Life imitating craft?

I received a custom order in my shop not too long ago. It was a wreath to be used at a birthday party. The client is my new etsy friend, Stacy. She saw this wreath in my shop:

She loved the idea, but wanted it to coordinate with the colors she had chosen for her son's birthday party, navy and lime green.

Although she knew she could probably make the wreath herself, she's a busy working mom and decided to delegate the task to me. I'm a big fan of DIY, but I'm also a big fan of delegating when life becomes too hectic. So, I was happy to set up a custom order!

She needed a larger wreath for her larger door so I set out at measuring, cutting, gluing, placing and gluing again tons of navy and lime green ribbons.

Navy and lime green, navy and lime green, navy and lime green... the outcome was adorable:

I was tempted to make another one for our house!

Although I can usually crank these out within a few days, Stacey's deadline was very lenient-- she didn't need it until August! So she kindly allowed me to take my time with the navy and lime green. But a funny thing happened during the three week period that I worked on it... I started unconsciously choosing to wear navy and lime green! At least twice a week I'd go into my closet, pick out a lime green shirt and navy skirt... only to realize later in the afternoon that I was matching my project!

Sure enough, here is what I was wearing the day the wreath went in the mail:

(The lighting's not great, but trust me-- that's lime green.)

Stacey loves the wreath and I am confident that she's going to throw an adorable birthday party. I'm so honored to be able to help in a small way towards the celebration!

Father's Day and the 9th hour

Last Thursday was a lazy one for Chris, Kdog and I. We were on three different sofas with three different lap tops doing three different things. I'm sure the boys were researching sports statistics  or more efficient grilling techniques... I was joining and learning about pinterest.com (find me, I'm katiekomo!).

It was around 7:30pm when I heard ping alerting me to an e-mail. It was from a fellow etsy member who had the perfect Father's Day gift idea pop into her head... three days before Father's Day! I don't know the whole story, but from what I gather... her dad's dad said a quotation that has been mentioned in the family more than once since, "If you don't straighten out, then you'll be diggin' ditches for a living."

I'm guessing her dad did straighten out because now he owns a very successful business with lots of employees (including her). Her idea was to put that quotation in vinyl in his office. Never forget where you came from, yes?

So after a few hours of choices being thrown back and forth, we landed on this proof a few minutes shy of midnight:

And the next morning I cut it and brought it to the post office. One overnight shipping envelope later and the vinyl was on the way to Florida! Now, I'm a plan B kind of person, so I was a little nervous at what might happen if it didn't arrive in time or was damaged or something. I literally had NO plan B!!

I was able to exhale when I got an e-mail the next day-- it had arrived and was being put-up!

(Brilliant use of tape to ensure the words were straight!)

And it turned out quite nice:

Now, a plan B is good for gifts to. And my fellow etsy member also had no back-up plan. She just put it up there and waited for Monday morning. Hoping not to get fired for breaking into the boss' office and doing some wall decorating!

But he loved it! Well... he didn't hate it. And that's a big thing for Father's Day presents. What is it about men that makes them SO hard to shop for??

Often when I'm creating items for others with etsy, I think about how the finished product will be used or displayed. What a treat to not only get to see my product's final destination, but to hear the story behind it!

So a Happy Father's Day to Mr. Serra. He's sure got a thoughtful daughter!

Sew much to learn

Growing up, I often watched my mom sew. In general my mom is very crafty (as in creative, not "crafty like a fox") and sewing has always been a part of her creative nature.

I, on the other hand, had not appeared to inherit this trait. In fact I took a class in college (Intro to Costume Design) where I had to sew... and only passed after a series of melt-downs in front of the sewing machine.

But I'm in a phase of life where I'm willing to try new things again... and with the desire to expand the offerings on my etsy store, I decided to ask my mom to show me a thing or two.

To be honest, it started by my thinking that maybe I could trick her into just sewing the whole project for me. And at first... it looked like that was going to work:

But all too soon, I found myself behind the machine:

And it wasn't aweful:

In fact, I was able to complete two really cute projects without too much help from my mom!

Ok, that's a total lie. She helped me through every step... but I did most of the sewing and she taught me well enough to where I think I could do more with less help...

I'm obsessed with this cute tutu bag I finished:

Here it is completed (and photographed with a fancy camera and not my iphone):

I'm also super, duper excited about this fishing game I made:

Here's how you play. First unroll the game:

Once you unroll it, you find the creel with all the little fish inside:

Then... you go fish!

Barton was my cute model and my research focus group:

Success!

With this new skill, I think I'll be busy for a while!

Decorating for Spring

It's finally time to decorate for Spring!

Last year I bought some pastel eggs and put them inside some little house containers we already owned (usually used with candles).

I bought some rabbit candle wreaths (they look like small wreaths and they're meant to lay flay with candles in the middle).

They were so cute in the store... but after two years of them... I'm started to think they look a little creepy...

