Gathered Clutches for teacher gifts

I made PB's teachers some of Noodlehead's gathered clutches for their end of year gifts.  I am putting a gift card inside for them too.  I also made them cards.  I'll share those soon. They are actually my cards for card swap next month.

I love how the black and white bag has the handle going the other way.  I was trying to get them all to be the same.  That's what makes a handmade gift so special :)


My favorite part is how the zippers compliment the bags.  I did the optional card holder inside too.  The black and white bag has a pink lining and the other 2 bags have a navy lining. PB has the sweetest teachers.  He loves school so much and I know it is because of them.  I wanted to sew them something special to let them know how much we appreciate them.  

That's one big thing off my to do list.  Now to finish the rest!! Thanks for reading!

Happy Memorial Day!!!

I love Memorial Day.  It means that summer is finally here!! Our neighborhood pool opens on the weekends Memorial Day and the amusement park by our house has it's official opening.  

My favorite thing in the summer is limoncello.  I picked up a bunch of organic lemons and some 100 proof vodka and I got peeling.

If you are new to the blog I had a lemon week a while back where I shared a limoncello recipe and lemonade recipe.  When I made the limoncello I used a zester to get the zest off the lemon. I had a ton of straining to do.  This time I used my veggie peeler and we'll see how much straining I have in about 20 days :)

The zest strips look so pretty floating in the vodka. I am so excited about summer and I can't wait to enjoy my linoncello on the patio.

Here is a quick funny story about our weekend.
PB and I got passes to the amusement park this summer. We went Friday night it was raining a little bit so we sat under a tent.  The rain stopped and the sun came out so we went on another ride.  As soon as we were locked in, it started to downpour while it was sunny.  The young girl working the ride said, "have fun!" and started the ride even though it was POURING! There was nothing we could do except ride and get wet.  We were soaked to the bone by the time the ride was done.  It was still pouring so we slowly walked back to the car and stomped in every puddle on the way. A few people invited us to stand under things with them but at that point we were so wet we couldn't get any wetter.  PB laughed hysterically all the way to the car he giggled with every puddle stomp and everyone was laughing at how happy he was.  It was a memorable moment for sure. I took this pic when we got to the car.  PB was so wet I peeled his clothes off of him to put him in the car seat.  Confession, I drove home with no pants on :) One thing I am glad a packed in my wallet was a ziplock bag.  So my phone was safe in that bag while we got wet.
 
I hope all you Americans enjoyed your long weekend.  A special shout out to all my former students who are now serving our country.  I am so proud of all of you and thank you so much for your service!! 

Orange Planters

Check out the awesome planters Hubby found for me for Mother's Day!!!

I honestly don't know how he can keep finding awesome orange things.  He really shocked me with this one.  When I opened the box, I knew they were for plants but I didn't know they were designed to go on a railing.  How freaking cool is this!! 

Our house is mostly white with some grey stone on one side and a dark grey front door.  I love grey and there is nothing more I like with grey than orange.  Look at how they pop off the house!! I am so freaking excited about them!!

I was going to plant just those silvery white plants in there.  Isn't it terrible that I don't know the name of any plant?! I mean they came with a tag and I still don't know what they are called.  Anyway, I had to plant some orange flowers in there, I just couldn't help myself.  Nothing goes with orange better than more orange!!

I hope all you Americans enjoy your long weekend! I know I will.  I am going to try to cross 2 things off my massive to do list. I really hope I can do it.  My deadline for everything is in 12 days and I am a little stressed about it! Hopefully next week I will get to share some finished projects with you!! 

 We planted our garden yesterday, so I will be watering it with our rain barrel. And we are dog sitting this weekend too! YAY!!  Happy Weekend!!!

Works in progress

I am working on a ton of things right now, all at once and they all have a deadline of course :)

Here is the first project...

My cousin, D, sent me a link to this pillow and asked me if I could make her 2 for her gazebo. Her and her Hubby just bought a house and I am so excited she asked me to make her something! I started drawing out the shapes on the wonderunder, that is as far as I got.

Next up...

My friend, S, owns a dance studio.  She followed her dream and opened her own studio and is the nicest person.  Her very first recital is this June.  Her son and PB are friends and we are neighbors too! I am making a few things for the recital.  First up are paddles.  The recital is a nautical theme.  I made them out of big sheets of insulation foam from Lowes.  It cuts like a dream and is so light.  I painted them brown and then drew wood grain on with glue and sprinkled on the orange glitter.  I actually finished all 12 of them this weekend! YAY!! I am also making a giant anchor for the stage, I have to get started on that next.  

Now for some teacher gifts...

PB loves and I mean LOVES his teachers.  He is always talking about them and is so excited about going to school.  He is so sad school doesn't meet all summer.  So I am making his 3 teachers some gathered clutches from Noodlehead and putting some gift cards inside.

Now for my biggest challenge...

