Who Needs A Quilt Top?

Cause I'm really good at making them. What I'm not so good at is finishing them. On April 9, 2009 I postedthis picture of cut pieces for a zig zag quilt. Over two years ago! I ran out of fabric and it wasn't as big and I wanted it, so it's been forever since I've worked on it. Here it is in its current state, currently measuring about 4 ft square.
I finally ordered new fabric to add on to my quilt and am excited to get rolling. Look at all the pretty colors!A lot of the fabrics in the first quilt are Amy Butler. I ordered a few more from her in a slightly different color palette, and also a bunch from Anna Maria Horner which I am very excited about! I love her prints (and, by the way, I love them even more in person than I do on the screen) and am happy I found these in cotton! She's been doing a lot in voile, and while everyone says not to be intimidated by it, I am anyway.
I ordered these from fabric.com so I got free shipping, and I also found a coupon on retailmenot.com so I feel like I got a pretty good deal!
Now that I have all this new fabric, be sure and check back with my blog in about two years to see the finished quilt! LOL

Party Perfect!

 

It's pretty random, but I've been selling these red and white paper straws for about a year now. I love them. Other people must love them too! They are sooo cute for parties. I saw these little wood ice cream spoons and thought they'd go great with the straws. I know I'd love to have them for a party, and I figured other people would too. Turns out I'm right! The "Elle is 2!" were commissioned by an Etsy buyer for her little girl. Cute! Perfect for Summer.

Matryoshka

 

Doing a little experimenting for a possible Russian Doll themed birthday party in October :)

B cards

Why do I love business cards? I might be a little crazy. But seriously, after college, it made me feel like a big girl to carry them around and trade them with high school friends when we were home for Thanksgiving. And now, why do I love them? They are so tiny and cute! And if I'm giving them to someone, it means I'm meeting someone new, which is something I love to do. And, potentially, am finding a new customer, which is becoming more important as I try to get into the sales game. Also, my kids just started a new school, which means I met lots of new moms and I wanted to be able to quickly give out info.
So, I've ordered a TON of them recently. And am SO sad about not being in love with any of them. I ordered "mom" cards from vistaprint which have my name and say "mom to Nash and Margot" and they're cute. But the two that break my heart are both from Tiny Prints. I love Tiny Prints! Or maybe I don't. These things are just, well, tiny!

After spending way too much money on little cards, I made my own. I knew I could make my own, but honestly, I just thought I wanted something professionally done and I was sure to love. I'm not going to say I like mine better, but I like them! I rounded the corners on mine, I like the bold graphic, I like that it's not hard to read. I like em. That's it. I even thought about rounding the corners on the Tiny Prints cards! But I won't. I'll just feel triumphant in my quest to make a fun little business card. And I won't spent gobs of money at Tiny Prints or Iomoi again. I guess that's why I keep making things - I usually like what I make better!

Cakepops

Why am I so bad at making cakepops? Half of them broke or fell sideways off the stick, or the stick came right through the top. Bakerella is a genius and her book is adorable. I want to make every design in it. But clearly, that is not an option for me since the little balls don't even come out half the time!
I have a friend from long ago who is always posting advice on Facebook about making cakepops and is full of suggestions to her friends on how to improve their cakepops. I have just decided that she must be living a lie. No one can be that good or knowledgeable about making them.
But I want them to be perfect. Even considering they're not, they are still pretty cute when they're all wrapped up and tied with a bow.
But none of this really matters because my 4 year old completely flipped out when his fell of the stick as soon as he picked it up. It didn't fall onto the floor. No one yelled at him or gave him a nasty look. He just wanted it on the stick! But, sailors don't always make good friends, and cakepops don't always stay on the stick. I offered him others, and it didn't matter, he was just devastated. So I am done with cakepops. Though my husband sincerely hopes I might consider making cakepop truffles.

Thanks, Teachers!

 

It's Summer vacation! My kids have only been in school for a month, but they have had a great time and these wonderful teachers! So a thank you gift was in order. I borrowed a great idea from my awesome crafty friend Robin and made these cards with little flags that have "thank you" stamped on them. And then I taped a Starbucks gift card to the back. I'm sure the teachers appreciate the Starbucks more than the card, but they were fun and quick to make!
Robin uses these for a few different holidays - with a lollipop in them for Valentines day, with a flower in them for Mother's Day, and they are always super super cute. Maybe I'll try to come up with some other ideas to share.

So, how it's done. Simple! Go take a picture of your cute kid with their hand in a fist or giving thumbs up. I used a lollipop stick with some decorative paper for my flag, and used a xyron for my adhesive so I'd get a good seal on my flag. Cut a hole with an xacto, slide in your stick, and then tape it in the back so it'll stay. Presto.

Love it! Thanks, Robin!

What I'm obsessing over

 

I was browsing at the Container Store and picking up some boxes for some Ebay stuff, and I saw these boxes, made to haul beer around. I knew straight away I had to make doll houses out of them! We went to two birthday parties this weekend and each little girl had their gift "wrapped" in a dollhouse! They each took about an hour to make, though I'm sure I could shave that down once I had the measurements.
Supplies: 12x12 decorative paper, paper cutter, I used my sewing machine to do some cute stitching on the windows and doors, rubber stamps (I eventually added the little girl's name in an arch over the door which was super cute), and I used a xyron machine to fix the paper to the houses, but you could use a spray adhesive, or paper glue. Go wild!

Other obsessions include this paper which I printed for free off The Small Object! I love her things! Why can some people just do a little scribble and make it look so amazing? Considering Sarah is now selling things at Anthropologie, I consider free printables off her blog a major score. There's a link to her blog on the left toolbar.

Lastly, I am amping up my camera strap making! And I am obsessed with these colors and patterns from Anthologie, which I got at the quilting store in St. Charles on Mother's day. Gorgeous colors. After I get my pattern for the strap down pat I'll publish it here.

Does that make two blog posts in two days for me? Woo hoo!

Crawfish Boil Time!

 

Where did it all come from??
I got a template for the utensil holder a long time ago from The Small Object but it's no longer available there. There are lots of other great tutorials and fun free things to print! I purchased the crawfish image I used here from this Etsy shop.

I also bought the kids AMAZING shirt from Etsy here and they were adorbs. You don't get much cuter than "I wanna be loved bayou!"

Of course you can find Tabasco Toppers at Sucre Shop.

I am on a sign-making mission and hope to have more "don't eat da straight ones!" signs, along with some others soon in my Etsy shop.

We love our crawfish boil! I just need to work on starting to prepare and craft for it more than one week in advance. Starting tomorrow, I'm looking what holidays are in the next two months and brainstorming.

With the awesome press and from my Afiko Men I am hyped up to get back into blogging. Hope to post one to two times a week! So stay tuned for frequent updates!

Praise for Passover Projects!

Guess what, guess what? They liked it! They really liked it! Who, you ask? Everyone! My new Passover projects were blogged about on The Long Thread, which is one of my favorite blogs and the AMAZING famed blog Apartment Therapy!
My Passover pillows on Apartment Therapy are here.
Mention here at the end of her blog report (no picture, but I'm right next to Martha Stewart! Good enough for me!)
Can't wait to improve on these projects for next year.