Tag / DIY

by Bethe

Look at us, we started the nursery!

Folks, we have a nursery! After a few months of putting it off, then brainstorming, then putting it off some more, we finally cleaned out Mr. Right’s office/guest room (what a great guy), taped everything off, and got the thing painted, all in 24 hours.

A special thanks to my awesome sister who came over and painted the nursery for us! Talk about a servant’s heart. She knew that my doctor said no painting for me, and Mr. Right is crazy swamped with finals (oh, how we’re all counting down the minutes until grad school is OVER), so she just decided to do it for us. It was such a blessing.

You should have seen Mr. Right and I prepping the night before she came to get the room ready. I was in my work dress (because dresses are so much more comfortable than anything else right now), on my hands and knees taping off the baseboards while Mr. Right was on a ladder caulking holes and removing blinds. I’m not very graceful under typical circumstances, but I’m like a clumsy beast at this point, so I’m sure the neighbors got an eye full through our blind-less windows at 9:30 at night. And I’m just pregnant enough to not really care.

nursery 1

The next morning Mr. Right assembled our crib, and suddenly the room felt like a nursery. He has since moved in other furniture (an armoire for storage and a dresser that we’ll use as a changing table – pics to come), and slowly but surely we’re moving closer to being baby-ready.

nursery 2

The nursery will be mostly neutrals – grays and whites – with pops of color in our accents. This fabric, which is part of the quilt I’m making for her, is the inspiration for those pops of color – lot’s of tangerine-oranges, turquoises, and a few other random colors here and there.

nursery 3

And here’s the rest of the fabric for her quilt. We’ll be using the leftovers for pillows, possibly a bedskirt, etc. You know, whatever I get inspired to sew. Don’t be surprised if you don’t find some leftovers in my Etsy shop in the form of baby quilts or pillows.

map

And, finally, we’re thinking about using this picture for above the crib. Mr. Right and I have a real love for internationals (especially our ESL students!), and we also love to travel, so we think this is the perfect picture to go above our tiny sleeping baby. Plus, it reminds me of a quilt.

Stay tuned for more pictures as we make progress on the nursery. I’m 29 weeks along, so not too much longer until she’s here with us napping in this very room!

by Bethe

Decorating with Chalkboards

My mama kept a chalkboard in our kitchen when I was a child – we used it for shopping lists and spelling words and reminders. My dad taught my sister and I how to play softball by drawing diagrams on that chalkboard when I was in the third grade.

Who knew that my mom was absolutely ahead of her time when it came to decorating her house with chalkboards. For awhile I thought white boards were the wave of the future, but as usual, mama knew best.

Mr. Right and I are trying to carry the tradition to our own house by decorating with chalkboards. So far I have one in my laundry room:

And we’re pinching our pennies until we can turn this frame into a giant chalkboard/menu in our dining room. We tried to do it ourselves with plywood but it’s just too big, so we’ll be taking her to be professionally done at our local framing store. Soon. Until then it’s backed with burlap and I occasionally hang seasonal bunting on it to add a little color.

Until then, I continue to be inspired by some gorgeous DIY chalkboards I found online. (click on each picture to be taken to the original source)

Our marriage mentors have one of these in their kitchen that they post bible verses and prayer requests on. What a sweet way to keep the family on the same prayer page.

Or how about some chalkboard place mats?

A weekly menu (ps- don’t you love those green shelves?).

Chalkboards + bunting = bliss.

And then there’s this great endcap to a kitchen cabinet – perfect height for littles ones to enjoy. The second one is even cuter since it’s framed out.

 What about you? Have you found a unique way to use a chalkboard in your home or office? I’d love to hear about it.

by Bethe

Strip & flip ombre baby quilt

By now you’re probably thinking, “All that crazy girl sews is yellow and gray triangle quilts.” And you would be right… almost. I have been in a weird phase lately, but I’ve also got dozens of quilt ideas swimming around in my head, just waiting to make it out onto my sewing studio floor. The only thing that’s stopping me is time and money. Those silly quilts require a lot of both!

One of the quilts I’ve been aching to make is the strip and flip quilt I found on Cluck Cluck Sew’s blog. She posted a great tutorial, and I had been jonesing to do some sort of strip quilt, so it was a match made in heaven.