I am making my Nephew a growth marker.  My brother asked me if I could make one similar to the one I had growing up.  So i am going to cut all these fabrics into strips and make them into a giraffe shape using the one that I have as a template.  I am going to take as many pics as possible so I can show you all how I made it.  I want to have this done for his birthday... in less than a month :)

It's not May if I am not doing a big yard project :)

This weekend Hubby and I cut out the grass on the side of our house.  I got some hostas from one of my Zumba instructors and I split the plants up and replanted them.  She is getting a deck put in so those plants were going to get ripped out anyway.  I love that they got a new home!

PB helped us take out the sod.  He collected the rocks and then he collected some worms.  This is the first worm he ever held.  It's a big deal because he is really afraid of bugs.  He did have a panic moment when holding a really big and wiggly worm and he screamed like he was being murdered.  It was really funny, I couldn't stop laughing!

I also got some landscaping tarp down to block the weeds.  We still have a few piles of grass that have to go.  We actually gave some of the sod away! I was pretty excited it was repurposed.  Now we have to mulch all the beds around the house.

One last thing...

This is our new green addition to our house.  We installed this rain barrel last weekend.  One day of light rain last week filled it right up! It is right next to our garden and so far we really love having it.  It was pretty easy to install.  The hardest part was cutting the gutter.  The rest was simple.  

I'll post things as i finish them :) Now you know what has been filling up my days!

Orange Hurricane

I have the best Hubby. He was traveling for work and was near a Crate and Barrel and he went in and picked up this hurricane for me.  It looks awesome with our orange chairs.  I think I need some more orange accessories for the patio.  Like orange pillows for our furniture.  I guess I need to add that to my to do list!

I am so excited for this weekend! We are going to be working outside all weekend!! I am getting plants for the garden and we are cutting out a new flower bed on the side of our house.  I got some hostas from a friend and am going to plant them along the house.  I am most excited about the garden though!!! Has anyone started their garden yet??

PB's I-Spy Quilt: Finished!!

I finally finished PB's quilt!!! Remember how I finished the quilt top in one day!! Remember when I got these fabrics back in September? I am so happy I joined the Spoonflower I-Spy Swap over at Crafterhours!! 

 I was so excited to see it in use that I snuck in during nap time and snapped a few quick pics.  

I usually can't sneak in his room without waking him up.  

So I never get to see this cute sleeping face snuggling with his puppy.  Ok enough of that, back to the quilt!

Here is the full i-spy quilt front.  I followed Care's i-spy quilt tutorial.  I had to do a little math because my squares were a larger size.  I decided not to do a border.  I actually bought border fabric but it didn't really do anything for the quilt.

Also, I used a thicker batting which made for a little trickier quilting. There are a few wonky parts where the fabric got stretched.  I am so thrilled with how it came out! I love the grey and white that I picked.  I am really happy with how it made the I-spy squares stand out.  

Here is the back.  I love how the quilted pattern shows on the back.  I have been hand sewing the binding on for the last week or so.  I finished the quilting before B's wedding and It has taken that long to get the binding done.  I will say that hand sewing the binding is my favorite way to finish.  It is time consuming but when I look at my binding and can't see my stitches that sew it together, it is so worth it. 

Here is a closeup of the houndstooth binding.  It might be my favorite part.  

 I really love how the binding pulls the white and grey together without taking attention away from the i-spy squares. 

I loved doing the i-spy swap with Crafterhours.  I have always wanted to do a swap but some of the i-spy squares you can buy at Joann are so ugly.  At spoonflower they all just seem so pretty.  If you are wishing you could have been in the swap, you are in luck! Susan has compiled a set of i-spy squares and they are for sale here!!  She also has labels that say "A is for and B is for" and you can pair them with an i-spy square.  I am definitely going to incorporate those the next time I make an i-spy quilt.  I do have a ton of squares left over, so that is a future project.  

Mother's day gift

I had a pretty great time celebrating Mother's Day yesterday. 

This is the Mother's Day gift I made for my mom.  I wish I could remember where I got this pattern.  I made one for me and my mom a few years ago and she said she wanted me to make another for her in black and white for Mother's Day.  Since I couldn't remember where I got the pattern, I had to use my old purse as the pattern.  The inside is all black and there is a pocket on the inside and outside.  

I gave my MIL a set of handmade cards.  Some were from card swaps, some I made.  I didn't get a pic.  We celebrated early with her when she was here to take care of PB while we were at the wedding.  It just slipped my mind.  Now back to Mother's Day...

We went to a brunch buffet.  It isn't a crazy huge buffet but they have BBQ ribs that are amazing.  PB ate the entire time we were there.  He was still eating long after we were done. We had to make him leave the buffet.  None of us ate dinner last night :) 

PB and Hubby were very sweet to me.  PB put me in a "hug hole." There were lots of hugs and kisses and, "i love you, mommy." It was a pretty great day!!  

