Christmas Sign

Every year I go to a Christmas party where we bring a handmade ornament to exchange.  Here is what I made for this year.. I can't believe I actually got this done before the last minute.. You can't tell from the glare on the pic (sorry) the Merry Christmas is in glitter painted on a 6 x9 inch stretched canvas.. 

Linking up to:

Someday Crafts

Blue Cricket Design

Fall Centerpiece

I always have trouble finding the perfect centerpiece for my dining room table for Thanksgiving.  I don't want it too tall so it doesn't obstruct conversation.  I bought this beautiful wreath at Sam's today for $15.  I brought it home to hang on the front door.  Needless to say it didn't make it that far.  I decided to make it a centerpiece.  I put it on a scrap piece of fabric that I bunched together and turned the edges under.  The candles came from a previous center piece and I added height to them by standing them on upside down candle holders from the dollar tree.   I think it is pretty stunning for less than $20.

Linking up to:

C.R.A.F.T

Keeping It Simple

The Girl Creative

Making the world cuter

Simpsonized Crafts

Horse Apples...

Last year I was too late to pick up beautiful Horse Apples (aka Hedge Apples, or Osage Oranges).  This year I have been watching my secret location just waiting to see them laying on the ground.  Today was the day... It has been a few days since the first frost and I knew they would be there.  Today it also rained.  I knew I needed to get them before they ruined since they were laying on the wet ground now.  I trudged across a muddy field and picked them up.  Most of them were muddy and I had to give them all a bath but I am pretty proud of my freebie centerpiece.

Savannah's Birthday!

Sorry, it has been so long since I posted.  It seems like time has been flying by.

Here are some pictures of Savannah's Cowgirl birthday party.  A big thank you to my wonderful aunt and uncle who brought three horses for everyone (and I mean almost everyone adults included) at the party to ride.



Birthday Cake by http://www.cakesbymomandme.com/

Savannah was serious about riding a horse






The sign that greeted everyone



Me and my precious 5 year old Cowgirl

Party Favors



I need a favor!!!

I met the most wonderful lady via her blog several months ago.  Debbie has helped me through a very difficult time in my life. She didn't have to help me because I was just a stranger that commented on her blog post. I believe that God lead me to her for help when I needed it the most... Her encouragement has meant the world to me... She holds a very special place in my heart now. 

I would like to ask a favor of my blog readers... Her mother is turning 90 on October 29th.. She is hoping to get her 90 birthday cards from all over the country..  Please go to her blog HERE!!!! (click the word here for a direct link to the post) for all the details.  Her blog is http://debbie-idodesigns.blogspot.com/ . 

Please help me help Debbie....

Sherry

PS... Savannah's birthday party details and pictures coming soon!!

Happy Birthday! Chocolate Cherry Cake

This is absolutely my favorite cake! I baked it last night to bring to work and share for my birthday...

1 box of Devils Food Cake mix
2 large eggs
1 21oz. can of cherry pie filling
1 teaspoon of pure almond extract

1 can of your favorite chocolate icing

Combine cake mix, eggs and almond extract until blended well.  Then, fold in the cherry pie filling..  Spoon batter into greased and floured bundt pan.  The batter will be very thick.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes then turn out onto your serving dish.  I warmed my can of icing up for about 30 seconds in the microwave and poured it on to create the glaze. 

Hope you enjoy! Don't laugh at how much bigger the cake plate is than the cake! I think the angle I took the picture at makes it worse than it really is... 

Linking Up to

Keeping It Simple

C.R.A.F.T

Simpsonized Crafts

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Skip to my Lou

Halloween Candy Jar

I saw this candy jar posted on A pumpkin and A Princess several weeks ago and knew I had to make one! 

It is soo easy and I think it turned out just too cute..  See the tutorial at the above link... I am going to take this one to the shop where I get my hair and nails done as a little Halloween Happy for them!

Linking Up to:

Keeping It Simple

The Girl Creative

C.R.A.F.T

Simpsonized Crafts

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Texas Monkey

Skip to my Lou

I'm sooo sorry!

