Holiday Boutique

Over this past weekend, I participated in my very first craft selling boutique. It was also the weekend of an amazing block birthday party that included a whole roasted pig, jump house, and beer on tap. Annnnnd the stomach flu for the boys. Seriously, never a dull moment.

I had several reinforcements throughout the weekend to help: my mom, dad, and neighbor {who sold some cards too}. W stopped by throughout the weekend to bring me things I had forgotten at home, feed me, or take/bring back V. I'm so glad it happened so close to home.

My table neighbors were fabulous and sweet. Of course, Juju was the highlight for everyone. If I came without her, everyone would ask where she was. I was never short of arms to hold her while I ran to the bathroom, ate lunch, or needed to sit. It really was a blessing to have so many sweet and gracious women around. 

Another highlight was meeting and exceeding my costs for the experience. Meeting cost was the goal I set out for myself since I had no clue what to expect. I was so excited to get two custom orders while there too. One for a bridal shower that was happening Sunday afternoon. I made it over the night and she picked it up on Sunday morning. 

On the flip side, I seemed to have brought the majority of my traffic. Most of those that purchased from me, I already knew. So I'm not sure if I really needed the boutique other than to have a place to set up shop. I also had plenty of inquiries from strangers on whether I had an online shop. Still have my work cut out for me.  I had a blast, loved trying it out, but with a full weekend away from my family, I'm not sure if I'll do it again. Perhaps, I'll do a virtual store-front first?! 

A GIANT thank you for everyone who encouraged from both near and far. And to my family who supported me through time and energy! This was certainly NOT a one-woman show. ;)

{DIY} Advent Pocket Calendar

It sure was nice having a whole week between Thanksgiving and the start of December this year. I was actually able to prep a little for advent and be ready to go December 1st. One of the projects that I wanted to add to this year's list was an advent calendar. We had been using mine that I grew up with and loved, but I wanted something bigger that would eventually include all our kids and be more interactive.

I had pinned a ton of ideas over the year for advent calendars: ones shaped like Christmas trees, made from felt, paper envelopes or brown paper bags, etc. Then I stumbled upon this image a few weeks ago and knew this was the one.

 source

Buuuuut it don't come with a tutorial. So I fished around and found a few more images with the same modge-podged, saggy-pocket, rustic look.

 source

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 I bought a ten dollar 6 by 9 drop cloth {canvas tarp that painters use} from Walmart and got to work. {This is waaaay bigger than you'll ever need, but I want to make a tree skirt out of the same material.} All the "extras" I already had in my craft stash: buttons, ribbon trims, pom-poms, doilies, embroidery floss, fabric, felt, sewing machine, sharpie, and paint.

I cut and hemmed a piece of the drop cloth to measure about 36 inches long by 31 inches wide.

We have a little wall between our kitchen and eating are where our thankful tree was so I figured I'd hang this there too. So, I worked off the wall's size. I had several burlap squares leftover from my bubble burlap wreath project that I used for placement and pocket size. Then I just started switching some of them out for fabric and felt squares. And that's where the laborious, time-consuming part came in: decorating each pocket. Oh, the hours spent! And the mess that my kitchen table withstood!

I didn't plan ahead nor really tried to spend too much thought on any one pocket. I wanted it to look slightly messy and non-uniformed.

Once the pockets were decorated, I sewed each one in place. With the burlap ones, I went over them twice just to make sure wee lil' hands wouldn't tear them. I added three tab on top and stuck a wooden dowel through them. The last thing I did was tie some ribbon to each dowel end and hung it up!

Filling them was fun! I've been wanting to purchase a nativity set that the boys could role-play with for awhile. After some hunting, I decided on the Little People's set which has a bazillion pieces {make sure to get the one that has the shepherd!!}! I picked that up at Wally World along with the drop cloth.

I wrapped each nativity piece in some brown kraft paper and washi tape. I mingled the pieces with some chocolate and "activities tags". The tags are basically index cards that I added ribbon and tape to. I looked over this list and picked several that fit our family and the traditions we like to do during this time of year: Christmas lights drive, bake cookies, watch a Christmas movie, do a Christmas/winter related craft, have a picnic next to the Christmas tree, and make this year's ornament. I also tried to include a few "service"/acts of kindness type activities too. I was really inspired by this blogger's kindness project from a few years back. Hoping we can add more of these as the years go on and the kids are more capable!

I half-jokingly told W that this advent better end up as a heirloom after all the time I spent on it. It seriously took 3+ days to complete. Labor of love. But I love how it turned out and know it'll get many more years use out of it in the meantime. Our Christmas count-down has begun!

Thankful Tree

Thanks to the amazing crafty search engine known as pinterest, I found this idea last year and knew I wanted to start it this year.

First thing, I rolled into my girlfriend's classroom with my roll of kraft paper to create the trunk base. An overhead projector, printed tree clip-art, and a pencil, I set to work outlining and cutting out my tree...while E looted some poor girl's desk and played with her pencil sharpener shavings and T ate random bits off the floor. Family effort involved here. Once home, I taped it up to our small wall space between our kitchen and eating area. It fit just perfectly. 

