Halloween Lovin

I admit it , I sometimes go a bit over board but I adore Halloween and I just thought I would do a little show & tell with my decorations. Enjoy & Happy Haunting!!!

Thanks to House of Smith's I now have a darling table display! Yahoo for great tutorials.

My Halloween Mantel
Oh Jen, thanks for the idea on the spider specimen art. Find that tutorial here on Tatertots & Jello! I also made that cute pumpkin (can't see it to well) it's from Sandy Henderson's new Shabby pumpkin pattern .
My daughter made me the Magic Book of Spells - how cute is that! Love you my girl!
Thanks for the awesome bottle Jess.
I have a few more ideas from Blogland that I still want to do so I'm not quite ready for Halloween. OHHHH yah and then I better make the kiddos their costumes. Let the holiday maddness begin. I say Bring it on!!!
Big Love,

Big Big Thanks

I know , I know, I've been missing for a long, long time around here but things are slowing down a tad and I'm back. First things first, here is a big thanks from my good friend Heather regarding all the talented and generous ladies who donated to the Cure JM benefit auction.

I want to give a special thanks to all of the lovely ladies who generously donated to the Cure JM Auction that was held on September 10, 2010 in Hillsboro Oregon. It really warmed my heart each time a package would arrive on my doorstep. Each hand crafted items was made beautifully and crafted with love. Many people have never heard of Juvenile Myositis unitl now and not only did they want to know more about the disease they wanted to help us in our quest to raise money to help fund the necessary research for a cure.
I have never been to an auction before this night and let me tell you that there was so much energy, so much excitement and so much love and hope being generated. Each item had multiple bids and although I don't know the exact amounts each item sold for I am happy to share that The Cure JM Foundation was able to raise close to $20,000.00 that night. This is amazing and I have each of you who donated to thank.
I would like to give a special thanks to the following people:

Jen & Mitzi of www.dangerouslydomesticjen.blogspot.com Double sided apron, Large quilted hand bag and small book bag
Cheri at www.iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com Cardigan, leather diaper clutch, head band, 2 boys shirts, pink onsie with knit collar and little girl blue skirt, little girl pink skirt with flowers
Jennifer at www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com Burlap magnetic board, 2 burlap bracelets, a burlap necklace and a burlap pillow case
Brittany at www.lovestiched.blogspot.com $20 gift card to her Etsy shop

Thank you so much for writing about The Cure JM Foundation and inspiring and encouraging followers to donate their lovely items to such a worthy cause. Because of you we received items generously donated from:

Emily C. from Sew Super Sweet in Texas 3 waiste aprons
Tricia J. in Idaho 2 prints of her watercolor paintings
Amber F. from Baby Threads and Such in Tennessee Diaper bag, winter hat, little girl shirt, and soft baby square toy
A. Taylor in Wisconsin soft red baby blanket
Shelly B. in Texas Knitted teddy bear, knitted baby girl hat w/flower, knitted worm and apple, knitted pear and snail and a cloth doll
Laura W. in Utah Cute baby onsies with and elephant on one, and a pear on another and a stiched necklace on a onsie with a skirt.
Lisa J. in Oregon 2 refinished 1970 style chairs.

Thank you ladies for your hard work and generous heart. Thank you for giving to a worthy charity. Thank you for raising awareness about an orphan disease. Thank you for Crafting for a Cure. My heart is full. You made a difference in the lives of these young children. From all of the volunteers at the Cure JM Foundation and from the bottom of my heart, we thank you.

Sincerely,
Heather Dallmann


Thank-you ladies what an amazing job you've done, you've made a difference in the lifes of many.
Big Big Love,

I'm Donating - How Bout You?

I have been so overwhelmed by the response to my previous post about crafting for a Cure. Nearly every blogger I contacted agreed to both donate something to the Cure JM auction and to blog about it. In turn others have come out and said that they too would donate their creations. I would like to give a special thank-you to those who were willing to help.

