Getting Ready for the Show!

My Annual Holiday Gift Show is this weekend and I have been trying hard to get things done.  I have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time and have been known to start a whole new project (or two) while in the middle of working on something else.  It happens a lot.  A lot. 

Anyway, here is a sneak peek of a couple things I am going to be selling at my show!  My booth will have a lot less than it did last year, but last year I wasn't chasing around Piper, either :)

So, Zoey loves felt boards.  We were at a yard sale last summer and some lady talked her into asking me for one.  She cried because she needed to have it so bad, so I spent the $5 and bought it for her.  Little did I know that I would be rewarded with hours of quiet time while she plays with that thing!  She was playing a few months ago and was pretty upset that there was no felt doll that looked like her, and asked me if I would make her one.  My kids think I can make anything and Daddy can fix anything.  We often disappoint.  I made her a doll of herself and then she kept asking for more things and more things.  Then, I decided to make a whole travel set to sell at my Holiday Show!  Everything is drawn on the computer by me and then my awesome friend Reena and I machine embroidered and then cut them out.

Here is the girl doll and her accessories.  She has 3 hair styles/colors and a couple outfits including some ballet gear.  There are a couple things still missing from this photo because they still need cut out.

There is a kitty and puppy in each set!

Here is the boy set.  Obviously we are in Pittsburgh.  I guess I should have made some without the Steeler logo, but since it's for a local show, I made them all the same.

Go Steelers!  He has some more hair and clothes waiting to be cut out, too.

Here is the travel board opened up.  There is a vinyl pocket to keep all the felt pieces in on one side and a velcro closure on the other.  There is plastic in between the felt layer and the outer fabric to make it easier to work on.

When you are all done playing, you fold over the vinyl pocket,

fold it over once,

attach the velcro closure and go!

Here is the whole set (minus about 6 more things).

This is the back that shows the outer fabric.  So cute. 

Also, I am making these cute Owl Pillows.  They are hand and machine stitched and have little pockets on the front.  They turned out way better than I thought they would.  I still have 2 more to stitch up and stuff, but I have a couple days, right??  I am going to put candy canes in the little pockets :)

I also made some sun catchers like last year, a couple necklaces and a couple random things here and there.  I will be sure to post about the show after we are done so you can see all the wonderful artists that participate!  If I have things left after the show, I might put them on my Etsy site.  I'll update here next week.

Make a Halloween House...

My kids LOVE our Halloween village.  We have 2 houses.  It's a small village...

For a fun afternoon craft, I made this little house for them.  I have a design background as well as a drafting background, so these came together pretty easily for me.  We cut them out, glued them together and painted them all to be spooky.  Here's a quick tutorial if you want to make your own with your kids!

The houses are about 10" tall and about 7" wide when assembled.  For smaller kids, you may want to use copy paper and a glue stick or tape.  For bigger kids {and adults} you may want to use card stock and a glue gun.  The card stock houses will definitely hold up better than the copy paper ones.

Step 1: Color or the house with crayons, markers or colored pencils. You could paint the house, but the paint may make the paper wavy when it dries.  I used watercolors to paint mine when it was all done.

Step 2: Cut out the parts of the house. You will cut ALL the lines that are SOLID BLACK that are not windows or doors.

Step 3:  Fold ALL the lines that are GRAY DASHED.  It is best to fold all the tabs to the back of the printed part.  The stairs will have an accordion fold.  Start by folding them to the front.

Step 4: Begin assembling your house, gluing on the tabs marked with an ‘x’.

First assemble the main body of the house, parts E, F, G and H. Glue the side tabs on E and put G & H on it. Finish by gluing the side tabs on F and attaching the rest of the house.

Glue the top tabs of E and F and add the Roof {M}, making sure the tabs for the chimney are in the back of the house.  You may have to lay it on its side to press it into place.  Glue the top tabs of G and H, also pressing into place.

Glue the side tabs {the ones that are circled} on the Tower L Side {C} to the Tower Front/R Side {A} making the tower box.  Slide the tower into place on the main house and glue the tabs into place on the inside of the main house and roof.

Assemble the tower roof {P}.  Glue the top tabs on the Tower and set the roof on top.  Press from the inside of the tower into place.

Assemble the chimney {D}.  Put glue on the roof tabs for the chimney.  Slide it into place and press from the inside.

Assemble the front window {B} by gluing only the tabs WITHOUT the circles.  When it is all assembled, then glue the tabs with the circled X’s and attach it to the front of the tower {A} where the gray box is located.

Glue the roof cap {J} onto the roof.

Glue the Roof top fence {K} and Front window fence {L} into place.

All done!!  You can download the instructions and .pdf files of the house

HERE if you want to make your own!  For Free!!

**SOME TIPS**

Cut out the windows and glue yellow tissue paper inside over the windows. You can put a small strand of Christmas lights inside to illuminate it.

Google ‘free Halloween clip art’ and cut and paste images to your house to make it spooky.

Print your house out on scrapbook paper that looks like wood or brick to make it more realistic.

Add glitter!

Make another one for Christmas!

We also made a school, that is painted very spooky.

And an equally spooky church.  Our village is almost complete!!

Also, I added some bats to the wall and bent the wings out to make it look a little more realistic.  Piper gets a big kick out of them on the wall!

If you have a Silhouette and want some bats of your own, you can download the .studio file HERE.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Almost Caught Up...

So, I won't bore you about all my laundry, I know we all have plenty of it!  Look how big these two are getting.  We took them to Kennywood last month and they rode everything they were tall enough to get on!  They loved it so much!

Here's some projects I did recently. Another nursing cover with the sweet momma and baby birdies. I hand embroidered the birdies on the pocket part of the cover.

 

This is a little Harry Potter softie for my HP junkie...

I made this on my embroidery machine.

Another project was this curio cabinet.  I bought it on Craigslist for $60.  It was in decent shape, but not really looking to add one more wood tone to my house, so I painted it.  We also replaced the mirrored back with some left over bead board.  I am going to replace the knobs as soon as I can make my way over to Anthropologie!  Hopefully by tonight it will be finished.   

As you can see, in this display cabinet we have TONS of dairy bottles.  My husbands family owned the J.E.Harshbarger Dairy and we have acuired lots of things.  This is where we are going to put everything.  I think that I might get this sign printed out to put over the cabinet.  It was the lid to a little ice cream container and I edited it in Photoshop.

Also, finally finished up the pillow from last year...

Lastly, we are starting to decorate for Halloween!  I have some fun Halloween things I am working out, so check back soon!!

All My Dirty Laundry...

OR

9 Reasons Why I Am Not Blogging Today...

Cause I have a bit of laundry to do...

On a side note, here's a little sneak peek of a  project I recently finished. 

Cute little momma and baby birdies...

Stay tuned, I promise I'll get caught up on laundry soon!