Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway

Today is your chance to win a Cutting Edge Stencil of your choice!  I am sure you all already know about their incredible stencils.  They are easy to use and so fun to look at when you are done!


They have some new stencil designs that are so great!  I had too much fun browsing through them.  Here are two of my new favorite stencils at Cutting Edge...



And being a polka-dot lover myself, I think I giggled out loud when I saw their new Polka Dot Allover Stencil.  It comes in small and large scale!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.


So all you have to do to enter the giveaway is 

1.) Visit Cutting Edge Stencils and browse their new designs.  

2.) Come back here and leave a comment telling us your new stencil love. 

Random.org will choose a winner to be announced on Saturday!

Thanks for stopping by!  

Happy Wednesday!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!  THANKS FOR PLAYING!  : )

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Stenciled Closet

I like pretty closets.  Yes, I do.  So with my latest stencil from Cutting Edge I decided to "pretty" up my son's closet.  His room is kind of in transition.  He will be 3 this summer but still sleeps in a crib (best choice we ever made) and resides in his "nursery".  I am super excited to change it into a big boy room and have all the plans made but am just not ready to take the plunge yet and neither is he!  : )  

So, while we wait, I do a few little changes here and there.  I know the walls will be painted a light gray color at some point so I picked Gravity by Valspar.  I wanted it to be slightly darker than what I plan to paint the room.  I was very happy with my choice.


The stencil I used is one of Cutting Edge's Allover Wall Stencils in Houndstooth.  How fun is that?  A whole wall of Houndstooth?  Love it.


So I stripped his closet down and got to work while the baby napped and the big ones destroyed the place.  


I poured out my paint, dipped in my handy mini roller provided by Cutting Edge and went to work.  I used spray adhesive to stick the stencil to the wall.  I had not used this method before because I was scared of having it stuck to the wall forever.  That spray adhesive is serious stuff.  However, I followed the temporary bond directions on the back and it worked like a charm.


Pretty soon, this is what his closet looked like and I was loving it.  Fun, right?



Little buddy is loving it too.


By now, you all know how fun Cutting Edge Stencils are.  How would you like another chance to win one???  Tomorrow is your chance.  Stop by and enter to win a stencil of your choice!

I'll be party hopping at these fabulous blogs this week! 

Happy Tuesday!

 
Visit thecsiproject.com

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Monday, May 23, 2011

Bed Rest Buster: Headband Headquarters

Well guys, it appears that my little lady is determined to make an early entrance, at least earlier than planned. A few weeks ago when I was about 33 weeks I started to go into pre-term labor and the doctor has been trying to hold the baby off from coming ever since. So yep, as you might have guessed given the title of this post, I've been put on bed rest.

Bedrest

Oh the dreaded phrase Bed Rest!! It is certainly not the worst thing in the world, and I am obviously happy to do whatever it takes to keep our little girl safe and healthy. But unfortunately it has arrived at the exact time that my nesting instinct has kicked into high gear. It's all I can do to keep myself firmly planted on the couch when these urgent messages keep popping into my head, "You don't have any pacifiers! You need to sterilize the breast pump! You need to borrow someone's Boppy Pillow!" and on and on it goes.


So what does a typically multi-tasking girl do in those non-napping hours of bed rest-ing, to try to keep her hands busy and mind occupied enough to stop making list after list of things to do?

Yes. Make baby headbands. Lots and lots of headbands.

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I have been bookmarking various tutorials that I come across for fabric flowers, knowing that little headbands and hair clips would be in our little girl's future. It turns out that if you must camp out on the couch for hours at a time, this is a great project. Particularly if paired with some sort of all-day marathon of a good brain candy tv show.

You simply need a little headband station with a variety of supplies. Prepare for your husband to make comments like, "It looks like a sweatshop over here!" And prepare to ignore him. Or just ask him for more snacks or ice water.

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At your station you'll need sharp scissors, various types of fabric, lace, felt, needle & thread or glue gun, elastic, piece of paper to use as a template, and something round to trace for a template.

I'm not actually sharing a tutorial today, just a collection of tutorials that I've come across and the fruits of my labor. These ladies have already spelled everything out perfectly and you don't want to try to make sense of my crazy pregnant ramblings!!

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First up is this lovely fabric flower, tutorial from Simply Vintage Girl here. Love it. Newborn baby photo prop? Definitely.

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I made these headbands with a similar technique as the example shown above. I just cut the fabric into circles, burned the edges, and glued them together. Easy and elegant!!

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Next I made this felt dahlia flower from KoJo Designs here. I will probably be switching out the pearl on this for a string of beads once I can get to the store to get beads, but I just love the bright red and white! It makes me think of Christmas, Valentines Day or 4th of July. She'll be ready no matter what!

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Headbands 2

Next up were these no sew flowers from Ruffles and Stuff here. I simply went through my fabric stash and started cutting different fabrics into circles. I tried to mix it up a little by using different colored stretchy bands, and adding a bit of lace as well. These were easy and several have already been used for other baby clothes projects, so I know they'll match perfectly!

