Play Canopy

McCall's has a pattern for a play tent like the one I made for my mom! Kind of wish I'd found this earlier! At least I've found it for you! It's McCalls pattern number M5827.

New Look

What is it about changing your look that seems to change your outlook on life? Whether it's my hairstyle, a new outfit, or a new blog header, I just like to change it up every once in a while. Maybe it comes from growing up in a military family; I just need a little change once in a while for my life to be complete.

This week's change: a new blog header and background!

For those of you interested in Photoshop here's how I made the header:

First after a bit of cloning in the corner, I copied the image (a photo taken by my husband) onto a new layer.

Here's the original unaltered photo:


I changed the levels on the top layer to make the lights lighter and the darks darker. Next, I colorized the layer to make it kind of golden. Then, I changed the blending mode to "multiply." The image ended up being a little dark so I changed the bottom layer's levels and brightness to make it a little lighter.

For the distressing, I used this tutorial. It comes with supporting files that I have used over and over! They are fantastic. I did make one change to the tutorial. I kept the blending mode as "normal" and then changed the opacity instead of changing the mode to "overlay." The folds just seemed to disappear when I used "overlay."

I got the background image from some site...over the summer sometime. I'm sorry, I can't remember where. I fell in love with it and saved it, but hadn't had found the right layout to use it with until now.

Bathroom Disaster or Opportunity Knocking?

It has been a very eventful weekend. My little boy was really sick. We're talkin' fever, cough, not really eating but thankfully drinking, three straight restless nights, and very tired parents. Then during the middle of all this, my in-laws call from downstairs saying their shower which is directly below our toilet has a drip. (We live in an up and down duplex.) We've had problems before and thought...must be the toilet again. Nasty, I know. Well, plumber came and figured out it was not the toilet or anything else plumbing related and called a restoration company they work with who then figured out there is a leak and the water is actually coming from the roof, damaging our walls, and settling in the basement. Now, we've got holes in the wall, ceiling, and floor with these massive fans and a dehumidifier running constantly to try and dry it all out, and man, they are LOUD! We hope to have the problem fixed in the next few days. Hopefully, my hearing lasts that long.

The silver lining to this story is that I've wanted to repaint the bathroom anyway but didn't really have a reason to do so! It's our only full bathroom, and although Liam might protest, I want to ditch the rubber ducky theme we've had and give it a more grown-up look. Now I've been forced to figure out that new sophisticated look.

Here's one idea found in my mom's Country Style magazine:

I know none of these are bathrooms, but I'm looking more at color and overall style. I really like the ice blue/gray walls. (They look more blue in the magazine, but I'm too lazy to color correct the picts here.) I also love the clean contemporary lines and the contrast of the black and white photos.

I'd really love to take a few photos of us getting ready like these found at The Tum Tum Tree. (She's the genius behind GrosgrainFabulous.) I want to put them in black frames with wide white mattes like the wine labels in the dining room pictures above.

Like I said though, it's just an idea. I'm not completely sure about the color. I love the ice blue, but I've done blue and wouldn't mind a change. I'm open for other ideas and color schemes. If you've got an idea, PLEASE send it my way! It's a long narrow bathroom, and I have no idea what to do about a shower curtain. If you've seen a cute one recently, let me know.

Finished Sethy Shirts

I finished the shirts (pictured below) for Seth's homecoming last week with time to spare. Barely, but just enough to make a banner to hold at the airport. It was made using my new best friend, freezer paper. I just printed the letters really big on regular paper and actually traced them onto a looooong strip of freezer paper before cutting them out with a craft knife. It went surprisingly fast either because the letters were drawn on already so I didn't have to worry about them slipping or because most of the lines were straight. Then I ironed it on (a little crooked by accident) and used a can of flat spray paint to fill it it. The spray paint worked GREAT and fast. Next time, I would reccommend taping the newspaper or whatever you use to shield the extra cloth to the freezer paper so that stray paint doesn't get underneath it like it did around the edges on mine. Gives it that homemade feel...that's uh, what I was going for. Right?

