Black Apple Dolls

 I'm sure you have seen Black Apple Dolls everywhere lately. I downloaded the pattern a long time ago and finally got around to using it recently.

Our close friends moved away and our daughters were also close, so they have been missing each other. So, I decided to make matching dolls for the girls in their own likeness.

This was a great stash busting project and I had fun coming up with new dress combinations for each girl.

It was such a fun project and I'm so glad each girl loved their doll! Now my daughter feels closer to them even while they are far apart;)

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Pillowcase Wall Art

I have mentioned my never ending love for crewel embroidery before and although I still have yet to run into my love match in that department...I did find a way to ease my need for vintage wall art.

Enter vintage pillowcase wall art:

I found this vintage pillowcase at Goodwill a few months back knowing that I wanted to frame it right away. It got stashed in my fabric drawers until I found the right sized frame (for the right price).

Finally I came upon the perfect sized frame (with art and glass) for $1 at Goodwill and the rest of handmade wall art history!

I took the art and glass out of the frame (I saved the art for another project coming soon...) and stained the frame to make it darker. I cut the pillowcase in half (the design was also on the other side...which will also get used later) and wrapped it over the cardboard that was already in the back of the frame.

I chose not to put the glass back in the frame...just the pillowcase because I wanted the texture to show through. I keep thinking that I might get brave someday and actually embroider on it as well to create my own version of crewel. But for now it satisfies my need for vintage wall art (for under $2) and makes me very happy:)

What are some different things you have used for wall art?

Fabric Summer Wreath

OK...so this isn't really just a summer wreath seeing as how it's been hanging on my door since January. I haven't taken the time to take a final photo of it within the last 5 months. My bad.

I originally found this wreath over at Here's Looking at Me, Kid and I fell in love with everything about it. It had me at stripes and flowers. So, after reading the tutorial here, I decided to make my own version.

Materials:

straw wreath (bound in plastic)

old T-shirt (or fabric of your choice)

hot glue gun

knife (for cutting the wreath)

felt for flowers

I found this T-shirt at my local thrift store for $1 and the wreath also for $2. You can also find these wreathes in all different sizes at the craft store and they are priced reasonably.

I started by cutting the sleeves off my shirt (at the shoulder seam) and then cutting my wreath in one spot so that I could slip the sleeves onto it.

I slipped one sleeve on the wreath in one direction, and the other sleeve in the other direction.

I hot glued them where they met up. I decided that where I had cut the wreath would be where my flowers would end up so I made sure to match up my stripes at the very top (where I would hang it) so that from a distance the seam would not be noticeable. The other seam at the bottom is where my flowers would be...so I didn't worry about that part looking too perfect.

Next, I cut out some flowers out of felt and used regular nails to press them into the wreath. I could have glue them...but I wasn't sure what kind of arrangement I wanted, and using the nails meant I could take them on or off until I got the look I wanted.

Finally, I covered the centers of my larger white flowers with small circles of felt...but I left the nails bare on the red flowers. I liked the industrial look at the time and I may change them out for yellow sewing pins some day. The yellow flowers are small circles of felt that I folded in half once and then once again and glued into clusters.

To hang the wreath, I took an old paperclip and unfolded it a bit so that I could push the two ends into the straw wreath and have a makeshift hook out of it.

So, I am finally sharing this wreath about 5 months after I made it! It's been living on our front door for about a month and it makes me so happy every time I pull into our driveway:)

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Sugar and Dots

Nursery Decor Part 2: Girl Style

Earlier I showed you what I am loving in terms of decor if we end up having a boy. Here are my choices if we are having a girl:

I am loving yellows and pinks and browns. My daughter's room is already pink and yellow...so adding another girl to the room would be very easy!

I love the same idea for artwork above the crib.

Side note: I haven't leaned towards wanting one gender or another (I'm basically just so happy to be pregnant and healthy is all that matters!), but after looking at all this girl stuff online...it just makes me SO happy! Plus, we also LOVE the name we have picked out for a girl. Why can't boy names be as easy?? Ah...but then I think of not having a boy and that makes me sad too! One thing's for sure...there is only one in there and we will get to find out what it is in less than two weeks!

I love this Charlotte bedding by Dwell. Although the colors aren't really the direction I am going in (but I love them too!) I love the pattern:

Oh, and isn't this crib amazing??? The hubs and I are in love (with a crib?) and I'm sure if we ever figured out where to buy it...we wouldn't be able to afford it:(

(source)

BTW: I love the stripes mixed in with this pattern. Our crib bedding doesn't have a crib skirt...but I would make one if it's a girl.

In the crib I think a homemade version of this owl is a must. How cute would it be to have one side of the owl "sleeping" and one side "awake"?

