My Pinterest Challenge post!

Over at Young House Love, Bower Power, Ana White and House of Earnest they are hosting a Pinterest Challenge.  For those of you who don't know Pinterest, well... let me introduce you.

It's an amazing, addictive, exciting, inspiring, stimulating, invigorating place.  Basically it's a virtual pin board where you can "pin" images and links to all the wonderful things you see on the internet.  You can view other people's pins which lead you to more pins, and down,

down

down

the rabbit hole you go.

Seriously, you can get lost on that site for hours.  It's a good idea to set a time limit for yourself before going on.

Anyways, John and Sherry (of Young House Love), Ana White (of Ana White), Katie (of Bower Power), and Erin (of House of Earnest) are hosting a challenge for all of their readers, called the Pinterest Challenge.  Basically you choose one of your "pins" and recreate it.

I've been pinning lots of DIY ideas and there was one I really thought was cute. So, here is my take on the Pinterest Challenge:

The original pin can be found here at Lemon Tree Creations.  I pinned this about a month ago, and many of my friends have been "repinning it" (try to keep up with the lingo :) ) so I thought this would be a great one to recreate.  I give you the picture frame tray!

I think it adds a great bit of color and texture to my coffee table.  I'm smitten!

Here's what you'll need to make one of these cuties for yourself:
-Picture frame (I found mine at the thrift store for $4)
-Paint (spray paint or regular)
-Two handles (mine were purchased at Target for $7.99 for the set)
-Glue gun and glue sticks
-Fabric of your choice (I used burlap because of the great texture it has)
-Batting


Step 1: Remove the glass and backing from the frame

 Step 2: Paint the frame your decided color.  I chose spray paint (because I LOVE it).  We went with a shade of gray.

Step 3: While you are waiting for your paint to dry, begin upholstering the backing of your picture frame.  I just used the cardboard backing that came in the frame.  Cut your batting and fabric, making sure to allow 1 1/2 allowance on all ends.

Step 4: Use your glue gun to upholster the batting and fabric to the back of the cardboard backing.  Here is a big piece of advice if you are going to use burlap: Use a piece of glass (I took mine from the picture frame) to push the burlap down after the hot glue is on it. It will save you many burnt fingers.  I used glass becuase the hot glue seeps through the burlap a bit (hence the burnt fingers) and if  it sticks to the glass it can easily be pulled off when cool.

Step 5: Put the upholstered backing back into the dry frame

Honestly, I was tempted to stop at this step.  Who know that framed burlap would look
so good? I can see something like this hitting my walls very soon!

Step 6: Drill your handles onto the sides of the frame.  In my case I had to call my neighborhood handy man, A.K.A. my hubby Dave, to do the pre-drilling and installing for me.  I'm still a little wary of power tools.

These are the handles I used. Got to love the Tarjay.

Step 7: Put the glass back on the frame. I put the glass on the outside of the frame (sorry, forgot to take a picture).  A few dots of hot glue in the corners was all it took to keep the glass in place.

Step 8: Enjoy your lovely little tray!

It's all thanks to Pinterest for this idea! Do you have a Pinterest account? If not, email me and I can send you an invitation. It's the best!

I'm also linking this to the Made By You Monday linky party at Skip to my Lou 

and

the Metamorphosis Monday linky party at

For my little pumpkin-A cloth name banner

A couple weeks ago, I was sent a very inspiring picture.  It made me want to get up and do something great with my life.

I mean, seriously? How could you not love this face?  This is my nephew Andrew, whom I ABSOLUTELY adore.

This picture made me want to get my sew on and make him some more goodies for his nursery.  Actually, this project had been "in the works" (meaning stashed in one of my craft drawers) for awhile.  But seeing his sweet little face made me want to get it done.

So, my sewing things and I had a date for a few hours.

Hello, how do you do?

