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We saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

October 25, 2010

Saving this old house of ours is what we have been doing for the past 6 years. We purchased our 1870’s farmhouse a little over 6 years ago. For some reason when we first saw it we fell in love with it. I’m not sure why, but it was probably a case of being young, dumb, and in love. We knew it was gong to take a lot of time and money to fix, but what we didn’t think of is how long it would take us and how the addition of 3 kids in 3 years would change things so drastically. We still have an insane amount of work to do before this place is finished. I would say we are a little more then 1/2 way finished. Most days we dislike this house and wish we didn’t buy it, but this weekend we saw the “light at the end of the tunnel”!!! It only lasted for a split second, but for that moment, when were standing outside admiring how we have been saving this old house, we saw it and it felt so good! It was like were brought back to the day we first saw this house and all the potential it had in store. It was like we were looking at our house, how we did 6 years and we fell in love with it all over again.

A few pictures so you know exactly what I mean,

Then and now…

Go ahead and gasp. I know, it’s bad! But in all honesty, the inside of the house was much worse then the outside. Yes, it’s possible!

It is amazing what new windows, doors, roofs, siding and a lot of blood, sweat, and lots of tears can do!

See, there it was, shining so bright, “the light at the end of the tunnel”! Thankfully it has given us the much needed strength to carry on. And so here we go, continuing to save this old house of ours.

linking up to:

Casserole Carrier {Tutorial}

October 24, 2010

I am really excited to share this with all of you. This is unlike any other casserole carrier you have ever seen. I love that the handles are made of fabric and are not wooden dowels. I think it gives the carrier more stability. I also like that it is lined with Insul-Bright to keep your casserole dishes warm or cold while transporting. With that said, I do not recommend taking dishes directly from the oven and placing into carrier. It may work, but I’m not going to try that one. Just let the dish cool a bit first. The carrier is made of all machine washable fabrics, so wash away. I suggest line drying instead of placing into the dryer. Casserole carrier will hold a 8×12 or 9×13 rectangular pan. (Please forgive me on the pictures. I hope you are all able to see my stitches. I used the darkest fabric I had and used white thread. But I was taking these pictures in the middle of the night and the lighting was not so good.)

Don’t let all the steps scare you. I tried to make this tutorial as easy as possible for everyone to follow along. It really is easy. Your just taking two pieces of fabric and making a cross with them and attaching some handles. I hate to think that my ideas are basic, but they are!

Materials Needed:

*Insul-Bright (1 yard, make sure it is 44″ x 36″)

*medium or light weight cotton fabric (2 yards of fabric)

*2″ wide Velcro ( 24″ of 2″ wide Velcro)

Let’s get started!

We will be cutting materials along the way instead of cutting all of the materials ahead of time.

Cut two pieces of Insul-Bright to the following sizes: 30″ X 15″ and 37″ X 12″

Cut two pieces of fabric slightly larger then the 30″ X 15″ and 37″ X 12″ pieces of Insul-Bright.

You don’t have to be too picky on cutting out the fabric pieces because you will be trimming them later. I just find it quicker to sew the pieces together this way and trim the fabric off later. Plus it saves you time from having to cut out the pieces of fabric to the correct size.

Gather the 30″ X 15″ piece of insul-bright and the two pieces of fabric that you cut out to go along with it. Take the two pieces of fabric and lay flat with right sides facing and now place the Insul-Bright on top of the fabric like shown.

Sew all around pinned pieces using the edge of insul-bright as your guide. Leave a 3″ opening for turning right side out.

**note: I changed the foot on my machine to H at this point. It is a plastic foot that glides over the Insul-Bright instead of getting caught up on the material. I didn’t do this on my first casserole carrier but did it on this one and it made a huge difference. Change foot back once finished sewing directly on the Insul-Bright.**

Trim excess fabric except where the opening is, you want to leave that section a little longer so that when you turn right sides out it will tuck and sew shut nicely. Don’t forget to square off corners. Now pull fabric out through opening.

Iron and push out corners so that they are nicely pointed. Now top stitch around the entire piece of fabric.

Repeat with the 37″ x 12″ of Insul-Bright and fabric pieces.

Pieces should look like this now.

Lay the pieces out on top of each other making a cross like pictured below.
Make sure the 37″ X 12″ piece is on top.

Line them up straight. The right side of the 37″ x 12″ piece sticks out about 10″.

And measures 9″ up from the bottom.

Mark on the bottom piece of fabric where the top piece of fabric is positioned on it. Make sure you make marks onto the top piece of fabric where the bottom piece is positioned underneath it as well. This doesn’t mean anything now, but it will help in later steps.

Now place a casserole dish in the center of the two pieces and fold closed. Fold the 37″ x 12″ piece close first then fold the 30″ x 15″ piece closed next.

Now you are going to feel for the top of the casserole dish and make a mark on the fabric where the top of the dish is. This mark will tell you where to stop sewing when attaching the handles.
See my little mark? Now take a ruler and extend that mark the entire length of the fabric to show where the top of the casserole dish is. Repeat on the opposite side.

Set aside for now.

Now it is time to make the handles.

