Fast Daze

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-06T15:19:00.003-06:00

I know, I haven't blogged in a loooooooooooooooooooong time. But Valentine's Day is one of my favorites, so it's definitely worth getting off my behind and blogging about.

Here's what my kids will be giving their teachers this year:

I just love those little mailboxes from the Target $ Spot! Kiki helped with the pink one on the end.

And inside:

Rolos as dynamite, anyone?

Last year, Finn had robot valentines, to I was glad to keep the theme going:

That's a mini candy bar in the middle. And yes, I started cutting out the pieces for these right after Christmas. There was a lot of assembling for all 20 valentines.

Kiki is still cat-crazy, so I made these cute Lion valentines for her:

And it's all attached to a sucker!

I'm not overly romantic, but I really do like Valentine's Day. I think it's just a combo of pinks and reds everywhere. After last year, I was really hoping we could do DisneyWorld every V-Day, but that clearly isn't happening this year.

And, of course, I've got my wreath hanging:

**I got ALL the Valentine ideas of Pinterest (of course) and I'm pretty sure both the robots and the lions were from Fiskars website**

Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle

2011-12-31T13:10:00.001-06:00

Have you heard about the Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle Challenge? It's going on over at Quokka Quilts and it's so much fun! You have to pick out 16 fabrics (full rules on the Quokka Quilts blog) from the Fat Quarter Shop and submit them to be judged. If you win, you get a half yard of each fabric!

I'm currently picking out fabrics for a new project anyway, so this totally motivated me to get a little more organized about it.

Here they are:

1. It's a Girl Thing Gray Doily Dance Yardage

2. Bella Solids Aubergine Yardage

3. Bella Solids Marine Yardage

4. Echo Gray Aneta Yardage

5. Bella Solids Silver Yardage

6. Nursery Basics Sky Speckle Yardage

7. Sweet on NYC Grey Swirl Yardage

8. Sketch Pink Screen Texture Yardage

9. It's a Girl Thing Bloom Play Dot Yardage

10. It's a Girl Thing Blossom Disco Dot

11. Echo Gray and Purple Choma Yardage

12. Domestic Bliss Aqua with Cream Beaded Curtain Yardage

13. Terrain Foliage Seedpod Yardage

14. Summer House Robin's Egg Blue Twinkle Yardage
15. Terrain Mist Leaves Yardage

16. Sherbet Pips Pink and Grey Play Dot Yardage

Let me know what you think!

Homemade Graduation Gift

2011-12-11T13:53:00.001-06:00

My son's preschool class has had a very nice student teacher this semester. She'll soon be leaving though--because she's graduating!

I made up this little sign for her to hang in her new classroom. I know if it was me that had to deal with a group of 20 preschoolers all day, I'd need a little reminder of why I wanted that job in the first place!

I kid. I'm sure they are all perfect angels for their teachers right? Someone please tell my children that...

I took a simple flat white canvas, and painted red acrylic paint on the section I wanted to be red. After that dried, I spelled out the quote using two different types of stickers (I have a Silhouette, and I suggest that if you don't want any bleed through around the stickers, to use one with vinyl). Then I painted the whole thing with a couple of coats of black paint. When it was dry, I peeled off the stickers.

Like I said, there was a lot of bleeding around the sticker edges. It kinda worked for the "worn" look I was going for, but I still touched up a few spaces, especially the red letters. The last thing I did was dilute a little of the black paint in a bowl of water and brush it all over the canvas.

Add a little flower and you're done!

Linking up here.

It's Raining Babies!

2011-12-02T03:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, they aren't quite pouring down from the heavens, but pregnant women are coming at me left and right. I have 3 close friends and a sister that's preggers right now. I can only pray that they name their children something that is easy to applique!

My work friend has already picked her baby's name (so convenient for me), Elissa Joe. Pretty adorable huh?

I whipped up some burp cloths for her. This was actually the first project I used my embroidery machine for:

A few hair do dads:

And a super soft minky taggie toy:

I wasn't entirely sure I would have time to make her a blanket, but this one was so super simple and I knew the fabrics would look so cute together, I just couldn't resist! This is one of my vintage sheets, with a backing of the same super soft rose minky.

