A coat of paint goes a long way.

We are fortunate enough to come across some furniture that my Mammy was looking to get rid of- it belonged to my grandfather's grandmother. Yes! This beautiful furniture is at least 100 years old. Kreg tells me all the time that I am overly sentimental, but just think about the stories this furniture could tell. We used Annie Sloan "old white" chalk paint and then sealed it with Annie Sloan wax. It was extremely easy and very user friendly. I would definitely recommend if you want to upcrate old furniture that may or may not be painted with lead based paint. Some new paint and knobs and this furniture is a wonderful new addition to our spare bedroom.

Before...

After...

Where to start...

We bought a new house! Yay!! It is an adorable house in Helena, Alabama and we are absolutely in love. I couldn't wait to get into the house and start making it "our own". Kreg asked me how long it would take for the house to smell like us? What a weird thing to think about... I guess this was the encouragement I needed to start decorating our house. Of course, I watched every home renovation show on air during the summer to prepare myself for a total overhaul. Here are some of the results. Enjoy! :)

Uncontrollable Cuteness!

Who could say no to the darling little princess that wears this out-of-control ensemble?!

TuTu cute

Yep, you guessed it! It's time to make the cutest accessory ever created... a tutu! This project makes me think of my bestie Casey- "When in doubt, wear a tutu."

I'm making this tutu for a newborn baby girl. You will need 2 yards of pink tulle. Keep the tulle doubled for thickness. Cut the tulle into 8-1/4 yard strips.

Fold the ends of one of the strips together. Don't worry about doing this in any kind of neatness, just make sure the strip makes a pretty fan. Tie the bunched end with a piece of thread.

Repeat until all 8 strips are tied and ready to assemble.

Hand stitch the tied end to the elastic waistband. I attached the first fan of tulle and then attached the second fan directly across from the first. The third and fourth fans were attached in the middle of the first two fans.

Attach the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth fans in the middle of the original four fans. You just want the fans to be evenly spaced so that the skirt will be full.

Cover the elastic with fabric of your choice. Fold the fabric over the top of the elastic and hand stitch it together on the underside of the elastic band. I sewed the edges of the fabric under to avoid fraying of the fabric.

I pinned the fabric together to make it easier to hold the tutu because it is getting pretty bulky to hold at this point.

Almost done... attach velcro to the band for easier use. Cut any stray pieces to make the skirt full and even. You can cut tulle because it doesn't fray.

Making this tutu has been my favorite project; I hope you enjoyed it too!

Onesie Wonderland

All babies wear and need plenty of onesies so why not make them personalized to what you like? I bought a pack of plain onesies and cut out designs that I like out of fabric that I love! It's so easy and you can do it too. Here's what I did...

The first design is twisted "blush and bashful" rosettes. Cut a strip of fabric and weight one end down under any object that you can find. Twist the fabric as tight or loose as you like with the design side of the fabric facing outward. (If the wrong side is facing out, twist in the opposite direction.) Hot glue the end of the twisted fabric into itself. Continue to hot glue and roll the fabric until the rosette is the size that you want. Hand stitch the rosette to the onesie. I also made a matching headpiece!

 

The second design is an "e" and the third is a cupcake. Draw the design on the fabric. Use HEAT'N'BOND, you can buy from Wal-Mart or a fabric store, to attach the design to the onesie. Cut a piece of the iron-on adhesive to size of the design. Iron on the fabric to adhesive. Cut out the design. (The adhesive will keep fabric from fraying when you cut it.) Peel the adhesive backing off and iron fabric onto the onesie in desired location. I hand sewed a decorative stitch around the design, but it is not necessary if you buy "no sew" adhesive.

The third design is a heart and the fourth design is my favorite, a little love bird. I made the flower head piece by cutting out flower petals and attaching the petals together by hand stitching, finishing with a button. The bow head piece is simply a folded piece of fabric with a smaller piece wrapped around it in the center. I folded the edges down and ran it through the sewing machine to avoid fraying edges.

 Finished products! All this project needed was a little creativity and time! I'm all about inexpensive adorable projects! I hope you will try to applique something to give it your personal touch!

Baby Biby

Making the baby bibs were an easy project to tackle. All you need is adorable fabric, terry cloth, a little velcro, and a cute button! I also used scotch guard on the decorative fabric so that all the food that hits the bib would not ruin the fabric... I now know that is the ONE and ONLY purpose of a bib. I'm still in the making things for the cute factor not always the most practical.

