Valentines day is around the corner, and I am so excited! I have already put together of some of my Valentine's Day favorites, but I also wanted to do some DIY! This is the only time of year that I can decorate the whole house with pink and get away with it. (I don't acutally decorate the whole house...but I could!) Last year I did this quick little project, but this year I wanted to do something a little more crafty!

I loved the way that Hattie's baby blanket turned out, and I knew I wanted to use the same technique on something (much smaller) for a Valentine's Day project. I decided to make a pillow. I have made pillows in the past, and I thought that it would be a pretty simple project.





It is the perfect pop of Valentine's Day! (Now I just have to convince Dane that it should stay out all year! Just kidding...well, sort of!)

I can finally tell you about a little project that I have been working on! I started this project a LONG time ago, and I am so happy with it. I really enjoy making homemade gifts for the babies that come into our family! I made a quilt for Lendon and a Dane and I made a growth chart for Easton! Anyway...I was excited to break out my sewing machine and make a blanket for the newest little addition! This little babe is a GIRL, and I really wanted to make something sweet and lovely. I did some searching...on Pinterest, of course, and found this adorable blanket!

My grandma and I went shopping for fabric and I picked out some sweet yellows, pinks, purples, and oranges. There were a variety of fabrics with teddy bears, blocks, and other baby icons, but I decided to go with something a little less traditional. The second I saw this yellow fabric with pretty little birds and sweet flowers I knew that is what I wanted to use...AND there were solids that matched perfectly!



The first thing that I had to do was make sure all of the fabric was the same size. Once that was done, I stacked the fabrics in the order that I wanted them. I had to put several safety pins all over the stack of fabric to keep the material from shifting. Sewing the first line was the most stressful. I had to draw a line diagonally down the center of the fabric and sew over that line. After that, I just sewed a line every half an inch. I takes A TON of thread!

I took breaks from sewing every once in a while to cut...partially because I was bored with sewing, but mostly because I was too impatient to wait! I had a total of 4 fabrics stacked together...the printed fabric, orange, pink, and purple. I cut through the top two solid fabrics, pink and purple, and left the printed fabric and the orange fabric alone.



After countless hours of sewing and cutting I was ready to sew on the binding. When I did Lendon's quilt, I sewed the binding to the front of the quilt and then folded it over and hand stitched it to the back of the quilt. I really didn't want to do that with this blanket. I feel like a blanket is less formal than a quilt, and hand stitching the binding takes me a long time. I decided to purchase some to machine sew the binding on with a zigzag stitch instead. It looks fun and girly!

So, there you have it...a special blanket for a sweet little girl! It is not perfect, but is made with love!

Have I told you about by sweet little nephew, Easton?! ;) Well, I pretty much love him (and both of my other nephews) to pieces! Easton is already getting so big! Good thing Dane and I made him a little growth chart!

I love making homemade gifts for all of the new babes in the family! (I made this baby quilt for Lendon!) A couple years ago I saw this growth chart on Pinterest, and I knew I wanted to make one! The project was pretty easy. Dane picked up a board from RP Lumber and cut it to size, then I stained it and painted numbers on it. I freehanded the lines and numbers, but I am sure you could use a stencil.





I gave the growth chart to Shawna at the baby shower, and I think her and Logan really liked it. I love watching sweet, little Easton grow, but I am going to enjoy this snuggly size for as long as I can!

Can anyone have too many chalkboards? I don't think so! Anyway, I have really been wanting to make a framed chalkboard for a while. I found an old framed painting at Salvation Army a couple of weeks ago, and thought that it would be perfect for my little project.

After I painted over the original painting with chalkboard paint, I taped that area off and spray painted the frame white.

I really like the way that it turned out, but now I have to find a place to put it. Okay, maybe you can have too many! For now it will go in the spare room...which I will show you when the hubs and I get it all cleaned out. (It is almost done! We just need to make a couple more trips to the attic!)

I was really in the mood to do some DIY today. After looking through some of my boards on Pinterest, I decided that I would make a cute little coffee mug! I found this tutorial several months ago, and thought I could finally put it to good use! The supply list is short! A white coffee cup, Sharpie marker, and a little creativity...and an oven.



