Fall, Frankenstein, and a Black Cat

Last week I went to Arizona for a conference for my online teaching job. Going to Arizona means crafting with my favorite mother in law Gail. I always bring the unfinished wood projects from Wood Connection in Utah and in exchange she lets me raid her amazing scrapbook collection and puts up with a messy kitchen while we decorate them together. I always forget to snap a picture of hers which are always adorable too.

Keeping with our season theme I picked out Fall for us to do together. Aren't the papers amazing? See what I mean about Gail having the best scrapbook collection!

Matt loves Frankenstein so he picked him out for us to do. This guy was super quick to make. Really just had to paint and glue him together.

This cat was so much fun to do. My favorite part was making the necklace for the cat. Gail has some awesome jewelry making gel which your can use to turn a paper picture into a glossy necklace. So fun!

Wrap Dress

We were invited to my friends daughters one year old birthday party a few weeks ago so I decided to make her a dress as her present. I actually made two because I had enough fabric. I used this pattern and it is such a great pattern. I love that it doesn't have real sleeves to sew in and no zipper! This is one my favorite little girls dresses I've ever made. Although I think it's because I'm in love with this Amy Butler fabric.

From Necklace to Earrings

Awhile ago I found this necklace at Forever 21 for $5.00. I thought it would be cute, but when I tried it on I didn't like it as a necklace. It sat in my drawer for awhile, but then I got the idea to turn it into some earrings. All I did was add earring hooks and I had some new earrings. I love them and wear them all the time. I even have two flowers left over from the necklace that I could make into a ring or use in a handmade hair accessory. Not too shabby for $5.00!

Spring Letters

I was bored the other day so I finally got around to finishing my Spring letters that I bought at Crafty Wood Cutouts. Utah is the land of unfinished wood products which is really fun. I didn't have anything fancy lying around to decorate them with so I just painted them and modged podged some scrap paper on them. Then for the bird I made a tiny rosette from some scrap fabric and then glued it onto some pretty ribbon Matt's mom gave me. It was fun taking a break from sewing and decorating these letters. 

Lace Dress

I started this dress in December as my News Years dress, but just finished it last night. I didn't finish it until now because I've been really busy training for my new online teaching job and I encountered some major problems with this dress. I swear everything that could of gone wrong on this dress did. I ran out of fabric, I had to unpick the zipper twice because it wasn't lining up, the length was way too long so I had to shorten it which caused the layers to be off making hemming difficult, and the sleeves didn't look good.

I won't even show the dress without the cardigan because it just isn't that flattering. I don't really like the sleeves and the neckline is way too high for my body type. I wouldn't call it a fail because it looks cute with the cardigan. I used Vogue 8766 in a size 12. The pattern was easy and the fit was good, but if you are making it I would suggest lowering the neckline which is why it didn't look good on me.

Even though it was a very frustrating project I'm glad I did it because I learned a lot. I figured out a trick to line up zippers so it will line up every time and I learned the best way to hem a circle skirt is by hanging it on a hanger so you can see how it falls naturally.

Little Girl Patchwork Skirts

I made these little girl skirts a long time ago, but am now just blogging about it. Awhile ago I was at a quilt shop and they had charm packs for 1/2 off so I couldn't resist getting some. I used this tutorial and whipped up these skirts in one night. Actually I convinced Matt to help sew some of the squares together for me to save me some time. He is the best! I absolutely love these skirts and really want one in my size. I wonder how many charm squares that would take?

Winter Letters

Over Christmas break Matt's mom and I decorated these letters together. Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap a picture of hers although they were very cute as well. I got these awesome unfinished wood letters for my mother in law and I at a place in Utah called Wood Connection that my friend Rashael told me about. They have great selection and it's resonably priced. We also used Martha Stewarts glitter paint for the first time and I've got to say I love it.