Fall Lovin'

I'm sorry. I'm going to disappoint you.

I still have not finished my kilt tutorial that I was hoping to already have published. Plus, some highlights from T's first birthday. Boo! Sorry, you're just going to have to wait on pins and needles until I'm finally ready.

Until then, jump over to Newlywife to see some ideas I'm sharing about fall and creating your own bucket list. 

It's the best season. Might as well have its own bucket list...like, leaf jumping!

{E...circa 2009}

Featured! Hooray!!

 

My "Rise & Shine" pallet art was featured on tatortots & jello a few days ago!! Yippie for colorful creations. I loved the tin can lanterns and the amazing quilt also mentioned. So many creative projects!

Host Your Own!

Over at NewlyWife today. Talking a bit about Whatever Craft Weekend and thoughts on how to host your own craft event! Come stop by!

IG ::Sharing the Love::

Those who know me know I kinda love Instagram. Kinda alot. It's basically the improved twitter since it's a feed of pictures with captions, although I never did twitter. It's a little peek into whatever the person is seeing, eating, buying, cleaning out of the carpets from their kids, etc...you get the idea. Even better are the fun filters and the square size. Truly, Instagram is so square.

Not too far into my discovery of this fun app, I started to venture beyond friends and family that I knew. It was kinda scary but I liked their style and taste so I thought it would fun to enhance my feed a bit. I started with bloggers I follow and it kinda spread from there. Now there are a few favorites that I pretty much love every single picture they post and they are quite inspiring. Yet they have no clue who I am or maybe even that I'm following. Maybe it's their photography, style, products they like, or ideas they share. 

Wanna know a little trick? If I see something I like, I take a screen-shot so it's saved into my photos. Maybe it's a paint color they used to paint their living room, or a new product they just bought, or a latest DIY project that I want to show W. And another trick I use to find new people is the "Following" section in news. It shows you who loved or commented on others' IGs. I've found a few more random people to follow from that.

So here are some of my "you don't know me in real life" IG-ers that I personally love along with a few of my favorite pictures. I found as I was making this that I'm 90% vintage and only 10% modern, preppy or classic. Guess I'm drawn to the whimsy, old, and hodge-podged. All that to say, these may not inspire you, specifically, but perhaps it'll just be an encouragement to use IG for inspiration. Find people who share things you love but take it up a notch.

I'm gonna get that 10% over now... ;)

IGer: Glitter Guide

She's got expensive and glamorous taste. And every once in a while there be something she shares that I could potentially put on a wishlist. ;)

On to the 80%...

IGer; Cubby Graham

Just started following him and can't even tell you how I stumbled upon him. But he does great things that make you wonder how come your iphone doesn't get shots like these. He does have a waterproof case which allowed for that first picture. I also learned about the trends of photoidgrams and ollograms..which uses that small extra lens for a special effect.

IGer: Miss Sew and So

Australia based with a cuuuute cottage house. She does great beach pics too.

IGer: Denise Bovee

IGer: Kirsten Rogers

Big following of over 9,000 people! She's a photographer by trade so you know her pics are going to be great. She also homeschools her kiddos so its fun seeing their daily adventures.Truly beautiful everyday living. It was hard only picking four.

IGer: Joy Prouty

So I've left my favorite for last. She's also a photographer by trade in Southern California. In fact she posted about a garage sale she was having and it killed me to watch the feed that day and the days leading up to it. Would have loved snagging some of her vintage finds! She gets asked all the time if the pictures she posts are taken with an iphone. They are hard-to-believe good. And her love of farm life and wide open spaces make my heart skip a beat! And with over 3,500 pictures, she keeps her followers happy with all her artwork!

So, do you follow anyone whose "follower" numbers triple or more the number they are following?! Anyone whose pictures you look forward to seeing? Perhaps you found a few more to add to your feed if you use IG. 

oh, ps... I'm thats_sew_swenson on IG! Come find me! :)

{disclaimer: don't worry, Mom. I'll show you how to use it again soon!}

Circle Garland Tutorial

I became a circle garland fan with our dining area re-do. I'm finally getting around to that tutorial. For this garland, I used felt but the one hanging in my house is made of paper. Both are great mediums to use. Obviously, felt is much more durable and hardy than paper. But the steps and outcome are the same.

I started with tracing lots and lots of circles.

Cut, cut and more cutting.

Into stacks.

Next, I worked out my pattern...

 Then dumped them into bowls...

Almost good enough to eat, eh?

Seriously, love felt.

