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A Valentine's Chalkboard Printable

I have a little chalkboard printable side project going... the goal being to have one printable for each month so you can just quickly switch them out, leaving the frame there year round.  Well I just so happened to be working on February's today and since February is just around the corner, I just had to share!  You can print it out yourself on regular or cardstock paper or send it to your favorite photo printing shop and have it printed as an 8X10, preferably matte paper!  I hope you enjoy my little creation!

Just click for your free downloadable February Chalkboard Printable!

Thanks for stopping in!

A Pretty Dress for a Pretty Little Girl

So, maybe I am crazy... well, at least the hubby does a pretty descent job of making me think I am crazy from time to time.  I love that man fiercely, but he really has no faith in me and honestly makes me question my sanity {like... will I need to be locked up before I hit 40!?}.  As similar as our upbringings were, going to the same small high school in a sleepy little farm town, they were also quite different.  I grew up helping my dad build things with his own two hands.  My mom let me make my own doll clothes and well, anything else I could possibly dream up.  And when it came down to it, if we really needed something, and if it could be made using our own two hands and upcycled materials, that is how it would get made.  The hubby... well, they were "normal".  If they needed something, they went to Walmart and bought two (an extra for when the first broke!).
So when I tell my hubby something like, "We need to go to JoAnns so I can get some fabric for the baptismal gown," you may see why his reaction is, "Really?" and "Why!?" and "I am sure we could find a white dress that would make do at a department store..."

Am I crazy?  Maybe... I am leaving it open for discussion.  But I do think there is something very sweet and nostalgic about using my own two hands to sew my baby girl's baptismal gown.  Not only did it save us a ton of money, but when she is 25, engaged, and digging through our closets, she can hold that sweet gown in her hands knowing that it was created especially for her sweet self. 
Priceless.

So back to me being crazy... as I have mentioned before, I have no formal sewing experience or classes and I waited till a week before to even begin AND I was too cheap to buy a pattern... yes, you heard that right... $13 was too much for a pattern that would have given me step by step directions and measurements.  (Are you beginning to side with the hubby?  It's okay, really!)

So I had to make my own pattern...

It took a couple of tries but it was all worth it when big sis started making and cutting out her own patterns too {just melt my heart}.

And once I had the paper pattern looking about the right size, I took a leap of faith that it was close enough and pinned it onto my stretch (gorgeous!) taffeta and cut it out!

I used a dress we already had to try and help visualize what I needed to do.  I was doing great till I got to the sleeves... and I didn't have a pattern.  Here is where I would have paid $13 for the the dumb pattern... making your own sleeve pattern is, well, painful.  And then, once I had sleeves that would work, I sewed them together about three different times because an itty bitty seven month old arm is quite a bit smaller than the sewing machine allows for.  And this is where I got some real interesting looks from the hubby!  But the bodice finally came together and it was time to put on the nice gathered skirt... which, once again, I had no idea how to do... so I did this...

 

Those of you who know what I should have been doing, feel free to laugh, but it worked!  I added a little lace at the bottom, around the waist and neckline and a few clasps in the back, and my sweet baby girl had a beautiful baptismal gown!

 It cost me just under $25, most of the cost being in the lace material.  But considering the gowns I was finding online like this one and this one were nearing $200 pre-shipping, $25 was an amazing deal!  And the nostalgia... you can't forget the nostalgic factor!  

 

And wasn't she just a doll in it!??

 Oh- and I almost forgot!  Since I didn't have a pattern I was completely stumped on the bonnet, so I used the tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional to create my first ever pleated headband, which I just thought was the most precious of additions to the gown.  Thank you Craftiness is not Optional!

 

So it may have not been perfect like the ones we could have ordered, but I love that I was able to make her gown for her.  My hubby had his doubts, but he came around!  And she was just an angel on her special day.

So... I hate to ask, but your verdict... do you think I was crazy in attempting such a challenge?

A Simple Things Sunday

The poor blog has been ignored the past couple weeks... I have been recovering from the holidays, from being back to work, and most of all, having the flu bug sweep through our home!  But in spite of all the recovering, I have a very sweet, simple moment in time I would love to share; our sweet little sis gaining just a bit more independence.  Yes, she is on the move!  I love my camera for the simple fact that I can capture this moment, her first time being able to crawl over to our back door, climb up, and peer into her soon to be stomping ground.  Thank you to Simple as That blog for inspiring me to capture and treasure these moments through the camera lens.

