Bazaar preview

Last year was my first experience selling at holiday bazaars. I did two, and loved them so much! I think because it's like playing store. Half the fun is setting up my table display, making it all pretty and organized. I was hooked. So I've officially signed up for one this year, and tomorrow I'm mailing my registration for another. 

The first one of the year is this coming weekend! And it's two days long! I love that idea. Same amount of work setting up, but two days worth of sales! Here are the details:

St. Paul of Damascus Lutheran Church

24510 SE Hwy. 212

Boring, OR 97089

Friday Nov. 4th 1pm-8pm

Saturday Nov. 5th 9am-4pm

Here's a link to the flier with more information.

So, naturally, I've been getting very crafty. I'll be bringing lots of new things to see how they sell! My absolute favorite things to make so far are wreaths!

I've always loved wreaths for all seasons. Especially unique ones. I have a fall one hanging on my door, a feather one in my living room, and usually we have several displayed around Christmas time- my favorite is a lavender beaded one. I know it doesn't sound Christmas-y, but it works with our decor! 

These twig wreaths are embellished with a variety of leaves, glittered pinecones, satin flowers, feathers, beads, buttons and tulle. 

These were such a refreshing creative outlet for me! Something different than my usual sewing. I've been having a blast with my glue gun.

This is a shabby chic fabric scrap wreath! Embellished with a bow and flower. 

I've seen tulle wreaths on pinterest lately and fallen in love with them. I just so happened to have a fair amount of peacock colored tulle lying around... thanks to my halloween bunco costume...

And you all know I love repurposing! So here is my first peacock tulle wreath. 

I just love it. I think a peacock Christmas would be fabulous.

While I was having fun making satin flowers I decided to make some hair clips. Here they are, clipped to my fall garland. So fun and glam!

Of course I'll also have my usual items: reusable snack bags, stuffed owls, tons of coffee cozies... and most likely ducks and beavers embellished onesies, super cute ironing board covers, embellished wipes cases, pretty sleep masks, maybe even a diaper cake or two! I just love making them. 

A great friend will be joining me and bringing her gorgeous knitted hats, baby headbands, and possibly little girls peasant blouses! 

Should be lots of fun. Come stop by if you're local! I'd love visitors! 

A few new baby crafts

 A sweet friend of mine recently asked if I could make a few things for her new baby girl~ who will be born tomorrow! Super excited for her and her family. Congrats to you, J & C!

Here is what I came up with, based on her ideas and preferences. 

This is something I would never have thought of, but what a fun idea! They are personalized luggage tags, with baby's name on them (blurred for the family's privacy). Mama plans to use them on her diaper bag and baby's carseat/carrier. 

 Mike helped with the design of her name; I chose several fonts I liked, and he worked them together to make these look great! Then I inked the edges and added some pretty ribbon. I just love how they turned out. 

 Another project I had never attempted but always meant to: pacifier clips. So much prettier than store bought ones, and very inexpensive to make! Plus these were just so fun, once I learned how to set the snaps (so simple! why have I never used snaps? they look so much nicer than velcro!).

This one is made with cozy, soft minky and grosgrain ribbon, plus a bow so it looks pretty clipped onto baby's outfit. 

I just used a combination of fabrics and ribbons (all nice, sturdy grosgrain), snaps, and suspender clips. I may be adding these to my etsy store soon! I love making them!

I've made these stretchy baby headbands before, but I always just sewed on a little fabric yo-yo (like in the 3rd picture below). My friend was hoping for bows on alligator clips for some mixing and matching. I think that is such a great idea! Then I can make bigger bows as baby girl grows, and she can use them as hair clips separate from the headbands. They also work for the big sisters! So versatile.

The bow clips were more time-consuming than I thought, but very fun. I wanted the metal parts to be covered in ribbon for comfort, so I used grosgrain again for a bit of grip on baby's fine hair. Plus it just looks pretty!

