Home Sweet Home

Fall Table Runner

2011-09-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I posted about these pillows made from placemats...

I had two napkins from the same set to work with....

Using the two cloth napkins and material from an old curtain, they were transformed into a table runner.
I really like how it turned out. Not perfect by any means but it made me smile. Especially the part where everything was FREE!

My mother-in-law left me a squash when she was here last week. I researched and found it to be a carnival squash and stumbled upon a recipe for Chicken Stuffed Carnival Squash. I liked the flavors and thought it was a neat way to serve the meal. The only problem I had was cutting the squash in half. Thankfully my wonderful husband was here to do that for me.

Placemat Transformation

2011-09-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I started decorating for fall and realized that I don't have much to work with. I have a wreath, a basket, and some placemats. The placemats are looking a little worn and don't really seem to fit our new table so, I transformed them into pillows using this tutorial. Each pillow only took about 5 minutes and the pillows not only make our living room look festive, but we needed pillows. Did I mention that this project was absolutely FREE since I already had the placemats and stuffing? I'm looking forward to finding placemats for each season as well as those for everday that match our normal decor. I have plans for a table runner using two napkins in the same print and I'm also trying to come up with a way to use ribbon that I have in fall colors.

Turkey Shirts

2010-11-23T04:42:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to my friend, Sarah, for posting the directions from The Cottage Home for how to make these adorable turkey shirts. I used a shirt, onesie, and fabric that I already had and am inspired to come up with my own creation for Christmas.

Logan's Quilt

2010-07-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

For a few days this past week, I worked on a scrapbook quilt for my nephew (Logan) who is due at the end of this month. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first nephew!

The front.

A close-up of the middle with a place for a picture.

The back.

Dolly Diapers

2010-06-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

Annalise loves playing with her baby dolls and loves to pretend like she is changing their diapers. I saw the idea for Dolly Diapers on a blog I follow called Make It and Love It and thought this would be just perfect for Annalise. They were very simple to make and Annalise can velcro them on her baby dolls all by herself.

Things I've Made

2010-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

A crocheted (single) baby blanket to be donated to Greyson's Gift.

See my blog list for more information about this organization.

I used a pattern called shells for the edging.

Our monogram for the living room (the materials match our pillows and quilt)

Banana-Orange Smoothie

2010-04-07T04:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a smoothie recipe that I made up. It is healthy, has no added sugar, and my family loves it!

Ingredients:

1 banana

2 mandarin oranges (Cuties)

1 C milk

12 ice cubes

1. Peel oranges and put slices in a blender.

2. Peel banana and add cut-up slices into blender.

3. Blend orange and banana.

4. Add milk and ice cubes and use ice crush feature on blender.

5. Enjoy!

Easter Gifts and Stir-Fry

2010-03-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I finished stuffing and sewing up these "chocolate bunnies". I saw the idea on one of the crafting blogs I follow.
I cut open the red bell pepper for the stir-fry and to my surprise, there was a mini pepper inside.

I have to say that I've seen some weird veggies.

Dinner tonight was a new dish from the Betty Crocker Cookbook that I have never tried.

Summer Garden Chicken Stir-Fry served over rice. Yum!

Personalize It!

2009-09-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

We've been using a backpack as Annalise's diaper bag but I thought it needed a face lift. So...here is a how-to on personalizing a bag...

Here is the before picture.
Step one: Iron a piece of material of your choice on to a piece of lightweight fusible web.
Free-hand or use a stencil to trace letters of the name or other wording. I used a fabric pen and letter stencils.
Step two: Cut out the letters.

Step three: Peel off the backing of the fusible web.

Step four: Center letters on bag.
Step five: Press to fuse letters to bag.

Step six: Using a zig-zag stich with a lenth of .75, stitch around letters.

Step seven: Add other embellishments and enjoy the final product!

Projects

2009-08-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the projects that I've completed over the past month:

A crib skirt for Gracie's room (my niece)

A pillowcase dress for my friend's (Carrie) little girl.

A bow to go with the pillowcase dress above.

A personalized cart cover for my friend Carrie.

Homeade peach cobbler. I peeled three peaches and sliced them up. Made a mixture of flour, sugar, and butter for the topping and sprinkled some cinnamon on top. I baked it at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Yum!

Check out these adorable clips and ponytail holders that I found for $1 each at the Dollar Tree.
Here's my Annalise modeling a cupcake clip.

How to Embellish a Towel

2009-07-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

For this project, I used a plain dishcloth and embellished it with the patchwork material I have left from my other kitchen/dining room projects. You could do this with any size towel for the kitchen or bathroom. I was just talking to my Mom and she mentioned doing this with a burp cloth. What a great idea! Here is a step-by-step complete with pictures:

Measure the width of the towel and add 2''. (Mine was almost 15")

Cut a piece of material that is equal to the width (plus 2") by 4".

(My measurements were 17" X 4")

Starting with the shorter ends, turn under 1/4" and then 1/4" again and pin in place.

Sew each short end first, followed by the longer sides.

I used my presser foot as a guide for a 1/4'' seam.

Lay fabric on top of towel and center.

Fold extra on both sides of the towel to the back and pin into place.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew around the entire piece of fabric at 1/4'', beginning with one short end.

This is how the back will look when you are finished.

Tada! From plain to cute in about 10 minutes!

This is my first how-to so please let me know if there is anything I could do to improve the directions or if you have any questions.

My Inspiration

2009-07-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

I decided to start a separate blog for crafts because there have been times when I wanted to blog about family and crafting on the same day and they just didn't go together. I also really enjoy looking at other blogs that share how-to craft projects and frugal tips.

For my first post on this blog, I would like to share my source of inspiration for my blog title. More than a decade ago, when I was in high school, I remember shopping at the Dollar General with my mom and I mentioned a set of dishes that I really liked. Well, for graduation, I got a giant tub full of these dishes to put in my hope chest for when I got married. These plates are the ones in the pictures on the upper right-hand corner that say Home Sweet Home.

These plates, bowls, and coffee mugs have been used since Scott and I got married (almost six years!) and just when we were ready to get a new set, we decided to stick with them for awhile longer and over the past few weeks, I have changed my theme from frogs to Home Sweet Home.

So I guess part of my inspiration comes from my mom who not only bought the set of dishes with my future home in mind but who also shares my love of crafting.

My Dining Room/Kitchen Makeover

2009-07-09T19:56:00.003-07:00

My goal when selecting fabric for this project was to find something that would bring the green in my kitchen and the red in the dining room together. I think this patchwork pattern really did the trick.

Four new placemats
Curtain topper and tiebacks.

Photo board made by my Mom.

This is a wall-hanging that I had up in my living room. It is the exact same fabric!

I embellished some old plain kitchen towels with some of the leftover material.

Look for a tutorial on this project in the next few days.