(source)

One thing is for sure...if it's a girl this time around...she WILL have a yellow crib...and a pink chandelier:)

(source)

So, it's about time we really find out what this baby is!! I can't wait to start calling them by their name and not "baby" or "it". More power to those moms-to-be that wait until birth to find out the gender. To me...18 weeks is already long enough!! I heard someone say finding out what the baby is early, or at birth is a wonderful surprise either way and I totally agree:)

So, my daughter is convinced it's a girl...and my husband kinda, sorta (totally) would like a little man on his side. Either way, in a week or so...someone is getting taken out for sympathy icecream if things don't go their way:)

What I'm Loving: Dwell for Target

There hasn't been much crafting in my house lately. I have to admit I have taken a little break from that crafty/obsessive side of my brain lately...and the vacation has been kind of nice:) Just because I haven't been making anything doesn't mean I haven't been scheming. That part of my brain is always on.

So, where do I go for inspiration? I look online a lot. I love Apartment Therapy and Young House Love. Those are my first "go to" places online, but when I want something in the physical to pine after...then I take a trip to Target:)

I have professed my love for Target before. I really don't know how they manage to read my style mind with each new design they put out...but each one makes me want to whip out my credit card!

One of my favorite things about Target is their Dwell line. I love Dwell. LOVE them.

So here are a few patterns I wouldn't mind owning:

Mandala

You can get this 5 piece set for $19.99!

Sevilla

Dwell has made this pattern in different colors before, but I'm really liking the all green version.

Pansy

If I lived all alone...this is the girly kitchen set that I would own.

Moroccan

I'm not normally a blue fan...but I just love this pattern.

SO, if I were to buy all the sets...that would be about $80 before tax. Since that's not going to happen...I at least have enough inspiration to create many knock offs:)

What are some places you go for inspiration? I am always looking for more online places to stalk:)

Bedroom Plans

As I have mentioned before, we live in a tiny apartment and we are about to move (in mid January) and we are SO excited!! We have been looking at a lot of options (another apartment, condo, small house) but I think we are most excited to just FINALLY be able to decorate our room!

Now, my husband is not normally a decorator, but our room has been pretty pathetic for...well...most of our marriage. I mean, it always looked okay...but never really felt like "us". So now we are tackling this project together...but we obviously don't want to put much work into it right now just to have to take it all down in a couple of months. So for now we are dreaming.

Our style is Ikea/vintage shops/Target/Apartment Therapy/free crap off Craigslist that can be painted and then distressed.

Here are a few plans that we have:

1. Bed frame

I made us a headboard a while back and I have never really loved it. I wanted to love it...but I just didn't after I was done with it. So, after some shopping the hubs and I found this headboard and footboard on Craigslist for $50 (the lady wanted $75 but I offered $50...yes I am that person).

We still have to pick it up this weekend (and bribe my parents to watch our daughter so we can bring it home in our little 97 CR-V) but we are so excited!

Wanna know the best part? We are going to stain it RED! Oh my heart skips a beat for distressed red furniture! I have really been trying to go bold lately and not always take the easy way out in decor...and when I suggested a red bed to my husband I thought he would look at me crazy...but his eyes got big and he said, "That would be so cool!"...and then I knew he was the man for me:)

We had a really hard time deciding on a bed. We almost went with the Ikea Hemnes bed (still available at Ikea), but we didn't want all black furniture and it is out of our price range right now. We did want a bed that had side rails though so that we wouldn't need a bed skirt. See...we are NOT furniture shoppers. Normally we know what we want and then spend forever finding it.

2. Ikea Hemnes night stands.

There is currently someone on Cragslist that wants $90 for the pair (which is good considering they retail for $60 a piece)...but I will weaken them over time. My goal is $50 for the pair.

Our last piece that we want is a real grown up dresser!! FINALLY my husband can feel like an adult and get rid of the plastic dressers in his closet (and I get his side of the closet when he gets the dresser!).

This is the Ikea Hemnes dresser:

Normally I am not a fan of matching furniture...but when we went to Ikea we really liked these Hemnes pieces and their construction.

So, then all that's left is just some throw pillows and stuff for the walls. I want a photo collage wall of us and then something like this for above our bed:

I put this together a while back and I have been waiting to print it out and frame it for above our TV in the living room (although now I want a horizontal version instead).

I really like the idea of initials above the bed...we just aren't cursive/pretty writing people. I thought about doing something like this with our initials. Yup...dirty and distressed...that's us!

I got all these letter images on Flikr through Leo Reynolds (he has free downloads of amazing prints)

So, that's the "plan". I am really excited to get the bed this weekend and I have been stalking Craigslist for the rest. I missed a chance on the dresser about a week ago. Someone was selling it for $65!! (It retails for $300) and it was gone in about an hour...don't you hate that?

I am content to wait for the other pieces. We could just go buy them at Ikea...but why spend full price when there is someone out there potentially getting rid of it?

I am ALWAYS looking for bedroom inspiration (bedroom decor people...get your minds out of the gutter!) so please link up in the comments either your favorite sites or even your bedroom! I would love it see it:)