These also may appear in my etsy shop at some point; although etsy is saturated with baby headbands and hair clips. 

I really haven't put as much time and effort into my etsy store as I'd like, but I do intend to focus more strongly on it eventually. Perhaps early 2012. For the last year (almost) I've been using most of my spare time to brand and promote what has turned into a wholesale coffee cozy business. With tons of hubby's help. It's all been very exciting, and I'm thrilled to be able to finally share more with you very soon! Check back!

And best wishes to you, J & C, for a happy, uneventful birth tomorrow, and a speedy recovery. Mia is such a blessing from the Lord and I can't wait to see what she brings to your family!

thredUP and a few updates

I recently learned of an online kid's clothing swap called thredUP and had to check it out right away. This is where the shopaholic in me sometimes escapes. I try to keep her locked up, and I'm convinced this is why God gave me boys. He knows I am weak to retail pleasures. Girl stuff is just too fun to shop for. Anyway. Resale and consignment are my friends. So, naturally I was intrigued by this site.
Basically, you sign up (for free), then view all the super fun boxes listed by other moms. These 'boxes' are medium flat rate priority mail boxes from USPS, that other users stuff full of clothes! You can search by size and gender, among other things. Each box has anywhere from 10-15 items in it, and you can view a list and descriptions of what's inside. ThredUP also has a rating system to ensure people are sending out quality clothes! No photos, to keep things simple and quick for listing... and also because the element of surprise is super fun.
So you pick your box, pay $5 plus shipping ($10.95 flat rate), and get a ton of new stuff in the mail! Then, when you get around to it, you list your own box of stuff your kids have outgrown! And when someone chooses it, you ship it for free! So we can pass cute clothes to someone who can use them, and get some new stuff for super cheap. Love this idea.
For years I've done the big semi-annual consignment sales when they come to town... which I love and will continue to do. But it's a lot of work! Sorting, typing info, printing and cutting tags, tagging items, putting them on hangers, driving them to and from the sale. ThredUP is so much easier and I can use it anytime I want!
I ordered my first box yesterday. 12 items. For around $16. $1.33 per item. I'll let you know when it comes and show you what's inside! I'm way excited. Getting stuff in the mail is just plain fun.
So check it out. Click one of the links above, or this one. If you sign up using my link, you get $5 credit! So your first box is only $10.95! You should know I also get $5 for each person I refer who buys a box. So it's a win-win. :)

On a side note, here are a couple updates:
Our new kitties were supposed to be spayed and brought home last week... but at the last minute there was a viral outbreak at the shelter where their surgeries were to take place. So the shelter closed down temporarily to protect the other cats, and the surgeries were postponed until March 30th. We are so glad our kitties were still safely in their foster home when the virus was discovered, but sad to have to wait a few more weeks!

And I finally got around to listing a few new coffee cozies in my etsy shop! Check 'em out if you get a chance. I've been keeping busy with lots of little side projects (and, I'll admit it, more sewing for the kittens), but I have a few fun things in the works to hopefully add to my shop soon!

from sweatshirt to purse

While cleaning out my closet recently I came across this sweatshirt. 

It used to fit me. Used to look cute, actually.

Then I had babies and, well 

it shrunk.

But the minute I pulled it out of its drawer I knew I had to make a purse out of it. The ribbed top with the bow would be perfect for the top of a cute handbag. And this silky, bright pink velour just couldn't be tossed into my Goodwill pile. 

So it sat in my sewing room (aka our office) for a couple months. But I kept thinking about it, and finally yesterday I pulled it out and just started cutting. 

I cut off the sleeves and bottom ribbing, and cut away the kangaroo pocket.

Then added a crazy array of interfacing, fusible fleece and batting. Funny little scraps of each.  I was determined to not buy a single thing for this project. I used quilt adhesive spray (Sulky- my new fav thing) to hold the batting in place....

...for this! I knew right away it had to be quilted. A la Juicy Couture. Well, not quite a la Juicy. But kinda.