Man, do I love this minky!

(It isn't technically a quilt, since I didn't use batting and I only tied it with yarn in a few spots)

I wrapped it all up in a personalized bucket with a little shrink wrap.

Linking up here.

Buttercup Bags

2011-11-30T03:00:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't love Made by Rae's Buttercup Bag pattern? It's simple, it's cute and it's FREE. Perfection.

Here's a few I've made recently:

This one is made of some Japanese print that a friend gave me. It's for my niece:

I think that I'm going to give this one to the friend who gave me the fabric:

This one's for me. Red, white and navy. I love it!:

This one is a little special. I originally was just going to use only zebra print, however...

...after I finished it, I realized my daughter was so kind as to cut a little gash in the side for me. I couldn't be too mad, since she was probably trying to "help.":

A friend of mine mentioned I might try to patch it up, so I used the other animal prints in the above picture. What do you think?

Linking up here.

LadyBug Picnic!

2011-11-22T16:19:00.001-06:00

I made this little cutie as a Christmas present to my daughter. It's the first time I have tied a quilt instead of free-motion quilting it. I have a tutorial coming soon!

Turkey Day Shirts

2011-11-22T09:20:00.001-06:00

Linking up here.

Turkey Day Cookies

2011-11-21T16:32:00.001-06:00

Sooooo, I know, I suck at blogging lately. Honestly, I'm working just as hard as I ever have at projects. I just don't really feel the need to share them as much. It makes me realize that most of my blogging endeavours were fueled by a not-so-little need for validation. You know, the whole "look what I made! See how useful I am!" sort of thing. I'd probably say I should explore this with a therapist if I didn't feel like I was already over it.

Sort of. I mean, I'm not shutting down or anything. I just need to get off my butt and take more pictures (and then upload them, write about them, etc.) Maybe I'm just being lazy.

Anyway, I saw these on Pinterest:

(originally from Poppy Cove)

I wanted to make them for my son's Thanksgiving feast at school tomorrow, but OF COURSE, all candy corn (that I could find anyway) is made in a factory that is contaminated with nuts. We don't personally have a nut problem, but the classroom is nut-free. So I improvised with:

Mike & Ike! And homemade icing and chocolate chips. I originally bought:

But before I started decorating, I noticed it said "Does not harden for stacking" and knew it would be a big messy mess.

So, yeah, mine aren't as cute, but they're a good nut-free alternative!

Linking up here.

Vintage Sheet Row Quilt

2011-10-18T18:35:00.000-05:00

I've been on a bender.

On Saturday nights, you can find me on the bad side of town, jonesing for a fix.

Everytime I score, it just makes me want another.

(Yes, I've been watching a lot of Breaking Bad lately)

No, I'm not doing anything illegal, but you could call me a junkie.

I have an addiction...

to vintage sheets!

(source)

So awesome, right?

And I've been snapping up every one I can find.

You see, my friend is having a baby. A girl! (Is it just me, or is everyone having a girl right now?) And she has some awesome vintage taste. So I started snapping up vintage sheets and thought they'd made a pretty cool quilt for her little one.

Please ignore that awful crease down the center. I've had it done for a week and it's just been sitting folded up in my closet--way to be on top of the blogging!

This is the first thing I've quilted on my new machine and I think I still need to work out a few kinks. The tension was really hard to set. But it worked out.

But I still have a lot of sheets. A LOT. I'm sure there will be more vintage goodness to come!

I'll be linking up here.

Spooky Shirts

2011-10-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

Version I found on Zulily:

My version:

I was going to do a jack-o-lantern face on Kiki's, but she picked out the scariest face that the Silhouette store had to offer. I didn't want her to make the other 3-year-olds in her class pee themselves any more than they already do. So we went with her fav, a kitty.

Loving my new embroidery machine!

I'll be linking up here.

Class Windchimes {Teacher Gift}

2011-09-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

Things really get busy with 2 kids in school, huh? I'm always amazed by how much we get done by noon now.

