Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox Couples Costume...

 I'm going to let this post speak for itself... mostly... 

A last minute touch was the addition of black ribbon bow...

The horns I glittered and sewed onto a black fabric headband.

Ta-dah! The outfit all put together!

Making sure I could still dance in the outfit... robot style!

Doh! Don't forget the Tail~!

Yay! Woo hoo! Tail! :D

*****

Here we are - Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox...

And here I am about to head out the door! 

As you might have guessed the outfit was a hit! The couples costume was a hit! And most people thought I'd bought the outfit - score! :) One person asked if my nose ring was real, but nope, it was a fake piercing :). 

*****

Paul Bunyan.. I mean the husband loved that my heels made a clip clop sound when I walked because an ox would make that sound too! I, had not planned that! ;) :) 

The cow bell, was not quiet... but Paul Bunyan liked knowing where I was. ^-^ 

What are you going to be for Halloween?

The Alphabet for a Baby's Nursery Wall

A friend of ours recently found out they are having a baby girl. (yay! :)) As a way of decorating the baby's walls they asked their friends to make a letter of the alphabet that was 5" - 10" inches tall. My family was tasked with the letter D . Which is quite fitting as my name and my husbands name begins with a D ^-^. It's the little things right? :D

I managed to come up with an idea of how I wanted to execute our letter and figured why not make a tutorial for others to make one as well. You might be here wanting to make the whole alphabet yourself or just the one for a friend like I am. Have no fear! This will be fun and the end result will be super cute!

What You'll Need:

- Flat Cardboard Piece about 5" x 8 " for good measure so you have something to work with
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Yarn
- Fabric
- Felt
- Tapestry Needle
- Pliers to save on your hands when sewing the edge

Other fun items you can add:
- Handful of buttons
- Pencil
- Lace or fun ribbon

My measuring sheep tape :) And fabric, ribbon, yarn, etc.

First draw the letter you want on sturdy cardboard and cut out.

Next take the fabric of your choice (in this case I used cotton fabric but any should work). Place your letter template on top of the fabric with the right side facing up, draw a line about 1/4 - 1/2 inch away from the edge of the letter and cut the fabric. Honestly I eyeballed this part, but I can appreciate drawing lines too! :) Do whatever works best for you!

Once you've cut out the cotton letter you can glue the fabric to cardboard (this will help sturdy the letter up once it's dry too). Or you can begin sewing the letter around the cardboard. Make sure to make cuts around the fabric areas you'll need to fold in to make sewing easier.

Here is the back side of the letter sewn up tight! :) Mainly sew around the edge and then zig zag between the sides to keep the piece firmly affixed.

After you've added glue to the backside of the letter place the back piece of fabric over the glue.In this case I used white felt material so it'd be wall friendly :) Use whatever you'd like!

Now cut around your letter, careful to only cut the back fabric piece. Feel free to wait until the glue is completely dry for this step.

I started sewing the same night I put glue on the letter and it worked okay. Again feel free to wait for the glue to dry. I had to get some beauty sleep ;) so this wasn't finished the same night. I used some beading pliers to help save on my hands. Sewing through cardboar can be trying without them!

The edging done was using a technique they call blanket stitch. I have to tell you I didn't know what it was called until I went hunting on the internet tonight for this post :D. I found a lovely blog that shows a picture tutorial of how to do it here. Hopefully however you need to use the stitch the pictures will show you how to navigate it! :) Corners, curves and otherwise! :) 

Working up the letter!

Here is the finished letter - I can only imagine how adorable a wall would look with the full alphabet done in this fabric! Shabby chic anyone/? :) What kind of fabric would you rock on your nursery walls? 

Oh! And a back shot! :) 

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions as you work on your letter please let me know! :) Happy to help! 

Best, Dawn

***UPDATE*** 4.7.13

Howzabout I show you how to add an eco friendly way to hang this lil number too huh? ;) 

Here we go! 

What you'll need:

- Tab from that last can you used

- Ruler 

- Sewing Needle

- Thread

Using your ruler or an eyeball ;) figure out where the center of the back of the letter will be and place your tab there. 

Then sew! Sew like the wind! Take necessary precautions of course (thimbles, eye wear, whatever it takes).

When you're all done sewing it should look a little something like this :). Happy crafting everyone! :) 

Sugar Baby is not my Color...

