Quick Pillows

My mom had some left over fabric from when we had someone make curtains and pillows 

for my room at home years ago. 

She uses my old bedroom now as a guest room when family comes to town. 

She needed to reupholster a chair in my room and add some pillows on it. 

So she covered the chair....

Which turned out so cute!

And I was in charge of pillows. 

Thankfully she already had pillows, so I just needed to 

make casings, shove the pillow in, and close it up. 

Simple enough - seriously! 

//What you'll need//
* Pillow
* Fabric twice as long as your pillow and a few inches wider than your pillow
* Heat n Bond (or you can hand stitch it close)
* Sewing pins
* Thread
* Scissors
* Iron
* Sewing Machine

Step 1. Measure how wide/long your pillow is

Step 2. Measure your fabric to be about an inch wider than your pillow and pin right sides together

- Because I had fabric twice as long as my pillow, I was able to fold it over, right sides together, and pin the 3 open sides

Step 3. Sew the two sides of the pillow (I just used random thread color since it isn't going to be seen)

Step 4. Sew a zig-zag line next to the straight line. This will make your pillow stronger and holes won't easily be made. 

Step 5. Clip the corners at an angle so when it is folded right side out, it makes a clean corner

Step 6. Sew the last open side about half to 3/4 of the way and stop. 

Go back and forth a few times to keep that opening strong

Step 7. Flip your case right side out. Fold the opening down and iron it flat. 

Then stuff your pillow inside.

Step 8. Cut a strip of Heat n Bond as wide as your opening. Iron it on with paper side facing you. 

This takes only a few seconds. 

Step 9. Once the paper has cooled, peal it off. 

The glue strip should now be on your fabric but barely visible. 

Step 10. Normally I would use an iron to glue the two pieces closed, but because of my bulky pillows, I used my Flat Iron instead -seriously! It worked just as well and I didn't have to lay it on a table. 

- My fabric was a bit heavy duty so the glue didn't hold as well as i'd hoped, so I reinforced my closing with a few hidden stitches. 

And...

Feel free to email or comment with questions about these quick pillow covers.

Weddings & Anniversaries

This past weekend was crazy busy to say the least. 

But it was so much fun so the craziness was well worth it. 

Friday, was my sister-in-laws wedding! 

It was the most beautiful day; from the weather to the bride.
We got a lot of cute pictures but here are just a few. 

My new favorite of me and Tyson

Tyson's niece Alexis

Tyson's beautiful cousins Tiera & Tavia 

Pretty earrings for Bridesmaid gifts

The Bride & her Maids

The Banner I made her in this post 

 Love me some beautiful summer weddings! 

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Stroshine 

Literally right after the reception ended, Tyson and I drove to 

St. George for our Anniversary weekend trip. 

Tyson started work yesterday so we didn't do anything extravagant. 

We stayed the night at our place in St. George on Friday 

and then stayed in Vegas Saturday night. 

We went to the dinner-show Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. 

It was really a lot of fun! 

The food was a bit dry, but the entertainment was fun. 

We had to leave Vegas early Sunday morning in order to be on-time for 

Mother's Day dinner at Market Street with the fam. 

I didn't have the chance to get a picture of Ryan, Madison, & Addi; 

Addisyn is either about to start teething or is coming down with something 

so she was a bit fussy. 

But it was still a good time as always. 

My cute parents 

We look so tired lol 

It was such a fun weekend and I loved getting to see so much family! 

*****

Today is mine and Tyson's 2 year anniversary!! 

Unfortunately, he's out working until late and I'm sitting here blogging and crafting lol. 

But, it's better than when we were apart last year while he was working in New York all summer. 

Tyson and I had a tough first year. As you can see in old posts, we were apart A LOT. 

Not only is it tough getting used to living with someone full-time, but add in a lot of distance and it makes communication tough and we went through a lot of ups and downs. 

But each year we grow closer and become stronger as a couple. 

Our second year was SO much better and I know it's only going to get even better. 

We are very opposite in a lot of ways, but we use that as opportunities to teach each other 

a little bit more patience and a little bit more structure, and in the end, it works out for both of us :)

 I love you sweetheart and can't wait for the many many years ahead! 

Mother's Day

There are simply just not enough words or time to explain how much I appreciate and love my mom. 

And I hope she knows that she always deserves more than just 1 day to remember that. 

A lot of people post on social media sites about how their mom is the "better than yours", "no other mom is greater" than theirs, blah blah blah.... I'm sorry... I didn't know this was a competition. 

We all love our mother's beyond words and feel the same about them for different reasons and at different levels. 

So please, stop posting that yours is the better than mine, it's not a competition - all mother's are beautiful, selfless, hard-working, patient, and the best gift a son or daughter could ever ask for from God. 

Anywho, I wanted to dedicate not just a picture on Instagram or Facebook to my mom, but a post to express how much she means to me. 

I tell her every single day that I love her and do my best to tell her how grateful I am that she is mine. 

Without a doubt, I completely believe she is my personal angel God sent to protect me, teach me, and guide me through my life; and she has been doing just that. 

She was at every single dance performance and competition for the first 11 years of my life. 

She was never a stage mom. She would drop me off at dance, pick me up, watch me practice over and over again, smile as I showed off my costumes, and even hugged and wiped my tears when things seemed unfair or seemed too tough to handle. 

She never pushed me to dance, only encouraged me to do it only if it made me happy. 

She jumped right when I asked for tumbling lessons for high school cheerleading. She watched each tumbling class and video taped each one upon her demanding daughter's request :). 

She was there to give me the confidence I needed to perform my very best each Friday night; of which I knew I could count on seeing her smiling face every night I looked into the stands. 

