Christmas Subway Art Printable

Sine there was some interest in the Thanksgiving subway art printable, I decided to include one for Christmas!  I can't take complete credit for the Christmas one as it was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, but I created it to suit my tastes just a bit more.  Just click the image, save it to your computer, and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Subway Art-FREE printable!!

My teacher word art was so popular a few months ago, I thought I'd make a fun Thanksgiving one!  Best part:  this one isn't personalized so you don't have to "order" it!  Feel free to click on the image (to make it larger), right-click on your mouse, and save it to your computer!  It should print nicely on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper or cardstock.  Just remember:  FREE means for personal use only; not for mass-redistribution or monetary gain.

However, if you choose to download it, leave a comment because if there's loads of interest, I'll do one for Christmas too.  :)

DIY Christmas Stockings

What's that you say?  It's not Christmastime yet?  Well, at my house we prepare for the holidays virtually year-round because then, when November and December come, we can relax and enjoy the holiday season rather than become self-loathing hermits who refuse to go out in public because of the craziness.  My shopping is finished (just waiting to be wrapped), I'll be making candies soon, but the stockings I was able to do over the summer!  I digress.  

I wanted uber-cute-personalized-trendy-not-too-christmasy Christmas stockings. Pipe dream?  NO.  First, I had to find the right "shape."  See, we're big stocking-stuffing people and I needed it to be large enough to accommodate my visions of stuffing grandeur!  So I did what any great, creative mind would do...I went rummaging through my mom's holiday decor boxes to find my childhood stocking (which is large and sturdy enough to hold an orange in the toe, followed by an apple, banana, bottle of shampoo, and other trinkets-galore).  I set the stocking on my cutest-ever chocolate and white damask fabric and cut out my stocking shape.  Remember to cut two!

 Next step was to cut the lining for my stockings.  Again, remember to cut two!  I wanted my family's stockings to be all matchy-matchy, but still personalized.  Enter:  lining fabric!  I love red and brown together, and those just happen to be the colors my living room is already decorated with, so I chose different red fabrics which showcased both my personality and my husband's.  He got baseballs, I got hibiscus flowers.  One day, when we have babies, they will have different red linings.  But don't you worry that I've already cut out four more brown damask shapes in anxious anticipation!

 Furthermore, I wanted my stockings to be heavy-duty enough to take the wear-and-tear of the ceremonial stuffing-hanging-all-around-holiday-merriment, so between my damask and red lining, I also cut a piece of quilt batting.  I stacked my pieces accordingly to get ready for the sewing.

Because I was planning on binding the stockings with personalized bias tape, there was no reason to sew the pieces right-sides-together.  Easy, eh?  Therefore, I just serged the exterior fabric/batting/lining pieces together.  It was pretty slick and much quicker than having to turn them afterward.

Next came the bias tape adventure.  I had never made my own before, but it turned out to be MUCH easier than I expected!  I used the same lining fabric and created this tutorial (posted earlier) if you're interested.  If not, any ol' bias tape will do!

After attaching the front and back of the stockings together using the bias tape, it was time to work on the minky cuff!  That's right, minky.  See?  You know you love these stockings.  I used the heaviest interfacing I could find to put inside the minky.  Seriously, this stuff was like cardboard.  It wreaked havoc on numerous machine needles, but it definitely keeps the shape nicely!  I just measured the stocking opening, doubled its length (for the front and back), and then left a 1/2" seam allowance.  I cut the interfacing and then wrapped it in the minky.

 I serged the two ends together, and then inserted a hangy loop (extremely technical term).  Hint:  If you insert the loop the way I did, it make the stocking hang at a lovely angle.

Sew up the loop edge and pin the minkly closed (nice and tight) around the interfacing.

 Then, slide the cuff over the stocking opening and match pined edge to the opening.  Sew around the edge to attach the cuff to the stocking and...voila!...

 ...You have a broken needle...A LOT of broken needles actually!  I had to include this photo purely because I've broken plenty of needles in my day and have never seen one bend in such a fashion before snapping.  Amazing.

 Anyway, what you REALLY have (besides broken needles) are uber-cute-personalized-trendy-not-too-christmasy Christmas stockings.  I added some layers of grosgrain ribbon and little floral button embellishments.

 But wait!  There's more!  I also found these  silver monogram pins which made them even MORE personal!  I pretty much love how they turned out.  Now go make your own.  You know you want to.  Get it done before the holiday season so you can enjoy that time of year rather than stress it!

Note the cute, personalized bias tape?

Vintage Easter Postcard

Check out this adorable vintage Easter postcard I found on Wapedia when we

were looking up the origins of the Easter Bunny as a family.

