*CTSB*: Vintage Lace and Linen Belt - Elizabeth from Simple Simon & Co.

Hi.  My name is Elizabeth and I blog at Simple Simon & Co with my sister-in-law Liz.  Yes, we are two girls who married brothers, who always had the same first name and then ended up with the same last names.  Confusing, yes.  We get it all the time.  We are teased as being the good Liz and the bad Liz...but we won't confess which is which on a particular day.  We blog about sewing, crazy thrift store finds, and we also love to see what we can make every week for $5 or less.  Come see us sometime!  We'd love to have you join us.

I have had linen and lace on the brain lately.  Sadly, I have had a summer bag cut out of linen and lace for over a month now that was inspired by Jessica's market bag, but I need the energy to start it.  I have had much more success with smaller projects lately.  Maybe sometime soon I will get more enthusiasm for a bigger and longer project.
Anyway, this belt was made from the scraps of the linen and lace bag.  The lace was a thrift store find that was on a bolt for a dollar--and I love it!   The other great thing about this project is that was about a thirty minuter so I could easily fit it into "resting time" which in the summers are way shorter than my usual sewing time.

So, if you need a fast and easy scrap project here is what I did.

And here's how you make it...

And you are done!  A quick and easy summer update to your wardrobe...that looks expensive, but is really made of scraps.  Score!

Can you see the safety pin at the back?  This dress form is about Hannie's size waist.....and I made the belt for me.  Hence the huge tuck in the back.

I do love velvet ribbon.  Anyone have any good online sources?  This spool was on clearance because it had a flaw, but it was still pretty expensive.  I sometimes just wish I had a fabric and ribbon fairy.

Jessica, thanks for having me.....it is always a fun time over here.

Thanks Elizabeth!  Isn't that adorable?  Leave her some comment love girls!  Up next tomorrow - Melissa from Love Affair with my Brother.  See you then!

xoxo

jessica

*CTSB* - Summer Dahlia Wreath - Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Welcome to my day of Cure the Summertime Blues!

Today, I'm going to show you how to make this Dahlia Wreath!

It's coming to that time of year, when the Dahlias are going to show their pretty faces to the sun!  

They are such amazing flowers!  

And because I love them so much, I thought they would look so nice on a summer wreath!

There are many tutorials out there on how to make these felt flowers,
but I thought I'd add my own, so you can have a one-stop place to create.
They are much easier than they appear!

So pretty!

Embellishing is my favourite part!

I love argyle, so I thought this touch was perfect!

Here's How-To:

What You Need:

• 3 sheets of felt:  1 fuschia, 1 turquoise, 1 gold
• 1 green styrofoam wreath base (I don't use the white ones anymore, because they are just too crumbly and delicate.  Get the compact green styrofoam ones.)
• 1 ball of yarn, I used a thick charcoal yarn
• embroidery thread (or you can use yarn), in fuschia, turquoise, gold (for the argyle finishing touch)
• glue gun
• scissors

Let's do it: (following the little chart above...)

1.  Cutting the dahlia petals:  

Cut the felt, first into squares:  (you may have to adjust the number of petals, depending on how close you glue them together.  Here are the numbers that worked for me:

• Large dahlia:  16 - 1.5 inch squares, 13 - 1 inch, 11 - 0.5 inch squares
• Small dahlia:  12 -  1 inch squares, 9 - 0.5 inch squares

Note:  I found that the smallest dahlia didn't need a 3rd set of petals.

Then, cut the squares into soft edged hexagons, as shown in the picture above in section 1.

2.  Using a glue gun, put a line of glue at the bottom of the petal.

3.  Fold over and pinch tight, until the glue holds.

4.  Putting the flowers together: 

Make a 3 inch circle of felt for the large flower, and a 1.5 inch circle for the smaller flower.

Glue the largest petals along the outer edge of the circle first.

5.  Then glue the next largest size of petals along the bottom of the first set of petals.  Repeat for smallest petals.

6.  Making the centre of the flower:

Cut 2 4 x 0.25 inch strips of felt, one out of the same colour as the flower, and one out of yellow felt.

7.  Snip along the edges of the strips, as shown in #7.

8.  Layer the 2 strips, and roll together to make a circle.  Then glue this into the centre of the dahlia.

9.  Making the wreath.
Wrap your styrofoam base with yarn.  I have found that the thicker the yarn, the less chance you need to double wrap it.  I also like the more rustic look the chunkier yarn gives.

For a full tutorial on wrapping the wreath, please refer to a previous post I did, here.

10.  Finishing Touches:

Using the embroidery thread, I just wrapped it around the finished wreath, in an X pattern.

Just adds a little touch of pretty to tie it all together!

11.  Finishing Touches:

I always like to make my own wreath hanger too.

All I did here was thread a loop of embroidery thread through the back of the wreath, tied a knot, and added a little flower embellishment.

Just simple, summery and pretty!

Thank you so, so much for stopping by!

Make sure to go on over to these great blogs to see what they are doing to Cure the Summertime Blues!

July 20th - Elizabeth from Simple Simon and Co.

