the audzipan anthology

DIY Farmhouse Headboard

2012-02-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

We finished our new headboard! Well, I should say that Chris finished our new headboard. Aside from me helping him hold things tight during assembly, he did all the work.

It was an easy build, with plans from Ana White. We adapted the plans to make the headboard a few inches wider, and we didn't make the whole bed with footboard and side rails. Since we already had a bed frame, we just attached the headboard to that.

I love how it turned out. We used a black stain instead of solid black paint. The difference is subtle, but it adds another dimension to the piece. After staining, we did a clear coat of polyurethane. We only did one coat since this is more for show than actual use, but for a table or chairs, I would do at least two coats and maybe three for extra durability.

As you can see in the photos, I've redone our letters to resemble Anthropologie's Oversized Zinc Letters. I'll share the easy fix in another post next week. They will eventually hang on the wall above the headboard, but right now I am working on a new central piece to replace the fencing. Once that is done, I will be able to hang everything above the bed.

Felt Flower Grapevine Wreath

2012-02-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I have this grapevine wreath that I got with a plan to reincarnate it all the time. It's been a fall wreath and a winter wreath chandelier, then it took a break in my closet for about a year. During that time, I tried out some other kinds of wreaths and door decor, like the tulle wreath, candy corn hanger, and red feather wreath.

Here it is again! It's about time I busted this thing out. This go-round, I was going for a more season-neutral theme, to a point. I didn't want something that I would necessarily have to take down because a certain season just ended, but I also don't plan to leave it up all year.

While I was making these felt flowers, I thought that some of them would make really cute hair clips for my girls. So, in the spirit of interchangeable wreath, I just put each flower on its own clip, so now I can rearrange the flowers and use them as hair clips when we're ready to switch things out again. I can also switch out the color scheme very easily.

I found a bunch of super easy tutorials for the flowers from Craftiness is not Optional. I used the rolled felt flowers, scalloped mini flowers, and the layered felt flowers. I also threw in a simple spiral flower, similar to the ones I did on the modern baby shoes.

Another thing that I added to the wreath that you can't see in the photo is a felt lining on the back. This is the only wreath I have that scratches my front door's paint, so I cut one-inch strips of black felt and hot glued them all the way around the wreath on the back, so they created a big circle. It's great, because now I don't wince every time someone opens the door!

I was pleasantly surprised at the easiness of this project. Seriously, felt is so forgiving, and I was able to do all of these in one day. I recommend using wool felt. It is much thicker, looks higher-end, and comes in so many cool colors. I found mine at a quilt shop. All I needed was about four sheets of felt, a glue gun, and some hair clips to make these (all of which I had on-hand). These flowers would make great accents to girls' headbands or even as a gift bow.

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello

Pinspiration: Things to Make

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I love Pinterest. I only joined a few months ago, but now I've got 20 boards with 377 pins. As a creative person, I love being able to visually organize my ideas for projects and such. Two of my absolute favorite boards are my "Things to Make" and "Kids" boards.

Pins from these boards have inspired a lot of my recent projects, like the ironing board cover, toddler picnic table, play kitchen, modern baby shoes, and baby apron. Here are a few of my "Things to Make" board that I have been itching to try next.


Wedding Clutch via Purlbee

Mason Jar Pendants via Poppytalk

The jar pendants are more of a jumping-off idea. I have some glass soda bottles that I would love to turn into a lighted garland. We're still working on the logistics of the wiring on that project.

Basic Messenger Bag via mmmcrafts

Boxy Cosmetic Bag via Skip to My Lou

Sewing Machine Cover via Notes from the Patch

As you can tell, I've got a bit of sewing ahead of me. I'm all caught up on Etsy orders, though, so I've got some free time again. That is, if I don't spend it all on Pinterest!

New for the Fabric Stash

2012-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

I got some new kinds of fabric at Joann's yesterday for some new kinds of projects- apparel! I haven't made many clothing items yet, and especially not for me. So, in the spirit of trying something new, I bought a couple of red tag prints on apparel fabric and a couple of basic knits.

