Round-up.

  Monday's post had me thinking that it would be fun to do a little round-up of some of my favorite tutorials from this little blog! I learned two things while I was picking my top 5; my picture taking abilities used to REALLY suck {now they just sort of suck} and I've got a buttload more recipes than tutorials to share. Hello, inner fat kid! :) In no particular order- here are my favorite crafty tutorials::

Infinity scarf

        

   Chalkboard tumblers

Knock-off Anthropologie mug

Oversized canvas art

  

kitchen chalkboard

Fabric covered planter.

   It might be safe to say that gardening is becoming a hobby for me. Nevermind that my entire garden got scorched last summer and I stopped watering it after July. I am fully embracing the 'fake it til you make it' motto and it may be working for me so far this summer? Too soon to tell. Either way, I'm having a blast growing my garden and watering my boxwoods and filling my planters with blooms that may or may not die in a few days. Watering time has become my jam. Like an 80 year-old woman, its the highlight of my evening. I kind of geek out over filling up my watering can I know, I know. Riveting life I live. 

  And now that I've completely drawn you into the the soap opera life I lead, let me share my fabric covered planter with you! Ha! What a segway. This is just about the simplest project and costs next to nothing. I scored this pot at Goodwill last year for $.25 and had everything else on hand. And I'm kind of obsessed with making these, so fake your surprise if you get one for a birthday or housewarming or no other good reason other than I love you. Mmkay? 

What you'll need:

foam brush

mod podge

fabric

scissors

terra cotta planter

  Start by coating the entire outside of the planter with a generous coat of mod podge and then quickly wrap the fabric. Since you kind of have to roll the fabric on, I've found its best to start with a larger piece of fabric than you'll need and then trim the excess. Make sense?

   After you've wrapped the fabric around the outside, trim the top while leave about 1 1/2 in extra {or however much you'll need to have the fabric fold past the soil line}. You want the inside of the pot to seem lined, too, so cut diagonal slits in the fabric to fold into the pot. 

   Coat the inside with a layer of of modpodge and fold the fabric inside...

   ...and go over with another coat of modpodge. 

   Now smooth as many wrinkles out as possible on the outside of the planter and add a last generous coat of modpodge. Trim the bottom of the fabric and modpodge to seal. 

   Let the pot dry completely before planting. I'm sure there's some sort of waterproof or outdoor modpodge available, but I'm all for using what you have. So, be prepared for your planter to become a bit soggy when watering your flowers. No worries though, it seals up just fine after it dries again. 

   Et voila! Isn't it cute? I kind of love that its imperfect with some of the wrinkles I couldn't/was too lazy to get out. I chose a more basic fabric, but the possibilities are endless. And hey, if my plants end up dying, at least I have a cute pot out of the deal! Silver lining, people. 

ready, set, goals!

I love pinterest.

I'm actually pretty obsessed with it. {when I remember that it exists, that is.}

But my problem is that I pin something and just assume I'll come back to it later.

and then I don't.

for a looooong time.

Especially the crafty things I pin.

Sooooo, I'm setting myself some goals.

I'm breaking it down by semester, since that's how my life works right now.

At first, I wanted to add everything on my craft board to my goal list. Then I realized that's not very practical.

Come on, Katie. Don't set yourself up to fail before you even start!

So, I decided for now, I'll try one project per month. easy peasy, right?!

Let's hope so!

September

via

A camera strap cover. Suuuuuper easy to make, I already have the stuff and I made one for my sister last year. I just need to take the 10 minutes and make one for my sweet Cami!

October

via

A college friend of mine makes AMAZING hobo bags, and MONTHS ago, she lent me her pattern. I need one of these in my life. asap.

November

via

yoga pants from a tshirt. too good to be true!

December

via

I realize this is the 'non-sewing' wildcard, but we really need some wall art around these parts. And being the cheapest person I know, I'm going to have to make it if its ever going to exist. So its on my list...

So here's to hoping I can cross it all off my list...and hopefully more! Anyone else making goals this fall?

Luck of the Irish.

**Today's the last day to enter the Spring Blog Swap! Be sure to sign up!**

Happy St. Patty's day! :)

J & I are pretty fond of this holiday.

It's the day (3 years ago) that we decided to start dating, y'know.

guess that makes it pretty special!

In other news, spring break has been just the {semi) break that I needed!

here's a peak at what I've been up to {besides boring papers, internship, and reading}

 {and maybe, just maybe all this craftyness and pretty fabric has something to do with my 50 FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY. maybe.}

anyone else loving this windows-open, fresh-air weather as much as me? Mmm...its good for the soul.

Weekend in pictures.

Thankfully, midterm studying and paper-writing didn't dominate me this weekend! 

{actually, I did very little of it. oops!}

Instead, I ate out {way too much!} with the hubs, cuddled with my pup {who was extra snuggly yesterday!}, slept in, went for runs, started cleaning our spare room, made homemade pizza, and had an interview for a summer nanny position.

