HOMEMADE SPRING TABLE RUNNER

Hey yall!! As we all know Spring is finally here! I don't know about you guys, but I'm very excited. Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and colors are brighter! 

It's also that time of the year when many of us are changing stuff around, doing a little spring cleaning and decorating. You know... getting the spring spirit in our homes. After all it's been a heck of a long winter and we're all ready for some nicer weather. 

Today I'm pleased to share this floral homemade spring themed table runner that I created for my home. If you ask me, a beautiful table setting is always the easiest way to welcome any season and this little DIY says Welcome Spring all over it!    

Supplies:

• Felt in various colors
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• needle
• thread
• green embroidery floss
• "23 x 13" piece of fabric
• embroidery hoop

Optional:

• Sewing Machine ( or you can also hand sew)

First I finished the raw edges of the fabric using the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine, just to keep the fabric from unraveling. Then I folded the edge of  my fabric into 1/2" and 1/2" hem (this is easier if you iron the hem down before you sew). I used my sewing machine to sew along the folded hem(this can also be done by hand).

     After I sewed my hem down and made it all around the fabric, I started making my felt flowers in various colors and sizes.  

There's so many beautiful styles of felt flowers you can make. I stuck with two simple ways. The first one is the daisy looking one. I just cut a strip of felt, folded it and cut little slits along the folded edge. Then using a small piece of scrap felt, I made a little ball for the middle of the flower. I glued the little ball to the very tip of the flower strip. Then I rolled the strip up creating a pretty little flower. 

The second style is what I call the portulaca. First I cut up a bunch of felt squares and then cut them into petals. After I had several cut petals, I then hand sewed them together using a needle and thread. 

I attached eight flowers on each end of the runner using a needle and thread. Once I attached all the flowers I hand embroidered leaves on my little runner using a needle and green embroidery floss.  

And that's It my friends!! I must admit I absolutely LOVEEE how my spring table runner turned out. It's by far not perfect, but it gots tons of personality and most important it just screams out SPRING every time you look at it.   

Also how incredibly cute is this little blue thrifted creamer filled with wildflowers that I picked from the woods!!!! I just love getting creative with my thrift finds, it's soooo much fun...

Have a good one you guys!

XO,Nancy!! 

VALENTINES DAY GARLAND DIY

When parties and holidays come around it has become a little tradition of mine to make and hang a festive garland in my home. Today I took some time to put together a cute little Valentines Day garland for our dining room window. 

Would you like to make one too? I knew you would!! This is what I did. 

 Supplies:

• Burlap
• Acrylic paint
• small paintbrush
• scissors
• heart shaped template
• yarn
• cardstock paper
• ruler
• pencil

1. I made a hand drawn banner template using cardstock paper, ruler and pencil. Then I used it to cut out my burlap banner pieces. 2. I placed a plastic heart template on the piece of burlap. 3. I painted a heart on each piece of burlap using pink acrylic paint. 4. After I painted and allowed the burlap banner sheets to dry. I folded the top of the fabric and sewed it onto the yarn with a scalloped stitch. It can also be hand-sewn or hot glued.   

When I finished sewing all the banner sheets onto the yarn, I hung it in place and attached paper flowers made from coffee filters that I had made weeks before. You on the other hand can use artificial flowers from the dollar store. Or you can make your own paper flowers twisting the coffee filter and dipping it into alcohol ink. 

 And done!! How freaken cute is that!! 

Have fun Crafting!! Don't forget to stop by and share your beautiful creation, I would love to see!!

XO, NANCY!! 

REFASHIONED CLOSET: 3 OUT OF 1

Good Morning friends! Excited to say that I finally had time to alter some clothing items that have been pending for quite a while. This thrifted Striped and Mustard dress from Forever 21 was one that I just had to share before the summer is over.  

Before

 The way it was wasn't so bad to begin with, but I had a different vision for it. When I purchased the dress I really liked the striped top and Yellow Mustard bottom combo. Since I'm not a minimalist i decided to split the dress in two creating a crop top and skirt for more outfit combinations.

1. Using a seam ripper I detached the top and the bottom, splitting the dress in two. 2. I folded and pinned down the top of the bottom piece which is now my skirt right at 1''. 3. I stitched right down the fold/pinned area of the waistband with the front side facing in, leaving a opening at the end to string in the 1'' wide elastic through. 4. Once the elastic was inside the waistband I sewed the elastic together and stitched the waistband close. Creating the "Mustard skirt"!! 5. The dress originally came with a wide black elastic waistband in the middle that attached the two pieces together. I left the wide elastic on the bottom of the striped top as it was. Creating what is now the "Striped Crop Top"

 Combo #1

Combo #2

Combo #3

I just love how these two pieces turned out!! It completely blows my mind how versatile my $3 dress turned out to be. Are you a fan of refashioning thrift store finds?

XO, Nancy!!