She was there to help me as Captain; to walk me through how to work with and be a leader to 25 girls.

 She was so supportive in all things Orem High Cheerleading. 

She was there on the first day of college to move me into my dorm rooms where I didn't know anyone.

 She would talk on the phone with my every day and encourage me to get outside and meet new people. 

She was supportive of my decision to join a sorority and was so excited for me to meet new people.

 She was there when Alpha Chi needed to practice for recruitment and enjoyed seeing and meeting the amazing new people in my life. 

She has always been the BEST travel buddy and we always have so much fun together. 

From Hawaii, St. George, the Emmy's, Paris, she's such a fun travel buddy and I can't wait for more trips ahead!

She was there for me through every up and down with my relationships and continues to be my open ear and shoulder to cry on, and always has the words I need to hear. 

If there is anything I have finally learned in my 24 years with my mom, it's to listen to what she says.

 98% of the time that I have done opposite of what she advised or suggested, I regretted not following her words. 

Even those around her seek her out for guidance in their personal lives because they know they can count on her and she will be there to support where she can. 

I pray all of the time that I will be blessed with a daughter that I can build the relationship I have with my mom. 

And I hope to be half the mother she has been to me and Ryan. 

My mother is 

strong, patient, selfless, giving, caring, loving, smart, talented 

and above all, she is so beautiful. 

Without a doubt, she is my angel, rock, therapist, cheerleader, and best friend. 

I'm so thankful God put her in my life because she was definitely meant for me. 

I love you so much Mama and I hope you had a beautiful day! 

Food Placement Cards

My mother-in-law asked me to make some Food Placement Cards for their cookie table at the wedding next Friday. 

I had the evening to myself at home, so I pulled out my Cricut, hooked it up to my computer, and started playing around with the Cricut Craft Room application. 

It's amazing and I can't wait to make more crafts with it! 

The Cricut Craft Room allows you to create what you want to cut out right on your computer. 

And because it's plugged into your Cricut, you hit "CUT" on your computer and it starts cutting on your Cricut machine! 

Cricut Imagine w/ HP Printer

I love learning new things every time I turn on my Cricut. Not to mention, my other sister-in-law bought me a Cricut Creative Cards cartridge for my birthday so I finally got to put it to use - and I can't wait to use it for Mother's Day just around the corner. 

Okay, now to my craft. I wish I had taken some step-by-step pictures,
but by looking at the final project you can easily tell what was done.

//Supplies// 
I used materials I already had from the Wedding Banner I made so I knew they would match
* 4-5 colors solid paper
* Cricut machine
* Clear-drying glue
* Glue Dot Adhesives

If you don't own a Cricut, you can always cut the shapes out by hand and purchase some doilies.
Thankfully, my Cricut cut it all out for me so it saved a lot of time! 

~ This is what I did specifically for this project - change your paper and process for you :)

>> Tan card stock for the main card
>> Pink and mint paper for the decorative back drop (layer 2)
- I used the Glue Dots on the four corners to secure it to the tan paper because wet glue can make thin paper wrinkley when it dries.
>> I used dark brown card stock for the letters that were cut out by my Cricut
- I used an exacto-knife to help place and glue my tiny letters.
- You can also write your letters by hand. These letters were so tiny so it took a while to place and glue each one on the placement card.
>> I used some scrap paper I already had for the Cricut-cut doilies. There is pattern on the back, but I just flipped it over to use the white side.
- I didn't want a full-size doily on each card; #1 I didn't want it to be the focus of the Placement Card & #2 There are tiny pieces to clean up off the Cricut mat and I didn't have the patience lol. So, I used 2 full doilies and placed parts of them on each of the cards.

Overall, such a cute project that took little time to make thanks to my Cricut. 

I don't craft every day or even every week, 

but investing in a Cricut seriously makes my random projects so much easier.

(Starting to think they should pay me for advertising) lol

Feel free to email me with any questions about the Wedding Food Placement Cards project! 

Pinwheel Bouquet

I forgot to upload pictures a while ago of the Pinwheel Bouquet I made for my mom. Mama Barb is always sweet enough to give me a project when she knows I'm itching to make something :) 

She just needed something for a cute little table in our guest room so we decided on pinwheels after I had made some for my sister-in-laws baby-gender-reveal-party. 

I usually buy the majority of my craft supplies from Hobby Lobby. 

They're just around the corner and I love their selection. 

***These are directions for stand-still Pinwheels; they don't spin and are for decoration***

 If you want yours to spin follow the online directions below.

//Supplies//

* A few different patterns of paper (double-sided preferred but not required)

* A solid color for the centers

* Decorative brads to hold them all together in the center 

* Little wooden dowels -  I cut them into different lengths

* Hot glue gun & glue sticks

These are the most basic instructions I could find online and it worked really well. 

(click image to enlarge)

The changes I made to the instructions above were:
#5: A dab of hot glue under each center tab to keep them permanently secure
- I then put a dab of hot glue under my center piece (picture below) to hold that secure
- Then stabbed a push pin through the center to make a hole so it was easier to shove the brad in through the layers
#7: Once you see your brad poke through the back, split and flatten it down to the back
#9: I hot glued the wooden dowel down the back of the pinwheel since pins were not going through the dowel and mine are not for spinning
- I also cut a strip of paper and glued that over the back of the pinwheel over the dowel stick so it would clean up the look a bit from the back.

This project can be as slow or fast as you make it. 

It just depends on your paper, the sizes, and quantity you decide to make. 

You get faster at it the more you make :) 

Feel free to email me with any additional questions about making a Pinwheel Bouquet!