Stencil Project Favorites!

One of the first things I started to admire in peoples homes when I started blogging and reading other creative blogs were stencils. It's amazing how stenciling an entire wall or a home accent can immediately change and personalize a space. The first stencil I ever attempted to use in my home got me hooked...

 

{Hourglass Stencil form Cutting Edge Stencils}

But I think my all-time favorite so far is still the one I have proudly hanging on my dining room wall, The Bon Appetit Stencil!

I love the idea that you can put a stencil on anything and it not be stationary. It's amazing how it can transform a cheap piece of wood, and can be versatile enough to move around. We've had this stencil in two different rooms in the house and in 5 different locations all together. I love it! Now it's hanging sideways on the dining room wall. The options are unlimited!!

Want a chance to win a stencil of your own? 

CLICK HERE to enter!!

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Monogram Button Pillow

While I am enjoying my new little baby at home, I have a few bloggy friends stopping in to share some of their great ideas and projects. Today Kari has a great holiday gift idea to share.

Hey guys!  I'm Kari, visiting LTC from my little blog, The Adventures of One Crazy Lady.  I'm here today to share with you a great project if you're looking for a gift idea to make for someone you love this upcoming holiday season.  One of my most favorite crafts that I've ever made is my buttoned monogram pillow.  I decided to make one of these bad boys after I saw a few of them on Etsy and realized that it just couldn't be that hard.  And trust me, it wasn't!

Introducing the monogrammed button pillow!

It was easy to make, just very time consuming...

Here's what you need to make your own:

1. A pillow form (I went with the 12x16 form)

2. Fabric (for my size pillow I went 3/4 a yard)

3. Buttons (I got mine off etsy)

4. A print out of the letter you're going to be monograming 

5. A washable fabric marker

6. Thread and a needle (I used an embroidery needle)

Now the how to...

1. After cutting your fabric (I do the envelop pillow sham so I cut 3 pieces of fabric), take the front piece of fabric and using your print out and your marker, trace your letter onto the fabric.  It should look like this when you're done:

2. After you've traced your letter, take your threaded needle and begin arranging and sewing your buttons onto your fabric:

3. After you finished sewing on all your buttons, take a q-tip and some water and rub it onto the fabric to wash off the marker you used to form your letter.  It should easily come off with a little scrubbing.

4. If you're making an envelope pillow sham cover like I did, you should have cut your fabric into 3 pieces.  I cut mine into the following sizes: 13x17 <--front, 13x13 and 13x9 <--- the 2 back pieces that make the envelope sham.  I then hemmed the 13" sides of the 2 back pieces to finish them off.  

5. I took all of my 3 pieces and pinned them together right sides facing each other:

6. After pinning them together I sewed a 1/2 inch seam attaching all three pieces together:

7. After you've finished sewing the pieces together, turn it right-side out and admire your work:

Can you do this?  YES!  This was NOT hard and I have complete confidence in you! :) If you have any questions, please feel free to email me!  And if you're looking for more fun pillow ideas, be sure to check out my blog for more ideas!  I can't wait to see your very own monogrammed pillow!

Thanks Kari for coming by and sharing your pillow with us, I love it!

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From the LTC Archives

Dear Friends,

I hope you will forgive me for pulling from our archives.  This is the very first project I ever posted on Lemon Tree.  There are two (good) reasons for this re-post.

1.) I am in a total creative, crafting, sewing rut.  It's true.  It's no fun.  However, I feel like I may be coming out of it as I have been inspired lately and have a few ideas in this frazzled mom brain of mine.  

2.) I have no camera right now.  It's been a week.  A week of no picture taking is rough for me.  

But I do promise to be back next Tuesday with a camera (hopefully) and a new project!  Thanks for understanding!

And here you have the old birdie nest...

I have a little birdie pattern I made awhile back. I thought it would be fun to make a little nest with a couple stuffed birds to go inside. I pictured it as a sweet little decoration in my Avery's room, but I knew she would want to actually play with the birds so it became a 2 in 1 project.

I was on the hunt for a nest. I came across this grapevine wreath at JoAnn's for 99 cents. It was perfect.  Avery was excited simply over the purchase of the "nest".

Of course, I went with my trusty green fabric from JoAnn's that has been used in an abundance of sewing and craft projects at our house. I just love it...

I used some orange polka-dot fabric scraps and plain yellow that we had lying around to cut out 3 little birdies for the nest...

I had brown felt scraps that I used to cut out triangle beaks and heart wings. I then typed some large brown periods and printed them on iron-on transfer paper for the eyes. I used a hole punch to cut the eyes out quickly...

I ironed an eye on both sides of each bird and then hand stitched the wings on each side with an x so that they weren't completely stuck and could flap, of course...

Next, I sewed the 2 sides of each birdie together inside out (this step was the longest as my sewing machine and I have a serious love/hate relationship). I left an opening at the bottom, flipped them right side out and hand stitched the beaks on...

The next step was to give life to the little babies by stuffing them...

