Easy Sew Computer Bag

Did you get a new laptop computer for Christmas?  This is a super easy sew computer bag.

I had previously made some clutch purses....

...And used the same directions for the computer bag as I did for these clutches, I just made them bigger.

Go to Midwestern Girl for the super easy instructions.  There is no sense repeating them, she does such a great job.

I made this computer bag for my niece for Christmas

When I was shopping for fabric for the bag, I thought I had picked out some really cute fabric, but then I decided to ask a teenage girl that was also shopping.  She looked at my fabric selection and said "Oh no, here let me help you"

Oh, I am so uncool! This is the fabric she picked and my niece loved it!

Then I picked the fabric for my bag and I love it!

Thank you Midwestern Girl for the super easy instructions!

I hope you all have a great New Years! 

 My mind is spinning with all I want to do in 2013

My number one thing I want to accomplish is redoing my Sewing/Craft room

Ok kids, lets hear it....

What is the number one thing you want to accomplish in 2013

Happy Creating!

Carol

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas 

I'm getting ready to host Christmas Eve dinner for family and friends.  When I was growing up in Minnesota we traditionally had oyster stew on Christmas Eve (It's a Minnesota thing) , I can't say I ever liked it, I ate the stew, not the oysters and a lot of oyster crackers!  The tradition has changed over the years from a Christmas Eve dinner of appetizers to now, a traditional Florida dinner of NY strip steaks on the grill...YUM

The food isn't important, it is just so fun to gather on a special night with family and friends.  

I want to thank a dear Canadian blog friend Kasia at Chatelet for sending me this beautiful handmade ornament and card...Thank you!

Before I go, I wanted to repost this sweet story and picture from last year

So the story goes....This Nativity scene was erected in a church yard and during the evening some parishioners came across this scene

An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep.  No one had the heart to send him away, so he was there all night, curled up in the comfort of baby Jesus' lap

To make it even sweeter, the dog breed is a shepherd

Wishing You All A Very Merry Christmas!

Carol

Wedding Flower Rose Wreath

Here is the last of three projects I  made with the dried wedding flowers........Memories to last forever!

The next time you are at a wedding, grab the wedding flowers, don't let them go to the wait staff or in the garbage....It would be best to wait until the wedding is over lol! 

Ok kids, lets review...Every table at the wedding was set with teapots filled with roses and babies breath

The Wedding is HERE

I started with the babies breath and made a Christmas wreath

Wreath tutorial is HERE

Then I made ornaments useing the roses and babies breath in snap together ornaments from the craft store and water slide decals with the wedding details.

Water slide tutorial HERE...Ornament tutorial is HERE

I still had flowers left......

...So, I made a wreath of roses

I covered a styrofoam wreath with ribbon

And then started glueing the roses on until it was all filled in

I sent the newlyweds the ornaments filled with their wedding flowers and I'm saving the Christmas wreath for them until they get their first house.

Now, this rose wreath, I really love it.....  It's perfect in my shabby little house.  I'm thinking maybe this is a little gift to myself.  SSSHHH don't tell the newlyweds.

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying with
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
The Thrifty Grove

Wedding Flower Ornaments

Before the wedding I knew I wanted to save the  flowers for keepsake projects 

Our ancestors carefully saved special occasion flowers by pressing them in book pages.  I came up with this new twist on a long lost tradition that could be treasured for generations to come.

The first thing I made with the wedding flowers was this babies breath wreath...Here

Then I had all of the flowers left over

I purchased clear balls and heart ornaments from Hobby Lobby.

Then added water slide decals..Tutorial HERE...Instead of water slide decals, you could hang a paper tag with the occasion and date

I filled them with wedding flowers and babies breath then snapped them together and added ribbons for hanging

The empty ornaments are available all year round

I think this would be a wonderful way to save flowers from

Weddings

Proms

Dances

Anniversaries

The heart would be perfect for any occasion and could be hung from the corner of a mirror or knob

Guess what?...Yep, I still have flowers left and one more project up my sleeve!  