Time for assembly! Basically, I just fed the felt circles through the feed-dog and the foot; making sure to keep the foot down the entire time. Once it catches, it moves through on its own. Continue to feed the felt through and adding each new circle until it catches. Don't worry if a few stitches pass before the next circle catches, the spacing won't matter in the end.

I kept my bowls close so I could just grab a new circle fast and feed it through. The biggest pain is keeping up with the pattern and getting circles in fast enough.

And out comes the garland on the other side.

In no time at all, you'll have a super long garland...

Ready to hang up...

or wrap up for transfer!

Easy way to add some whimsy to a room or party!

Unofficial Birthday Wishlist

William and my birthdays are both next month. And my mom has a gift. A gift of giving. She has impeccable taste and you can tell she really enjoys it. But there is a caveat: she really likes to surprise you. In fact, she's been known to not get you something if she knows you may be thinking she's getting that for you. That would be why I'm labeling this my unofficial wishlist. I'm figuring she wouldn't get anything from it anyway. ;)

{no particular order}

New to Ikea this spring. I can think of a dozen and one great uses for this beauty. I'm loving this color and the mint green option. So cute yet so functional!!!

Yes, I already have a "s" but it's by far my favorite mug! I go to great lengths {uh, like washing it by hand} to use it multiple times a week. I could totally see a "j' being added to my monogram collection.

I've seen these necklaces from allora handmade before, but not until recently did I get excited about them. I could really use a deep red, lemon, mustard, or pacific one to add a pop of color to my mommy uniform.

A store credit to Shabby Apple. I've been eyeing these dresses and skirts for quite some time. Great quality with a vintage feel. They definitely aren't cheap so you shouldn't buy one if you're thinking about getting pregnant any time soon...which kinda happened the last time I was looking at buying one. ;) And they just came out with their "color block" collection--so many fun bright colors!

Some crafting supplies: a roll of kraft paper, liquid chalk, chalkboard contact paper...things that have been lying around in my amazon cart, waiting to be purchased.

And I'll end on a really really high {as in expensive} bag. I've had my eye on the Marc Jacobs' Petal to the Metal line since it came out last fall. This sure is the perfect gray bag. Makes me drool.

Anyway, back to reality. Time to finish prepping for Easter! Huzza!

Happy Friday, y'all!

One Thing Leads to Another

I scored some free pallets about a month ago that have been sitting in our garage since. They were waiting for me to pick something from all the great projects out there. Then I was inspired, not by pinterest, but by a window display while on a walk through our local downtown. Yay for seeing it in the real world! I had W create a pallet canvas of sorts by showing him this tutorial and then off he went to make his own version. 

While in the process of finishing the project, I was stumped on how to get my words onto the wood. Mod-Podge? Wood glue? Stencil? Craft paint? Free hand? I was at a loss so I decided to test a few of them....which actually turned into a whole new project that I'm sharing now. Distracted much! {More on the original pallet art later.} For now, it's on to this side project...

I started with Mod-Podge because it seemed the easiest. I got out three extra boards that W had left over from the original, cut some words out using my mom's cricut, and tried it out.

 I found out that the glue changed the color of the wood, even after it dried, so I covered the entire board with the stuff. Then I placed my letters out and covered it with a second coat.

It was super easy and I loved the mod-podged wood better--it looks so rich!

{before+after}

 While deciding on the phrase, I had an up-coming bridal shower I'm co-hosting in mind. I'm actually hoping to turn these wood planks into a wooden sign post and after the party, eventually put it out in our backyard. Hurray for multi-use pieces!!

Little People

I haven't been doing much in the way of creative outlets lately. :( It's been mostly survival mode around these here parts. Both boys got RSV and we spent some time in the ER as well as some rough nights at home. Breathing treatments, x-rays, and sleep on the go were the norm for awhile.

We're still a bit in recovery mode as Sunday was a complete sabbath day for us. We did not really leave our pajamas, let alone the house. Which brings me to the title of this post. :) 

Not too long ago, E started playing with three corks we had in the kitchen. I said they looked like little people the way he was playing with them. He must have liked that because it stuck and he's spent much of the week playing with the little people. Since we had so much down time on Sunday, I figured I'd help a little boy out and add some features to his little people. Scissors, felt scraps, a glue gun, and an extra cork later, his little people were starting to look like a real family. 

Yeah, my two year old knows the words "mustache", "beard" and "soul patch". I think the little boys still need an extra accent. Ideas? I also gave him a small tissue box from the hospital to carry his people around in. He totally loves them. Truly crazy what kids turn into toys with their imaginations...

