Sweet Sixteen with The Bard

My middle daughter turned sixteen yesterday...

Where does the time go?  Really.  You hear people say that all of the time, but it's true.  Close your eyes and its gone...so sad.  But not to get teary eyed - cause as my girls are growing up they are becoming amazingly awesome!  I mean, how many 16 year olds want a Shakespeare themed birthday!?

That girl does, that's who.  So, being an obliging mother I threw her a Shakespearean family dinner party.  Like I have mentioned before, we just do family parties.  I figure, I gave them life, they can spend their birthday with me.

They doth not protest.

The trifold paper on the table is "how to use thou, thee, thy & thine" that I found here.  Well, actually I found it on Pinterest, that's just the link.

My husband had this Shakespeare bust on his desk.  And obviously her favorite color is purple...

Rose shaped lollipops...easy to find since her birthday is so close to Valentine's day!

She got some clothes.  A super cute navy dress with pink polka dots.  It looked like something that Clara would wear (Doctor Who)  so I stuck a note in that read, "a dress for the Impossible Girl".  I also got her a navy dress that had birds and feathers on it.  The note in that one read, "Mockingjay, dress like you are leading a rebellion".  I picked up some leopard print flats that were awesome, jeans, a long white shirt and a fabulous handbag.  Oh, and the DVD "Shakespeare Retold" that has 4 different plays put on with a modern spin.  The above is a handmade fangirl art project and I'm pretty sure it was the favorite of the gifts.  A montage of the characters she loves with the guys who play them.

Oh!  And we also did the Shakespearean Hokey Pokey.  (the girls won't allow me to post the video of them).  But it was great fun.  Another Pinterest find...Shakespearean Hokey Pokey

What a gorgeous child!  Happy Sweet Sixteen, pumpkin!

Mad Girl with a Box (and a Wood Burning Tool)

I know it's after New Year's (Happy 2014!), but here are the last of the Christmas boxes!

These are my daughters:

For the Duck Dynasty fan

For my theater girl

For my IT fan - a Moss tribute

And I had a box left over!

So I made one for me!  Of course it had to be Doctor Who!  A bit of Tardis on a box.

Ah, the Tardis on some Rose fabric...

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with them all.  ;) My favorite is mine.

Personalized Perpetual Calendars

And the post Christmas posting continues...

I made personalized 2 week perpetual calendars for some of the girls in our family.  Super easy!  Just a 12x12 frame from HobbyLobby, some scrapbook paper, some paint samples and some images found via The Internet printed on photo paper and painstakingly cut out.  Throw in a dry erase marker and how awesome is that!

So awesome, that I'm probably going to have to make one for myself!  Oh, the themes running through my mind...

For the Hello Kitty Fanatic
It's my sister-in-law and her family Hello Kitty style with lots of pink glitteriness.

For the gamer fan.
My other sister-in-law is married to a gamer and has become one herself.  The Guild is an internet show by Felicia Day on Youtube.  My husband and I enjoy it.  It's pretty funny.

For the teen fan musical lover.
Starkid.  There are no words...but I made it anyway - that's love.

They seemed to be a big hit.  I made another one that is not pictured.  It was for my nephew and my daughters wrapped it up before the picture could be taken.  It was a Call of Duty theme.

Anyway - great gift idea.

Quick.  Easy.  Yet Personal.

Nice...

Valet Box Take Two

And here are the boxes from my husband's side of the family:

For the RenFest enthusiast
A Celtic dragon and a Celtic prayer

For the World Changer
The quote is a mash up of Helen Keller and Anne Frank

For the Physical Therapist student
Nothing says PT like motion :)

For the hunter
Not a fan of sport hunting, but...here ya go

Valet Boxes and a Girl with a Wood Burning Tool

 

I have always wanted to try wood burning.  I have a childhood memory of my aunt making an owl that I thought was so cool.  I had the idea to make valet boxes for all of the guys in our family, but Procrastinator Kels ran out of time...

 

Not this year.  Though I did procrastinate...

 

These are the boxes that I made for the guys on my side:

 

For the football fan
*the blurred out section of the football is actually my brother-in-laws full name

 

For the Aggie
Complete with some Spirit of Aggieland lyrics

 



For the World War II buff
A US patch with a quote from the D Day prayer by F.D.R.