Cut four pieces of fabric 40″ X 2 1/2″. Cut two pieces of flannel or batting the same size. Layer with the flannel on the bottom and the two pieces of fabric right sides facing on top of the flannel.

Sew together on both sides, the entire length of the pieces. Flip right side out, iron and top stitch.

Handles should look like this.

Time to attach the handles you just made. Gather the 30″ x 15″ piece, this is the piece you will be attaching the handles to.
Remember the marks you made earlier when you used the casserole dish as a guide? well, this is where those marks you made from the top of the casserole dish come in handy. See them on the picture above?
You will want to line up the handles as pictured above. Make sure they are evenly spaced and about 3″ in from the edge. Make sure the middle of the handles are in the middle of the piece of fabric. You don’t want lop sided handles.

Sew the handles on. Use the top stitch that you did on the handles as a guide, and stitch right on top of those stitches again. Do not sew past the marks on the fabric showing you where the top of your casserole dish will be. You want to make sure you sew straight lines. These will be seen on the bottom of the carrier.

Pieces should look like this now.

Now it is time to attach the two pieces together.Line the pieces up again like you did when you first made the cross. Remember the 37″ X 12″ fabric is on top and the fabric with the handles is on the bottom. Pin in place.

Do not sew directly on the marked lines. Sew in a little about. See where I made my stitches? Again, I wanted to make sure my stitches lined up with the stitches on the bottom piece. These stitches will be seen from the bottom. It will just make it look neater on the bottom of the carrier.

This is what the bottom of the carrier looks like now.

See how nicely the stitches line up on the bottom?

Time to attach the Velcro. Lay carrier flat, place casserole dish inside and pin Velcro in place where you want it.

Play with the pieces and see where you would like them most. Here is where I placed mine. I placed it in about 2″ from the edge. I used a 2″ wide Velcro so that I can use this carrier for two sized pans.

Time to finish the handles. I prefer to make little padded sections to attach the handles together.

To make the padded handles, cut four pieces of fabric and flannel (or batting) 6 1/2″ X 3″

Layer them like so, with 1 piece of flannel, 2 pieces of fabric right sides facing, and the last piece of flannel on top.

Sew sides together, leaving ends open.

Turn right right side out and iron. Fold ends in about 1/2″ and iron again.

Slide ends of handles into the middle of the padded handle. Make sure the handles are evenly lined up. You don’t want a lop sided carrier!

Pin and sew in place on the ends of padded handle.

The fabrics are pretty thick at this point and I had a hard time sewing through all the layers until I switched needles. I can’t remember the last time I changed my needle, it’s actually kinda embarassing.

Cut two pieces of fabric 5″X 2″

Sew together the two pieces of fabric, right sides facing. Leave a 1 1/2″ opening for turning right side out.
Turn right side out through opening, iron and top stitch.

Sew the Velcro on. Make sure the Velcro is sewn on opposite sides and ends like in the picture above. The hook on the bottom front and the loop on the top back of piece of fabric.

Fold spoon holder in half and mark where the center is. Now measure 1/2″ away from the center on the right and left sides. These marks will be where you want to sew the spoon holder onto the carrier. This way it will keep the spoon from wobbling too much.

You are finished!

**This tutorial is for personal use only! If you are going to link up and use my pictures, please link back to this post and don’t forget to give credit where credit is due! **

I hope you will find some time to sew one up. I would say it takes about 3-4 hours from start to finish to make one of these. You will have a little extra fabric and Insul-Bright left over, so sew up some matching hot pads or oven mitts to go along with the carrier. If you make one using this tutorial, please email me a picture or add it to my flickr group, I would love to see it.

Tutorial updated: January 5, 2011

This beauty has a tutorial on its way!

October 22, 2010

Remember the much loved casserole carrier I designed and created for my sister in laws bridal shower? Well, I had so many requests for a tutorial on it, that I decided to put one together for y’all. A great idea like that cannot go unused, right? Or maybe it was the comment on it being the “chicest casserole carrier” someone had ever see. Why thank you!!! I will take full credit for designing and creating this beauty on my own! And now I want to share with all of you how to make one of your own.

The tutorial is almost finished, but for now here is a little peek at it again.

HMM, now what to do with the finished product? A gift, for sale, or for keeps?!

embrace the camera {off to the corn maze}

October 21, 2010

First of all, sorry Heidi and SBH but I haven’t been able to get a hold of you for the Halloween bib giveaway. Please drop me an email. Thanks girls!

The past week was crazy yet FUN FILLED! A few days before the wedding we all decided to head out to the corn maze in Vermont. First of all, let me say I am so glad I did not attempt this on my own. Just getting there was a maze in itself, and there is no way I would have made it out of the maze with all 3 kids. I’m telling you it was hard and we only did the kid maze. There is no way I am going to attempt the larger corn maze for many, many years!

And they’re off!

Thanks to Auntie T, she kept an eye on the kids and kept us from getting lost.

Doors along the way told us which way to go.

There were boats and bridges high above the corn to admire the views and take in the beautiful crisp fall air.

And tunnels to run in. She could have spent all day in there.

