Another {wo}man's junk...

...has become my treasure.



I'm so excited about this cabinet, I can barely stop petting it. Bought it for $100. Some stain, a weekend's elbow grease... and some pretty drawer pulls later - my studio feels so much more inspiring!!

(of course, the other side is a disaster... but, baby steps are good!)

Preschool starts next month. I'm ready to spend some quality time in this room!

Twiddler Tag Blankie Tutorial

Cindy made our son, Rylan, the cutest little tag blanket shortly before the babe was born. Rylan's just at the age where he's enjoying the tags moreso than the toy it's attached to...so I've made a second one. This makes a great shower gift too. (Thanks Cindy!)

The process was simple and is summarized in the following tutorial:

1. Cut 2 pieces of Minky fabric to be 14" x 14". (I used two different colors, but you may use two of the same instead).



2. Rob your ribbon stash to select numerous colors, sizes and textures of visually interesting ribbon. These will become the tags sewn along the side of the blankie. Cut ribbons into varying lengths, between 2 & 4 inches in length. Use loud colors so your little twiddler can't resist the tags. I added 12 tags to two sides of the blanket. You may adjust this according to your preferences.



3. Folding Ribbons in half, (so that they form a double-sided tag), create tags to be about 1" to 2" long, for safety reasons. Align the raw edges of the ribbon with the raw edges of the Minky blanket fabric - so right sides are touching. Pin Ribbons in place, nicely spaced along two edges of the blankie.

I did opposing edges, so that it leaves the middle & two sides of the little blankie, nice & snuggly. You can embellish any combination of two edges or even all four sides with the ribbon tags, as you prefer.



4. Attach ribbons to one side of the blanket with a single seam, removing pins along the way. Attach ribbons on the second side of the blanket with another single seam.



5. Cut away excess ribbon overhang, if necessary.



6. Fold your ribbons to the right side of the fabric on both ends. Sandwich the ribbons between both pieces of Minky fabric. Pin in place around all four blanket sides. Your blanket will be inside out, at this point. Run a seam around the perimeter, leaving a three inch gap un-sewn. Using the gap, turn your blanket right side out.



7. After turning the blanket right side out, push out the corners. Fold the edges of the opening over to close up the gap, & pin closed. Run a final seam around the entire blanket perimeter, careful to align both sides of the fabric correctly. This seam is decorative in nature and will keep the two sides laying nicely - as they may go wonky when washed if left unsewn.



8. Your baby is probably napping during your little blankie making session, right? Lay it aside and wait for notice that the nap has ended.



9. Naptime over?? Let the wee one commence with twiddling the tags and snuggling with his new blankie.



10. Commence with picture taking of your adorable creation{s}. Well done, Mama.

I'm a guest.

Ms. Cindy over at Skip to My Lou is tackling the important mission of raising money for Read to Feed. In support, I've guest posted over at her Craft-a-thon!



Head on over HERE for some of my kids' current book favorites & my "no sew tutu tutorial." She's got some fun shenanigans planned for the remainder of her Craft-a-thon - so bring along your cup of coffee and come see!



The first 50 people to contribute their reading pledges to the team account will receive a free book. I think Cindy says it best: "let's get the donations rolling in... so we can get that ark of animals!"

Nursery Progress

...we interrupt the little bits of nonsense which have been monopolizing this artsy-crafty blog to bring you a little project in it's completed state.

I ordered letters from the greatest letter designer ever. I chose the font, and they designed them to match. This is my second set, the first being these for Kenzie Doodles room.


The letters are blue and the sides are green. I layered some paper strips along the bottoms to funky them up a bit.

Rylan's room started out as just a gender neutral yellow, decorated in bird themes. Then the little critter was born and turned out to be of the boy variety - and the husband proclaimed that we must "testosterone up" the room a bit. So...we're adding in some blue's and more green, and some soccer stuff. It's still not done, but we're making some steady progress now. You might remember these???



The boxes now have a presence in the room, but are doorless. My nemesis project continues to pain me as we had to send the doors back for a re-cut after they didn't fit. Opening...is important, after all. Perhaps I added too many damn layers of paint?? Anyway, we are in hopes they'll be returned ready to hang in the next few days or so.

And, once they are.. we'll settle them in their positions, formally hang the artwork, and hope it meets the testosterone level my husband felt it deserved.

Perhaps I'll even offer a little nursery tour when we realize the accomplishment.

Six things making me happy...

I was tagged by Andi to proclaim for the world, the six things making me most happy these days. Without further ado:

1. Ahem, this gives me something to type on my blog! My mind has been a bit numb, or maybe it's just dull, these days. Not much has been blog-worthy.

2. The little dude just cut his first tooth. And, we didn't even notice...until it was DONE. Since he still doesn't sleep through the night, this felt somewhat miraculous?


3. Ed Emberley's Complete FunPrint Drawing Book. Kenzie is making some amazing fingerprint creatures. Moments of peace = bliss. {for the both of us}


4. Living in a neighborhood chock full o' kids. This past weekend they were all gone..and my husband and I sighed in desperation when we found ourselves as the only playmates for Ms. Kenzie. I love our neighborhood. Especially now that all the kids are back.


5. The weather has been beautiful. It feels so nice to be outside.


6. Planning trips. We're not sure where we'll land yet..but we're so lucky to be able to land somewhere...

..and I could go on... books & the time to read them, friends, watching good movies with the hubs, yummy easy meals-planned-for-me, Dinoraur Tales, etc. There's lot's to be thrilled about.

What's making you happy?