I am starting to have a sort of fabric problem, but it hasn't been going on long enough to classify it as an obsession quite yet. The top fabric is a beautifully soft cotton lawn, the green and brown print is a light poly linen, and the grey and black are both nice-quality knits.

The plan is for most or all of these fabrics to turn into skirts or dresses for me. I'm anticipating a bit of mistake-making with these, but I have a few ideas and patterns, and one day soon I will get started on some clothes! As it turns out, my new place mats are quite popular, so I am already doing another run (I'm currently in the midst of sewing them together, my least favorite part) and working on a new design for kitchen towels and place mats.

Winner of the Lazy Daisy Bows Giveaway

2012-01-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Be Mine Headband from the Lazy Daisy is. . .

#14, who is. . .

Congrats, Ashley! I've passed your contact info on to Jen.

A big thanks to everyone who entered. For the rest of you who didn't win, (Sorry; I never win, either) jump on over to the Lazy Daisy and get yourself some cute headbands.

Blog Hop

2012-01-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

I've joined a blog hop! Click on the links below to discover some new favorite blogs, as I have. You can also join up, too, for the next day or so. Just don't get too lost in all the greatness out there and forget to do all that other stuff you are responsible for. . . No, I wouldn't know about that at all.

Ironing Board Cover Tutorial

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

I have something to confess: I have been living with an extremely ugly ironing board cover for years now. Allow me to demonstrate:

Part of the reason this has been going on is that, let's face it, I don't iron much. I really, really don't. Usually, I do my best to pull things out of the dryer in time to lay them flat and hope for the best. And, usually, it works. But, now that I have been getting into sewing more and more (thanks, Pinterest!), I find that the ironing board has been making more of an appearance at our house. An awful, awful appearance.

So, you want to see how I did it? Spoiler: there's not much to it. All you will need is about a yard of fabric, and batting if you need new cushioning.

Let's get going! Remove that nasty old thing and take the string out of the casing. Also, remove your padding if you want to replace that, too. Save all of these pieces. As you have probably guessed, you'll be using these pieces as your patterns. Lay your padding piece out on top of the batting and cut it out. I use the term "padding" loosely, because in my case it was more like foam tissue paper.

Since I have been under-cushioned for so long, I doubled up the batting for extra plushness.

If your fabric isn't as long as your ironing board, you will need to do a little bit of piecing. I actually ended up having to piece twice, since my fabric was just under a yard. Cut your fabric in half lengthwise, then straight stitch along the shortest side to get one long piece of fabric.

Since your ironing board is out of commission, just grab some bath towels to iron on for a little bit. Press your seam open to reduce bulkiness.

Now you are ready to cut out the pattern. Pin the old cover down in a few places and draw around it, leaving about an inch for seam allowances for the string casing.

I just grabbed a sharpie and traced around it.

After it is cut out, fold the edges down and iron a 1/4" seam all the way around. Fold it over again, this time 1/2", and iron again or just pin. Leave a one inch opening to put the string in. You will have to do some trickery around the curves, pleating here and there and pinning in place. It doesn't really matter how it looks, because you won't be able to see it.

Starting at the back end, sew all the way around with a 1/8" seam, making sure to leave that one inch gap I talked about earlier.

Once you are done, you can iron the casing down, but it will just get messed up again on the next step, so I'd skip it. Tie your string to a safety pin and thread it through, all the way around to the other side. This part was the worst. My hands started cramping so bad!

Once your string is through, sandwich everything back together, cinch it up and tie it off. You are ready to iron in style!

Once I paint my laundry room purple, this will match perfectly!

Linking up: Tatertots and Jello

Giveaway: The Lazy Daisy Bows (Closed)

2012-01-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

For my first ever giveaway, I thought I should give away something that I really, really like. That is why I chose the Lazy Daisy! The Lazy Daisy is the place to find unique hair accessories for you and your little ones! We have lots of Jen's hair accessories at our house, and my girls always get so many compliments when they wear them. Jen does have an Etsy shop, but she really specializes in custom orders, which are perfect for photo shoots or just to dress up the everyday.

