I have been buttoning up my yard in preparation for winter.  My garden plot has been mowed down, all of my flower beds have been successfully weeded and my flower pots are host to new pansies.  This time of year I tend to change a few things around on my front porch and I like to maintain some color as I watch the leaves turn and fall.  In honor of this beautiful time of year, I am releasing my latest design Falling Leaves Flag Pattern.  This embroidery design is really simple in it's concept and it only has 6,645 stitches but it has a really big impact with the addition of artificial leaves.

You can see here that the stitching includes cute seasonal text and a smiling puppy. He is watching all of the beautiful leaves falling around him. My dogs love to do that and they have so much fun chasing the leaves as they fall to the ground.  I purchased a small bag of leaves from my local Dollar Tree store and it had 50 of them so I have a lot of extra ones for future projects.

There are several different fabrics that you can use for garden flags.  On this one, I used OLY FUN fabric which is the same material you will find in reusable grocery bags.  I have done other flag projects using this material and I like it for the price, weight and non fraying qualities. I will tell you that your flag won't have UV protection and might only last one season if you use OLY FUN Fabric. I don't mind that because I love to change regularly.  Also, if I look closely at flags I have purchased they will usually fade pretty quickly and I tend to avoid putting them back up more than two seasons.

The embroidery instructions will take you through the placement of the leaves.  I have included a flag pattern with the design that will help you prepare your fabric and cut the bottom portion. 

You will see how to add the ribbon on the top and sides and sew the trim to the bottom of the flag.  

This would be a great project for a beginner as it includes many techniques that can be used for future sewing and embroidery projects. If you have a sewing  and embroidery machine or combination of the two and feel like you want to do something creative but not too difficult, give this a try. I think you will love seeing your flag in your yard.  I have created a video you can watch below that shows the entire project also so if you are a more advanced seamstress, you should be able to make your own garden flag just by following along.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

My latest project for my home has recycling, gardening, sewing and embroidery all together.  I really hate to throw away any kind of container and when I recently had problems with my washing machine, the leftover parts gave me all kinds of crafting ideas.

Here is the original tub from our front loading washing machine. It is the back end of the tub. The front end has two large pieces of concrete that act as counter weights so the tub will spin correctly.  My washer sounded like an airplane taking off when it would spin. In fact it was so loud, we had to close doors to hear anything.  We tried to first change the four shocks on the tub which was the "Hopefully Easier Fix". After taking everything apart and rummaging around in VERY tight spaces to change those shocks, it helped but we realized it didn't completely solve our issue.  We ordered the rear tub part and found that our bearing had blown out when we disconnected everything. The tell tale oil dripping out confirmed we had found the problem.  We did have to move the washer in and out of our home twice and that is how I can assure you that if the repairman gives you a price, you may want to bite the bullet and pay the man. Unless you have a handy husband and two grown sons to help disassemble it. Or you are extremely cheap with your money and are too stubborn like us to at least give it a shot. I can say that instead of purchasing a new washer that might have cost upwards of $1500, we spent $127.00 on the parts. So not too bad.

The silver lining to all of this besides being able to run my laundry with all doors open is I had a very heavy duty container complete with drainage holes.  I knew a planter would be a great project.

First I painted the tub with spray paint. It is amazing how a little color can transform any object. 

I had already started a flat of zinnias and marigolds from seed several weeks ago, so plants were ready to go in. It's almost like I planned this. No I wouldn't wish that repair on anyone.

I love garden flags so I knew I needed to come up with some kind of hanger.  I had several PVC pipes and a T connector from other projects.  When I tried them in the bearing hole, it was light bulbs and excitement as I began to figure out my flag options.

Using a spray paint that resembles metal helped hide the PVC pipe and gave the stand a sturdy look.

I digitized a sunflower design and added some fun text to stitch on my fabric which by the way is Duck Canvas.  Canvas is a great choice for outdoor projects. It isn't UV rated, but should last for the season. This embroidery design is available in my store in a large 9.5x14 size here or a 5x7 size here.

I sewed the flag and added buttons with elastic to the back so it would be very flexible on the stand.  Then I planted everything and added rocks from around my yard.  This was such a fun project and I filmed a You Tube video showing the entire process including how I sewed the flag. You can watch that below. Maybe it will inspire you to recycle containers for planting or sewing a garden flag. Or repair your washing machine????

I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work.

