Hexagons

     So besides the baby quilt I made(that my mom helped me with) I also worked on a wall hanging for my niece. My hexagon wall hanging was to go with some pieces that my mother-in-law embroidered and put in embroidery hoops. Hers turned out beautiful and were so meaningful. Hopefully I can update with a picture of them all hanging on the wall in the nursery. For now here is a picture of the hexagon quilted wall hanging I made.

I didn't cut of the edge of the hexagons around the circle. I just pressed them toward the front so that it almost looked like a flower.

It looks so wrinkled but it's just the way the late evening sun was hitting it. It really wasn't that bad.

All you need is some fabric, 1 inch paper piecing hexagons, needle, thread (my sister uses silk), an embroidery hoop, and a ribbon or just hang it without one. 

If you need a great tutorial on how to do English paper piecing then you have to check out Jaybird Quilts website. There are alot of different ways to go about it. Hopefully I can put a more detailed blog up in the coming weeks on how to do it!

My sister is my inspiration for this project...check out her blog to see her hexi's at Under the Evening Star
Here is a sneak peak of a beautiful project she has on her blog! She is so talented you can find lots of quilting inspiration there!

Baby Blessings

  I am so excited about my niece that will be born sometime in June. I have been crafting, sewing, and baking in anticipation of my sister-in-law's shower. I am so excited that the time is finally here! I wanted to post a few things that I made for the baby and for the shower....

The front of the quilt.

The pieced back.

An up close picture of my mom's amazing quilting. She is so talented she quilted the baby's name on the quilt.

This is an example of how you can take beautiful fabric and a simple pattern and make an amazingly beautiful quilt. I can't take full responsibility for the quilt. My mom really helped me and she did the quilting on top which is just so pretty.

Below is a picture of the bunting that I made for the shower. I used scrapbook paper and the Ellison machine that we have at school to cut out the letters. This was done old school style because I don't have a Silhouette machine....awww some day soon! I think it turned out pretty good though.

Bunting I made using scrapbook paper and the Ellison machine at school.  A good camera would have come in handy for this shot. I tried all the tricks but my point and shoot just wouldn't do this paper justice. It was so pretty!

I have a couple other projects to show off but I must go to bed. I just fell asleep in the office chair. It really is pretty comfortable...all things considered.

Bathroom Vanity Update

     So I wanted to give an update for my bathroom vanity I have  been working on. I put a coat of shellac on the vanity and then put a second coat of the Annie Sloan Chalk paint I have been using. I think I will put one more coat of paint on it. I hate to do it knowing that I am just going to be taking a sanding block to the whole thing but there are a couple of spots I want to have better coverage.

After the shellac but before the second coat of chalk paint

After the shellac and the second coat of paint

I also had to post the knobs for the false drawer I got for a total of 6 dollars. Totally beautiful. I had to take a picture with them next to my jars I got from the antique fair. They matched perfect which makes them all the more special. So after one more coat of paint I guess I will be moving on to waxing with the Annie Sloan wax. Slowly...but surely I am getting this vanity done.

   

And in the spirit of this beautiful blue color I love so much. I am posting a picture of my Hydrangea that somehow despite the frost that got it has started to bloom.

 

Travels and Treasures

     What a beautiful and blessed weekend I had! It started off right... hanging out with two great friends at a local spot. Good food, friends, and a second to relax...I couldn't have asked for more. Then Adam and I were up early(ish) and we headed to the The 8th Annual Clinch River Spring Antique Fair in downtown Clinton, Tennessee.

     On the way I stopped at Hobby Lobby to get a few craft items. Now I have been to Joanne's and Micheal's but I don't think I have ever been to Hobby Lobby. It was like a craft mecca. Don't laugh if you have been there before and aren't impressed by it's awesomeness. I just couldn't get over it. I found a shelf for my bathroom that I am praying will be there in a couple weeks. I just have too much going on to afford it right now but if I have anything to do with it...it will hang on my wall.

      After that we went on to Clinton and I was in another kind of Heaven....the complete opposite Heaven. I am talking expensive, antique, made in America kind of Heaven. A shabby chic kind of Heaven where pieces of furniture whispered sweet nothings and begged to go home with me. I found one thing that stopped me in my tracks and almost made me cry I wanted it so bad....It was not for sale but ohhh it had my name all over it.

This trailer belonged to Julie at Vintage Southern and Vintage Wedding Rentals.

   
 My friend, Amanda, who lives and teaches in Clinton met us there and had a milkshake with us at Hoskins Drug Store where they have an old school soda fountain. It was so much fun to eat lunch at a place with such history.

Adam not amused by my photo taking!....lol

     So your wondering what did I get after a day of antique shopping? Well.....my wonderful husband bought my Mother's Day gift. You know I love antique Blue Ball jars and we found a 1/2 gallon jar and a square quart jar. I am in love!

 After we spent the day exploring and window shopping we were off to get Belle from Mamaw's and head home to hang out with our friends. It was our first campfire of the season and summer sure felt like it was here for good! What a perfect weekend!

Sophie thinking she is a Hollywood Starlet!

When Kroger Gives You Eggs

      So...In my attempt to save money, I have been really watching the Kroger circular, trying to watch what is on sale and plan my weekly menus around those items. I don't use coupons very much, even though I look every week for ones that I can use. There are a whooooole lot of cat food coupons out there but I just think my dog would totally object. However, there are those rare occasions that I hit pay dirt and score a good deal. Despite those occasional, "Wow! I did good!" moments...I remain unimpressed by the value of paying for the newspaper vs. the savings in the end.

