Thanksgiving how I love thee...

I have been itching to put up my Thanksgiving decor...

Hurray for November!

Here is what I have been working on...

I made this pillow out of painters cloth that I bought from Walmart for like $9.99. I still have a lot left so I am excited for all the other projects I will be doing with the left overs.   I love this pillow so much that I think i will make many more in the future. SMILE.  I especially love how it has the look of linen for a fraction of the price! Now all I need to do to finish this little beauty is to sew a few buttons on it. I am on the lookout for a few cute ones, but havn`t found quite what I was thinking of yet...I will post an update when I find what I want:-)

You can find the tutorial on how to make this beauty here:

 Any suggestions what what buttons to use?

 My next project was a fun one too. I cut out pieces of painters cloth and than painted the ``Give Thanks`` letters on it. Used my glue gun to attach the pretty brown ribbon. The Tomkat Studio was my inspiration for this one. I want to add some more brown ribbon to it, but... I ran out....lol

 Now comes my favorite new Thanksgiving craft.  My inspiration for this came from when I fell in love with Dear Lillies Thanksgiving pillow. (Go buy her stuff, its AMAZING!)   I found some images online of  pilgrim silhouettes and basically made it the same way I did my kids DIY Silhouette art.  I used fine white fabric for the cream parts and glued them on. I love love LOVE it;-)  

 The best thing about these is that they remind me of my own two kids...

Next is my cute little ``give thanks`` sign. Yup...just drew it up with my sharpie pen.  

 These cute little gobblers (salt and pepper shakers) were found at Tai Pan Trading for only $3.97, just today in fact!  

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I have SO much to be grateful for this year. 

hugs

Cat

DIY birthday crown (baby`s first)

So here is my reason for not posting so much lately...this little lady of mine, my baby girl E... lol.

She just turned 1 and for that I wanted to do a cute little photo shoot. I used to have my own little photog business, and when baby E came along I had to stop. I think I might start up again, when all my kids are in school...so it could be years from now. My kids ...They just need me too much.;-) And by golly...I need them too!

 Anyhow...trying to get out of the house can sometimes be difficult with 2 little ones and one in 1st grade, so I decided to do her 1 year photo shoot at home. It is something everyone can do, and get pretty nice results. I discovered this for myself when my little boy was just a wee one too. I would open up the blinds in my bedroom, make the bed *of course, sit hime on the bed  and than just let him play. I would get some wonderful pics from that, and it was soooo much easier than taking them to a fancy outdoor location to do pictures. 

I made this crown for  baby E out of card stock, burlap,and different embellishments such as laces, rick rack, pompoms etc. I loved how it turned out. And it was so easy to make. I measured her head, and cut out a the W type crown free handed.  Super easy. Than I glued the rest on...so fun! 

Here is how it turned out.

and here are some of my favs from the shoot....

thanks for stopping by!

hugs

cat

at the party with
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

DIY Silhouette Gifts (Fathers Day)

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE silhouettes. I still remember at my Grandmothers house in Denmark, there is a tiny silhouette picture of her father (my great grandfather), one that someone made. Im not sure who did it, but I LOVE it! When I was a little girl I would always admire it. I think it is amazing what a simple silhouette can portray. 

ONce in a while I make some of our little family. And Since we added baby nr 3 I havnt had a chance to make some updated ones of all 3 of my babies. For fathers day this year I had the kids make their Daddy some art. This is what we came up with. It is SUPER fun for the littles to do, and I like it myself so here is how you do it.

AND wouldnt these make GREAT gifts for Christmas too?! 

You will need:

A camera

cardstock/colored paper

canvas (i used 8x10 i think)

craft paint & sponge brushes

modge podge

fine sharpie pen

scissors

craft knife

a steady hand;-)

First thing I take the kids pictures with my camera. From the side. So as to see their silhouette.  For my baby i had one of the kids distract her so she wouldn't look at me, but at them. Worked like a charm.

I put my kids to work by letting them paint their own canvas. Error free mind you because they had freedom to paint their all one color as they would :-) They LOVED doing this.  

Let it dry for a few hours or even overnight.

