Liebster Award...TWICE!!

So what is a Liebster award?? I didn't know either until I got one...

 Liebster is a German word meaning 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'.  It is a special award given to bring recognition to blogs with less than 200 followers.

My blog has been growing a little bit lately and I'm so excited about that! I seriously let out a squeal when I found out I had received this award not once, but twice! One of my very loyal readers, Amy at My Infernal Journal, gave me this award several weeks ago. I'm embarrassed that I haven't posted this until now {Amy forgive me}. Anyway, then I was awarded this again by Natural Nesters!

If you receive this award there are a few simple rules:

1. Choose 5 blogs with less than 200 followers to pass the award on to

2. Show thanks to the blogger you received the award from by linking back to them {gotta show some love!}

3. Post the award on your blog and list the bloggers you are awarding with links to them

4. Jump up and down and enjoy the supportive community of bloggers!!

Here's the blogs I chose to pass this fab award on to (in no particular order of course!)

Emmaline Bags & Patterns
Here's to Handy Andy
la vie en rose
freaking craft
Free Time Frolics

All of these blogs have some great projects and great people behind them as well! Go check them out!

Upholstery Spray Paint?!?!?!?

MY MIND = BLOWN!!!!!!!

I saw this couch on the Sasse life

SHE SPRAY PAINTED IT!!!

Are you just as baffled as I was???

It's some paint called Simply Spray that just soaks in without changing the texture or feeling of your upholstery.

Crazy right?!?!

I think Kim got paid to write about this paint and I am not, but I still wanted to share it with you all.

I am still flipping out about how bad a** this is!

The paint is pricey, but definitely cheaper than replacing a stained couch!

Google it, you won't be sorry!

How many more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can I put in this post ;)

{How Pinteresting} #7

I have had the very worst headaches of my entire life the past 2 days.

I'm talking stabbing, sharp, throbbing pain on my entire head, down my neck and into the top of my shoulders.

Ugh

I've never had a migraine....maybe this is a first.

And the thing that's the most frustrating is that I don't know why I'm having them. There are usually a handful of reasons for my headaches...it's time for the chiropractor, I'm stuffy, I'm absolutely starving, or I drank too much the night before. But this is something completely different and I just don't know how many more days I can deal with it.

Ok, enough with my whining. But I will tell you that because of these headaches, my project this week took me literally like 4.7689324857 seconds! Woo Hoo!

If you have been on Pinterest this week then you have probably seen this ring by A Rosie Sweet Home

source

So simple and so chic! I love it.

Here's my version

PLEASE ignore my horrible nails. I painted them sunday night and for some reason all the polish bubbled up. I think maybe because it was 90 degrees that day and we refused to turn on the AC.  Haha

Back to the ring...

So adorable!

You can find the tutorial at A Rosie Sweet Home

And you can check out my Pinterest here!

Send good thoughts my way and make this headache go away!

How to Braid with 4 Strands

I had someone a while back that left a comment on this bracelet I made

Her mind was baffled on how to braid with 4 strands.

No worries, I will show you how!

I going to use 4 different colors of embroidery floss so you can see what I'm doing. 

I'm also going to braid it rather loosely so you can follow.

Ok, here we go!

Step 1: Move left string (blue) over one spot to the right.

Step 2: Move right string (yellow) under one spot to the left and over the next spot to the left. Make sense? We moved the yellow under the purple and over the blue.

Repeat!!

Red goes over yellow

Purple goes under blue and over red

Yellow goes over purple

Blue goes under red and over yellow

And here's how it should look repeated over and over

 

SUPER DUPER EASY PEOPLE!!!

Now you are in the know on braiding with 4 strands :)

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #8

Hi y'all!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

It's that time again...

Today isn't so much a tip as it is a tutorial. Raise your hand if you love that! I do!

I went through my jeans this weekend and had a pile that looked like this

Yowzers! That's a lot of jeans!

I took out the ones that fit me well that I actually wear. And the ones that are too small (that I dream about squeezing into again one day). And the ones that are too big (that I plan on refashioning into pregnancy jeans if that dream ever happens).

This is what I was left with...

A decent stack of jeans that I either want to hem, turn into skinnies, or cut up into shorts.

Since it's been like 90 blazing degrees for the last 4 days I went with shorts first. 

I wanted to be able to turn a pair of jeans I don't wear anymore into something trendy. We all know that elusive money tree does NOT grow in my backyard and I'm not the person in Kansas that won the megamillions! So I'm wanting to update some of my seriously old clothes to better suit me.

I saw these shorts as inspiration

source

Here's the jeans I decided to use

They just scream MOM JEANS!!!!!! AH!! No thanks

New shorts, here we come!

Start by deciding how long you want them to be and add an inch and a half. The best way to figure this out is to measure from your crotch down on the inseam. I wanted mine to have about a 3.5-4 inch inseam so I cut them at 5 inches.