I am so sorry that I have not been posting much!  October is a super busy month for me... First it is my birthday, then my grandmothers, my uncles, Savannah's (my daughter) then my mothers.. It is a full month.  My dad also comes from out of town to visit in October every year...  I get a little stressed getting ready for his visit and planning Savannah's birthday party...  I have been planning a Cowgirl birthday party for Savannah... I will share more of what I have in store for her with you later... for her surprise it includes pony rides in my back yard (thank you Aunt Peggy, Uncle Reuben and Kristen for providing that)...  Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the much cooler weather I know that I am..

Here is a picture of Savannah and I at the zoo last week!

Camera Strap Cover

Today is my little girls first field trip.  We are both excited!!! I am carrying my new camera to the zoo for the first time too.  I hope to get some great shots.  So last night I made a cover for my camera strap.  it is just a simple tube of fabric but it dresses up the camera a bit and makes the strap a little more comfortable.  I love polka dots!

I've been working on a few more projects that I will post soon!

Sherry

Necklace Organizer...

I found this small 5 inch x 12 inch picture frame from Walmart for $2.50 a couple of weeks ago.  I decided to transform it into a necklace organizer to hang in my bathroom.  I framed a piece of burlap behind the glass.  I had these little hooks from the dollar tree and I painted them black to match the frame.  I used E6000 glue to glue them to the glass.  I just stapled a piece of ribbon on as a hanger. 

Linking Up to:

My Craftie Life

Someday Crafts

The Trendy Tree House

Night Owl Crafting

Me and My Bucket

My Back Yard Eden

Fall in the south

It is almost fall here in the south.  One of the sure signs that it is coming is that it is cotton picking time.  I don't think there is anything much prettier than a snow white field of cotton.  The sad thing is that I took these pictures last Sunday and as of yesterday all the cotton has been picked, the stalks cut down and the fields are back to lifeless, empty, brown dirt... That makes me kind of sad.  Here are a few pictures for you....

Kitchen Art

I found this little project on the crap I've made blog Click Here.  She has a great tutorial on how to do it!!!

This is my version that I have hanging in my kitchen now.  I really like it. I bought the frame at dollar tree it is an unfinished document frame.  I removed the glass and painted it black.  I covered the cardboard back of the frame with fabric and a heavy weight interfacing gluing it with hot glue.  I then painted the plain silverware black and glued them to the fabric with E6000 glue.  I added the ribbon with a staple gun to the back of the frame to hang it.

First Aid Kit

I probably haven't told you about my family reunion.  Each year we get together for a weekend at a church camp that we rent.  One of the things that we do every year is a craft sale that helps fund the reunion for the next year.  Everyone brings handmade items to sell.  Here is one of the things that I took this year.

I have several of these blank lunch boxes and I put vinyl lettering on, and added ribbon to make the first aid kit.  I purchased band-aids, gauze, antibiotic ointment, and several other items from the dollar tree to fill it up.  Everyone thought it was a great idea to keep in the car or to give as a gift!

Have a great Day!

~Sherry~

I was featured...

I am just a little behind! I am sorry! but I was featured on Strictly-Homeade's gifts from the heart back to school post! With my mod podged clip boards! I am soooo excited! Go check out the post Here! 

Tote Makeover....

I bought this plain black tote at Walmart several weeks back for $10 knowing that it needed something added to it.

I found a great piece of grey felt in the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby this weekend.  I have all sorts of ideas of what to do with it.  First, I decided that the bag above needed a big grey felt flower on it.

I started by cutting out a flower pattern.  I found one Here.  I did modify it a bit though.  I enlarged it by 125% twice on my printer and since I was using felt I did not have to use the wonder under and the additional piece of fabric.  

The instructions from the link above show you to fold the flower in half then stitch diagonally down from the second petal to make the center cone shape once you turn the outside peals inside out.

I then cut 2 inch pieces of wire edged sheer ribbon to make the flower centers.  I just bunched it together at the bottom and used fabric glue to secure it in the center of the flower.

I made 3 of these flowers and enlarged my pattern one more time and cut it out of felt to make one big flower base to attach these three smaller flowers to.  I did not sew the base flower because it wanted it flat against the purse.  I decided that it needed one more layer to define it.   So, I cut 5 6inch pieces of the sheer wire edged ribbon folded it in half and sewed it to the larger flat flower

I tacked the three other flowers to the center of this large one.

