Thursday, August 26, 2010

Win a Silhouette!

Today, I entered for a chance to win a Silhouette machine on Stephanie Lynn's blog Under the Table and Dreaming. This giveaway is going on thru August 30th, so click on the banner below and enter for your chance to win this AWESOME machine!

UndertheTableandDreaming

Many of you are probably scratching your heads and thinking, "What the heck is Silhouette machine?" Well, it is digital cutting machine that easily hooks up to your own computer. And voila! You can make anything, LITERALLY, from vinyl home decals & glass etching to paper favor boxes, cupcake holders, invitations, custom apparel and even temporary tattoos!





They have thousands of designs you can choose from or you can upload your own designs! The possibilites are endless! For you DIY crafters, this is like HEAVEN!! I know for sure, that should one of these machines end up in my hands, I would pass out from pure BLISS!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Owl update...His new home!


This morning Tara's sister showed me a picture of the the owl in the nursery!! I was so excited! When I was making the owl I had no idea what her nursery colors were or what crib bedding she had chosen! I'm so stoked to see that he fit in so well with her jungle theme!!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Faux Real?

Since we moved in, I have been desperately trying to convince the hubby that we should put some wallpaper in our living room, but he was avidly against it. But, when I showed him this gray "faux wallpaper" he gave me the thumbs up!!

A few months back, I had seen this as a Reader Redesign on YHL, and immediately added k.f.d. designs blog to my favorites!

Photo: www.kfddesigns.blogspot.com

Imagine my surprise and glee when I saw other reader redesigns with their versions of faux wallpaper! I couldn't stop looking at Courtneyoutloud's version. It was to die for!

But we didn't want to shell out the $44 or wait for the stencil to be shipped, so the hubby and I decided we will go the DIY stencil route a la Centsationalgirl.

Her master bedroom version turned out equally as fabulous! I think I see another project in my near future!


So stayed tuned for our version of "faux wallpaper" in our living room!!

This is gonna be one fun Friday night!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Speaking of Babies...Babyproof Review!

Emily Giffin has done it again. However, this time with a twist. The first half of the book was a very different departure from her previous three books and caught me off guard. It almost made me kind of depressed...but by page 150, she captivated me and took me on a whirlwind of emotions!

It is the story of Claudia and Ben and their marriage based on their common desire to NOT have children. And then one day, one of them changes their mind. Very unique right? A great read for anyone in a relationship. There is definitely something for everyone to take away from this book.

Recommendation: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Baby Gift Reveal...Part whoo...twooo!

Tara's theme for her baby shower was owls. Very cute and very adorable!! So, I decided that I wanted to make her an owl pillow for her baby boy to cuddle with. This also gave me an excuse to take my poor sewing machine out of the closet and into the light!

I searched the web for several free owl patterns and came up short. What I did come across was this template for Otis the Owl and used that as my starting point.

I ended up drawing my own template on a piece of cardboard and cut out each piece for the body, eye, pupil, nose, tummy, and face. I was using several fabrics for this owl, so I labeled each piece with its corresponding fabric.

Now, since I had "hand drawn" my template, it wasn't exactly symmetrical. So, when cutting out my two body pieces (front side & back side), for the back side, I had to turn over my cardboard template and trace it with the opposing side , so that when I put the "right sides" of the fabric together, they would match! Whew, that was a long sentence!


Then using my Disappearing ink pen, I traced the cut outs onto my fabric.


Then I laid out all the pieces and pinned them in place.


One change I did make right before I started sewing the tummy part, was I trimmed the edges with my pinking shears to give it a nice zig zag edge. Once everything we sewn into place, I started sewing around the edge of the owl with a 1/4" inseam and left an opening at the bottom about 4 inches long, so I could stuff him with some poly-fil. Once filled, I sewed the opening closed by hand with a slip stitch.


Here is the finished back side:

And the finished front side:

If you are wondering about the crazy & uneven stitching...pardon me, but it's been awhile since I have sewn anything and so sewing a circle was no easy task! In the end, I just ended up doing crazy stitching all over the owl...It made it look kinda feathery?!

And here is the lovely couple at their shower with their new owl and baby afghan handmade with love from The Mariano Project!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Baby Gift Reveal...Part 1

Yesterday was the baby shower and I am really really happy with how the gifts I made for Tara came out! Initially, it was a three part gift, but I ran out of time and didn't get to the third part. One out of two, isn't bad, right?

Here's a pic of Jay and I with the mommy to be!

For the first part, it took me about 3 weeks to finish it. I started in back in early July and leisurely worked on it and was thrilled with the result!