Linking Up!

Small things become great when done with LOVE

I am trying out a new chalkboard background... you see the one I was using was just a tad to small to really print as an 8X10 so I went on a mission to make my own!  I am in the process of creating a year long set of chalkboard printables to use as a more permanent home decor piece and I wanted to have a good 8X10 base.  Here is my trial printable on the new back drop.

This is a possible February printable, but like I said, it's just a trial!  Feel free to click on the picture to download the print for yourself!  Print it at home or send it in to your friendly hometown picture developer.

Any thoughts on the chalkboard... is it a keeper??

Christy

Christmas Pictures

I was a lucky girl this Christmas... my hubby got me a new lens for my camera... a 35mm f/1.8 lens that can help get that cool bokeh look in some of my pictures.  I begged the hubs to let me open my present a few hours early because I have been drooling over the Unskinny Boppy's photo from her post "Taking Glowing Pictures of the Tree."  Her cool picture of her son has been flying like crazy through Pinterest and I have been lusting over one of my own.

I started by using her settings: ISO 3200, f/1.8, ss 1/30th... but played a bit to try and get the lighting a bit brighter.  I am fairly new to using my camera in manual mode... but I am LOVING experimenting with it!

This was taken with all the lights off, ISO 6400, f/1.8, ss 1/30.

 

Little sis moves more... so getting a clearer picture of her in low light is a tad bit more tricky, but with the same settings I got this shot- kind of grainy, but I am still in love.

And after Santa stopped in, I snapped a few shots at ISO 1600, f/1.8, ss 1/30.

 The one of the whole tree I raised my f-stop up a bit... ISO 1600, f/2.2, ss 1/30.

It is so fun to experiment with having a DSLR!  I hope you and your families had a beautiful Christmas and thanks to Unskinny Boppy for the inspiration!

~Christy

A Great DIY Teacher Gift... Heart-shaped Hand Warmers

So this is my daughter's first year of Pre-School.  Being a teacher myself, I knew I wanted to get her teachers something special and unique that didn't break the bank (especially since she has a zillion random teachers!).  I saw this super cute idea for hand warmers made from fleece and rice on Pinterest and after some image searching I finally found the original post from The Inbetween Girls for DIY Hand warmers. Since I know how chilly recess can be, I was sold.  I changed it up a bit, so here is what we (big sis got to help!) did...

From JoAnn's, I picked up a roll of fleece from the remnants bin (there are a ton of super cute fleece prints and solids this time of year), embrodery thread found by the needlepoint section, some needles that could handle the thick embroidery thred, and some cute white favor bags from the wedding section to carry them in.  In all my bill was about $10.  I also used white rice and a funnel from our pantry, a heart cookie cutter for the shape, and a fabric pen for tracing.

I laid out the fleece and traced my hearts on, four hearts for each gift.  I traced 32 hearts for the 8 teacher gifts I needed to make.

Next I cut them all out and one by one began stitching two together at a time.  I decided to use a simple hand stitch instead of the sewing machine for a few reasons... 1. I like the way the chunky thread gives an antiquey feel (plus you can tie the two ends to make cute bows this way!) 2. It seems easier to fill with rice and continue to make those last few stitches 3. It really doesn't take much longer by hand anyway.

When sewing around the edges leave about an inch to use the funnel and fill with rice.  I found I needed less than 2' of thread for each one and between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of rice.

Big sis was great help filling the hearts with rice... that was her part.  Little sis tried to help too... by chewing on the funnel!

Once they were filled with rice, I finished stitching, tied it off with a knot, then tied a cute bow with the two thread ends.

And since I am addicted to chalkboard word creations (just check out my Printables page, lol!) I made a cute little poem and gift tag to tie onto the wedding favor bags.  They are 4X6 and can just be printed onto index cards.  I printed mine on the front and back, cutting them apart to get two tags per index card.  Click below to get the free printable file!

She is taking in her little gifts tomorrow... I hope her teachers enjoy them!

 

What is your favorite handmade gift?  I'd love to hear and see about your creations this year! 

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