Gingercake

A 2012 Project: Bathroom saga

We had many project brewing in 2012 (mainly Miss Marion!) but last February, on a random snowy weekend, we took our sledge hammer and began a major home improvement project on our bathroom.  We had a strange configuration in our master bedroom that included a teeny tiny bathroom and a smallish closet and a large "dressing area".  It was an annoying waste of space.  What followed was about 10 months of mess, labor, mistakes, victories and lots of good learning. 

The above icky pictures are how it looked for many months as we made small bits of progress and grumbled about the dust and work.  A good friend helped to frame out the walk in closet (thank you Adam!)  and another friend, David, whose has the best work ethic EVER, came to help with the bathroom and gave us the kick start needed to make some serious progress.  

Most of that progress happened last spring and it wasn't until last month that our bathroom was finally finished.  Why?  I think my husband and I both work best under pressure and arrival of the baby finally gave us the push to push each other and get this project done!  Honestly, as you can imagine since I was PG, he did most of the work.  And a bathroom is A LOT of work!  My work was mostly decision making and cleaning up!  Now I know why they cost so much to redo-  it is a labor of love to redo your own bathroom and neither of us much loved this project while it was in progress.

Of course, we are thrilled with our bathroom now.  You really appreciate home improvement when you do it yourself!  Especially with all the ups and downs that we had- from unknown dust allergies and injuries, to plumbing leaks and paint spills, we were relieved when it was finally finished.  We splurged on our vanity and stone top, but the rest is middle range big home store purchases.  Most of my creative original ideas for the redo were crushed by cost restrictions but compromising is part of the work when doing this type of project, right?  I'll save all those ideas for when we do the kitchen soon- HAHA!  That comment was just to freak my husband out :)  How do you manage to get through home improvement?  Are you a do it yourselfer or a save up and hire someone?  Thank you to my husband for all his hard work! 

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These Days...

The newborn baby days go by in a blur.  We sit on the couch together so much!  I am enjoying her so much.  My other 3 kids were born so close together it almost seems like I was a different person back then- dealing with a baby and 2 toddlers did not make for peaceful days on the couch.  Jenny took more beautiful pictures here.  This one is in the nursery with all my "stuff" around.

and guess what??  The newborn baby gowns fit beautifully.  That was a relief since I made like 6 of them!

Crib Skirt and Quick Bedding Makeover

When Elsie was born eight and a half years ago, my mom made me a beautiful crib skirt.  It was fully lined with a tiny print floral fabric that I chose.  At my old house, I decorated the entire nursery around this fabric- the wall color, the dresser color, the curtains.  I still love that skirt but this time around I am going for a more casual look. 

Sorry for all the wrinkles.  My other 3 kids have discovered that below the crib is an awesome place to hang out, read and have secret clubs.  Since I am officially PAST my due date now, I will not be taking apart the crib to iron the skirt again!

I created the chevron by cutting this sheet pictured below on the bias in 6" strips.  I had to figure out that one side had to be from one end of the sheet and the other from the other end of the sheet- like a make a parallelogram.  I only used 1/2 of a twin sheet but I felt like there was lots of waste!  I removed the solid piece and the trim from the sheet and basted them on to finish the look.  The skirt is lined like a curtain- meaning the lining is not as wide as the exterior piece so it folds nicely behind.

I bought the sheet at the thrift store for $2!

I added some classic Gingercake pillows to the crib for photos!  These are actually the big girls' pillows and that ducky quilt was mine when I was a baby.  The bumper and gingham crib sheet are from my old crib bedding.  I switched out the ties on the bumper with ties made from scraps of the skirt- already cut on the bias!

So not super fancy but sweet and I have been wanting to make my own chevron for awhile!  Like these awesome ladies did here and here.  This was a challenge since the stripes are not uniform, but I like the effect and feel like it was worth all the brain exercise.

Alrighty kind readers and friends- send me your "go into labor" thoughts and prayers so we can meet this girl!  I would love not to be induced again (althought that is not really a big deal).  I do have some other things to share on the blog (like did you notice that pretty crocheted blanket on the crib in the first photo?) but they can wait until after she is born so help me get this baby going!!!

 

 

Contoured Changing Pad

Although I think the full changing table is bit much, I did find myself using the changing pad with my other kids.  Of course, I got rid of it 4 and a half years ago when I thought I was done with all that little baby stuff.  So when I bought my boppy, I also bought a nice new changing pad.  I had a really nice cover for my old pad- a nice cover but a bad fit!  Washing it was a hassle since I really had to work to get it back on.  This time around I wanted something easier. 

I used this tutorial I found on Pinterest.  I used AMH Folksy Flannel.  This is such a soft and lovely flannel and I recommend it for sure.

 The table is my fabric cutting table that has open shelves underneath for storage.  I made curtain from a vintage sheet and used a $2 tension rod to hold it up under the cabinet.  My messy sewing stuff is still down there but now it is covered and pretty!  The hoops were also already there but I changed a few out to go more with my baby colors.  

