striped scarf

i made my first scarf for william october of last year, 2008. it was easy and yet i did not technically finish it until yesterday. i have left six short strings hanging from it for that long. william's been wearing it unfinished, i would try to just hide the strings when we were out in public. in fact he is pictured here in the scarf last december at the moscow parade of lights. kind of sad huh?

it took me all of 10 minutes to weave in the strings and now i love it.

william likes wearing it and that makes me more happy i finally finished it.

tree skirt

i bought 1 1/8 yard of fabric last week to recover my living room pillows. after deciding i bought a safe and somewhat boring fabric i thought i'd make it into a tree skirt. i have clear, white and silver ornaments on my tree so the creamy, white damask fabric i chose will be perfect.

first i taped the fabric right side down on my kitchen table. after marking the center i took a piece of string tied to a pen and drew a line all the way around.

here is it cut out with an opening to put it around the trunk.

i reused this home-made princess Leia dress, a white sheet, from halloween to give it a little more weight. worked perfect. here it is pinned all the way around.

finished skirt. a little small but it does the job.

merry christmas and thanks for looking.

love krystal

christmas

i'm inspired by so many things this time of year. i love the frost, ice and snow most, and i love a good snowman. until i finish my holiday decorating, here's a little inspiration and fun for you.

i'll have pictures soon.

you can make these christmas stockings here.

merry christmas!

warm, knit blanket part 2

one of my favorite knitting and sewing blogs is, the purl bee. i've found numerous adorable and easy projects there. i came across the following picture and thought i'd show you what this project will end up looking like.

 

the colors i chose are different and the border will be a bit thicker, but isn't this a cute and simple baby blanket? i have 2-3 skeins more to knit on mine so just a while longer.

warm, knit blanket

i love knitting for many reasons. the first being how cheap and easy it can be. i love that i can take it anywhere: to the park while william plays, on an airplane, or just while i watch a movie. it's relaxing and perfect as a winter project. 

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case in point.

this is what i did a few weekends ago, sat in my living room by the fire with a book and knitting project. no machine necessary, just needles and yarn. simple. 

i'm making this blanket for a baby. maybe my next baby. whenever that may be? 

easy flannel blanket

i made a flannel blanket for a friends baby shower last saturday.

this easy blanket only requires 2 yards of fabric and a sewing machine. 

the three of us worked together a few years ago. danean and i work in the lab and tawni was a nurse. i loved seeing them again. congratulations tawni and mitch, she'll be beautiful.

halloween '09

these pictures inspired my halloween decorations this year.

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here's what i did

i traded my summer pillows for black ones, framed some cut out bats in extra frames i had around. i took a branch from outside, spray painted it black and bought a crow on clearance at michael's. wal-mart has cheesecloth for sale by the yard so you can do a spooky cover like the couch in the first picture.

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hAvE A FuN ocToBEr

william's quilt

one very good friend of mine, katelyn, taught me how to make my first quilt. she has amazing talent for quilting and i'm very lucky to of had such a privilege.

 

to start, i picked out 9 different fat quarters from a local fabric store here in moscow, quilt something. flannel for the back and some warm & cozy for added warmth. i chose coordinating fabric for the binding and thread to hand quilt it. that's pretty much it.

i wanted a random pattern but you can choose any one you'd like. here it is all laid out ready to sew.

i've just layered the warm & cozy in between the flannel and squares with spray adhesive. katelyn showed me how to do most every step, but now after completing it i'm pretty confident in doing one on my own. thank you kate.

finished blanket

here is the back flannel with binding.

you can see the hand stitching up close here.

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fiy - total cost around $45 

diy picture frames and mat board

this wall has been empty for quite a while and sadly i've never had many pictures of my sweet little boy up anywhere. i knew it was long over due, so here's what i did.

bought 7 frames from salvation army for around $5.00 and painted them white.

borrowed a mat cutter, which costs $15 - $25 i imagine, from my father-in-law. cut mat board, $8.00 at printshop in the mall, from 3'x4' size to fit each individual frame. 

marked where to cut opening. cut. 

taped pictures in place so the back of each frame looked about like this. 

here they are hung up. i'm not loving the positioning of them right now, but i'm happy to see the space taken up with something.

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for little madison

i am blessed with good friends, really good friends infact.

rigby, as i like to call her, is one of them, and she just had a baby girl.

the flower mobile i posted earlier is her gift. today i made a card so rigby could write her sweet baby a note, telling her how special and loved she is. 

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i sewed fabric onto card stock, glued on an 'm' that i traced onto a different fabric. hand sewed a button and loop to keep closed. simple & easy.  

front

back

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good buys

i love yard sales, garage sales, thrift stores and craigslist. this saturday i went to a few yard sales and bought these lamps for $10.00. i plan to make them look something like...

 

this.

what do you think?

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flower mobile

this is the second mobile i've made. the first was for katelyn and this one is for my friend camille, she'll be having a little girl soon. these are very inexpensive, fun and easy to make, a little time consuming but worth it. 

supplies:

glue gun

sewing needle

clear, strong tread

BRIDES flowers - Micheals $4.99

metal ring - Micheals

 here are the finished strands laid out on my table (17 total)

finished product

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to start, you thread your needle and pierce each flower in the center, until you reach the length desired. this one was 12 flowers and 15 flowers long. then put a dot of glue at the bottom of each pierced flower and hold in place, about 1.5'' from each other. after you've finished all the strands you then tie each one to the metal ring and use your glue gun to hold in place.

tv stand before & after

here is my first before and after on turquoise and chocolate. it was inexpensive and fun. i found this piece at the Salvation Army for $8.00, bought some white latex paint, new door pulls and had new shelves and backing cut. sand and paint. done.

before

after  

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current project sneek peek

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william's room

william is my only child right now and I have really enjoyed putting together his room. the first few pieces I bought were his lowboy and globes, all awesome finds at one of my favorite antique shops in palouse, wa. the globes, each a different size, inspired and led me to where his room is now. a very good friend of mine, michelle, made book-ends out of bricks, old maps an glue, perfect for standing up his favorite thing - books. the chalk board above his crib i found for a few dollars, repainted it and scribbled out the world in chalk. 

the 'w' sitting on a picture ledge is another one of my favorite things. i love 3-D letters, alone on a bookshelf, spelling out a name, old ones made of wood or metal, like the one he has. next to his 'w' is a framed picture of his first finger painting, i like seeing his framed art work.

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i recently found a picture online that is very similar to william's lowboy set up. i was very pleased. it isn't prominent in the picture but you can see it in the lower right corner.

i'd like a similar bed and chair next.

well hidden storage

i started a few sewing projects/crafts and needed somewhere to store fabric, thread, scissors, ribbon etc. having little floor space, i needed to make storage that would work on the wall. 

one of my best friends, katelyn, turned me on to pegboard. she uses it in her sewing room and laundry room for tool storage. pegboard is very versatile and can be put anywhere. i needed mine to be covered because it would be hanging in my living room.

supplies:

2'x4' piece of pegboard

1.5 yd fabric

wood to build frame

batting between frame and fabric

pegs to hold items in storage

staple gun

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my father-in-law built the frame for me, but it is very simple to do yourself.