I wanted to make him something with his name on it, something that could be hung on the wall, and something that was soft and durable.  Here's what I came up with:

This was a pretty straight-forward afternoon project.  I just cut the letters from brown fabric (I used $1 fat quarter from JoAnn's) using a stencil I made.  I then cut out 8 rectangle, approximately 5x7 inches, out of four different fabrics (also fat quarters).  I then zig-zag stitched each letter to a rectangle, and pinned and sewed that rectangle to another using alternating colors.  The back of the rectangle is a different color fabric, just to keep things interesting.  Then, I used bias tape to hold up the whole banner.  I just pinned each rectangle into the tape and sewed a straight stitch across.  Easy, long-lasting, and cute.  These three colors are the main colors in his nursery.

Here is a close-up of one letter.  Please ignore the imperfect stitching. I'm still a beginner
at this sewing thing!

This banner now happily hangs on the wall of Andrew's room.  I hope that when he gets older it will be another reminder of just how much I love him.

The first time we met.  Priceless.

What a little stud!

Have you made any fun gifts lately?

...and we're back! Fall crafting party a la Ly.

I took a little hiatus from posting, but it feels good to be back!

Last week I hosted a little fall craft party at my house for a few girlfriends.  We had a great time!  We made yarn-wrapped fall wreaths (or Christmas wreath in one case) and they turned out super cute.  My favorite part of crafting with friends is seeing how different and creative each person is.  Everyone had such original and wonderful ideas!  Take a look at the pictures and get inspired by my crafty friends:

My sis, Rachel, getting started on wrapping the yarn. And oh yes, that is Dream Girls playing in the background.

Jenny (sorry for the blurry pic) used the foam wreath and got her wrapping
done faster than the rest of us.
Maybe I'll try that next time...

LOVE when a table looks like this.  Apple cider and crafts, two of my faves!

Here are some of Jenny's felt flowers and fall foliage that she brought.

Using a glass hurricane to be resourceful with the stencil for the felt flowers.  Gotta use what you have!

"We are Dream Girls, Dream Girls will never leeeave you".  I believe we were
about to that point at the end of the movie when we had almost finished.  Easy
craft, but time consuming!

Rachel took a little extra time to finish hers.  That's ok, the finished project is really
gorgeous.

Jenny's finished wreath.  So chic!  I love that I was able to use up some of the leftover

 ribbon from our wedding.  I literally have hundreds of feet of that stuff left.

Anna's little cutie.  We LOVED that her wreath perfectly matched her outfit.

Tolu's wreath--deconstructed.  She is going to be bringing this to Jamaica and figured
it would be best to assemble it once she got there.  Good call. 
Squished wreaths=not the best Christmas present.

I don't know which is more adorable.  Becky or her wreath?

Rachel's purty wreath. Love it.

The craft party attendees. (If you're wondering why mine looks so huge it's because
I made it a few weeks before and bought a larger size.  I had planned on adding
to the decorations on it, but had so much fun watching and helping everyone else that
I never got around to it).

Thanks girls for a wonderful time! I can't wait till December's craft night. Wanna come?

 Any ideas on what we should make?



Fall Break part 2-The World's Shortest Camping Trip!

Yesterday Dave, Lily, and I got excited to go on our first camping trip!  We were headed to Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer, MI.  Dave and I have recently fallen in love with SW Michgan.  Last year we stayed at the Twin Gables Inn bed and breakfast in Saugatuck, MI and over Labor Day we went peach picking near Benton Harbor, MI.  All of the previously mentioned trips were GREAT successes.  The weather, scenic views, and people were all so wonderful.  So, we had no reason to think that our camping trip would be anything less that wonderful. 

Oh, how we were wrong.

For the past 2 weeks, Chicago has had beautiful weather.   We're talking warm weather, blue skies, TONS of sunshine.  Then, yesterday happened.  The forecast said that there would be cloudy skies and scattered showers.
 Scattered showers. 
That word is so subjective.  Sometimes the weatherman (or woman) will say that and there will be one small shower.  Some times there will be several.  Or, sometimes when they say "scattered showers" they must secretly mean IT WILL RAIN ALL DAY.

And that is just what happened yesterday.

Still, Dave and I were hopeful that the rain would clear up so we decided to press on with our plans.

