Project Mode (and Picture Overload)

I've been meaning to post something a little less dramatic for the past couple of days, but here I am finally getting around to it. I have cooled down some since I wrote last, in case you wondered :)

I have been in major project mode for the past month or so, and for the most part all of my projects are finished and ready for their debut on the blog (except for the saddle, which is still a work in progress. Hopefully I can finish it by our anniversary next month, but I am not making any promises.) Anyway, I'm beginning to feel ready for this baby now that most of my baby projects are done! Here are a ton of pictures and explanations for your enjoyment :)

Baby boy's quilt. I fell in love with this fabric when I saw it. And for once in my life I quilted it in a simple x design through each block instead of stippling the whole thing. (I know this means absolutely nothing to some of you. You're welcome to just scroll through the pictures if you wish.)





Most of the items in these pictures were projects I did when I was pregnant with Maggie, but I've made a few changes to the nursery decor to give it more of a masculine feel (this has been Maggie room thus far). I have also sewn three sets of crib sheets in the last few weeks--something I've been meaning to do since before Maggie was born. It will be nice to have a few extras on hand! The sheets in the pictures are blue with little cowboys on them. Mostly I just thought you might like to see baby brother's room so that's why I included these pictures.

Unfortunately I didn't take any before pictures of my projects. This was a bulletin board find, but it was in major need of a new paint job. It looks much better now. It should make a nice place to keep toys and books except for the fact that they might be a little too accessible come bed time.

I found this dresser at a garage sale for $5. It's antique and it was pretty beat up, but I like the character (and price) of it. A new coat of paint and some sanding of the drawers made a huge difference!

I wanted Maggie's room to have more color to it than just tan, so I added some green here and there. The top of the dresser was in the worst shape, and no amount of sanding was going to make it like new so I needed something to cover it up. I've been wanting to try this quilt block for a while now so I made a quick table runner for the top of the dresser. Not too shabby since I started supper in the crock pot, cut this out, and got it all pieced together while Maggie napped.

The local craft store is really over priced in my opinion, but every summer they have a tent sale with items that are marked down to really good prices. I usually do some of my Christmas shopping during the tent sale since I can find such good deals. I found this vinyl cutout of the temple marked down from $24 (like I said, expensive!) to $2. I think it looks pretty cute on a mirror.

My crackle paint is apparently old because this sign didn't work like it should have, but it still has the weathered effect so oh well. It says "I Love You"...you can see the whole thing in other pictures.

This shelf and the one below are from the same garage sale as the dresser. I got each of them for $1 and then painted them tan to match the rest of the room. I covered the "M", part of the toy shelf, and the star in the picture with Maggie's blessing dress with the same green and tan paper.

I've been needing somewhere to stash Maggie's library books. I got this idea from knock-offwood.com and it works perfectly. It is made from an old pallet--I paid $3 for my pallet because I was too impatient to wait for a free one to fall into my lap. Each pallet can make up to four shelves though and you can either add pegs and hang them like I did, or hang it the other direction with no pegs. All it took was a few cuts with a saw, attaching a board so that the books didn't fall through, and adding a few pegs. Then I wood burned and stained mine. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's a dad with a little boy and a dog pointing at a cow and calf. The quote on it says, "While I try to teach you all about life, you teach me what life is all about."

So there you have it. I hope none of this sounded boastful. That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to share my latest projects with you. A lot of people have asked me where/how I picked up so many hobbies/talents and my honest theory about it all is that it's because I'm the youngest. I was exposed to all of my siblings talents. My mom is really frugal and talented. I learned most of my sewing and cooking skills from her. My Sister Lori is really crafty and creative so I picked up scrapbooking and card making from her. My sister Lisa is really artistic and got me started in photography. My sister Julieanne played the violin, so I wanted to learn as well. She also took a quilting class in college, which is what sparked my interest in quilting. And my brother Scott and my Dad are very mechanical so I've learned a lot from them. Obviously they have more talents than what I named, but you get the point. I've also taken a few classes here and there to pursue my own interests. My upbringing is really what made me a do-it-yourself-hands-on type of girl though :)