Pumpkin Softies!

Are these not the cutest pumpkins ever? Yes, I made them!!! Okay, so I am obsessed with all things pumpkin and cannot get enough of them! I saw this craft in the most recent issue of Family Fun magazine (got it in the mail yesterday) and had to make them ASAP. I didn't have orange fabric or any fuzzy kind, like they recommend in the magazine, so I raided a bag of items headed to the thrift store and found a white baby blanket. The texture was perfect and white seems to be the new hot color for pumpkin couture.

1. I took a salad plate and used it to trace a circle on my fabric. (You can make the circle larger or smaller depending on the amount of fabric you have and the size pumpkin you want.)
2. Though I first used white thread, I switched to the recommended dental floss after the thread broke in the final step. Make a knot several inches from the end of the floss and sew wide stitches all around the circle about a 1/2 inch from the edge. Knot the end and leave a few inches of floss to tie later.
3. Pull the floss to gather the edges and stuff the pouch (with plastic bags, fabric, or whatever you have - I thought potpourri would be nice too for a scented bonus.)
4. Place a twig into the top as a stem, then pull the thread and knot it so that the fabric is cinched around the twig.

Voila! A soft, adorable fabric pumpkin!!! My daughter picked up a bunch of twigs for me, so I will be adding to my collection. I am even thinking about making huge ones for the front steps made out of vinyl fabric in place of live pumpkins. The sky is the limit, people!

How cute is my butterfly?!?

She inspires me to create and is my design partner for headbands and other hair ornaments. To make these, I wrapped ribbon around plain headbands, securing the ends with glue and making sure to wrap ribbon over them. For the orange headband, I glued the flower to the top of the headband and then used thread to additionally secure it onto the headband. I pulled the green flower apart and glued each layer onto the headband, including some of the larger petals. Rhinestones add some sparkle in the center. My daughter wore the green headband to church today and looked adorable! To coordinate with her, I pinned one of the green flowers onto a black cap with a large safety pin.

I couldn't resist showcasing the headbands with some artsy photographs. I have more plans for these flowers... dressing up a plain, black cardigan with some properly made flower pins (the safety pin was awkward and barely concealed), a multi-flower headband, and more. Do you have any great ideas for flower crafts?

House Decor

As I launch this new blog dedicated to life beautiful, I wanted to share some pictures from our previous home in Georgia. This was our first experience living in new construction. Though it was an attached house, it had a two car garage, two large bedrooms, a master suite with sitting area and three bathrooms total!

We weren't planning on being in this house for a very long time and decided against painting the walls. I tried to bring in color and interest through art and decor. The opening above the fireplace was deep but not too wide. My solution was to put in a simple shelving unit to hold the TV as well as fill in the space with pretty objects on the top shelf. I pulled various colors in the room from the painting in the middle of the picture, mixing Asian accents with items we brought back from Africa and Europe. The pile of frames leaning against the fireplace are drawings and photographs created by yours truly!

My little boy was ready for his first real bed, so we picked this fun loft bed from Ikea. It wasn't too high off of the ground, and the canopy added extra protection from rolling out of the bed. Since the canopy had stars all over it, we decided to go with a Space Theme. I made the space ship next to the bed by cutting the shape out of a large cardboard box and covering it with blue wrapping paper. The white lights are battery operated push-on lights - it looked really cool in the dark! The additional furniture in the room included a silver desk and matching storage unit with funky green doors, also from Ikea, as well as a hanging sphere that illuminated stars and and planets onto the walls.

My princess wanted a Pink Princess Poodle Room. To create her dream, I framed black-with-pink-polka-dot fabric with a poodle patch and photos of castles from a calendar. I also painted her chest of drawers pink and purchased pink & purple storage bins for toys. The shelf on the right held my dolls from childhood and dress-up clothes. Another project was gluing rhinestones onto a plain white clock to add that necessary sparkle to her room. She also had a tiara wearing piggy bank, a pink fur-trimmed lampshade, princess fabric-covered pillows, and a white wicker trunk filled with stuffed animals and costumes.

We enjoyed the year and a half we spent living in Georgia and made wonderful friends. During that transitional season of our lives, it was those friendships that filled our days with laughter and our hearts with joy. Beautiful memories.