Once you have drawn your design onto the mug, you just place it in the oven at 350º for 30 minutes. DONE! You have a one of a kind coffee cup!



There are a few things that I will do differently next time.

ONE: I would use a black Sharpie marker! I thought I had one at my house, but I only had bright colors and gold. I think the black would cover better.
TWO: I would get a different coffee cup. The dollar store only had two to choose from, but I would have liked one that was more square. This shape is not the easiest to write on.
THREE: I would keep the design simple. Swirls are kinda my thing, but I think clean lines would have looked better.



This project was really easy! AND...wouldn't this make a cute gift?! I am going to have to make some more (with revisions)!

For now I am going to enjoy the little things...like a cup of hot tea, and an episode of Bones!

Sometimes simple DIY projects are my favorite! They are require few supplies, can be done in a couple of hours, and can really be a great statement piece. A while back I found the perfect simple DIY project. I have really been wanting some state art, and I had all of the materials to make some!



After printing off the outline of Illinois, I cut it out and taped it over some watercolor paper. Then I just started painting! After I was done, I pulled off the stencil and splattered a little extra paint around the edges! I LOVE the way it turned out! AND...I have some other fun watercolor projects planned! Get excited!

Yesterday was my day off, and I decided to spend most of the day working on some DIY projects! That usually means breaking out the chalkboard paint. Seriously...no surface is safe! Anyway, I had picked up some $1 mini pumpkins at Wal-Mart the other day, and decided that they would be even better with a coat or two of chalkboard paint! Who likes traditional pumpkins anyway?



I think they are pretty stinkin' cute! In fact, they may be my favorite fall decor!

I don't know about you guys, but this weather has me longing for fall! I decided that I would make some autumn decor...after all, September is in a couple days!!!

I picked up some burlap and lace at Wal-Mart for a cute little bunting!



I made a pattern with some cardboard, and cut out each triangle, and sewed them to the lace. I used this process to make the stencils and paint the letters on the bunting. 



It looks great on the front porch! I thought I would just hang it up long enough to take pictures, but I think I am going to leave it. Maybe it will bring the colder weather this way! I will wait to add more fall decor, but it won't be long! ;)

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I have had a very productive day off...cleaning, watching back to back episodes of New Girl, and doing some DIY!



 I have been wanting to make some ombre towels for a while now, and it seemed like the perfect day to do it! So, I went to Wal-Mart and picked up some dish towels and fabric dye. Total cost...$5! Pretty awesome, I know.



 I just followed the dying instructions on the back of the package. I wrapped the towel around a stir stick and placed it over the dye. Every 2 minutes I flipped the stick over, letting a little more of the towel into the dye. This created the ombre look that I was going for.



Once I had achieved the look I wanted, I rinsed the towels. (Don't let the excess dye run onto the white section of the towel!) I ended up with two beautifully ombre dish towels...AND it only took me about 15 minutes!



I am pretty impressed, and I kind of want to dye something else! Hank, I have a fun project for us to do the next time you are at Aunt Britt's! ;)

-Britt

I have really been planting up a storm this year! You may remember the succulents that I planted earlier this spring (one of them did end up dying...BUT I refuse to believe that was my fault). I have planted four more, and they are now on the sunny front porch. I really think they like it out there better. 

Dane and I have also decided to try to plant some veggies again. We did this last year, but it didn't turn out very well. This time we took a different approach. Instead of buying seeds and waiting for them to grow, we just purchased plants...now we just have to keep them alive! Wish us luck...so far gardening hasn't really been our thing. Anyway, I have really enjoyed taking care of our little plants, and I decided to make some little DIY labels for them. 

This project cost me $0! I love it when I have all of the supplies on hand. 

Supplies: 

Small Dowel Rods

Mini Clothes Pins

Paint Stirrers 

Chalkboard Paint (or black paint)

White Paint

Detail Brush

Hot Glue Gun

This project was actually pretty simple. I just cut the stirrers to the size that I wanted and painted them with chalkboard paint. While those were drying I used a hot glue gun to attach the clothes pins to the dowel. Make sure you line the top of the clothes pin up with the top of the dowel to add support. 