For the cowboy
Fitting words for my nephew by Chris Ledoux

 

For the newly graduated Firefirefighter
*after I stained it I really wished I would have off set the firefighter to the right and added his monogrammed initials to the left

I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to finish gifts, cook, bake, wrap...I let my kids wrap and had them take photos of everything as they did.  The pictures don't really do the boxes justice.  Everyone seemed to really like them.

Here's a photo of the WWII box that my sister took once they got it home:

I love the idea of a man's 'valet' box, especially in a day where we can use more gentlemen...

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!


My Addictions

 

 

I am ready to admit that I have a problem...

 

I used to see a sign like this and think 'woo hoo, limit 10, that's 10 for 10 how exciting'.

 

 

 

Then I thought, 'woo hoo, limit 10, let me call a few people and see if they want to meet me up here to get the ones I want that put me over the 10 limit'.

 

Yesterday I thought, 'woo hoo, limit 10, hmmmmm...I can write down all of the ones I want and go to the three closest Hobby Lobby stores to get the 26 I want and what the heck, I'll pick 4 more and make the 10 limit at the third store'.

 

This is my pattern container before I added the thirty I bought yesterday...

 

And you know what?  I think that Butterick dress poking out of the stack is just like Simplicity 1940s Retro pattern I bought yesterday.  C'est la vie.  I embrace my addiction.

 

 

My husband, however, does not.  :)

 

He says if I actually used them it would be one thing, but right now he thinks I'm just a collector.  So my response had to be to order a dressform, which I did promptly.  I can't wait for it to come in. 

 

I'm a complete novice.  I've never taken a sewing class.  I've made some skirts with elastic waists and one knit dress that didn't fall right because the hem was wonky.  But that's not going to stop me...oh no.  I've collected a descent fabric stash and I have youtube tutorials and Craftsy.com so I'm pretty sure I'll be an expert in a month or so ;)

 

Wish me luck! 

Sherlock Flag Bag

 

My sophomore needed a new flag bag for color guard by the first game.  I found that out a few days before the first game.  No time to order one, so off to Joann's fabric store.

 

 

My love for the show Sherlock made a great black and white print stick out as I was walking down the aisles.  A little yellow spray paint...yeah, fellow Sherlock fans know what's up...

 

 

The Sherlock Flag Bag...

 



 

 

Sturdy upholstery fabric and a quick sew job.  I even included a nice carrying strap and a drawstring top with a cord lock.  Pretty sweet for a short afternoon project.  Should be pretty durable, but just in case she's a bit rough and the bottom starts to wear out I purchased some Union Jack duct tape.  It just got sweeter...

 

Lord of the Rings Vintage Suitcase

I've always wanted to try my hand at up-cycling a vintage suitcase.  And what better theme than Lord of the Rings.  The story of an epic journey placed on a suitcase for my own travels.  I found some inexpensive maps on Amazon and a medium sized American Tourister suitcase at a thrift store.  The hardest part was refinishing the inside.  I used fabric, but it wouldn't stick.  I used a large amount of modge podge which made the fabric stiff.  Next time I'll just use scrapbook paper.  It will probably stick better and lay better in the rounded corners. 

The suitcase was originally a light blue with violet interior.  I used black satiny fabric for the inside and painted to outside with acrylic paint.  The suitcase shell is hard plastic, not leather.  I painted the trim in gold to emulate the ring.  Oh, and I tore the map to fit and used distressing ink to make it have an aged appearance.  I placed the Lord of the Rings on one side.

 

And Middle Earth on the other.  I mixed some fine gold glitter in the top coat of the modge podge to girl it up a bit.  I put several coats on top of the map, including a water proof one.  I love the final product and can't wait to use it!

 

 

For some reason I can't get the last photo to be the same size as the others...

 

But I hope it inspires someone to try one.  I love the custom look.  I will definitely have no problem finding my suitcase at the terminal!

 

 

R2D2 Shoes

I saw this awesome shoe idea on Pinterest and being a huge Star Wars fan I had to make them!  I picked up some fabric paint, a pair of white canvas shoes and a black Sharpie from Walmart.  I looked up some images of R2D2 online and painted up some awesome shoes!

I am so happy with the way they turned out!  Super cute and machine washable!  :)