Piddling around with little projects here and there between fitting in some trim painting. Now that the cupboard is out of our kitchen, and I took down the shutters to give them a good cleaning, it is painfully obvious that our trim needs a fresh, new coat of paint.

I think we have decided on a color. I repainted a door and some trim upstairs that J. says is too “white” and looks cheap or something. I think a nice white is crisp and clean. But, very rarely does J. voice an opinion about anything around here, so I figured I ought to listen and let him have his say. So we picked out a “warmer, less stark, creamier” white. And I’m on a mission to start painting all our moldings, doors, and basically anything that isn’t taped down.

We also have the hole in our ceiling that the cupboard left we need to deal with and…oh! A big portion of the next-door cupboard wasn’t stained, so it looks like the painting of the kitchen cabinets, that I have also wanted to do for so very long, has moved up on the list as well (yeah!).

Let’s see – we had a September birthday round-up on Friday with our friend, Alexander, who also turned 6 last month, and whose name also starts with an A! So the two A’s got “6″ cupcakes and some much overdue time together.

Evah…our Silhouette machine, has gotten a little love in the past few weeks. We personalized the girls’ soccer jerseys for the Terrible Teal team. I need a pic with all of them lined up with the backs of their jerseys.

And I’m working on getting a custom project done (they are coming, Aunt Laura!). I’m making her a whole bunch of the little wallets to use at Christmas time for giftcards.

These little wallets are the best way to use up scraps and I can just sit and cut a few out each night as I watch tv. I know I eventually have to actually sew them and get them together…but I like looking at the stack and feeling a little bit of progress.

What kind of crafty progress are you making lately?

We have curtains over here this week. One fun curtain and six necessary ones.

My friend needed a curtain for the Kidspace Pumpkin Festival – for one of those game booths. I think for this game you throw the fishing line “into the witch’s brew” (over the curtain) and fish for a prize. Anyhow, they needed a 10′ x 6′ curtain. So…we fashioned a little one for her.

It was kinda impossible to get a good photo since I don’t have a floor spot big enough to spread it out. Imagine trying to sew that  cauldron on in the middle of the 10 foot long material. It was tricky to get it all through the machine, believe me.

Added a little spider…

And a witch peeking out, too…

I think it turned out really cute. I’ll have to get photos of it in action, though.

And then I turned my attention to much needed curtains for our dining room.

When we moved in, we had…well, some very lovely wrought-iron hardware. But no curtains. (Look how little Emmy is!!)

And, four and a half years later…still no curtains. Mostly because I didn’t want to put money into something we didn’t really need, or might not be in the house later to enjoy. And also…I couldn’t quite decide on a color. Oh, and also…curtains are expensive! I really loved these at PB, but do you see how much they are?? Even on sale. And we need the very long ones (high ceilings) and SIX panels (big window + 2 french doors!). So since I didn’t have $850 to drop on drapes, we were doing just fine without them, thank you very much.

Then a few weeks ago we stopped into a The Great Indoors store that was closing and I found gorgeous silk drapes that look suspiciously like the ones from Pottery Barn marked down from $89 a panel to $16. $16!! Yep. $96 for all the drapes in my dining room. Sold.

Of course I did need to hem them, hence the other half of the curtain edition today. I know it isn’t really crafty, but it is all the action my sewing machine got this week. And I’ll have to take a better photo of the room in better light – they are really pretty, kind of a cross between a spun gold color and a butter yellow. I think they are neutral enough to go with whatever we decide to do in there. It may take us another four years to paint and rearrange the artwork, but baby steps…baby steps.

Well, today we have little bits of everything crafty, but it is still all about the Birthdays over here.

Little Miss Six had to have something to wear with her new sparkly skirt on her birthday so she got a new “6″ tee from Mama. You can’t see it very well, but it is indeed CAT fabric.

If we are friends on FaceBook you already know my love/hate relationship with the cakepop. The first batch for Choir on Thursday didn’t turn out all that great, but the Friday batch was definitely improved.

Perhaps I’ll do a little tute post the next time I do them. When we were restocking our supplies on Thursday night Addie piped up with -

“Mama? We can just dip them in chocolate and then roll them in sprinkles, I think.”
“But I thought you wanted cat cake pops, though?” I asked her.
“Yes, but I just think that the kittys are too many bunches of work for you.”

Oh. Baby. I will make that sweetness 20 dozen cat cake pops if she asks. It was the such a sweet thing for her to say. And her squeals of pride as she handed them out to her classmates. Well, that made all the blood, sweat and tears totally worth it. (Well, actually there was no blood…but lots of sweat and tears. It was over 100 degrees the two days I was messing with them!)

So back to the sewing room we went. I had several “teen” birthdays this month, and teens love the gift cards (so I’m told) and I made some of these little purses to hold their card loot.

These are TRULY easy, and I fully intend to do a little tutorial on these too. The problem is I don’t think of it until I’m done making them, and of course at that point I haven’t photo’d them every step of the way. But this one I’ll put on the list.

