Miss Lovie

Decorate Your Door for Dr. Seuss-Sneak Peek

2012-03-01T07:07:00.001-05:00

There will be no My Favorite Things Thursday this week.

There's just too much going on! Tomorrow, however, I will most definitely post about what my kindergarten class is doing to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, which is tomorrow. We have been reading Dr. Seuss books all week. And our class has entered a door decorating contest that highlights our favorite book.

Can you guess which book we picked by what we have done so far?

It's not finished, of course, but I'm excited to sow you the final project.

And maybe even share a couple Dr. Seuss-themed crafts, too! :)

What are you doing to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday with your kids?

I'd love to hear! I'm always searching for new ideas!

Necklace Refashion 2: Interchangeable Flowers

2012-02-26T12:02:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone!

So it's been awhile since I've posted a real tutorial. Too much other life things happening. Like grad school. And teaching. And...well that's mostly it really, but - whew - those two things are kinda taking over right now. Since it's been so long without a great tutorial, It's high time you get something awesome. So here it is. Or at least I think so. :)

I hope you enjoy this Interchangeable Flower Necklace Refashion!

Okay, so the name is a little long, but that's okay. I'm long-winded so it works.

I've gotten lots of compliments when I wear this necklace. You will, too if you make one!

The necklace on the far left is what I started with. I lengthened it and added a flower that is interchangeable!

How much more fun is that necklace now! And you can change out the flowers to whatever you want!! I love multiple options!!

If you've been to my blog before you might have seen that I actually already refashioned this necklace earlier this week. Who would have thought I could do it again!
If you missed the first refashion, go check it out!

The necklace that I started with had been sitting on its hook for years untouched. It was in good shape and had nice beads on it so I decided it just needed a redo. This necklace is very easy-even if you've never made jewelry before. All materials can be found relatively cheap at your Hobby Lobby or Michael's store.

Materials:

1. Bent nose pliers

2. Flat nose pliers

3. Jump rings

4. small link chain (only about 4-6 inches worth)

5. Lobster clasps (I used two small and one large, but It doesn't really matter)

6. Filigree

7. Large link chain (13 inches, cut in half)

8. Felt circles that match the back of your fabric flower

9. Old necklace (mine was 16 inches long)

10. Fabric flowers you made or bought (not pictured above)

11. Hot glue (not pictured)

Let's get started!

1. Take apart the old necklace.

Open the jump ring by holding one side of the ring with one set of pliers and holding the other side of it with your other set of pliers and simply pull apart. Your bent nose pliers are thinner and easier to work with so I usually position my flat nose pliers in my left hand to hold the jump ring stationary and then I use my bent nose pliers in my right and let them do most of the work. Here's my deconstructed necklace. I think I'll have to find something fun to do with that sweet little bow charm.

2. Attach closure to the chain.

My large chain was already cut in half and the perfect size (miraculously enough that was left over from a previous project!!) so I don't have a picture of measuring the chain and halving it. You need two 6.5 inch lengths of chain (if your old necklace is the same length as mine). This chain is huge and pretty strong so instead of cutting, pull apart a link (and then re-close it) to separate it into 2 pieces.

Now let's attach the lobster clasp to one end of the large chain. Open a jump ring (as shown above) and slide on the lobster clasp and the chain and then use your pliers to push the jump ring back together as it was before you opened it. Make sure it is fully closed. You don't want your necklace falling apart. That has, of course, never happened to me.... riiiiight.

Then take your other piece of chain and attach the small chain to it using the same method. The small chain can be used if you want to adjust your necklace. You can hook the lobster clasp to the jump ring to close it or to one of the links in the small chain.

3. Attach large chain to old necklace.

Now open another jump ring and slide on one end of the old necklace and one end of your chain (whichever side you don't want the flower on) and close the jump ring back.

1. For the other side use jump rings to attach the other two lobster clasps to both the chain and the old necklace. These will hook to both top and bottom of your fabric flower allowing you to change it out if you want.

2. Attach jump rings to the top and bottom of your filigree. This is what you will hook your lobster clasps to. The jump rings will help your lobster clasp lay flat.

3. Hot glue the filigree to the back side of your flower and then glue the matching felt circle on top of it. Only glue on the middle on top of the filigree and out to the edges of the felt circles on the sides only. Leave top and bottom unglued as shown so the felt can be pulled back to reveal your jump rings.

