Been TOO Long

Well, it's been almost two years since a post, but things got pretty busy. Clearly, we have a new member to this family. It's is no longer a kitty-run household, but now run by our sweet, growly, stompy baby, Eli Robert.

I could not have asked for a better delivery! I am still amazed!

He has been the best most wonderful gift we could ask for and we are absolutely enamored! 

But, now he is growing like a weed and already 6 months old! We're getting more talkative, mobile and hungry for real food! And since we've become more independent, this means Mama can get back to crafting! I'm glad to be back at it and looking forward to new posts!

    Will post soon,

  Tomi

#tooearlyforChristmas

#tooearlyforChristmas


               That was my hashtag this morning. I've completely skipped Halloween and Thanksgiving and headed my sights on Christmas. Today at Walmart, I bought a Frasier candle and Peppermint Mocha creamer. Mmmm.....

Plus, I've already ordered Christmas cards and had our pics taken for them. They turned out so cute! We went to the Christmas tree farm. I'll show just one!

ANYWAYS, I pulled out all of these frames my mom collected for me. I've been very uninspired lately, as you can tell b/c I haven't posted in a while. After staring at the frames for a while, I just made a trip to Hobby Lobby. Here's what I have to work with....  

   and what I came home with.....

     Hobby Lobby's Christmas decor is already 50% off! I bought two pack of vase fillers (the sparkly foam balls), 1 package of cinnamon sticks, 1 package of candy canes, 1 pack of holly bunches and 1 yard of burlap fabric. I also bought a couple rolls of ribbons but that's for another project on another day. :)  The most expensive item was the burlap fabric. It wasn't on sale and was $5.99/yard, but I really liked it. 

First I cut out a piece of cardboard the same size as the frame and glued the burlap to it. I love this print!

  

I outline the Christmas tree in cinnamon sticks. Make sure you like the setting before you glue it! My baby kitties were very intrigued with the box I used. What is it with cats and boxes?!?

One by one, I hot glued the vase fillers inside the cinnamon and then glued the cardboard to the frame. 

 

                                 

Until the next craft,

T

Prepping for Fall

I've had a good week. Finished a library book, done lots of shopping and started getting our house ready for fall! 

I finally finished a book! I love to read, but I've found it's been hard to finished reading anything. 

This book is also written by the same author of, "The Time Traveler's Wife," which I have not read myself but am familiar with it. "Her Fearful Symmetry," is about twin sisters who move to London in their aunt's estranged flat. They get close to many of their aunt's neighbors and uncover the truth about their mother's and aunt's relationship. I definitely wasn't expecting the ending, so I would recommend this book!

I was also introduced to Groop Dealz and Birch Box this week. Needless to say, I have two necklaces, 1 bracelet and a monthly subscription to Birch Box coming soon, lol! I also discovered Southern Sisters in Grayson, Ga where I bought my monogrammed 2014 Lilly Pultizer planner. So cute!

It's almost mid-month of September! So hard to believe! I went ahead and got my hubby to get our fall decor out of the attic so I could fall-ify our mantle. I wanted to show you how easy it is to decorate your mantle with things you may have around the house. It's just a matter of jazzing it up for each season. 

Here's a little numbered break-down...

1. A sterling silver pitcher we used at our wedding. I just filled it up with dollar store florals.

2. A used wine bottle, wrapped with string. It makes great decor all year and you have an excuse for a little wine. ; ) I filled the bottle with a little wheat straw that I used when I made this wreath in July. 

3. A glittery orange pumpkin I bought last season at Ross for a few bucks. 

4. A ceramic metallic orange pumpkin sitting on top of a brass candle stick I bought at an antique store for $3. 

5. A floral vase, the ones you collect after you get a floral arrangement, filled with acorns and a dollar store pumpkin to top it off. The acorns I collected outside Ross. I'm sure I looked crazy but there were plenty and FREE!

6. I bought this mirror at the beginning of the years at Hobby Lobby. It was on sale for $15 and has sat in my closet collecting dust all summer. I finally found a purpose for it. 

7. A wreath I made last fall for our front door. 

8. Another dollar store pumpkin. Hey, their decorations aren't that bad! : )

9. A couple thing in 9. Two candles, gold and orange, wrapped with string. In the back, another floral vase filled with potpourri. These all are sitting on top of an old cheese box my mother gave me. 

