Recovered Bolster Pillow

I found two bolster pillows at a recent garage sale for for only 50 cents for the pair! I was super excited to re-cover them (especially at that awesome price!). I had originally planned on just covering over top of the existing fabric but realized that they actually had a nice white cushion inside:



yippee!

... and after looking through my fabric stash I came across this fabric (which happens to be the ends of my hemmed kitchen curtains, another money saver):


I didn't even have to do any cutting at all I just simply folded the fabric in half (because it is quite sheer) and went to work hand embroidering the word 'Relax' onto what would be the front of the pillow (the middle of the fabric square):



I then wrapped the fabric around the cushion** (right side touching the cushion, wrong side out) and pinned the two edges together making a line of pins horizontal to the lettering (sorry no picture of this step). I then sewed along the line of pins removing them as I went a long.

**Note: Since the fabric I used was curtain leftovers the two raw edges on either end of the cushion tube were already hemmed, so if you are doing this with a normal piece of cut fabric you'll want to hem those edges before doing this step.


Turn the tube right side out and stuff your cushion in, tie each end with some decorative ribbon/string and Tadaa a totally new looking bolster pillow!


Cost of the project:
thrifted cushion> 25 cents
fabric (leftover material from curtains)> free
embroidery floss (on hand)> free
Sassy strands decorative string (on hand)> free

new bolster pillow = basically 25 cents!...not bad, not bad at all!

This cushion is making it's way to the guest bedroom which will hopefully be revealed soon!

linking to these parties:
Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up
I Heart Naptimes Sunday Scoop
Sugar and Dots What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Someday Crafts Whatever Goes Wednesday

Grad Card

Wishing all the best to my lil' cousin Carson on his graduation! (when I say lil I mean young, cause the kid is WAY taller than me!) I made this card to send to him and I hope he gets it soon (the canada post strike sucks). We won't be able to make it home for his grad because well I'll be popping out a baby within days of it and it is 8 hours away...although it would've been nice to revisit my highschool and see some old friends!

I simply made this card out of cardstock in my 'scrapbox' and threw some sassy strands and foam letters on. The actual idea of the 'color cube' (for lack of a better description) was from last months Scrapbook etc. magazine. They actually had it done up as a super cute baby card. I have plans to use this design again as it is not only cool looking but simple!

Anyways congrats Carson, and enjoy what you have left of your highschool career, you will be remembering these days for years to come!

Parcels from Grandma

I just love snail mail!! My sweet grandma has sent me a couple of packages these last couple of weeks. She volunteers at the thrift store at my hometown and she found a couple of goodies for me! The first parcel included three vintage patterns for childrens clothing. I might try to make a couple of them but regardless the pictures are so cute I am tempted to just frame them and hang them in my craft room. Take a look:




The second parcel came and it included 27 pre-embroidered quilting blocks. All the embroidery pieces are different, below are just a couple of my favorites (Why someone would get rid of all this hard work is beyond me). You'll have to wait and see what projects I come up with for these blocks.






Thanks grandma for the great finds!

Super Simple Canada Day Sleeper

Even though we are most likely going to be spending all of Canada Day in the hospital this year, I thought why not dress up the new baby anyway!

Instead of getting a store bought Canada sleeper I decided to alter a plain red one (hand-me-down from the big sister) and save a few bucks. What I ended up doing couldn't have been more simple!

Here's what I did:
1. Find a pic of a maple leaf, I used google images.
2. Trace said image onto white felt.
(I actually did this right on my computer screen, our printer was low on ink...and hey it's just like a light table, just don't use a pen that you need to push down hard the key is to trace lightly!)
3. Cut out.
4. Embroider smiley face onto leaf.
5. Use heat and bond paper to attach to sleeper.
TaaDaa A Canada Day outfit! (You could also stitch around the leaf but I decided not to.)




A close-up of the cute little maple leaf.


Well that's one project done from 'the List'. I am currently working on a 'big sister' shirt so hopefully I can post that soon!

linking to these parties:

Goals are Dreams with Deadlines

Goals are dreams with deadlines....and mine is June 30th! Yup, I finally have my C-section booked and it is now officially the countdown to baby #2's arrival! I have so much still left on my project list to get done before this little one comes (I don't suspect much crafting will be happening in July or even into August).

Here is my goal list thus far (I seem to add to it everyday!):

* Finish setting up baby's room (not actually decorating because I want to know the gender first)
* Refinish bedside table (a recent garage sale find)
* Make a 'Big Sister' shirt
* Make Canada Day applique for a red newborn sleeper
* Make a new diaper bag (this one seems a little far fetched, but we'll see if I can get it done)
* Finish setting up and decorating guest bedroom (my mom is staying for a week when baby arrives! yippee!)
* Photo collage wall (something that I've been putting together for the last month)
* Stock up the freezer with some ready-to-go meals
* Finish commissioned Butterfly paintings
* Catch up on Scrapbooking
* Make and send out Father's day cards and presents
* Oh, and keep up with my blog...

I have a lot on my plate for the next four weeks (nevermind general house upkeep and quality time with my little girlie and hubby!). Hopefully I don't put myself into preterm labor, haha... I won't be upset if I don't complete this list but wouldn't it be grand if I did!

I also need to get outside and soak in the Vitamin D! Here is a fun picture from a recent summer walk:



Hope this is the beginning of an exciting month for you as well!