Anyway, Finn's teacher's birthday is coming up next month and my neighbor (who also has a boy in Finn's class--YES, it's all my housewife dreams come true!) suggested we make her a windchime.

We went out and bought some metal alphabet stampers. Who knew they're sold at Hobby Lobby and only $12 (even less with 40% coupon)? Then we got some metal washers and stamped each child in the class' name on them. We went back and forth about what to hang them on, but while shopping at Goodwill, we spotted a cute door hanger and that was settled. I upcycled it by cleaning it up a bit and Mod-Podging the teacher's name to the bottom.

I added the teacher's name to it and voila! I think it was just such a great idea and a really cool way to remember the class!

I'll be linking up here!

And I'm entering this into Sew Dang Cute Crafts' Upcycled Linky Contest. Go check it out!

Welcome Fall {Bag Personalization}

2011-09-13T10:41:00.002-05:00

Last week was my birthday, and it was fabulous! My dear friend gave me this purse I've been wanting:

And a few days later I was in Hobby Lobby (spending the gift card my mom gave me) and came across this lovely print on clearance:

I mixed the two together...:

And got a fab new personalized purse! I love it and the colors so remind me of fall:

I'll be linking up here.

Pina Colada Rum Cake {Recipe}

2011-09-11T07:50:00.000-05:00

I have been sitting on this recipe for a couple of months now (I actually got it from my local liquor store), just waiting for a chance to make a cake--so I finally made it for my birthday last week!

It was amazing.

I'm a chocolate and icing kind of girl, but I didn't miss either of them at all.

***Non-alcholic version instructions (for kids and preggos) are at the bottom of the recipe***

Pina Colada Rum Cake

1 box pineapple cake mix
1 package (4-serving size) coconut pudding mix--I used vanilla on one of the cakes and it was just as yummy!
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pineapple rum
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan, or use Baker's Joy spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans and coconut flakes over the bottom of the pan.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, water, oil and pineapple rum. Blend well. Pour batter over nuts and coconut flakes in the pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan while you prepare glaze.

To make the glaze, bring butter, water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the coconut rum.

Remove cake from pan. Pour half of the glaze into the empty bundt pan and then place the cake back into the pan to absorb the glaze. Poke holes into the bottom of the cake while it is in the pan and pour the rest of the glaze over the bottom. Let the glaze absorb for at least 20 minutes. Remove from pan into serving dish.

***Kid-friendly version****
To make it kid-friendly, simple boil the coconut rum in the glaze instead of adding it in at the end.

Enjoy!

I'll be linking up here!

It's My Birthday and I'll Be Indulgent If I Want To

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

A. age: 29. Today. Whee.

B. Bed size: Queen

C. chore you hate: Vacuuming. Too much exercise.

D. dogs: one. A beagle. He barks a lot.

E. essential start to your day: A tiny bit of juice and a big bit of coffee

F. favorite color: Green. and Purple. and Pink. and Blue.

G. gold or silver: Used to be die-hard silver, but I must be getting old b/c gold is growing on me.

H. height: 5 feet 3 inches on a good day.

I. instruments you play: I took piano for 6 months once. I can play a mean kazoo.

J. job title: Special Services Teller. Sewist.

K. kids: Two...and my cat.

L. live in: Not sayin. Too freaky after watching Catfish.

M. maiden name: Lucas

N. nicknames: My in-laws still call me Love Kitten, Scott calls me Kitty and my Mom still calls me Elizabeth.

O. overnight hospital stays: 2. Although I really wanted to go home the second I gave birth to Kiki.

P. pet peeve: When people say things that are obvious.

Q. quote: "Her?" from Arrested Development

R. righty or lefty: right.

S. siblings: 1 sister and 1 brother

T. time you wake up: Earlier than I'd like. Usually 7:01, unless my demented brain wakes me up earlier and I can't fall back asleep. Happening a lot lately.