I had originally used chalk to label the boards, but it was kind of difficult to write on such a small space. So...I erased all of the chalk and used some white paint instead. It looked much cleaner and I won't have to rewrite them every time it rains. 

Once all of the paint was dry I just clipped the board to the dowel! Super simple, right! I also decided it would be a good idea to clip the original label behind it...just in case I need to reference it! 

What do you think? 

You know that I have been really been wanting to plant something pretty in the little planters outside my house. Well, I could fight that desire any longer. However, there have been some looming storms in the forecast, and I thought it would be better to plant something inside. SO...I went to Wal-Mart and got some new little planters, some paint, and plants of course! I picked out 2 succulents ($2.50 each) and a couple of the smallest planters that I could find ($.50-$2.00 each). I painted the planters the same way that I did my outdoor planters (if you are looking for a quick and easy DIY, this is great). The succulents wouldn't really fit into the larger planter, but I just placed some rocks in the bottom (problem solved). I also placed a coffee filter in between the rocks and soil. 

Dane is pretty sure that I will be able to kill these, but I am going to do my best to keep them going! I really like looking at them on the kitchen window, but they may get moved into the office when it is all done!

Woohoo! My friendship bread turned 10 days old yesterday! If you have ever made friendship bread before you know what that means...time to bake! If you haven't heard of friendship bread (don't feel bad...I hadn't until 10 days ago) I will tell you a bit about it! Someone gives you a starter. My aunt gave me one on Easter (you can read more about that here). The starter comes with some instructions that you have to follow for the next 10 days. Most days you just have to mush the bag around to keep the ingredients mixed up. On day 5 you have to add a few things to the bag, and keep mushing. On day 10 you get to add some more ingredients, divide some of the mixture into 4 bags to give to your friends and family! The rest of the mixture is added to and baked into some very yummy bread! A slice of bread seems like the perfect way to celebrate my 100th blog post! Yes, you read that right...this is blog post number 100! Yippee! 

I managed to make it through the whole nurturing and feeding process, but how did it taste? That was the real question! Dane LOVED it, and I sure am glad. I don't think I would have ever lived down ruining the friendship bread that he had been dreaming about for the last 10 days! AND...I have already given away my 4 starters! Friendships are great, and so is friendship bread! 

I have been itching to plant something for the last few weeks, and this warmer isn't helping. I took down my winter-ish wreath down on the first day of Spring, and I got out my awesome planters (you can check out the DIY here). Dane likes to call them the circles of death, but I don't know how he thought anything was going to live in last summer's heat! Let's be real...it was HOT! Anyway, I really want to plant some pretty little flowers in those pots! I loved the flowers that I picked out last year, but I may go with something different. I would love any suggestions on what flowers would be good in lots of sunlight! I really don't want a repeat of last year. 

In other news, it is day 10 for my friendship bread! I will be filling you in on all of the details soon.

Look at this beauty! I am going to be giving this desk a little TLC, and I can't wait to reveal the finished project. Originally I was thinking this would make a great desk, but I really like it on the front porch. Where will it end up...we will just have to see!

Has anyone ever heard of friendship bread? Everyone answers, "YES!" Apparently, I am one of the few people who had never heard of it. Anyway...my aunt gave me a starter on Sunday, and she explained the whole concept to me. At first, I was kind of unsure. It seemed like a big commitment, and we all know I am no master at cooking.

Then I was like, what the heck...sounds like fun. 

I wish I could have caught Dane's reaction on camera! I didn't even have the bag of ingredients all the way out of the my tote, and he shot up from his spot on the couch and said, "Is that friendship bread?!?" I could not believe how excited he was! Let's just hope I don't disappoint him! 

Where have I been?! This poor little blog feels so neglected lately...that is going to have to change! 

Anyway...

The next time I blog about the front porch I am hoping it looks something like this...but for now I am just enjoying the space as it is! There has been so much progress from when we started the front porch transformation. Here are some pictures of the porch before.

