Etsy Craft Party

So, last Friday was Etsy’s 5th birthday/anniversary. To celebrate they invited the Etsy community to host craft parties through Meetup.com. The top 50 parties with the highest attendance would receive goodies from Etsy. Houston’s party, hosted by Sew Crafty, was #1. (The top three parties were all in Texas. Go Texas! Way to represent!) I went and had so much fun! It was neat to get to meet all kinds of people and crafters. I even saw a few guys there! (Maybe they were dragged along by wives or girlfriends but either way you have to give them props for even being there!) I tried to take a lot of pictures but it was pretty crowded. I loved Sew Crafty’s pink front doors, can’t miss those! I am also including a few pics of the things I created, but to get a good understanding of what was there check out the slideshows on Etsy Houston’s blog (click here). I’m in both of the videos. Just look for the blonde in a hot pink shirt carrying a black and white purse. Way to stand out right?! :) And yes, I was lucky enough to win one of the door prize goody bags!
 
Fused plastic bag sunshine envelope/clutch
Rolled fabric flower hairclip
Rolled fabric flower pin (on my purse)

Teacher Appreciation Gift

Okay, so I wrote up this post a couple of weeks a ago, saved it as a draft, and just needed to take some pictures. Late, I know, but I still wanted to share.

So, I've been searching for a cute teacher gift. There are a lot of cute ideas out there but being a former teacher I know that practical gifts (or gifts that will be used, rather than looked at) are always welcomed. Being on a very limited budget I was about to resign to decorating an inexpensive unfinished frame when I came across this idea for a cute box of teacher goodies. I knew I had most of these things on had already. Not to mention, I would have loved to have on of these myself. (In fact, I might still make one for our desk.) I used a smaller box than the original one, because that's what I had on hand. Most of my goodies came from my teaching stash, which means they probably came from Walmart or the local "dollar store." However, the magnets are homemade. The boys somehow collected a handful of bottlecaps, (don't ask me how). I convinced them that they would be great as magnets. So we washed and spraypainted the bottlecaps, cut out cute paper and pics for the inside (mod podge), filled with epoxy (note to self: by Diamond Glaze) and glued a magnet on the back. Pretty easy. 

My inspiration came from eighteen25.blogspot.com. I used a smaller box than what she used (what I had on hand). Check out her tutorial and picture below.

This one from The Idea Room is cute and could be used for anyone.

Another cute one made with pencils from Craft-o-maniac. Check out her tutorial.

And I loved it when I got a similar gift like this one. Check it and more ideas out here.

Grad Gifts

We had six seniors, from our ward at church, graduating this year. We went to a graduation party for all six of them.  So I made these cute little notebooks. The notebooks had a built in elastic to keep them close (the black band on each one). I embellished with their names using scrapbooking supplies. I tried to make each one kind of fit their personalities.
  Shalysse was our babysitter.  So, the boy’s each wrote her a note and drew a picture on the inside cover. They were so excited to give it to her and talked to her for at least 10 minutes at the party.  She was so sweet to sit and listen to them. We’ll miss her. :)

I loved how Morgan’s turned out. Originally, it didn’t have the button flower, but it seemed like it was missing something. After I added that one, I wanted to put a flower on all of the girl’s notebooks, but I ran out of time.  Aren’t these so cute?

A Few Pieces of the Nursery

So I was going through old pictures and found these that I took of the nursery, one year ago.  A year later, I still love it. Although, I think I might have painted the walls a different color. (The pink was Aaron’s request.) I made just about everything in the room, except the furniture and the bedding.

My first attempt at wood burning. Thanks, Jen!

Proof that Aaron painted the room :)

You can’t really see in the picture, but the tree has green leaves, white flowers, and a little yellow bird.  And yes, this is me the day we had the baby and no, that is not a basketball under my shirt…

Hot Stuff

So, I thought I’d share some past projects (mainly so I can delete pictures from my camera). This was the “grand prize” for our church chili cook-off back in March. I bought the apron for $1 at Michael's. Then, I appliquéd felt chili peppers. The text is just black acrylic paint stamped (yes, stamped) with rubber stamps. I was so proud that I wanted to make one for myself, but I hoped that maybe I might win it…unfortunately not. I guess I will have to make one for myself. Maybe a cute one to protect me from baby goo.

Old School Sheets

So, while perusing the streets of Ebay, I took a trip down memory lane. I began looking at vintage sheets (they make great/cheap fabric). I stumbled upon this beauty  and knew it had to be mine. I had the exact same sheets as a kid. I love it! I immediately bid on it (with only 15 minutes remaining) and won.  An impulse purchase, I know, but for less than $3 (with shipping)  it can’t be beat! I think I’ll make a quilt for the kids (or myself). I can’t wait for my treasure to arrive…(the pic is from Ebay).

Check out these other vintage kid’s sheets that I am very tempted to buy …

 Care Bear sheets (Love these!!!)

 Snoopy sheets

Rainbow Brite Sheets

E.T. sheets (Wouldn’t this make a cute skirt?)

Smurf sheets

Bambi sheets

Cabbage Patch Kids sheets (very tempted on this one, too cute!)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Not our picture but we currently have one of the sheets from this set. I think it once belonged to Aaron or else we got it at a garage sale.)

Aren’t they so cool?! Being a child of the 80’s/90’s, I loved seeing these old characters. If I had the money, I’d buy every set, turn them into quilts to share with my kids and someday grandkids. I would just love to have one of these, cuddled up with my child, and say “when I was a kid….” Does that make me old?