The Gender Reveal: SALE Confetti Balloon Revealers

We added some SALE Confetti Balloon Revealers! Well... the fooled us on the gender, but Miss Quality Control says they should probably only be filled up to about 24" (vs. the fill 36") to ensure the maximum surprise factor. That means a CLOSEOUT sale for these beautiful baubles.

The Gender Reveal: New Confetti Balloon Color + New Photos

 

Now introducing a lovely, opaque purple dot balloon to our Confetti Balloon Revealers in The Gender Reveal Etsy shop. We tested this balloon and it will keep your big secret just as safe as the trusty black dot balloon.

 

We also updated our Confetti PushPop Revealer photos. Didn't Megan do a great job playing photographer?

My personal favorite, the Black & White option:

Customer favorites, the Multi-color option:

Introducing: Confetti Balloon Revealers

When Megan, Andrew, and I originally met to discuss starting The Gender Reveal, or initial goal was to create unique party revealers. Well, today we launched our first revealer on Etsy! A jumbo 36" balloon filled with beautiful pink or blue hand-cut confetti. When the balloon pops the confetti flutters down, showering you and your guests with the sweet surprise. It's really quite beautiful and such a fun surprise every time we test it. You can check it out here.

More fun revealers are on there way to our shop, so keep checking back for more updates.

For party ideas and inspiration follow us on Pinterest. 

Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub

 

I love making and receiving handmade gifts at Christmas. Last year my friend Megan gave me some lovely homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub made with olive oil and introduced me to this awesome winter trick. Let's be real, skin gets dry in the winter and I hate putting lotion on, I'd rather jump into some warmer clothing. I find that this natural oil and sugar combo leaves my skin perfectly moisturized - no lotion needed. Hooray!

This past Christmas I reused Megan's idea and made a coconut oil sugar scrub for some of my other girlfriends. I've kind of become obsessed with coconut oil lately. Read about the multitude of things you can do with coconut oil and how great it is for your body here.

Basic Sugar Scrub Recipe

via Wellness Mama

2 parts sugar (white or brown)

1 part oil (coconut, olive, or whatever suits your fancy)

1/2 tsp Vitamin E oil, optional (I left this out)

Essential Oils as desired

Mix. Put into fun jars and enjoy your silky smooth skin.

Admittedly, the coconut oil is less than ideal in the winter since it has such a low melting point (76°F). I've found that if I put a small jar in the bottom of the tub while I'm showering, the warm water will help it melt and it's ready to use after a couple of minutes.

 

Here's a previous homemade gift idea I made in 2010: Paperwhite Bulbs

Halloween Hoot

After I moved apartments this summer, I realized how much crap I have. I'm really not a sentimental person and I clean out my closet every month or so, donating extra clothes and such. But still, I seemed to have collected more than I actually need. Particularly in the craft department. I have multiple chests dedicated to fabric and paper and other craft supplies. I would say I only have a 50% success rate of actually finishing projects that I start. So it has been my goal to start whittling down my collections prior to buying new materials for new projects.

Image from Alphamom found via Pinterest

This Halloween turned out to be no exception. I saw this little girl in costume on Pinterest months back and hoped that I could only be half as cute as her. I really wanted to be a grey owl, like my inspiration pic. But with four days to the big party and being too lazy to go to the craft store for supplies, I decided to go through my closet. Low and behold I found oodles of fabric that could be used for said costume. Instead of being a gray barn owl, I decided to be a lovely, lovely snowy owl. And I used up fabric that has been sitting in my closet for years, waiting patiently to be made into place mats. (Honestly, if I dug a little deeper, I think I could've been a grey owl, but I'm rather happy with this combination, no?)

 

I even added wings to the costume after my friend Katie shared some lovely inspiration via Natty's Birds of a Feather Costumes on BurdaStyle.

As a side note, this is what I made for Halloween Dinner... Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Roasted Purple Potatoes and Roasted Okra and Garlic. The okra was awesome... the others were ok, but I thought the colors were fun for Halloween.

Lotta Jansdotter Fabric Line

Image via Purl Bee Blog

Looks like Lotta Jansdotter is coming out with a fabric line! Hooray, hooray! I think I can postpone new pillows a little longer, right? I'm geeked, all of those colors are so me.

I won!

While I didn't win the Cricut Cutter, like I blogged about... I won a circle cutter from The (Martha Stewart) Crafts Department blog!!!!! My first blog-giveaway win! So exciting!

I can't wait to use it! No more exacto-knife circles for me, baby!

Ric Rac Roundup

On Saturday, I attended Ric Rac Roundup. The show: amazing. The heat: unbearable. I wish I would've gone earlier in the morning so I could've enjoyed the booths more. I mean I was a huge, sweaty mess, it was like I had just run a marathon... or two. That sweaty. Attractive, I know.

Anyway... onto the show. I haven't been able to attend Ric Rac in the past but I was very impressed! Kansas City has some amazing artisans. (also, I was very excited, I got several good comments on the bag I recently made)

Of course, I was happy to see Sodapop with some new cute accessories. I bought cute yellow wood medallion necklace from her... I'm thinking yellow might be a new color for me.