It was printed in 1907, so it is public domain. Go ahead and click on it to download it :)

He looks so quaint as a little addition to my Easter decor.

Excuse the flash--it was night

Easy Easter Decoration

I don't have a lot of decorations for any holiday other than Christmas. My husband and I have been married about two years...not a lot of time for decoration accumulating. With Easter around the corner, I decided to make an easy Easter decoration. I got a cute frame for 50% off at a local craft store. I intended to mod podge some styrofoam eggs but when I found these, I decided just to get them. They are pastel and speckled and kind of adorable. I found some coordinating ribbon to go with them.

I started by poking little holes in the eggs with a pin, wrapped an ornament hanger wire thingy around the ribbon, put a dab of glue over the hole, and jabbed the ornament hanger into the egg. Feel free to attach the ribbon any way you like, this is just what I went with. Then trial and error it to see what looks good to you. Trim the ribbon to size and tape in place on the back of the frame.
You can glue it but I had big plans on using this frame for other holidays too. I bought some wooden stars and some twine. I painted the stars and then glued the small ones to larger stars. Then I measured, trial-and-errored (not real verb, I know), and taped. I actually started this project for Easter but totally love the 4th of the July one.

I switched the frame back to the Easter eggs for now, but I'm really looking forward to swapping it back out for my cute new July decoration.

Recycled Suitcase Chair

I'm in the process of creating an airplane room for our little boy--

he'll be 2 next month!

We've had this old gross dusty cobwebby Samsonite suitcase in storage forever. I don't

even know where it came from. There were a few things in the storage room when

we moved here. Maybe it came with our house?

Anyway--I've held onto it, even though it honestly was disgusting. I did consider

throwing it away. But I knew something good could come from it. And then

I had this GREAT idea! And I totally thought of it all by myself.

This is somewhat of my thought process, "Airplanes...suitcases...go together.

If the suitcase was open and secured...add some cute legs to it...it could totally be a chair!"

Then I Google searched it and found out that I am not the first person to think of it,

but that wasn't going to stop me. Katie Thompson, the designer behind Recreate, makes tons
of these, and they are amazing! (Does that put me in the same category
as hers because I totally thought of this too? I wish!).
But, I wanted mine to be a little different because I wanted my chair to
have a little compartment for Tucker to put his books and stuff in
so it could be a little reading chair.

Here's how I did it.

Yes, that does resemble a bunched up cobweb coming out of the side.

 I ripped all the lining out--check out all that dust! The whole time
I had to cover my face, because of all the dust. Then I scrubbed it down

and "Lysoled" it like crazy.

I found some small chair legs at Lowes for about $1.50 each. They came 

with bolts on them where they would connect to the furniture. I drilled

holes in the suitcase where I wanted the legs to go. Then I screwed them

on and fastened them with nuts.

Hey! Even at this stage it could be a cute little end table or something!

Then my husband and I cut some 2x4s down to fit inside where the seat

would be. We had two pieces laying front to back on each side, and one laying across 

the back. We glued these down with wood glue. We carved notches where the legs

were attached and cut some other areas so the wood would lay flat. 

 We then added some smaller thinner strips (glued them down) to the top of those 2x4s

creating a ledge for the compartment lid to fit on.

(Notice the "seems" on the smaller strips of wood are differentthan the wood below them--to help reinforce the frame we made).

We cut a piece the same thickness as the thinner strips of wood

that would fit as a lid,

 and added some hinges. The lid could now open and close.

To make the back of the chair stay upright, I started by drilling some holes

where indicated.

I fastened a ribbon from the back of the chair to the seat of the chair like shown

below with nuts and bolts where I had drilled the holes. I adjusted the

length of the ribbon to what would hold the back upright how I wanted before

fastening them. Do this to both the left and right side of the chair.

I wanted the lid to have a type of pull on it that would make it easier for our little

boy to open. I looped a ribbon and stapled it to the bottom front center of the lid piece.

Now we were ready to make the cushions. For the back of the chair I used some foam

that I had cut to the size of the opening of the back and added some batting to the top. 

The back padding of the chair needed to be thicker cushioned because I didn't

have it built up like I did for the seat part that had the compartment.

 I wrapped my fabric around it--similar to how I would wrap a present--and hand

sewed it to secure it. 

Then I covered 2 buttons with the same fabric

and secured them on the front to add little tucks to the fabric on the front.

I then just placed this cushion in the opening on the back--it was fluffy
enough to stay secure without any glue or anything. This would

not be hard at all to change fabrics--in case I ever have a little girl when

Tucker grows out of it. I can totally imagine it with a floral print of some type.