Now I'm wondering what else I can add to his little people. We have plenty of corks saved up around here so I'm wondering how I can swing a car or maybe a make-shift house? Little people possibilities are endless, really.

Brown Paper Packages

...all tied up with string. These are a few of my favorite things!

Cooked up something fun for this Valentine's with the help of this. W gets to open a small treat every hour at 14 past the hour during his full day at work. And yes, his goodies are in way girly wrapping. One of them even has a polka-dot ribbon. ;) I put all his little gifts in a giant basket and even included a red felt puffy conversation heart that said "Love U". Total cheese!

We usually don't do anything too out of the ordinary for love day. Don't really exchange gifts. Last year, it was a delicious dinner made by W. This year, he's working a 10 hour day. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to do a little something extra for him. Just small gifts: candy, small random items that he'll like, a new shirt, a new toy for him and E to play with, and a few gift cards with small amounts to some of his favorite places.

Doing anything special with the one you love?

Kids' Book Exchange

A girlfriend of mine sent me a letter early December to participate in a book exchange. Normally, I avoid chain letters like the plague, but since it had to do with books, my interest was peaked. All I had to do was send a book, six letters and then wait for the mail. We have no shortage of books in the house between those we started with, the library, and gifts for E. But I'm of the mind that you can never have too many books! One day I hope we can have a whole wall dedicated to book shelves. Better yet, a library with one of the wheeling ladders. 

Anyway, I was a bit skeptical at first since it was around the holidays and I'm sure many people are in my "party-pooper" camp when it comes to chain letters. But so far, E has received six books, and I just sent out my last two a few weeks ago. It's a short chain with only two degrees of separation so we actually know some of the people we're getting books from.

For the cost of one book, you have the potential of getting 36 books back. I say that's a sweet deal. And even if not everyone plays along, it's still worth it. He truly loves getting mail.


The letter went something like this...

Dear __________,

Welcome to our book exchange! Send ONE new or gently used book to the child listed at #1 below. Then make 6 new copies of the blank letter I’ve included here and send to SIX friends. Use the blank letter I sent you and move MY child’s name, age and address to the #1 spot and put YOUR child’s name, age and address on the #2 spot and make SIX copies. Mail both a blank copy and a filled out copy to SIX friends and wait for your books to arrive. This is just for fun! Soon your child could receive 36 books in return! What a deal!


If you can’t do this within one week {give or take a few}, please let me know!  The children who have participated are looking forward to their books arriving. A manila envelope will mail a book nicely and you should receive 36 ‘new’ books if everyone participates. Seldom does anyone drop out, as you know kids love to read books and receive mail. You should receive your books in about 2 weeks if you get your letters out right away. 

It will be lots of fun but please let me know if you can’t participate ASAP. You can reach me at ____________ @____.com


Thanks and enjoy your books!

Child #1
Name
Address
Age


Child #2
Name
Address
Age


Make sure to include a blank copy of this letter for your friends so they don’t have to retype. 

Sincerely,
___________

Interested? Just copy and paste this letter into a document, get a friend for #2, and start a book exchange together.

Recently Purchased Pretties

So, I must confess...I'm not above retail therapy. I've been a very good girl up until recently on that front. We've already declared as a family that this year will be a fallow year as we re-build our savings, W focuses on his first year at the firm, and I caring for two little ones which includes a very dependent baby. That trip to Hawaii will have to wait until next year. So these were very small purchases, but fun ones nonetheless. I needed a little bit of fun...fun pretties in the mail will do the trick.

I'm looking forward to some packages on our doorstep these next few days...

 

I bought this fabulous card for W for love day. When I saw this, it just screamed perfect! The pipe, the hat, and the saying...fits W to a tee. :)

Theo told me he'd rock this hat if I bought it for him. So did I hesitate to press purchase? Heck no!

We're cooking up something memorable for Mama Judy's 70th birthday so these vintage style envelopes will come in handy. I'll have some extras so I'm excited to mail to friends! How fun to send something in one of these in place of a boring ol' white one.

This delightful little pair proves that sponsorships really do work. Ha. It's my first purchase off someone's blog--there was a 10% discount so I thought "why not?"

What's brightening up your winter?!

Made My Day

I saw this in my Instagram news feed yesterday and was so delighted!

It's so fun to inspire others, especially when they share that with you. And of course, her display is SO much cuter than mine!

Happy Friday, folks!