Crafting with friends

On Monday my friend Sara and her little girl came over for a play date...for both the big and little girls. Sara and I crafted while the girls played. It was so much fun! We definitely need to do it more often. Sara worked on beaded bookmarks, which were gorgeous but of course I forgot to take pictures of them to show you. I worked on burp cloths for Rachel. (Surprise Rach, they're in the mail!)

And, Sara got my new best friend up and running for me! I bought a serger!! Sara decided to upgrade so I bought her old one from her. It runs like a breeze (I haven't tried to change anything yet) and I am excited to put it to use. Best of all is the free tech support from the previous owner, right Sara? Ha, ha!!

To prepare for our fun crafting day I actually cleaned my craft room. Much to my surprise, it's still clean!! It really is more fun to work on a whole clean table instead of the 6 square inches I'm usually left with. We'll see how long it lasts!

Reggie's Blanket

Last Friday I went to a baby shower for my friend Rachel and baby Reggie. It was so fun to see how much he had grown! What a little cutie!! I have loved watching Rachel transform into this amazing mother. From holding her hand at her 10 week ultrasound and seeing this tiny little being jumping around to now seeing her feeding, burping, and changing like an old pro, I just can't tell you what an honor it is to be a part of her life. I love ya Rach!!

So, here is the blanket I made for Reggie. This lucky little boy has been born into a long line of sports fanatics, so this one just seemed fitting. If you choose to zoom in, you will probably notice this was made from a panel, but I did machine quilt it myself and added the R, made from a vintage chenille bedspread I got at a garage sale this summer (do you hear my quarter clinking in the jar?). Hopefully it will be loved for a long time, just like Reggie.

Tuesday Rachel heads back to the office. I can't imagine what that must be like, because I chickened out before it came to that and ran as fast as I could from my office never to look back! She is very successful at everything she does though, and I'm sure she will be able to find a balance.

Take care my friend, I hope you have as good a day as possible. I'll be thinking about you.

Organizing Tips From a Lazy Crafter

Anybody else have this problem?

I was getting really sick of it but 1. I didn't want to buy any new gadgets to fix the problem and 2. I didn't want to work very hard to fix the problem.
So, I worked with what I had, which was this...

And put it together like this...

And made this!

Uh, yeah, ignore the mess okay! It's headed for a corner in my laundry room that I do all my packaging in so it won't get knocked around too much. If you were worried about its sturdiness you could use styrofoam instead of floral foam and put some wood glue down the hole the dowel makes.

So, there you have it. A ribbon organizer that, while not the most beautiful, took me less than 5 minutes.

Oh, and don't forget my running tally - I'm adding 75 cents to my jar for the dowel, foam, and small crock.

Pendant Mania

I've been having a blast working on these...

They aren't quite done yet, but soon I hope. I plan to restock the shop with them gradually. They would make great stocking stuffers! :)

Alright, I'm off to get cozy with some poly.

P.S. Yes, it did take me a really long time to get them to all stand up like that. They kept falling like dominos, but I figured that was a good way to show you the backs hence the second picture!

Over the weekend...

I broke out my new glue, my new favorite I think...

And made these...

Fall themed notecards

And thought about this idea Teresa had. She decided to start putting money in a jar everytime she uses something from her stash instead of buying new. Very good idea! I've got 25 cents already! How was your weekend?

Etsy Rocks!

I'm sure you all love etsy just as much as I do. I've had a really good time selling some stuff out there, and I'm currently trying to get some new stuff in the shop before Christmas projects get too crazy around here.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you a shop I found last month. I met Kelly when she purchased the lumberjack bag - remember that one? Well, I actually called it a funky fall bag on etsy since the whole lumberjack thing is an inside joke. The really cool part is that Kelly is a fellow North Dakota girl and is an amazing artist. Please take a minute and check out her shop, her paintings are adorable! I wanted to show you my favorite but I honestly couldn't choose - here's a sneak peak at her shop, which you can find here. Also check out her Sold listings - there are more great pieces there that we already missed out on. She's already added some really cute winter paintings that would surely beat those winter blues. Now how to choose... :)

Halloween Recap

Hope you all had a fun Halloween! Minnie Mouse (aka Sydney) had a blast. She was very excited to get her costume on and go trick or treating, but of course cried at the first house. She got better as soon as she realized she was getting candy. That's my girl!


The costume was pretty easy...I found the dress at a garage sale this summer, the purse at a thrift store and then made the hat by copying an old navy hat Sydney had from last winter. I'm afraid she might be wearing that hat all winter.

Hope you all aren't too sick of kid pictures today! I had to share :)