One lucky Audzipan Anthology reader will win this "Be Mine" Headband!

This adorable headband is perfect for your 24 month all the way up to you! The "Be Mine" Headband is part of the "Addison Headband" collection. I think you'll agree all these elements come together to create a stunning and complementing contrast. The "Be Mine" Headband has five adorable assorted flowers. The flowers measure approximately 5" long and 2.5" wide. The flowers range in sizes from 1"-2" each. This headband is very comfortable with a 3/4" red soft stretch elastic. The "Addison Headbands" add texture, color and a little pop to photos and will not leave indents or marks. Perfect for special occasions! Guaranteed to get many compliments.

UPDATED: This giveaway is now closed.

Red Feather Valentine's Wreath Tutorial

2012-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Ready to glam up your Valentine's Day decor? I've got the perfect project for you. It's fancy, easy, fairly inexpensive, and a little bit unusual-- the Red Feather Wreath. This was a project that my mom did first, then I followed her creative lead (and used her leftover feathers). I ended up having everything else I needed for this wreath, so it cost me nothing!

Here's what you will need, besides a few hours and a little bit of patience.

-Wreath form. You can really use any kind, since you will be covering it up. I had an extra styrofoam form in my closet.
-Red fabric. I used five 2-3" strips, so you should be good with about 1/2 a yard.
-Red feathers. Mine are from Hobby Lobby, and I used two packages.
-Glue gun
-Ribbon for hanging.

First step, cut your fabric into 2-3" strips if you haven't already. Plug your glue gun in, and get wrapping those strips around the wreath form, gluing as you go.

You don't have to do a perfect job, as you will be covering it up anyway, but you do want to make sure that everything is glued down tight so you have a solid base to work with.

Now comes the fun part! Starting on the inside, glue your feathers down in a staggered row, like this:

*This part is very important!! Glue each feather along the bottom half of the stem only. This will allow you to finish the wreath when you have glued feathers all the way around the form. Following your first staggered feather line, glue feathers overlapping the stems about halfway.

When you get all the way around (you will get there faster on the inside of the wreath), slide the stems underneath the feathers that are already there and glue in place. Since each feather has only been glued down halfway, you should easily be able to fill any other holes you might have where you can see the fabric underneath.

I just love the feather texture! If you don't want to hang this, you can just stop at this point and be done. This wreath would make a great centerpiece with a big glass jar of Valentine's candy in the middle, or with whatever else you have that is round.

If you do want to hang it, grab your ribbon. I just did a giant loop of ribbon and tied it in a knot. Since I have a hook on the inside of my pantry door, I put the ribbon over the top of the door and hooked it around the loop, like so:

If you don't have a setup like this, just do the ribbon loop smaller and tie a knot where you want it to hang on the wall, like I did with my Halloween tulle wreath.

I'm loving this wreath so much that I am tempted to make another one in brown for the fall! I also thought that a couple of little white doves would be a cute addition, but I haven't found any yet. I probably won't change it, though, because I like the simplicity of the feathers, and the texture is already so interesting.

Also, here's a little announcement that I already made on Facebook: Since I received such an overwhelming response on my Valentine's Subway Art Printable, I will be doing at least one free printable on the blog per month. If you have any requests for themes, quotes, art, etc. that you would like to see in a printable, leave me a comment or send me an email. Most of the printables will probably be seasonal, but I'd love to hear what trends you would like to see.

Linked up: Tatertots and Jello, Michelle Paige

Valentine's Day Subway Art Printable

2012-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Since I am still in the middle of some bigger projects, I wanted to do a simple printable for Valentine's Day. I haven't seen too many subway art printables that I love, but I am kind of particular when it comes to word art. I like to keep things simple and clean, only using one font in different sizes. With my printer, I ended up with a red version and a pink/purple version. In the photo above, the red is on the left and the pink is on the right. Although they are very similar, the red works with more traditional Valentine's decor, and the pink is a little bit more fun if you are decorating with other colors besides just red.