NOTE: You can always cut more, but you can't add length back. Cut conservatively!! {unless you just love booty shorts}

 

Fold your jeans in half to cut them...it makes it easier to get the same length on both legs. Also, don't cut straight across, cut at a slight angle...it is more flattering and looks more like you bought them than did a hillbilly refashion

Next roll your new shorts however much you want. I wanted about an inch to inch and a half cuff. It also looks better if the cuff is slightly smaller in the back, but that's just my personal opinion. 

Then iron your cuff well! Like, stream the crap out of them. I think I even starched them a bit. I want to kinda train the fabric where to lay down.

ignore the hideous ironing board cover that's so thin you can see the ironing board through it. it's gross, I know.

To keep your shorts from unrolling every time you wash them I tacked them down on the side seams. I just kinda folded over that seam allowance part that's sticking out and sewed behind it, like 5 or 6 stitches should be fine. Don't forget to backstitch!

I also did some distressing on mine to make them look more trendy. If anyone is interested in how I did that, let me know and I'll do a tutorial!!

Here's what they look like at this stage

They're pretty good, but they need something else....

Throw them in the wash and the distressing and the edges will fray a bit more. 

Then they look like this...

No I'm not trying to show you my butt! 

I want you to see the distressing on my pocket and how the cuff in the back is smaller than the one in the front.

Not bad for a new pair of shorts huh? 

I'm also thinking about dyeing them darker. I saw someone do it on Pinterest and I have several pairs I think it would work with. 

Get out your scissors and make some shorts!

{How Pinteresting} #6

AHHH how I love spring!!

We've used the fire pit twice already.

Had some brats and smores.

Seeded the lawn.

And I've spent almost every afternoon outside on the patio for the last 4 days.

Pure heaven!

With that being said, you can imagine how hard it was to go inside and do a project for this post HA

I was having a convo with my mom the other day and she started telling me how she's following a couple blogs now....more than just mine ;)

She mentioned she saw this little round pouch for holding earbuds that she was thinking about making for her MP3 player.

Now, I don't remember if she said she found this tutorial through me or saw it somewhere or what, but I knew I had this same thing pinned.

That's how my PINspiration was born this week

Source: dog under my desk

This is seriously SUPER easy to make. Erin gives a fantastic tutorial.

She gives a pattern too...

I didn't use it though. I was a bit too lazy to turn on the printer and print it.

So I just used a monster cup (a stupid man cup with sports nonsense on it) to draw some circles.

And here's how mine turned out...

 

Did you notice mine looks more like a squashed egg than a circle???

Uh yeah, I can't sew a circle.

I don't understand it either. Everything is perfectly lined up and cut and..just perfect. Then I sew it together using a perfect seam allowance and it still looks jacked up!

Do any of you remember these key chains I tried to re-create last summer??

HUGE NOTE TO SELF:  DON'T TRY TO SEW CIRCLES ANYMORE!!!

hehe

ps. I just noticed I didn't add a split ring to mine before I took the pictures. Fail.

Stretchy T-Shirt Headband

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, I have short hair. I love my short hair. What I don't love about it is trying to wash my face in the sink with short hair. I have this very tiny ponytail (Mr. Perfect calls it my "paintbrush" because it's so small it looks and feels like one haha). And I have to put like 5 or 6 little clips or bobby pins or whatever I have laying around in my hair to keep all my bangs and short hairs back. It really is a pain.

To remedy this stressful situation I made myself a cute little headband to keep my hair back. Cuz, you know, I need to look cute when I'm washing my face every morning ;) And I made a quick tutorial so you can make one too!!

Here's what you need

*any scrap of knit fabric
*scissors
*sewing machine, or just a needle and thread

Let's get started!!

First you want to measure around your head where the headband will go. My head was about 20 inches. Since the knit is stretchy I took about 3 inches off and cut my piece about 17 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. I used some leftover t-shirt material I had used to make a skirt similar to this one.

 Fold your fabric in half, right sides together and sew along the edge. Just use a straight stitch.

And that's your basic headband right there! But it's not so cute, so read on to see how to make the bow...

For the bow, I cut a piece that was about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide...no need to be perfect here. And the piece that wraps around the middle is about 2 inches long and half an inch wide (I actually used a piece of the cuff from my t-shirt sleeve)

Fold your small strip in half, right sides together and sew along the edge. Turn right side out. Then just bunch up the bigger piece of fabric and slide that little ring to the middle! Ca-UTE!

To attach it to the headband, I tacked it down where the pink dots are. I just sewed one stitch forward and backward, twice. Make sense??

And that's the end! Now wash your short hair with confidence you won't get your bangs wet!

 And because I'm brave, here's a pic of looking ridiculous...

My goodness...look at those bags and wrinkles under my eyes!!! YIKES!!! I did get up at 4:30 AM, so maybe that has something to do with it....or maybe it's because I'm only 57 days away from being 30.

Should I be doing something about those bags?? What age should I start buying...I don't even want to say the words...."anti-aging" products?!?! Ugh.

On a brighter note, my nails are painted :) YAY

Back to the headband...it doesn't have to be just for your face washing time....Make one for your kids, babies, whatever. Put something other than a bow on it! If you make one I'd love to see pics, email me!