Cheri - I Am Momma Hear Me Roar

Leca - Leca Unplugged

Jen - Tatertots & Jello

Brittany - Love Stitched

Jen- eighteen 25

Ashley - Make It & Love It

Also, to all those who offered their items as a result of these bloggers putting this information out there. I love you guys & appreciate your thoughtfulness. If you ever need a favor don't hesitate to call on me. Now, if you didn't get a chance to donate to Cure JM than it's not to late. The items don't have to be mailed till August 31st - you have over a month to come up with something.

Here's a little showcase of what I'm donating. I know what you are thinking aren't those Halloween decorations in the background - and I say to you , YES they are and here's the reason. The "real" apron I'm donating is only half way done (typical Jen), I'm a last minuter (real word). So, I'm showing you one I made for a friend back around Halloween. It's reversable! Yeehaw!

I will also be sending over one of these baby headbands.

Some of these fabric hair flowers

These particular ones are the ones I made for my beautiful niece who is getting married next week. I made her an arrangement to go on her dress too & still need to finish the ones for all of her sisters. Now you see why I'm not done making my CURE JM auction items. One thing at a time. Right!?
OH and I will also be throwing in one of these ever so popular camera strap covers. This is the one I made for my family reunion auction and this is my half faced beautiful sister modeling it. She was the lucky winner! Love you Ging!
Thanks again Ladies, Big Big Love,

Sunny Summer Pillow

I've been working on my bedroom for some time now and I recently decided that my bed needed a pop of color. You know as well as I do that a big ole flower will do just the trick.

I love how it turned out and it just brightens the room up. It's so summery & fresh.

First I drew out my pattern on a piece of newspaper and cut it out.

I used some nice wool felt in my favorite mustard color. I doubled it and cut two to save some time.

Now this next part makes the petals stand up all 3 dimensional and such. What you do is fold your petal in half and stitch about a half an inch from the folded edge - I stitched varying lengths from 1 inch to 11/2 inches up the petal. You could also use glue if you don't sew or just don't want to.


This is what it looks like when your done. They are all different - just like a real flower.

Do the same to the second set of petals and then layer them on top of each other.

Looks like a sunflower don't it!

With my pinking shears I cut out two circles one just slightly smaller than the other. The I proceeded to cut strips into them and I even took some little slivers out of the tops of some of them. I also like to take the edge off of each one to really seperate them from each other.

Now layer that on top of the petals .

I pinned it down real well to my pillow top fabric & then I just sewed with my machine in a matching yellow thread up the center of the petals to hold them to the pillow top. I started sewing right after the pucker and up just a little ways but don't go all the way to the top.

Then I took some turquoise floss and made french knots in the center of the flower. I used all the strands of floss - I think there are eight strands in a piece of floss. Then I went a little crazy and did a few stitches up each petal too.

Now you know how to do this but I took a picture and so I must include it. Sew the back to the front - right sides together. Make sure and leave one side open to insert the pillow form.
There you have it. You're done! I'd love to see pictures if you make one.

Big Big LOVE,

I'm still looking for donations for CURE JM. Please just look into your heart and come up with one thing you could donate. It only takes a little bit of your time and it could change someones life. Next week I will be showing you what I've made to donate.

Many Hands Can Lift Heavy Hearts

A couple of months ago I was contacted by one of my dearest friends to see if I would be willing to make and donate something for The Cure JM concert & auction fundraiser. Now, let me back up a bit and tell you something. Five years ago my brother-in-law had a tumor removed from his brain stem that left him unable to do many things including walking. At that time we called upon many people & business to donate items to be auctioned off at a fundraiser for their family. The great outpouring of donations was amazing. My heart has been touched by the generousity of complete strangers & of loved ones and this is why when my friend asked if I would donate to Cure JM I could not turn her down.