Red Version

Pink/Purple Version

As always, my printables are free. To download the printable, click on the image. It will take you to a new page, where you can right-click and save the photo. Then, just print the image the original size, and it will be ready for use. You can frame it in a document frame, put it in a tabletop easel, hang with clothespins, or whatever else you can come up with! Any questions or requests? Send me an email or just leave a comment.

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello, Michelle Paige

New Look for 2012

2012-01-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

I've finished the new graphics for the blog and my Etsy shop! If you are viewing this in a reader, pop on over and take a look. I went with a bit simpler design this time around, and a much more subtle color scheme. Also, I traded the pinstripes for herringbone.

There are also two new domain names that will point you here: http://design.audzipan.com and http://anthology.audzipan.com, which are sub-domains of my http://www.audzipan.com domain, which sends you to my Etsy shop. Thanks to my brother Tom for the help with that. Here is the matching banner I did for the shop:

I love being able to do all my own design. I'm so glad I got the Adobe suite while I was still in school. It's been invaluable to me over the years, although my version is getting a bit outdated. I'm loving this new look, and getting excited about a bunch of new projects this year. I'm right in the middle of finishing a new batch of place mats, so until they're done, I will be sewing like a machine!

Red Striped Kitchen Towels

2012-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

While I was printing another run of Trilingual Place Setting Diagram Place Mats, I decided to throw in some red striped kitchen towels. I still have this design printed onto flour sack towels, but these kitchen towels are a little bit more standard-sized for display in the kitchen.

I haven't done much screen printing lately, so it was nice to get back into it a little bit. I have a couple more blanks screens, so I think I will do some new designs. Still not sure what yet. . . Any suggestions?

P.S. Still working on a new look for the blog and Etsy shop.

Play Kitchen Redo

2012-01-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

Anybody recognize this? I posted the before photo of this play kitchen way back last summer. I put off redoing it for a while, because I knew that it would be a bit of work and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it yet. About a month before Christmas, I decided that it would make a great gift for my young daughters, along with some play kitchen accessories. I had some leftover paint from the green stripes in my daughter's bird bedroom, my mother-in-law gave us the neato spoon and rolling pin drawer pulls, and my parents provided the metal bowl "sink", copper "faucet", and other knobs. I already had all the supplies for the vinyl burners and utensil decals. The only money we spent was on the toys to go along!

Once again, this is what I started with:

It was really in pretty good shape, just a little boring. The drawers and some of the doors were stuck together, and one of the handles was missing. Also, I don't know if you noticed, but the handles on the top doors were installed on the top instead of the bottom.

My brother helped me install the sink, which is a metal bowl that we set in the counter top and secured with screws. I painted the whole thing with an angle brush and a mini roller, which gave it a really nice finish. We only had five of the cool drawer pulls, so we had to find a sort-of matching pull at Lowe's. I used my Silhouette to cut out the purple vinyl decals. I just did a bunch of circles for the the burners and found an image online for the kitchen utensils. I also did an "H" and "C" for the knobs by the faucet.

I really love how this turned out! Both of my daughters (1 and almost 3) love playing with it. The kitchen toy sets from IKEA fit perfectly, plus they got some other fun kitchen toys from our families.

Thanks to everyone who helped get this together in time for Christmas-- my brother Clark, parents on both sides, and mostly my awesome husband Chris. I've got him working on an Ana White headboard now. It just needs some stain and clear coat, then we'll be ready to install! Also, I am working on a new look for the blog for the new year. Check out the watermark on the photos in this post for a little preview.

