Reverse Stencil Tutorial

I decided to try my hand at something new... art. I am no artist but I recently saw a reverse stencil on Homemade By Jill, and thought I would give it a try. The possibilities are endless with this project. At first I was going to use the bird from my Storybook Cricut cartridge, and cut it out in vinyl. Then I decided I liked the bird from Picnik better. There I go again with my love for Picnik. Since I couldn't print that with my vinyl, I did it the old fashioned way. I printed it off, cut it out, and taped it to my canvas. I know that doesn't sound very artistic, but it works.

You only need a few supplies for this project:
Canvas (Whatever size you want)
Foam brushes
Paint (you only need one if you don't mind a white background)
Mod Podge (Optional)

Since I am using to colors, I started by painting the whole canvas blue. Let it dry completely before your next step.



After your first round of paint dries. You are ready for the next step. I put the bird I used for my project above. If you are not familiar with Picnik, you can save it to your computer, and print it. I wanted the sides of my canvas to be the same as the bird, so I used painters tape all around the edges. I used painters tape to tape the bird, but the legs were a little trickier. I had to hold them down and paint over them slowly. You will get paint on your fingers, but acrylic paint comes off easily.

Next, I painted the over the bird in brown. Before it dried I peeled the bird off, and the painters tape around the edges. Now I have a cute little art piece, that was very simple to do.







A Few Living Room Upgrades

I am so excited to share a few little projects that I have been working on this past week. I'm getting ready to have people over for my kids 2nd birthday, and wanted to make a few changes to the house. I really haven't changed much since we moved into our house 6 years ago. We built it, so it was exactly how I wanted it. When the kids came along my world revolved around them and what they needed, and it showed in my house. When you have twins, it's double everything. My house was taken over for a couple of years. Things have gotten much better the past few months, so I thought it was time for some changes. I have started with my living room. I found some cute fabric at Joann's for 40% off. This was my first time at making curtains, so I went simple with tab tops. I'm very happy with how they turned out.

The next upgrade I made was to an old dresser that I have had for many years. It was mine as a child and has been in my attic for a while. I decided to fix it up a bit with a little love and a coat of paint.

I decided to go with the blue that was in my fabric. I found a good match in a Sherwin Williams paint called Watery. The dresser had been white for as long as I could remember, so it was a nice change.

When the dresser was done it looked a little alone on my entry way wall, so I decided to add some picture frames. I decided to try something new. I used 11x14 frames and cut poster board to fit. I then added a 4x6 photo to each frame. I used removable tape, so it would be easy to change them out. I think it turned out pretty cute.

I think it really brightened up my livingroom. My next upgrades will be to my kitchen and bedroom. I haven't told my husband yet but I would love to change the paint in my kitchen, but he hates to paint. For some reason he can take a car apart and put it back together, but he hates to paint. It doesn't make since.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Valentines by Picnik

I hope everyone is having a great Valentines day. I decided to make some last minute Valentines, for my husband, from the kids. I used the Picnik program. I love using this program, it is so user friendly. I use it more than my Photoshop for quick projects. I just thought I would share these with everyone. I will be back this week with a sewing project, and a few more additions to the upcoming birthday party.

Blog Face Lift/ Now Advertising

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for a season change. I have a bad case of Spring fever. I've started my spring cleaning around here a little early, and getting ready for yard sale at the first sight of warm weather. My motto this week is out with the old, and in with the new. I am including my blog in that, with a little face lift. I designed the header and buttons on Picnik. I love how simple this program is to use. You can use most of the gadgets for free, but can upgrade for a small cost. 


I also added a PR Friendly/Advertising tab at the top of my blog, if anyone is interested. 


I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Princess Dress and Pirate/Princess Birthday Invitation

I wanted to share the newest additions to my kids birthday party extravaganza. This post really reflects my love for etsy. I really believe I can find everything I need on that sight. First I want to share the princess dress that I made my daughter. I sadly cannot claim the design as mine. I purchased the PDF pattern from an etsy store called Fabric Boutique. If you have never purchased a PDF pattern from etsy, you should check them out. There are several stores that sell them for a very reasonable price.

The fabric that I used was Amy Butler {Rowan}. I have had it for a year, and could not find a project worthy enough for me to make that first cut. Does anyone else have that problem? I have several fabrics like that. I thought it would be a perfect pattern for my daughters princess dress. In the picture you can see the leggings she had on underneath, just ignore those. She was not a very willing participant in getting a picture today.

These are the invitations that I will be sending out to friends and family soon. I had these made by another favorite etsy store called Silly Me Design. I used this store last year for their first birthday invitation and loved them, so I had to go back again this year. When you are dealing with boy/girl twins, you have to get creative, and she did a great job with it. I would highly recommend checking her store out.

2nd Birthday Party Preparation

My twins 2nd birthday party will be in March, and the preparation is taking over my craft space. It will be a pirate/princess theme. I have decided to only make a few homeade items this year, because I went a little overboard last year. I was so exhausted after it all, that I didn't sew or scrapbook for a month. I decided to make their outfits and birthday banner, then purchase the rest from a party supply store. I thought I would share a couple of things that I have finised.

I stated by cutting 3" triangles, and used my pinking shears to make the zig zag look on the edges.

I used my Cuttin up Cricut cartridge to make my letters, and my Story Book Cartridge to make the crown. I had to google image a jolly roger, but I like the one I found.

For my sons shirt I found a larger google image of a jolly roger, printed, and cut it out. I cut it out in white felt, and sewed around it. I liked the rugged look of it. He will be a cute pirate.

I will be back this week to show the dress I will make for my daughter, and maybe a few other things I've been working on.

Ruffle Scarf Tutorial

I was given this lavender shawl as a present last year, but was never able to wear it. It was really long and wide, so it never fit like my other scarfs. I always loved the color and the soft light fabric. So, when I saw a Summer scarf tutorial on MADE, I thought my shawl would be perfect. The fabric she used was much lighter so it ruffled a bit more, but I'm really happy with mine.

The original measurements of my shawl was 26" wide and 71" long. First I folded it in half longways, and cut. Now I have two pieces measuring 14" wide. It looks a little more like a scarf now. Next, I folded and ironed the cut edge. I pinned and hemmed, so it wouldn't fray. The photo above is only folded once. I folded it over again before sewing. This was a nap time project, and was sidetracked when one of my kids woke up, so I never took another photo. Sorry!

The elastic bobbin thread was new for me, but it was fun to try something different. I found mine at JoAnn's with all the other thread. It was only $1.50 for 10yds. You will have to load your bobbin by hand, just remember to roll it on loosely. My machine is a Singer, so I didn't have to change any of my normal setting to make the ruffle effect. My machine uses a bobbin case, but I have heard that you have to change your tension, if your are using a machine with a drop in bobbin. I'm not sure why, I have just seen that on different sewing forums. You may just want to practice on spare fabric first, and make the needed changes. You will use coordinating thread on the top of your machine, and load your bobbin in your machine like you would normally.

Now the fun part starts. You will sew your first line down the middle. You should start to see it ruffle immediately. Don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and end, or else the elastic thread will not hold. I decided to do two lines down the middle to make it have more of a ruffle.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment. I will try to help. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

I will be linking here this week.