Display holder

We are currently full steam ahead in project mode. My brother is getting married in less than 1 month (yikes!) here in Chico. Since we live here I am becoming the keeper of all kinds of decorations, which I love! I was asked to make 10 of these display holders. I am not sure what to call them since they really can be used for anything. Pictures, name cards, postcards, the possibilities are endless. I got this idea from one of my favorite websites, Shanty2Chic. I really wanted to use all the scraps of wood that we had, so these ended up only costing about $2 each. Pretty good if you ask me!

I started with these pieces, some small clothes pins and some wood candle holders and round bases that I bought at Michaels.


I glued them together first with hot glue thinking that would be quick, well they didn't stick very well, so I went back and used wood glue! I like to preassemble them so that I know where I am spray painting. I had left over 2x6 and 2x4. I knew that 2x4 would be too little, so I cut two 7 1/2 in. long and placed them on top of each other. The 2x6 I placed vertical and the 2x4 ones horizontal. Here is the 2x6 pre spray paint!

I laid out all my projects and gave them a coat of almond color spray paint.


I then sanded them and used a dark walnut stain around the edges. After I did that I cut burlap to fit each of the rectangles and adhered them with spray adhesive and then put cute furniture tacks on each corner.


After I did this I used a glue gun to adhere the clothes pin and the embellishment. And we are done!


Notice the trike in the back, I love that I can work with my kiddos around!

Also, since I gave my brother and future sister-in-law their present, I thought I would show you all! I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Hope all are enjoying their summers! I am!

Simple skirts

So this past week I finally tackled a skirt project that I had been meaning to do for a while! I love summer and for me skirts are the perfect summer clothes. They are light, fun, bouncy and cool. In the heat they are super comfortable and yet cute. I really had wanted to make this for me, but alas, my girls got another skirt (but they're really cute!) I found a super simple tutorial on the blog MADE. You can see the tutorial here. I thought it would be good to see actually how simple the skirt was to make and how long it took me to make it.

I started out by measuring the waists and lengths of my girls. I then followed the guidelines on the blog to cut my fabric. This is how it turned out.

Since I chose a white fabric, I wanted to do a double layer skirt, so I also cut out a pink fabric for the second layer. After I did that I zig-zag stitched the two fabrics together. I don't have a serger, so I was not able to do any of the edging or seams with one, but it might me on my list for a fun toy to have! After that, I ironed the bottom seams down on both of the fabrics. I thought it would be fun to do a zig-zag stitch on the first layer and then a straight stitch on the second layer.




I then sewed the edges together and created the tube.


I used pinking shears to cut the excess fabric and then ironed it open. From this point on I followed the MADE directions and then...

Here it is all done and on Brooklynn. I really like how it turned out and the best thing was that it only took 1 hour to make it, seriously! This really is a simple skirt and I hope I can make more. I think I am going to attempt one for me next!

Picture Frames

This week has been a busy one for me with lots of projects going on. My brother and soon to be sister-in-law are getting married in a month and I am working on some fun projects for the wedding. In the mean time, I have been wanting to finish these picture frames that I have had for a couple of weeks. When Josiah had his newborn pics taken, I wanted to frame them and put them in the hall next to the girls baby pictures. I could not find a good frame at the store (for a decent price) so I decided to just make my own backgrounds and redo all the kiddos pictures for the wall. I wanted them to all match, so it is actually better this way!

I started out with these bad boys that I found at Michael's for $5 a frame. Initially I wasn't super excited about the color of the frame and seriously contemplated spray painting it, but in the end I found that it would go well in the hall.

I then picked out some paper that I liked for the background. The tricky part was knowing that I would need to make the 8x8 paper longer, so I chose a coordinating print that I knew I was going to use to make it fit.


I then got out my razor and a cutting board and started cutting the paper the correct width and length of the frame.


I then chose to sew the two papers together. I really like the look of the mixed mediums! Sorry about this crummy picture :(


This is a picture of it finished, I tried to get the zig zag stitch, but it was pretty light.



This is the finished paper with the correct size for the frame.


I then used photo corners to put the pictures in place.


This is the easiest way I think to adhere the photo corners, by placing them on opposite corners first and then putting them on the paper.


Once I had the pictures adhered I cut out some shapes on my Silhouette and put them on the paper. For Josiah, I picked an old fashioned bike!


I then put it in a frame and hung it on the wall. I was happy with how they turned out and am glad to have ones that match.




Hope all are well and I'm off to bed...

Little rosettes

Life has been busy around the Davids' household! I think summer goes by way too fast, but there is still more fun to come. We had a very relaxing 4th of July and my husband was able to take the girls fly fishing! I, on the other hand enjoyed chatting on the banks of the creek with a friend. I have been thinking about this tutorial for a while. I love these little guys and tend to be able put them everywhere!!! These are the rosettes that I glued onto the sign I made here. There are plenty of tutorials on the web for these. I have only taught how to make these in person, so I thought I would take up the challenge and try to document how to create these!

I love these because it gives me something to make with my scraps of fabric. First cut about a 2" wide strip of fabric that is at least 18" long. I like to make my strips fairly long as they can always be cut down.

Here is my strip, please disregard the fruit snacks and naked baby doll on the counter, that is how I get things done, ha!

I then fold the strip in half and begin rolling from one edge

I then roll tightly for 5 or 6 times so I end up with something looking like this...


This is the center of the rose. I then take the roll in between my fingers and begin to twist the remaining fabric around the tight center I have already created.

This is how you twist the fabric and it doesn't matter if some of the frayed edges show.

This is how I hold my rosette, the longer center stem in between my two fingers and twisting the fabric around the center by creating a flat surface with my hand and twisting it on top.

After you have twisted the fabric enough you should end up with something like this looking from the back. I then put hot glue on the back of the rose and fold over the remaining fabric to hold the twist together. I then turn it over and hot glue any spots that seem to be loose.

This is the back after it is glued...

This is the front. I then take my scissors and cut off the excess fabric and it is done! You can put these anywhere. I had been meaning to make some headbands for my daughters, so that is how I used these!


On a headband...

My daughter posing so graciously with her headband on...and

My little helper! He has been a great little guys and just hangs out and watches me do all I need to while he enjoys the scenery.

Hope this was helpful, here is a link to a video tutorial of how to make the rosette which might be a bit easier to follow! Have a great day!