Additons

{ Doc left his mark in the snow... at least it wasn't yellow :) }

Yesterday I was super excited to stay home and get some projects done. In case you're under a rock it is freezing cold everywhere including here in GA which actually gave us some snow on Thursday, which didn't melt in the 18˚ temps and turned to ice Friday morning keeping all schools closed! It really is great being a teacher! This time it allowed me to get a couple of new additions to my abode put up.

First was the wonderful gift from my Christmas wish list that my mother-in-law read:

My cutting table! I can't wait to start making more headbands, zipper bags and totes. Especially since I purchased my rotary cutter and mat. It is being stored in our guest room at the moment. I think I may turn that room into a craft room because it is the only one with the floor space right now.

Next I hung my awesome Pottery Barn purchase that arrived the other day. It is the new home of our keys and Doc's leashes. I love the little cage that stores the lesser used keys. We'll use the big hooks to stash our keys as we walk in the door. Two new pieces that make our house a little more functional for us!

Handmade Greetings: Birthday

My crazy Mom had her birthday on January 5th and we all went out for a delicious family dinner here. Anytime we get together laughter quickly ensues. We ate tons, cracked jokes, and just really enjoyed being together and celebrating our awesome mom.

I decided that no ordinary Hallmark greeting would do, so I used one of my favorite stamps to craft this birthday card for her. The stamp is just the calendar grid, and it comes with the month titles and numbers. I used Martha Stewart's line of ink pads for the black and teal colors. I wanted another accent color so I used my favorite trick of coloring my bird stamp with a plain ol' Crayola marker for the orange. Using markers are a great way to have a wider range of colors without having to buy a ton of different ink pads. By adding a cute polka-dot patterned paper and some brown and cream cardstock her 2009 birthday card was complete. I used the same paper to add a detail to the envelope as well. Cards are one of my favorite things to create. They let the person know that you 100% thought of them when making it, and it wasn't just being the first card on a shelf that you could find a coordinating envelope for.

Happy Birthday again Mom!

A Place to Hang my Keys

Way back in September I received a Pottery Barn giftcard from a friend as a birthday gift. It was super sweet of them and I was excited to go shop. But there was one problem- Pottery Barn is expensive! I am crafty for a reason- I'm cheap. I like PB style, but I also think it is way overpriced. So when I received the giftcard I knew it would be a challenge to find something I would like. I have a general rule when it comes to giftcards- do not spend more than $10 over the amount of the card. I do this because I want the card to actually buy me something, not cost me more to get something that I normally wouldn't buy.

So with the Christmas sales and clearances going on, I checked the PB website to see if I could find a suitable purchase. When I found this key cabinet I was in love:

I like how industrial it feels. We can use it to hang Doc's leash on, and all of our various keys can go inside the cage with their appropriate labels. Plus it was on clearance for $24.99!! With my giftcard being $25, I only had to fork over the shipping costs! I can't wait to get it onto the kitchen wall.

Well, do you have any new organization pieces 'round the house?

Snow Again ?...

{ You seriously want to go out there? It's freezing... }

So winter has decided to start off with a bang here in the South. It was a blistering 30 something today and there is not a warm day in sight. The weather man is saying that there is a possibility of snow by the end of the week! Please cross your fingers for me, a snow day from school would be a welcomed surprise.

Since it is so cold outside, I'm doing any and everything I can to stay warm and work on some little tasks that have gone undone for a while. I worked on cleaning up and re-organizing our bathroom drawers, caught up on laundry, and am sorting and re-organizing my sewing cabinet. Getting my home more organized is definitely on my list for 2010. I know I am already pretty organized, but since I constantly rearrange things in the house I always have something to do. My philosophy is to put things in the places where they are used so then there is no searching for them. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Do you have any home-related resolutions for 2010?

New Items!

I added a new headband and hair clip to my Etsy Shop! Go visit it here. More styles and fabrics to come, so stop by often.

White Christmas

The theme for my gifts this Christmas was all things white. I received a couple of wish list items and a surprise pair of my favorite thing in the world- owls.

My sister-in-law Ashley found these adorable owls in a vintage shop. I love their little eyes. They have a new perch in the living room next to the window.

I have been wanting a new chair for our office. We previously had a folding wooden chair that was horrible to move and very uncomfortable. My parents got us this rolling Ikea chair. I'm still up in the air as to whether or not I want to make a cushion for it. But the height adjusts and it swivels, much better than the old.

It has been awesome to have so much time off work and although there was a small sick stint in the holiday break, Erik and I have gotten to spend a lot of time together which I wouldn't trade for the world. Also Doc has been leaving us fun messages via our chalkboard...

