Pinspiration Friday

Good afternoon! It’s Friday {yay!} and all week long I have scoured Pinterest {ok, obsessed over} for more Pinspiration. Let me tell you; there are lots out there. Im finding it hard to not pin everything I see to the Pinspiration Friday board, but not everything can go in there.

A long while back I came across a blog that had this darling little a-frame tent and a how-to on how to get it done. Being the lazy pinner I am, I forgot to pin it and it was lost forever. Until I dusted off my Kindle and saw that I actually had bookmarked it! So I finally pinned that sucker to my Pinspiration Board, gathered the materials, made a few for the inside, and put it all together.

It sure came out lovely!

Here is the inspiration post for the tent

Now that is lovely. I love how she used the crocheted cover! But in order to be frugal I just couldn’t find anything similar at the thrift store that I liked for my vision. But I did find a pretty vintage floral sheet with ruffles, which gives it a cute little shabby chic look and coordinates well with the quilt I have for the inside.

What’s inside:

Quilt from my dad

Three handmade pillows by me {one of them is upcycled from a Urban Outfitters bag!}

A green lattice picnic basket

Books

Two crocheted doilies for coasters

Upcycled vintage floral cloth shower curtain turned throw

A plastic bottle lantern that Bry made for light while reading at night

She brought her guitar in there to play

Bry is pretty much in love with it!

So much so that she invited little brother inside

I think he loves it too!

Now if this silly rain would go away {at least just for a day} so we can put it back out side and Bry can hang out in it then it would be perfect. But in the garage it must stay. Thank goodness I made oversized pillows for her to relax on.

Have a lovely Pinspiration you would like to share? Link up below!

{Richard was a big help with this and took the photos! Check him out at Richard Fusillo Photography}

Sewn Projects Week 4

Fourth and final week of Sewn Projects for National Sewing Month!

1. a tissue holder that my bestie Jamie showed me how to make

2. a tote bag I sewed up for said bestie

3. a set of my fave nursing pad set thus far with cotton voile

4. a vintage lace key ring fob

5. another i spy seek and find game

6. another raccoon plushie

7. a tooth fairy pillow for Bry

What have you been sewing?

*Reminder! We are having a giveaway for the month of September to celebrate National Sewing Month! Anyone who comments in a post tagged ‘National Sewing Month’ will be entered to win! Please see our Giveaway section at the top of the blog for more information on the giveaway. Comment away!*

Pin Cushion Storage Mason Jar

For the Sewing Party I hosted I made these as little goodies for my guests – they loved them! I even made one for myself.

I was able to utilize some of my grandma’s fabric scraps for this project!

I had one extra so I thought I would use it for a giveaway. If you would like to win this, head over to my Facebook page, like it, and you’re entered. Once I reach 200 likes I will choose a winner at random and announce it on Facebook! Share my page with your friends, family, anyone you know to help me get there. Thank you for your support!

*This is a Facebook exclusive giveaway only. Commenting on this post will not enter you in the giveaway. You must ‘like’ my Facebook page.

Look for a tutorial on how to make these soon!

New Items | Etsy

Listed some new items in JoviLane tonight.. some of my favorites!

Andddd a little bit of me behind the scenes..

I also am going to be listing three new sets in Olivers Treasure Chest

A really awesome nautical themed set including an anchor burp cloth, boat wheel wee wee hut, and striped paci clip with navy blue button

A darling little set for girls including a fawn burp cloth, striped paci clip with organza elastic detail and a brown felt hair bow {not pictured}

A set of three nautical themed wee wee huts

Im also working on  baby shower sets!

Head on over to the shops and see what else I have for you!

Rolled Fabric Flower Tutorial

I had a custom order for a toss and keep garter with rolled fabric flower accents a while back and surprisingly, I couldnt really grasp the whole rolled fabric flower concept. After watching oobs and gobs of youtube tutorials and reading through lots of written ones, I was still confused. My flowers werent getting flat.. even with the width Id cut the fabric at. The tutorials were saying to twist the fabric then wrap around a few times, twist, wrap, twist, etc. And my flowers were as thick as the fabric width after folded in half! So I just kept messing around trying out different methods and I finally found one! I was able to get the custom order finished on time.

About a month ago we took a trip down to see my mom in San Diego. While there I decided to make a small cluster of those flowers to put on my grandpa’s grave instead of flowers that just die. I even got to make them out of my grandma’s vintage remnants!

My mom thought these flowers were so cute so while visiting her again I gathered up what was needed and showed her how. Since I was so confused with the other tutorials, I thought Id write up a much simpler one to share.

Materials:

Fabric {I got to use some more of my grandmas fabric remnants; blue gingham!}
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Lemonade {I get thirsty when I craft}

Procedure:

Cut a 1/2 inch strip of fabric. The length can be as long as youd like. The longer it is, the bigger the flower. Ideal length is 40-44 inches.

Fold the strip in half at the end and roll the end of the fabric in, raw edges up, folding fabric in half as you roll it in. Roll as much or as little as youd like; it will be the center of your flower.

Put a dab of hot glue to keep it in place.

Pinch the top and bottom of your center and twist the fabric strip continuously while wrapping the now twisted strip around the center. Place dabs of hot glue as you go around to keep the strip in place.

Keep wrapping and twisting, making sure to twist continuously.

Once you have reached the end, leave a small amount of the strip, unfolded.

Hot glue the back of the flower and wrap the end of the strip over to the back to make the flower look clean and to reinforce the fabric flower.

Make as many as you want to create projects!

Loving this blue gingham! Glad I have more of this fabric to bring home with me.

I made two of these for my mom to start her out, but shes gonna make more to hang in her kitchen. I told her she better send me a photo to share!