Orange vase on mantle

I have 3 orange vases on my mantle.  I share the other two already.  This one is special because Hubby's cousin and our friend M gave this to me.  She got it for her house and decided orange just wasn't working, so she gave it to me! It really oranges up the mantle :) 

Happy Orange Friday!! Happy Weekend!!! 

B's Handmade Wedding

B's wedding was so much fun! The whole day was just beautiful.  It was supposed to rain in the morning but it stopped early and the sun came out. It was a little steamy but it felt good! 

I promised a peek at all the things B made for her wedding.  Most are iPhone pics, sorry! I took only a few pics that day, Hubby took a few during the ceremony.  He gave himself a C in photography. I am not going to argue with him.  I think we need to sit down and teach him the camera, now that's a marriage test!!  

She cut all the place cards out with her Cricut.  They match her invitations.  They had a little cut out stand in the back.  They looked really fancy because the white paper was sparkly.

Here are the table number and the centerpieces she made.  Her hubby and the guys he works with have a thing about the number 13 so they always use 12+1 instead.  Her cake plate terrariums were really cool.  She made 20 of them a few months before the wedding and then just kept them up.  

These are the favors they made.  

During the ceremony she had a basket out with all the programs and little packets with a tissue in them.  

Here is a closer look at the program:

and the back...

There were a few other things like an advice box and she made this great Mr & Mrs sign to hang at their table but I didn't get to snap a pic of those.  B did such a great job and her personality really showed through in all the decor.  

They also had a photo booth at the wedding.  I know it is a hot trend now but what I loved about this one was that it wasn't a set up booth with curtains, it was a real one that looked like the one in the mall.  

The machine printed 2 copies.  One for you to keep and the other went into the book for you to write a message next to.  Hubby and I went in.  Then I went in with my friend M from high school.  Then M, B and I took our turn.  It was funny and so much fun.  

I haven't really mentioned too much here but part of the reason there haven't been too many posts lately is that much of my free time is spent working out.  I hit my goal of losing 20 pounds before the wedding!! It was thrilling and my dress zipped right up!! 20 pounds is just a point on the map of my journey but it feels good to be taking control.  I danced all night at this wedding and didn't have to sit down or take a break.  I know it is because of the weight loss and because I have been a Zumba fool.  Thanks to all my zumba ladies for your support.  I actually lost another 1.6 pounds this week!!

Orange calculator

Today is the day, B is getting married!!!! I am so excited!! I have purple nails and toes and I am ready to celebrate this wonderful day!!!

Today I picked my orange calculator to share.  It hasn't gotten much use since I stopped teaching but it looks so pretty in my drawer.  It definitely made grading much more fun.  Our school used to do grades 6 times a year, so this baby got a ton of use!! 

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Surprise Bridal Shower

At the end of March I threw a surprise shower for my BFF, B. I had a ton of help from her mom, future MIL and her aunts.  They helped me make all the food and this shower wouldn't have happened without them.  

Here is B and you can see the centerpieces I made in this pic.  I have made them before and turned them into sheep.  I got the idea from Whipperberry.   

Here is the invitation I sent out:

I made it in Illustrator.  Sorry you can't see all the text, I removed all the personal info.  I had them printed 4 to a page on heavy card stock.  

I will admit that it was so crazy keeping the party moving that I didn't take many pictures.  

Here is the room all decorated.  There is a clubhouse in my neighborhood that was perfect for the party.  It was nice an convenient.  

One of the shower activities was to decorate a quilt square.  There were paints and markers and stencils and squares of fabric.  Then we had a few examples out there and some people made there quilt squares ahead of time.  There are a bunch of quilters in B's family and B quilts too.  This was her idea.  I made my first real quilt square ever for her quilt.  It was all purple :)

I made a circle garland to go over the mantle.  Such a easy project, just cut a bunch of circles while you watch 30 Rock and then sew them together.  

 Here is the room all full of party guests.  All of the aunts made different salads.  There was pasta salad, potato salad, turnpike salad, broccoli salad and a regular salad.  Then we had meatballs and roast beef sandwiches.  I sadly did not get a picture of all the food.  Sorry!

I did remember to get a pic of the desserts!! 

 Everyone made the cookie they are known for.  There was a ton of cookie there! YUM! I had quart size ziplock baggies so guests could take them to go.   

I made tags for everything.  I glued pieces of sparkly purple and white paper to clothespins.  I wanted to have all the labels printed so they would look really nice, but a purple marker was all there was time for.

For drinks we had sangria, wine, sodas, water, coffee and tea.  It was a really lovely party and the best part was working together with the family to make this party for her.  

I found my bride to be headband from 8 years ago right before the party.  Oh and to get B to the party I told her I needed help picking up my MOH dress, which I really picked up 3 weeks ago and kept that secret from her.  Then, I "got a text" from a friend who was "renting the clubhouse" and her kid spilled juice on the rug already. So we had to bring the steam cleaner over. So I made B carry the steam cleaner into her own shower :) haahaa, she was totally surprised!!