Pink, Pink, Pink!

So, we still aren't moved all the way in, but we are getting there slowly! We are loving the new house and I'm having fun decorating the new place. Here is a tiny peek of Brianna's pink room! She begged to have a pink room, and though it wasn't what I had in mind, I really like it! I still have a lot more "decorating" to do in her room, so you don't get to see the whole thing yet. I'm hoping to take some of these pictures from this post and blow them up for her room! I just need the internet connection at home so I can order prints from my printing company! One more week and I should have the internet at home!!
Brianna got bunk beds in her room and she LOVES them! When Miranda gets older the girls will share the room!

Curtains for Baby's Room

This project isn't too exciting, but I finally put curtains up in the baby's rooms last month. She was 9 months old by the time I finally got around to them! I wanted something simple because lots of other things in the room are so busy! I really wasn't looking forward to sewing all of the strips for the top to hang the curtains from, so I went the lazy route and just sewed on some ribbon for the loops! I ended up loving them! I had plans of sewing flowers onto the curtains before I did the ribbon thing.....so much easier this way! The ribbon gives the curtains the little pop they needed without taking away from the rest of the room!
I also sewed some ribbon across the bottom to tie it in! Such as simple project that anyone that can sew straight lines can do! I have been feeling lazy and not motivated at all to tackle all of my projects! I think it might have something to do with this sinus infection I have along with extreme pain in the teeth, ears, neck, etc. Can't wait to get over this thing and get some motivation back!
I also just got a new lens for my camera and I am soooooo excited to try it out!!!

"Please Knock" In Style!

I decided it was time to replace the post it note taped to the doorbell that said, "Please Knock." When you have a baby who never sleeps, the last thing you want is the door bell to ring when she finally is sleeping!!! It's just so that when your baby is taking her first nap in days the Fed Ex guy comes and rings the bell! So, I've had to attach an ugly little piece of paper with my chicken scratch to remind people that I have a sleeping baby (or hopefully she's asleep!!!)

I came up with this to replace it and I love it! At least I think it looks better than a post it!! Plus it hangs over the doorbell so little curious fingers won't ring the bell over and over! Thanks again to the Cricut Expression and Vinly for the lettering. I think this would make a great gift for a new mom who could use some rest when the baby is sleeping! Now I just need a "No Soliciting" sign to keep all of the random people away that have been coming by lately! (Wow, that makes me sound like a Scrooge...but come on, who wants to talk to random people that are just begging for your money?!?! I'm always going to say no, so I'll just save them some time!)

Vinyl, Oh How I Love Thee!

Once again I just love my Cricut Expression! I was able to transform a really boring wall in our front room to this! The Cricut machines cut vinyl so I was able to play around with a few different cartridges and came up with this. Unfortunately I can't find the "before" pictures. I had done a triptych painting that didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to. My friend however liked it, so we traded. She's a new photographer and did our family pictures in exchange for the paintings. She took the 2 pictures on the right! I owe her for helping make this wall not such an eye sore. My good friend Heather also painted this wall for me while babysitting my kids! Does it get better than that?

Fabric Covered Canvas Wall Hanging Tutorial...that's a mouthful

I did this paintning several years ago and I have just gotten so bored with it! I have been wanting to replace it forever but a new canvas is expensive and this one has already been painted over a few times so there are lots of random textures to it! I have had the idea of covering it with fabric for awhile, but I just couldn't find the right fabric....until I went to Target one day and saw some cute pillow covers for $5 a piece! I was thrilled and bought a few to actually cover pillows and then went back for more to do this project! So, my old, boring painting went from this: To this! And I love it! It brightens up the room, especially since I have white walls. I hate white walls! That's one bad thing about renting! Anywho, I wrote a tutorial in case you want to follow along!

Things you'll need:

• A canvas of whatever size you choose. Or several canvases if you want to just put several next to each other. Mine was a 24x36.
• Fabric of your choice. I have 3 pillow case covers made of heavier home decor fabric. The amount of fabric you'll need will obviously depend on your canvas, the amount of patterns you use, etc.
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Staple gun and staples
• Iron and ironing board

Alright, are you ready? Let me know if anything doesn't come across very clearly!

I started out with 3 pillow case covers that I then cut up into 6 seperate pieces. I just removed the zipper from each as I cut along the seams. If you have regular fabric from a bolt, etc. you'll want to measure the size you need and add a 1/2 inch to the sides on the inside and 3 1/2 inches to the top or bottom or sides for the seams and canvas wrapping allowance. Does that make sense? You need 1/2 inch for all of the inside seams and at least 3 1/2 inches for all of the outside edges so you can wrap it around the canvas.You will want to lay out your pieces and find the pattern you want before proceeding. Then take the top left piece and bottom left piece and put the right sides together. Sew with a 1/4 inch seam as shown below. Do this for the middle and outside 2 pieces as well. You should have 3 pieces now with each attached at the middle seam. Now you'll want to open up the seams and iron them flat so they lay nicely on the canvas. Then attach the 3 pieces together (also with right sides together) and do the same with those seams. (I forgot to take a picture of this process, but it should be easy. If not, let me know.)
You will then have one big piece like a quilt with all 6 pieces sewn together.

Now you will need your staple gun. I bought mine at Target today for $10.00 and you'll need staples too, they come seperately. I just bought a light duty one and it's fine for these projects.

I marked the center of the frame (on the back) and lined my seam up with it. Then you take the staple gun and push it right up against the fabric and wood and push hard. This can be rather addicting...I put lots of staples into mine just because it's fun! Follow with the opposite side marking the middle and pulling taught so your fabric looks nice on the front. (You might want to look at the front just to make sure it's all centered right! I then worked my way up both of the sides with the staple gun.Here's a close up. My edges are raw because they won't be showing and remember that I just got some pillow cases apart, so the edges are looking rather rough!!Now do the top and bottom pieces and work your way out. When you get to the end you'll tuck the corners in so the top can come down and it will lay flat. Just play with it until you get it right. A mitered corner works great. I put 2 staples in just for good measure. I had quite a bit of extra fabric at the top and bottom because I had more than 3 1/2 inches for the allowance. I went ahead and just trimmed the excess so my canvas would be able to hang right.Now hang it up and enjoy it! If you ever get sick of your art work you can always recover it!! Let me know if you had a hard time following my tutorial, I'm new at this tutorial thing.

Go ahead and leave a comment too, I kind of feel like I'm talking to no one!!! :)