...so let's roll the dice shall we? :)

About a month or so ago I hit up Victoria's Secret online for the essential bra tops deal of 3/ $33.00. I got a black one, a white one and to branch out in my wardrobe color palette I went with a sugar baby that looked to me like a pastel pink. Once I received the tops I promptly rocked the black one. Super comfy, cotton and black is always sexy, no? :) The next night I rocked the white one.. no problems here folks except my need to christen new tops with some kind of coffee stain or orange juice stain... lol...yes, I did. No worries though, Resolve is my hero! I can report up until today (at least ;)) that my white top is still white (yay! :)) despite my clumsiness. :)

So black top, one of my new favorites, white top a welcomed addition to my wardrobe. Sugar baby? When it came time to don this color... it looked like a nude color on me... how fun is that? Well, its not. Not at all. I appreciate contrasting colors so this just will not do. I got a great deal mind you so I'm not about to go through the hassle of trying to exchange the color for another one, I've been down that road before with other vendors and I just do not want to waste my time. This did however open up a creative window of opportunity ^-^.

Sugar Baby + Purple Rit Dye = My new cami color! Huzzah! :D

Now before I share the pics with you of my first fabric dying adventure - a little DISCLAIMER:

 • I do NOT claim to be a connoisseur on fabric dying. Mkay? Just so we are clear. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor before your excitement of dying fabric takes over and read read read read read the box of whatever dye you are using (I stress this ;)). Read the directions all the way through (I understand this can be hard - believe me:) ) and take the necessary precautions when dying anything. Put down a tarp, put on plastic coveralls, latex gloves that go up to your elbows, whatever precautions you think you need mkay? ;) Alright. Good. Great. Onward! :D

Blushing Pink Cami meet Purple Rit Dye

I read the Rit box of Purply dye goodness (no, it's NOT edible ;)) that was about to redeem the wearability  of this comfortable cotton cami. Pulled out the salt amount it called for for my top, and the HOT (again, precautions here people ;) thank you)

I filled a bucket with hot water (enough to allow it to move freely) and set the top in it for later. I ten proceeded to use the Rit the bucket method which called for:

• 1 packet of dye
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 Tblspn
• 2 cups water (per RIT dye package)

I poured the packet into the hot water and dissolved the dye. Then added the salt. 

Stirred till mostly dissolved then added the bit of detergent and continued stirring. 

I then added the mixture to the bucket.  

And stirred...

...and stirred...

...and stirred...

For this bucket method directions said to stir up to 30 minutes or until the fabric reached the desired color. After 15 minutes the top was looking dark :). I then transferred the bucket to our lovely utility sink and ran the water from warm to cold as the water in the bucket slowly turned clear. 

From here I squeezed the cami of excess water and put it in the washing machine where I cleaned it with more warm water and detergent. 

Surprisingly the top lightened quite a bit from the color it was when I put it in, looking pinkish... anything darker than what it was though is an improvement. :)

Just laundered... about to see the inside of the dryer!

I popped it in the dryer following the care instructions of the label ;) And about 30 minutes later we have a new top! 

There are slight color variationsthroughout the top but I'm still wearing this puppy! :)  

A lighter purple in time for Easter? Why not! :). 

I L♥VE how it looks with jeans! :D I hope you had fun reading through my first fabric dying adventure! :) 

Have you ever dyed something? If so what was it? How did it turn out?

I'm off to make some food for the family now. :) If you want to see some of my adventures in the kitchen click here. I'm always adding new stuff :). 

Thank you for reading and viewing :) 

♥ Dawn

The White Room.. Decorated

It's done! It's been done... for a while. Though I was hoping to post pictures when I gotten a bed frame I liked and had a new home in the house for the trunk but this is reality and its been far too long without sharing, so here are the pics :)











I love how it feels cold, yet cozy... for now I have no vision for the walls and have found in the process of decorating the house that I like mirrors... we have at least one in every room except the sitting room upstairs. I like that mirrors reflect light and open up the room, frames can be ornate as well which add to the decor but mirrors are hard not to love :)

I hope you enjoyed the update! :) Happy decorating everyone! Thank you for reading!

UPDATE 9/8/13:

I've since gotten a daybed scrolly frame from a freecycler for this room! :) I also was able to move the trunk into the study and acquired a samller night stand. I will of course need to piant the night stand at some point but it makes a much better nightstand than the file cabinet I had there before ;). The room has gotten a bit more "white" since I last took pictures... here are a few updates...

