestry" from Urban Outfitters for under $10. It was for a full size bed, so I used that to for this tunic and I have plenty of the fabric leftover for another tunic or 2, or even for another project entirely.  Here is the result.

Sizing for sewing patterns is soooo crazy.  There doesn't ever seem to be a universal system, everyone just kinda makes up their own.  Some pattern companies run small, some run large so I usually check with the pattern recommendations before cutting out a size, which I did with this pattern.  It turned out to be too big (which is better than too small).  I will still wear it, but I definitely want to make another to fit.

We also just received Tula Pink's new line in the store, which I have been drooling over!!!

And we had Kristin Roach, Author of Mend it Better, in the store on Saturday for a book signing.  She was awesome and really fun to talk to...  LOVE her!!!

Until next time, Happy Sewing!!

Canvas Transfer

Last year I used this DIY on A Beautiful Mess to make a few canvas image transfer of my kids.  I had a bunch of trial and errors and I finally figured out what the trick was.   When you "paint" on your medium (or glue), paint in on to the canvas and then paint it on the image side of the picture.  That way, when you apply the image, it will be glue on glue which will create the best adhesion.  Seriously, I had to literally take sand paper to remove the transferred image during my trial and errors.  See for yourself, here is the finished project.

Hope this helps with your future canvas transfers!

Chicago-Grams

We took a family trip to Chicago last week and here are some of the Insta-highlights.

 Until next time, Happy Travels!