Now it looks like this! 

Yes, I like to randomly dance in the sunny space...I am absolutely in love! I cannot wait to start adding all of the finishing touches. I am thinking about using gray accents. I have a couple of DIY projects planned that I think will look great in here! Can't wait to share it with all of you!

I am going to be writing a blog post just about the floor (which I love) soon! Get excited! If you want to check out some other porch posts, you can find them here, here, and here! 

Our porch has been in an unsightly state for quite a while. That means I have had a lot of time to dream up big plans for the space! You can see where we started in this post. Well, I am super excited to announce that progress is well underway! YAY! Here are some pictures! 

My wonderful father-in-law got all of the drywall hung a couple of weeks ago, and I was so thrilled every time I walked out on the porch! 

Then, my cousin Val and I painted the room! I cannot tell you how much I love the room already! I am so excited to have it almost done! 

We still have to finish the flooring and add some decorative touches, but that will begin soon! Dane and I made a trip to Lowe's to get flooring a couple of days ago, and I have a DIY project in store for this week!

I love to read. I read blogs, magazines, books...pretty much anything with words! I have a nook that I enjoy reading books on, but there is nothing like turning the pages of a good book. Plus, I love the library! So...I thought it fitting that my first sewing project on my new sewing machine (thanks, Momma) be these awesome DIY book marks that I found on Pinterest! 

They are super simple to make. I chose a wide, leopard print ribbon, and then I folded, pinned, sewed, and viola! 

Want to make your own? You can find the full tutorial here. 

I hope that my fellow fans of The OC appreciated the title of this post. I am still hopeful that there will one day be a reunion! Anyway, the end of 2012 is here...does anyone else feel like it should still be September? My schedule kept me pretty busy during the month of December (made obvious by my lack of blog posts...sorry about that). However, I plan to fill you in on all that has been happening in the Fletcher house over the past month in this post! 

I had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas this year. I really wish that I could leave our tree up all year round...that is how much I love it, but I had a lot more decor than the tree. I made these little snow globes, placed garland anywhere I could manage, and decked the walls with some DIY art. 

onth of December decorating and enjoying hot cocoa snuggled up on the couch. I did a lot of shopping for Christmas presents and spent lots of time with my wonderful family! 

PLUS...I purchased Young House Love! There will be a ton of DIY projects to come in the next several months! I have already flipped through the entire thing, and I have plans to use several ideas from the book! John and Sherry are awesome!

What else is coming in 2013? Well, I have lots of stuff planned! There has been a lot of progress on the porch (post coming soon), there are some color changing plans for the kitchen that should be executed in the coming weeks, and I have decided that I am going to give but first comes love a little makeover!

I HOPE YOU ARE EXCITED! 

I was looking forward to putting up my Christmas tree up all week. I didn't want to do it before Thanksgiving, but I had every intention of putting it up after work on Saturday. I love our Christmas tree! You can check out last year's post about it here. Anyway...I was especially excited about it this year, because I was finally going to get to put the tree stand to use! So, after work I got home and found that Dane had already gotten the tree out of the closet...and then I looked at base of the tree. 

Talk about trying to fit a square hexagon in a round hole...I was momentarily devastated! The base was slightly more than a half an inch larger than the hole that my dad had cut. (Word of advice...measure your tree before you cut the log!) Luckily, the plastic, hexagon piece came off with some serious force. However, the bottom was then much smaller than the hole...but that was something I knew I could fix! 

I cut up some newspaper, rolled it up, and secured it with a rubberband. This took a while because I had to add more newspaper a couple of times and I had to adjust the hole in the center, but it eventually worked. 

There you have it...snug as a bug! It does wiggle a little, but it is not going to tip! I will probably find something more durable before we have little kiddos running around! 

For now I am thrilled with the final look! Not only does it look great, it also lifts the tree up so it is taller and presents actually fit under it! 

I wasn't sure I was going to get to put it up on Saturday at first...so glad I did! What do you think? I still have an extra stump if anyone is interested...and it already has a hole cut in it!