July 21st - Melissa from Love Affair with my Brother

July 22nd - Anna from Ask Anna...

July 25th - Beverly from Flamingo Toes

July 26th - Tristin from Two Girls Being Crafty

July 27th - liZ from Simple Simon and Company

July 28th - Sunny from Love Affair with my Brother

July 29th - Shannon from Sew Homegrown

Have a great day!

 

Wow- thanks so much Jo-Anna!!!  Isn't that wreath just gorgeous?!

Be sure to go visit her over on A Pretty Life in the Suburbs!

Hope everyone has a great day!

xoxo

jessica

Fabric Frenzy Giveaway Winners!!!

Thanks for all of the super sweet comments you left during this giveaway - you guys are the best!

So here are the winners!

Fabric group 1 : pattij

Fabric group 2 : laurawilson25

Fabric group 3 : rrjane011749

YAY!! congratulations!  Send me an email with your info, and I'll get your fabric in the mail!

jessica(at)sewhomegrown(dot)com

xoxo

jessica

*CTSB*{DIY} Anthopologie-inspired Door Hanging

Wooo hoooo!  It's time to kick those summertime blues!

It's hot - the kids are a little antsy...so let's stay in the AC and get crafty!

We rearranged the "Summertime Blues" schedule a little 

so I'll be kicking things off today with this Anthro-knock off!

I made mine as door-hanging(I actually made two!) 15" square, theirs is a mirror 12" square.

mine $3:

theirs $168:

My sister and her husband are moving into a new condo on her birthday 

- so what better gift than something to brighten up their new door?  

I guarantee seeing this on your door will make coming home that much sweeter.  

Ready?  Here's what you'll need:

Scrapbook paper (or cut up magazines/greeting cards/etc.)

wooden frame (either purchased or made)

glue

foam brush

craft gloss glaze

xacto knife/scissors

ruler

Step 1: Cut out the squares.  The dimension of your squares will depend on the size of your frame.  My hubby built mine at 15"x15" - each side 2 1/2" wide.  So I cut 24 squares 2 1/2"x 2 1/2".

Step 2:  Decide on the placement of your squares, then glue them to the frame (I just used white Elmer's glue).

Step 3:  Brush the gloss on top of the "tiles" and let it dry.

Step 4:  If you would like a little bunting - make 4 triangles out of paper - I cut the letters H O M E and then sewed the triangles to a ribbon.

Ta- da!

Simple and stylish door-hanging - now go! go! go! Don't let those summertime blues get you!  And if you have older kids - they could make one of these for their room too!
Up next tomorrow - Jo Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs with a Home Decor project!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

jessica

Farm Fresh Frittata

If you enjoy strolling through your local farmer's market every Saturday morning, consider picking up a few ingredients to make this delicious (and gluten free) frittata.

• zucchini or yellow squash
• 7-8 eggs
• country sausage
• cheese
• salt/pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.  Brown the sausage in an oven safe skillet - then grate the squash into the skillet (I find Charlotte eats it much better this way - and if you use yellow squash I bet your kids won't even know it's in there).

 

Whisk the eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl and pour into pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Let it cook for a few minutes, then place it in the oven until the eggs are set and the cheese is bubbly.

Serve with summer peaches and fried potatoes - delish!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

jessica

*Inspired Homemaking* - clothing to make

I've got an idea swimming around in my head...and I'm not quite ready to share it but here's a hint:

it involves lots of handmade clothing.

So here's a list of some pretty things I've found that I would like to make soon.
A few things:
if you haven't already, go ahead and enter the fabric giveaway
My "cure the summertime blues" series will be starting on Monday!!
AND I haven't announced it on here, but if you're on Facebook you know - every friday I feature 3 links to follower's blogs.  I  love getting to know you and seeing the things you're doing.  If you are featured on Follower Fridays on Facebook or *Inspired Homemaking* feel free to grab a button from the right side bar.

Happy Thursday!

This headwrap from The Letter 4 

is sooooo adorable.

This shirt is beautiful.

By Amanda from Modern Marigold for Sew, Mama, Sew!

These DIY gold pants are totally amazing.
Don't know if I'd be brave enough to make them in gold -
but Andy from StyleScrapbook totally pulls them off.

Jessica from Happy Together shares a tutorial for this super cute rag bag!

I love this dress over at Maybe Matilda - it even has pockets!

Aren't you inspired?
So many talented people.  I love it.
xoxo
jessica

Ribbon Storage Solution

Again with the moving organization....

I had a bad ribbon problem.

I remembered something Shannon had told me about using jars for ribbon organization.

I'm sure this has been done before, but this is my take on it.

You'll need - various clean jars, fabric scraps, rubber bands, scissors, and an unruly mess of ribbons.

Organize your ribbon by color - and put each color in a different jar.

Leave little tails of ribbon hanging out.

Snip a little cross into the center of a scrap of fabric - feed the ribbon through - then secure it to the jar with a rubber band.  Trim off any excess fabric about 1/4" from the rubber band.

No more ribbon mess.

YAY!

Happy organizing.

xoxo

jessica