I went to Michael’s about two weeks ago to look for muslin for our homemade lightbox, and got to browsing the Valentine’s Day section. I found these things called ‘party felt’ that were located in the baking area. I suppose they could be used for trivets or party table decorations. There were a variety of of hot pink and red ones. It reminded me of a project I saw on Pinterest last year. I bought one that read “Love” on it, and picked up some pink flannel at the nearby fabric store– where I also found the muslin I was looking for. I thought that I wouldn’t make a pillow for valentine’s day, as pillows take up a lot of room in storage. Rather, I would make an envelope pillow cover that would fold flat into a storage bin.
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Category Archives: Projects
Valentine’s Day Felt Topiaries
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The heart wreath hanging on my back door seemed a bit lonely, but it also provided inspiration for an accompanying table decoration. While shopping at Target in those addictive $1 bins, I stumbled upon these darling Valentine’s Day pails: Continue reading
Improving my Blogging Photography
Posted onI’d like to think that I’m not a horrible photographer. I’ve enjoyed the wonderful capabilities of my Nikon D70 since Frog was just over a year old. That’s nearly a decade, and the camera has served me well. I don’t think that MM and I would be together now if we didn’t both have D70s. They are what caused us to click.
I’ve been trying to improve my photography of food and crafts. It’s not quite the same type of photography as capturing a smiling kiddo or flowers blooming outside. Scenic vista and cherubic children have been the primary subjects until I started this little blog. It’s a new style of photography, and we live in a home with not a lot of natural light. The family room is covered with knotty pine paneling, which darkens the room. We have a yard surrounded by old oak, magnolia and hickory trees that provide lush shade, which can hinder good close-up shots.
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Quick Household Fix: Painting the Plates Red
Posted onMM and I were working on a couple of projects this past weekend. We’re actually still working on them, and they are the subject of other posts. However, we had several cans of spray paint sitting out in the kitchen. I have gotten rather enamored of the Rust-Oleum Gloss Regal Red, and was admiring the red coat hooks I painted earlier this year. Directly above the hooks is a light switch, and I always grimace when I see it. It seems dingy, and there is just so much knotty pine in our knotty pine family room and kitchen. See what I mean:
The Wreath that Started It All…
Posted onAbout a year and a half ago, I remember sitting at work and having my coworkers talk about Pinterest, and how addicting it was. One coworker said that her 17-year-old daughter was using Pinterest to plan her wedding and decorate a nursery. Initially I was a bit confused, as her daughter wasn’t seriously involved with anyone, nor was she pregnant. Then I got an invite, and I was hooked. I learned that I didn’t have to use it to plan weddings or decorate my nursery… I could pin recipes and crafts. I hadn’t been using my craft supplies in several years, and they had been boxed up and stored away. Pinterest inspired me to get out my cardstock and heatgun and ink pads and yarn and all the other craft supplies gathering dust in my house.
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Sequined Christmas Trees {Been There, Done That! Pinterest Project #1}
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While making a run to Hobby Lobby to buy a few foam wreaths (as wreaths are my current obsession), I saw those wonderful foam cones that make excellent miniature Christmas trees. I bought 4 of them: two were 6.25″ tall and two were 9.5″ tall. I’ve seen dozens of ideas on Pinterest and in blogs to turn foam cones into Christmas trees, but thought that these sequined trees at Sweet C’s Design were fun and would look cute in our family room.
Gingerbread House Decorating Party
Posted onTonight we went to a Gingerbread House decorating party with my parents. Frog and I both love to create and do crafts together, so this was a lot of fun for both of us. Since Monkey is too little to make his own house, I decorated one for him. My parents and MM gave me and Frog decorating suggestions and complimented the designs, but they weren’t particularly interested in actively decorating the house. MM and my father spent most of their time snuggling Monkey:
We were given huge bags of Royal Icing (the kind of frosting that dries hard) along with blank gingerbread houses. There were about 15 different types of candy available for use. I used gumdrops and mints on my house along with a few nonpareils. Frog had a lot more fun with his house, and used a little bit of everything. He went for a Spanish style, attaching Twizzlers for his roof.
Afterwards, MM and I tried to get a few photos of Monkey and Frog– we’re still working on our Christmas card photo, and we’re running out of time. Monkey had patiently waited for 2 hours while we worked on our houses, so he wasn’t in the best mood for taking photos. We’ll have to try again later in the week. Unfortunately Frog’s sweater has Royal icing and is back in the wash.
Of course, the best part of the party, besides the two nice houses sitting in my kitchen, is the fact that there was absolutely no clean up for me. All the dried frosting, chocolate smudges and peppermint crumbs were cleaned up for us after we left!