{ He left this one for our spaghetti dinner with the Grahams.

Please forgive his grammar, he is only 3. }

Handmade Onesies

Katie, my best friend of forever, had the wonderful gift of a new baby girl this year. Miss Hannah Grace was born back in August and I had to make her something special for her first Christmas. I figured onesies are a staple in the baby wardrobe, so I added a few details for a handmade gift for the little one.

First I used some fabric scraps that were a b-day present from Lesley to craft this adorable cupcake design. I used Amy Butler for the cup, and some pink fleece from Wal-mart. * Note- have you ever visited the fabric section of Wal-Mart?? Super cheap!!! Anyway, I used interfacing to bond the two pieces together then hand stitched them to the onesie ( because I couldn't figure out how to maneuver the onesie on my sewing machine ). Then I added a cute red heart button as a topping for the cupcake.

Second, with more gift fabric, I drew this little sparrow pattern. Dwell Studio was my inspiration with their adorable baby line. I used the same pink fleece for the belly of the bird. Interfaced again and hand stitched it on. I also used a button for the eye and hand stitched using brown thread the beak and feet. On the back of both I used another piece of interfacing on the inside of the onesie to make it extra soft against Hannah Grace's belly and to ensure that all my hard work didn't come undone. Fabric Check was used on the edges of the fabric to keep them from fraying in the wash.

I also used my fabulous neighbor once again for her bib-making tutorial and crafted two bibs for Hannah Grace, but I forgot to get pics of them before dropping the gift in the mail. I think I'm getting better at my sewing projects and I'll be doing even more since I scored one of my gifts from my wish list!!

What did you get/give that was handmade this Christmas?

Holy Present Wrapping!

Today I finally finished wrapping gifts for our sponsor family. We decided to shop for a needy family instead of for ourselves this year. Erik's and my family all chipped in and created a huge mound of gifts for the family of 5.

There are two boys, 2 &6 years old, and two girls, 4 &8 years old and they are cared for by their grandmother. Total we got them each a new winter coat, pants, shirts, sweaters, PJs, socks, toys, drawing materials, hygiene gifts, and even a huge tub of food for Christmas Dinner. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall come Christmas morning at their house. This was one of the most fulfilling shopping season ever.

Along with the gifts we bought, I also made a stocking for each of the kids and grandmother. I sewed a felt initial for each kid and used a pretty paisley for grandmother's. I put their toothbrushes, shower gel, and other treats inside. I hope they enjoy them.

Thanks again to everyone that helped out, and to Lesley and her family to pitching in and helping another family at school! I hope you all are able to do something selfless and great for someone this Christmas!!

Christmas Sewing

I am striving to have an all-Handmade Christmas this year. Erik and I are actually not buying Christmas presents this year. We decided, along with our wonderful families' help, to sponsor a family at my school. The family has hit hard times and were not going to be able to have a Christmas on their own. So we shopped for them. But I also wanted to give something special to those who I love and appreciate. Some will get yummy treats and some will get a handmade gift.

I have been busy sewing up a storm and have realized that I need some gear to make things easier. I would love to have a space to lay out and cut my fabric- other than my bedroom floor. This would do nicely:

Straight lines are difficult to manage on said bedroom floor, so if I had one of these to use on the table above, I'm sure to get even lines:

Don't want to scratch that new table, must have a mat:

{ All products from Joanns.com }

Now that I have some new tools, these would be the first fabrics that I would like to create with:

{ Fabrics from Fabricworm.com }

Do you have any special gifts that you're making this year?

Saving Pennies, Ch. 1

Erik and I are simple people. We like things to be as easy and stress, worry, drama, anything 'free'. So when we were constantly clicking the buttons on our thermostat up and down every morning and night to get the most efficient use of our heating and cooling system, I knew we needed a better solution.

We picked up this little guy from Hunter. It is their 7-day Energy Star Programmable Thermostat. It was a chore to install- I highly recommend keeping the help line number at arm's distance- although to be fair, I have zero experience with electrical stuff, but the guy I spoke to was super nice and knowledgeable. Once it was installed it had to be programmed. I chose the energy star settings that turn the heat low during the night and while we are at work, and then the house gets warmed up in the morning when we are getting ready for work and it is toasty by the time we arrive home and until we go to bed. It has eliminated our need to manually lower the temp. and it gives us the flexibility to change the settings as we need them. Plus it has the awesome ambient red light for the heat and a cool blue for the AC.

I must say, it is working like a charm. Our gas, heat pump system is working great and the gas bill is staying in the low $20 range! This is just another way for us to make the most of our hard earned money to keep our house a cozy home!

What types of money saving upgrades have you made lately?