I'm pretty sure I'm in love with weekends.

God knew what he was doing when he gave us two days "off" every week!

Here are the {3} and only pictures from this weekend...

When I was cleaning the spare room, I decided its about time I neatly organize my fabrics. {We'll see how long they stay like this!}

I finally finished my pillowcase bag...and I'm pretty happy with it! 

Thanks, Martha! 

I whipped up this Thank You card for the family I interviewed with. They were so great to meet and chat with and they took time out of their saturday morning for me! 

Am I the only one obsessed with sewing paper?

Maybe. And that's ok!

How was your weekend? Busy? Slow? Fun? 

***Also, a shout out to my wonderful hubby, who I'm pretty sure reads this regularly now. Love you! :)

So glad.

On my {3rd} snow/ice day in a row, I'm getting a teensy bit antsy

Its a good thing J and I made a trip to the library on Sunday.

{mmm...I love libraries, don't you?}

Here's what I picked up.

Notice the Martha Encyclopedia of awesome crafts?

Yes, please!

{and no, the poker book on top is not mine. Most definitely J's!}

I'm in the mood to craft today.

Weekend sewing.

I spent the weekend eating out with some new friends, watching football, homeworking, playing with my pup, and sewing. Have I mentioned that I really love sewing? New(ish) favorite hobby for sure.
I had started my bff's Christmas present forever ago, but needed to really sit down and finish it. I got this book before Christmas with a B&N giftcard I've had for a couple years. Its packed with tons of cute projects!

This Cup Half Full Apron is super cute and I love the little paragraph in the book about it..."Ah, optimism!"

So, this

+ this

= this!

(yes, I know the pictures are terrible. All I had handy was my phone :) and yes, that is a toilet I'm standing on. Judge me. and, for some reason the apron looks super short in the pictures, but it really turned out just like the book's!)

Hope she likes her (extremely) belated Christmas present!

Wednesday randoms.

because Wednesdays are just random in general, here are some of my randoms today!

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was this book that I gave my mom, for us to work through together. Has anyone else see this? Its such a great idea for crafty people who like to help others!

Speaking of crafts, I'm thinking of making up a couple of these cute gifts to have on hand for last minute gift ideas. And I'm just loving Ashley's blog and well, life in general. She is so crafty and stylish...and has 4 of the cutest kids!

J and I have been working on getting back into shape (along with every other new year's resoluters). Has anyone tried any Wii fitness programs and loved them? I'm trying to find some winter running alternatives...

and because everyone (most everyone, anyways) loves a cute dog...

bah...isn't he adorable?! 

Happy Wednesday!

christmas on a budget.

if i've said it once, i've said it a million times.

we're on an extreme budget this year.

which means i've got to be crazy creative with affordable christmas gift ideas!

here are some of the places i'm drawing inspiration from right now...

Aboveallfabric.com/blog has daily posts about gift ideas. yes please!

designsponge.com is one of my all time favorite sites. ever. and right now they have some pretty awesome diy gift/wrapping ideas!

happy thanksgiving!

Above All Fabrics Giveaway!

It's the season for giveaways! I have so many to share, but I'm most excited about this one! Being the young, poor newlyweds that we are, we taking every opportunity to home-make or cost-effectively purchase christmas gifts this year :) 

Above All Fabrics is making that easy with their wonderful giveaway!

You can win anywhere between $100 and $25 just by browsing their online store, creating a wishlist, and blogging about it!

I luurve Heather Bailey's Pocketbook Tangerine!

sense a theme? I'm also in love with this pattern by Heather!

i have so many things on my wishlist already! 

sew.sew

Since Spring, I've completely neglected my lovely stack of fabrics and half-done projects along with a long list of project ideas to start. But I just found out that September is National Sewing Month! I'm taking this national month of sewing-celebration to motivate me back into sewing. I'm not exactly sure how I'll fit it into the pages and pages of reading that I have to do, along with papers, group projects, and all that grad school goodness, but I'm sure going to try!

I figured 5 is a good number to start with. So here's what I'll be working on this month:

1. this apron. I started it months ago, got sidetracked after coming down with a bad head cold and then never picked it up again!

2. a cute lunchbox. I've been wanting to make this since I saw it in One Yard Wonders, and now that I take my lunch everyday to school, it would come in handy!

3. I want to make some cute placemats for our cute new dining room table. We painted the room Gentle Moss, so I'm on the hunt for a fabric that goes well with the green...any suggestions?

4. curtains curtains curtains. Our bedroom and office both have bare windows that just look blah and I've been wanting to try my hand at window treatments. I hear they're easy...

5. and just for fun...not functionality or necessity...I've been eying this adorable clutch!

hopefully I can get to them all! Maybe I'll even give myself a break from paper writing and group project working this weekend to pick up where I left off on the apron. Maybe. :)