Fairy Garden

Today I made a fairy garden with my girls. I thought I'd share the cute pictures with you!

The boy was at Cub Scout camp all day so this was the perfect time to make something extra girly.

We spent the morning painting the little houses. I picked up a couple inexpensive bird houses at my local craft store and had my husband cut the holes into doors. I like that they turned out with a little keyhole shape.

(notice the little pillows and tiny hairbrush we left for the lucky fairy who moves in)

My favorite part has got to be the little bathtub (borrowed from our Littlest Pet Shop animals). I wish I was small enough to move in!

After we got our houses all painted I took the girls to the home improvement store to pick out their favorite flowers. I taught the girls how to plant their flowers and instructed them on how to take care of them. Then we decorated our garden with pretty stones, sea shells, a mirror taken from an old compact, and my contribution... the little fabric bunting.

The girls have been checking their garden regularly for fairies. I keep reminding them that they are very hard to see and you may just mistake them for an actual flower!

Book Review: With Fabric and Thread

Oh my, this is such a pretty book! I lost myself in the beautiful patterns and fabrics but also in Joanna's introduction of the book, where she tells the story of how she got into quilting and fabric design. Chapter 1, titled "My Story" is all about her creative journey. From her first art and sewing projects as a child to her discovery of quilting and being discovered by MODA. It was a very sweet and inspiring story. Chapter 2 and 3 are titled "Basics of Quiltmaking" and "Basics of Sewing, a section I usually skip through in most quilting books, but was stuffed full of Joanna's helpful hints and tricks. Chapter 4 is titled "Creating a Color Story" where she teaches you all about color selection and her signature style she calls "fresh vintage".

The rest of the book is devoted to 22 fantastic projects. As with all quilt/sewing books, I don't see myself making every single project. I don't love buying books for that reason. It seems more cost effective to purchase a 10$ pattern I know I will make rather that a 30$ book for one or two favorite projects. I have to admit that with some books it seems to me like the designer has filled it with her "leftover" projects, things that probably wouldn't sell well on there own. I don't think that is the case with this book though. There are the more simple projects like the flower buttons, basket liners, placemats and pillow covers that you can find anywhere, but there is also 3 very pretty quilt patterns as well as a table runner, apron, 3 different bags, and some adorable slipper booties.

At a US price of 24.99$ I think this book is worth it. Even more so because I picked mine up for free at my local library! (Check with your library and see if you can reserve books online. My library system, Salt Lake County Library, has tons of the lastest quilting and sewing books to check out. They are pretty popular and hardly on the selves, but by jumping online I can reserve a book and they will notify me when it's avalible. They'll even send it to my local branch!). That being said though, I like this book so much I'm going out to buy it! I can't wait to pick out 9 of my favorite reds to make the quilt pictured above.

July 4th Banner Printable

With all 3 of my kids running in and out of my room right now, hoping on my bed and being quite loud, I can not think of a single creative thing to say about this little 4th of July banner I created on photoshop! I guess such a simple thing doesn't need a great introduction. It's cute how it is, if you like it feel free to click on the picture below to save it and print it out. I don't really love where I've hung it right now so I'll take it down and hang it at the food table next Wednesday, I think it will be perfect for that.

 One month of summer break down and only 2 to go... we are having a blast!

Favorite 4th of July Finds

Time to throw together some quick ideas for the 4th! With the heat and the fun of summer, I don't have time for anything extravagant. I think I'll be able to pull together these ideas at the last minute though.

This first one we tired out the other day for a mid afternoon snack and it was delicious! Definitely doing this again. Just pop some white chocolate chips inside some fresh raspberries and enjoy.

I LOVE this adorable shirt! So quick and easy! I found this idea off Pinterest HERE.

Ok, when I first saw this I was a little frightened... glow in the dark food?! It's actually just cotton candy wrapped around a glow stick! It would be fun to spin your own cotton candy but I'll probably just buy it made and pop it on a glow stick.

This drink would make a big impact but all you do is layer drinks with different sugar contents. The most sugar, and the heaviest, goes first (red fruit punch) next Gatorade and then sprite or even diet sprite. I really love the little star shaped ice cubes too.

Drink Source

Guest Bloggin'

Hey guys, go check out my guest post today at Pine Needles!

And here's a little bonus idea to do with your headband...

Happy Summer! :)

A Pretty Case... Tutorial

By using your own measurements for your device you can make this pretty cover to fit anything! I made this one to fit a notebook I use to keep track of our monthly budget. I hate to pay the bills, but when I pull out my pretty cover I feel a little bit better.

