Red, White, and Blue

     Happy late 4th of July!  We’ve been busy spending time with family, crafting with babies, and eating.  I love any sort of holiday, and I’ve had all sorts of red, white, and blue warm fuzzies for the 4th – the music, the pageantry…the food.  This was Davis’s first big holiday, and the cousins were fully decked out in their red, white, and blue!

We love these sweet cousins!

     Della loves to decorate for any holiday, so after she adorned the house in streamers and shiny garland, we got busy crafting.  Della and Suzanne made one for my sister.  Davis made one for me, and all the cousins made one for Granny’s house.

     My sister found the boards at Walmart in a 3-pack for just a few dollars.  We used tempera paint, and if we made any mistakes, we were able to wipe the paint off with a wet rag and redo it without ruining the board! #winning  Also…in case you were wondering, Davis loathes crafting and having his foot painted was apparently pure torture.  Luckily, babies have a short memory, and I love my art!

Look at those sweet feet!

The big girls did some firework art (shamelessly pirated from Momfessionals).

     I love how our art turned out.  Davis may be making me a firework picture in a few years!  After our crafting and photo shoot, we spent the afternoon playing outside (the weather was so nice) and eating.  We didn’t go to a firework show, but there were sparklers and smoke bombs to be had in the backyard.  I figure we have a little time until Davis is begging for the big show!
     I seriously cannot believe that it’s already July!  I am soaking up every last minute of this summer with my baby because I know August is coming too soon.  If you need me between now and then, I’ll be staring at my baby.

Just in Case

     Just in case you haven’t been keeping up with my 101 in 1001 (don’t worry…I forget about it too), here’s a little update/tutorial/bragging.  I did one of my Pinterest projects! 
     This little towel roll-up was a special request from my sister, and I am loving the way it turned out.  For all you non-sewers…don’t worry.  This was really easy (and could totally be done with fabric glue or Stitch Witchery.

Towel Roll Up

     I know you’re thinking that this just looks like a folded hand towel, and while it sort of is, you’re missing the fun/usefulness!  Let’s do a quick how-to, shall we?

You will need
1 hand towel
thread
(optional) ribbon
(optional) button
(optional) elastic

1.  With the back side of the towel facing up, fold from the bottom up about 2/3 of the way.

2.  Measure across and mark (I used pins) about how wide you want your pockets to be.  Mine were roughly 6 inches apiece with four pockets, but you could have as many as you want.

3.  (If your thread and bobbin color match, skip this step)  Flip towel over and stitch from the edge of the pocket (you’ll have to go by feeling where it is) all the way to the bottom.

4.  Repeat step 3 until all pockets are sewn.

Note:  This project could be finished here.  I didn’t add any of the cutesies for my brother-in-law’s towel, because men generally don’t care about the fixins.

5.  If you’re not done, stitch a length of cute ribbon along the right hand side of the front of the towel.

I know the ribbon’s stitching is not even…I’m calling it whimsy.

6.  Add a coordinating button.

7.  Roll towel up to about how big you think you’ll like it.  This is a matter of preference.  Loop elastic around the button and pull it around behind the back of the roll (stretching it pretty tightly).

8.  Tack elastic to the back of the towel (I stitched inside the pocket so you can’t see the untidy tacking.).

9.  Roll up, secure, and marvel at how cute you are!

     These are so cute, and will definitely come in handy.  No one likes to search for a toothbrush that has sunk to the bottom of a bag.  With this, all of your things are right there together, and you can wipe y our mouth on it, dirty it up, and then just throw it in the wash!  Also…how cute would these be monogrammed?!  Reason #578 why I need one of those machines!

Where I Link Up

Preview

     I know you’ve all been waiting on pins and needles (pun definitely intended) to see what I’m going to guest post over at Hating Martha.  While I certainly can’t show you my finished product (although I soooo wish I could), I am so excited to share a little preview!