Like myself I bet many of you have never heard of JM or Juvenile Myositis. Let me tell you a bit about it. Juvenile Dermatomyositis and Juvenile Polymyositis are the most common forms of JM - a very rare autoimmune disease that affects approximately 17,000 children and adults.
JM causes a variety of debilitating symptoms including:

*Muscle weakness and pain
*Severe fatigue
*Rashes
*Swallowing and digestive difficulties
*Lung and heart problems
*Vasculitic ulcers
*Calcinosis

Some children may experience a remission, while others will battle JM their entire life, and complications from this disease can prove fatal. Medication can help to alleviate the symptoms of Juvenile Myositis, but there is no known cure. http://www.curejm.com/

Alright, so I bet you a wondering why I'm telling you all of this. I decided that I wanted to do more than just donate one item to the auction. This is where you all come in. I wanted to get the crafting, blogging community together and see if we couldn't just come up with a number of donations. I ask that you open your hearts and make just one thing to donate to this amazing cause. I have emailed some of my favorite bloggers and people who I consider to be my friends and asked them to blog about this and to donate and my heart was touched by their responses. One of them even said to me, "Thank -you for contacting me, I've been wondering how I could use my blog to help others." Excuse me but that just made me love her all the more. Over the next couple of weeks they will be blogging about this and also asking for your donations. Please check out their blogs:

Cheri of -I Am Momma Hear Me Roar
Jen of - Tatertots and Jello
Brittany of - Love Stitched

If you are interested in donating please contact me with the information on where to send your item. All donations need to be mailed out no later than August 31st, 2010. The benefit concert will be held on September 11th, 2010 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon. Please take some time to read about the concert and auction here . Did you see that the headliner is Blake Lewis of American Idol - sooo fun.

I'm super excited, lets see how many hands can lift heavy hearts. Let's help them find a Cure for JM.
Big, Big LOVE,

Friday Friends Breakfast

Years ago my oldest sister started a tradition with her kids called Friday Friends Breakfast.

For the last two summers we have adopted FFB at our house. Each of my kiddos gets to pick one of their friends and invite them for breakfast. Now this isn't just any ole breakfast - its FFB and that, is special. Every child has their own placecard, fancy dishes, fan folded napkins & of course only the most desired breakfast foods. Oh and lets not forget the streamers. I cannot tell you how excited my children are every Friday for this. It usually starts on Tuesdays with my 5 year old asking is it Friday yet Mom. I love to do this for my kids. However, let me tell you something about FFB that my sister shared with me and was the real reason I decided to do this. You never know what is happening in a childs home and how just inviting a child for breakfast on a Friday morning may be the brite spot in their week. I hope we are adding a brite spot to somebody's week. One thing is for certain my children will never forget and isn't that what summers all about - Making Memories! I say Yes!

Today we had Pan-Toast & sausage links for breakfast. Hello, am I the last to know about Pan-Toast. I didn't know what I was missing - Man- O - Man. Here's how you make it.

All it takes is

*a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix

* 1 egg

*enough milk to make a batter that is not quite as thick as pancake batter

mix it up well and then just dip both sides of your bread in it. It will be have a thick coating. Griddle it up and serve with warm syrup & butter of course.

YUMMY!

Seriously, it just takes French toast to a whole nother level.

Big, Big Love

Canvas Lovin!

I just wanted to share with you a couple of canvas projects I've created.

Canvas is a budget friendly decorating solution & who doesn't love that.

This first project is my answer to NO headboard. When I was first married I was given my grandmothers bedroom furniture. It is lovely & old. The headboard was for a Full size bed. I guess back in the day they used to like to snuggle upclose. NOT I - don't get me wrong I love the hubby but I need my space when I sleep. I need King-size space. Thus the need for a headboard solution. Enter fabric covered canvas boards.

I'm sure you can figure this out but I just pulled the fabric tight and used my staple gun on the backside to make it secure.

Easy Peasy!

You will notice my hideous paneled wall here. Well, someday when my money train comes in that will be gone. Until that day let's try to pretend it isn't there. My gorgeous and talented sister Amy took these pictures of my darling kiddos for me. I didn't want anything to take away from them - ie: frames. Having things printed on canvas is pricey - you know this.

So, with my Jo-Annas 40% off coupons in hand I set out to buy some canvas boards in various sizes. First I painted all the sides and a bit of the front outer edge with black craft paint. Then after that was good and dry I covered the top of the canvas with mod-podge and situated my photo on top of that. Now you could put a nice layer of mod-podge on top of your photos but I didn't. That's it! VOILA!

Hope that money train comes soon - looks like my camera needs replaced too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Big Love,