Spray Painting, update

So, I have been a little MIA, but not because I haven't been working hard and crafting it up, because I have. I have been working on a bajillion things at once, tell me I'm not the only one with crafting ADD...All of these beauties are getting ready to be primed and painted! The buckets are metal pails, they are Pottery Barn, but I got them at DOWNEAST for .50 cents! They are gonna be CUTE! The star and frames don't have a specific home yet, but then again, I don't have a thing on any of my walls yet...I know.

So this is like a third of what I've been spray painting, and working on, I bought a dresser for $10 at a yard sale this weekend, and a side table thing to hold piano books in the living room for $5 a couple weekends ago...the projects are really piling up...

I'm also getting ready for a craft show in Jackson Hole in August, I've been sewing about 20 bibs a day this week...

I'm also tutoring 2 kids for an hour each every day at the library ( very nice little side job ot earn some spending/decorating/crafting moolah)

So, I'm busy...

But I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress!!!

Thanks so much for reading!

Ganache in the microwave!

WHAT is Ganache you ask? It's a chocolatey goodness made with chocolate chips and cream, and can be used in a variety of delicious ways. I LOVE ganache, and I like to do mine in the microwave because I only have to dirty one dish, and it takes all of a minute or two! Really!

I use Ganache primarily to frost chocolate cake or brownies, but you can also eat it warm with fresh strawberries, on top of ice cream, chilled, whipped, and piped onto cuppy-cakes, rolled into balls and dusted with cocoa or powdered sugar, like a truffle, or my personal favorite, just dig in with a spoon...can't help it!

So here's how you make it:

You'll need

2 cups chocolate chips (I use the "Ambrosia" semi-sweet from Costco...mmm...(any kind of quality chocolate chip would work, milk chocolate chip would work as well)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Start with your chips in a microwave safe bowl

pour on the cream, just like a bowl of cereal

nuke in the microwave 45 seconds, stir, then nuke another 30 seconds, then stir...

The warm cream will start to melt the chips, stir it up

keep stirring (it will look like it's not going to combine, but it will, and if you feel the need, you can microwave it for another 20 seconds or so

keep stirring...I know it looks lumpy and like something has gone terribly wrong, but keep stirring :)

and stirring...

And voila!!! Truly rich chocolate to use for whatever you please!

When I am going to frost a cake with it, I put it in the fridge fro a half an hour or so, but it would also be pretty poured on top of a bundt cake or something...or on top of ice cream, you know...whatev

It's my new go-to dessert topping! MMmmmmmmmmm!!!

Onesies

My first adventures with freezer paper and fabric paint last year, enjoy!

I have been having a blast crafting up a storm. A friend is having a baby girl, so I got to indulge in some girly things that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to... so that's why some of these are girly...if they aren't, then they are for our baby :)

LOL...okay it's like iPod...only iPood...ha ha ha ha ha...not my original idea, but I love it!!! I also learned to freezer paper stencil and fabric paint, LOVE it, so easy peasy, and fast!

Another freezer paper stencil, love these whimsical birdies, don't you???

I have a thing for elephants....

HEY did I mention I got all these onesies on clearance at Walmart for $1.50??? LOVE it!

Oh man, this has to be the favorite, who doesn't LOVE a ruffle bum??? It was very easy too, if you can't tell, there are tiny pink hearts on the onesie...too cute!

Okay, I LOVE this image. Also, I learned something SO cool about the fabric paint I used. It was my first time, so when I bought it at JoAnn's, I just grabbed the only white one I saw. When I got home I noticed it said "Velveteen finish" on the bottle. WTH...I just wanted normal! BUT I wasn't about to take it back right away, plus I was anxious to try out freezer paper stenciling for the first time, so I used it anyway. It went on totally normal, dried totally normal, then I read the directions, and it said "to give it the velveteen finish, put your iron on "steam" and hold 1/2 inch above painted surface, and it will "Puff up"...so I gave it a shot. IT IS SO COOL!!! It turned it totally THICK, and kind of SOFT, and really bold, can you see how it looks embossed or something? I love it! What a happy accident! Try it, you won't regret it! The only thing is, it kind of gets ripple-ie...but I think with a chubby baby wearing it, that won't be an issue :)

This tree is just Applique, but I love it

Knit Maternity dress

This is a post from last year...I wore this dress ALL the time while pregnant, to church, to school, etc. So comfy!

