Neighbor Gifts and Homemade Bows

I am officially done with gifts … other than frosting my yummy chocolate cake for my family for Christmas day! But I wanted to share my neighbor gifts with you …

I saw this idea on Pinterest. I ♥ Pinterest! I knew I wanted to do this, so I found some HoHos and Ding Dongs and went to work. I made my own bows from magazine pages (again, I found the idea here on Pinterest … did I mention that I ♥ Pinterest??).

My homemade bows - aren't they great?

These make me smile … I love how they turned out :) … and the bows … well, I just ADORE them … I think there will be more of those to come!

HO HO HO from this Ding Dong!! I hope that your Christmas is filled with the JOY that only Jesus can bring!

Precious Quilt for a Precious Girl

I made my first quilt in a very long time. And it was fun. I must admit I have become addicted. Grace is now asking for one and I must oblige.

Anyway, I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to make a quilt and I had my girls with me at Hobby Lobby. I asked Lydia what she liked and she picked out a fabric that became my inspiration. She had no idea that I decided to make the quilt for her. So I have been making the quilt in "secret" (she knew I was making one, but had no idea it was for her). I finished it last night. I am so pleased with how it turned out. And I wanted to share it with you …

I decided to make a simple quilt since it had been a while. Here are all the squares ready to be laid out and sewn together with ♥ …

The strips laid out …

The quilt top finished and laid out on my bed …

And 2 more close ups of the quilt top, just for fun …

Here is the quilt sandwich, just before basting …

And the quilting is done and ready for binding …

Look at all that binding … this fabric was the inspiration for the quilt …

Sewing on the binding …

And after machine sewing the binding to the front, I finished the binding by hand (may favorite part).

And here is the finished quilt …

It's hanging on my fence, so you can't see the top, but it's exactly the same as the bottom. Except that the bottom has this cute applique …

And I embroidered this on the back …

And here it is, all folded pretty and tied up with extra binding …

The note that I wrote to go with it tells her that this quilt was made with so much love and anytime she is feeling alone or unloved she can wrap herself up in it and remind herself that she is loved beyond measure. She may not fully understand today the love with which it was made, but one day she will! I cannot wait to give it to her!! ♥ I am getting teary just thinking of giving it to her and what it means to me and what it will one day mean to her ♥ …

Inspiration {loves} Pinterest

So I've been seeing Pinterest here and there around the interwebs lately. I finally received my own invite and I am in deep like!! I ♥ Pinterest. While browsing around the other evening I was inspired to finally start working on my kitchen. I had put it on the back burner after completing the living room and reading room (they just need knick-knacks and little touches that only come through a lot of antiquing an thrifting).

My first order of business? Make candle holders, of course! This was so simple and, if you are weird like me and have a stash of paper scraps and jars, it cost virtually nothing.

Some jars, some scraps of cute paper, some double sided tape (or scrapbooking adhesives), some wire, some tea lights and voila!

I promise I DID clean my windows JUST this morning … grrrrrrrr! Does anyone else find it impossible to get them 100% clean? I have literally tried everything. Between those windows and my unfinished window sills it looks quite messy here! Oh well … they're still cute :)

I saw this idea in this great book I picked up at the library:

And my crafting required listening to my newest thrift store find:

More Music for Relaxation … yessssss ♥ ! Now I think I'll go make a sign for the reading room :) … you can see that idea here on my Pinterest ♥

Kiss Me {I'm Irish}

Y'all know I like to make wreaths, right? So I made one for March, for St. Patrick's Day. And bonus since green is my favorite color (most of the time).

Cute, right?

I decided to put the words "Kiss Me" on this one instead of lucky. After all, it's not luck that I believe in :)

And these flowers … LoVe them! No sew, and super easy to make. You can find a great tutorial here.

I love it. Too bad I'll have to take it down in a few weeks!

More {LOVE}

OK, so I like Valentine's Day. Shoot me. I don't really think it's the greeting card company-induced love fest so much as it's the hearts. I just like hearts. ♥ ♥ ♥ … I ♥ that I figured out how to make them show up on this here blog. AnYwAy … my latest craft project completed yesterday:

I ♥ that fake mantle o' mine! I really, REALLY want to finish this room, but Christmas put a halt on that project. I think it's about time to pick it back up, don't you?

So … I made a {LOVE} sign and a Be Mine Valentine bunting/garland/whatever you want to call it. I ♥ garlands!

I got the idea for the sign here and the bunting here over at Crap I've Made. But my bunting is completely made out of paper with my Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot software.

Happy ♥ Day! {LOVE} is all you need …

Wreath {LOVE}

So do you know that I like making wreaths? This is a new-found like of mine. First I made this Welcome wreath, then I made this {Holly Jolly} wreath. And now I have made this Valentine's Day wreath.

It all started with my beloved scissors …

And that cute fabric. Although, I ended up using Valentine's fabric instead, so I can use this for something else equally {cute}! Aren't they lovely. ♥ ♥ my Gingher scissors!

And then I added these things …

White fleece (not shown), cheap thread, hot glue, embroidery thread, red buttons and those nifty, neat-o yo-yo makers! I ♥ those things! It makes creating a yo-yo a breeze … no fidgeting (I hate fidgeting).

So here is the new wreath in all her glory …

Goodness, I really need to paint the front door!

L ♥ V E !

p.s. I made this with the idea that I found here :)

mErrY CHrIsTMas

mErrY CHrIsTMas bunting complete:

♥