Next I uploaded the pictures to my computer and simply printed the images out on the cardstock/colored paper that I wanted to use. Played around a bit to get the size I wanted too.

Next I cut the pictures out. Pay attention to detail! ONly cut out their silhouette. I did so with my scissors. Because some of the details are lost in the image itself, I used my craft knife (or a razor blade) to etch out the hair or creases in the clothes. It helped especially for the girls pictures.  else my oldest daughters long hair would not show up on the silhouette. And I think it looks alot more like her with those details. Its totally up to you. ;-) For my son I didnt need to do that. 

Now after that I got the modge podge out and glued the silhouettes onto the canvas. (watch out for air bubbles, so smooth them out carefully). And than I let my children paint their own canvas with modge podge. They really covered them up nicely. Again Just take care they dont get any air bubbles under the silhouettes.

Once dry I wrote their names and ages on the bottom of the pictures with a sharpie pen.

 (Sorry for the glare on the pix...my hallway has not very good lighting...)

I just love having these pictures to look at.  I have made few different ones throughout the years. Its been 5 months already since we did these, and already my kids have grown SO much! Especially my baby girl.  I love having their littles profiles etched into time forever!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cat

oxoxo

DIY Kitchen art

 So, for years almost now...lol..well, you know how there is always a project that you want to get done, its always in your mind, but you never really get around to doing it? Well, this project was one of those. I am so pleased that I finally got around to making this. It was super cheap and I like how it turned out.

I think I would like to make some more, whenever I come across a super chunky frame to replace this one, but you get the general idea. It makes me happy every time I look at it:-)

 Supplies:

a 8x10 Picture frame ( I found mine at the dollar store)

Just make sure your silverware fits in the frame.  

burlap

silverware (these were also at the dollar store)

spray paint (I used Rust-oleum  Heirloom white)

Glue Gun

staples (optional)

Firts I spray painted my frame AND silverware. The silverware I spray painted BOTH sides.

After that dried I used my stapler to fasten the burlap to the picture frame. It was such a cheap frame that I could do that. I found it worked much better than trying to glue the burlap on. 

Next I glued the silver ware on. Let it dry...viola and DONE....

I already had the glue, paint and burlap...so this cost me only $4, to make...AND I have more silverware leftover for some more crafts in the future.

Score!

Pumpkin vase & a little pillow love

So my sister just recently got married, and my mother did all of her flowers. My mom is SUPER talented. I was so lucky to take home one of the flower arrangements...a PUMPKIN VASE!! The picture does not do it justice...It really is so much prettier in person...I had to share this awesome idea. They basically hollowed out the pumpkin, than put a plastic yogurt type container in there to fill with water. the pumpkin lasted about 5 days before it spoiled, but my oh my how pretty it is! Would be a great idea to keep on the front door, with some fall flowers inside too, AND it would hold up so much better for being out in the cold. 

Love it!

 And off to another subject. Pillows.

I got tired of my old ones (I usually redo them once a year or so) and this was my newest . Only remind me NOT to EVER get microfiber couches again...we have had these for 8 years now, and man are they trashed! Oh sweet children how they destroy.... lol. Any ideas on cleaning them?? Water even shows up on these lovelies.

Happy Halloween

I've been working on some small fun projects these past few months. But to start with let me share with you my pumpkins! Lol. I know, it sounds silly but I have simply loved this years selection! Every year we take our kids to our local pumpkin patch and they get to goose a pumpkin. This year we chose a few extras. Love it, especially the dusty green one.

Happy Halloween! 

Featuring...

Man, its been a while....
I have been working on a few projects lately...I just need to take their pix and post. Promise, something to come soon!

Until than, let me introduce you to (one of my, because I have few), my super talented, cute, adorable, sweet, lovely, kind and BEAUTIFUL in EVERY way...sister in law Cherie. She has just started a new blog that I am sure you will LOVE.  Here is a picture from her latest post..

Isnt it wonderful! :-)

  Well, you can go and see lots of more wonders by visiting her new blog 

Cherieamourblog.blogspot.com

Become her latest follower, send your friends... 

She has some incredible stuff on there and I just LOVE IT...LOVE IT ALL..

*Welcome to blogger land Cherie ;-)

hugs

cat