Linked: Tatertots & Jello

Best of 2011

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

At the conclusion of every year, I like to look back on the projects I have done during the year and share some of my most favorite again. It was hard to choose! Click on the link below each picture to view the original post. I've also added links to my home tour and all the fabric swatches of my designs that I have ordered this year. Enjoy!


Boxwood Topiary Tutorial

Owl Fondant Cake

Amateur Portrait Tips

DIY Magnetic Knife Rack

Reclaimed Barnwood Jewelry Holder

Chow Mein Bird Nests

Tea Staining Tutorial

DIY Crackle Glaze Big Wall Clock

Toy Stroller Makeover

Toddler Picnic Table


Chalkboard Calendar

Backyard Pergola

Bird Nest Necklace

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Birch Trees Art

Modern Baby Shoes

Piano Bench Reupholster

Felt Mitten and Stocking Advent Calendar

Little Gal Bricks Quilt

DIY Kindle Sleeve

Home Tour

My Fabric Design Sample Swatches

Playroom and Guest Room

2011-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

We're wrapping up the home tour with our biggest basement room (so far). This bedroom is quite large, about 15 feet square. Since it's so big, it does double duty as the playroom and the guest room. We've got a full size bed in there, and entertainment center, and a bunch of toys. I hope to someday have a television in there, but we don't have one now. I also want to do some decor, optimize the storage, and maybe do some sort of headboard for the bed.

This room is sort of the catch-all for our cast-off furniture as well. I made the nightstand and cedar chest in high school woodshop, and the brown upholstered chair was a summer project of mine around the same time. My carpenter brother made the entertainment center, which is super heavy and very well done.

The chalkboard is one of the favorite toys in the playroom. It's accompanied by my first (and one of very few) oil paintings.

That's it! In the top photo, you can see a sneak peek of the play kitchen I just redid for my daughters for Christmas, but that will have its own post next week. I hope you've enjoyed this home tour!

Next year, I hope to be able to show the laundry room and our basement family room that is still unfinished, since they didn't make it into this tour. The laundry will require some built-in shelving, and the basement family room is a huge project, as it is very large and we want to include a fireplace and a small kitchen area. We've got some big ideas for the future!

Slate Bathroom

2011-12-31T10:33:00.000-08:00

Our penultimate stop on the tour takes us to the basement bathroom. Even though we bought our house new, it was a spec. home and everything had already been picked out by the time we found it. We mostly love it, but there are a few things we would have changed, one of those being the bathroom counters, hardware, and tile. This is the only bathroom in the house where we got to choose everything.

We also did everything ourselves, from the plumbing to tiling. We got pretty much everything from Lowe's, including the cabinets from the allen + roth line. The cabinet I loved wasn't big enough for our space (which we didn't realize until later), so we came up with a solution to fit it in where we built these shelves in next to the cabinet and tiled them with slate.

I loved the look of the green glass mosaic tile, but we couldn't afford to buy much of it. To make the most of what we did get, we cut the 12" tiles into thirds and ran a stripe through the slate tile in the shower and as the backsplash above the counter. I love the continuity it gives the room.

Everything came together so well for this room. Now it just need some finishing touches and some towels! Next and final stop on the home tour- playroom/guest room.

Kids' Bathroom

2011-12-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

I have been realizing recently that I have a few more rooms to post if I want to finish this home tour while it's still 2011. There are really only three more rooms worth seeing, one of which is the upstairs kids' bathroom. With this and the last two rooms, the quality of interior design is a bit lacking, I know. Unfortunately, my resources are a bit limited, so I just do what I can when I can. Besides, if my house were all decorated how I want, what would I do with myself in my "spare time"?

That being said, this bathroom is still pretty cute for not getting much attention. I got the jungle decor from my mom when she redid her bathroom, I made the hair clip tree, and the rest has been randomly acquired.

I will admit that I don't really have a clear vision for this bathroom. I haven't given it too much thought, but I would like to personalize it a bit more this next year. I do know that I want to customize the builder-grade mirror, with a frame of wood or tile. I might want to try a stencil or design on the walls, or horizontal stripes. We are also going to need even more hair clip storage. With two girls, we've got bows everywhere!