10. A huge decanter-like vase I bought for $5 and a smaller candy dish from Target for $4. 

Many of these items I leave out year-round. With a few colors and cheap decor, it's easy to dress up your mantle. 

Thanks for lookin'! 

 T

Beaded Arm Candy

I've been really following Pinterest's Women Fashion tab lately. Mostly to get into fall season fashion. I keep seeing these beaded layered bracelets. Now I'll be honest, I haven't beaded in a while. A few years ago, I was beading jewelry almost everyday. Eventually I got so tired of it, I didn't do any bead work.

These are some of my bracelet inspiration pins:

    

I really wanted some of these layered beaded bracelets and was looking to buy, but I'm cheap! I'll say it with no shame. :-) Soooo I decided to start beading again. I made a quick impulse trip to Hobby Lobby, b/c I must execute my plan when I get an idea.

Hobby Lobby's Bead Treasure and Metallic Gallery beads were all 50% off. The charms were not; however, the most expensive charm was $2.99 and it included 2. Overall, I spent around $36 and was able to make 10 bracelets with beads to spare.

Here's how they turned out!

Hope you guys like!

T

It's Fall Y'all!

 I actually can't complain about this summer's weather. This was probably one of the most unusual Georgia summers- rain, rain and more rain.  But I am ready for fall, sweaters, boots and a front yard FULL of leaves. Here's a little re-cap from this summer... Found baby Samuel at the empty house next door. He's been growing like a weed! & into everything!! Braves game, rode Sky View with my mom and brothers, a trip to Alabama and hung out at the pool. Can't complain :)

To get in the fall mood, I made new front door wreath for our front door. It's similar to the July 4th one I made this summer. What I love about these rag wreaths, they're so pretty and intricate but so cheap to make!

 I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 4 different types of fabric, 1/4 yard each. Earlier this summer I invested in a fabric cutter, which saves so much time! I would suggest purchasing one if you haven't already. It's a small 6X6 and only about $20.

Check this link for the FULL tutorial on how to make, step-by-step!

http://dahlinhummingbird.blogspot.com/2013/06/starting-off-with-red-white-blue-b-n-g.html

My total cost of material was $10.76. That includes the 4 fabrics, circular wreath and 2 fall decor stems. Hobby Lobby has a great fall collection out now and it's all 40% off. 

Here's my helper. Samuel was very interested in what I was doing and kept running off with my decor stems. 

Ta-da! While I was making this, I started thinking about a friend at work, Dyanne. She's been such a good work friend and has such a big heart. Her auntie recently had a stroke on her 94th birthday and Dyanne and her mother had to make the hard decision to put her in an adult home. Dyanne reports her updates every week and her aunt is improving everyday. After I started putting it together, I thought Dyanne's aunt could enjoy it more for her door to her new room. 

Thanks for stopping by! I'm thinking about making more jewelry coming up so be watching!

T

Once Upon a Time Thursday

 This week, I became an addict. After one episode of Once Upon a Time, I'm hooked. & with this hot weather, I'd rather be indoors anyway. I hate to say it but Rumpelstiltskin is my favorite character, and I'm about tired of Snow and Charming's drama!

I decided to spend my day cleaning, a usual habit before my work weekend, & trying to get wreath ideas for our front door since. It's about time for the Fourth of July wreath to come down anyways. Also, spending time making a wreath will give me an excuse to log on to Netflix for a little more Once. 

When I got home from Hobby Lobby, there was a package at my door! I am actually looking forward to getting to work this weekend....

Just had to show these bright red babies off! :)

So on to the most constructive thing I've done today. No lies, this is probably the best looking thing I've made. I think I surprised myself a little. I was a little conflicted by the type of wreath I wanted to make. It's getting to be fall soon, but making something with fall colors and pumpkins seems too early. I decided to go with flower-less stems. It looks a little more natural, plus 50% off at Hobby Lobby. :)

I bought a medium straw wreath, 4 feather bunches, 2 bundles of the wheat straw, 1 pack of dyed Eucalyptus and 1 package of thin black faux cat tails. 

I wanted to get that layering look so I began by inserting the cat tails around the outer part of the wreath.

Then I layered the Eucalyptus stems.

I added the burlap to the middle as a filler as well as wheat straw buds on the left side of the wreath. 

Comment for questions. After making, I realized it was too big for the front door so be aware. 

Tomi