Jeanee from Dirty Laundry was there with her super-cute and happy bath fizzies, she's just recently added some French Macaron bath fizzies. Very fun. Very sweet.

Perhaps my favorite new discovery was Aunt June. Maybe because I had just landed upon her work on etsy the other week and recognized it (don't you love it when you have that little sense of discovery? Like I was already cool and in the know by finding it on etsy and then boom! I see it again and it's local!) She makes her own fabric and bags. Totally what I would love to do someday... so I bought a fat quarter from her. I have no clue what I'll use it for yet, but it will be something fun.

Absolutely gorgeous jewelry from Early Jewelry. I would love to own this or this or any of the bone earrings (pretty much in love with her entire AM collection).

Emmy-Rae with some great enameled jewelry.

Always amazing and drool-worthy, Hammerpress.

Some seriously beautiful textiles from Stir Designs, a mother-daughter duo.

Funky porcelain jewelry from Luster Bunny.

And the very fun, funny, and refined, The Modern Logger.

All in all, it was a good weekend...

Tote Bag 3

A couple weekends ago I decided it was high time I made another tote bag. You see, I made this pledge to myself, the Handmade Pledge. Except I'm limiting it to handbags. I pledged to only buy handmade bags for myself and my loved ones, and request that others do the same for me.

So, I made this little charmer for myself. It's made of a beautiful black and cream striped linen fabric, embellished with light blue vertical stitching, some pleats and jute webbing. I'm secretly in love with the way the exterior stripes go horizontally and the interior stripes are vertical, it's pretty splendid.

I'm pretty smitten with her right now... trying to come up with a name for her. Any suggestions?

(Mom- look how straight the blue stitching is!!! Aren't you proud?)

Take Three

Having impeccable taste as a 14-year-old, I picked up this mid-century modern knock-off for $10... in 1999. Since then it has gone through two transformations. One as a 4-H project, where I painted it, replaced the cushions and learned a little bit about reupholstery. It served me well through high school, college, and as of late, in my parents 3-season gazebo.

Now it's back in my possession and has gotten another facelift. In 1999, I received a purple ribbon at the county fair, proceeded to state and got a blue ribbon... sadly, I don't think I would've received as high of marks this time around. I blame it on patience (or lack thereof).

As I was looking through my 4-H record books over the weekend I stumbled upon some interesting things:

1. I'm ridiculously anal and write nearly everything down.

2. Susie, one of my bucket calves, ate 1.5 lbs of 'Lil Creeper on April 18th (see numero uno)

3. When starting this project, I consulted a professional upholsterer. For newbies, she recommended not using stripes or velvet... did I listen? No. First time around it was a large plaid or basically stripes. This time, velvet.

Her reasoning? You have to be careful to match the stripes or the direction of the velvet... I did not do the latter... oops. I also discovered velvet is a much thicker fabric, making it much harder to sew. I gave up on a welting/cording after painstakingly creating 8 feet of it because I was afraid of the thickness and overall outcome.

Chair as purchased, circa 1999

Starting the sanding process, really wish I would've painted it!

Sadly, I don't have any pics of the first make-over. I'm sure there are some around, it would just take another 6 hours of going through storage at my 'rents.

New view from "my spot" on the couch.

In the future, I'm hoping to strip the chair of paint and restore the original wood... if that's even possible. I'm lovin' the navy though!

Clutch: Complete

As much anticipated, I present you with the clutch:

Is it what you expected?

I didn't take the time to add an interior pocket, because I was being lazy (I know I'm going to kick myself later for that)... but I am super excited to use it this weekend! The thickness of the velvet really highlights the top-stitching and it makes a great heavy-weigh piece to hold all my coins. Splendid!

I make things

Last summer I had a revelation, or rather, a guy I dated brought sudden clarity to my personality. He said, "Most people our age spend their free time playing video games or wasting it away, but you, you make things."

That has stuck with me ever since, because I had never thought of the things I do and the way I spend my time that way before. Creating things is something I get from my parents and from growing up in a small town. Like, when my aunt from Chandler, Arizona was in my hometown a couple years ago for Thanksgiving... she was craving coffeecake. She asked if there was a Starbucks or bakery nearby. I just laughed because there isn't anything like that in a 30 mile (or more) radius. Instead, I suggested making coffeecake. To me this was the most logical thing to do, it would be relatively quick and easy and fulfill her craving. My aunt and uncle on the other hand were sort of flabbergasted by the idea. We ended up making coffeecake (which was probably devoured in half an hour) and they retold the story of my astonishing idea to make a coffeecake countless times that weekend. In fact, I'm sure they still tell that story from time to time. I guess it comes from being in a small town, you make do with what you have or you make it yourself.

So this weekend. I bought a navy dress for a couple weddings coming up. I had gold shoes and gold and aqua jewelry to go with it. I searched and searched and searched for a suitable clutch to go with the ensemble and found nothing to my liking.

So... what am I going to do? Make one of course! While I didn't get one made in time for the wedding last night, I have another wedding this coming weekend. Hopefully I can get it done by then, check back for updates!