Look for the playroom and downstairs bathroom stops on the tour before this week is over!

Kite and Feather Fabric Swatches

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got my fabric samples that I ordered from Spoonflower's 2-for-1 fat quarter sale. I love having a little bit more fabric to work with than just a test swatch. I'm thinking that I need to find a good coin purse or makeup bag pattern to use these on. It's so fun to see my designs in real life!

The orange on the kites fabric is a little bit brighter in person than in the photos. This would be great for a spring-themed project.

I was pleasantly surprised with how well this feathers fabric printed up. The colors are perfect! The scale of the pattern is a bit bigger than I imagined, but I like it a lot. I'm thinking I'll be doing a lot of fun sewing projects after the holidays hit!

Reindeer Welcome Sign

2011-12-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

My mom gave me this reindeer welcome sign that had a much more traditional color scheme. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture. The outer wood frame and stake part were plain wood with an oak stain, and the parts that I painted silver were red with green accents. I didn't hate it, but I wanted to try something new with it.

First, I spray-painted everything white, then I got some cool metallic paint in silver and did that part by hand. I also found some glitter paint that I thought would be a fun accent. I didn't expect it to be so clear, but I still like how it turned out.

I cut the "welcome" letters out in white vinyl on my Silhouette and put them on, and all-in-all this project really only took me an afternoon once I had it sprayed white. My only problem now is that none of the rest of my decor matches, but I'll have to see what I can do about that with Christmas clearance sales!

I Heard the Bells Christmas Fabric

2011-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

For the small-print bells fabric contest at Spoonflower, I designed this Christmas fabric. I used lyrics from the song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". I am anxious to see how this prints up, since I used my color swatch fabric to choose the colors, and they seem a lot different on my screen than they did on the fabric.

I love how the banners turned out, and the holly berries. I'm excited to see how the voting on this contest goes. If you'd like to vote in the contest, click here and follow the link on the right to the contest. Voting ends next Wednesday, 12/21. There are a lot of fun entries!

Little Gal Bricks Quilt

2011-12-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

My oldest little gal recently made the big move from a toddler bed to a twin. Along with that, she needed a bigger quilt! Over the summer, I started this Easy Bricks Quilt from the Moda blog with a bunch of my neighbors and friends. We all chose our own fabric and just followed their basic pattern. When I was done piecing the top, we still hadn't found a twin bed, so I folded it up and set it aside for a few months.

When we found the perfect bed at the perfect price, the quilt still wasn't done. Thankfully, I have an amazing mother who helped me figure out how to piece the back, since I didn't have enough of the flannel I had chosen. She pieced the back, quilted, and bound the whole thing for us-- all without the use of a long-arm quilter! We are sure grateful for Grandma. She did a subtle chevron pattern in variegated pink thread.

I thought it would be fun to bring some orange and yellow into the pink and green color scheme, and I think it turned out great. Here's a little peek at the back, as my daughter runs off with it.

My corners aren't perfect, but considering that I was quilting in between chasing a two-year-old and keeping a six-month-old happy, I'd say it went pretty well.

DIY Kindle Sleeve

2011-12-08T15:00:00.001-08:00

I got a Kindle Touch for my birthday a couple of weeks ago (yeah!). When I looked at how much a protective sleeve would cost, I was surprised to see that they ran anywhere from $20-35 (boo!). I discovered this Laptop/Kindle/iPad Sleeve Tutorial on The Cottage Home. What I loved the most about this tutorial was that you can adjust the size of your pattern to fit whatever rectangular gadget you want.

I did tweak the pattern a tiny bit, using fabric with fusible fleece interfacing and flannel instead of just fabric and fleece, which meant I had to decrease my seam allowances for the outside layer. I sewed my first buttonholes by machine, which wasn't as scary as I thought it might be.