What a time in our history.  My son said something that really struck home for me. He said it feels weird to be in a state of normalcy and emergency at the same time.  For me, I have been through all of the emotions that I know each of you are living with.  At times, it really is surreal and I have gotten sad.  To help me get motivated, I walked around my yard in the rain and watched my dogs.  You know our furry friends are living this too. As we moved from place to place, I noticed they were just so happy.  

Look at Rambo in the background. He is living right in the moment just like he always does. Patrolling the yard and chasing squirrels.  Look at my flowers. They are beautiful

My garden is coming in nicely and the fig tree that I nurture all year waiting for juicy fruit to harvest is showing the beginning leaves.

I am already picking micro greens and will soon be enjoying fresh salads and herbs.  Nature and my furry friends hold all the hope in the world. They are living and moving forward.  Content and thriving.

If you are feeling down, maybe take a walk outside and just breathe. Look closely at all of the things that are constant around you.  This really helped me. I have a short video showing you my walk in the rain. I send you hope and peace.  
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Day of the Dead is a beautiful way for families to remember their loved ones who have passed.  They gather together and celebrate good memories, decorate their homes with altars, marigolds, candles and sugar skulls. The colors are vibrant and cheerful.  I really can't get enough of it and I made a beautiful wreath to hang on my front porch so I can celebrate and remember my loved ones from now until November 2nd!  BONUS!  GRAB THE COUPON CODE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO GET 20% OFF THESE DESIGNS THROUGH NOV 2, 2019!

This sugar skull design is very special because I digitized it to either be a freestanding face or it can be appliqued onto something. If you notice, there are several circles on it also. Those are for the addition of LED lights!  Yes this design lights up!  There are also button holes along the outside so you can wire the design to a wreath! There are three additional designs available to go with the sugar skull.

A dancing skeleton that you can embroider in multiple colors. Sold individually or in a set

A skeleton puppy to remember man's best friend. Sold individually or in a set

A Skeleton Kitty to remember your furry feline. Sold individually or in a set

When you purchase the Day of the Dead single design or the set, there will be instructions on how to add the LED lights. Here is a back view of everything put together.

Here are the lights. You should be able to find them at your local crafting store.

Look what else you can do with the small designs! Decorate your shoes.

Make cute jewelry

Just go nuts!  

This is a lot of fun to make and my front porch is so bright and cheery.  Check out the video below to see the lights in action. You will definitely fall in love with it!  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

ENTER THE COUPON CODE

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AT CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE 20% OFF these designs!




Day of the Dead Set
Day of the Dead Single
Dancing Skeleton
Skeleton  Kitty
​    Skeleton Puppy
                                                                      Good through November 2, 2019!

Everything has a purpose and if we are creative sometimes, more than one.  It is that wonderful time of year when everything is starting to bloom, the sun is showing up and I am outside enjoying my yard.  This year as I am looking over my outdoor furniture, it is clear I have several items that have deteriorated and need re working.  The chair pictured is wood and I don't feel safe using it for the intended purpose, but I do believe it would make a great planter.  I also have an area in mind for it in my landscape to help divert my puppies from running through. You know what I mean if you have dogs. They have an entire yard to play in, but my flower beds are much more appealing.

I found a pot that was a good size  and traced the circle of it on the chair. Then I cut the shape a few inches to the inside of that diameter in the boards. These are slats that slipped in to the chair frame so I had to be careful they would not slip out and still be able to hold the weight of the pot and dirt.  You can see I braced the slats on the front with a new 1x4 piece of wood.  Then on the back side I took the slats out and using the pot to fit placement, put two pieces of 1x4 stacked in order to have a level frame.  This also helped stabilize everything because the chair was wobbly.

Here is my chair spray painted. I didn't go over it with two coats because I thought the weathered look would be just right. Especially since it is missing a slat in the back.

As I said before I don't like to throw things away if I can figure out another purpose, so the leftover pieces I cut out became a sign.  Here they are laid out.

I used the 1x4 and a few screws to tie all of the pieces together. The wood is very soft and even thought I was careful I had a little splitting but since it is the back, you won't see it once hung on the chair.  I spray painted the sign the same color as the pot. Then I used some acrylic paint to create the text and some clear spray sealer so it can stand up to the elements.

Here it is placed in my landscape.  This area is near my front door and my dogs tend to use it as a cut through. I haven't had any luck keeping a plant alive so this will help keep the area filled. The red color will also help attract hummingbirds. I have a feeder right next to the chair.

Here you can see around the chair several other hardscape elements.

Once everything was placed, I added dirt, flowers and some stones to pull everything together.