The tutorial was well done.  I had to use elastic on the bottom corners to really give it a nice fit.

I also serged all exposed seams since I know I will be washing this cover every week or so.  The last thing I had to do was make button holes for the safety belt.  My other babies were not big time wigglers on the changing table but I figured better safe than sorry instead of taking the belt off.

The button holes actually made the fit even nicer so the effort was worth it.  

The other change on this table was doing a quick new skirt for this lampshade.  I followed my own tutorial!  It was fast and easy although I don't love the color of the lamp or the ribbon I chose for the top.  For now it goes with the room and looks like a baby, right?

I like the fabric (vintage pillowcase of course!) but the color should be brighter and the ribbon on the top softer or something.  It will have to wait though since it's time to move on to new projects!

More baby projects tomorrow so be sure to visit again :)

Boppy Cover

I have less than a week until my due date!  I have been a busy little bee in the baby room.  I plan on having the baby sleep in with my 5 year old eventually but for now, she will be taking over my sewing room.  So lots of boxes of fabric and trim have gone to the basement and things have been consolidated and donated to make more space.

I love having my own sewing space so this is a little hard for me but it's also fun to set up for the new family member.  This week I'll share all my little projects.  First up is a cover I made for a boppy.

I used this tutorial and vintage fabric (remember this dress for Anne?).  This fabric is soft and lovely.  I just love the retro look.  I plan on nursing this baby even though nursing isn't super easy for me- especially at first.  So I bought a brand new "naked boppy" and made my own cover.  Trying to get in the mood, ya know??  Like I mentioned before, I put away lots of trims and sewing items away in the basement and realized that my zippers were down there too!  The boppy comes in a nice carrier and I just used the nice long zipper from the plastic carrier for my pillow!

Just a warning about following this tutorial (at least for me)  The fit was a little off and I just ended up doing my own thing with the zipper.  I guess I am not as zipper savy as I thought!  The main adjustment to the fit I had to make was in the inside curve.  I took it in about an inch and this made the fit more snug.

More projects to come in the next few days!

A Shared Nursery by AnnKelle

A few months ago, Kelle Boyd asked me to sew up a couple of my pillows for a shared sibling nursery she was doing for chic & cheap nurseries.  She chose the farbics and sent them to me.  Angela Crutcher took these beautiful pictures for Kelle.

I love the grey walls and all the mix of textures.  Didn't she do a beautiful job??  Head over to her blog to see all the links for the linens and decor she used.  I made the orange and yellow bird and also a Lola Owl and a coordinating Max Owl. 

The room is shared between a 9 year girl and a baby.  A real challenge to design something fitting for both!  Thanks to Kelle for thinking of me and my pillows to include in the design.  

Beautiful photographs Angela!  

 

Crafternoon with Rachel and Michelle

Last week I took a break from sewing up skirts and dresses from KCWC and my 2 friends Rachel and Michelle came over for crafternoon (name creation from Michelle!).  Really, crafternoon was all about sewing since we were at my house and as you may know, sewing is kinda my thing.

Rachel, a beginner, brought over her brand new One yard wonders book (pretty cute book!) and we chose a simple purse for her to make.  No pictures yet since she has a little bit of hand sewing to complete the bag. Michelle has some sewing experience and we went through my scraps and she made a really cute bird pillow to match her other throw pillows on her couch.

Didn't she do a great job on the bird wing?  I love it.  Photo courtesy of Michelle.

I made pillows for myself based on the ones I saw on Country living cover this month.

They look easy enough, right?  I swear my brain had to bend every which way to coordinate the stripes correctly!  The other girls tried to help me and after cutting many incorrectly, I finally got it right!  Although my pillows make squares and the country living ones make crosses.  I really like how mine turned out and they give a more modern touch to my decorating.

After I got that one together, I realized I had cut enough incorrectly to make a 2nd pillow!!  Can you see how the center of the above pillow is dark and the one below is light?

Yep- making this pillow was all about that center match up.  It was a delightful treat to realize that all the scrapped pieces were not a waster after all!  Anyone else ever casually attempt to sew something and find out it it much more complicated than you thought?  Well I love the look of my new pillows and would never have treated myself to finally making them if it weren't for crafternoon with Rachel and Michelle! Thanks ladies!  Hope to do it again soon!

Sheets Quilt- Finally Accomplished!

When I ripped up all my sheets awhile back, I did it to sell the bundles in my shop but also so that I could make a quilt for Anne's bed with all their soft and pretty glory. 

This was my first full bed size quilt.  Once I started it, I was on a mission to finish.  That is a a quality about me that is both a blessing and a curse- it probably would have been nice to do a little, put it aside and make something else, then come back for a little more.  From what I read on other blogs, this is how most people do their quilting.  But I worked on it for days and got it DONE.

Anne and I looked through some simple quilt pattern tutorials and she chose this Plus quilt by Jeni of In color Order.  She does a great job with her directions.  I wish that I had made it a little longer but it is great for now.  Anne loved the plus idea since she likes numbers so much (like all Kindergarteners!).  She likes tracing out the plus signs over and over again.