I wouldn't try to make a sleeve much smaller than this one, which is about 6"x8". It was a little bit tricky to maneuver at times. One of my favorite parts of this sleeve is the flannel print I used on for the lining-- black and white skeleton keys. I didn't know what I wanted this fabric for when I bought it, but I love it and was so happy to use it!

The yellow buttons also make me happy. Time-wise, this project took me a couple of hours, if you don't count unpicking time. I am really pleased with the result, and I love that I can just toss it in my purse without worrying about hurting my Kindle. Plus, I was able to use materials that I already had on-hand, so this cost me nothing! If you are in the market for a protective sleeve, seriously check out the awesomely detailed tutorial that I used.

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello

Felt Mitten and Stocking Advent Calendar

2011-12-06T13:06:00.001-08:00

About mid-November, I decided I wanted to make an advent calendar that would be cute and also fun for my kids. I started off with this idea, which morphed into more of this one, and finally ended up with my own sort of thing.

It took a little bit more time than I planned for, but once I started blanket-stitching the mittens and stockings, I knew it was going to look great. All of the embellishments are hot-glued down, but I did do some detail stitching on some of them before I glued them down. I didn't filled the mittens and stockings this year, since I don't think the twine would be able to hold that much weight. I have each end tied to stocking holders, and the tray on top of my piano is holding the middle part. Next year, I think I will put slips of paper in each mitten or stocking with either a treat for the day or a Christmas activity.

For the 25th, I did a star on a circle medallion thing. It doesn't have a pocket, because the countdown is over at that point, but I thought it needed to be there. I just pinned it to the twine with a straight pin.

Want to make your own? Here's the pattern I made for my mittens and stockings. Click on the photo, right-click to save, and then you can print it and cut the patterns out to do your own. Just make sure that you print without scaling to get it the right size.

Any questions? Leave a comment or send me an email. Happy crafting!

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello

A Windy Day- Kites Fabric

2011-12-01T12:56:00.001-08:00

This colorful kite fabric is one of my most recent additions to my design library on Spoonflower. It isn't for sale yet, since I haven't ordered a swatch yet, but I entered it in the Fabric of the Week contest last week. I didn't make the top ten, but I was very, very close with my best finish so far- I came in lucky #13!

I am having a lot of fun learning about designing patterns, and I think I am getting a much better grasp of it. I am very confident with designing the components of the pattern, but I still feel like I have more to learn about the overall flow of the design. I just wish I had a little bit more time to work on my patterns.

I do have a really fun advent calendar that I have been working on over the last couple of weeks, which you'll get to see tomorrow.

Honey and Banana Beehive Cake

2011-11-29T19:24:00.001-08:00

My little baby turned one year old this month, and to celebrate we had a little shindig. I found this Brown-Butter Banana Cake and Honey Buttercream recipe from Zoe Bakes. It was a little bit more gourmet than usual, but it turned out amazing. I did use 9" pans instead of 8", so that is why my beehive is a different shape (which I ended up liking better). I also used part of the batter for the smash cake!

For the smash cake, I used the heart-shaped pan I used for my oldest daughter's Valentine's Day 1st birthday party. All I did was turn the heart upside-down and decorate it like a honey bee. I thought it turned out pretty cute. I do have two small things to consider if you plan to use this recipe for a baby's birthday. First: Grey frosting is not a great choice. Second: Buttercream frosting is greasy. Allow me to demonstrate:

For the other party treats, I used honey-themed and favorite snacks. I had some of the marzipan bees leftover from the cake, so I frosted sugar cookies with the leftover buttercream and stuck them on top. I also tried some candy bar and marshmallow sugar cookies from Family Fun. They didn't turn out as well as their photos. I still don't know how they got the wings to look like that. I guess I cut the marshmallows in half instead of just cutting the ends off? It was down to the wire and I didn't have a lot of time, so I just left them looking a little weird.

All in all, we had a great time; and the cake tasted great. It was a sort-of cross between regular cake and banana bread, and it was perfect for a perfect day!