Work In Progess Wednesday #2

Is it really Wednesday again already???  Wow!  The past week sure has gone by fast!  Well if it really IS Wednesday again, it's time again to link up to Work In Progress Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Sadly, I don't really have much to report on :-(  BUT here are a few things I'll mention.

You can check out my new thread holder post HERE.  It's all done and being used, just waiting to find a permanent place for it.

Dylan helped me get started on my pallet planter that I will be using to grow some herbs in.  Here's what it looks like right now.  I have some other decorative touches to make before planting my herbs.  The camera lens fogged up when I walked outside to take this picture but it actually makes it look neat.

I have a handful of sewing projects that I need to get working on....like now!!  I like to take advantage of the nice weather and get outside when I can, but I really need to get moving on these other projects.  And Dylan is helping me with another project that I can not reveal anything about until it is finished!  Wow, I have a lot to do!

Here's what all I have going on...

In Progress:

• Pallet Planter
• Cow Print Fabric Project
• Girl Baby Blanket
• Boy Baby Blanket
• Red & Blue/Green Fabrics
• Mystery Project

I LOVE This Thread Holder!

Dylan sure surprised me with this one!  I showed him this tutorial for a really neat thread holder I found that Katie at CRAPTASTIC made. We talked about it a few more times over the weeks but never really got around to getting it going.  Well lo and behold!  He was working on our pantry and there were some pieces of wood left so I asked him to cut me a piece so we could make the thread holder.  So instead of just cutting me a piece of wood, he did the whole stinking project for me!


I am so in love with this thread holder that I feel the need to go buy a bunch of thread just to fill it up!  If you are a sewing kinda person and your thread is very unorganized (as in thrown in a bin somewhere like mine was)...I suggest you make this fancy schmancy thread holder to help keep it organized.  


It's super easy and here's how we decided to make mine, although if you have a lot of thread you should go over and make Katie's version HERE.

My Version

Katie's Version

Here's what you will need:
Piece of wood (whatever size you would like, mine is approx. 18" high by 11" wide)
Wood Stain
Paint (I used a Valspar paint sample I got from an online giveaway...the color is Sea Swell)
Nails


Dylan cut the wood to size and then stained it with a walnut stain.

When the stain is good and dry tape off any design you want.  I loved the look of the chevron but I only wanted one V because of the size of the wood.  I also liked Katie's idea of keeping the outer edge as the stain to make it look framed.

Once you have it taped off good, paint away!

When the paint is dry take off your tape to reveal your wonderful design skills (which I forgot to get a picture of before the next step...doh!).


Then put your nails in the board in a design you want.  I decided to have Dylan stagger the nail rows so that you can still see the design behind the nails and spools of thread.  I just love this! The best part is I only asked Dylan to cut the wood for me and I was gonna do the rest, but he took over and did it ALL!  I have such a wonderful husband!  Here are some more shots of the finished project.

The only thing left to do is find the perfect place on the wall for it!  Thank you Katie for this wonderful idea!

Wedding Card Display

My first wedding anniversary is in a week and I am FINALLY starting to go through all of our stuff!  I saved every card we received from the two Bridal Showers and the Wedding and luckily they were easily found when I started rummaging around in all our boxes and bins for them.  I saw this very cute way to keep and display your favorite cards using loose binder rings, but there were no real directions for how it was done (not that it looks that hard to do).  So I decided to figure it out for myself with our wedding cards, and honestly it's really super easy.  Like I could have had my 9-year-old niece or my 9-year-old sister-in-law do this for me :-).  And yes you did read that right...Dylan has a 9-year-old sister! Anywho here's how I did it.


First off, we had sooooo many cards from the bridal showers and the wedding that I decided to seperate them.  I'm working with the Bridal Shower cards in the pictures (the pile was MUCH smaller!).

Here is what you will need:
Your stack of cards
2 loose binder rings
Hole Puncher

I sorted the cards by size, putting the largest card on the bottom and the shortest card on top.

I wanted the cards to pile up and flip easily on the rings so I took the smallest card and centered it on the largest card, then chose where to put the holes for the rings.

I punched out the holes in the largest and smallest card and then continued the process with each card along the way.  I repeated with each card one by one but you could just eyeball it with each card.  I wanted the cards to all line up centered so that's why I took my time with it.

After I had all the holes punched in the cards I put them in order on the 2 loose binder rings, closed em up, and TA DA! A nice pretty way to display those wonderful cards.  I love how easily you can flip through the cards, and you can even open them and read each one!

We had sooooo many cards I ended up with three stacks!  One for the Bridal Shower cards and two for the wedding cards.

Faux Chenille Baby Blankets

I found this AMAZING tutorial on how to make a Faux Chenille Baby Blanket on Pinterest (what a wonderfully addicting site!).  Now when I found this project I had not sewn anything since my Home Economics class in high school, and I didn't even own a sewing machine!!  Well thanks to the great site I found the tutorial on and my MIL (she had the sewing machine), I decided to dive in head first and attempt to make this blanket for some friends who were expecting their baby girl in December 2011 (she decided to come early!).  Since then I have finished 3 of these blankets.

You can follow the pin I have on Pinterest HERE or you can find the complete tutorial over here at Dana-Made-It.  I followed Dana's directions but she also referenced the tutorial over at Aesthetic Nest.  Both tutorials are great to follow!

One of the best things about these blankets is that you are sewing straight lines the whole time.  Seriously that's it!  I think it was a great beginner project for me and these blankets are such a huge hit for baby showers and newborn/toddler gifts. I must warn you though, this is not a one day project (unless you are into sewing for like 10 hours straight!) but more like a week or so, depending on how long you like to sew for.  I also love how the back fabric frays even more each time you wash it and it continues to stay soft and cuddly.  

Here are the three blankets I have created so far...


Blanket #1--Made for little Miss Emma Maclay :-)  I found the fabric at Joann's.


Front of Blanket

Back of Blanket



 

Finished!



Little Miss Emma napping on her blanket!



Blanket #2:  Made for the little stud Ryder Gibble! I found this top fabric on sale at fabrics.com.

I just love this fabric!!




Isn't he adorable?!



Blanket #3:  Made for Bryce Packer (hence the Green Bay fabric).  Since we are in Pennsylvania, I had to order this Green Bay fabric online.

Finished Product

I just love the way the back of these blankets look!

**Just want to say a special THANK YOU to Mary Gray (mommy to Emma) and Katie Gibble (mommy to Ryder) for letting me use their precious little ones as models**

A Few Works In Progress

The post title says it all.  I have a few projects in progress right now and I can't wait to post about them as I finish them.  I should have one of my posts ready within the next two days or so :-)  And the others will come along shortly.  So to keep you interested I'm gonna give you a sneak peak of what I have up my sleeve.  Enjoy!!

I'm finishing this one up right now!

I found this fabric on clearance at Wal-Mart and I knew exactly what I wanted to do as soon as I saw it!

My 1st Wedding Anniversary is coming up soon, and I found the perfect way to display all the beautiful cards we received!

I have a few other project ideas in the works but am still hashing out the details on those.  I can't wait to show you all these projects when they are finished!