Then I added the "W+J" carving and thought I was done. E protested, asking, "Where's my letter?" so instead I added his and T's hand prints. Now, it was our family's Thankful Tree.

Next stop was my parents' house to make the leaves. I printed 60 leaves on my mom's cricut, using various colored and printed card stock. I added a piece of tape to the back of each and added the leaves to the bottom. My thinking was that W and I would share one leaf while E would have the other. Thus, having enough room to fit everyone's thanks for the entire 30 days in November. 

 Each dinner time this month, we'll take two leaves, add our gratitude, and put them among the branches of the tree. 

Even though this is such a simple exercise and really one I should be doing every day all year long, I already notice a change in perspective and attitude. I'm looking out for the blessings of every day. I'm appreciating the roles I have, the people I love, and things I already possess. It's been a great reminder that we already have more than enough. 

Gettin' Spooky {decor}

A few weeks ago, the fall box came down and slowly but surely our house is turning a bit spooky! I've made a new front door wreath which I'm in absolute love with. Already scheming up Christmas ideas so I can keep it out!

{tutorial found here}

Our entryway inlet has a few added touches:

I got the print a few years back and added my mustache hoop art that wonders around downstairs without a permanent home. The beware sign was a dollar store score.

Our mantle:

At this point, just a hod-podge of what was already on it plus a few random additions. The candy corn garland I made out of felt and is hung on black ric rac. The witch print is found here. And the centerpiece pallet sign is incomplete {still need words} and will eventually go to another home. But it works there for now until I mail it off. 

The winning space thus far is our bat wall! It turned out so awesome. Amazing what 50 little card-stock bats can do! The flight of the bats:

{tutorial found here}

Happy harvest month!

Burlap Bubble Wreath

Welcoming fall--one burlap piece at a time!

A girlfriend and I spent a craft night creating this fun burlap bubble wreath to welcome fall. I immediately loved its messy, non-uniformed look. Once we figured out the first 'bubble', the rest fell into place. We did add the extra step of wrapping the wreath in burlap before adding the bubbles too. That way we didn't have to worry about unwanted styrofoam peeking through. Whole thing took just a few hours.

I added a little berry bunch and an "S". I got a small wooden one, traced/cut some paper then mod-podged it on. I hot-glued some twine to it and tied it around the wreath to keep it secure. 

Much closer to being ready for fall!

Whatever Craft Weekend Sponsors

LAST Craft weekend post, pinkie-promise. {part one and two: here and here} I wanted to share some of the amazing products and sellers that graced us with goodies over the weekend. I'm pretty sure my bag was split between SWAG and antiques I found while shopping. Even some of the crafts we did were sponsored.

We made felt pillows using Benzie's felt. Amazing! I'm a sucker for the stuff and am SO SO happy to finally have a quality source to buy felt from! Tute for the flower pillow inspired by here.

{I went a little stripe-y...rebel..}

Lisa Leonard showed us how to hand-stamp which was SO fun and NOT as hard as I imagined. Although I don't think I could sell my product! She provided all the supplies for us to make one with the option to make more. So sweet of her!

We used Benjamin Moore new line of chalk board paint on some trays for an instant chalk/magnet board.

And our final sponsored craft was from SayHello. They provided these adorable pennants to turn into a chalk board style banner. How awesome is that?! SO many ways to use this!

  Now, I'm eyeing their ampersand to paint for our master. I love it!

 We had some major goodies all ready and packed up for us to take home. 

BrowardPatch- the cutest camera strap cover! And I've been wanting to get one forever so it was just perfect! I put it on my camera first thing.

House8821- a tablecloth!! um, already IN use!

Pleated Poppy- her fabulous ruffle pin + a store discount. yes! i'm digging her zippered pouches.

Dear Lizzy- ribbons, trim and lovely tags

Amy Tangerine- adorable stickers and a mini scrapbook

Jenze- sweet Thank You cards + store discount. her paper products are super cute and so affordable!

Thirty-one- craft organizer bag

Crystal B- sweet ring

Knitty Bitties- awesome mug rug with cute fabric. and her hoop art is to die for!

made by jewls- cute little fabric covered earrings. all of her shops' funds go to completing their adoption. head over there!!

Studio Calico- truck load of amazing scrapbook goodies. the paper is so happy, i must figure out a craft to use them ASAP!

And the ever-adorable "YAY" banner from the fabulous Heather over at CMhandmade was waiting on each of our beds! Seriously, love getting custom banners from this girl!

Wowza! So much goodness! Just knowing that most of these are women who were inspired to start a homemade business just blew me away. I love that! And I love getting to use/wear my new products and remember what an amazing time I had.

photo credit: meg duerksen

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Other Craft Weekender's Recaps...

Nicole: here; who also just started The Orange Bird with an amazing mission and cute products to boot! I snagged an adorable wrap bracelet that I wear everyday!

Lisa: here and here

Meg: here

Rise & Shine {Pallet Art}

Mmmmkay, so I know how I mentioned here that I was working on a piece?! Way back in MARCH?! So, that piece. I didn't really love it. It took up the dining table for way too long since I just couldn't get to finishing it. I was forced to move it into the garage where it was abandoned. Until last week. 