Okay, first project on my new sewing machine: Knit dress...knit is a pain in the bum to sew with...I love the dress though, so it turned out okay :) The sleeves were hard, but I'm expanding my sawEEt skills :) Also, I got this fabric a long time ago from Walmart, for .50 cents a yard...so this dress costed like 1.25 in fabric :) I also have a plain grey one I am working on...it's the MOST comfortable thing to wear...and it's expandable...er the knit is very giving :)23 week belly

I gotta say, this is not my favorite angle, straight on...BUT I had to show the whole dress...A close up of the gathered ruffly sleeve...cute!

Applique Onesies

These were my first batch of applique onesies I made with some outfits I got on clearance before Everett was even born! here's that post:

Project: Applique
I love this old man looking tie...I wanna make some dark tan corduroys to go with...

Sweet little sailboat...

Okay so I had previously mentioned getting some AMAZING deals at Macy's, well they more mostly carters stuff, cudlly onesies and such...now I think this is moderately cute..."I wanna be a fireman" okay, cut-ish, but not really my style, SO I transformed a bunch of mediochre outfits into VERY. CUTE. one-of a kind beauties! :)
This fireman one became a Pirate one...cute no?
Now I won't bore you with pictures of all of these outfits before I bedazzled them, just know they are a million times cuter now!


Stole this alligator idea from Gymboree...I had to have that little alligator, but theirs was so expensive, so I copied it :)

And this one is my favorite...a little charlie brownish if you ask me...I hand embroidered the brown stitching...SO cute, I love it!


A little bit of bum detail...
So it will be awhile before the little man can wear any of these outfits, but that's okay with me...I'll probably be grateful that I have them done already :)

Blankets for Charity

I'm still re-posting some goodies from my family blog from the past because I'm still visiting the folks in Oregon (and LOVING IT) so here is a project I did last Feb...

For the Disney Give a Day Get a Day, I made these two quilts for project Linus (They take quilt donations for kids and give them to sick kids in hospitals, and for police officers to have in their cars to give kids when they have to take them out of their homes in bad situations) Now before you go thinking I am so charitable, I did it to get 2 free Disneyland tickets :) I'm shameless, but hey, everybody wins :)

I used all fabric I had, only had to buy batting, so it's like getting 2 Disneyland tickets for like 4 dollars. Awesome.


This one is my favorite :)

My favorite dress, in purple

Enough with the re-posting of this dress already, right? This is the last one I promise, I'm just sayin it's the BEST dress ever! Most comfy, cutest, etc. This purple one has been my favorite go to dress.

This is another dress I made with my favorite pattern. I usually don't take this long to get ready for school, but it was picture day! :) I forgot to take a picture close up of the print, it is beautiful! It's my new favorite!

So, just for the record, I also made a plaid one in red white and blue-ish, as well as a blue linen one (that is waiting to be hemmed lol) I'm thinking of making a few more this summer :) What do you think?

My favorite dress, in green

I just finished this dress! I LOVE it, I'm even making 2 more with this pattern, (the same as I have made in the past) it's seriously THE most comfortable thing to wear! I love when I can be comfy and cute at the same time! I got the green fabric for like 50 cents a yard at a wal-mart close out...SCORE! And the middle section is an Amt butler print that I LOVE!!!

My favorite dress

pattern

I love to sew, BUT I don't do patterns, I make SIMPLE things with straight seams mostly and some other fun stuff, but I have been afraid of patterns, they never turn out right for me. Well, I decided I needed to get over it. I inherited some fabric from my Aunt Marilyn, she's a gem and saved me a TON of school teacher stuff when she retired, and some vintage fabric from the 1950's and such. So I fell in love with this fabric, and I had been saving this pattern for just the right material...I am SO proud of my accomplishment, PLUS this is not only the CUTEST dress I have ever seen, it is the MOST comfortable dress ever, I want to make like five more and wear one every day, it is so comfy and cute, talk about a double wammy!!!

I decided to make the straps a bit wider than the pattern said, and I added the ric rack :)
I love the colors in this dress so much!

Diaper Bag

I'm visiting my folks in Oregon while the hubbs is doing some training, so I'm not crafting in my usual way, but I am resurrecting some posts from my family blog for the next couple of days, some fun projects, so stay tuned!

Okay, now THIS, is my diaper bag. I wanted to make one that didn't look like...um, how do I say this...well, I didn't like any at the stores because they all LOOKED like a diaper bag! I wanted one that would double as a purse and be super stylish....
I used a simplicity pattern, but modified it quite a bit, make it much wider, added ALL the pockets, etc....
I have to say I am really proud of myself, I don't do that well following patterns, but I did it, AND I didn't have to fix any mistakes I made. It took a LONG time, so I hope I never have to make another one again...but I am so tickled with how it turned out!

What do you think? I love it, if I were to make it again, I would make shorter straps, but that's about it :)