Here is the chair from a different view. I think it adds a wonderful pop of color to my front yard.  The cost was minimal because I had all of the building supplies. The entire project took a couple of hours because I had to let the paint dry. My only real expense was for the dirt and flowers. The best part is I didn't throw away something that still had life in it and instead created outdoor art.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

This summer is rapidly coming to an end here and it has been a great growing season.  Most of my flowers and plants have done really well.  I have several beautiful pots on my front porch that were not so lucky.

Most of the day these four planters are in full shade.  I tried several different plants in them but nothing has prospered. As you can see from the photo above the light just does not make it to that area.

Yesterday I visited my local Dollar Stores and picked up several wooden birdhouses and some small wooden fairy fence.  I was also able to find some artificial cattails and other grasses.  I even looked in the toy section and picked up some frog bath toys and figurines.

A small bag of polished rocks helps pull everything together.

So now when you walk up to the front door, you aren't disappointed by dead plants. Instead the pots have some magical whimsy.

All of it was very inexpensive and it took me longer to shop for everything than to install in the the pots.  This will last until the seasons change and I pull out my fall decorations.

This would be so much fun to do with children. The shopping trip to your local Dollar Store may surprise you once you start thinking miniature.  There is a wealth of creative possibilities there.  I may even paint the houses or decorate them with some twigs and pine cones in the future.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you make. Someone will appreciate your hard work!

This year my Christmas tree is a little different.  I get alot of junk mail like most people do but when I received one from Home Depot (no affiliation) a few weeks back I decided to click on the crafty ideas. They were advertising a Christmas tree using a dress form.  As you can see from the picture above I successfully followed their directions.  It is not hard at all and if you are a crafty person you might have most of the items needed already.

Of course you need a dress form, a couple of crates depending on how tall you want it to be and some chicken wire.  I used three crates and was able to get a three foot wide roll of the wire for about $14.00.  I only used about 8 feet of it so a lot left over for another project. I also used burlap to create the dress bust.

If you look at their project they use real cuttings from trees and zip ties.  I pulled out our artificial tree and was able to just hook the limbs in starting at the bottom and working my way up.  The tree I used is a 7.5 foot so I had enough branches. If you use a shorter tree, you may find that three crates is too tall to cover everything up.

Here is a close up of the burlap. I just wrapped it around the form and used straight pins to anchor the top in several places. Then I took folds or darts in the front on each side using the same pins.

Here she is ready to decorate. That was so much fun.  You could literally go wild with this part. I can imagine using trees that were white or pink.  If you used real branches it would smell really great also. 

This idea would be so pretty in a craft room or if you have a little boutique I am sure you will get a lot of positive comments on this tree.  You could even keep it up throughout the seasons.  I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you have learned and are generous with what you make. Someone will appreciate your hard work! 

A place to be creative.  It doesn't have to be a whole room.  It can be a table or closet or corner in your house.  If you are thinking about making a space for yourself and are not sure if it would be worth the trouble; let me tell you that it really is.  
I chose to use the dining room for my craft area.  It is an open concept floor plan and the room is very much in the flow of traffic so the furniture I used needed to be functional yet attractive.  I didn't want it to look disorganized if I had a project in progress so a lot of storage was needed. I looked online at all of the craft table options and chose to pull something together with separate pieces.  I went to our local Sam's Big Box Club * No affiliation* and found the  cube room organizer. The link goes to an 8 cube piece but in our local store I found a six cube so I am not sure if my model is still available. I purchased three of them and then bought a 3/4 inch piece of best quality plywood for the top.  I stained the plywood with several coats  to match the cubes as closely as possible and then put several coats of polyurethane on it.  Once it was dry I attached the top with "L" brackets, so it would not have a possibility of tipping.

I wanted to have an interchangeable way to note what each bin had in them because you can't see through the material.  I used canvas scraps and an indelible marker to write each type of craft item I intended to store. I also used some pretty stamps and ink to add some embellishment.

The neat thing about this method is the use of safety pins to secure the canvas around the handles. Now if I ever want to change them it will be no problem.

I have enjoyed this space so much and am really glad I took the time to paint and decorate it.  Now when I feel like working on something, I have a place to store all of my materials and if I don't finish right away, it can stay set up without bothering anyone else in the house.  I hope this blog has encouraged or given you some ideas for your own craft space.  Remember enjoy your crafting, share what you learn and be generous with what you make. Someone will appreciate your hard work.