Set of Drawers

We are just weeks away to moving into our new home and we are both getting so excited! Every day I add a few more "DIY" Projects I'd like to do to decorate the house. I have completed a few small projects, but am so excited about the makeover I gave a really ugly set of drawers - it will go next to the glider in the Brynlee Ann's room.

The drawers were FREE - I think my mom got them from a garage sale either for free or SUPER cheap and Brian has been using them as a bedside table.

We used a bottom coat or two of Bone White Olympic Paint. It only took about half of the sample can of paint to paint two coats on the drawers. For the top layer, we painted two coats of Sail Cloth - also a sample can of the Olympic Paint. Brian even spilled about half of the can and we still had enough!

We let the paint dry overnight and then used sand paper to distress the entire piece. I bought these knobs for half-off at Hobby Lobby and replaced the ugly wood knobs.

We are so pleased with the final product!

Tomorrow we are getting Brynlee Ann's new-to-us nursery furniture! We will be applying the same technique to these pieces and I can't wait to share the "befores" & "afters" with you when they are complete!

Pillowcase Dresses

The other day I was looking through Etsy for several girly things for Brynlee Ann. A while ago, I dreamed of making clothes for our little one but thought that by the time I bought a pattern, fabric, thread, and accessories it would cost as much to make the clothes as it would to buy on clearance/resale. Back to looking on Etsy...I kept seeing the cutest dresses (on Zulily, too) and found myself staring out them seeing if I could figure out how to make them and if I had good enough eye to pick out fabrics & add-ons and if I could make a straight line when sewing, and on, and on...
I finally bit the bullet and tried...

and succeeded! 

I loved making this dress so much that I decided to try another...

 and succeeded again (this time better)!

Ya'll...I am LOVING this! It is something to keep me busy when Brynlee is taking naps and I have fun doing it! My favorite part is going to the store to pick out the fabrics, ribbons, and trims!

Hubby is going back to school full time for his masters in January and I would love to be able to help our little family in any way I can. Here's where you come in -- I would love to start making these for others and selling them at an affordable cost! I'm not sure how I feel about going through an online website like Etsy or PayPal just yet, so I need your help to spread the news around! If you or anyone you know would like a dress made, please send them my contact information: brian(dot)sarah(dot)langhoff@gmail(dot)com or find me on Facebook (Sarah Langhoff).

Can't wait to be able to share my love of these dresses with others!

-Sarah

Burp Cloths

I have gotten so pumped up about sprucing up plain old burp cloths! I'm not the best seamstress in the world, but I'd really like to improve. I have several sewing projects I'd like to work on, but I felt that the easiest way to start was with straight-lined projects...thus, the burp cloth projects!

I learned that this thick, minky material is REALLY hard to sew to a thick burp cloth...maybe I'll learn some techniques of how to handle that, because I really like the soft material. Can't you just imagine having your face up against something that soft?? :-)

This fabric came from an old skirt that I've outgrown. I kept it in my craft box because I just loved the fabric. I think this fabric might be good for some other sewing projects, but I think it was way too thin for this burp cloth and it was REALLY hard to cut in a straight line, and therefore fold in a straight line.

I really like this fabric - it is just a plain old cotton fabric. It cut well, folded well, and sewed well. I think I lined it up a little off centered, but I'm pleased overall with my improvement.

I would LOVE some more practice -- if you would like to provide the burp cloth and fabric, I will make one (without embroidery) for free! I have burp cloths that I can provide for $2 and then we can talk about prices for fabric and embroidery :-) Leave a comment, facebook message me, or email me (512smellme@gmail.com) if you're interested in helping me out :-D

Easy Bow Holder Tutorial

The supplies you'll need:

• ribbon
• tulle
• hot glue gun & glue sticks
• scissors
• hanger
• Fray Check or Fray Block (not pictured)
• yard stick

Start by cutting six, 2 yard strands of tulle. You are going to fold each strand in half and loop it around the hanger.

Set the hanger aside for now. Measure each of your ribbons to be 39 inches. Before you cut, apply Fray Check or Fray Block and let dry to prevent the ribbon from fraying.

After you've cut all the ribbons, plug in your hot glue gun and prepare the ribbons to be layered, if desired.

Measure 3 inches of ribbon and make a crease. Turn the hanger the opposite direction that you want it to be hanging. Glue the center ribbon first - glue down the 3 inches in the back. Next slide one tulle strand on either side. Repeat the gluing process for two more ribbons (one on each side). Then slide two strands of tulle on each side over and glue the final ribbons.

Turn it over to make sure everything is placed where you'd like.

The finished product:

In Brynlee Ann's new room she will have a shelf with pegs and this will likely hang from that. I have a few more projects to do, so stick around :-)