     Two weeks ago Kroger had their eggs on sale 10 dozen for 10 dollars. Now that is a wow! So I did what any good, budget conscious woman would do. I bought three dozen eggs and proceeded to use eggs in everything. We are now on a cholesterol detox diet after all those eggs but hey.....egg salad vs. Boars Head lunch meat....yeah that is some savings. Don't get me wrong. You can't touch Boars head lunch meat for taste but shew law...it's expensive!

 I have never created a recipe. I am a... pour, taste, dump, taste, taste again...till I get it right kind of cook so this was not easy for me. Here is what I came up with.

Vivian's Low Fat "Saving the Bank" Egg Salad

Ingredients

10 eggs
1/3 cup of Light or Fat Free Mayo
1/3 cup of Fat Free Sour Cream
2 tablespoons of yellow mustard
1/4 cup of diced dill pickles
1/2 teaspoon of dried dill
salt and pepper to taste (sorry this isn't an exact measurement...I think what I find salty enough may be too much for some and not enough for others)


First boil your eggs however you like to do it...(Doesn't everyone have their own way of doing it that has been passed down from their family?)
After they're finished boiling run cold water over them and let them cool
Crack each egg and roll on the counter (A good friend taught me this method) 
Peel all the eggs and dice them in to small pieces (Not tiny....you still want some chunk to the salad)

Add all the ingredients into the bowl and fold the ingredients into each other.
Chill for a couple hours and then get some really fresh bread...spread egg salad and begin eating..

 

If you are having company feel free to turn this into a full fat salad by using regular mayo and regular sour cream (I always splurge on calories when I have people over) Paula Deen and Ree Drummond would be so appalled by my recipe! Hey we can't live like that every day! Now, time for an omelet!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Redo

     So I have been in possession of some very expensive and oh so shabby chic Annie Sloan paint since before Christmas waiting to find the perfect dresser to turn into a bathroom vanity. I was not going to let spring break end without at least getting the first coat of paint on. I learned two very important things today in the process...

1. Don't be afraid to google in the face of difficulties
2. Sometimes.... to enjoy life you just can't care about the state of your house (I think I already knew that...lol..I had nothing to fear...the laundry did not go anywhere)

Here is an interesting list of reasons that Annie Sloan states makes their paint is so special

1. It's the BEST paint for painting furniture by a long way
2. No need to prime or prepare
3.Extremely low VOCs so it is good for the environment
4. You can use it on any surface, indoors and out ( the outside of our shop was painted in it- perfect!)
5. You can use the paint by diluting it with water to make a wash to show the wood grain
6. The colors are mixed intelligently and the web site shows how you can adapt your colors for your use
7. It's a girls' paint, but boys can use it too.
8. It's flexible so you can be creative and change your mind
9. It allows your walls to breathe so it is perfect for cottage walls
10. You can use it as an impasto ( thickly) - leave the lid off to thicken
11. We've been making it since 1990 so it's tried and tested

So here's what happened. I put the first coat of paint on and I started to see a pink hue coming through. Ughhh...this was not supposed to happen...part of the whole attraction of Annie Sloan paint is the idea that you don't have to use a primer or sand or anything before you paint. So I was a little aggravated. Then over lunch I grabbed my handy Kindle Fire and googled it. Here is what I found out. Below is a direct quote from the Annie Sloan


With some pieces of furniture, typically pieces from the 1930s and 1940s, after painting the first coat there is either a yellow or pink stain which bleeds through the paint. No matter how may coats you paint, the stain colour will continue to bleed through.
 
The ANSWER is to get something called * Knotting or sometimes it is called shellac. Get the clear one and apply it using a pad rather than a brush. It dries in minutes and you can get on with painting immediately!

The before picture with the mirror removed and a general idea of what the galvanized bucket sink will look like.

An upclose of the first coat of paint.

You can see lots of brush strokes here which are supposed to fade with the second coat. I was trying to get a pic of the pink hue but the camera would not pick it up.

I was so excited to see paint going on I had to stop and take a picture.

The whole first coat didn't take long at all. I also didn't take long to tell something went wrong. I guess according to Annie Sloan's website we can safely assume this piece was from the 1930's or 1940's as indicated by the pink hue bleeding through.

 

 

 

     So the project will live to see another day. I guess I will be off to Lowes to buy some shellac and to look for a galvanized bucket that is similar to the one in the picture below that I will use as the sink vessel. Oh well part of this whole process is being creative, getting messy, and thinking about something other than Standardized Testing for first graders. I like where this whole project is going though. I will update with more pictures after we go spend some more money at Lowes.

Anchor

So as most of my friends know I am always struggling with my weight. Blah...it's like a sad record that keeps playing over and over again. I am okay with it. I can't be perfect. So, at the beginning of the year I chose to face the facts and join Weight Watchers again. I have been losing sloooowly. As of last week I have lost six pounds. In three months that is sad but here are the positives:

• I haven't gained more than what I started with
• I am moving down the scale
• No matter how bad my week was (eating wise) I still go and face the music 

So a couple weeks ago the leader talked about how we should have anchors that we look towards to keep us focused. 11 years ago I lost 100 pounds and for each mile stone I bought a piece of jewelry. That seemed to work then so I thought about a bracelet that I could add a bead to for each five pounds I lost. Well after last weeks meeting (and I didn't gain back any of the first five) I did just that.

I went to a local store here in Sevierville called Loralei's on Main and picked up a beautiful bracelet and my first bead for around 30 dollars. I think it is so pretty and I am very excited about wearing it. I think it will remind me every time I stick my hand in the fridge about where I am wanting to go with my weight. If you are looking for that kind of motivation or just looking to shop for a great gift Loralei's is the place to go. I will keep you updated with where my bracelet goes as there are so many beads to choose from!