It is an easy way to use up little scraps of fabric, plus it makes giving a gift card a little more personal.

And last, but definitely not least, we have another beautiful example of my mom’s handiwork. This was Addie’s birthday card from Nana and Papa last week…

And Addie after she discovered that it was a sunflower! With M&Ms for the seeds! (I think she has some in her mouth even!)

That Nana always finds a way to outdo herself, doesn’t she?

Hey Crafty girls and boys. This might be the quickest CT post, ever. Just wanted to show you what we are working on and why I totally missed last week’s CT.

T-shirts!

We did tees for the entire PTA board and a few for the office staff. So 20-ish tees.

The cougar paw is cut from fabric (by our lovely Eva – aka our Silhouette) and appliqued on the front. And then Eva cut the sleeve text out of flocked vinyl. Nice!

We got rave reviews on them and I think we might be making many more of them in the near future. Right now I am trying to get the girls ready for school. Tomorrow. Tomorrow!!

I’m a little late on this one, and the only reason I even have a post today is that I found these pics of a few projects I did right before we left on vacation and so I actually have something to put up!

First up, we needed some more supercapes for two little guys.

I went with the ol’ standby – royal blue with red. I love how sharp the capes look.

Next, I had another oldie but goodie pillowcase dress that had a beautiful crocheted trim at the bottom, but otherwise was kind of plain. So I added an owl to it to “cute-en” it up.

And since it was for a little Lucie, we put a little “L” on it too…so she would know it was hers.

This week I’m concentrating on getting some t-shirts done for our PTA board and by goodness…I’m going to finish my June birthdays! Happy Crafting.

Rompin’ rompers! That is what we have for CT this week. When Em and Audrey went to sewing camp a few weeks ago, Addie and Mommy had our own little sewing date and she picked out some cute fabric and we made a romper from this handy tutorial. The romper is currently being washed so it can go with us on our trip, and I don’t think I’ve even taken a photo of it on her.

Of course as soon as Em saw it, she asked if we could make matching ones for her and Audrey. And since it was our dear Audrey’s birthday treat to take her to Disney for her special day last week, I DO have pics of the finished products for the big girls.

Em picked out the material…

…and everyone loved them – and commented on the “twins.”

The rompers seemed to “romp” very well….

…and it was the perfect outfit as a backdrop for our aspiring blondes.

It was my first attempt at shirring. I learned a lot, and while it wasn’t perfect, seeing it on the two best friends was perfect indeed.

I’ll try to get a photo of Addie’s for next week’s CT since I’ll be traveling and not crafting so much. But I can check out any creations you might have since I’ll have plenty ‘o airport blog-reading time coming up!

Your Two Birdies have gone mad for handbags over here!

In our Simply Sublime Bags book there is a pattern using a placemat for a cute little summery purse. It is very easy and fun, and maybe one of these days I’ll actually have a little spare time so I can take photos and do a little tutorial on how we adapted the pattern to suit our own needs.

The first one I attempted I used a Target clearance placemat that I loved, and I knew my dear friend Cyndi – who is also a Target devotee – would appreciate.

Why yes – that is Miss Petaluma modeling the hottest summer accessory. How cute is she? (And the handbag isn’t so bad, either!)

And, then I moved on from placemats and used this great fabric that I had lying around and made another bag for another dear friend who had a June birthday.

AND…yes, another June birthday friend. This one was made out of fabric remnants as well, not a placemat, but I think it is my favorite.

Added ribbon and a partitioned pocket on the inside…and also squared off the bottom so it will sit nicely.

I have two more June birthdays that need to be finished this week before I leave. I’m determined to get them done before July slips by as well.

Any summer crafting happening out there?

Wait! Come back! I have no excuses today! And I actually have something kinda crafty!

I made bottlecap necklaces to give to my 18 Brownie Scouts at our end of year ceremony last Friday.

And…then I kept going and made some little bottlecap necklace wardrobes for two of our little friends who have had birthdays in the past few months.

For Miss Payton:

And Miss Lauren:

The possibilities for these are endless. Endless, I tell you! Birdie Jamie made a set for Emma for her birthday and she has a soccer one, a dance one, a piano, our school logo, and her initial. They are really fun and they are magnetic so they just snap off. The necklace has a 1/2″ washer that you get from the hardware store, and the bottlecaps just snap on.

I know Jen has done a tutorial on how she does these. Jamie just brought a sample back last winter when she was visiting crafty people in the south and then she found (already cleaned, painted) bottlecaps on etsy. They are really fun to put together.

Then I found these little metal pizza pans at the $1 store, spray painted it and embellished it using our nifty little Silhouette. I just glued hangers (minutes after these photos were taken) on the back and when it dries I’m gonna put a nice big ribbon on it so the girls can hang it on their wall and keep their bottlecaps in check.

I’ve got other stuff brewing as well. I will work on getting it all together and also get permission to use my Dad’s photos of my mom’s new craft cove. Yes, the big reveal…it is pretty awesome and maybe inspiring for those of you looking to revamp a space over the summer. Wait til you see it!