Oh, Bradley and Alicia, these ornaments are headed your way!

Happy Crafting!

Carol  

Dear Blog Friends

Carol

Shabby Telephone Table

I found a wonderful telephone table at an estate sale, of course I had to Shabby it up!

I Sprayed it with heirloom white paint, I've done a lot of brush painting lately, but with the open scrolls on the sides, spraying was easier and I was in a hurry to get some furniture in my antiques booth

I used my water slide decal on the front..Tutorial HERE  The Graphic is from Graphics Fairy

Oh, it's got to be pretty on the inside too, so I used a shelf liner I bought at the Dollar store

I priced this at $45 and took it to my

 "OH SO EMPTY" booth at Orange Tree

I've been painting up a storm.  My booth was so neglected while I was focused on the wedding, I usually check my booth twice a week, here's my booth as I left it before the wedding

And here is how I found it after the wedding... How great is that!  I love to look at the pictures and play the "What's missing game"!

Along with the telephone table, I painted a tall plant stand and some other furniture pieces......

And got my booth filled up once again!

Yippee, I'm catching up! 

 I got so behind with all of the wedding prep and festivities.

Yep, Carol's got her groove back!

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying with
Miss Mustard Seed

How To Make A Babies Breath Wreath

Now that the wedding is over, besides being left with fond memories we were left with tons of gorgeous  flowers, enough to make a Babies Breath Christmas Wreath

Every table at the wedding had a silver teapot filled with roses and babies breath

After the Wedding I hung them all up to dry

Then made them into a wreath

I took a 10" styrofoam wreath and wrapped it with ribbon

Then through trial and error, I found the best way to glue the Babies Breath on, was to take a small bunch and hot glue it down

 Then take another small bunch and glue it onto the STEMS of the first bunch, layering them until the whole wreath was covered

I then added some ornaments, dried roses, pearls, and ribbon

And I had a Shabby Christmas wreath for someone special........

   

 .....This is for YOU my new Daughter in Law (I love that she reads my blog)

  I know you like vintage, but not really shabby, and you have no place to display or store this now, so I will store it for you, and when the time comes and you get your first house, you will have a Christmas wreath to hang,  a sweet remembrance of your special day!

Now, what to do with all of the flowers I have left......Stay tuned, I have plans!

Happy Creating!

Carol

Partying at
My Repurposed Life 
Coastal Charm

Sugar bee crafts

Getting Back on Track,The Dress

All righty then, the wedding is over and now it is time to get back on track!  

First, thank you, I had so many kind comments on the dress I wore for the wedding.  No secrets at "The Polka Dot Closet"...I had to share with you the "Thrifty mother of the groom"

I don't like clothes shopping at all...So I only went to a couple stores and bingo I found the dress for the wedding.  I knew it wouldn't come cheap but, I was thrilled to find THE dress for $219 but OH LOOK $79.99 for an Oleg Cassini!

It was a long dress so I did pay $60 to have it hemmed and the shrug made from the left over material ...But it was still a deal!

Next up shoes, oh it is so hard to find a comfortable dressy pair of shoes and you know you won't get much wear out of them

Yes folks I'm almost embarrassed to tell you I found these at the thrift store for...$5.00 and I borrowed the purse from my Mom 

OK, now we have to talk about the elephant in the room.... Well the two elephants.....Yes, I'm going to go there!

I was MORTIFIED when I saw the pictures.  I tried the dress on at the store and at the seamstress, but I didn't move around...It seems the more I moved around I eventually had a herd of elephants!

I'm a conservative dresser and had I known I would have had the seamstress make a ruffle or something to disguise the herd! Well, not much I can do about it now.

So my tip for the day, if you have a dress for a really special occasion...Give it a test drive!

So glad I got that off my chest!

Listen, I've got to run, my antiques booth is pretty sparse, so I have furniture to refinish and oh, Christmas...Maybe I should shop, put up the tree, bake (Who am I kidding, I don't bake), send out cards.......Yep, time to get back on track! 

Happy Creating!

Carol