This is just the unfinished quilt top, which I made with a Moda jelly roll I picked up at my local quilting store. I’d never sewn from a jelly roll before – they’re expensive (this one cost $41), and I typically only buy fabric on sale, but it saved me from having to cut much of anything, and the entire quilt took me less than two hours to piece. Plus, I love ombre rainbow effect – such a nice change from the muted colors I’ve been addicted to lately.

I picked up a brightly colored backing and am in the process of quilting it right now – I hope to have pictures of the finished quilt up on the blog next week!

This quilt will be going to a special someone at a later date – I’ll tell you more later, but for now, it’s a secret.

by Bethe

I heart my customers

Thanks to my sweet customers who are so good at sending me pictures of my prints displayed in their homes! You all know how to make a girl feel good!

My friend Chelsea displaying her ruffle pillow, and her Adventure and Sunshine prints.

Alli… one of my most faithful customers, showing off her Thankful print along with my fall free printable…

Alli ordered a custom print of the verses she read at her wedding (1 Corinthians 13).

Kelly ordered a few prints, including my favorite verse that’s up in her office…

And my free printable that’s up in her friend’s office.

Thanks to everybody who has been such a huge support these past three months. If I could give you each a hug in person, I totally would. But instead, I’ll just send a hearty thank you.

A little shop talk – don’t forget that I’ve got hand-sewn Christmas cards listed. I’m only taking a few orders, and I won’t take orders on hand-sewn cards after November 15, so if it’s something you’ve got your eye on, be sure to place your order while there’s still time! Because the cards are very labor-intensive to make, please allow three weeks for me to professionally print the cards and then sew each one. Obviously the smaller the order, the faster you will receive them.

I am hoping to also add some Christmas photo cards to the shop – where you can purchase a design, I’ll drop your photo into the card, and then send you the high-res file for you to print at your local photo store. Or, for an extra cost I will happily print them professionally for you and include envelopes. As soon as I have them listed I will be sure to let you know.

PS–My goal for Saturday is to finish TWO new baby quilts! I can’t wait to post pictures of the new lovelies!

by Bethe

Burlap is the new black

I’m home sick for the second day in a row. Yesterday I felt much too terrible to be bored. Today I’m on the mend, still sick enough to need to stick close to the couch, but not fighting the fever/chills/extreme yuckiness of yesterday (you know I’m sick when I have zero desire to eat – a rarity for this girl). So let me warn you, I will probably be blogging/facebooking/pinteresting/texting all day. Because it’s killing me that I’m home and yet unable to go tackle the quilt lying in the middle of my sewing room floor. It’s just sitting there, begging me to finish piecing it, but I can’t muster up the energy. Yet.

Luckily I had already made this cute pillow about a week ago, and just hadn’t gotten around to posting her in the shop. I absolutely ADORE burlap. It’s like the new black – it goes with just about everything, is really affordable, and pretty forgiving. Combine it with some vintage lace I found in an antique store (in great condition), and you’ve got a recipe for major cuteness. I’m kind of tempted to steal this gal for my bed, but the reason I sew is so I can share, so instead she’s up in the shop, available to go to a good home.

Speaking of how awesome being sick is – yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor because I’ve got two big trips coming up and I don’t have time to be sick. He gave me a pretty ginormous steroid shot in the hiney – which means that I’m no longer eligible for the baseball Hall of Fame.  They used one of those giant needles, and I ended up bleeding all over the place (TMI?). So last night, Mr. Right calls me on his way home from ESL class (which I had to miss – so sad) and nonchallantly asks me, “You do know you have a giant bloodstain on the back of your shirt, right?”

Um, no. Apparently I went about eight hours with a giant blood stain on my shirt. It went really well with the coffee stain from the morning’s shirt (I changed to go to the doctor). But when you’re sick, blood stains and unwashed hair and smeared makeup aren’t really a big deal.

It’s just another reminder of how much Mr. Right really loves me, stains and all. What a guy.

Don’t forget, tonight is the deadline to enter my contest for a free Texas Lovely art print of your choice! Go here for all the details.