I hand stitched the birds closed. After they were complete, I hot glued a round piece of brown felt to the bottom of the nest so that the birdies would stay in and to avoid scratching any furniture that the nest may be placed on...

I had to take the birdies outside for some fresh air and a photo shoot...

Avery was thrilled with the final result. And so we have a toy and a decoration in one!

Happy Tuesday!

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Photography Tips: Say No to Auto & Giveaway

**This giveaway is now closed. However, you are still welcome to leave a comment about what photography things you would like to know more about, since we read every comment that is left on our site. :) **

It is no secret these days that the "auto" setting on your camera rarely produces the results that you are looking for in your photos.

One of the BEST ways to get the most from your dSLR camera is to learn the relationship between 3 things,

Shutter Speed, ISO and Aperture.

Do you know what these are and how they work with one another? If not, would you like to find out?

To kick off our photography tips and tricks series, I asked Kristen of Kristen Duke Photography if she would be willing to give one of our readers a copy of her E-book, Say No to Auto: Three Basic Steps to Understanding Manual Camera Settings, and she agreed!

Kristen's book will give you the best of the basics, a perfect springboard in your photography journey. She even has color coded examples for both Canon and Nikon users to assist you in finding exactly which buttons to use to change which settings. What a lifesaver!

Would you like to win a copy of this book?

Many of you commented before that you would like to learn some more about photography, but I'd like to know what exactly you are curious about.

Are you interested in seeing the settings for photos? Composition tips? Lighting tips? Equipment in action? Editing tips? Workflow? What would you like to learn about in this series?

For a chance to win, simply leave your answer to this question in a comments section.

Be sure to leave your email address so that we can notify you of your win!

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Friday Finds {Pinterest-My Style}

Scarf Love!

As the weather changes and the temps drop, I'm finding myself filled with excitement as I add scarves to my wardrobe!

Luckily, with the use of Pinterest and their search bar, I can simply type in any item and viola! Fabulous inspiration at my fingertips that really suits my {fancy}.

{Board Mixer}



{DIY Scarves}




the braided scarf...ahhh {my fav}





the jersey lace scarf {in my dreams}




script scarf {oh my word..really want this}




No Knit Scarf {Rike Feurstein Inspiration....sigh}



If you aren't familiar with the luscious knits and hats from Rike Feurstein you will want to make it a point to check it out. The collection is amazing.


If you haven't checked out Pinterest, I suggest that you do..it's {EXTREMELY} addictive. Check out my boards here and my scarf love board as well!

Happy Friday LTC!


Jessica

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{Link Up} with Lemon Tree, Pinterest style!!

Thanks for stopping by again this month to 

{Link Up} with Lemon Tree!

 Who out there hasn't been inspired by Pinterest at least once or twice, right? Link up your pinterest inspired projects and let us know what inspired you at this month's party! As always, please link back to Lemon Tree in your post so that others know to stop by and party with us too. And, while your add it, link to your Pinterest account in your post as well so that we can hop on over and take a look at your board for a little inspiration too!

Be sure to stop back by this week and check out some of the great 'pin-spiration' to be found from your own great projects. We'll be featuring projects here and on our Facebook page as the week goes on!

Happy November, and thanks for linking up!!

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White Monogram Canvas {Pinterest Inspired}

 It's no surprise that we all get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest these days. I mean, how could we not? Lately, I have been seeing a ton of white canvas projects and have been dying to make my own. My favorite white canvas 'pin-spiration' to date has got to be this one:

It originated from a European store called 'Not on the High Street.' They have gorgeous personalized canvases with gorgeously high price tags to match. I figured I could attempt to make my own on the cheap, and while the outcome isn't quite as perfect as theirs, it was within my price-range. And I have to say, I am fairly pleased with the results anyway!

 

(Although I'll admit, it is a little rough around the edges and potentially slightly crooked?)

I purchased my supplies at Hobby Lobby, and had to sort through many letter options and sizes to find just the right combo. I settled on chipboard letters instead of wood. One reason being the wooden ones were simply HUGE or just completely the wrong font. Plus, the chipboard ones came in at a bargain. I had to purchase the M and P separately, but the small letters were packaged together in the scrapbooking section. Add a 50% off sale price and they came in at a steal!

The one real problem I ran into was that there was no ampersand to be found, in any font or material. So, I had to get creative there. I decided to use foam board. I stenciled out two ampersands from a print I made with my computer, then cut them with an exacto-knife. They were definitely a little rough around the edges to say the least. 

 

Luckily, a few coats of white paint hides the imperfections quite nicely. So, after hot-gluing my letters to the canvas, I painted till my heart was content. 

Like I said, my version isn't perfect, but it was fun to make.  I do wish I had spent a little time leveling my letters to make straighter. Ohwell, maybe you can do that is you feel inspired to give one a go yourself!

I have been wanting to create a sweet statement for our house lately. There is something about growing our family together that just makes me fall more in love with my husband everyday. It's nice to think about that every time I look at the wall.

Thanks Pinterest for the inspiration!

Happy Wednesday!

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