First, find a bib pattern that you like. I used google and decided on this pattern, but there are tons of other options. Pin the pattern to your fabric. (My pattern is only half so I had to fold my fabric and put the middle flush to the fold.) Cut the fabric around the pattern excluding the fold. Repeat for the terry cloth backing.

Pin the decorative fabric to the terry cloth. Remember to put the exterior fabric facing the inside. Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the bib EXCEPT for a opening about 2 inches long. I make my gap in the neck strap of the bib so that it would be hidden. This gap is so that you can turn the bib right side out. The bigger the gap the more hand sewing you will have to do. Turn the bib inside out and fold the edges of the gap closed. I usually pin the gap closed making it easier to neatly sew the edges closed. Cut two pieces of velcro and attach to the top and bottom of opposing neck straps to clasp the bib. Attach your button on the top neck strap for a decorative touch!

 Like I said earlier, I used scotch guard to seal the fabric from food stains. I got the scotch guard from a fabric store. Spray the bib until visibly wet, let dry and then repeat.

That's all there is to making an inexpensive, easy, adorable present for a mother-to-be!

Happy Straps

When I make something I like to be inspired and intrigued. I want to look at a potential project and then try to recreate it my way... not always the easiest, but always a learning experience. The first strap that I made was a camera strap for my best friend, Jamie. She is a wonderful photographer and I felt like she needed a unique strap to go with her unique aesthetic!

I found the yellow/grey and light grey exterior fabrics at Hancock Fabrics. I usually try to find an exterior fabric rather than a cotton fabric because it is more sturdy and easier to press. I bought an inexpensive standard black camera strap from Best Buy. Then I turned a boring black strap into a handcrafted present!

Here's how to do it...

Cut two identical pieces of the yellow/grey fabric about 1/2 inch larger than the strap on each side. Fold the edges under and press them flat so that both sides could be pinned closed around the strap on each side. Cut four identical pieces of the grey fabric 1/2 inch larger than the black triangular shapes at the ends of the strap. Cut a square hole at the small end of all four grey triangular pieces for the nylon strap to fit through. 

Side 1: Pin the larger end of one grey piece to one end of the yellow/grey piece, exterior fabrics on the inside. Sew a seam 1/4 inch. Repeat with another grey piece on the other end of the yellow/grey piece. REMEMBER: The exterior fabrics are on the inside, face to face.

Side 2: Repeat all of the steps from Side 1.

Put Side 1 directly on top of Side 2 with the exterior fabric on the inside (yellow/grey facing yellow/grey). Sew a seam 1/4 inch ONLY for the grey triangular pieces on each end. Turn the grey triangular pieces right side out. Push the nylon small straps through the square hole that you cut earlier. Repeat on the other side. (Your strap should be totally assembled except for the neck.) Pin the folded down edges of the yellow/grey exteriors to each other. Sew a seam down the strap on both sides to enclose the black strap.

This is a harder project that I tackled, but I hope that you will be encouraged to try to recreate and make it your own!

Personalized Photo Project

I saw a personalized photo frame that said "love" with letters that were found in nature. I loved it so much that I wanted to recreate it, but I wanted it to be my own. I wanted it to say my future last name- MONTGOMERY! I took my camera everywhere I went and soon I started to see letters everywhere.

The first "M" is a pair of my chacos overlaid on each other. The first "O" is a grate on the sidewalk in Albuquerque, NM. The "N" and second "M" are bicycle racks at Troy University and in Albuquerque, NM. The "T" is an information stand with a sun-setting at the Grand Canyon. The "G" is a design from Einstein Bagels at the Trojan Center at Troy. The "E" is a sidewalk design from the Grand Canyon. The "R" is a design in the iron gate fencing at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, NV. The "Y" is a light post from my hometown in Northport, AL. I printed the pictures in black and white.

I bought 10 inexpensive 4X6 frames from Wal-Mart and some matte black spray paint. I spray painted the frames and attached them with hot glue.

Since Montgomery is a very long name, I had to reinforce the back with a support. You can use whatever you can find- I used a yard stick. Nobody will see the back, it just needs to be sturdy.

I love the finished product and I hope that you will go out and try to recreate this personalized project just for YOU!