Spring Dance Recital

Stopping to eat the flowers

Camping Trip

Vanilla Extract

I'm happy to announce that my homemade Vanilla Extract is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop! I currently just have the 2 ounce bottles, but hope to have other sizes available soon! Check it out {here}.

What I'm Up To

Here's a little peek at what I've been spending my free time on lately. Here's a screen shot from my computer. Just doing some family history research. Want to know more about why I feel this is such an important task? Check it out {here}.

I'm a Cowgirl

Lace Ruffle Skirt

Lately, I've seen a few ruffly skirts floating around on Pinterest & I've wanted to make one for myself for quite awhile. I bought some beautiful eyelet lace awhile back & was planning on using it to make an extender slip to wear under dresses & skirts that are just slightly too short. Because I've been working on other projects, I just never got around to using it. Then, a woman from church gave me a large tote filled with vintage lace, ribbon & other trim. I pulled out all the lace & knew that it would go perfectly with the eyelet lace I already had to make my own ruffly, lacy skirt. I had some leftover fabric from a white sheet that I used to make a ruffle shower curtain, & it was just the right size. First, here are some pictures of the finished product, and then I'll get into the details.

I love the antique lace! The eyelet lace that I bought is at the bottom, in the middle, and at the very top. Instead of gathering each of the strips of lace and fabric, I just created a few pleats as I pinned them to the base fabric. I didn't want it to be too poofy.

My husband was the photographer.

I love that it fits me perfectly!

My husband actually said, "Give me some sass!"

It makes me smile to see all that beautiful lace!

I also paired it up with a skirt over the top, to show how it can also be a pettiskirt. Now, if I have a dress or skirt that is just a little too short, I can wear it with my ruffle skirt & have some extra, lacy length!

Just admiring my calves!

You won't be seeing anything you aren't supposed to when I bend over!

Yup, I was falling over.

Ok, now on to some details. Using a white sheet, I cut out a rectangle that was 22 inches tall by 52 inches wide. I was very exact in my measurements. You know, I held the fabric around my waist, pulled it a ways to account for the gathering that would happen, and then cut it off. I actually measured it afterward. I used the existing hem for the bottom, which just made less work for me.

This shows the existing hem from the sheet. The first row of lace is sewn just above the hem.

I laid the rectangle on my cutting mat, & starting with the bottom ruffle, I started pinning the lace & fabric onto it. I didn't want each layer completely gathered, so I just created some pleats as I pinned.

One of the pleats. They were fairly small & spaced about 5 or 6 inches apart. I varied them on each layer, kind of like when you lay bricks.

For some of the lace layers, I paired them up with matching fabric, just so you wouldn't see the white base fabric beneath, and to give it a little more texture. I had some off-white muslin that I just tore into strips to put under the off-white lace. I used strips of the white sheet under the white lace. I didn't serge the edges, because I kind of liked the torn look. If you don't, you could certainly hem or serge the edge.

If the piece of lace wasn't quite long enough to go all the way across the skirt, I just overlapped it with another length of lace or fabric & kept going. It looks fine & gives the skirt a little more personality. Plus, I had some lace that I really wanted to use but didn't quite have enough to cover an entire row.

View of the back

After sewing on the last row of lace, I sewed the skirt into a tube by sewing the short edges together. I tried to match up each layer of lace as I was sewing. This will be the back of the skirt.

View of the waistband.

I used some 2 inch white elastic for the waistband. I tried it on around my waist, making sure it would fit snugly, then cut it & sewed it together with the edges overlapping. I just zigzag stitched over each raw edge.

I then sewed it to the top of the skirt, stretching the elastic to fit the width of the skirt. 

And there you have it! A beautiful, ruffly, lacy skirt that fits perfectly! I love it & have already received so many wonderful comments on it.

Bean Bag

I created the font that I used to write the Beanbag title on the scrapbook page. You can download it for free {here}.

Our snowy day

Lucky

I've been making shamrock themed items to sell in my shop in preparation for St. Patrick's Day! Here's a sample of what I have so far. More items to come in the near future!

Shamrock paper garland

Luck digital print

Ready for Valentine's Day

I've been getting my shop ready for Valentine's Day by making lots of different heart garlands! I love how simple these are, but they add just the perfect touch of whimsy to any space! I also love that the heart garlands can be used for other events, like baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, or just to brighten your home. I recently made some heart garland with the colors of the rainbow, paired with dictionary hearts, to decorate my girls' room. It looks fabulous & is so cheery hanging on the wall!

Love notes garland

Love on location garland

Pink hearts garland

Our family walk (scrapbook page)

Sharon's Dance Recital

Just working on some scrapbooking catch-up pages.

A Family Walk (& pictures of the girls)

Yesterday was the first warm not completely freezing day we've had in about a week. So, when Sharon asked to go on "a little walk" yesterday evening, we said ok. We put Savannah in the stroller & walked down to the end of our road, where there is a large vacant lot & some mountains small hills that are fun to climb. With the sun shining, it was just warm enough to be out with just a warm coat.

Me, Sharon & Savannah

 Sharon is our little adventurer, and loved running up the little bike jumps that kids have created out of the dirt. When she got the top of each one she would jump up as high as she could. She also ran every which way, going as fast as her feet could carry her. When we got to a little saddle in the hills, she immediately set off on her own up the large hill. She fell a few times, but was perfectly fine. We brought our cameras along & were able to capture a couple of good pictures of the girls in the fabulous lighting!

Sharon

 Savannah rode in the stroller up the hill & then I let her get out and walk around. While she is pretty much fearless at home, she was a little less certain on the rocky ground, and kept stumbling. She was a bit grouchy after falling down a few times, and was only too happy to get back in the stroller. She sure is growing quickly! She has 4 teeth, loves to try to jump, climbs on everything at home, loves to dance & sing & direct music by waving her arms. She is starting to throw food on the floor, mostly because she likes to watch Jack eat it, rather than because she doesn't like it.

Savannah

It sure was nice to get outside & spend some good family time. We're definitely going to be going on more walks in the near future!

My new gun

Comic Book Bunting

A friend from church recently asked if I could do a custom order for a birthday party she has coming up. She wanted 5 yards of comic book bunting. She supplied the comic books & even had them cut into the triangles, and I made the bias tape & sewed them all together. Mingled with the pages from comic books were coordinating triangles of solid colored card stock. I think they turned out fabulously! Here are a couple of pictures! What do you think?

Comic book bunting

Perfect for a super hero birthday party, or even just to decorate a boy's room!

My little artist

{Giveaway} Love Notes Garland from my Etsy shop

Hi everybody! It's time for my first giveaway! I'll be giving away 3 yards of my beautiful Love Notes garland! It's made with 1 inch hearts that are cut from sheet music out of a 1939 copy of Anthology of Modern French songs, and red card stock. Entering the giveaway is easy! Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter box at the bottom of this post. The giveaway starts January 15th (today) at 12:00 AM, and will end January 23rd at 12:00 AM. The winner will be announced on this post & notified by email. Please, feel free to share with your friends! Thanks for visiting!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Little Dirt Never Hurt

Winnie the Pooh Garland

A while ago at a thrift store, I came across an old, very well-loved copy of The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. It was missing most of the cover & some of the pages were torn, so I decided to rescue it and give it new life. I've been using it to make my paper garlands, and love the vintage feel it gives to them. Today I finished making some garland using the Winnie the Pooh pages & white paper.

Winnie the Pooh & White paper garland

I've listed the garland in my Etsy shop & can make more as necessary! I also have Winnie the Pooh garland with pink card stock circles.