Cinnamon Star Ornaments are in the oven!

It's true :) I'm so excited about them! The cinnamon is a bit intoxicating, I hope my family can get through the 2 hours they need to be in the oven :) I plan to also try another recipe to bake ornaments later today :) but for now, here's a pic of the cinnamon stars before the oven! :) The recipe I used is here should you want to try it :) Thought I admit I added ground orange peel and ground cloves to the mix :)

What are you getting into today?

Day of raking leaves

My sister and I were out raking up leaves and while the city picks up the leaves we rake, we have to put them in bags and hull them to the curb OR rake them there in one big pile... well we 1st tried a wheel barrel to get the leaves there since it was taking far too long to just rake the leaves to the front yard. The wheel barrel route lasted one trip to the front and then the wheel went flat and it veered to the left... all the way to the front :(. No bueno!

Continuing to rake and racking our brains as to an easier solution I remembered we had some plastic drop clothes that were huge - we could rake the leaves onto that and then take it to the front curb to be sucked up by the city! Viola!

Here's what it looked like from the deck...



...needless to say it cut the time in half! That plastic drop was big and could handle a lot of leaves! :)

Hopefully if you're looking for a way to cut down your time raking leaves you have a drop cloth handy to use. If not, the plastic tarps are pretty cheap at any home depot, lowes, etc.

Happy fall everybody :) Stay warm! :)

God is so faithful

We bought our house a little over two years ago, not long after we moved in did we realize it had water problems. So much so that one room has been left untouched with a dehumidifier to hold over the room until we could do something about it. Recently my once a mechanic husband has been swapping services with a friend of his who is a general contractor, which means we got to take a closer look at what water problems the house really has for a very fair price. Initially we thought that a sliding door toward the back of our house put in by a previous owner was the main culprit so we went ahead and purchased a new sliding door.

Upon installing the door our contracting friend found out that the people who "harry-homemade" installing the old sliding door also messed up when putting on not only the roofing causing the water to not run away from the house, but also put on "town home" gutters that are not meant to take the load of water that runs off our single family home... and in addition to finding out we need new roof... the guys peeled back bits of our siding to reveal that there was no Tyvek put down to the plywood before adding the shingles, ergo our entire house not being wrapped in a nice blanket of Tyvek means that the water was rotting our house and this was, well... not okay.

SO yay! New roof, new siding and probably some other new things we are bound to find along the way of this soon to be redid home!

But I saved the best of this story for last. When my husband was helping the contractor remove the old sliding door, they found that the harry homemaker thought it was a good idea to rig the wiring under the door and not put a protective case around said wiring. Had the wire gotten "hot" on its own and touched any metal portion of the door the next person to touch that doors handle or any other metal part of the door, well that would be the last of them. SO not COOL! If anything, let this be a witness to people who try and do things to "improve" their home on their own. BE SAFE about it. The whole house could very well end up in a pile of ashes... so believe me when I say its worth the money to get someone to do it the RIGHT way, the FIRST time. :s

My wonderful husband is out today working on his buddy contractors vehicle again, and tomorrow we'll be going over what changes we are hoping for the house, and what we can budget. But I feel its important to share not only the message of when buying a house do all that is within your power to get a house inspection (we were sure the Broker/Realtor had this done for us, but had they, really, these issues among a few others would have been brought to light and (hopefully) rectified)... but ALSO to point out how God has been so faithful to us and not giving us more than we can handle. The 1st year it was our a/c/heater that went out on us and we had to replace the entire unit - but we were able to do it financially (thank God). I'm just so thankful we hadn't known about these other issues than or I think I might have been ridiculously overwhelmed at all that was needed... baby steps. And I realize, these are not first world problems in the least... we are blessed beyond what we even realize. And having house issues I'd say is better than having a health issue. Thank God, I do. But would also appreciate prayers during this time. So far, I haven't felt over whelmed but see this as an opportunity to change some things about the house that we've wanted to since moving in... creaky flooring, soft spots in theflooring, etc.

Anyone have some housing issue stories to share? Feel free! Would love to be in understanding company ;)

Room Picture Ideas

I realize, I haven't unveiled any one finished room here on the blog just yet - rest assured this will happen! ^-^ I want to be able to post the "final" product of the rooms but things are a bit disheveled at the moment and not everything has a "place" just now. SO stand by :0).

Meanwhile, I'm kicking around some ideas in my head and loving some pictures of fellow etsians that I may decide to incorporate into the scenery of the house.