Love, love, love how it turned out!! 

I gusseted the bottom so it is nice and roomy (gotta stash diapers somewhere).

And lined it in pink satin with cute pockets. 

Double pocket on one side for lipgloss and other important things. 

Not bad for an old sweatshirt and no pattern!

This might be my new addiction... gonna have to search through sweaters and sweatshirts at the thrift store. This was ridiculously fun. And free!

Plus I had scraps left to make a matching quilted coffee cozy!

With the cutest little crocheted button ever, from my grandma's collection. 

Fun stuff. :)

A little button makeover

Sadly, this was my button collection:

I had some to begin with, but when I started selling coffee cozies and using a button to fasten each one, my grandma gave me all her buttons. Many were super old and way cool! Then my other grandma gave me hers! Also some vintage ones. So I had tons of buttons and no way to organize them. It was so hard to pick through all these containers and baggies to find the perfect button.

So the fam and I went on a search for some kind of organizer. Hubby found this:

Actually it was just the plain wood... I masked the glass top and spray painted it this teal color. 

It has two layers of trays, and the top ones pull out. Exactly what I needed! And much sturdier and prettier than those plastic organizers, which I would have resorted to. 

My sweet Ty offered to help sort. It was actually pretty fun. Got to see tons of buttons I didn't know I had. Took a couple hours though. 

But look! 

So neat, so pretty. So easy to find what I need. And I still have tons of room. I filled the bottom layer but barely any of the top.

Fits perfectly in my new desk. Hooray for organization. :)

Sewing desk

I cautiously dream of the day Beckham is old enough to sleep in a big boy bed. I'm hesitant because I remember this transition with Ty; it was frustrating at times. Also because he is my baby. And once he's a "big boy", I'm not sure that I'll be having more babies. So I cling to this time a little bit. 

But here is my plan:

When he can sleep well in a big boy bed, we will move him into Ty's room and they can share the bunk bed. Which I think they will love. At least for a while.  Then, I get to turn his room into my craft room!! I'll pull my big, antique scrapbooking/craft desk out of it's squishy corner of the playroom and move it in there. I need some big bookshelves, with bins and baskets and organized, gorgeous things. Maybe a big table for cutting fabric or gift wrapping. Then I can add my new sewing desk! 

Hubby bought it for me last weekend after my beloved kitty died. Got her as a kitten when I was 18. She lived to be 13 years old. I know. Not gonna dwell on it. It's already been a rough week. But it took me a while to feel like blogging again. And poor hubby felt my sadness and I know he wanted to take it away... so he did what he knew would cheer me up. He bought something for me. Something that had to do with sewing. And organization. Two of my favorite things. He really is a genius. 

Pretty! 

Excuse the annoying flash circle. Of course I waited until dark to photograph it. 

So it has this pull down front that becomes the desk, but folds up so I can hide my sewing machine and accoutrements when not it use. Looks so much cleaner than having my machine sitting out on our computer desk all the time. Still not completely ideal in the office, but it's very functional for the next year or two until I can create my own space.

Isn't it great?! It's designed to be a computer desk, but works well for my purposes. I've been working on organizing all my supplies as well... luckily our office has a walk-in closet so I have shelves and baskets in there for all my fabric. But my big problem has been my button collection. It's grown immensely thanks to my wonderful grandmas who each gave me their collections! And since I've been making so many coffee cozies with a button on each, I've been needing a good system for sorting them. 

So check back soon to see my potential solution. I'm pretty-ing it up as we speak. :)

And the winner is....

Holly!!!
Congrats! A super cute, one of a kind coffee cozy heading your way!

I wrote names on paper slips and had Ty draw one out of a bowl. I know I could have used one of those online number generators but that seemed so anticlimactic! This was way more fun. :)

Thanks to everyone who entered and my new followers! I can't wait to do this again. Check back later today for a special project in honor of my first cake decorating class tonight!!! I am beyond excited.