Supplies:

3 fat quarters, or a little little more depending on the size of your case. A fat quarter measures 18" x 21". To make a case my size my biggest piece was 11" x 17" (fits a 8" x 10" notebook). Read instructions below to determine how much fabric you will need.
light-mid weight fusible interfacing approximently a half yard
pretty trim of your choice

To get started you first need to measure your device, journal or book. Cut 2 pieces of fabric (one for the outside and one for the inside of your cover) twice as long as your device, making sure to leave a 1/2 inch seam allowance. For instance, my notebook was approximately 8" wide by 10" tall so I cut my two pieces of fabric 11" tall (half inch seam allowance on top and bottom = one extra inch) by 17" wide (doubled the 8" and added the inch for the seam allowance). If you are using a journal or book with an extra wide spine you'll want to measure the spine and add that many inches to the length as well.

After you have your 2 pieces cut, adhere a light to mid weight fusible interfacing such as Pellon to the outside piece. Follow manufactures instructions.

To create the pocket to hold your device on the inside, measure a piece of fabric that is the height of the cover (my my case 11") and about 2 inches short of the width of your device. Now double the width, cut out your piece and fold it in half. So for instance, my notebook was 8" wide, I subtracted 2 inches = 6", then doubled that to make 12". So I cut a pocket piece to be 11" X 12". Now fold your piece in half and press with an iron to create a crease...

At this point you may want to make a pocket for the other side as well to hold a pencil, scratch paper or in my case a check book and stamps for paying my bills each month. Decide how large you want your pocket to be and cut 2 pieces of fabric that size (plus seam allowance). Sew the 2 pieces right sides together, leaving a small hole to turn the pocket right side out. Now turn your pocket right side out and press flat. You can sew up the hole and top stitch it to the opposite side of the device pocket (we'll get to that in a few steps, set your pockets aside for now).

To create the pretty ruffle I took a piece of fabric that was 3 inches by 20 inches (or double the HEIGHT of your device/journal. Remember mine was 8" wide by 10" high so I doubled the 10 inches to give me plenty of fabric to make some cute ruffles). Fold your piece in half lengh wise (right sides together) and sew along one side to create a tube. Turn right side out and press...

Lay your ruffle piece on top of the case piece, about 2" from the side...

And start gathering or adding pleats as you top stitch along...

In the end you'll end up with something like this...

You'll notice on my finished project I added some trim to each side of the ruffle. This was an after thought but I really liked the way it looked. I ended up just hot gluing it to the underside of the ruffle (shhh, dont tell!). If you would like to add the trim I would do so now by sewing it directly to the cover underneath your ruffle.

Now to get back to your pockets. Top stitch along the folded (top) edge of each pocket, like you see I've done below...

You'll now want to add your smaller pocket to the inside of your case by top stitching it into place...

Lay your two pieces of fabric out as shown below. I have my inside case piece on the bottom with my pockets into position. I've only top stitched the smaller pocket into place. The larger pocket to the left is placed into position and will be sewn into the seam in the next step, catching 3 of the 4 sides and creating a pocket to slip your device into.

Next, flip your top piece down directly over your bottom (or inside) piece  (right sides together) and pin all the way around...

Sew all the way around your piece, leaving a small opening to turn in right side out when you are through. You will catch the 3 sides of your device pocket into the seam allowance as you sew. Turn your entire cover right sides out through the small hole. Make sure you flip the device pocket around so it's on the inside of your cover. Press your cover well and top stitch around the outside.

By following these instructions you should be able to create a cover to fit any sized item, whether it is a Kindle, Nook, iPad, book or in my case a budget journal.

Summer Reading

The last day of school was Friday! I set up a little surprise for the kids when they walked in the door. Each of them got a new book, gummy worms, a squirt gun water "thingy" (they were called Max Liquidators) and a summer reading packet. Every summer we participate in a few different summer reading programs. This year we are doing the library's as well as Barns and Noble (earn a free book!) and of course "Mommy's Reading Program" where I give the kids treats if they are reading like they should. (I'm using THIS printable of the bingo card to inspire them). This year I put all their summer reading program sheets into a large envelope to keep them together. I hate to brag but my kids LOVE to read. Often I'll find my two oldest sitting in their room quietly reading. I think my husband and I did two things right when it comes to instilling a love of reading in our kids. First we read outloud to them every night as well as played audio of books in our home and made up lots of silly stories together. And second, our kids saw us reading and enjoying books everyday.  

Sorry about the terribly blurry picture below but I had about 3 seconds to snap a quick shot before the kids came in. Anyway, you get the idea. Feel free to click on the picture above and print off your own book worm (gummy worm) bag toppers.

Luckily he did wait until I put down the camera to completely soak me, head to toe!

The Most Comfortable Skirt

What I really wanted was THIS. But I couldn't find any striped knit fabric at my local stores. So I got the great idea to make my own. I started by thinking I could pull this off...

And quickly discovered that was NOT going to happen. So I gathered up my leftovers and threw together an extremely simple striped Maxi Skirt. I'm just happy to have it finished and it was very comfy at church today. I usually get home and right away change into pants. I kept this skirt on for a whole 3 hours after church!

Here's a link to an awesome Maxi Skirt tutorial as well as the Knit Flower.