Miss Lovie's Top 10 of 2011

 

 

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!!

Since tomorrow marks the beginning of a new year I thought it would be nice and take a look back at this year. 2011 has been a wonderful year for Miss Lovie. I never dreamed I'd be having this much fun blogging. I've always loved creating, but this blog has pushed me to explore more areas of creating and has gotten me to make time for it more than I would have if I didn't have the blog. Thank you so much for coming back and reading and leaving wonderful comments. I don't always get the time to respond to all your comments, but please please know they mean so much to me. 

I chose the these 10 projects based on stats and my favorites, really. :) Enjoy.

#10 The Ruffles and Hearts Table Runner. I also used this idea to make the Batty Table Runner at Halloween.

#9 the Interchangeable Lucky Flowers and Bunting Wreath. I used this idea to make the UK wreath also.

 #8 The Spring Pin from Another Fabric Flower

 #7 The Welcome Fall! Wreath  

#6 The Huge Flower and Bow Necklace (My New Year's resolution is to take some better quality pictures of this project!!)

#5  The Embellished Gift Bags

#4 The Easter Flower Onesie Dress

#4 Embellished Date Night Basket

#3 The Thread and Rhinestone Bangle Bracelet

#2 And then of course the Thread and Rhinestone Braided Bracelet

#1 had to be the Scrappy No-Sew Flower 
Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!! See you in 2012!!

Ugly Sweaters and A Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas Eve!!!

In honor of Christmas I thought I'd share with you  my love for ugly/tacky Christmas sweaters and attire. I present to you this year's sweater and outfit.

 Wow, right? The cool part? Mr. Lovie picked out the whole outfit from our local Goodwill the day before knowing I could craft it into a great ensemble. The right sizes and everything. How good is he?!

 I may have woven that red plaid ribbon in throughout the holes from the knitting in the sweater and tied the bows in the front. And I may have done it in the car on the way to our party. What? haha.

 And of course I made the bow on my headband and my shoes.

 My speedy bow tutorial will come soon. I made all three bows in less than 15 minutes. Speedy, huh?

Here is Mr. Lovie and I in front of the tree at our friend's party... 

Lovely, yes? Good and ugly. :)

 

Of course Nixon Girl had to come. In a sweater. And her very own bow.

 The ugly/tacky Christmas sweater party started several years ago when my wonderful friends and I somehow managed to all live in the same apartment complex the year after we graduated. (Seriously, at one time there were 14 of us living in the same complex. It was so fun.) The picture above is most of us. Love this picture. It was clear that the tradition just had to continue. Even though we all live all over the place now, we still try to make it happen.

 And here's the skirt! Bonus! It's really cute! It's a wool skirt so it's nice and warm and it's a beautiful shade of bright red! Merry Christmas to me!

And it has pockets!! Woo hoo!! I just love great thrift store finds!

I hope you are having a great Christmas and enjoying this time with your families. I won't be posting this next week most likely as I am with my family and friends back in Lexington, Kentucky. I'll see you for sure after the new year! Merry Christmas!!

If you're still wrapping presents check out my Christmas Bow Tutorials!! Your presents will be gorgeous in no time!

Need a super last minut gift check out my Pretty Packaged Christmas Candy!

 

A Last Minute Gift Idea: Pretty Packaged Christmas Candy

 Anyone else scrambling to get it all done? 

 Yeah. Me, too.

 I thought these fun and pretty packaged Christmas Candies might help some of you... I made them this morning. They are seriously an easy and fast last minute gift. I saw the packaging idea here via Pinterest. It's just a little piece of scrapbook paper folded over a ziplock bag, stapled on either side and embellished with bows. Quick and easy. And the best part is, if you're like me and hoard craft supplies out the wazoo, you already have all that stuff. 

 I got the recipe for the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark at Hersheys.com. The one on the right is from the actual recipe except it's milk chocolate, not dark chocolate. I made a batch with dark chocolate, too, though, and I think I like it better. The one on the right is actually a bag of Ande's Mint Baking Chips (found at Walmart) melted and topped with crushed peppermint as well. I made it the same way as the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark. It is crazy easy to make. Which is why I chose it. :)

 So pretty and festive.

 I made the first batch of these for coworkers and actually put them in some sweet holiday tins I found at JoAnn's for 60% off. 

 I thought I'd go ahead and make a couple more batches and fix them up nice for those unexpected gifts you always need. You know those kinds of people...a neighbor that pops over unexpectedly with something yummy for you and your family, a coworker who you didn't realize you were that close to gives you a little something, etc. You can make up several of these and hold on to them for the unexpected gift giving. And if you don't end up needing them, attach them to a gift you're already giving or eat them yourself! Believe me, you'll want to! 

Here are some of the other last minute gifts I'm attempting to make today and tomorrow...

Ruffle Scarf By Pink Lemonade

I've just made 3 or 4 of these sweet ruffly scarves. These are not the kind that keep you super warm, but will look oh so cute and stylish. 

I'm hoping to add some fabric flower pins to them, too, using the flowers I made here, here, and here, maybe. 

Toiletry Bag from Prudent Baby

And I'm hoping to squeeze in time to make another couple of these (I already made one for Mr. Lovie-and he is already using it!). 

Casserole Carrier by Homemade by Jill and Two Little Hooligans

And hopefully this sweet casserole carrier. Wish me luck!!

Thanks for reading.

Linking this post to the parties on my sidebar!

Winner of the See Kate Sew Giveaway!

 Congrats to the See Kate Sew patterns and shop credit winner, 

#10, Jenn!

 who said,

I'm emailing you now! Be sure to email me back so I don't have to pick a new winner. YAY! Congrats to you!!

Maybe Matilda Crochet Pattern Winners!

 Congrats to TWO winners today!!!

#17, Kelly, who said,

 

 AND.....

#4 Natalie who said, 

Congrats, ladies! I know you'll enjoy using those patterns. I'm going to email you to verify your email address, so check it soon! If I don't hear from you I have to pick new winners! 

Also, today's the last day to enter the See Kate Sew Giveaway!