Dainty Rosette Headband

Nothing is sweeter than a tiny little rosette on a thin elastic headband for a newborn. Not to mention it might be the easiest thing to make!

Start with a long piece of fabric about 1.5 inches wide

 Fold it in half an hot glue it

 Start rolling it on itself starting at one end (the middle)

 Twist it and dab glue as you go...the tighter and more often you twist the fabric the smaller the 'petals' will look for larger 'petals' don't twist the fabric as tight.

 Glue the thin elastic to a piece of felt

 Glue the rosette to the felt with the elastic between them

 DONE!

 Find a cute baby to wear it!

All this fun is making her tired...but it even looks cute when she's sleeping!

Glamorous Headband

This headband is kind of big (too big for a baby really), but it's fun anyway, and versatile...it could be used for mom or baby!

I made this headband using all white materials, but it would be fun with different colors.  I also chose to put it on a clip so you could use it in multiple ways.

Start out with a bunch (about 15-20) circles of fabric and 1 circle of felt for the base...FELT WORKS BETTER...but felt gives it a more playful look and I wanted this to be more glamorous so fabric worked better.

For embellishment have some netting and some feathers

 Hot glue the netting and feathers to the bottom felt circle

 Take each circle of fabric and fold it in half

  Then fold it up on itself like an accordion

Start gluing the accordion folded fabric to the felt base

*If you want the flower less poofy make the circles of fabric smaller and if you want the size of the flower to be daintier make the felt base smaller

 Cover the whole felt base

 I chose to put it on an alligator clip due to weight of the flower and for more versatility.  You could put it on elastic. I do tend to put most of my hair bows on clips so they can 'grow' with the girl.

  I wanted to use this elastic, but was afraid it was too flimsy for the weight of the flower

 These are great headbands too that you can stick clips on (get them at Walmart or Target or most craft stores)

 These are the texture of pantyhose but have a ribbon that you can slip clips under as well (get them at Walmart or craft stores)

 Find a cute baby to wear the headband!

 

Or mom can wear the clip (don't mind my appearance, just coming back from the gym)

The possibilities are endless, but I suggest starting with felt for this style flower and get your fingers ready for some burns with that hot glue gun!

Bow Headband

In honor of my dear friend Jen Dowd (read about our friendship here), who is pregnant with a little girl due in July (we LOVE July babies almost as much as we love girls:) I thought I would go ahead and do a week of baby headband tutorials.  They are all super simple and easy to make, so why not get creative and make one for your baby, or yourself!

 

 

Take a piece of fabric about 6 inches long by 3 inches wide (after having done this, I would not recommend large dot fabric, smaller prints or solids work better)

 Fold half way and glue with a hot glue gun

 Fold the other half over and glue

 Now fold the two ends in to the middle and glue to make a rectangle

 Pinch the top and bottom together and glue to hold

 Now make your headband with elastic by either gluing the ends together or sewing together

 Glue the bow to the headband

 Take a folded strip of fabric and wrap it around the front of the bow and glue to shut at the back of the bow with the headband inside

 DONE! (now you can see why large dots don't do well, smaller prints work better)

Now find an adorable little baby to wear it!

 

 

 

Peek-A-Boo!!!

HELP! My Master Bedroom Makeover Needs Inspiration

HELP ME PLEASE!!!

We have lived in our current house for a year and a half.  Every room in our house has been decorated (not perfectly, but serviceable) EXCEPT OUR BEDROOM!

Phil has been bugging me enquiring about it for about a year now.  "When will we get curtains in our room?"  Normally I am a full out decorator.  We move into a house and I have every room DONE in about three months time.  But I think I have just lost steam when it comes to our bedroom.

Part of my struggle has been that my style has changed, and our furniture doesn't totally reflect my style any more.  Getting new furniture is NOT an option (it is perfectly nice stuff, an only 5 years old).

In December I bought new bedding, but that was kind of stupid on my part because I didn't really have a vision for how I wanted to room to look (well I did, but I didn't really take into consideration how it would look with what we had).  Now I have this beautiful charcoal bedding, with brown/cherry wood and tan walls (which were painted when we moved in, so re-painting is probably not an option either...Ahhhh!). Although I have toyed with the idea of stenciling a cool graphic design just on the wall behind our bed...that's an option.

I NEED HELP!!!!

Here is the stuff we have that we can't change (or won't change): The furniture, wall color, bedding OH AND THAT GREENISH COLORED COUCH (slip cover is an option)...

Given all those 'perminent' items....I WOULD LOVE SOME ADVICE!!!!!

Color schemes (we had orange as an accent forever, don't mind it, but would like a change), ideas for wall decor, curtain ideas, something above the bed, rugs...whatever!

Here is our room...Let's see what all you creative people come up with!!!

 

Instagram Inspiration ~ Numbered Tins

My sister, Torrie, and her teammate, Lauren, have the coolest Instagram feeds.  They are really great at seeing ordinary things like a mug of coffee or a mirror and making them art (very hipster of them;)

Usually I get my craft inspiration from Pinterest, but two days ago I saw a picture Lauren posted on Instagram and I loved it and had to copy it!