I tacked the large flower on the purse and I also added a felt ruffle to the strap.

Sorry for the not so good pictures... 

ps.... some of you really observant people will notice that where the strap is attached was originally brown... well.... that didn't really go with my black and grey color scheme...  So, a Sharpie marker took care of that brown and made it black... yay!

Linking to

Keeping it simple

The DIY showoff

Simpsonized Crafts

Skip to my Lou

Mad in Crafts

C.R.A.F.T

Craft O Maniac

I heart naptime

Sugar Bee Craft Edition

The Pumpkin Patch

Today's Creative Blog

The Creative Itch

Quilt Story

My Craftie Life

The Shabby Chic Cottage

School starts tomorrow...

School starts tomorrow for my baby.  She is going to Pre-Kindergarten.  She is really excited, I am excited, nervous and sad all at the same time.  I know she has to go I just hate to see my baby growing up so fast.  Here is what I made for her to wear tomorrow.

The pencil and the crayon are applique machine embroidery designs from Nobbie Neez Kids.  I added the additional lettering. 

Winner of the Coasters!

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1

Max: 12

Result: 9

Powered by RANDOM.ORG
 
Congratulations Laura
 
Laura said...


 Beautiful coasters!



Aug 10, 2010 9:49:00 PM

My Great Grandmother...

Today August 12, 2010 would have been my great grandmothers 110th birthday.  Let me tell you a little bit about her.  She was super spunky...  She was cool enough that at age 5 when my Mom was telling me that  I had to eat all my food at a restaurant great-grandma helped me throw it under the table so it looked like I ate it...  Everyone was welcome at her house and when you arrived there was always a whole table full of food waiting.  She never knew how to drive.  She had 12 children 10 of them lived into adulthood and 8 are still alive today... She swore she would live to be 100 years old.  And she had a quilt frame that was mounted to the ceiling of her living room.  In the winter she lowered the quilt frame and made beautiful hand made quilts.
Here are two that I am lucky enough to own....

I'll tell you a bit about the pink one with the embroidered roses.  It is what I asked for for my High School graduation.  There are 12 large blocks that each of my grandmothers sisters embroidered. There is also one embroidered by my mom, one by my aunt, one by great grandma and one by my grandmother.  There are corner blocks with each of my grandmothers brothers names and my uncles name on them.  My grandmother and mom put the quilt together for me and my great grandmother hand quilted it.  It was truly a labor of love that is one of my prize possessions. 

Back to great-grandma  she swore she would live to be 100 years old.  She was born on August 12th, 1900.  She passed away on August 12, 2000.  Most of the family had been with her in the nursing home that day to celebrate her birthday and just before we all left she slipped into the arms of the lord.  She had done exactly what she said she would do she lived to be 100 years old.

I miss you great-grandma!

Love

~Sherry~

Button Jar

Check out my GIVEAWAY here

I decided to make a little "Happy" (a small gift to make someone smile) last night for my mom.  She has kept my daughter during the day since she was 8 weeks old.  Pre-K starts next week and we are all sad.  I am sad to see my baby grow up and that I am handing her over to people I don't trust as much as my mom. Momma is sad because she has been with her almost constantly since she was born ... We are all in for a big adjustment. 

Anyway on to the project.  My Momma is a button fanatic!  She has buttons stored in jars, bags, cases, just about everywhere you can imagine.  She has made hundreds of button bracelets, covered the back of a shirt with buttons and added them to anything that would stay still long enough for her to sew them on.  I decided that making her a button jar might brighten her day a little bit...

Materials
1 latch closure jar (I found these at the dollar tree recently)
Mod Podge
Graphics from *The Graphics Fairy*  ( Click Here )... if you haven't been to this site you must go she has wonderful artwork...

I cut out the graphics (I was super lucky that it was a great size to use on the top of the jar and there were some stripes and a smaller graphic to use too.)

I mod podged the graphics on the jar.  TIP:   Alcohol removes the excess mod podge on the jar. I just used several of the small alcohol pads to wipe around the graphics after applying them. 