Speaking of sharing, if youve created some with this tutorial or have made these before, Id love for you to share your projects with me to put up on the blog! You can find my contact information in the contact section at the top of the blog. Thanks!

Vintage/Retro Dresses | JoviLane

Anyone into vintage and retro clothing? Well I have a couple of beauties for you that just went up in my JoviLane shop on Etsy!

Absolutely love this skirt! I tried to wear it when I was pregnant and well, it’s not made for pregnant ladies thats for sure!

So darling! I wish I could keep this for myself, but my bust is just a tad too big for it. Such a bummer. I did manage to wear it, four months pregnant, for our Christmas photo {1800’s theme!}

We’re a weird bunch. Note Zooey at the bottom wearing a cabbie hat! Haha.

And lastly, my all time favorite dress ever. I want to keep this for myself, but I also want to share it with all of you!

Head over to JoviLane and see what other vintage and retro items I have available. Like… cat eye glasses anyone….

Fox Plush & Diaper Clutch | Etsy

Put two new items in Oliver’s Treasure Chest today!

A cute little fox plush for you little ones!

And a diaper clutch – available in all of the Riley Blakes Ombre Dots colors!

Check em’ out!

SHOP!

My First Quilt in 13 Years

A certain little someone {who’s name shall not be said or they’ll know!} is having a birthday soon and I wanted to make a quilt for her.

The last quilt {and only other quilt} I made was back in Home Ec class in 8th grade so I went into this project with low expectations and a lot of patience. I finished it in three stages – Piecing the entire front together and adding the backing, sewing on most of the binding {I ran out}, then finishing the rest of the binding. Though the project took about two weeks to finish, total I only spent 4 hours on it. Its not my best work ever, but I am sure it will be appreciated!

Not bad, eh?

____

I’m also currently working on a toss and keep garter for a bride who’s wedding is in October.

Will be working on one more rolled fabric flower and adding embellishments to it tonight. So gorgeous!

Envelope Pillow Covers

When I worked at Birch Fabrics we had a fabric allowance so when Melody Miller’s Ruby Star Shinning came out, I got a quarter yard in each fabric over the span of a few weeks so I could have just about every print! Sadly I am not working there anymore {I’ve decided to be a stay-at-home mommy!} and needed to get my favorites from that collection elsewhere.

Like…

Absolutely love, love, love this one. And I specifically purchased it to make some pillow cases for our ugly couch pillows. We have two larger ones and a smaller one so I used the typewriters for the larger and the coordinating vintage flowers for the smaller one.

I really love her stuff!

And I love making these envelope pillow covers. They’re very easy to make and can transform and boring ol’ pillow into something fabulous!

Eeeep!

Very happy to have these beauties next to me while I type this.

To view the tutorial on how to make these envelope pillow covers, go here.

I also was able to work a bit more on an Etsy order for unpaper towels. I got the top stitching done and am now just waiting for the snaps to get here! Cannot wait to add these to my shop.

Remember the unpaper towels I made for our kitchen? They were made from scraps from this order! Unpaper towels… such a rad concept!

Oliver’s Woodland Theme Shower

This past weekend we had Oliver’s baby shower. It was simply everything I had envisioned and was pretty much D.I.Y.

I found inspiration from a couple of blogs and with my mom and Richard’s help we put together a lovely woodland themed shower to welcome Oliver into the world. I can’t believe I only have 6 weeks left!

Richard wasn’t ‘invited’ but he stayed and took photos for me… and of me. I’d like to share some with you.

Dried fruit and mixed nuts in hand stamped paper sacks as well as orange marmalade jars as favors. Not to mention my moms yummy candy boxes!

We set aside a little space for the diapers

Those candy boxes I was talkin’ about

Vintage Beatrix Potter books from my childhood.

We took a lot of vintage and woodland pieces from our home to complete the set up of the shower.

And the spread my mom did… wow! Everyone that came has been asking about the bacon cheddar pinwheels she made.

Little acorn treats Amy & I put together a couple days before the shower. Super easy to make! All you need is mini nilla wafers, herseys kisses and some chocolate frosting!

My friend Lori handmade the place card holders for the food. She has them available in her Etsy shop along with other rad wedding/event supplies.

My mom made the cake pops into bears! So cute.

We played a couple of silly games

{cotton ball pick up – blindfolded}

And I made two girls arm wrestle for the last prize!

The lovely ladies at Picking Daisies put together a cute and amazing bunting for the shower that will go up in Oliver’s nursery.

After the shower, Richard snapped some photos of me and little Oli in my belly

My favorite!

{P.S. those are little fawns on my dress! It’s all about the small details people!}

He also got a couple of Bry too. Gosh my daughter is so gorgeous!

I would like to thank my mom for all of the time, money, and energy put into helping my little woodland dream come true; Richard for helping set up, for the support, and taking photos; my step-dad John for helping with the set up; Richelle for handwriting out the place cards and signs for us; Lori for handcrafting the place card holders; Amy for helping with the acorn treats; Picking Daisies & crew for the lovely bunting and for lending us the cloth napkins; Alex, Michelle, Amy, Christina, Linda, Bry and Moe for being there; and Bry for being a supportive big sister. I love you all and our day to celebrate Oliver would have been nothing with out you!

Please check out Richard’s photography page and see {pretty much the same, cause I stole them from him} photos from the shower as well.

Inspiration Blogs:

On To Baby

Simplified Bee

Such is Life Photo

Bump Smitten

And here is where you can find directions on how to make those delicious acorn treats:

Lipstick and Laundry

Six more weeks to go and we get to meet little Oliver Shai. ❤