June 30, 2011

{4th of July Wreath}

The Fourth of July is one of my FAVORITE holidays. I love the hot summer nights, the fireworks, grill outs, and everyones generally happy, laid back moods. Since we've moved back into an apartment I've been struggling to find creative ways to put my own stamp on the place.  Painting is out of the question, and I'm limited on space, so accessories are my go to decor. You may remember the crepe paper wreath I made, it hung on our front door until recently when it was replaced with this beauty...


I wanted something that was 4th of July-ish, without being overly 4th of July-ish (if that makes sense). I envisioned using red, white, and blue, but in more muted tones, and not in the traditional stars and stripes fashion. 

Here's how I made it:
I bought a wreath form from Michael's, and wrapped it in navy yarn. I'm not gonna lie, wrapping it completely so that none of the styrofoam shows is kind of a monotonous process. Every few inches I used a hot glue gun to tack the yarn down. After everything was sufficiently covered then I made a few flowers out of red and white felt and hot glued them to the wreath. I just eyeballed their placement, and glued them where I thought they looked best. I also cut a few green leaves out of felt and glued them under the flowers. I used regular scissors and pinking shears on the leaves to add a bit of dimension to the whole thing. That's it! Easy, easy, easy!


The pictures don't do it justice, it's really a pretty wreath, and looks great on our door, and adds just the right amount of festiveness. I'll be leaving it up the whole month of July, and am already brainstorming the next one i'll make for late summer/early fall. 


June 13, 2011

{my side hobby-invitation design}

I'm excited to show you all some things I've been working on and never mentioned before. A few weeks back I showed you the ladybug invitation I designed for Ella's 1st birthday, and promised I'd share some other's I've done.

I love designing invitations and have had a few friends ask if I could design for their parties and showers. It's become a really fun hobby lately. Below are a some of the invitations I've designed recently.
Cinderella themed 4th birthday party.
Blue/yellow bird themed bridal shower.
Minnie mouse birthday party!
Owl themed baby shower.
Pinwheel themed birthday party. Option #1 (she chose this option)
Pinwheel themed birthday party (w/photo) Option #2

If you like any of these designs and would like to use them for a party of your own, please email me and I can customize one of the templates for you for $5.

June 12, 2011

{my week -in photos-}

My HIGEST SCORE EVER!!!

Some hair goodies, sent to a friend's little one for her 3rd birthday. 

Our booth at the Thursday Night Market in Old Folsom, first week was a HUGE success!

Booth display

Booth display

Aren't those dresses darling?

Her first pedicure w/ mama.

June 11, 2011

{Thursday Night Markets}

I've been working hard the last few months getting ready to have a booth at the Thursday Night Market in Old Folsom. My friend Christa (we've been BFF's since 2nd grade) has a darling small business called The Mustard Seed, where she sells handmade goodies (think adorable children's clothing) and refinished furniture, and I was delighted to be able to share a booth with her. This week was the first night of 9 weeks setting up, selling and tearing down...and it was a huge success!!! 

Please forgive the crummy iphone photos



Our booth turned out darling and we both sold well. I'm looking forward to spending our Thursday nights this summer outside, with my BFF, selling Abstract Grace goodies. And the fact that our booth is right across from the homemade waffle cone ice cream booth, and the BBQ guy is a total bonus (and potentially dangerous, lol).

If you're in Northern California, or local, come out and say hi!

June 10, 2011

{embellished kids tank tops}

On a recent trip to Target I was browsing through the sale section of the children's department and found a yellow tank and striped tank on sale in Ella's size for only $1.12 each (can't beat that!). I couldn't pass up such a great deal, so I snagged them and knew I could do something fun with them. 

I decided that a simple embellishment of yoyo's would be perfect to jazz them up, and because I have a fabric scrap stash the size of mt. everest yoyo's were a perfect option. 

If you've never made a yoyo, here are a few great tutorials on how make them:

And the finished project? Two cute summer tops for Ella! This is also a great project for repurposing thrift store finds, or any clothing/accessory that needs a little extra something. 


June 6, 2011

{dressed up dish gloves}

I've realized recently why I have to change my nail polish every 3 days. I can never keep it chip free, and there's nothing I dislike more than a chipped messed up manicure. Since I do dishes about 3 times a day (they're never ending around here) I put two and two together and figured the hot water and dish soap wasn't helping keep my polish nice and shiny. 

I picked up a pair of yellow dish gloves at the dollar store and dug through my scrap stash for the right accent fabric. Now, I did mention how much I loathe doing the dishes, right? No? Well it's true. Besides folding laundry dishes are up there in the "least favorite house chore" list. I figured putting on a pretty pair of dish gloves may help cheer the job up, and it does!!!

Since I don't have a serger (note to self, get serger) I just used a zig zag stitch around the raw edge of the fabric cuff. Then I slid the fabric cuff inside the glove and sewed twice around the glove. My machine sewed smoothly through the glove but just go slow and help feed the glove through your machine if needed. This is a great project for using up scraps. My cuffs are about 4.5 inches wide.

 Aren't they cute?! I love putting them on, and even though they don't make me love doing the dishes, they help the job along. 

Wouldn't the possibilities be endless for pretty fabric/glove combinations with this array of colors? I love the hot pink, and the sea foam green ones. 
source

Happy dish cleaning!

June 3, 2011

{zippered pouches, birthday gifts}

Hi! Is everyone having a great week? I hope so. I just thought I'd share a couple zippered pouches that I made for birthday gifts recently. Aren't they cute? I love zippered pouches. They're SO easy to make (don't let the zipper fool you) and the possibilities are endless as far as design goes. I hope the recipients of these love them. Here is a link to a great tutorial on how to make your own zippered pouch via Flossie Teacakes. 

June 2, 2011

{Ella's 1st birthday!-pinata candy bags}

We're having a few older kids to Ella's birthday next weekend so we decided that a pinata was a must at the big 1st birthday celebration. Instead of just giving the kiddos plain bags to scoop up their candy in I whipped up a quick label (in Photoshop) with a ladybug to keep with the theme. Then I printed them on sticker paper, cut and then stuck them on plain brown paper lunch sacks. It was extremely easy and quick to do. I think that its personal touches that really make a party fun, and total cost for 24 bags (minus the sticker paper and printer ink, which I already had) was only $1.00!

June 1, 2011

{baking goodies}

I'll start out this post by saying that I'm not being paid or compensated in ANY way by Bake It Pretty for this post. (However I'd love to accept anything from them, as I'm sure you will after reading this post, hehe.) 

I've blogged about Bake It Pretty before, and continue to order all my baking needs from them. They carry every fun, random, unique baking gadget, cup, sprinkle, and cookie cutter you could think up. As soon as I knew that we were going with a ladybug theme for Ella's party I got my order together. I knew that they'd have just what I'd need for baking the cupcakes, and other party goods. 

I decided to go with the giant pastry frosting tip, black and white polka dot baking cups, and cherry red dotted portion cups, and as soon as I got the package in the mail I couldn't wait to get it open. Every time I get my order from them it feels like Christmas!
cute packaging
baking cups and frosting tip
Here are the stock photos of my order from the website:
via bake it pretty
via bake it pretty
via bake it pretty

Everything is SO darling! I can't wait to use it all at the party, especially that giant frosting tip. I've been dying to try that out. I'll be sure to post pictures of how everything turned out. Until then, have some fun browsing their site, you'll be sure to find something that you just have to have.