Work in progress

Hi there!  We're alive and well over here at Welcome Sunshine Home.  Just super, ridiculously BUSY with our day jobs and this ol' blog is our hobby.  We'll soon be back to sharing projects regularly so don't give up on us yet!  :)

I'll be sharing some more gifts that I sewed for Christmas 2010 soon.  I started a king sized quilt but haven't had time to work on it since January 9th.  Ok, my memory isn't that good.  I only know the exact date because that's the last time I watched anything instantly through Netflix (British series Monarch of the Glen) and I noticed when I logged into my Netflix account earlier.  :)  Any way, that king size quilt isn't going to sew itself and I'm hoping to get back to it soon.

How many craft, sewing, and house projects do you usually have going at once?  I always have different projects started and even more in mind (heck, I have a fistful of paint swatches in my purse right now).  Here are some projects that I already have all (or most) of the supplies necessary to complete the whole project.

Sewing

• Quilt to be completed before winter 2011
• Top Secret Christmas 2010 Birthday Gift for Melissa
• Apron using fabric received from Laura in Fall 2010
• Purse fabric and pattern purchased Fall 2010
• Aprons using fabric and patterns purchased April 2010

Home*

• Master Bedroom closet purge/organization started September 2010 - It is thisclose to being done!
• Finish staircase renovation started March 2010 (um, yeah, 2010)
• Kitchen pantry purge and organization started Fall 2010
• 3rd floor office to craft cave started Fall 2010
• Transform back room off kitchen into new office

*Lesson learned:  Fall is not the time to start new home projects!

Crafts

• Spring mantle and more...Jeez, I can't give away all my secrets and plans at once!

Recipes

• Pineapple Fried Rice 
• A whole bunch of stuff that I know I took photos of and can't think of right now...

Just for Fun

• Concerts, baseball, board game parties, vacation, home show, etc

Books
I recently started rereading George R.R. Martin's The Song of Fire and Ice series since the long-awaited A Dance with Dragons is coming out July 12th!  I've only ever read books 1-3 so no spoilers please...  I'm also planning to reread the Harry Potter series in 2011.  What's your favorite book series?

Are you familiar with the 'Gitter Done' party at Songbird?  Donna from Funky Junk Interiors used to host it.  It's a place to share anything that you've finished.   It doesn't have to be pretty, cute, or even be a project.  It can be as simple as finally getting caught up on all your shredding.  Which I had done but now it's piled up again.  Grr.  Considering all the different things I listed above that I have available to work on, I'm hoping to have at least one thing a month to link up.  :)

So, what's happening at your place?  Have you marked anything off your to-do list in 2011?  Jake said my to-do list for 2011 must include "Get longer to-do list."

Laura's DIY Wall Art, our fabric swap, and blog parties

Laura from Luckiest in Love and I had an impromptu fabric swap in October.  A year ago, I never would've guessed that I'd be mailing fabric to someone in Kansas.  :)  I've mentioned Laura before because she organized the Christmas ornament swap.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know I love participating in the Show Us Your Life series over at Kelly's Korner.  During master bedroom week in September, I commented on Laura's bedroom post because we have the same bedding set.  Laura visited my bedroom post and liked our new DIY wall art.  After emailing back and forth, we decided to swap fabric.

Laura's bedroom completed with her new wall art.

source

If you like the bedding, it's an 8 piece set (Bedskirt, 2 Shams, 2 Decorative Pillows, Comforter, 2 Euro Shams) from Target that's still available here.  Young House Love created one of their design dilemma mood boards using this bedding here.  Jake and I bought our set a year ago and it's still in great shape.  I put the brown section of the comforter at the bottom of our bed but everyone else seems to put it at the top.  :)

The DIY wall art using IKEA frames in our master bedroom 

You can see more photos of Laura's room and learn how she made her wall art here.  I used the same technique to make this wall hanging for our aqua guest room.

I covered a large printed canvas that used to hang above our couch (photo below from 2008) that was collecting dust in the basement.    

BTW, that's what our I furniture looked like before we got Brewster and started covering everything in big fleece blankets to combat fur and big dirty paws.

Here are the Joann's fabrics that I sent to Laura.

Dwell Studio's Soft Scrolls in Espresso - still available  Also available in white on green.

Eddie Bauer Blue Batik - clearance find used in the EB Piedmont collection

Laura sent me fabric from Joann's too.