U. university attended: UCO for bachelor's, OSU for master's.

V. vegetables you dislike: Okra. Uck. Not even fried.

W. what makes you run late: The kids and their damn shoes.

X. x-rays you’ve had: Never. But I've had to hold down Kiki for a couple.

Y. yummy food: Nutella!

Z. zoo animal favorite: The ostriches are always up to something sneaky.

if you want to play along with the a to z game...GO FOR IT! you are all officially tagged!

Superhero Nap Mat

2011-09-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine asked if I could sew a Captain America nap mat for her son. I love making stuff for my friends, and I always love a challenge!

I started by using this tutorial from Prudent Baby, but I ended up changing it so much, that I could have done my own tutorial (had I taken pictures).

I made the top as a pillowcase, so that the pillow could be taken out when it's washed.

Folded up:

Or down:

The blanket is attached and made of cozy fleece:

And it all rolls up and velcro's shut! I took some creative license and put his name on the outside. Hope he likes it!

I'll be linking up here.

Sprucing Up the Master Bedroom

2011-09-04T18:21:00.002-05:00

Guest post written by Angela Lee

It's easy to forget to take care of yourself when you have young children running around that need constant attention. Now that we finally bought a bed for our oldest, who graduated from a crib, we can focus on redecorating our master bedroom as a special treat for mom and dad. However, I don't know when the next time we'll be able to redecorate our room, so I want to make the best of it now.

I looked online to get some ideas on doing some DIY decorations for it and while I was doing that, I ran across the site homeproimprovement.com. After I looked through it I showed it to my husband, who said we could use it to get new windows, which is on our list on home chores.

We're well on our way to completing the master bedroom makeover. I painted our headboard a nice color and bought a new comforter. Besides that purchase, I'm doing DIY for everything else. I'm also painting a few other things in the room, including the frame for a big mirror we have hanging on the wall. It's amazing what a few pans of paint can do to a room.

Our Little LadyBug Turns 3!

2011-08-28T08:04:00.000-05:00

I think Kiki had a wonderful birthday party!

Now in My Shop! {Kinley Beth Designs}

2011-08-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

I'm trying hard to fill up the stock in my shop, Kinley Beth Designs!

These headbands are only $4.00 apiece! Click on over to Kinley Beth Designs and check them out!

Back To School Dress {The Great Pinterest Challenge}

2011-08-18T19:32:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of The Great Pinterest Challenge? I read about it on one of my daily read blogs, Honeybear Lane. You pick out one of the [many] things you've pinned on Pinterest, recreate it, then enter it in one of four categories (Recipes, Sewing, Home Decor/DIY, or General Crafts).

Then Facebook users vote on the pictures and you can win a really great prize package!

I love that it provides some motivation to get a project done! As soon as I read about it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Sewing, of course. I had recently found this dress:

and thought it would be so cute to make for Kiki for her first day of preschool.

And here it is:

Obviously, I made a few changes. I prefer peasant dress-style to pillowcase dress-style. I like that the sleeves give Kiki a bit more coverage when it gets colder. Also, the apple print I found had some hot pink in it, which I really liked because it added a little spunk to the dress.

And, I had to make a matching headband!

The deadline for submissions in the contest is tomorrow, August 19th. But I think it may be a monthly thing, so if you want to submit something, you can always try in September.

Even if it doesn't win, I think it will be really fun for Kiki to wear when she goes off to school! (But I still want to win--please go vote on Honeybear Lane's Facebook page (You must first "like" Honeybear Lane, then you can vote by "liking" my picture) starting Monday!)

I'll be linking up here!

Now for Sale!

2011-08-16T14:01:00.001-05:00

So...I've had a lot of requests from people asking me if I would make and sell them a Superman minky blanket, like the one I made for my friend's child:

And so I've added them to my etsy shop!

I have also purchased a license to make and sell the personalized baby name quilts from Melissa Mortenson of the Polka Dot Chair. That means I am selling those too!

Here's the one I made for another friend last year:

You can find it in my shop as well!

All blankets are made to order and can be customized in different fabrics if you like.

Wish me luck!

Bug Birthday Party

2011-08-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

(Banner is from A to Zebra Celebrations)

Today was my [not-so] baby boy's 5th birthday. Five has never seemed like such a big number before!

