So here is what I have come up with…

I love my family.  A lot.  They deserve more of my time.  Pretty soon we’ll be adding another tiny member to our family, one that will require even more time.

I love my blog, and all my bloggy friends.  But this little ol blog of mine takes A LOT of time.  Time that I really need to devote to my fam.

I’m scared.  I’m so scared to be a mom of 4 kids.  How do you even begin to prepare for that.  Probably with more time.

So the conclusion I have made is, while I LOVE crafting, sewing, re-decorating, and blogging about it, I really need to step it up as a mama.  I’m not quitting my blog, just taking it down a notch.  There may be weeks with no posts.  And there may be weeks with lots of good stuff, (well hopefully).

But I just wanted to let all you fabulous readers and supporters and friends of Just Sew Sassy know, that I love and appreciate all your kindness.  I’m not ready to let you go yet.  Please don’t give up on me.  I’ll be back, I promise.

Thanks for understanding my friends.

I found lots of fabulous “love”  inspiration on Pinterest…

How fun would it be to wake up to a room full of balloons, all with little notes and treats attached:)  THIS would work for a birthday too, but I’m gonna do love notes for V-day:)

Or do you need a little game to play with your kids, or maybe for your kid’s class parties?

I know my kids would be all over anything that involves dice and coloring…  Check out THIS free printable!!

And hello yumminess!!!  I’m hoping to wake my family up to the smell of some of these delicious red velvet waffles cooking on Valentines morning!!

Don’t these look DELISH!!!

What fun things are you guys planning for Valentines??  Have you pinned anything fun lately??  I’d love for you to share:)  Have a LOVEly week!!

We woke our kids up Saturday morning and surprised them with the news, they were pretty excited!!

So off we went to Capistrano Beach (a pretty central location to all our fun destinations)!

This was our view across from our room…

Me and my hubs, and my belly…

First stop Knott’s Berry Farm.  I’m glad we went there first, b/c it in no way compares to Disneyland or even Legoland for that matter, but our kids had fun:)

My little sis skipped a week of college to come help us out!!  She was awesome!!

I’m sorry, but isn’t this picture HIL-ARIOUS??

We love snoopy!

Day 2, Disneyland!!!  Our best day ever!!

We LOVE tinkerbell!!

and Day 3, more Disney!!

Classic Mickey and Minnie!

and Day 4, Legoland!!

They had entire cities displayed from all over the world, all made entirely from legos!!  So cool!!

My 5 yr-old is obsessed with Star Wars!!

They all LOVED driving their own wheels…

My camera had died for our final day at Disneyland:(

But I got it charged enough for a few shots at Laguna Beach…

Such a gorgeous beach…

Yeah, I know.  Pregnant ladies shouldn’t stand next to hot young bikini babes:)

Thanks for letting me share some of my family memories with you!!  Doesn’t it make you excited for Spring!!

And the winner is…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

16

Timestamp: 2012-02-08 16:14:10 UTC

Erin!!!

Who said, “Well this is a hard decision! I really like 2 major stencils and a group. I would love to have the Casablanca allover and the Floral Damask stencils. If I could afford it I would also get all the Marie Antoinette/Versaille stencils!”

Congrats girl!!

The winner has been emailed and will have 48 hours to claim the prize or a new winner will be selected.

Thanks for entering my sweet friends!!  Have a great week:)

right before our trip, and loved it so much that I threw one together in the hours before we had to leave.  I know.  I’m crazy.  But it was a life saver on our trip!!

I couldn’t find a tutorial anywhere, but I found one for a CD visor, so I adapted mine to work for my kids’ coloring books and headphones.

Would you like to make one for your car??

Go grab your supplies, and let’s get started.

Supplies:

• scraps of fabric (I used 6 coordinating-ish fabrics)

• interfacing or fusible fleece

• ribbon and embellishments (optional)

• sewing machine

• thread

• cutting mat and rotary cutter

Step 1:  Measure the size of your book.  I know books are all different sizes, but my kids have a ton of these color wonder books, and knew they would be a popular item for our trip.

Step 2:  Based on this measurement you will know how large to cut your main fabric, pockets, interfacing, and basically everything else.  I wanted at least 4 pockets, so based on the size of the book  I used these as my measurements:

Cut 2 pieces of your main fabric (for your front and back piece) and a piece of interfacing to be 11 x 22 inches.

Cut 4 pieces of fabric (for your folders) to be 11 x 13 inches.

And cut 3 or 4 strips of fabric (for your bias tape) to be 2 x 100 inches.  I added a little extra just to be safe, you can always cut it shorter at the end.

Step 3:  Iron your interfacing piece to the back (wrong side) of your front main piece of fabric

Step 4:  Next you’re going to add your pockets.  Fold each piece of fabric in half, wrong sides touching, and iron in place.

Start at the top, going down about 1 1/2 inches, and stitch your first pocket on at the bottom with raw edges facing downward.

Add the next pocket, about 4 inches below the first one, raw edges pointing downward.

Continue with the rest of the pockets.

Step 5:  Iron the back piece of fabric to the other side of the interfacing, this time for a longer period of time to give it a good bond.

Step 6:  Stitch all the strips of fabric together to form a nice long strip of fabric for your bias tape.  Fold each side in about 1/4 – 1/2 inch and press in place.  Next fold the strip in half with your edges inside and press in place.  (Sorry for the lack of pictures!!)