    
     You guessed right – those are ruffles!   I am just itching to tell you what it is, but you’ll have to wait a few more days.  I will tell you that overall, this has been the most difficult sewing crafty I’ve ever done (which is probably mostly my fault…).
    My guest post will be up on the 27th over at Hating Martha – yay!
Allyson

New Year, New Look

ew year, new look!  

    About this time last year is when I started kicking around the idea of starting my own blog.  I didn't have much of a plan or any real intentions, but I jumped in anyway.  Over the past year, I have learned a TON about blogging, crafting, and the whole blog world.  I think that's what I wanted all along.
    As I've found a few blogs to follow regularly, I have really started to take notice of what a good layout can do for a blog.  That was the motivation behind this major change.  Although I don't expect my new layout (thanks to Miss Pickles Design Studio's free templates and tutorials) to make me some sort of blogging superstar, I do hope that it will draw in some new readers who will respond to my new posts. 
    I'm so excited about this year, and I am looking forward to sharing every bit of it with you.  I'll have a lot to post about school; as I get closer to graduating, the craftiness of my assignments increases exponentially - I love it!  I'll definitely be posting more and more about weddings.  Every second I'm engaged I get about a billion times more excited.  Of course I'll share all my little crafties with you too!
    I know I already told you, but I am so excited about this year, and I hope you'll all be along for the ride!

P.S. Let me just brag on Miss Pickles for a minute.  How cute is her template?  I love the characters, and this little cutie is perfect for me - she's sitting by a wedding cake...and cupcakes!

Allyson

Loose Ends

wo days from now I will be ringing in the new year, and I couldn't be more excited.  2011 has been an incredible year, and I am so ready to see what 2012 has in store for me.

I'm not going to bother making any resolutions...they'll just get broken anyway, but I will grow and learn and try to do better.

Before I leave 2011 behind, I thought I would recap the last few little tidbits of 2011.  For Christmas, I made three cute little crafties that were given as gifts.

This is my third braided scarf! I gave it to my aunt and she LOVED it!

I made both of these for my niece to match outfits that my mother bought her.
I used the incredibly simple (and precious) tutorial from Notes From the Patch.

I don't think I'll ever use another method to make a bow!

 

 

I am so happy with all of my crafties that I've made this year, and I am just itching to see what I can do next year!  I'll make sure to post a lot, so that you can all keep up with what's happening in my Cupcakes and Candy Canes world.

My final tidbit (which is not so much a "tidbit" as it is HUGE NEWS) of 2011...............I'm engaged!!  This was the icing on top of an amazing year.  I'm so excited to dive into wedding planning (with a long-ish timeline) and wedding crafting and all of the other fun details!  I'll be keeping you updated on all of that too!

Have a WONDERFUL last few days of 2011, and I hope that 2012 is wonderful!!

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Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

hristmas is in full swing at my house! The (five) trees are decorated, the stockings are hung, and the house is absolutely full of goodies (more on those in another post)!

Just in case you're wondering...the picture isn't crooked. The tree leans to the right. Those white blobs at the top are angels made out of paper doilies - one for me, my sister, and my niece. 

This has always been one of my favorites (we actually have two, but we only put one up). We only put vintage glass ornaments on it. It has a spinning color wheel that goes with it too!

This is my tree. I like for it to be the epitome of girly, sparkly, sweetness!

Toy Tree. My niece can take everything off this tree and play with it.

Also mine...obviously. You know about my love for cupcakes...the two in the front are the first two in a Hallmark series. I want to get enough of them to display them on my cupcake stand!

In addition to the tree forest, we have about a billion Santa Clauses, nativities, and a few more trees.

Christmas is a pretty big deal here...

On that note, last night we went to the Christmas music at our church, and it was incredible. I love all things Christmas, but there is just something about hearing a choir tell the story that gives it that extra oomph!

The last thing I wanted to show you is another new crafty something! It took seriously about twenty minutes start to finish.  You just can't beat that!

There you have it, Christmas in a nutshell. I hope your decorations are sparkly and beautiful and that you hear incredible music and services. I'll be doing more Christmas crafts and cooking very soon! And I promise that I'll post about our baking day and Christmas goodies!