Here's the current Show Us Your Life party schedule:
February 4 - Tell us what you feed your toddlers/preschoolers 
February 11 - Tell us your hair and beauty tips!
February 18 - Tell us about your alma mater
February 25 - Tell us what you make (etsy stores, clothes, bows, etc)
March 4 - Tell us about your family - parents, brothers, sisters - feature them!
March 11 - Show us your kids’ birthday parties
Break because she's expecting to have baby Hollis sometime around here
April 1 - Tell us about your church
April 8 - Tell us mother’s day/father’s day ideas
April 15 - Tell us what is on your book list right now
April 22 - Tell us how you stay organized
April 29 - Tell us about your favorite vacation spots (include places to eat , stay, what to do)
May 6 - Share your home school stories (how it works for you, curriculum, etc)
May 13 - Favorite Main course recipe
May 20 - Favorite Dessert
May 27 - Favorite appetizer recipe

I love glimpses into other peoples lives so the Show Us Your Life blog party series is one of my favorite things about blogging.  If you visit our party buttons page, you'll see that I participate (irregularly) in a variety of DIY home and craft linky parties as well as new friend parties.  I know some people knock new friend parties but that's how I've discovered some of my favorite bloggers.  I have many interests and I enjoy 'meeting' lots of people outside the home/craft blog circles too (hi Kris!).

Do you join any linky parties regularly?  If so, what are your favorites?

Hopefully Laura's completed project will be the kick in the pants I needed to use the aqua fabric I received (need to pick my apron pattern first).  Thanks again to Laura for swapping fabric with me!  :)

Our niece and a snuggly blanket

I made a snuggly blanket for our niece for Christmas.  She loves horseback riding so I couldn't pass up pink horse print fleece I saw at Joanns.

She's doing very well in riding and has ribbons to prove it.  :)  Her mom's blog is Our Maine Life.  Wendy (one of my sisters-in-law) writes about "Mother/daughter life in Maine, our favorite activities, recipes, efforts of green life, occasional battles, and thoughts on life."  Stop by and visit Wendy some time.  She does some interesting things like making homemade yogurt.

photo borrowed from Wendy's blog :)

If you love adoption stories with a happy ending, you can find our niece's saga on Melissa's blog (another one of Jake's sisters).  Melissa is an amazing writer and they had quite an experience in Russia.  There are several posts so be prepared to get sucked in and settle in to read for awhile.  Start with this post.

Ok, on to the blanket... I didn't have a plan for the fleece besides doing something in time for Christmas.  One night I decided to I whip up a no sew blanket while watching tv.

I cut the fleece to my desired size  (about 3.5ft by 4ft) and then cut strips along each side.  Fleece doesn't fray so you don't need to use pinking shears.  I did because mine are still sharp and the blades are long enough that I could do just one snip.  Then, hand tie a knot on each strip and you're done!

Here's a closer look at how I handled the corners.

Have you tried hand tying fleece before?  What's your favorite no sew project?  Have you adopted or are you interested in adopting some day?

Click here to see some of the parties we'll be mingling at this week.

Favorite Tutorials of 2010

If you're new around here, welcome!  Yesterday I posted my three favorite house projects of 2010.Feel free to pop over to this post to learn more about this old house.

Ok, here are my four favorite tutorials of 2010 (excluding the house projects showcased yesterday)...two recipes and two crafts...

Simple Handmade Chocolates

Rainy Day S'mores

Under the Mistletoe Kissing Silhouettes

NO cricut or silhouette machine required!  I'll be pulling these out for Valentine's day.

Recycled Can Craft - my very first craft post! :)

Visit my three favorite house projects of 2010 for more tutorials.  :)

Sometimes Good is Good Enough

Are you scrambling to finish Christmas cooking, crafts/handmade gifts, shopping, gift wrapping, cards, etc?  Surely, I'm not the only one.  Why am I blogging and catching up on my favorite blogs instead of getting other things done?  Because I feel like it.  It's not that I don't care about everything else because I do.  If I stress and lose sleep over everything I'd like to get done (because let's be real here none of it needs to be done) for the holidays, then I'm not going to be very good company, am I?  It's time to compromise and reset my expectations.

