Moving is never easy! The endless boxes to pack and unpack, the mess to clean up and learning to adjust to new surroundings can be difficult. Yes, moving is NO FUN. But, sometimes moving is necessary. Thankfully I don't have to actually "move" boxes or physically change my address. I am, however moving back to my old blog ArtfullyQuaint at blogger. Why the change you ask? Several important reasons but none of which are necessary to explain here. Suffice it to say... this will be a good change for me and more importantly.. the right change. Please make sure to follow me via twitter or bookmark my new address at
Until the above url is activated in a couple of days... please go to www.artfullyquaint.blogspot.com. Thanks!
You'll still find everything there that you've come to expect here. I hope this change will be a happy one that finds not only me, but you, my friends...happy and satisfied :)
P.S. This blog will remain open (typepad blog) through the end of February
It's almost the end of January (thank goodness!) which means it's almost time for one of my most favorite holidays.... VALENTINES! I suppose the reason why I adore Valentines Day is because I have such fond memories of picking out valentines to give to that special "someone" as a child.
Conversation hearts inside Valentine envelopes.. the perfect valentine tucked inside... on the flap of the envelope- a red shiny heart...
My mother and I are all things I fondly remember about this wonderful day *sigh*. February 14 is lovely! Every year my mother would give a special Valentine to her children because this was a favorite holiday of hers as well (Like mother like daughter I suppose). She would always write something sentimental to each child reminding us of how special and loved we really were. That practice continued up until her death in 1999. A favorite valentine she gave to me is pictured above. Cute huh? I guess you could say that all good things are wrapped up in Valentines Day for me and that is why I adore it so much. After all who can resist red hearts, lace, sugar and the warm fuzzies? Not many :) With that thought in mind I leave you with a few DIY fun things to make that might give you (and your house) the warm fuzzies while showing someone special how much you love them this Valentines Day ♥♥
UPDATE: HERE IS THE FINAL QUILT TOP READY FOR MACHINE QUILTING. THE DRAWING WILL TAKE PLACE THE WEEKEND OF FEB 11-12TH SO PLEASE SUPPORT DALE! GOOD LUCK :)
I've been thinking about things that really matter. Such a sobering subject don't you think? Sometimes a reality check is needed to jar us back to what's really important. I and my family experienced a wake-up call on Jan. 4th. What's so important about January 4th you ask? Well.....
(Note: My family is a wrestling family. My boys have wrestled since they were very young and we have enjoyed supporting them throughout the years. They have had their fair share of bumps, bruises and yes, even serious injuries, but thankfully they've been able to continue a sport they love. Wrestling has allowed us as a family to connect and share the ups and downs of life together. We've been excited when my boys have done well and given hugs when they've not. All in all, wrestling has taught my boys the value of hard work, dedication and perserverance. Something I'm sure they'll fall back on when facing new challenges in the world around them.)
January 4th was another ordinary day. Nothing too special. Many things to get done, checked off the list and accomplished. What do I fix for dinner? How am I going to get AQ Flouncy Flowers ready to sell? Did all the kids get their homework done and handed in? What does hubby need from me now? Questions and endless thoughts going through my head. Pretty much a normal day. After my sons came home from wrestling practice, I found out a fellow wrestler had been injured. Nothing too shocking in those words and I thought he'd bounce back in a day or so. Sadly I learned the following day that this young 17 year old boy was facing life as a quadriplegic. How do you wrap your brain around such sobering news? This just as easily could have been one of my boys facing such a terrifying future. Since that day I've been thinking about how much we all take for granted. The ability to move, have good health and just do what we want every day. We (or more likely I) often focus on those mindless tasks.. never taking the time to really enjoy the day around me or appreciate the simple things in life. This tragic accident has brought a new awareness of how I approach each new day. Maybe by sharing this horrible tragedy I can bring a sense of how wonderful YOUR life is and how good life really can be! Be thankful. Every day. Because you really never know when life could change in an instant....
(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the Wasatch wrestling team watch during the wrestling match against Orem Thursday January 13, 2011.