Leave it to crafty inspiration or whatever, I lugged my big pallet canvas back into the house one night and just got to work. I actually already had some words stenciled on it so I had to work around those and cover them as I went. I was inspired by this google image...

{source}

With some frog tape, sponge brush and craft paint, I just went for it. Most of it was free hand and I worked pretty quickly through it. No lolly-gagging this time. I just wanted to create something and finish it. Well most of it.

I used the cricut machine to make stencils for the "Rise & Shine" then painted those on a few days later.

 W hung it up with some screws, wire and a heavy weight picture hook.

Ta-da!

This is what it was meant to be...right?! It's such a fun bright piece that lightens up our downstairs!

It looked a little lonely up there so I added something else. Excited with my version of the "pallet art madness" trend!

Rise and shine and give God the glory!

Why I Went to Kansas {Whatever Craft Re-Cap}

So..back to my incredibly inspiring and FUN weekend in Kansas. At the Whatever Craft Weekend. This is why I went to Kansas...

{the weekend's agenda}

Several months ago, I put my name on their waitlist all the while thinking I'd never get picked. But picked I was, so I bought my plane ticket. And my parents generously birthday-gifted the weekend's cost for me, so I was in!

My weekend started off bright and early {read: 4am} on Friday for my flight. I was able to connect with the three other California girls in Dallas and travel our last leg together. Even though it was an early morning, I simply basked in my freedom. Freedom to walk around or sit, freedom to eat whatever, freedom to nap, freedom to read, freedom not to talk or be spoken to...I'm sure you get the picture. FREEDOM.

{Arriving in Dallas. Baggage claim in Kansas.}

 Thanks to Instagram, I also connect with a local gal, Niki, who generously went along with my plan to get pedis before we got picked up. Leave it to the Californians to go rogue and stick in their own fun. ;) Those few hours were heavenly and much needed. Fifteen extra minutes of massage, anyone?! I may or may not have passed out while in my chair. 

{fresh toes.}

Then it was off to the craft house and meeting the rest of the ladies. We had a delicious "traditional style" Kansas meal. Settled into our adorable rooms. And got to crafting!! We made the signature ruffle aprons and talked late late into the night. The fabric choices were out-of-control happy and oh-so-girlie. My kind of heaven.

Ladies busily working late into the night. I'm convinced that if I had still kind of craft space and beautiful supplies, I'd be way more productive! At least, I need to get me a cutting mat, suction-cup handle ruler thingy & a rotatory cutter. It's about time for these investments!

 One of the great aspects of the weekend was not everyone was crafty. Some women had never even touched a sewing machine before. Meg did a great job teaching the newbies and all the ladies were willing to give an extra hand. Allison gave me a quick tute on fabric flowers and Judy {the one in the stripes, next to Allison}  provided an extra nudge with my ruffles. :)

Once my apron was completed, I hit the sack... hard.

The following day included more amazing homemade meals, thrifting/antiquing, and more crafting!

{lingering over coffee before a delish breakfast}

Then onto antiquing, thrifting and junking!

 Post shopping, we hit up Sonic's happy hour. I'm pretty sure this was my first Sonic experience. Then it was back home to compare loot.

Lots of fun stuff!! Way overwhelming too. There were a few things that caught my eye while I walked around, but I decided to look at them later. Mistake when you're with a big group!! Some of the ladies walked away with those pieces and I may have had some slight envy!  E LOVES his Wizard of Oz book and I'm afraid that Kansas is one of the first few states he knows. Ha!

 Lisa Leonard was an honored guest and educated us in the ways of hand-stamped jewelry as part of the evening of crafts. She and her twin sister, Chrissie, were some of my favorite people from the trip. I'm so happy we at least live in the same state and have a chance at hanging out again! If only Niki lived closer!!

Sunday went quick with breakfast, pictures, and good-byes before I was back in the airport and heading home. The weekend was such a wonderful experience. A treasured memory I'll hold dear.

{meg & kimberlee sandwich! seriously, amazing hostesses!}

Some amazing and wonderful women! And such a delight to hear their stories and learn about what the Lord has done in their lives. I'm so thankful He worked everything out so I could go on this weekend adventure. I definitely walked away with way much more than I put in!

And funny, that even though I had this wonderful freedom and weekend away to myself, I thought about my boys almost every waking moment. I missed them. Wondered how they were surviving. Texting W pictures from my weekend while seeing some from theirs. FaceTime.

 The boys did great for W and even slept in for him! Waaaah?! Not fair. But I was happy to know that I can go away and everyone will miss me very much, but will still do great. Hmmm, where shall I fly off to next?!

 My only regret was not getting to cross off a bucket list item while in Kansas. Like our trip to Wisconsin a few years back, I got this close to milking a cow. Udder sadness! ;) Kerry, who picked us up from the airport, is married to a dairy farmer!! At least now I know someone who has a cow I can milk. I'm totally going to take her up on her invite! Guess that means I'll be back...
 

{next and last post about Whatever Craft will cover the amazing sponsors and SWAG we got! Stay tuned!}