Next you will open the fold of the bias tape,

start at the top corner of your main piece of fabric and place it inside the fold.

Fold back over, and pin in place.  Continue pinning along the entire outer edge of your main fabric piece.

Stitch in place right along the folded edge, taking care to catch the inside main piece and each edge of the bias tape.

Step 7:  Add the ribbon by measuring 2 inches from each outer edge and pin the ribbon in place.

Finally stitch along the same stitch as the bias tape to secure.  I added a little ribbon flower at the corner as an embellishment.

Tie it onto the back of any headrest, and you’re done!!

Stuff full of books, and you’re all set!!

Linking up HERE this week!

I have sooo many projects on my to-do list for this year, can’t wait to get started!! I’ll highlight a few for ya…

This painted stenciled rug is awesome!!!  I have a few stencils, now I just need a rug!!!

How DARLING is this little boy’s nursery!!  Oh I am in love.  I will definitely be drawing some inspiration from this!!

And this stylish book holder for the car would have been perfect for our trip!!  There’ always next time:)

What are you working on?

Any fun new pins this week?

If you’re not yet on Pinterest, let me know and I’ll send ya an invite:)

So anyway, I started out with a boring ol white magnet board from IKEA, that needed some definite fabric love.

Haha, can you even see it??  Told ya it needed some love!!

Measure your magnet board and cut a piece of fabric about 2 inches bigger on all sides.

Hot glue one side, and then the opposite side pulling nice and tight.  Finish with the other two sides, and voila!!

Add some ribbon or ric rac, some cute magnets, and some cute pics:)

Linking up HERE this week

Little by little I’m adding decor to this little craft room of mine:)  I needed some storage for my spools of thread, and thought a painted board would be a cute way to hang/display them on my wall.  But why not take it up a notch, and STENCIL the board!!

So for this project, grab your favorite stencil (don’t worry if you don’t have one, you will have your chance to win $50 to spend at the Cutting Edge Stencil site), and let’s get started!

Supplies:

• wooden board (I used an old broken board I’d been saving for later)

• sand paper (if your board is previously painted)

• acrylic paint (2 colors)

• stencil

• stencil adhesive

• stencil roller or brush

• hammer and nails

Step 1:  Prep your board.  I gave my board a good sanding to rub the letters as flat and smooth as I could, then I wiped off the dust with a damp cloth.  Now your ready to paint.

Step 2:  Paint your bottom coat of acrylic paint.  Wait a couple of hours and paint a second coat.  Allow to dry overnight before painting the stencil on top.

Spray the back of your stencil with adhesive spray.  I love this product from Krylon.

Position the stencil where you would like it, and press down to hold in place.  Dip your brush in the second color of paint, wiping off the excess.  (You don’t want to use too much, or it will bleed a bit)

Start at one end, and brush the paint over the design.

Remove the stencil and allow to dry.

Step 3:  Arrange the spools of thread the way you would like them displayed.  Take a pencil, and mark the center of each spool.

Hammer the nails in each of the pencil marks.  (I used 2 inch nails)

Hang the board on the wall,

and add your spools of thread!

A super simple but cute display for any craft room!!

Now on to the fun part…  The lovely folks over at Cutting Edge Stencils let me choose any stencil from their online store to review.  I chose the Marrakech Trellis Craft Stencil and LOVE it!!

Cutting Edge Stencils come neatly rolled up with very thorough directions to guide you as you create your stenciled project.

But check out their site for fabulous VIDEOS to help you along the way…

And the lovely folks at Cutting Edge Stencils have offered one of YOU a $50 credit to spend at their site!!

What stencil will you choose!!!

To enter this giveaway:

• visit the Cutting Edge Stencil site and choose your favorite stencil, come back and let me know what it is

• Like Cutting Edge Stencils on Facebook

• Like Just Sew Sassy on Facebook

• Publicly follow or subscribe to Just Sew Sassy

• share this giveaway via facebook, twitter, or blog post

Lots of chances to enter!!!  Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway will end Tuesday, Feb. 7th.

Good luck my friends!!!

Linking up HERE this week!

Well, I’m living my childhood dreams vicariously through my children!!  We’re taking a surprise trip this week to California!!!  We’ve been secretly planning this trip for 6 months, and I can’t believe it’s finally here…

Ahhhhh!!!!  I’m so excited!!!  Maybe even a little more than my kids will be:)

This pic was taken the last time we were in Cali for a family trip to Sea World… Look how tiny my babies were!!!

We decided we needed one last big fun family trip before this baby makes its debut…  We’re staying in Capistrano Beach which is pretty central to Disneyland, Legoland, Knotts Berry Farm, and even Sea World.

Don’t worry I’ve got another tutorial, and a giveaway this week, so make sure and stop by again soon!!  Have a fabulous weekend ya’ll!!

Nothing fancy, but here are a couple of features…

Found the recipe for these cupcakes HERE, homemade strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, YES please!!

Some more good eats, and a baby bunting banner too…

I’m having fun with these yarn balls!!!  And here you can see the fabric I love so much:)

Baby Shower = Diaper Cakes RIGHT!!!!

And can you believe this was the first time I ever made tissue poms!!  Check out THIS tutorial to make your own.

And baby onesies of course…

I LOVE throwing showers and parties!!  Makes me happy:)  Getting super excited for this little one of my own too:)