By Bill Oram
The Salt Lake Tribune
First published Jan 15 2011 06:00PM Updated Jan 16, 2011 12:20AM
They call him “Super Dale.”
The people in this mountain town all know Dale Lawrence. He’s the funny kid on the wrestling team. The nice one whose grin is gapped, goofy and unvarying.
“He’s really just a kid that spreads goodness around him,” Wasatch High Principal Paul Sweat said.
They call him Super Dale for a reason. As a running back on the Wasatch football team, Lawrence smeared a strip of eye black across the top half of his face. It looked like a superhero’s mask, senior Tyson Kohler said, and the nickname stuck.
In practice on Jan. 4, Lawrence was wrestling a teammate in a 20-second drill. Coach Wade Discher told the wrestlers to imagine that the state championship was on the line. As Lawrence tried to escape a basic hold called the ball and chain, however, his neck contorted and his C4 vertebra snapped into his spinal cord.
“He was just laying there,” said sophomore Aryan Shibonis, “not moving.”
Paramedics came and the wrestling room in the high school’s basement was cleared. The team didn’t know how serious Lawrence’s injury was until Discher sent them a text message a couple of hours later.
Super Dale was going into surgery. And he was paralyzed from the neck down... continue story
blocks getting ready to sew together...
**** After this horrible accident I felt very helpless. I wanted to do something but what?? After a lot of thinking I decided to make a hand pieced quilt to be part of a drawing to help raise money for Dale's medical expenses.. This drawing is currently taking place in the wrestling community but I decided to advertise it here so others who'd like to can be apart of this quilt drawing. If you'd like to help (and maybe win a beautiful quilt in the process!!!) please email me at artfullyquaint@gmail.com and let me know the # of tickets you'd like and I'll send you my paypal info. 100% of the monies raised will be donated to Dale's family. Thanks again and good luck!
So, as maybe you've noticed (or probably not if comments/replies are any indication) I've been MIA since Christmas. I suppose you could say I am at a crossroads of sorts as to whether to continue on with my blog/shop or not which is partially the reason why I've been neglecting my posting duties. That topic I'll save for another day.. *sigh* However, today I had to write about a few things that have been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. Maybe you'll find something helpful to you and who knows.. maybe we can inspire each other to be more gentle on ourselves and enjoy those small moments in life ♥
I know the idea of making New Year's resolutions is nothing new to most people. A lot of energy goes into making lists and carrying out those resolutions with good intentions. I find every year I am one of those people who start out with a bang and *promise* to keep the endless list of things I want to improve on.. after all, THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT and I won't won't won't give up like I did last year. But, by the time the middle of February rolls around I'm back to square one wishing I hadn't made any resolutions in the first place because they often become reminders of my lack of progress.. laden with guilt. Who needs that kind of pressure?! Not me. This year everything changed. I came across this article and found hope! Maybe you'll see the wisdom contained therein and hopefully you'll rid yourself of unnecessary guilt and instead find joy in the simple things of life.
"'Tis the season for inspirational columns, blogs and soundtrack-backed television segments about the power of New Year's resolutions. Over the coming days, everyone from Jon Stewart to Dr. Phil and from Barney Gumble to Matt Lauer will weigh in with advice for 2011.
Make no mistake, they have valuable opinions to share, and I'll do as much reading and listening as anyone. But if you're anything like me, and let's hope for your sake and for your community-at-large that you're not, by Jan. 15 you'll be seeing signs of slippage on whatever resolutions you make. By Feb. 1 you'll be hanging by a thread so thin you'd need a DNA microscope to find it. By March 1 you'll be selling that abdominal contraption on eBay. You know the one. It's that device that looks like a cross between a Big Wheel and something that you strap yourself into for a long ride to the International Space Station.
Who hasn't been there? I remember years ago a college buddy told me that once and for all he was going to give up Dr Pepper on New Year's Day. He told me how proud he felt to walk into his closet, uncover his secret stash and pour it down the drain in his master bathroom. "I'll never drink another caffeinated soda," he told his wife. "This is the year."
