Marissa's Tunic

Today was such beautiful weather and I was glad to spend the afternoon celebrating the autumn season with old friends at an annual party! I wore a grey and white stripped tunic that I had just completed. As the pattern indicates, it was REALLY quite easy!

Wondering What We've Been Up To?

I know you've all been dying to know what we've been up to, right? Okay, maybe not, but I'm going to tell you anyway!

We've been spending all of our free time sewing/crafting/making for our upcoming craft shows! I'm sewing these beautiful bow clutches and making matching covered bobby pins. I found tutorials here and here. Wouldn't these make for amazing Christmas gifts?!

And my mother has been busy making soap. These are three of her most popular types; lavender, peppermint patty, and honey oatmeal almond.

Please join us at our craft shows, find them listed below!

• Concord Catholic Church: October 20th
• Western High School: November 10th
• Old MacDonald's Farm at Convis Township Hall: December 1st

Wedding Veil Series: Second Mid-length Veil with Blusher

I had the pleasure of meeting Kate through our husbands, who were friends in high school. Kate was a beautiful bride and I was honored to make her wedding veil. But it wasn't just any veil. Do you recognize it? It's the same pattern I used to make my own veil!

Kate made her veil original by adding a gorgeous floral and feather hair accessory. Later at her reception she removed the veil but left in the floral hair accessory, which accented her french twist beautifully.

Here's to wishing them many happy years to come. We look forward to being a part of it!

Crafting for a Cause

This weekend my mother and I had a wonderful time "Crafting for a Cause" at a local church. Each crafted was welcome to stamp, scrapbook, bead, etc. We were asked to bring a passing dish and a gift for the church's Christmas project. It was a wonderful way to give back to our community and fellowship with other women. Check out the cards my mother and I made!

Wedding Veil Series: Mid-length blusher with trim

I am so happy for my long time friend Megan and her new husband Kevin. She looked radiant on her special day and I had the pleasure of enhancing her beauty with a mid-length blusher veil trimmed with ribbon.

We enjoyed a veggie pizza and caught up while I made Meg's veil one night last month. Wishing them all the love two people can share and praying they will have a blessed union.

Photos by Shine On Photography.

Wooden Shelf Re-Do

We rent an old farm house. And I mean OLD! So old in fact that we do not have central air conditioning and the electrical wires can't handle even a window unit. Needless to say, we got wise to the heat and moved our mattress down to the first floor for the summer. Since summer is nearly over I decided to move our mattress back upstairs. I feel like an adult again!

My Sad Headboard Without a Mattress or Shelf

Over the summer I found this neat wooden shelf at a garage sale and thought it would be the perfect fit for my bedroom if I painted it. All I needed for this project was a shelf, fine sandpaper, a clean cloth, and spray paint for wood.

Before: Shelf

Step 1: Lightly Sand Shelf

Step 2: Wipe Dust from Shelf

Step 3: Spray Shelf Evenly

Step 4: Once Dry, Hang Shelf

Step 5: Decorate as Desired

I love how it turned out but we had a lot of difficulty hanging it. Do you have any good hanging tips?

Upscaled Thrifted Fall Skirt

Why do I always find the cutest bottoms at thrift stores that are shaped like boxes??? I mean, shouldn't women's clothes be shaped for women's hips?

So much extra space in the back!

Even though this skirt was a little boxy it was also good quality, fit really well everywhere else, and I couldn't pass it up. So I decided to add a few simple darts in the back.

Fits so much better with a few pins!

I measured about an inch out from the tag to make the darts so that I knew they where equally spaced. I made the top/thickest part of the dart about a quarter inch wide and took the dart all the way down to the lower yoke of the skirt. (You may notice the first dart I made, on the left, which was too short and made my butt look like a box. I fixed that by making the dart a little longer.)

Finished skirt with darts.

Lovely new fall ensemble.

Darts look original!

Great new addition to my work wardrobe.