Here are some pictures of the finished shirts:

(Mine)

(anxiously awaiting the arrival)

(celebrating after and looking oh so chic)

Finally...the star of the night and his sisters.

Fingerless Gloves

Lately I've been on this knitting kick. I think it's because it's something I can do with Liam around. I just have to make sure I put it away when I'm not working on it. Knitting needles (minus the knitting I've been working on) quickly turn into swords or screwdrivers. Yarn transforms into snakes, worms, and more recently rope.

Here are the fingerless gloves I finished just after Christmas. I used this pattern with a sport weight yarn. This is the first time I've ever done cables. They were surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, I can't find my cable needle now. Liam decided it was a helicopter. It must have flown away. I'll have to get a new one.

The pattern ended up being too big around for my arms, and I didn't have a smaller set of double-pointed needles so I just cast on ten less stitches. Worked out well, but I had to fiddle a little with the ribbing at the fingers because the stitches didn't divide right. I think I ended up knitting two together a couple of times.

I wish I could show you the set of mocha-colored gloves from Shana's etsy store that inspired me. I think they must have been purchased because I can't find them. (Shana helped me find them later, see below.)

Thank you Will and Sadie for taking my picture during Liam's nap. You make me very happy.

(Thank you Lindsey for loaning Sadie to us for the afternoon. She looks so cute in Liam's BIG coat!)

(This part was added after the original post.)

Shana still has pictures of the gloves on her Flickr account. Here's one:

Lemonade Award!

With the holidays and my brother coming home, blogging has had to take back burner for a while. Finally, this morning I had a little time to blog surf and guess what I found...an award from Shana of Shanasmusic.blogspot.com. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for thinking of me despite my delinquent blogging habits of late!

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is a fun fashion-forward blouse that I'd love to wear. I just love the vintage collar and the yellow flower embroidery. Plus, my sister-in-law gave me the cutest pair of boots a couple of years ago for my birthday that would totally rock this outfit.

The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sethy Shirts

My brother Seth is coming home in a week! I can't even believe that the two years he has served a mission in Oregon for the LDS church are almost over! I am SO EXCITED!

I thought it would be fun to make t-shirts (graphic tee style) to wear to the airport when we pick him up. My mom doesn't like to be a spectacle so I'm making her a tote bag instead of a shirt. Here's what I've done so far.

My sister had this incriminating photo of Seth lying around:

Seth was WAY into Power Rangers at the time.

I used this tutorial and posterized the image in Photoshop. I used two posterizing levels instead of the default of 4.

Then, I enlarged the image taped it on top of a couple of sheets of freezer paper and cut out the black areas with an X-acto knife.

I left little tabs connecting to the floating inside pieces and later cut them out after I'd ironed part of the floating piece down.

Next, I painted in the stencil using fabric paint.

Here's the final image:

On the nieces' and nephews' shirts I plan on writing "Say Uncle!" The brothers' and sisters' shirts will say "Oh Brother."

I want to do the letters like this shirt on Flickr.

I'm having trouble deciding what to write on my mom's tote bag and what will probably end up being my dad's apron. Any suggestions? Maybe "He gets it from HIS/HER side of the family."



(For more info on freezer paper stenciling see this previous tutorial.)

Doll Blankets

This was the first Christmas I've been able to spend with my whole family in four years, and I wanted to make it special by including everyone. (I mean everyone with the exception of my brother Seth who is on a mission for the LDS church in Oregon and comes home in 10 DAYS!)

Here's the project my nieces and I completed for my parents and their playroom. We made little doll blankets from scrap flannel quilt squares a friend gave me when she moved away. The girls designed the quilts, and I sewed them together and tied them.

Here are a few pictures of the quilts and the nieces who created them. (The bear with the blankets is Fluffy, my favorite toy as a child. She went everywhere with me and sported my first hand-sewn fashions.)

KATIE

ALYSSA



BAILEY

MADDIE