Then on Jan. 4 he called me from his cellphone. He wanted me to know he hadn't just fallen off the wagon, it had backed up and run him over. I tried not to laugh as he described pulling open the heavy glass door of his favorite 7-Eleven, yanking up his hoodie, filling a Big Gulp with the "forbidden juice" and tossing the exact amount on the counter in stride as he rolled out before anyone could spot him. He drank it in his car, parked in the far corner of the employee lot at his office building and hid the collapsed evidence under his seat for disposal on the way home from work.
I found it funny then — and now — because I relate so well. Hard and fast resolutions are wonderful when we keep them. But when we don't, which happens much more often than not, we only remind ourselves we're not as perfect as we'd like to be.
In 2011, why don't we set five resolutions we can actually keep?
1. Ignore the mirror: Let's be honest, most of us aren't supermodels. But the truth is you're much better looking than you think are. In fact, you're actually quite beautiful. You're not as plump as you imagine, and your nose and teeth are just fine. You're divine, and those who love you agree.
2. Walk more: Don't commit to walking 40 miles a week or even an hour a day. Just commit to walking more than you did last year. Park at the back of the lot every time you're at IKEA, Walmart or your local mall. Before you know it, you will have walked a marathon.
3. Eat better: Can you still eat fast food? Sure you can. Just make a conscious effort to skip it now and then. Next time you have a hankering for a hamburger, grab a salad instead. Next time you're jonesing for a soda, grab an ice-cold bottle of water from the convenience store.
4. Pray more: I had a friend tell me his key to success was kneeling in quiet prayer no fewer than six times a day. Six times? I'm delighted when I get two or three times on my knees, one at my desk, one in my car and one on a golf course. If you feel distance between you and God, step closer through prayer, but don't keep a pie chart. Just pray more than you did last year; the results will astound you.
5. Be more charitable: Are you slow to say thank you? To open doors? To forgive? Make charity a verb by seeking out small moments every single day to lift someone. Will you still get grumpy? Still have bad days? Still find yourself occasionally annoyed at people around you? Sure, but not as much as you did last year, guaranteed.
Perhaps more than anything in the year ahead, let's remember that New Year's resolutions aren't about being perfect; they are about being better.
They are not meant to transform us into someone else; they should simply mold us into a better version of ourselves.
That's the key to happiness 2011" ♥
** btw- keep an eye out for new AQ Flouncy Flowers in my Etsy shop soon! You won"t want to miss them!
I'm sorry I've been away for so long! I don't know what it is about the holidays but from Thanksgiving forward, my life seems to go into warp speed and I'm not able to do as much as I'd like due to "have-to's" instead of "want-to's". Anyway, I plan on jumping right back into blogging as soon as Jan 1st hits! Until then, I'm wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas and a HAPPY and SAFE New Year! May 2011 be the best year yet! :))
I thought I'd share a family tradition we do every year on Christmas Eve. It's a wonderful event that I look forward to each December 24th. What kind of traditions do you carry out each year? I'd love to hear them! I challenge you to try some new traditions or maybe just focus more on traditions that mean the most to your family. I plan on doing the same and I hope you'll take time to reflect on the importance of this Christmas Season.
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Each year since the passing of my mother in 1999, my husband, children and I do something that I dearly love. We travel on the Eve of Christmas and go to our cemetery where some of our loved ones are buried. Once the graves are found, we place upon the shepherd's crook, a lantern. Inside this lantern is a candle in memory of my mother (and now father, too. He passed away in 2005) lit to remind us that they are never forgotten and always loved. Even though they are no longer here with us celebrating, they are still apart of our Christmas celebrations. We take the time to gather around their grave and acknowledge their presence always in our lives and remember what they are done for each of us. I love this tradition more than anything else in Christmas Eve or Day. As I stand there, I experience no blinking lights, loud music, traffic or Christmas rush... but rather a quiet time of reflection and gratitude for being their daughter. I experience complete peace, inside and out, and am taken by the beauty of the fallen snow and darkness. Stillness is all around. All of the holiday hubbub seems to fade away and I am reminded of why I celebrate Christmas standing in the cold snow. I love the German song "Still, Still, Still" and I think it's a fitting song to describe my feelings and setting on this most important night.
Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow. For all is hushed, The world is sleeping, Holy Star its vigil keeping. Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, 'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth. The night is peaceful all around you, Close your eyes, Let sleep surround you. Sleep, sleep, sleep, 'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth.
Dream, dream, dream, Of the joyous day to come. While guardian angels without number, Watch you as you sweetly slumber. Dream, dream, dream, Of the joyous day to come.
I've been a busy bee.. making my house ready for THE BIG DAY- also known as Christmas! Lots of prep for Christmas happens here at my humble abode which has taken me away from my second home.. ArtfullyQuaint. Sadly, this has left my blog rather still and silent the last few weeks :( HOWEVER.. I've been inspired to share a couple of DIY projects today that are fun and easy for any family to do which should make your home sparkle for the holidays. As always, please share any comments & ideas or if you make your own version of my DIY projects, please share photos, links or your own blog. Enjoy! ♥
Mr. & Mrs. Claus' Laundry Line Garland
The first DIY project is quite humorous to me. Don't ask me why, but I giggle every time I see Santa and Mrs. Claus' "unmentionables" hanging from the clothes line. *gasp* You DO know Santa and Mrs. Claus have to wash their clothes dontcha? Well, what better place to dry socks, underwear, hats, boots, pants, aprons etc. than to hang them on your tree as a fun and unique garland!
Download Santa & Mrs. Claus clothes line for printable patterns to make your own clothes to hang from your tree, today! You can find the minature clothespins at any craft store. I used soft & pliable hemp for the clothes line and standard felt (red,white, black) for the clothes. Just trace the pattern on the felt, cut out and attach to line with clothespins. Easy as pie! You could also spruce up the clothes with glitter, facier felt, lace etc. which would make them even more adorable than they already are :)
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My second DIY project is super cool, easy and doesn't cost a fortune to make. Get your fingers ready to make.....
Origami Paper Star Ornaments!
I found the DIY instructions initally at Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures but changed the stars up a bit with vintage scrapbooking paper and brads for the center which look button-like. You can do whatever you want, of course, but I think it'd be cool to also add glitter etc. to jazz them up. You can make these big or small depending on what you want to use them for. I used 12x12 paper to make the ones above so I can hang them in my windows. They measure about 5-6" when finished. If you use standard 6x6 origami paper then the finished stars would measure about 3". Instructions are found below. Enjoy!
One of my favorite ideas in the book is a 5 pointed star. I decided to give it a whirl and I am glad I did. Love it.
My supply list included:
12x12 sheet of cardstock scrapbook paper cut into 4 6x6 pieces of paper
Ok. So I've been MIA from AQ for a bit and haven't posted. I know, I know.. shame on me right? Well, I've needed a break because of a few different reasons (won't list those here) but needless to say.. It. Was. Great. I've tried to remember how I functioned before technology/internet came along (gasp! the stone age) and though I'm grateful for instant information at my fingertips today, I also miss the quiet, non-intrusiveness of technology/internet of the past. Anyway.. I'm ready to roll now so... YAY! :)
Alright.. as you might have figured out by now I'm a DIY gal. I LOVE anything and everything I can create by myself. My motto in life- Why buy it if I can make it? Well, I aim to please YOU... my readers, and because others are willing to share *hugs DIY share ppl* I'm happy to pass along what I've found with YOU! As always, if you have comments or suggestions I'd love to hear them ♥
Who loves skirts? *raises hand* Who has a hard time finding comfy skirts? *raises hand* Who can't find skirts that are cute, easy to wear and doesn't cost an arm and a leg? *raises both hands* Well, have I got a DIY project for you.... THE T-SHIRT SHIRRED SKIRT! When I cam across this tutorial I nearly screamed. This project fit the bill on so many levels! I've never found an easy skirt to wear around the house, for the summer or just for casual wear out and about. The shirred skirt can be made in so many different ways and with different fabrics. The possiblities are endless! The biggest bonus imho is that you don't have to be a great seamstress to make one and it's really quick to make... YAY!! So, without blubbering on.. I give you The Shirred Skirt tutorial from SewlikemyMom! For more versions of this project go here and for a sewing tutorial on shirring go here
Happy Sewing!!