THREE HELPFUL SEWING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

  My passion for sewing began way long ago as a child with just a needle and thread. Although I'm not exactly sure where I got it from. As for my mother was not and is not much of a sewer. Growing up I was always that weird girl who sewed up her own stuff, switched up her buttons and patched up whatever she could get her hands on. I remember having a huge stash of different thread colors, needles and pretty buttons. The thought of making and mending my own clothes by hand was fascinating.
   The use of a sewing machine wasn't one of my interest until I joined the Home Education class back in middle school. After that my friends- I fell in love...I instantly knew I wanted to learn more and more. Unfortunately after that I was never again able to get my hands on a sewing machine. Soon the years flew by and the urge to further my skills was set aside.
 It wasn't until this past Christmas that my loving husband surprised me with my first sewing machine. Since then I've been eager to learn. At first it seemed a lot harder than I remembered, until I came across a very nice man at a quilting & fabric store who gave me great advice. I have came a long way since then by simply following what he told me. I now stand by his words and I am extremely happy to share them with you.

HELPFUL TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

Study your machine: Learn as much as you can about your sewing machine, read manuals, search the web etc. Practice threading and unthreading your machine . If your machine is computerized learn about the different settings & stitching patterns.

Get comfortable with your machine: Take out your bobbin and your top thread. Use regular line paper and sew along the straight lines. Sewing straight lines on paper will give you lots of practice. As you sew across the page you will begin to notice how much you have improved. Try out all the different stitching patterns. Don't be afraid of messing up. After all it's just paper!

Learn to control your machine: A simple way to gain greater control of your sewing machine is by sewing circles. Outline a circle on a piece of card stock paper and sew all around(make sure your bobbin and thread are out). Sewing circles is one of the best ways to understand how much pressure is necessary while your guiding your fabric and down on your foot pedal. This is a great technique for achieving control while stitching curves. Do allow yourself lots of practice.

I consider myself a beginner , but I can honestly say that these basic tips have helped me improve my sewing by far. They have encouraged me to loose all fear of making mistakes and become good friends with my sewing machine. If your a beginner and have absolutely no clue how to start sewing, these helpful tips are the way to go!

XO, Nancy!

10 DAYS OF VALENTINES- DAY 7: SEQUIN HEART PATCHES DIY

If you are anything like me, than your probably a sucker when it comes to shopping for your kids. I'm one of those mothers who can have a hole outfit picked out for myself , but God forbid I see something cute for my daughter because I will put my stuff down and walk out with children's clothes.

The other night I was flipping through the pages on Zulily drooling over all the adorable clothes they have for the upcoming season. Then I stumbled upon a pair of  heart leggings which I thought were perfect for valentines day. Until I saw their sales price! So, inspiration kicked in and I was determined to recreate the Zulily leggings with a sequined signature of my own. This is how I did it!

:Source

Supplies needed; leggings or pants,pen, 1 piece of card stock paper,scissors, Two pieces of pink felt, pink embroidery floss, large needle, two pins, pink sequins.

                                                     Getting Started

1. Mark your pants or leggings at the knees with a pen. 2. Create a heart template out of the card stock paper,I cut out two different hearts to see which one I liked better. 3. Trace and cut out your heart template onto the pink felt(I chose the rounder heart). 4. Pin the felt hearts over the marked area on your garment.

                                                       Starting to Sew

1. You will be doing a basting stitch from underneath the fabric back up to the top. 2. Attach the sequins to the garment as you sew. Bring the needle up from beneath the stitch and connect the sequin. 3. Push down the sequin through the thread and keep going with the pattern until you have sewn the heart all around. 4. You have officially mastered the art of patching and sewing sequins all in one!! 

   I made these sequin heart patches with my daughter in mind, but I also think they would look great on some of my clothes. I might have to come back and let you guys know how it goes. Would you add these on some of your clothes? How would you wear it? 

XO,Nancy

10 Days of Velentines- Day1: Felt&Tulle Heart Headband

                                                                                                         Valentines Day is around the corner, love is in the air, and this heart headband is a perfect accessory for this Valentines season! Am I right or am I right?? Weather its you the one rocking it or the little princess in your life. You never go wrong with a fabulous statement headband! It makes a perfect gift. Very inexpensive and extremely fashionable if you ask me.  Felt and tulle it doesn't get easier than that.

Supplies:

• felt
• tulle
• pen
• scissors
• needle,thread
• headband
• hot glue gun

On a piece of felt folded in half trace out your hearts. Carefully cut them out.  I chose to use one white heart and two hot pink. You on the other hand may use whatever color choices you like! After you cut them out you should have two hearts of each color. 

 Using a needle and thread sew these pretties together as shown above. I did an overcast stitch on all three hearts. My color choices were; red thread for the white heart and light pink for the two hot pink hearts.

When your done sewing your hearts together, hot glue them onto the headband in whatever order you'd like to. I decided to place my white heart in the middle of the two pink ones. Once I glued my hearts on the headband I cut out pieces of red tulle. Then glued them under one side of  the white heart as you can see above. I then repeated the same step on the opposite side of the white heart. To hide the glue and layers of tulle on the bottom of the headband you can cut small circles of felt to cover all that up. Your all set!!

How easy was that? It was so much fun sharing with you guys. Now make me proud, go on and make this purrty thing for yourself! Feel free to share what you created. Have a good one Everyone!!