Merry Christmas!

School, Crafting, and Pinterest

chool started a few weeks ago, and even though I don't stay too busy...I still find it really hard to do cutesy, crafty things.  I have all of these great ideas bouncing around in my head, and the few times I try to accomplish something...huge disaster. 
  I'm not sure if I told you or not, but I have this adorable orange and white polka dotted fabric that I was going to use to make a Tennessee Vols shirt for my niece.  I cut out a big Power T and started sewing it onto a plain long sleeve black t-shirt.  I had no sooner started than my sewing machine ATE the fabric...  Seriously.  I had to take apart part of the machine just so that I could yank the shirt and the huge thread ball out of the mechanism.  Annoyed but determined, I found another shirt, cut out another T, and started again.   I got no further on this one than the machine ate ANOTHER shirt! 
  I still haven't tried again. 
  Maybe in a few weeks when I'm less annoyed.  My machine has only done that once!  Twice in a row?  Ridiculous. 
  Also on the agenda...a yarn wreath, a scarf, and that quilt that I've been working on forever.
  In brighter (although no more productive) news - I'm on Pinterest. Follow me!

Pre-Beach Craftiness

So we just got back from the beach…it was incredible.

I was on an extreme craft kick right before we left.  In addition to the bazillion bows, I made the perfect “riding to the beach” outfit for Della.  Of course it was outrageously simple like all of the other things I make, but I’ve never thought that took away from the cute-ness.

No more waiting…I can’t wait to show you!

Adorable right?! Just wait!

I love rickrack!  Still not totally done though!

Matching bow! 

I think this is my favorite thing I have made so far!

So, not only did Della look adorable in her shirt, but she absolutely LOVED the beach!

I know this wasn’t the most literarily satisfying blog…but that last picture makes up for it in spades!

I hope you all had a spectacular summer.  Get ready for some serious fall crafting!

       Also, I’m on Pinterest now – follow me “Allyson Butler”

his week (ok...weekend) I have about 876763 things that I am finally going to finish! I have all of these adorable crafty ideas that I've been meaning to finish...it's easy to lose motivation at the end of the day though.

That being said, I'm posting my to-do list. Partially so that I know what I have to do...and partially so that I can drum up some motivation.

* Finish those adorable ruffly flower shorts...mentioned here.

* Make a shirt with a fish on it for my niece.

* Make a hair bow to go with the fish shirt.

* Make a hair bow to go with another outfit.

* Sew a button on a pair of shorts (if I didn't list it I would forget it!)

* Possibly add something cute to a pillowcase dress I made.

I think that's all. It doesn't seem like much...until I get comfortable.

So there you have it! Not the flashiest or best post ever - but effective.

Back to Blogland

I know...I've been a bad blogger.  I've been busy-ish (i.e. lazy).  My summer has been mostly work and not nearly as much crafting as I intended to do.  To that end, I don't have any pictures to show you now, but I am almost done with a few things that I will definitely be showing you soon and very soon!  Don't give up hope yet readers...I still have big plans for this blog.

Oh wait!
I found a picture to share!

I made this for my niece to wear on the 4th!  Pretend like it's a better quality photo...and understand that the bow is huge!  I love a big hair bow, and this one is one of my favorites so far!

Introductions

have very few concrete intentions for this blog, so it's all going to be a constant work-in-progress. I've always loved crafty and adorable things, and it's one of my goals to be that crafty.  On that note, this blog will document my long, self-navigated journey to craftiness.  There will be lots of pictures and updates about everything I can think to say.  The first thing I'm hoping to do this year is make a pillowcase dress, then I'm moving on to hair bows, and my master plan is to make a quilt (which I've sort of "started").  I'll be sure to sprinkle in tidbits about cookie decorating (another adventure I'm taking with my sister).  So far, this is shaping up to be an adventurous year, and I'm really looking forward to it!

By the way, wondering where I got that adorable drop cap? It's all thanks to The Daily Drop Cap