Projects

I've been having a blast lately with various projects I've taken on. Most have been small projects - something I can work on when I'm not in class or doing homework. Somehow I think all these fun little things have helped keep me sane this semester...which makes them priceless. :-)

First up, I made a garland out of mini tissue paper pom-poms. They are made with the same technique I used for the big poms from Kaili's 18th birthday party. They can be a bit frustrating, but I think they're so pretty and fun that I get over the frustration pretty quick. This is hanging in our front window, and while it's not as noticeable from outside as I would like, it adds some fun color to our living room.

I've been searching for quite awhile for an idea to hang bows/clips/headbands. There are tons of ideas, but I hadn't found any I really liked yet, until now. I love the idea of this tutu bow holder. This is the first one I've made, and I gave it to my neighbor for her new baby girl.

 The bows clip on to the ribbons on the skirt, and at the very bottom are velcro loops for headbands. When I make mine, I may have one entire ribbon of loops because we have so many headbands.

 Not exactly a project, but still fun. My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and it was pretty low-key. Brett bought me a reflector/deflector for my photography, but he gave it to me early so I could use it right away. My friend, Jolene, brought me this absolutely AWESOME painting she did just for me. She knew how much I loved the quote, and I'd even told her that someday I was going to "commission" a painting from her with the quote. She went ahead and surprised me with one for my birthday. I love the texture and the colors of this little beauty!

 

My sister, Amy, made me this awesome table runner (of sorts) for my dining table. We've both been admiring this circle runner  for sometime. The reason I call it a runner of sorts is that we made it in more of a square shape, rather than long and skinny, because we thought it would work better on my square table. Add a pretty little bowl and it really brightens up my dining room! Now I just need to decide what to put in the bowl. :-)

 

 This project was a bit more involved and took a couple weeks to finish. I've loved seeing the alphabet bean bags in blogland, and decided I wanted to give them a try. I decided to do both capital and lowercase letters on one bean bag (cause that's a TON of bean bags!). I also made a set of beanbags with all of Kylee's sight words from school. All FORTY of them. Yikes. It really was a simple and fun project, if just a little redundant after awhile. :-) I used the freezer-paper stenciling method for the letters and words and I LOVE the colors! I just used scraps for the bags and it was nice to cut back hardly any of on my scrap box.

 Aedan was so excited to have his very own alphabet letters!

 I also made these fun bags that cinch at the top and have a vinyl "window" in the front to hold all the bean bags. They were super easy and I think I'll make some more this summer to help organize the kid's rooms. Aedan's bag was made out of some black fabric with bright green shamrocks (I've had it since I made blankets for him as a baby!) and lined the inside with a tan fabric with gold threads running through it. I thought the gold and the shamrocks went nicely together. :-) Kylee's bag is the one below, with pink gingham (used to be curtains) and the inside is this fun butterfly print (used to be a shawl) that is sparkly and shiny.

And, last for this post, I made myself a couple skirts! I've tried sewing clothing before and was not at all satisfied. But with the emergence of blogland, sewing has become a much easier and more enjoyable task for me. This skirt is called a circle skirt, and it's so super easy it's ridiculous. I'm finishing a couple more, and this is the first one I've actually been able to wear so far. Sorry for the dumb pic...kinda hard to aim the camera from ten feet away. :-)

 I love this print...I keep thinking I should make some pillows or something out of it...it's just fun!

That's all for now. I'm working on some decor for my living room today, and lots of projects for the Easter bunny, so there will be more to come!