From three balls of yarn, I created a cozy baby afghan using this easy and cute pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

The flower in the middle of the afghan was a deviation I decided to add in last minute to give the blanket some extra pizazz and texture.

I also didn't like the edging that they had with the pattern, so I changed it and did a basic shell edging around the whole blanket.


I hope you like it!!

Stayed tuned for Part Two...here's a clue...

Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Fun...

I'm sooooo happy the weekend is finally here! It's been one hectic week at work, so it's nice to finally take some time for myself, unwind, and immerse myself in cocktails, crocheting & sewing!

Next weekend, my pastry chef extraordinaire cousin, Tara, of Tara's Piece of Cake, will be having her baby shower for her little boy due to arrive in September. So, this weekend, is solely dedicated to finishing off my 3 part gift for her and her baby boy!

Here's a hint for the first part of her gift:


Can you guess what I'm making?

Here's a sneak peek at the materials for the second & third part of her gift:

I would love to have posted what I have already done, but just in case she swings by my blog, I don't want to ruin the surprise for her! So the big reveal will be next Sunday, the day after the shower. I can't wait to share!

Stay tuned...

Monday, August 2, 2010

One desk...Three Ways.

After we had put a deposit on our new home, we must have went through the model home a bazillion times tweaking and planning all the upgrades and personal finishing touches we wanted for our new home. On the top of our list was to make sure that the Tech Desk that came with the house was not installed.

We saw this wide upstairs hallway as a waste of space with the desk there, and wanted to covert it into a small loft area where we could watch TV and fold our laundry!


So once we moved in, we had a nice large space to work with! We had them install a cable and electrical outlet along the wall and we put our old couch in the nook where the desk had once been. I only had a picture of the empty hallway from my iPhone. This was taken during our final walk through. We got the keys that day!



The desk came in three huge boxes and was left by the builder in our garage. We moved those three boxes upstairs into an empty bedroom and pondered for a few days what to do with them. We offered it to a few family members, but there were no takers. We contemplated installing it in our office, but didn't want to commit to a permanent fixture in the room. Then, Jay had a "lightbulb" moment. And of course, this meant a trip to Home Depot. This time for a Ryobi Jig Saw and some sand paper.

He started going around the house with his measuring tape and came up with a three part solution.
  • First, the laundry room. We were able to squeeze one of the cabinets from the desk right in between our washer and dryer! It was a perfect fit! This was a wonderful solution, since this cabinet would hold a garbage can (for lint) & laundry supplies!

  • The second solution was to put another part of the Tech desk into one of our walk-in closets (yes, we have 2 walk-in closets in our master bedroom!) for our shoes and accessories. Initially, I wanted to put a jewelry stand on top and create an area where I could see all my accessories, but Jay's overwhelming shoe collection immediately shut that down! That's just a fraction of it too! He has another shoe closet in our office! I still hope to one day to bring my jewelry & accessory station to life!

  • And finally the third and final solution was to put the biggest part of the Tech Desk into our second walk-in closet. It was so amazing how everything fit like a glove. I use this cabinet for my undergarments and any clothes that need to be folded. We also added the knobs to the cabinet to give it a bit more flair.


So, with a jig saw, sand paper, and some wood glue, we were able to stretch out the use of the free Tech desk that came with our house! It gave our walk-in closets a customized look without breaking the bank and provided much needed storage space in our upstairs laundry room!

From the Ground...Up.

I suppose this should have been my very first post. But, it's always better late than never! Jay & I felt very fortunate to have seen our townhouse built literally from the ground up. We would drive by every other week to check on the progress and documented it along the way.

Just a few steps outside of our front door is a common area with picnic tables and BBQ pits. Since our home does not have a backyard, we love that we have a "front yard" without having to worry about mowing the lawn!


This was during the "open wall" tour, where we got to inspect and ensure that all the extra lighting & electrical sockets we had them put in, were in their correct places. I wish I could tell you what part of the house we were in here, but I have no idea!


Once we gave the thumbs up, they were ready to install the drywall.

Rooftops of Tehran


So, this weekend didn't quite turn out as I wanted. Meaning, no ube cupcakes and I didn't make it out to the SF Renegade Craft fair...Ah well. But, I did finish Rooftops of Tehran, by Mahbod Seraji. What a wonderful, wonderful book! It only took me 2 nights to read it! This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions. It is brilliant, funny, suspenseful, but overall a truly a heart warming & thought provoking book.

It follows the friendship of two young boys in Tehran during 1973. As they enter their final year of high school, they embark on a journey of finding their true selves, while finding their first loves and testing the social, political, and cultural norms of the times. This books shows the strength of the human spirit, when it is faced with love, tragedy, loss, and choosing between right and wrong.

Recommended: Yes! Yes! Yes!