I did the seat cushion similar to the back cushion, but without as 

much batting added to the foam. I then hot glued the seat cushion

to ONLY the top of the lid piece and VOILA!

And I knew Tucker approved it when he said "Airpay chair!" and insisted that I sit

next to him on it :) I need to post a picture of him on it!

Linked up with:

Today's Creative Blog
Sugar Bee Crafts

Creative Spotlight: Star's Crib Skirt Tutorial

Hi! I'm Jennifer and I will be posting on Wednesdays for a bit while Ashley enjoys her brand new baby.

I am a big fan of A Load Of Craft. Star makes some really cute stuff and provides great, easy to follow tutorials. She also has an etsy shop if you're interested. A lot of my favorite tutorials are baby related (I'm 4 months pregnant and I have been dying to make a lot of her ideas). I especially love her crib skirt tutorial. Check out her blog for the full tutorial on this cute crib skirt (as well as tutorials for loads of other great stuff)!

(Image from Star's blog)

My good friend had a baby (Ruby) last October and asked if I'd make her a crib skirt. I used Star's tutorial and it rocks. It's detailed, full of pictures and pretty simple to execute. The crib skirt I made for my friend's baby turned out so cute and I'm really excited to get cracking on one for my little one! Thanks for the great tutorial, Star!

(I also redid her rocking chair cushions...perhaps we'll get to that another day)

Creative Spotlight Award: Settee by Frou-FruGal

I am excited to feature Suesan from Frou-FruGal today with her amazing settee. 

I can't help but absolutely love it! She totally transformed a regular settee into one with a map

that represents where her ancestors are from!

Here's what Suesan has to say about it:

(Check out the links for more in-depth how-tos)

I picked up the settee from my neighbor's garage sale last summer. I bought it for $20 and knew that it needed some love. 

I started by De-Upholstering and reinforcing the innards of the settee.

My next step was to strip off the old varnish and restore the wood finish .

Next, I drew on the map and painted the drop cloth I wanted to use as the upholstery.

Finally, I added some extra padding and re-upholstered the settee.

I started the project in January. Due to the plague visiting our house and other setbacks, it took me until mid-March to finish it. I didn't work on it non-stop, but kept at it. 

I'm glad people are enjoying the final results. I think that taking a risk and daring to find something that speaks to you will make all the hard work worth it in the end.

Family Pedigree Decor

Image from HERE 

I recently went to a Genealogy Convention with my mother-in-law. I was most definitely the youngest one there, and I don't think that I am that young. Well, it kind of got me excited about looking into my ancestry a little more. I know my family has done a little research, but I am now excited to help fill in any gaps in the family tree that I might come across.

Well, a big picture frame in our front room recently broke, and I haven't got around to fixing it or putting anything else up. I wanted to brainstorm it for a while since I wasn't wild about what I had up before. After going to the convention, I decided that I want to make a genealogy chart to go up there and put a sign with our family name hanging above it.

At the convention, there was a booth by Generation Maps that showed off tons of beautiful pre-made family pedigree charts and gave you the option to submit all your names/records to them to have one printed. They also had fill in the blank charts that you can fill out by hand. Here are a few examples.

Since I didn't want a pre-made design or actual pre-made chart, I asked if there was a way to print one that I designed myself and what the prices would be. Turns out they can print anything you submit to them as a jpeg and have it printed on up to 42" in width and you pay per linear foot. They can print HUGE charts--I'm talking like 40 feet wide! They can also print your image as a canvas giclee (photos of people, etc.). And they match any price. Needless to say, I was on a mission to get one done.

There are lots of family tree/pedigree templates you can find online just by doing a google search. I didn't really want one that was crafty cutesy--more classy and antique looking. I found tons of family tree templates at www.obituarieshelp.org that were simple but perfect for what I wanted.

I love their circular charts. 

I found my linen background image from The Background Fairy. 

I then merged the chart (customized it a little too) and the background plus added our family name in a circle around the circular chart and filled am still filling out names (in Photoshop). It is definitely time consuming! Especially if you don't have all the information gathered and with you at the moment of making the chart. But you can always do a chart that doesn't go back as far, and I think any chart will definitely be worth it. I've used Family Search to assist me along the way. It is actually quite addicting to find names that go in certain spots! And it's a lot of fun seeing names that are in the family that you can use for your future kids.

It's so crazy to actually "visualize" how so many people's genetics contribute to your own!  Here is my progress this far. I plan on printing it 42" x 42" and framing it with either a driftwood frame or a white frame that my husband and I will probably make. I am anxious to get it completed :)

 I'll post about the finished product when I get it done!

Linked up with:

Today's Creative Blog