But the best part of the day was our picnic. We had a picnic lunch on top of the hill and enjoyed some girl chat while the kids ran around chasing each other with milk weed sticks. Before heading out, we enjoyed the indoor slides, tunnels and the petting zoo.

It was a great day and I’m so glad I was able to spend it with you girls and these crazy kids of ours!

trick or treat loot bag tutorial

October 19, 2010

Materials needed:

*1 Bandanna

* Scrap fabric if you want a contrasting color inside of bag.

* Ribbon / fabric for the handles / or cotton webbing

I used 2 bandanna’s to make 4 loot bags. I bought these from Walmart. How cute are they and they only costs $.99 each!

1. Fold bandanna in half and then half again, so it makes a square.

2. Trim off the right, left and top edges of bandanna. Make sure bottom is still a folded edge. You will end up with two pieces.

3. Cut contrasting fabric the same size as the cut bandanna’s. Or if you are making one bag use the other half of the cut bandanna.

4. With right sides folded together, sew on the right and left sides of both the bandanna and the contrasting fabric.

5. Measure 1 1/2″ up and 1 1/2″ over and cut.

6. Open cuts, line up to make straight edges and sew shut. This will give the bag shape.

7. Fold bandanna right side out and leave contrasting fabric wrong side out.

8. Place bandanna inside of contrasting fabric with right sides facing.

9. Sew all around top of fabrics leaving a 3″ space to turn bags out.

10. Pull bags right side out and iron.

11. Top stitch around top of bag.

12. Add a ribbon or I used cotton webbing per my sons request. I would have liked some cute little fabric handles.

That’s it!

A cute little trick or treat loot bag!

It’s a super quick and easy project. It took us about 1/2 hour from start to finish. The whole project went great with the exception of my little girl stepping on the foot peddle and causing the thread to get jammed.

Giveaway winners and a sneek peek at my new doors.

October 19, 2010

Thank you to all that entered. I loved hearing what your kiddo’s are going to be. And by the way my son is going to be a skunk and his sisters are going to be chickens. He came up with that one all on his own. It was inspired from the skunk that keeps getting into our chicken coop.

The giveaway winners for the Halloween bibs are Heidi and SBH. I will be sending you an email shortly.

And,

this is what I was painting last week. The doors on my house.

So whatcha think? My husband likes them, but he really could care less. When he saw the color he said, “yup they are so YOU and I wouldn’t have expected anything different from you.” He is so right. I love color! I was a little uncertain at first but now I love them. It was just a little too plain with all the grey and white.

And,
I guess gardening season isn’t over yet.

Have a great day! We are going to spend our day doing the usual and maybe making our Halloween goodie bags. I found some cute Halloween bandanna’s at Walmart that will make cute little bags for their Halloween loot.

Ties for the little guys.

October 15, 2010

Finally, something for the boys.

I made these ties from a pattern I purchased last year from diybydaintycouture on etsy. The pattern is so easy to follow and they are very quick to make. The pattern uses elastic around the neck, but I chose to make mine with fabric ties and velcro instead.

I know you may be thinking pink flowers on a boys tie. Well first of all, my little guys favorite color is pink so he LOVES them! and second of all, my nephew has informed me that the flowers are rose not pink.

There is a whole lot of crafting going on.

October 12, 2010

The wedding is only 4 days away and I am finally finishing up all of the crafts I have been working on. You would have thought I was the bride with all of the crafts I have been doing and how giddy I am. I guess I am just obsessed with making girlie things for my sweet little girls and nieces. For a mom that only wished for boys, I’m really into this whole girlie thing now.

So today’s project was to make all the girls matching hair clips. Like I said before, I LOVE these little felt flowers from littlecards on etsy. I had her do a custom order for the grey felt flower and pink beads. I just love how they came out.

Since there is so much to do, the kids have been helping me craft this week. I usually save all of my crafting for when they are asleep, but not this week. Plus, I have had to leave nap time and bedtime to work on all of my etsy orders. I don’t mind my kids fingers all over OUR crafts but not all over the ones I am going to sell.

I had to do all of the hot glue gun work, but while I was doing that, they were playing with the flowers and cutting out the cards. My little guy is a pretty good scrapbooker. And my little girl, well she just made a mess. She took all of the paper scraps from her brother and proceeded to rip them into smaller and smaller pieces and scattering them all over the floor. GREAT! It was a huge mess, but it kept her entertained forever and she loved that she was “crafting” too.

So 2 hours later we finally had all of these little beauties finished!

They look so sweet with their dresses and will look even sweeter inside their little purses I made them.

And since my crafting OCD just wouldn’t allow me to simply throw these cute little clips into their purses, I had to make these cards. Yup, I really think I have a crafting OCD! But, thanks to all of the craft blogs out there, I know I’m not alone.

I would love to share with you the “just married” sign I made, but I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises.

Wanna win a Halloween bib?

October 10, 2010

I have two Halloween bibs leftover from last year.

So, let’s have a giveaway!

To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what you or your kiddo is going to be for Halloween. Oh, and since I have two bibs, two winners will be chosen.

Giveaway ends October 18th.

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