This year I got a little crafty and decorated some candles:

The one on the left is a crown of thorns and the the words are "Paid in Full" in Hebrew.

I bought some hydrangeas (that will need a little refresh in a few days) and paired them with one of my favorite water pitchers (a wedding gift):

And to make lemonade out of lemons, I positioned Chris' grape plants in our greenhouse er... kitchen with some little pastel buckets.

I've gone a little wreath happy. After making this one for inside the door,

I fashioned this one for the outside:

I really like this one and plan to make more for different seasons (like one with only yellow and purple ribbons for LSU football).

Both wreaths are listed on my etsy store, but I'll be making replicas... I'm keeping the originals for myself! :)

Emily's Baby Shower

My mom co-hosted a baby shower for a dear family friend. The shower was held at Mrs. Kenna's house. The Kenna house is full of nooks and crannies decorated with unique items and curios.

Each item has a story. I love looking around imaging how each piece was acquired. Some were while on vacations, others were found at estate sales (Mrs. Kenna has a great eye for deals) and I'm sure others were gifts-- but they all hold special memories! 

Even the buffet centerpiece reflected the Kenna's style:

My mom asked me to help with the cupcakes and I was happy to oblige! I whipped up 3 dozen of these little cuties:

And here they are displayed for the ladies:

Once the party started, Emily opened her gifts:

If there's one thing I know it's a Wedding Shower. But this was one of about four baby showers that I've attended. It was fun making the switch from Kitchen-aides to baby outfits!

And check out this crabby-bottom cutie:

But the crowd pleaser had to be the large, stuffed pink poodle rocker. Oh yes, you read right. A large, stuffed, PINK poodle rocker!

Now all we need is the little girl to get here so she can try on her new outfits and enjoy all her new toys!

Birthday for a King

With so much King stuff going on it's no wonder my etsy store is full of crowns!

The weekend before the Krewe of Orion parade was King Cameron's 1st Birthday! Cameron is the first son of our friends Mark and Kelli.

If there's anything I love, it's a party that is themed out and this one fit the bill. We walked into Mardi Gras decorations, beads, King's Cake and shrimp etouffee.

Kelli asked that I make this sign for the party:

All the little ones brought their little red wagons all decorated for the parade:

Of course the King had the most amazing float-- that's all paper mache and can be detached from the wagon. On the back, are the numbers 31-17 signifying the Saints win at the Super Bowl... two years ago!

King Cameron didn't quite understand that he was supposed to "Throw me Something Mister" and instead clung to his personalized cups and beads for most of the ride.

Kelli and Mark came to King PD's Parade and Masquerade this past weekend. I'm just waiting on a few more photos to come in and I'll start sharing that amazing experience!

Crafting

I've been spending a lot of this year crafting. Enhancing items with glass etching or vinyl or fabric. I've been soaking in inspiration from the internet and scouring stores for ideas (and supplies). Although I'm not ready to "officially" launch* my etsy store, I have been slowly building my repertoire and have even sold a few items!! 

*When I'm ready to "launch" I'll post a status on Facebook... until then, I'm just mentioning it to friends who ask, "what have you been up to?" :)

Here are some things I've been working on:

Full, red wreath covered in flannel rosettes! I think it's adorable! If it didn't take so darn long to make, I'd have one in each color! But for now I've sold the red one and working on a purple one. (Upcoming post: the difference between felt and flannel... doh!)

 (This one might need to get jazzed up with some green and gold for Mardi Gras!)

I've also been glass etching like crazy! That's one of the reasons I don't want to advertise my little store too much yet... there's so much glass etching on there, I'm afraid people will think that's all I do!

Personalized decals are SO in right now; I've been able to make a few for some customers (this is what it looks like when I ship it, you peel off the white stuff, then stick it to the wall... or helmet... or whatever you're using!).

 

I have lots of other tricks up my sleeve including coasters, party invitations, cupcake toppers, screen printed onsies, lush throw pillows and maybe even some jewelry! But my business motto has always been "slow and steady" so it might be a while before all my inspirations are listed!

Friday Art Project

I've heard alot about a cutting machine called The Cricut. It's like a die cutter, but can do SO much more than just basic shapes. I had planned on ordering one online, but my "deal-hunter" dad found a Black Friday sale. While I was warm in bed, my sweet dad braved the crowds and lined up at Michael's at 5:30am. I can't help but giggle when I imagine him lined up outside of the craft store with all of the crazy craft-hunting women. At 6:05am he texted me, "Got the Cricut". I'm thankful for my sweet dad.

I've had fun tinkering around with my new toy, but today I did my first official project. I etched "Hill" into our casserole dish! It's a darling way to make sure my dish gets back to my house!

And by using the Cricut I was able to complete the whole project in about 30 minutes. I love it! I think Chris is a little worried that everything glass in our house is about to get tagged... and that's probably a valid fear!