The fabric... deep chartreuse crushed silk, bright teal Dupioni silk and teal velvet!

Pinwheel How-To

Ask and you shall receive. A drill was on my Christmas list and that's exactly what Santa brought. I didn't have any specific projects in mind for my shiny new drill, so when I first got it I was drilling holes in cardboard boxes just to "practice" (and because it was fun). Now, I'm happy to report I've use my drill for three real-life projects! The first of which was to create pinwheels for the Pinwheel Baby Shower, sure I could've just made them look cute and not actually functional and spinning, but where's the fun in that?

Here's the directions:

Use the template below to cut 4" squares from double-sided scrap-booking paper. I used the 4" size for the cupcake toppers, but you can always scale the template up or down as needed. I created some larger pinwheels for party decor as well.

The black dots indicate hole punches

I used my handy-dandy drill with a small bit to drill holes into wooden craft sticks (below).

Thread a tiny brad (found in the scrapbooking section) through each of the holes in the paper template, saving the one in the center of the paper for last and then through the craft stick. And there you have it, a functional, spinning pinwheel! I made several of these for the shower and many guests kept them as a party favor and are using them as decor in their office. They're so cute, it makes me happy every time I see one!

Baby Onesies

A couple weeks back one my friends had a baby shower and I made a couple onesies for their new little guy. Even though they know it's a boy, I wanted to make some gender neutral items. I had to make a turtle design, as it is my namesake... a robot to match some of the room decor... and a whale, because it's just plain cute!

Finito!

I finally finished the baby quilt I was working on for my second cousin. I'm so proud, it looks like a real, actual quilt! And I made it all by myself! All of the blunders that I made in the process have seemed to disappear looking at the finished piece. After attempting machine quilting, I thought I'd never make a quilt again, but seeing the end result I'm not so sure. Only a couple of the corners on the quilt top match up, I probably should have picked a different fabric in a couple places, and the machine quilting was a big failure, but all-in-all I'm really happy with it! I kind of want to keep it for myself. I saw a picture of the baby's room and it will fit perfect in there.

I love the simple, contemporary design of the back.

A close-up shows the tie quilting I did after failing at machine quilting (it was pulling and gathering and looked horrible). On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that my grandma used a tie binding method, so it's even better to keep up the tradition!

I can't wait to give to to my cousins at Christmas and hold little Henry!

Crafty Chicks: 10 years

A couple weeks ago, I attend the 10th annual Crafty Chicks Craft show. This was the third year I've gone to check out the local artisan goods and support a co-worker, and I have to say their 10th year was the best yet! There were more vendors than previous years, meaning more variety and new crafts. I definitely didn't leave empty handed! Here are a couple of the delights I bought myself as an early Christmas present:




My absolute favorite purchase, a burlap tote from Angela Muir. She uses coffee bags from Kansas City's coffee brewery, The Roasterie. I love the graphic/grunge combination the typography and burlap create.

A cute turtle magnet from Nonna Illustrations. I was so impressed by her work, she illustrates everything she creates: paper, prints, magnets, baby blocks, etc. Very fun and cute designs, perfect for a baby's nursery.

And a perfect, lovely, little felted acorn from a co-worker and ATC trader. Very similar to the one I wrote about here.

The rest of the items I purchased are Christmas presents, so no peeking!

Studio Sweet Studio

With all the crafting I've been doing to get ready for the holidays, it leaves me longing for a studio space of my own. I've collected several inspirational photos along the way, so when the time comes for me to have my very own studio space, I'll have a place to start. Here's my favorite images from the collection:

Look at all the yarn and ribbon and how it's so beautifully displayed, a constant reminder of what's already in your collection. And what a clever (and cheap) way to house all your pencils and markers on the plastic cup pegboard!

Another wonderful collection of supplies. I could finally show off my glitter collection in a more permanent way.

I love the amount of workspace the two tables would provide. Sigh!

So dreamy...


Ah! Paper storage! I have the ikea Alex drawer unit shown in the above two images, but it's just not enough! I would love, love, love to have a beautiful vintage wood or metal paper storage unit! I'm on the lookout every time I'm at a thrift or antique store.

There seems to be a theme to what I'm drawn to: lots of organization and storage space, showing off supplies and images as inspiration, as well as light blue/aqua accents. One of these days!

Felt Flowers

Lately I've been in the mood to create these fun flower pins from wool felt, it seems to go well with my insomnia. I think I've been up to 3:00 or 4:00 am on multiple occasions making these. If I can't sleep I'll just pull out my sewing kit and get started, which doesn't help me getting back to sleep any faster, but it's turned up some fun results. I've experimented making felt with a couple of 100% wool fabrics, I just wish I could find some better 100% wool prints to felt for a cool effect.


A fav, I lovingly call "Poppy"

Probably my favorite (the colors just scream "Stephanie", right now anyway...)

Another fun modern design, made from hand-felted 100% wool fabric, which creates a nice subtle texture.

One of my favorite "corsage" pins, it's fun experimenting with different flower designs.




Fun collar flower pins


I'll probably be gifting several of these fun flowers for Christmas, one has already made it's home on top a wrapped gift as an embellishment.