Upcycle! Redo! Refinish!

I have learned that upcycling and refinishing is one of my favorite things!  I am loving finding things around my house and just figuring out new ways that I can use them and redo them to make them what I want.  This used to have a mediocre pic of a farmhouse and trees on it, and it was cute but not exactly my taste.  But painted the colors I love for my kitchen and added the F and it's like brand new.  I am having so much fun doing this and this hopefully (when I am done refinishing and upcycling things and my furniture I already have) will help my home be so much more reflective of my taste and a more cohesive style! 

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

In the past, I have not been a very adventurous cook.  In the last few years though, I have gotten much braver, and had a little more fun cooking.  I am a nut for Italian dishes, so one of the things I really wanted to conquer was making my own spaghetti sauce.  I know myself though, and I do not have the time and patience it takes to stir a pot on the stove for hours on end.  So I decided to come up with a recipe that could be made in my crockpot.  I also included my love of Young Living Essential Oils!  They give it a wonderfully more robust flavor than just the dried herbs I was originally using, or even the fresh herbs I tried.

And it turned out fabulous!

It was really best when I used the canned tomatoes we had from our garden, but since I don't always have that option, this was the next best thing...

Also amazing with Young Living's Taste Of Italy Essential Oil, 1-2 drops

The Quilt part 2

The strips for the top are finished!

Now for the next step, putting a border around my strips to finish out the top.  I am going with a dark blue border.  On my list of to do's for this weekend.  

I cannot turn back time.  I cannot slow time down. 
But I can try to make a space where we can block out some of the fast paced world, where we can relax and try for some peace.  Try to slow down. 
I have become obsessed with making my home a bright, pretty place filled with things from an older time.  Or things that have that old vintage farmhouse look.  Things like the crochet blankets and new pillow I've made.  Things like the quilt I am working on.  I can't return the world to older values.  But I can try to make my home reflect what I value.
I blame this on my friend Debbie J. (Love you Debbie!) for introducing the show "Fixer Upper" to me.  I just LOVE the look and vision that Joanna has for her farmhouse and some of the houses they remodel.  And though I am not able to remodel my home and do the things that Joanna and Chip can do on this show (I am in AWE of their talent!) I can do a little here and there to redecorate my humble home. 
Obsessed.  I have such a vision and such ideas for my home in my head.  I want white.  Lots of white.
So I am starting with small things since I am learning as I go (thank you YouTube!) and then hoping to work up to bigger projects later. 

A cute little start - distressed this old napkin holder to make it so much nicer!

I will show you the bigger project I am working on when I am finished.  I am super excited about it - Distressed shelves made from pallets.  So far so good!  And I will show you how you can do it, too! 

The Quilt

I have finally started it.
The Quilt.
The quilt that I have been contemplating for the past 6 months, ever since a friend of mine told me that a strip quilt using a jelly roll was easier than I thought.  That if I didn't sew perfectly straight it would still turn out ok, it would still look fine.  I had always wanted to try making a quilt, but I had thought it was above my skill range.  Now I've finally found a quilt pattern I could attempt!
Just in case it is the only quilt I ever make, I decided to go all out and cut up some baby clothes into strips to put in the quilt.  I saved the clothes in a box with the idea that someday I would make them into something, so it was great to finally find their purpose.  Then I found a jelly roll with some matching flannel colors to go with it. 
On a rainy Saturday morning I laid all out all my strips and squares on my dining room table, and arranged them and pinned exactly where I wanted them.  I am not sure of a rhyme or reason to my arrangement, I just put them where I thought they worked. 

My baby quilt layout

Then I sewed each individual row of strips and squares together and numbered the backs in case my 2 yr old (or let's face it, any of my kids or my husband) got into my basket and messed up the order.  Next I started sewing all the rows together.  That's where I am in my work right now.
I had a lot on my plate the past couple of weeks and haven't been able to get past this step, but each time I go to work I am eyeing the material I want to use for the border and the back.  I am quite determined to finish this project, and am excited for it!!!  I will update you on my progress as I go along.
I want everyone who thought that quilting was way too hard for them to see that it can be done, even by a person who doesn't know much more about sewing than how to thread their machine.  If I can do it, so can you!

Let the projects begin!

So I started my new part time job at Joann's this week.

And I resisted.  I have not bought any new yarn...  or many of the other things I now want...  yet...

But as I am working I am looking at all of the things around me and thinking to myself, "I can make that...  oh I could definitely use that!...  I think I need that...  I could use that for ____..."

It has inspired me to get cracking on the projects I have on my mental list, because I vowed not to start anything before I finish those.  Period.  Some I have been looking forward to making (like my first batch of cold process soap) but haven't set aside time to do it, others I have been nervous about trying (like the quilt I have stripped out but haven't started sewing together) but now am ready to give it a go! 

So being a cold and yucky weekend (it actually snowed here in MD this morning), let the projects begin!

The cool thing about custom crochet...

One of the cool things about being able to crochet or ordering custom crochet is that you can make things or buy them in any color scheme you can come up with.  I have many times come up with an idea in my head about a pillow or bedspread that I want, only to not be able to actually find it in those colors.  Now I can imagine and create anything I want! 

(Of course I had to promise my husband I wouldn't be an old lady with her whole house covered in crochet.)

I have been crocheting and creating so many different things lately, that I completely forgot that sometimes it's ok to make something just for me!  We are awaiting our new couch, which we are so excited about since our current couch was very inexpensive and now after 8 years and 3 small boys is very beat up.  So now I am finally taking a break from making things for others or my shop, and spending a few evenings making something just for me - a pillow to match our new couch and new rug in our living room, and coordinate it with our paint colors.  And I don't have to shop for it or spend hours on the internet searching for what I want, I can simply imagine and create!

Need something new for your new home, new room, or just want something to update your current décor?  Visit my shop to get pattern ideas, and then simply imagine!  Or have you seen something online that I don't have in my shop?  Send me a link to check it out and let me see if I can create it for you.  I love learning new patterns!

My basket weave stitch pillow started!