Here is Lauren's picture:

Here is my version:

They were so simple to make and since I already had most of the things at my house (burlap, paint, stencils and the fake plants from Ikea) all I had to do was buy the tins ($3.50 each at Hobby Lobby).

Supplies:
Burlap
Tins (however many you want)
Black paint
Number stencil
Scissors
Hot glue gun

Instruction (so easy you probably don't even need these):

 

1. Cut out squares of burlap

2. Stencil numbers on the squares

3. Hot glue the numbers on the tins

4. Put whatever you want in them

Plants, Candles, Candy, Silverware, Bathroom Supplies (q-tips etc.), Jewelry...etc  The possibilities are endless

 

Now I just need to find a home for them....

Frazier Rehab Ironman Housing Fund

When you have a huge passion for something you can’t HELP but tell the world about it.  You eat, sleep, breath it! You show the world that you’re passionate about it by taking action!

Last week I had the opportunity to catch up with my old strength coach, Jason Dierking.  He coached me at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers) and is now at University of Louisville.  In the short hour we had to chat, he shared a story with me that he was so passionate about, that he decided to take action.

Tom Morris is a strength coach at IU.  In May of last year he was in a biking accident that has left him paralyzed.  His rehab and treatment is taking place in Louisville, Kentucky.  The only problem is he doesn’t live there so he has to find local housing.  As you can imagine this is a HUGE burden on families amidst an already trying time in their lives.

(Tom and Jason)

In 2010, Jason and Tom completed a half Ironman together and often talk about racing together again.  But until they can physically race together again, Jason is going to do it for both of them, completing a full Ironman, the first half for himself and the second half for Tom with the goal to raise money for the FRAZIER REHABIRON MAN HOUSING FUND.

The goal of the FRAZIER REHAB IRONMAN HOUSING FUND is to offset or completely cover the cost of housing for Frazier patients while staying in Louisville.

Here is a link to the FRAZIER REHAB IRONMAN HOUSING FUND Facebook page where you can click the ‘about’ tab and read the full story and find out how to donate (or click here).

Those of you who know Jason, know that he is a very passionate person! He does NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING with anything less than 100% enthusiasm! Whether it is something as small as forearm curls (gosh I hated those) or something as big as competing in an Ironman, he goes ALL OUT!

Jason’s passion and enthusiasm are infectious and I couldn’t help but want to join his cause.  So I am taking one of my current passions and joining his efforts. 

I am committing 15% of all proceeds from my shop Bundle Up Buddy between January 1, 2013 and August 25, 2013 (the day of the Louisville Ironman) will go to the Frazier Rehab Ironman Housing Fund.  Join us in raising funds for this great cause!!!

We’re all cheering you on Jason and our prayers are with you Tom!!!!

Bundle Up Buddy

2012 brought some unexpected endevours that I am thrilled about, but NEVER saw coming!

On November 12, 2012 I opened an Etsy shop called 'BUNDLE UP BUDDY'. 

Here is a link to the shop Bundle Up Buddy...and here is the story of how and why it started:

I attribute these two darling faces to the success of the shop and a whole bunch of pins on Pinterest certainly didn't hurt:)

 

As Phil dressed Emrie for church one Sunday morning in September of 2012, he made the comment, “you know what her outfit needs? A scarf.”

Later that day I went to my sewing room, grabbed some extra fabric I had lying around and whipped up a toddler infinity scarf.

Every single time she wore that scarf she received complements and I received the standard questions, “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?” followed by “DO YOU SELL THEM?”

My girlfriend Angie, was extremely encouraging and convinced me that if I sold them, people would actually buy them.  I made a couple scarves for her adorable daughter and people would ask her where she got them too!

My mother-in-law (who had been with me several times when the girls were complemented) was preparing for a craft show in November 2012. She asked if I would like to make a few scarves for her to sell.

The craft show didn’t exactly go ‘swimmingly’, and we were both left with lots of merchandise in hand.

After the unsuccessful craft show, I called her and asked if she would be interested in selling her fingerless gloves and I could sell my scarves on Etsy. We agreed that we were really only interested in selling what we already had made and wouldn’t be filling orders past what we had.

So, on our spur of the moment decision, I opened an Etsy shop on November 12, 2012. The name Bundle Up Buddy fit since we were doing mostly winter items and I often call my daughters Buddy (and to be totally honest, almost all of the other names I had tried were already taken).

Neither of us knew what to expect, and within a week we had both sold out of our supply. She decided that was enough for her, and the gloves came down off the site.

That left just me and my scarves. At the time I only had toddler and baby scarves listed, but I had several people ask me if I sold mother daughter sets. With the encouragement of my husband and some friends I decided that I wanted to keep going with the shop and added mother/daughter sets and adult scarves so my shop.

In the beginning of 2013 I added a 'spring collection' featuring spring patterns and colors! I am always on the lookout for new stuff to add.

One retailer has picked up my scarves as well. You can look for them at Apricot Lane Peoria this spring (and while you're there, pick out some awesome stuff for yourself!)

(Some 'spring' colors in the first big shipment headed to Apricote Lane Peoria later today)

I have truly enjoyed ‘running a shop’ and the feedback from my customers has helped me affirm that staying open was the right decision. I am extremely blessed to have such wonderful customers and a supportive family who continues to encourage me and allow me to do something I love!