Quick Inspiration

My house is in great need of some decor and organization, but the budget is pretty tight right now so I'm having to get creative. 

I don't know about you, but things tend to pile up all other the place in our house: preschool papers, mail, calendars, sticker books, etc... I was getting kind of tired of it and wanted to purchase an elaborate shelving system to help with the problem. There really was nothing that I could find that was worth actually spending money on within my price range so I improvised for a bit. I found an old bookshelf that wasn't in use and brought it over next to our desk. I started piling things on it with the intent to make it look neater, but alas, this is how it looked most days:

 I finally decided to do something about the eyesore it was becoming and grabbed some fabric from my stash, cut it to the dimensions of the shelf, sewed it, and then found a tension rod lying  in my closet that was needing a home. Mission accomplished! Much better for now.

 Then I whipped up a quick pillow for my living room chair because the colors worked perfectly together.

Sometimes it is easy to add a little bit of "new" to your life without having to break the bank. My next project is to tackle my closet and start shopping my current wardrobe.

Valentine's Day

We made the ever popular Valentine's found on Pinterest to give to Aidan's classmates. Super easy. I took a pic of him, added text in Picnik, sent it to 1 hour photo at Wal-mart, picked up the pictures and candy from the store, made little holes, inserted candy.

Upon finding them this morning, Nora was crawling on top of the table trying to pull all the suckers out of each one as I hurriedly snapped a pic for memories sake. And...we were 15 minutes late to school...again.

DIY Heart Stamps

Super quick and easy project. Got this one off the internets....and I had all the supplies! Just need a couple toilet paper rolls and some rubber bands to make little heart shaped stamps, some paints, and paper. We spent the afternoon making Valentine's for our friends....simple, cheap, easy, and cute.

Big Button Beanie with Ribbed Stitch

This hat came together beautifully. I just made it up as I went, but knew I wanted to add a ribbed look on the bottom that gave it a more "knit" look. I really like how it turned out and hope the little boy who gets to wear it enjoys it just as much.

Want to know how to get that ribbed look? I'll share a pattern soon for this sweet little baby hat.

Nora's Room: Quilt

I honestly am not much of a seamstress. I have had no real training, but have been learning some things by taking on little projects here and there. Thanks goes out to my mother for deciding I needed a sewing machine a few years ago. I honestly did not see the value since I did not sew or have much desire to at the time, but I am so thankful to have my own machine now.

So, back to the project at hand. I am in the process of decorating Nora's room. Right now her room consists of a hideous hodgepodge of decor and furniture that needs painting. Her curtains are basically an old twin sheet that we nailed up to block some of the sunlight. (yeah, it's bad)

I found this quilt kit at Wal-mart in the clearance section for $11. I was so excited, so I went ahead and bought it. Fast forward about 3 months later, and I finally got out the fabric and did something with it.... TA DA!

The quilt is not finished. I just cut out everything and pieced it together, but it still needs the backing and binding. I was so proud of myself the night I put this together I couldn't stop staring at it. I think it is going to be perfect for a little girl's room!

Canvas Art

I have several plain white canvases that have been sitting around my house for awhile and I finally got some paints out and spent the evening having a little fun.

This image has been floating around Pinterest and I had it on one of my boards to make. I love the colors and the simple message.

Here's my recreation:

I did something a little different with the "berries?" and still probably need to add a little more to cover up the right side a little more, but I really like how it turned out. Painting words takes a lot of concentration and work, especially when doing it free hand. I think I need to invest in buying some stencils to make the process a little easier. Any thoughts?

Have you heard of Ravelry?

If you like to knit or crochet, but haven't heard of ravelry, then you are about to hit a landmine....seriously.

I love ravelry because it is an online community where you can find patterns (for free and for sale) for almost anything you might want to make with yarn. It is a great tool to help you find inspiration and you can save patterns in your "favorites" to look at later. I have actually found several great patterns for free that I have downloaded. It is also a great resource if you want to grow your ability to read patterns.

Here's one that I stumbled upon today. It is a free download on ravelry's site.

I made this cardigan in 2 evenings this past weekend. I whipped it up in an 18-24 month size for Nora. Still really need to take a picture (this picture was taken from ravelry's site). My interpretation of the pattern was a little bit different, but I love the way it turned out. I'll have to upload a picture of the finished product soon.