I'm a gypsy at heart. I thrive on change. I embrace risk. I love tackling a new challenge.

Last Monday, I began my newest journey - a Masters of Education in Higher Education Leadership. I'm equally excited and terrified. I've been out of the classroom for a while so I'm nervous about balancing everything on my plate. But I have a strong support base so I'm confident I can succeed!

But speaking of plates...

My friend, Jenn, joined me today for an especially, um, cr*fty project. A project inspired by our dear friend, Kimberly, who has recently become involved in Montessori education. We thought it would be a great idea to create table-setting place-mats to serve as learning guides for our children.

{confession}

I had to refer to a book on etiquette to be sure that I remembered the proper way to set a table! How terrible is that?

All you need for this project is:

• Scrap fabric
• Wonder Under
• Contact Paper

Our original plan was to use fabric to create the utensils, but that was an epic failure. We resorted to adhesive Silhouette vinyl. Stay tuned...

Select a fabric to serve as your base. There is no particular size required. My base scrap was about 15" x 12". Jenn's was slightly smaller than that.

Select a coordinating fabric to make the plate and cup markers. Iron Wonder Under to the back of the fabric before you cut out your circles. We traced a child's plate and cup for our circles.

Iron your plate and cup circles to the base fabric. I added a zigzag stitch to our pieces to give them a more finished look.

Cut your utensils - either from scrap fabric or adhesive vinyl. I read a tip online that Wonder Under would work as well as the Silhouette interfacing for cutting fabric on the machine. Um, not quite. I wound up with a frayed, frizzy mess. The Wonder Under stuck to my carrier sheet so I now have to replace that one.

{this did not work well}

{but this was perfect!}

The vinyl worked out well for us. It was silver, which mimicked the look of real silverware. It was a happy mistake - other than the carrier sheet issue.

**sigh**

After everything is laid out on the base fabric, cut 2 pieces of contact paper to laminate the front and back of the placemat.

Our placemats turned out so cute! I plan to make a few more for the rest of my clan. Not only are they functional, but they serve as a teaching aid, too!

I look forward to sharing more projects soon! Have a wonderful week!

Things are coming together, friends! I'm getting more organized every day.

Here is a peek at my new studio space.

Hi there… Have you missed me?

I was hoping that someone would call for a search party! I’ve been buried under a pile of boxes and whatnots! I have never felt more like a hoarder.

I remembered packing up my sewing room last year – 6 boxes or so, right?? Try 35! 35 boxes of fabric, patterns, notions, organizers, tools… that doesn’t include my 5 sewing machines, dress form, and shelving.

I am ashamed.

I am purging as I’m unpacking and it feels so good! And, it feels so bad! I mean, I might eventually need this stuff…

{exiting hoarder’s mindset}

So, as it may be a while before I’m up and sewing, I’m enjoying rediscovering some of my past projects. The ones that came before the blog.

Before the move, I designed my son’s bathroom in “preppy” robots – a great theme that he won’t outgrow anytime soon. And when he does, I will only have to swap out the accessories because the color story should last through his teenage years.

I made a fun plaid shower curtain to anchor my design and built from there. I’ll have to share the curtain with you in a future post.

I used scrap fabric (denim and leftover plaid from the curtain), simple $10 frames from IKEA, and my embroidery machine to create some original artwork.

{I took these photos with my phone. Please excuse the quality!}

I first embroidered my robots onto the denim and ironed Wonder Under between my denim and plaid layers to hold the pieces in place. I then did a quick hand-stitch around the border of the denim, just for decoration.

I trimmed the plaid fabric to the dimensions of the frame insert  - the hard backside of the frame.

I used Mod Podge (my “go to” for everything!) to adhere the fabric to the frame insert and added my hardware to hang. So simple!

The most time consuming part of this project was the embroidery. It took around 30 minutes for each robot. I ran into machine trouble, too, which slowed down the process.

So, for his new bathroom, all that I’ve added is these great wall decals that I found at Michael’s on clearance. They were completely perfect in theme and color. A fun addition, don’t you think?

So, as I’m thinning out my supplies, I’d like to share some of them with you! Who’s up for a free pattern? Dealer’s choice, but never used… I’ll pick a winner at random this coming Friday. Just leave your comments below!

Thank you for coming back to see me after such a long time! I look forward to fun and creative times to share with you as my life settles back into a routine.

I took the week off from work to finish things up around the house - such as, closet shelving, bathroom fixtures, flooring in the exercise room, hanging mirrors...

The plan was to move in today.

{was}

**sigh**

By all appearances things are pretty well complete. Let me take you on a quick tour of the current state of affairs.

{please excuse the dust}

My creative energy was channeled into assembling my side of the master closet. It's not much to look at right now, but I have big plans. I'm proud to say that I did it by myself!!! Planning, unit assembly, shelves, and all.

Allen + Roth, you did not defeat me! Despite your best attempts, crappy directions, and missing hardware... I overcame the challenge.

So, what's holding up progress? The back porch railing has completely kicked our tails. The plumber has to prep the well. Some painting, inside and out. Irrigation has to go in. Landscape and sod. 

{new plan}

We're moving in next Saturday! That's when the real fun begins.

Please keep me in your thoughts.

I have a head full of creative projects to share with you. I'll be back-in-black very soon!

Kimberly and I have decided that Lowe's is the new Michael's. They have creative solutions for just about every project.

We had a lunch date at Lowe's this week to pick through their wide variety of washers - of the metal disk kind, not the clothes washing sort.

We were a sight to see - kneeling on the floor, laying out patterns with washers, in heels and skirts.

Our inspiration came from this project pinned on Pinterest, courtesy of wherethelovelythingsare.com.

All I needed to complete this project were washers and embroidery thread. I had chain and jump rings left over from my previous necklace project to finish this one.

I wanted to go for an ombre effect with my color scheme.

{The other thread pictured is for a second necklace.}

It took an entire skein of thread to wrap my large washer, which I did first. In retrospect, I should have started on the smaller washers to refine my technique. I would highly recommend for you to do the same. You want your focal point to look it's best!

I threaded a large needle to facilitate the wrapping process.

I used Super Glue to secure the end of the thread to the back of the washer. I also used a bit to hold the threads in place when I finished wrapping.

To join the pieces together, I did two figure 8's between washers.

I added a jump ring to the last washer on each side. No special process there. I just wove it into the threads as I was wrapping.

Like it? Pin It

I added my chain and a lobster clasp and it was done! I love the sheen of the thread. I don't think you would ever know that basic washers were underneath it all.

Aren't we lucky to live in such creative times? I love the handmade movement. It's such a great way to express your own perspective and to give someone something really special.

On an unrelated subject, I have exciting news to share! We're moving into our new house next week! It has been exactly one year since I saw my belongings. To be honest, I haven't really missed a thing - except my serger.

I'll have to share some pics of the finished house. Talk about one massive, exhausting, creative project! I'm so glad it's nearly done. Please say a prayer for me that the move goes smoothly.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!