S is for... Secret revealed!

S is for... Shower, Sydney, Shoes, and so much more :)

Here are a few photos from the shower I hosted for my sister-in-law

the invite

the decor

the food

the games & prizes

and the shoes I made

and Sydney

Everything went well and I think we all had a pretty good time :) Congrats Rachel!

(p.s- for more cute pics of Sydney visit our family blog!)

Random this and that....

Here are some random things I've been up to- I have been working on lots of crafts, but won't be able to show the finished products/projects for a few more weeks :)

So in the meantime:

A missionary card I made for my brother-in-law:



Easy freezer jam (I just followed the directions in the CERTO package for the raspberry-peach kind, yum!)



Why I love being a crazy coupon lady: (Total cost after coupons: $5.37)



And Macie trying to tell me I've taken enough pictures for today :)

S is for... Secret!

Okay- for those slightly concerned or miffed about my MIA activity- this is not the case- I really am crafting, stealing other people's super cute ideas, and cooking.... BUT- I've had to keep all my projects on the down low- since most of them are for a certain lil' someone who will be making their arrival in the fall (my niece we'll call "S") Shhhhh! It's a secret... She doesn't need to know how spoiled she's going to be or else she might want to make her arrival earlier ;) But I promise I will have oodles of projects to catch you all up on soon enough.... In the meantime, enjoy this:



This is a super easy DIY home decor project. I've seen this on multiple blogs and I give full credit of this idea to anyone that has done this project before me :)

Take any size foam ball (I got a multi-pack at the dollar store), push a gazillion thumb tacks into it (also dollar store merch) and glue the last few in to hold them all into place. Done. And. Done.

If you want to be fancy shmancy you could even spray paint them fun colors :)

P is for...Purses!

I happened to spot this adorable fabric at Joann's and pictured exactly what it's purpose was in life!



So I picked it up and purchased plenty of this perky, pretty, playful fabric (like way a lot plenty ... 2 yards too many plenty haha)... and stopped by here and picked up the pattern for her 241 tote (you should peruse her site, she's got so many cute things- and her patterns are step by step and super dummy friendly... note: the reason I could actually sew something other than a square)...and after a few minutes, okay... hours... and some assistance provided by my mom, and the periodic unpicking, this precious purse was produced!



And what better to go with it than it's very own pleated purse pouch with a pocket .... tutorial and pattern found here



... I told you they were precious, I'm pleased as punch :)

My attempt at gaining a green thumb...

I would love to consider myself a great gardener and landscaper.. but the truth is I'm a fantastic plant killer and yard wrecker haha... So here is my little attempt at gaining a green thumb... I figured start small, so I - with the help of my mom- planted this sweet beauty for my porch :) Who knows- maybe by next year I can have my dream vegetable garden, endless orchard and vineyard, and gorgeous flowering oasis... yeah.. umm.. probably not...

I already forgot the name of the grass looking plant in the back, and the 3 smaller ones in front are pink, purple, and fuchsia vine petunias I believe...



And this is how it looks on the porch... notice the little cutie in the doorway that's our new pup Macie :) ... visit our family blog joelandkell.blogspot.com to see more

Sneak Peaks.... Revealed!

Alright Easter has come and gone, and I have not posted a single thing... but here is what I have been working on...

A new Spring wreath!

A few weeks ago my friend Whitney and I put these together... It was easy, but time consuming... All you need is paper, a foam wreath, pins (we used ones with "pearlized" ends... way overpriced at craft stores, so go to Wal-Mart), and something to cut all the flowers out with... We used my silhouette, I think I would have given up after the fifth flower if I had to cut these out by hand haha.
Once all your flowers are cut, just start layering and pinning away...



After realizing that we had both run out of little flowers and pins, we filled the gap with big layered flowers, I did mine in a different color and antiqued the edges to make it pop... Whitney made silk flowers for hers :)



Just add ribbon and put her up!



On to the next reveal...

A couple weeks ago my cousin Whitney flew up from Arizona for her baby shower... She is having a girl and I'm so excited! I saw this idea a while ago from a guest poster on Tatertots & Jello (under my fan links) and decided that Little Miss (as I affectionately refer to her as) needed one... So I graciously stole (I justified stealing it because she needed a toy to match her cute quilt) some fabric that Whit was using to make a quilt and whipped up this little teething toy cutie pie...



(This picture is BEFORE I sewed it all together, I just had to be super sneaky and stealth like to get it done without Whit catching me)

I got the pattern (free) off the website, but I added some plastic lining on the inside to make it crinkle when Little Miss chomps on it :) I hope she likes it, and I can't wait to meet her!

P.S. The fabric I showed in the sneak peaks was for another owl teether that I made in boy colors but I didn't take any pictures of it... whoops

Sneak Peaks...

Okay- it's been almost two months since I have posted on here... I have been crafting, and making messes since then. I've just been really bad at taking pictures... but it's getting warmer outside- and I can smell Spring coming! So that can only mean one thing- lots and lots of cute and fun crafts, I'm really excited... Here's some lil sneak peaks....

S is for... self portrait

This self (plus husband) portrait I painted for Joel for a Valentine's Day gift + ... It turned out a lot better than I was expecting, and exactly how I planned it in my head haha... Sweet success! It's sleek, stylish, and sophisticatedly simple... I will apologize that I didn't take any before or during pictures, as to not disturb the people in the recording studio with my pounding feet across the floor... but I'm sure I will probably do another project like this one in the future, and I will be sure to take more action pictures then...



F.Y.I - This was painted on a 16 x 20 plain white canvas ($12 dollars for a 5 pack- whoot whoot!) with dark gray, white, and black acrylic craft paints ($0.33 per bottle on sale) using a sponge brush ($0.04- thats laughable I know) and a few of my high quality brushes (which I bought one at a time with a 50% off coupon since they can be pricey).
Total cost = about $3.50 not including the brushes I had on hand. And a few hours of patience and inhaling noxious paint fumes.

C is for.... Catching up!

Wow... I'm a total slacker- my apologies to the handful of people who read these posts. Anyway - new year, new toys, new projects! But first I need to do some catching up... Here we go...

A if for... Accessories!
This is an adorable, anthro-inspired, accessory, artistically adorned with amazing azaleas (or blossoms of some sort- haha) that I crafted for my sister for Christmas...

These are some of the ingredients used to make it: An old cotton shirt, hot glue, felt, and a silver chain, easy peasy...



This is a picture of it (that is me... I forgot to take one with her wearing it- oops) all finished...



And here's another one, since you can never have too many right?...



S is for... Silhouette!

Santa really spoiled me this year... I was splendidly surprised with my very own sleek and shiny Silhouette SD cutter! Seven second moment of silence for this spectacular slicer please....... thank you. Simply stunning... Enough said.

Sorry it's a little hard to see... She's sitting on the left... (lot's and lot's more to come)



M is for... Mural

I'll be modest... although I must say it was somewhat of a miraculous miracle that I pulled this off, I'm just thankful it didn't turn into a monstrosity of a mess...

This is a mural I painted for a children's play room... First sketched an outline....



Filled in some gaps... The lighting and my camera weren't really cooperating... but you get the idea...



Made some finishing touches... and this magically appeared...



A big project to send 2010 on it's way... not too shabby...