Here we are about to leave the garage. Little did we know we would be heading
into the never.ending.storm.

While we were driving to the state park (which is only about 1hr and 30 minutes away) we were definitely not unaware of the rain and dark storm clouds.  Still, we kept hoping and praying that the weather in Michigan would be better.  Or, that the "scattered storms" would be over by the time we got there.

This was the beautiful weather we experienced as we drove.  At this point we had one hour
to go.  Maybe the rain will let up?

30 minutes away...maybe the rain will stop soon???

When we finally got to our exit it was still (you guessed it!) raining.  We were still excited about the idea of camping, so continued on to the campground.

But not before stopping to get something to eat (in case it took awhile to get our fire started--in the rain.)

Lily looks a little unsure about the situation

After arriving at the campground, we proceeded to "register our vehicle" which involved filling out a form and shoving $8 into a wood box.  Next, we set off to claim our camp site.  Since there were only 3 RV's and one tent there, we had our pick of the campground.  We tried to pick the site that had the most trees covering it (to keep the rain off the ground as much as possible.)

We found what seemed like the perfect site and began putting up the tent.  We borrowed this tent from my sister Rachel and bro-in-law Alan and so had never set it up before.  We figured it would be easy, but we had a few bumps along the way.  Oh, and did I mention that it was STILL RAINING? It still had not stopped.  Not even once.

Our camp site with lots of trees!

My hubby working quickly to get our tent set up. Notice how the
ground is already muddy.

Lily did NOT like having to sit in the rain for an hour

Once we finally got the tent set up we realized that because it had been raining during the construction process, the tarp underneath was wet.  And therefore the floor of our tent was quite damp.  I dried it the best I could with a towel and then we put a sleeping bag over it.  It ended up being pretty cozy!

Once the tent was set up we were hungry!  We had to rule out cooking over an open fire for two reasons:
1. It was STILL raining
2. The "general store" in the park had a sign that said "open at 5." We didn't realize that they literally meant, "we will open at 5 and if you are not there right at 5 we immediately will close the store."  Dave arrived around 5:20 and no one was there. Awesome.

So, we proceeded to cook hot dogs on the propane camping stove.  They tasted pretty good, but it was pretty annoying having to hold an umbrella over the stove while Dave cooked.

My hair was completel soaked already.  Felt like I had just
gotten out of the shower.

While we were eating, another couple (AKA the only other couple) who were tent camping drove by and told us they were going to the picnic shelter to cook their dinner. Picnic shelter? Shelter? Yes, please! They invited us to join them, so we jumped at the chance to get out of the rain.  We packed up the food and propane stove and headed over to the picnic shelter to make smores.

While we were at the picnic shelter it began to POUR.  It had been raining all day, but now it was POURING.  We had to make a decision.  Did we want to go back to our tent and try to make it through the pouring rain? Or drive the 1 hr and 30 minutes back home and sleep in our warm, dry beds?

We decided to go back to the tent.  If it was holding up under the downpour then we would stay.  If the water was seeping in, we would go.  Lily, who is definitely a city dog, was not enjoying all the mud and the rain. After the picnic shelter we went back to the tent and wrapped her in a blanket.  She fell asleep instantly.

Anyways, back to our decision: Stay or go?  Well, you look at the pictures and see if you can figure it out.

To quote Dave, "It looked like our tent was crying."  There were streams of water on the inside walls of the tent.  This was not going to happen.

So, in the pitch black dark (well, we did turn on our car head lights) and pouring rain we took down the tent, only about 4 hours after putting it up.  We were soaked when we were finished and had to change into our dry PJ's while in the car.  We were ready to get home!

And so the world's shortest camping trip, all 4 hours of it, was over.  As quickly as it had begun it was over.  We decided that next time the word "showers" is anywhere in the forecast we will be NOT be going camping.

PS: this is what it looked like this morning when we woke up:

Beautiful blue skies and sunshine.  Are.you.kidding.me?


PPS: thanks for sticking around and reading this super long post!