I did the backing with 20 eighteen inch squares of sheets.  I liked the thought of the the plus sign patterns showing through on the back.  It turned out really pretty.

  I ordered some pretty fabric from Amy's shop for the binding but my impatience to be finished took over and I did a cheater binding.  Now I get to use my new fabric for something else!

The size of my backing fabric gave me about 5" overhang on all sides so I cut it down to 2" and ironed it back toward the back.  I stitched this down with my machine with about a 1/4" seam allowance.  Then I ironed it back toward the front and double folded it under.  I wanted it to look like binding on both sides.

The corners are not perfect but turned out pretty good.  I just folded the corner in the front to make it look like a mitered corner.  I need to hand sew the corner down though so it doesn't come unraveled with washing!  I figured I could easily take it off and do a real binding later if I ever feel the need.

Anne loves the quilt.  She loves looking at the plus pattern and she loves all the colors.  Nothing muted for this girl!  She calls it rainbow colors.  I like how it feels like a family heirloom already- soft and sweet.  Now I need to make a matching sham to finish the look!

The penguin will do for now!   Are you ready to try a quilt?  Seems like quilters can't get enough of their craft.  I am not totally sold since it is such a long and involved process.  I wanted to try though- it's important to flex your crafty muscles, don't you think?  I did flex some muscles moving all this fabric around and cutting out all these squares!  

PLUS, now I know I can make a quilt :)  What's on your list to try?

 

And this was supposed to be the year I didn't do as much Handmade...

I decided not to go overboard on handmade this year.  And really, compared to the effort I made in past years, it's not so much!  This post is going to be picture heavy and word light since I am supposed to pick the kids up in half an hour and I can't be listing these pictures while they are home!  Those kids are getting pretty smart about catching me in the act :)

First, Elsie's gift was a special request and is a holiday dress for her American girl doll Kit...

Yack!  Doll clothes!  They are harder than they look and working with cheap velvet from Joanns is not recommended.  But, hey!  It turned out pretty and I know my girl will like it.

Next, Anne requested a purse and wallet AND a credit card that spends.  Hmmmm.  The credit card that spends is not happening as of this point.  Maybe a gift card? 

I had fun making that one.  I used some pinterest inspiration and just made up what to do.  I liked using those kind of handles!  Very cute.

For the wallet I used Noodlehead's Zippy Wallet tutorial which was very fast and easy.  Learned some new skills too!  I love how she does her zipper.  The owl one is for Elsie since I couldn't just make one of those cute little wallets!

Cal's gift was my own idea since he is not really interested in thinking about gifts and what he wants for Christmas.  He has mentioned a haunted house with bats but I am not going to attempt to make that!

I used Wee Wonderful's Space boy and Robot pattern which I have had for several years now.  That yellow t-shirt is a cape that is not my best work but it goes with the robot so I'm sure he'll like it.  I used this tutorial.

For Elsie's class party we made Cake Pops.  They were a challenge!  But I have been wanting to try them for so long!  There were 2 left over that we are saving for some beloved cousins on Christmas Eve.

We decorated our Candy Cottage at the end of last week.  I will NEVER go back to making real gingerbread!  This is so much more fun and less pressure (for me at least!).  All 3 kids helped this time, although Cal did a lot of eating candy and Anne somehow ended up with frosting on her ears! 

I made Caramel Corn for neighbors and relatives.  AWESOME!  EASY!  It tastes really good too.

My husband has a huge family so I also made some everday napkins to gift.  These have a back story and I am excited about sharing how I made these. I hope to make a quick tutorial after all this holidaying has calmed down.  I have the pictures taken and ready to go!

Like everyone who likes to sew, I had plans to do more but I am happy that I am pretty much ready for Christmas now.  Last year on the day after Chritmas I felt like I had been run over by a train!  I had no idea how stressed out the whole thing had made me.  I really wanted to scale back so i wouldn't feel so deflated again and I could enjoy the days after the holiday as much as the days before.

Last are a few more decorations that we are loving!   A playmobil nativity set that a good friend gave us.  I love that the kids are playing with the characters so much.  So sweet.  Playmobil is wonderful!

Also, I found this vintage gem at the thrift stoer for only $.50!  What a steal.  She is adorable!

Happy Christmas to you all!  I am not sure if I will be back next week so Happy New Year too!  Thank you for reading the blog and being part of my crafting life.  It is a real pleasure to share my work with you.  I am truly grateful to have this creative outlet and you to share it with!

 

Farmland Christmas Decorating

I love my new iphone.  Cal and discovered this snowman while running errands and we had to get a picture.  Isn't it awesome?  It is 3 hay bales stacked on top of each other.  The hat is a feed bucket.  The carrot nose is a construction cone.  He only has one arm!   I grew up in the atlanta suburbs where all the decorations were candles in the windows, a wreath on the door and a spotlight on the tasteful elegant brick home.   It's fun to be a little tacky in the country!  So, are you a tacky or tasteful decorator?