Headbands 1

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I found this lace flower at Aly & Ash Creations here. I was so excited that I actually had the exact lace and brads that she used in her example. Love it. This one will be a hair clip. That is, once I get some hair clips it will be. :)

Headbands 1

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There are lots of tutorials for rolled fabric flowers, and I found mine at Hello Friend here. Whether these will be a big cluster on a headband or made into little clips is still to be determined. But they are the same color scheme as in her room, so I couldn't resist keeping them together for a picture! :)

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I also made up a few other bows that I left un-attached for now. Will they be hair clips, headbands, attached to onesies or some other clothing item? Only time will tell.

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I will also be trying out Patrice's Quick and Easy Hair Ribbon tutorial as soon as I can get my hands on some ribbon! I'm still stocking up on my "girly" supplies around here! :)

Well, that's it for now!! It was fun to have one thing I could scratch off of my "to do before baby arrives" list. And my husband is happy to have back the section of the couch that was dedicated to my supplies. :)

Okay, now you have to tell me, have I missed any essential baby hair thing-ys tutorials? If so, please link up in the comments.

And have any of you been on bed rest yourselves?! How did you pass the time without going crazy?! Aside from sleeping, which I promise I do! I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions!!

Have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!!

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Friday, May 20, 2011

Summertime Topiary

As the warm weather creeps up on us..and I know it's coming (fingers crossed). I get anxious for those sweet summer days lying pool side, drink in hand. Hence today's inspiration: The Summertime Topiary!

Supplies: topiary form, pot (I used a metal bucket) and some fun drink umbrellas (I bought a pack of 144 at my local party store which was plenty for this project)

I just randomly began placing the umbrellas half opened into the topiary.


Aren't these colors so fun! I was thinking this could be a great center piece for a Luau. Or just a great way to add some pizazz to your table if you are having a cocktail party.

Viola! Finished product. I love the colors and I decided to tie some ribbon around my bucket because well, we always need ribbon...right?


My table-scape. How fun is this! Stop back next time for a delicious citrus inspired recipe to top off your topiary!

Happy Friday!





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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Revisiting the Rosette Pillow

Remember when I made this big rosette pillow, way back when? Well, my friend Mary Ellen of MEllen Designs dropped me off a few materials the other day...

And asked me to make some more! Of course I said yes. These pillows were so quick and easy to make, and I would do anything to help out a good friend like Mary Ellen :).

So, I followed the easy steps that you can find from my first Oversized Rosette Pillow tutorial here, and made her these...
We used mostly scrap fabric that Mary Ellen had from previous projects and a pair of navy throw pillows to make our own. The chunky fabrics she chose for the pillows gave each rosette so much character and dimension. The texture these rosettes showcase is great! I love that she mixed the fabric grades and patterns. 

Alternating the sizes of the rosettes added to the fun of each pillow too! Now she has an fun little set of pillow she can use at her MEllen Designs Stationary booth in New York this spring.
Have you visited Mostly MEllen before? I have mentioned that she is just too cute and SO much fun? You should definitely check her out!

So, now that we've seen this easy no-sew pillow action twice now, do you think you could tackle it? I bet someone with a steady sewing hand could put these babies to shame! I would love to see you take on the oh-so-popular-rosette too.  Leave me a link in the comments or upload your version to our Flickr account, I would love for you to share!

I'll be linking at these parties this week. See you there!

Happy Thursday,

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Silhouette Project - Boy Shorts

I receieved some white flocked heat transfer material from Silhouette and I knew just what I was going to do with it!  


The little man had some sweatpants that were (finally) getting too short.  It didn't seem right to just put them away when he goes through play clothes like crazy.


So I cut them off using a current pair of shorts as a guide for the length.


Next I followed the instructions on the box.  Super easy to do and so fun!


I found the designs I wanted on the Silhouette Studio which in this case were simply a letter T and a number 3.  I sent them through the machine to be cut and then removed the material off the plastic sheet that I did not want to appear on the shorts.


I put it in place, laid a pillowcase on top, and ironed it down.


I then removed the plastic sheet to reveal my flocked number and letter.


Now we had new play shorts with a fun and meaningful letter & number on them.  They came out perfectly and I was so excited.


My son was pretty happy about it too even if they were more like capri pants than shorts!  Oh, well.  Poor little guy will grow someday!  : )


I can't wait to use the rest of the heat transfer material!  So fun and perfect to add that extra special touch.

Silhouette is offering a special promotion for you!  

Here is the deal:

1 Silhouette SD
1 package white flocked heat transfer material
1 package teal smooth heat transfer material
1 package dark pink smooth heat transfer

All for $219!

That is a savings of over 125 bucks!  

Sound good?  If you don't own a Silhouette machine yet, now would be the time to jump on this incredible deal!  

Use the promo code LEMON at checkout!  The deal begins today and is valid through May 25th!


Also, if you already have a Silhouette, you can still get 25% off heat transfer material with the promo code LEMON!  That is good news!  


I will be joining these parties this week!  

Happy Tuesday!

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