Here is how it turned out.  I hope it serves its purpose as a "happy" and brightens her day

 

Linking up to:

The Pumpkin Patch

Todays Creative Blog

Sugar Bee Craft Edition

Tip Junkie

The DIY Showoff

Simpsonized Crafts

Skip To My Lou

Sister Sister Sunday

Just Something I whipped up

C.R.A.F.T

Mad in Crafts

The Graphics Fairy

~Sherry~

I was one of the favorites this week on Brown paper packages!!!

The fabric covered composition book was one of their favorite favorites on their linky party WOW! I am so stinkin excited you have no idea....    Every time I say brown paper packages I have to sing the line "brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things... "  ok anyway go check out their blog at



I love their blog...

FAIL!!!... Saturday Crafts with Kids

Check out my GIVEAWAY! here !!!

Okay my bloggety blog readers I want you to know that I read a lot of blogs everyday and very rarely if ever do I see anyone post their failure... Well, I am here to tell you that as a crafter I do have my share of failures, ok... well maybe more than my share.  I want you to know I am real and certainly no Martha Stewart (she has others that fail for her before she can fail herself) and I have failed....

I came up with what I believed to be a brilliant idea yesterday for my Saturday Crafts with Kids... I thought that I would have my little girl do some artwork and I would make it into jewelry that would be super awesome and spectacular for myself and my mom (maybe as her Christmas present Note: Mom if you are reading this please ignore that last sentence) 

The artwork part that the 4 year old was doing worked out fine. I knew it would look like 4 year old art work and that is exactly what I wanted!  Notice I had her drawing with a fine Sharpie so she could write her name on the art here is where my thought process started going wrong....  I still feel that I was super brave giving her a Sharpie to play with....

Here are the materials that I was going to add to her artwork to make the pendant.  A glass tile and glaze. 

So I added the glaze to the glass pendant  added her artwork then added the glaze to the back of the artwork .

Here is where the fail began.... the marker on the paper started to run... I had thought this might happen before so that is why I let her use the sharpie thinking it was a permanent marker and this wouldn't happen.  Well, it did...

Here is what it looks like after the glaze has dried... I still like it simply because she made it and she had to go back and add the last two letters of her name above where she was writing it because she couldn't make it fit...but I hate that I ruined it in the end....  if you look there is bleeding around all the edges.

Lesson learned:  next we will use crayons to make tiny artwork she just won't be able to write her name with them in the small workspace.

Giveaway Giveaway Giveaway!!!

YAY!!!!! I  got to 1000 hits on my page today!  I know thats not many to most people but it is a big step for me and I am sooooo excited!  I promised a giveaway for the 1000 hits.  We haven't gotten close to the 25 followers yet but lets get the first giveaway going!!!

I promised a set of mod podged coasters that I made posted  Here.  The ones being given away are actually a cream colored damask pattern with a pewter stand ( see pic above).  This giveaway will end next Friday August 13th at 8am(cst)

So, here are the 3 ways to enter!!! 

1) comment on this post

2) become a follower of my blog and come back here post a comment to tell me that you are a follower

3) add my button to your blog page and come back here and post a comment to tell me that you added my button.

can I say I am so excited again.... I hope you enjoy!

Linking Up to
Tip Junkie
Sugar Bee Craft Edition
The DIY Showoff
Simpsonized Crafts
Skip to my Lou
Sister Sister Sunday
Just Something I Whipped Up
C.R.A.F.T

Hiccup Hankies aka Burp Cloths

Check out my GIVEAWAY!  here !!!

I whipped up these really simple and fast Hiccup Hankies the other night for a baby gift...

Materials:

9 inch x 14inch piece of Chenille Fabric (preshrunk)
9 inch x 14 inch piece of cotton fabric (preshrunk)

I pinned the right sides of the fabric together facing each other.  I sewed them together on all four edges with a 1/2 inch seam leaving a 2 inch hole open on the last edge I sewed. This is so I could turn them right side out.  (Hint:  when sewing these put the heavier fabric on the bottom so the feed dogs on your sewing machine will push that fabric through easier).  After I turned them right side out I pushed out the corners by inserting a pencil in the opening and pushing it into the corners.  I then made sure that the edges of the opening were turned inside and I sewed around all four edges again to create a finished look. here are a couple of pictures

Linking Up to:

Just a Girl

Brown Paper Packages

Keeping it Simple