Don't forget...

...to enter my awesome giveaway from CSN Stores! Click here!

You won't want to miss out on these lovely place mats!

CSN Stores Giveaway!

I am so excited to do this giveaway!

The wonderful people at CSN Stores contacted me to do a giveaway!

Of course I jumped at the chance!  If you haven't checked them out yet, you need to!

One of their online storefronts even features the Le Creuset product line.

Up for grabs in this giveaway is this set of four place mats by Dwell Studios:

How cute are these?!

Swoon!

I know one of you will give these place mats a very good home!

There are 3 ways to enter for a chance to win:

1)  Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know!

2)  Blog about it and leave a comment with a link to your blog post!

3)  Either link to this giveaway on Facebook, or tweet about it on Twitter

          and leave me a comment telling me where you posted (Facebook or Twitter)

One winner will be chosen using Random.org

Giveaway ends on Monday, August 2nd at 9:00 pm CST.

Good luck!!!

Stress Relief in a Bottle

I am loving the eucalyptus spearmint stress relief pillow mist from Bath & Body Works!

It has the perfect aroma therapy mix of scents.

So, I can just drift off to sleep....ahhhhh.

Or should I say Zzzzzzzzz :)

Maybe I'll even use it on the pillow cover I recently made.  Tutorial here.

"&" Pillow Cover Tutorial!

I am by no means an advanced sewer.  I am very much a beginner.

So in saying that, I am going to give you easy steps to make your very own "&" pillow cover!

Supplies:

- 1 yard of the fabric of your choice

- scissors

- tape measurer

- backing fabric (optional - I used it because my fabric was really thin)

- felt in your color choice (I used the more stiff kind only because that's what I had on hand)

- sewing machine & thread

- computer & printer

- disappearing ink pen or washable marker

STEP 1 - The "&"

Print out the size and type font you would like to use for your pillow.  I used Plantagenet Cherokee (Mac).  I also found a lot of really great fonts on DaFont (they're free!).  Cut out the printed "&" and place on your piece of felt.  Use your disappearing ink pen or washable marker to trace around the cut out "&".  Cut out the outlined item.

*If you're using a washable marker, be sure to remove the washable ink with a wet Q-tip*

STEP 2 - Measuring your front fabric

Measure your pillow form to get the dimensions for your pillow cover.  My pillow form is 19" x 19".  I added a half-inch to each side for seam allowance for my fabric to measure 20" x 20".  Measure this out on your fabric, mark it and cut it out.

STEP 3 - Measuring your the fabric for the back

For the back of the pillow cover you will want to have two separate pieces.  I had two separate pieces that measured 10" x 11" and 10" x 12". Fold back the longer side 1" and pin in place.  (Mine are simply overlapped in the picture above, but are still separate pieces).  Take each separate back piece and sew along the pinned portion.

STEP 4 - Back ties (I have no idea what else to call them!)

Cut six (6) strips of fabric that measure 1.5" x 11" (or however long and wide you'd like them).  Fold the pieces in half (hot-dog style...that's how my elementary teachers described it!) and pin in place.

Then sew along the pins and turn it inside out so that your seams aren't showing.  An easy way to do this is by using a safety pin and wiggling it through your fabric like so & pulling it through:

After you've done this go ahead and take one side of the tie-backs, fold it inside itself and secure by sewing it shut.  The other end can remain out.  Sew the end that is still out to the back of your pillow cover on the "wrong" side (the part that will essentially face the inside of the pillow).  I placed mine an equal distance apart across the backs opening on each side.

STEP 5

Take the "&" and pin in to the center of your front piece of fabric.  Sew it in place.

STEP 6 - Pinning around the edges

Take the front piece of fabric and place it right side up on a flat surface.  Then take your fabric for the back and place them on top of the front piece right side down overlapping them in the middle.  Pin the sides of the pillow cover in place once you have it how you like it.

STEP 7 - THE LAST STEP: Sew around the pinned edges

Sew up your sides!  Once you've done this all you need to do is clip your corners (without clipping the seam):

Turn it right side out and put your pillow insert in!  And you did it!

And here's the back...

So, what do you think?  Not too bad for a beginner seamstress, huh?

Please let me know your comments and suggestions! or if you have any questions on the tutorial!

I love hearing from y'all!  :)

I'm linking up to these parties:

Five Etsy Finds Under $20

Here are a few of my favorite Etsy finds this week under $20 USD:

1. Golden Teardrops by Blue Dove Studio - $16 USD

       (Front)                                                                                                     (Back)

2. Block Print Bunny Accent Pillow by artgoodies - $20 USD

3.  Ship Captain Earrings by iadornu - $20 USD

4.  Take Me Shopping and I'm Yours Screenprint by linocutboy - $14 USD

5.  Cotton Striped Dress by Nyree Rose Originals - $20 USD

Aqua & Gray Pillow Cover!

Just a little eye candy I made :)

I'll be posting the tutorial on it tomorrow!

And hopefully I can get some better pictures.

There wasn't any natural light coming through the windows today -

it was crazyyyy storming here!

Hope everyone is having a great start to their week so far!

A New Do

Just wanted to share with you all my new hair-do!

Here is the length of my hair before:

(I'm the one on the left, but you knew that already didn't you...)

And here is my new hair:

It feels so great not to have to deal with all that hair! Ahhh!

Not the greatest picture, but I don't have any decent ones of me with the new do yet!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

I'll be posting the finished product of my pillow cover & the tutorial soon!

Be sure to become a follower on twitter and facebook!  Just look on my sidebar :)

Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store

My sweet friend Katie introduced me to a wonderful store full of goodies!

Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store has everything from cleaning products to children's toys.

Here are a few of my favorites:

How cute is this?!  It's a Nest Egg for newly weds!

This Typestaches wall art is hilarious...and yet, I would definitely hang it on my wall :)

or should I say :{

I think every "hot mama" needs one of these dish towels.

Get it?  Get it?!  Eye glasses! Ha!

And I couldn't leave out this Keep Calm poster.

Head on over to Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store to check out all of

the neat items they have!  Let me know what catches your eye!