crafts: spring wreath

this girl is back at crafting!!

it's only been since christmas that i did a craft for me, seriously.

i present to you my spring wreath...

it's bright and flowery and springy and i love it!

what have you crafted lately?

hey girl.

i've been too busy reading these all day to blog...

Source: handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

God did good when he made ryan gosling. amen.

sparkles are my favorite.

Source: supermarketsarah.com via Ashley on Pinterest

true statement. which is why i made some of these...

Source: Uploaded by user via Ashley on Pinterest

and i'll be wearing them year round. obvi.

wishes: december must dos

every year i have a list of things i must do during the month of december. sometimes i don't always get through it all but i try really hard. this year, T must also do these things with me. i'm sure he's hating it but he's so sweet he'll never say! 

1. christmas movies. my list includes all the harry potters, just friends, the grinch, a christmas carol, polar express, little women, charlie brown, love actually, you've got mail, a christmas story, it's a wonderful life, elf and the family stone.

Source: google.com via Anna on Pinterest

2. visit family on christmas eve and day. 

3. christmas lights. we must go see light somewhere. anywhere as long as their twinkling!

Source: socyberty.com via Sorcha on Pinterest

4. play christmas music every day. 

5. baking. i don't care if it's cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, cakes, muffins, peppermint bark, etc. as long as it's decorated and smells heavenly. and has sugar, duh.

Source: flickr.com via Tarevale on Pinterest

6. craft. sew. craft. sew. 

7. decorate the house. although we started the weekend before thanksgiving this year, oops. i wish my house looked like this...

Source: bhg.com via Dana on Pinterest

8. wrap the presents in the most beautiful way possible. 

9. drink as much hot chocolate as possible.

Source: shine.yahoo.com via Aubrey on Pinterest

10. read christmas books with liv and lilly. 

11. make dallas wear his puffer vest.

12. play in the snow. 

13. celebrate myra's birthday.

14. turn the heat on. 

15. go see the nutcracker. ballet. on ice. play form. i've seen it all and i love it!

Source: google.co.za via Collette on Pinterest

16. make awesome NYE plans. 

 wow, that's a lot of stuff. and i just know i'm missing some. how's your december looking? any special traditions you want to share?

crafts: my first quilt

i can finally post the picture of the baby quilt i made for my cousin carrie's baby boy. can't wait for baby zane to be here in about 6 weeks!!!

for the longest time i've been wanting to quilt but i thought it would be so hard and i didn't want to mess it up.

well i agreed to make one for this baby shower and it would be a gift from my grandma cheryl and i so i knew i couldn't disappoint.

here's the outcome...

front

back

(oh hey T!)

close up of the dinos and details!

i loved doing this and can't wait to make more quilts. and i'm pretty sure carrie loved it since she said she'd be using it in his newborn pictures :)

crafts: pillows

today i've got a pillow tutorial for you! yay, even though you're probably thinking, "another pillow tutorial? those are all over blog land." but i'm doing it anyway because i finally sewed with burlap and had to blog about it!

i started by ironing my fabric and cutting two sqaures 15.5" all around.

then i cut out a heart for the center of the pillow from my tan burlap to match the black and tan fabric i used for the pillow.

pin the heart to your fabric. and sew all the way around.

i used a straight stitch but you could use a zig zag or other decorative stitch. i also used white thread and you can hardly see it!

then put your fabric pieces wrong sides together and pin.

sew all the way around with a 1/4" seam allowance until you get to the bottom of the pillow. leave a 3 to 4 inch gap so you can stuff the pillow. i also recommend doing this on the bottom of the pillow since you'll be hand sewing the seam up and it won't be as noticeable on the bottom. turn inside out, making sure to turn your corners all the way so you'll have nice, pointy corners!

fill the pillow with fiber fill. make sure you stuff that junk all the way in there! we don't want any flat, frumpy looking pillows!

once you're done stuffing, pull your open seams together and pin. hand stitch the opening closed.

and there you go! you've got yourself a cute little pillow with a burlap heart on it.

i gave this pillow to my great grandmother for her birthday a few weeks ago and she loved it!

now that i've sewn with burlap, i can't wait to do it again. it's really not that scary!

crafts: phone cover redo

so i have an iphone. first generation. it's getting old and i want a new one so badly but i'm waiting for the newest one to come out (maybe september?).

my case was seriously disgusting and is seriously busted but i hate to buy an expensive new one when it won't fit the new phone i get, so i decided to try a redo on my current case.

basic black case with a fabric backing. i took the fabric off as a guide to cut my new fabric.

i ironed my scrap piece of fabric for the new backing.

cut out the new backing piece.

old fabric (see how gross that is!) and new fabric.

i then mod podged it on the cover and sprayed with a sealer.

i'm in love with the fabric and it's perfect for summer.

it's not perfect but i think i did a pretty good job redoing something i already had.

it cost me zero dollars to do this since i had everything on hand and now i can def wait (with my pink flamingos!) the few months until i get a new phone and a new case!

homemade gift exchange

remember my guest poster, jennie, from willow bean studio?

well the homemade gift exchange is officially over and i received my gift in the mail yesterday!!

isn't that navy and green clutch to die for?

i just LOVE it. i of course love the colors because navy is a staple of mine and green is my fav color. and my fav combo of colors ties with navy and green and navy and yellow. and the print on that green fabric is so now!

thanks again jennie!

also here's a little peak at what i sent jennie...

(hopefully she's received hers and is not seeing it for the first time on here!)

i had so much fun doing this exchange. i hope to do it again in november, just in time for the holidays!

crafts: texas love

have you seen these prints?

Source: etsy.com via Ashley on Pinterest

well i've been admiring one on etsy for sometime now. but i wanted something with a little more dimension. so i decided to tackle this arts and crafts project on my own!

first i went to micheals to pick up a canvass. lucky me they were buy on get one free and i ended up with a double pack for only $5!!!

once i got home i printed out a google image of texas.

i cut the state out and taped it to my canvass, much like you would a stencil.

then, i painted the entire canvass with a very light gray i mixed together with my white and gray acrylic paints.

after the paint dried (3 coats actually!), i touched up the inside edges of the state outline and added a watermelon colored heart where dallas is located.

and then we hung it up in the office/craft room.

i just love it! exactly what i wanted and exactly us, since trav and i are both from dallas and our dog is named dallas! perfect addition to our bare walls in this room.

what do you think? i'm thinking of making a kentucky one too (with that extra canvass) and adding a heart where lexington is, since that's where we met and live now...good idea?

wishes: all things easter

easter printables

easter crafts

Source: southern-charmz.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: easter.tipjunkie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: easter.tipjunkie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

fun easter food

Source: easter.tipjunkie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: easter.tipjunkie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: easter.tipjunkie.com via Ashley on Pinterest

crafts: new stuff

i'm in love with mason jars at the moment so i decided to make one into a soap dispenser. took about 10 minutes and i already had all the supplies so it was basically free, right?

new ring with a great new green fabric. perfect for spring!

huge pom pom pin. i've got it clipped to my bag right now but i'll be pinning this on headbands, my clothes and really anything i can get my hands on!

dear sewing machine,

i love you. you terrify me.

sincerely, me.