The process is so easy. I can whip one of these up in less than 30 minutes. Wanna make some of your own? GREAT! Here’s how I do it.
I do my shopping at Goodwill for 1 reason. Their tshirts are $2.09. But they tag everything with a colored tag and every week a different color is half price. So I usually seek out shirts that are the weekly color to score them for $1.05! So those skirts on my clothesline? Cost me $4.20 total to buy. Even if I find a shirt I have to have, it’s $2. You can’t go wrong for $2!!
So, get your super cheap thrifted shirt. The bigger you buy it, the better. The green and light blue shirts were large size Large’s. The Navy blue was a Tall XL, and the pink shirt was a 3XL! It’s hard to find them with stripes, so I’m always drawn to those first. If you really want a pattern, check out the polos. They’re more expensive, but if you get them half price, they’re still in the $2-$3 range. As with anything you get second hand, check it out to make sure it’s not faded, full of holes, or stained. I like to wash mine before I begin sewing.
To determine what shirt size you should get, just make sure it will go around you. Most of the shirts I use are at least 24″ across (so 48″ total diameter). You lose 2-3 inches after you shirr it, so take that into consideration. Like I said, the bigger the better!
So, lay your shirt out flat, and whack it off right under the sleeves. (see my red tag on the left sleeve?) This doesn’t need to be perfect. That’s the beauty of this skirt. No measuring, no perfection. Wing it–you won’t be disappointed! But don’t throw away the top half of the shirt yet. I’ve got other projects for those parts!
I like to use thread the same color as my fabric. You don’t notice sewing boo-boos so much if the thread blends in. But if you’re gutsy enough, use a contrasting thread! You’ll also need an elastic bobbin so your skirt will shirr.
You want to start close to the edge so you don’t have a huge ruffly waist band. There’s no need to hem the top band, your knit shirt won’t fray. I like my first row of stitching to be 1/8th of an inch from the top of the skirt. So I line my fabric up with the edge of my presser foot and put my needle in the right position.
Now, I break a rule of shirring. Instructions will tell you to leave your threads and tie them. Well, I threw that rule out the window 6 skirts and 2 dresses ago! When I start sewing, I back stitch a few stitches, then sew all the way around the skirt. When I get back to my starting point, I back stitch twice (so back 3-4 stitches, forward 3, back 3, forward 3) then leave my elastic ends about 1/4″ long.
This is inside the navy skirt:
And what it looks like on the outside. It doesn’t stick out or look funny at all when you wear it. It’s not even noticeable until it’s pointed out. I’ve washed the navy and green skirts about 10 times each and the elastic hasn’t budged. So break tradition and save yourself some time!
There’s no need to mark your rows. Just use the edge of your presser foot as your guide as you sew. I like to put my needle in the left position, but my machine doesn’t like that lately. Sewing at 1/4″ rows with the needle in the middle turns out just fine so that’s what I do 95% of the time.
Unlike 100% cotton that doesn’t shrink much as you sew, knit shrinks up LOTS. So you need to make sure you pull the shirt flat as you sew. Use medium pressure when you pull. You don’t want to work against your machine, so don’t pull hard. Do it in small sections to maintain control over where you’re sewing.
When you get back to the start, hold the fabric open and flat while you do your back stitching.
Just keep sewing as many rows as you want! I do somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-15, depends on my mood and the length of the skirt. I generally need to use 2-3 elastic bobbins, so you might want to wind several before you start sewing to save yourself the hassle. Check your bobbin between rows to make sure you have enough to get back around. It’s okay if you don’t, just back stitch a few times with the new one and keep going. It just doesn’t look as tidy that way.