But I won't spend this whole post moping about how old he is...

Let's talk about the party!

The kids dined on "bug food":

We had Honey Bits (Bit O'Honey), Bug Bites (gummy worms and bugs), Ants on a Log (Pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles) and Beetle Bugs (m&ms):

Dragon Snaps (Cheetos) and Worm Holes (Donuts):

Roly Polies (pigs in a blanket), Lady Bugs (cookies), Dirt Cups (Chocolate cupcakes with crushed Oreos) and Bug Juice (juice boxes):

I made the cone-holder out of a cake box. I cut out holes with an Exacto knife on the top of the box, then wrapped the whole thing in green crepe paper. The cones were made of scrapbook paper:

I found a great tip on Pinterest--for a custom look, take the wrapper off water bottles and wrap in a coordinating duct tape. Waterproof!

I also made white cupcakes with colored icing that formed a caterpillar (another Pinterest find):

I hate trying to organize 20 children into a party game, so we just let them play in the water out back:

But we did have a pinata (Finn really wanted the donkey-not really bug themed, but...):

For favors, I found bug kits at the Dollar Tree. I wrapped them in simple paper bags and used my Silhouette to write and cut "Thank you" bugs:

He was clearly overwhelmed, but in a good way! Finn is still zoned out from the party (and the birthday party we attended yesterday...and the wedding we went to last night...It's been a busy weekend).

Happy Birthday to my big boy!

Linking up here.

Blue Cricket Design A-Mazing Huge Giveaway!

2011-08-10T20:33:00.000-05:00

There is a super huge giveaway going on right now at Blue Cricket Design! In case you're the type who thinks they will never win anything, let me tell you that I win ALOT. Okay, like 4 or 5 times in the last year I've won giveaways. But, that's pretty good! You can't win until you enter. Head on over to BCD and try your luck.

Things I'm most excited about:

You have to like a lot of Facebook pages to win, but you have a few days to do it, and it's really not that time-consuming. Good luck!

Dress A Girl Around the World {Sewing for Charity}

2011-08-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I guess I had a lot of time on my hands, because I started researching organizations that accept sewing for charity. I was in the middle of a peasant-girl-dress-phase for Kiki, so the Dress A Girl Around the World charity really jumped out at me.

Dress a Girl Around the World is run by Hope 4 Women International and delivers homemade dresses to needy girls all over the world. All you do is sew them and mail them in! Doesn't every girl deserve a lovely dress?

Their website provides instructions for a basic pillowcase dress, but since I love my peasant dress pattern, that's what I made (oh, yeah, and I've never made a pillowcase dress). I thought this pattern would work well for many sizes since it uses elastic thread to make the middle and sleeves all stretchy.

Anyway, if you sew, I hope you'll check out this organization. Hopefully I can get on the ball and make more dresses!

I'll be linking up here.

Birthday Month: {Birthday Balloon Wreath}

2011-08-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

Both of my kids were born in August.

The. Hottest. Month. Of. The. Year.

And we're not really sure when the cat's birthday is, so we just made it in August too.

Therefore, I have renamed August as "Birthday Month." I kinda like the idea of making a new wreath for each month (it keeps me on my toes), so I made a unisex balloon wreath for our month-long fiesta.

Close-up. Fabric & paint. Yes, I smudged it a bit:

I'll be linking up here.

Trash to Treasure

2011-07-27T09:07:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, I won a giveaway. I won't say from who, but I was REALLY excited about it. It was for a personalized leotard. I put in the order right away and it was like Christmas morning when I got the package in the mail. I opened it, squealed a little over how cute it was, then I looked a little closer:

You see it right? I mean, how could you not? How on earth did the person who made it not notice her mistake!? "Well, it was free," I told myself. I hated to complain and send it back. So, I figured I would just fix it myself!

Here's what I came up with!

Kiki's having a Ladybug theme for her birthday party, so I think I'll make a skirt for it and it will be a great birthday outfit! I really like how it turned out!

I'll be linking up here.