crafting

One of the things I love about Christmas is homemade gifts. I thought I
would share a couple that I made this year.

I actually got this idea from Pinterest. Justin has hung his ties on a
thick metal hanger as long as we have been married. I thought this
was a cute idea and it was his gift from the girls along with a new tie.
He even helped me make it and was great about pretending he
didn't know what it was. He drilled the holes and put the pegs in.

On the Peterson side of our family we (the siblings) exchange family
gifts each year for Christmas. I found this woven fabric at a yard sale
early this Spring. It's very nice quality and I knew exactly what I
wanted to use it for. A rag quilt.

There wasn't as much fabric as I was hoping, so it turned out to be
a nice sized lap quilt. Perfect for snuggling up under and
reading a good book.

We had Corey & Sarah's family this year, so I picked out this rustic
ski lodge flannel motif for the backing.

I also made a 'welcome' sign for their front door, but I forgot to
take a picture of it. I love making signs out of "reclaimed" wood.

playroom fun

OK. So I am not a painter, but I think it will work. One time my mom explained her Dad (who I never really had the opportunity of knowing) as being a "jack of all trades, master of none". As I was working on this tree I thought about that description and felt like I could relate. I enjoy doing a lot of different things, or at least trying. However, I have never felt like I have found one specific thing that I am just really good at. Some could call it being...."well rounded". And I am ok with that. Anyway...

I decided one day a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to re-do the girls' playroom area. Nothing jaw-dropping, but just give it a little spice. I decided I wanted to paint a tree on the wall. I am really, really in love with the blue paint I picked. I always get a little nervous about picking out paint and I was worried that it was going to be lighter than I wanted, but when it dried it was the most perfect beautiful shade of blue. Exactly what I had envisioned. I think it's called "Crystal Aqua" by Valspar (in case anyone cares). Did I mention that I LOVE this color? I want to wrap myself up in it!

Originally, I wanted to wait until Christmas Eve night to paint the tree, but in a moment of... "emotion" yesterday (yep, on Sunday!) I decided to just get started, even if the girls were watching. Thank goodness, because it took me quite a while. So, I will wait to put the blossoms (which Katelyn has declared must be pink) on until Christmas Eve night and then I have a few other new things to add as well, but you (my faithful followers...anyone out there???), along with my girlies will have to wait. It may not be the best or fanciest playroom out there, but I think my girls will love it, so that will make me happy enough.

the whole picture

So this is what my shelf looks like hung up with my cookbooks in it. I down-sized the amount of cookbooks I had at a yard sale a couple years ago. I kept my most loved and most often used books only. Good thing too, because it was a tight fit. You can get just about anything on the Internet anyway. The "EAT" sign was from a craft swap I did in August. And I am already loving the extra nook/cranny of space this has freed up on my counter top.

more creating

So I am a little obsessed with Ana-White, where I took this idea from. Mostly, I get super excited about something that I could make for little to no cost. I scored a pallet (or 4) and got right to work.


Let me just say right now, (I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!) The lettering is totally off, and trust me, it is bugging me like crazy, but I don't want to re-do it. Anyway, this book shelf is going in my kitchen to hold my cook books. My friend calls my kitchen a "two-butt" kitchen, (really it's more like a one-butt kitchen)-it's small. So, I am going to put this on the wall to get my cook books off of the counter and hopefully free up some much needed counter space.

And yes, I am kind of also obsessed with the turquoise color right now. Plus, I had all this paint on hand anyway.

I cut the pallet, sanded it a little (didn't want to get a splinter every time I reached for a book). Then, I painted it a sloppy green (the color is actually Harmonic Tan from SW-same as one of my walls), then I had this great turquoise paint from years ago that I had never really used, so I slapped some of that on and let it dry. Sand it again, then I rubbed on some stain I had in the garage. Cut out my letters and used a make up sponge to dab on black paint that was also already in the garage. Sweet!

I built something!

We have a small house and that's my excuse for it being cluttered, or at least feeling cluttered all the time. However, if we had a big house, it may not be any different. I don't know. At least I might have more storage space??? Who knows. Anyway, as I was browsing around here, I came across this cute little storage idea for mail. It seemed pretty easy and cheap (that's the ticket), so I figured I'd give it a go. While Justin was asleep today, my nice neighbor came over and showed me how to use our table saw. I've secretly been wanting to learn how to use it. Oh, and I should mention that if Justin had been awake, he would have showed me, it just so happened that my neighbor offered before I had the chance to ask him. It was so much fun learning something new! And hopefully this will clear up some counter space where lots of paper seems to pile up.

I am also the proud new owner of a sander!!! I can't wait to use it to refinish this head board I found for FREE at our church's give-a-way a couple weeks ago. Stay tuned....

just in

One of my friends just asked me if I wanted to share a booth with her at one of the Craft Fairs here. I have actually wanted to do this for a while, so it didn't take me too long to say "YES!" I am having so much fun creating and crafting. Somewhere along the line I inherited some artistic abilities of some sort. My skills don't reach far and wide, but I definitely like to create...or at least get ideas from other people and put my own stamp on it. Anyway, I am really looking forward to it and if you're in the area on December 3rd, be sure to come over to the Badger Mtn. Elementary Craft Fair and visit the "Custom Creationz" booth (I think that's the name of her booth)

Alaina and Crafting

Thursday Alaina had to get poked in the arm 3 times for a blood draw. Not only that,
she had 2 nasal smears (which was really a sinus smear). I felt so bad for her and
she was so upset. She recovered really quickly as soon as it was all over, but I
was rattled for a lot longer. I never want to do that again! Here she is showing Daddy
her owies. :(

I made another shirt (onesie) for a friend of mine who is getting ready
to have a baby girl. I have made a few more actually and am really enjoying it.
I love projects that are FAST! And I love this fabric! Isn't it the cutest?

And a couple lopsided burp rags to go along with it :)

shirts

These are the kids of a friend I have here. She just had their birthday pictures done (by the talented Jenne Kissell) and asked for some help making shirts for them. She saw these cute little shirts at gymboree.com (picture 2) and when I saw them, I thought we could recreate them fairly easily. They were really easy, quick, and didn't take a great deal of skill to accomplish. (in color- picture 3)

Their mom thinks I should make more and try to sell them at a local shop. What do you think????? Would you buy a shirt like this for your child to wear? And how much would you pay? That's the tricky part...when you hand make something, if you are going to be able to make any money off it, you would have to really over price it. Hmmm....I don't know. I would ask $15.