And that’s it! The easiest and best skirt you’ll ever own!
**Here is a video (watch to 3:25) showing basically the same skirt except they are making a shirt dress using the same technique but different material! One could easily make these for girls, too! :)
It's time to think about Thanksgiving, Christmas and the upcoming stress those holidays create, right? Nope! Not me this year. Instead of stressing over the huge to-do list awaiting me for November and December, I plan to flip my thinking around and focus on the blessings I've been given each day. But, how should I exactly do this??? After all.. this isn't an easy task for me, the natural worrier. After a lot of pondering, I decided I would focus each day on one blessing in my life and make a gratitude list to replace my to-do list for the month of November. This most definitely will help me forget the things I shouldn'tfocus on and instead help me focus on the important things that matter in my life. Priorities are going to replace unneeded angst and hopefully by doing so, I'll enjoy the upcoming holidays the way they are meant to be enjoyed- stress free!
In my search for gratitude lists and a reality check.. I came across these stagering statistics:
If your combined household earns more than $24,600 a year you are in the top%10 of all income earners in the world.
The average monthly salary for someone living in Afghanistan is only $14 a month.
37 million Americans live below the National poverty line. That’s 1 in every 8 Americans living in poverty.
3.5% of U.S. households (that’s people within a home) experience hunger every day. That’s 9.6 million people each and every day.
An estimated 750,000 people in America experience homelessness and out of those people only 56 percent find shelter at night for sleeping while the other 44 percent end up sleeping on the streets.
Also, did you know that only 34% of American adults say they are truly happy.
Now, if this doesn’t give you a reason to be grateful for what you have, I don’t know what will!
Gosh.. I complain when my computer doesn't work *just* right!?! YIKES!! It's always good to re-evaluate every so often and remember the many blessings we've all been given. Yesterday I started my #30daysofgratitude list on twitter and plan to tweet one blessing each day. I hope you'll join me and maybe together we can make the world (and our lives) a little bit brighter ♥
I've been bitten by the spring cleaning bug. Yes, I know it's fall and almost Halloween but nevertheless I've been bitten. You see.. every time I've tried to clean in the spring I've found that it's awful, seriously no fun and even painfully dreadful because it's nice outside and who wants to be inside when it's nice OUTSIDE??? Helloooo... not me! Hence I'm now a fan of fall cleaning where it's nice to be INSIDE and away from the cold, not to mention how lovely it is to have a clean, organized house for the holidays. Anyway.. as I was digging through my closet full of clothes, I wondered what I should do with some old sweaters that were taking up some much needed space. Some were in great shape but out-of-date and others were a little more worn but the colors were still lovely. I've delayed getting rid of them for some unknown reason until now. Thankfully I've finally figured out why my subconscious delayed a trip to goodwill- SWEATER PILLOWS! Hopefully you'll be able to re-purpose a few of your old sweaters with the following cool DIY ideas...
Lay sweater flat and cut in a square. Make sure you do not stretch the sweater as you cut.
Just sewed up the two open ends on this one.
Sew...with right sides together... around 3 sides of the square...making sure to leave the ribbed bottom open. This is where the pillow will be inserted and buttons added. After sewing the 3 sides... turn sweater inside out so the right sides are showing.
This is easy peasy...( button hole feature on a standard sewing machine). Just follow the 1...2...3...4 steps. Nothing to it. Oh, and use the presser foot that is required.
Leather buttons I chose to add:
Hand sew the buttons on the underside so that they show on the front of the pillow.
I think it's a great addition to the couch. It's become the "favorite" pillow for lying on the couch.
Other sweater DIY pillow ideas can be found here , here and here. And a darling sweater headband for girls can be found here! Happy Fall sewing :)
I experience great satisfaction in those things I've created for others (and myself) to enjoy. I am a wife and mother to four great children while enjoying 3 dogs, 3 horses, 2 cats and a goldfish. I have a fondness for chocolate and anything sweet. I'm often reminded that laughter really is the best medicine. Life is good! :)
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