I suppose I should preface that a move I am fond of is Fried Green Tomatoes. I love the raw homey feel of the town they are in and how there isn't anything brand spanking new, don't touch or sit on. Instead there is a feeling of every bench, booth or chair being free reign for any town folk or stranger to have a seat in.

Then of course you have another of my favorites - Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea where they use everything they have with a "waste not, want not" mentality. The trails and places Anne discovers are picturesque and the colors of the season they are in paint the scenery. It's so inviting and I love it!

In both movies people don't have a whole lot of access either so while their homes are cozy, they are not over done. The rooms are a haven, a place to go and escape the noise outside - you won't find a cell phone here :0) lol :D.

Right, so with all that in mind I move on to the pictures I'm being drawn to - soothing, dreamy, rich in wonder and possibility. :0) If you please ;).

These artists are in no certain order - only thing I require is you enjoy the pictures and feel free to check out their shops for more! ;)

Katya Horner of Slight Clutter Photography has many, many lovelies in her shop - however my eyes tend to specifically feast on this picture:

Breaking Through

and another just this morning caught my eye (though in truth, they are all eye catching, I'm looking for certain rooms and color schemes though :0)) this one in particular for our bedroom:

Wonderland

and this one possibly for "my" room:

Gratitude

not that your minds eye is fixed on these images allow me to share that Slighclutter is currently having a sale - here are the details as you will find them on their shop announcement...

CURRENT SALE #1 is 20% off 16x16" and 25% off 16x20" fine art prints in the Large Prints set. Runs through August 10th.

CURRENT SALE #2 is an ongoing Buy One, Get One Free ("BOGO") sale for purchases of prints 12x12" and smaller. Please see details in the "shop policies" section. Does not apply to "set of four" listings.

Now to unveil another artist with some amazing talent - ThisYearsGirl

And while again many of the pictures in this shop are positively alluring I've been coveting this one the most lately and WANT for my room ;0)

The Queen

It reminds me of how we each carry burdens, many all our own... while yes, we can share them with others we are the sole bearers of most and we all need a place we can go for a reprieve and comfort ourselves. You might have guessed I really like trees - something about them.. tall, strong, silent, comforting.

Next Artist to mention -

love this one - I'm thinking of it for the bedroom, but there is no way I can get all of these pictures I'm sharing - :0) Sharing anyways! ^-^

JudeMcConkey's Photography

The Fern

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Karcharz

The Door Still Opens

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InMostLight

Feel the Magic in the Air

and since I've shared a novels worth here lol :0) (AND I'm running out of time!) I'll end here. I will update soon! Thank you for reading and viewing! :D Enjoy! All the best, ~Dawn

Update on the weekend paintcapade! :0)

So I'm beat, I think both mentally and physically right now from everything this weekend. I'm hopeful that these weekends where I tackle a project will soon be behind me so I can focus on the things that I want to do. I'm definitely making progress on the house, sometimes I feel like it's two steps forward and one step back. With painting you can't always do one coat and be done with it. There are touch ups or yes, the second coat sometimes. So it' not just "oh I'm going to paint". Le sigh, forgive the detail I went into there -as mentioned I'm a bit beat :s.

Alright! So! Pictures! The trim is Semi Gloss White, the main color is Flat Dove White and the ceiling is ceiling paint. Inside the closet, we have kilz2 white primer, no sense in giving it a hue I figured, since the kilz is bright as it is :0)

Here's a quick before pic of when we first bought the house and the room hadn't been touched by any type of cleaning or face lift mechanism :0).

BEFORE:


DURING:
We first had to scrap the remaining lines of wallpaper off the ceiling. As you'll notice in the BEFORE pic - they had some blue sky wallpaper adhered to the ceiling that needed to go.


Onto priming the walls and saying goodbye to all the nicotine stains :0) Yay! :D


AFTER:
Last night we took pictures of the room done...


Finished touch ups today and put the final coat on the desk and a mirror I needed refinished :0)


So now for the decorating... that should be fun, but I'll need a few nights sleep first I think :0) I will say decorating is the most fun of all the home stuffs :0) so whoo hoo :0) for decorating :0) and yes, I will take pics ;)

As always, thanks for reading! :D ~Dawn

**UPDATE** - see pics of decorated white room (work in progress ;)) here: http://lostsentiments.blogspot.com/2012/01/white-room-decorated.html