Cooking:  No more homemade treats just have to be made.  We're done.  Unless I decide to try something super easy like The Country Chic Cottage posted here.  Or, my mother-in-law asks me to bring something to dinner.  :)

Rudolph Cupcakes

My crafts and handmade gifts:  I'm not done.  I have tomorrow off from work and I'll at least finish gifts for my  niece.  Otherwise, I'm simply not going to complete everything else in time.  It's ok.  No, really.  It is ok.  I can use jewelery sized present boxes from the $1 store and inside I'll tuck in a swatch of their gift's fabric with a cute "IOU one      insert cool gift here     " note.  Besides belated gifts will be an excellent reason to catch up with everyone again after the holiday dust settles in January.

Recycled Can Lid Gift Tag

Shopping:  This is mostly done.  I'll be picking up a few random things tomorrow or Friday.  Looking for a gift idea for anyone with a sense of humor?  Knock Knock is awesome but it's too late to order from them online.  Some shops carry their items though so keep an eye out.  I like to give one of my favorite 'fun' shows Firefly, The Big Bang Theory, or Psych.  If you like these shows, I'll be your friend.  :)

Gift wrapping:  Jake makes me an awesome wall of gift wrapping and ribbon organization (my absolute favorite house project this year) and I don't have a single gift wrapped for Christmas morning yet.  I adore wrapping gifts though and will probably do them Christmas Eve morning.

masculine gift wrapping

Holiday Cards:  Monday night I created our 2010 Christmas photo cards online and submitted them to our local walmart's one hour photo center.  I braved the crowds and picked them up during lunch yesterday (entering/exiting through the garden center helped) and realized that I only ordered half the amount I need.  Oops.  I went through my Christmas card list last night and did the ones that should be mailed first.  Then, I went online to order more cards and found that our local walmart's one hour photo equipment is down.  I was bothered at first and considered sending the Christmas card order to another store.  I decided against it so some friends may be receiving New Years cards instead.  :)

simple homemade card

Today, one of Jake's sisters invited us to lunch on Christmas Eve and I'm looking forward to it.  Maybe I could've spent that time completing something on my Christmas to-do list but I'd much prefer to spend the time with her instead.  :)

Frugal, fast, and festive! - Table coverings and other random party ideas

Do you want to protect your table tops during parties at work or home on the cheap?  You could use thin plastic table coverings from the dollar store.  Or, grab a roll of gift wrapping (readily available on this wall) and quickly cover multiple areas like I do.

Coffee table treats in the living room with clear solo cups for guests to make their own snack mix for mingling.

Use 'donut' loops of painters tape (for delicate surfaces) to secure the gift wrap to your furniture please.  This makes clean up a snap and ensures you don't damage anything (or wreck your nails scrapping scotch tape off your tables).

I found the red and white diagonally striped paper at walmart for $2.50 this season (extending our minty theme).  I covered the tops of several surfaces (dining room table, foyer table, coffee table, entertainment cabinet, buffet, card table, and sideboards) in minutes and still had plenty of paper left to wrap gifts.

Use a wide roll and you can cover your whole dining room table with just one piece.  I wish I had another photo when this table was jam packed with food and the paper was less obnoxious...

You can cover odd shapes by tucking the paper under like I did on our curvy foyer table.

The paper also helped guests find areas with items meant for them; like this picnic basket of party supplies on our cubby-shelving half wall between the dining room and kitchen.  Side note: The bowl with the towel in it was later moved and filled with baked potatoes for our 'make your own' baked potato bar (included fresh chives, sour cream, butter, shredded cheddar, real bacon pieces, chili, etc).

Need something easy and frugal for a group breakfast or brunch?  I didn't get a photo but we setup a 'make your own' yogurt parfait bar on our buffet.  Offer a few types of yogurt (available in large tubs), strawberries, blueberries, sliced bananas, a dozen labeled varieties of granola (we bought about 1/2 cup of each from Whole Foods bulk area - be nice to your cashier!) and there are endless combinations for guests.  These stemmed clear plastic water glasses from Dollar Tree (5 for $1) are the perfect parfait size.

photo source

Ok, now back to the gift wrapping for a minute...  You could also cover tables with gift wrap to add custom decor for birthday parties, baby showers, wedding showers, and more.  For a spring fling at work, I used two rolls of solid yellow and two rolls of Gerber daisy printed paper (all from dollar store) to cover eight standard conference tables.  Then, we scattered several  (50?) flower and veggie seed packets all over the tables; cute conversation starters and useful party favors.  :)

Click here to see some of the parties we'll be mingling at this week.