Tie it up...with a Bow!

Just in time for Christmas, I finished Jimmy's gift.  Jimmy is one of the remaining Southern gentlemen who wears a bowtie and ROCKS it!  He is also the proud dad of two wonderful pups named Winston and Franklin.

Half-joking he mentioned wanting a photo shoot of him and the boys wearing matching bowties.  I gladly accepted the challenge! I went to JoAnn's and found the perfect print to match the pups!

Then I set to work...and here they are: 

One of the pup bowties:

 
The dad bowtie:


The finished set.

  I think these are sale worthy, so get ready for more in the making.  I will make collegiate print and school color versions.  Look back here as I get more prints and put up final products for sale.  If you want to pre-order send me your preferred colors/print and how many pup/kitty bows to RebeccaLGuerra@gmail.com.  

the GREAT bed makeover

For years, I have had a mixed match set of linens.  Sheets from Target, shams (that match my duvet cover) from a department store, and a lighter blanket from Ikea.  I never could make them match. 

One thing about work travel is being spoiled with nice big beds, plush linens, and many many pillows.  Oh and the fact that everything usually matches or ties together to look great.  Unfortunately, my bed did not look great.  A random trip to JoAnn's and I found this fabric(!): 

A few months ago (read maybe 8 months ago), on another shopping trip to JoAnn's, I had purchased several throw pillows.  On another similar visit to Target, I had purchased some dish towels I though might help bring my bed linens together.  They were close, but not enough.  The new pattern FINALLY brought everything all together.  So I set out to make some throw pillows!

The first pillow was simple: cut fabric, stitch together 3 sides, sew on snaps on the 4th end to make the pillow case easy to remove for washing (as needed).

Now I needed to tie the dish towels into the mix.  Pulling from the design of the new fabric.  I came up with some diagonal patterns and a spiral pattern.  Using a pencil, I sketched the designs right onto the (clean and ironed) towels.  I used embroidery floss to create the designs.  

Here's the finished result of all of the pillows combined with the mismatched sets:  

A now that the bed is complete and I have hung my Martini girls my bedroom feels complete :)

All that glitters...for Christmas

Gearing up for Christmas and my tacky holiday party, meant more tulle!  Here's a glimpse of the latest colors I used to make my wreath for the door. I added the bells for the extra jingle.  

As host of this tacky holiday party, I needed to create an outfit.  I made a reindeer t-shirt and paired it with another tutu! I added the candy cane socks, because why not?

Photo booths are all the rage, so naturally the tacky holiday party needed festive props.  Here's a glimpse of that project.

The props were a success and the photo booth was a hit!

Completing the Turkey Trot Costume

In order to complete the Turkey Trot costume, I needed to finish my shirt.  

Materials

• 1 brown t-shirt
• 1 piece of felt in various colors (shown here: orange, crimson, red, and yellow)
• 1 piece of cardboard to create stencils
• needle and threat (or sewing machine)

How to: 

I started with the back design (flared feathers to look like the turkey tail).  Draw a feather like image onto your cardboard.  Cut it out and retrace desired number of feathers onto your felt. 

Cut out all of your traced feathers.  Arrange your design so you know how the pieces will line up. 

Stitch the design onto the back of your shirt.  

Here is what the back of my shirt looks like on:

Next I wanted to create a bib of feathers around the front collar.  I traced circles onto the remaining felt (but forgot to take pictures of this part).  Then I stitched them onto the front.  

Now that my shirt is complete, I tried on the full outfit.  It's hard to take pictures of yourself and I promise it is much cuter in person, but I love it! 

Turkey Tutu

For the first time I will be running a Turkey Trot!  And I am over the moon about it.  Having wanted to do this for a while I know the best part of this festive 5k: the costumes!  After a quick Google search it seems that turkey tutus are all the rage at these events.  I happen to have tulle left over, but I picked up a few new rolls just in case (and I was glad that I did!).  

Materials

• 1 roll of plain brown tulle (25 yards)
• 1 roll of plain crimson tulle (25 yards)
• 1 roll of yellow tulle with glitter tulle (10 yards)*
• 1 roll of orange tulle with glitter tulle (10 yards)*
• ribbon (at least 2 yards -- you will measure this to fit you)

* yellow and orange will be your accent colors over the brown and crimson base, that's why you need significantly less. 

How to:

Start by measuring the ribbon.  Remember a tutu fits around your hips, not your waist.  Wrap the ribbon around your hips and add 6-8 inches on each end (these will allow you to tie the tutu around yourself).  Cut the brown and crimson tulle into 24 inch strips.  I used both spools completely.  Start your tutu using a single piece of tulle strip.  Create a loop, wrap it around the ribbon, then pull the loose tulle ends through the loop.  

Continue this process alternating brown and crimson.  Continue all the way around the ribbon, leaving the ends for tying.  This will be your base.

Now cut 8 strips of yellow and orange tulle each.  These are your accent colors.  Loop them in sporadically along the ribbon.  

Test out the final product to make sure it fits and that you have tulle all the way around.  You don't want a bald spot!  I then tried my turkey tutu on with my brown t-shirt.  I will be making the t-shirt festive too, but for now I wanted to see how it would pair with the tutu.   

I LOVE the final product!

thankful for tulle

I am hosting Thanksgiving!  First year back in the Sunshine State and I get to host the family (minus Rick).  That means I have one week to get ready.  Naturally a wreath is in order.  I'm been wanting to play with tulle and this was the perfect excuse.

Materials

• tulle (12 yards) in desired color(s) -- I used a sheer chocolate with light glitter, a solid yellow with excessive gold glitter, and a ribbed orange with dotted glitter (I like the variety of textures)
• 1 wreath at desired size (straw wreath proved to be MUCH cheaper than floral wreaths)
• brown ribbon
• 1 wooden panel for message
• brown paint
• gold paint pen

How to: 

Start by cutting the tulle into strips.  I cut 24-inch pieces (12) of each of my colors.   

Fold the piece in half.  Keep a hold of the loop.  Wrap the tulle around the wreath and bring the loose ends through the loop.  Then flare out the ends. Continue on all the way around the wreath. 

When completed be sure to flare out all of the loose ends.  

Paint the wooden panel using the brown (or other desired color) paint.  Use the paint pen to write your own message.  Attach (tape) ribbon to the back of the panel with ends long enough to tuck into some of the tulle wraps on the wreath -- this will secure your message to the wreath.  

Add ribbon to hang the wreath and tie a bow at the top for charm.  And there's your festive wreath!