4. Attach lobster clasp on the old necklace to the bottom of your flower and attach the lobster clasp on to the chain to the top of your flower. Now let the felt fall back and your lobster clasps are hidden!

Done!

I like to wear my flower a little lower so that the necklace has an asymmetrical look to it. Also so the flower isn't all up on my neck. Ha!

If you're interested in making this flower, go see my Chain Wrapped Rosette tutorial.

This one is HUGE, but I love it.

If you're interested in making this flower, it's just an extra huge version of this flower tutorial

Who doesn't love leopard and old buttons?

This flower is made using my Scrappy No-Sew Flower tutorial with black mesh in the middle.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Linking to the parties on my sidebar.

My Favorite Things Thursday

2012-02-23T23:18:00.002-05:00

Welcome to this week's My Favorite Things Thursdays!

It seems like these are the only kinds of posts I'm able to get together these days. Crafting is few and far between these days unfortunately. I'm hoping to get some in this weekend, but I said that last weekend, too. Sigh.

Plans for the weekend: Research paper, more homework odds and ends, clean this crazy apartment and do a ridiculous amount of laundry, lesson plans, then craft. Hopefully the last thing on my list doesn't get pushed off the list!

Enjoy!

Make Your Own Stationary Set by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess

I just love this blog. Seriously. Every post is so great. What a fun and easy idea for little note cards. What a great use for fabric scraps, too, right?!

Make Covered Buttons Without a Kit! by Ashley of Make It and Love It

This tutorial is great, too. I love covered buttons and those little kits can get super expensive if you use them all the time. This is a perfect, easy, and cheaper alternative!

Refashion a Tight Top into a Flowy One by Lizzie of Cotton and Curls

This might be one of my most favorite finds recently. I think it jumped ahead of several things on my "must try soon" list. Lizzie uses panels of fabric sewn in to create this trendy flowy top. I love how the fabric is a subtle floral, too. Also, Lizzie, can I have your pants?

Sewing an Exposed Zipper by Kate of See Kate Sew

Kate's Sewing 101 tutorials are always so great. I LOVE the look of exposed zippers. I can't wait to try this. JoAnn's has some great gold zippers right now that would be really great for this.

Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie by Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod on Make and Takes

This looks like it would just be so incredibly yummy. I want it really bad right now. And she made hers with Almond milk. Mm.

Onion and Poppy Seed Salad by Heather of Whipperberry

How delicious does this look! Wow! I love red onion on my salad so I knew I had to post this. Those strawberries make me feel like summer can't be too far away.

If you were featured, feel free to grab a button!

Thanks for reading!

My Favorite Things Thursday-Not on Thursday

2012-02-19T23:12:00.000-05:00

This past week was crazy so My Favorite Things Thursday did not happen.

I'm super excited about this 3 day weekend we've got here, even if I still won't get much crafting in. More homework tomorrow. Yayyy grad school. I'm hoping to start an outfit post this week, though. So stay tuned.

I hope you enjoy this special weekend version of My Favorite Things Thursday!

Here's the wonderfulness I found this week!

Just as a reminder: These are not my projects. I am featuring them on my blog. If you want to pin any of these ideas to Pinterest, please click over to the original source and do so! I want to make sure the right person gets the credit!! :)

Pink Lace Dress by Jessica of Me Sew Crazy

Are you drooling with me? What a gorgeous dress. I think I need one for me! No, really.

Be sure to go visit Jessica to check out the great tutorial and more beautiful pictures of that precious dress.

Roll a Lorax Game by Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots

The Lorax comes out March 2nd (or as we teachers know it as Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday) and I can't wait to see it!! The Lorax is definitely one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books and the movie looks fabulous. I think this game that Maggie made to celebrate the new Lorax movie is so fun. You've gotta click over and see the finished Lorax once the game is completed. It's super cute.

End Table Makeover Tutorial by Desiree of The 36th Avenue

Gorgeous. Just Gorgeous. Click over for the tutorial on painting, distressing. You should also see the before picture. I'm impressed with Desiree for seeing the potential in it!

Chain and Rhinestone Bracelet by Jenni at I Spy DIY

This might be my fave. I've been looking for a tutorial like this for awhile (or figuring out how to making my own soon) and I was so excited to find it on Jenni's blog. This is a simple tutorial and it looks so fun on. I might be making this soon!!

Suspender Dress by Delia of Delia Creates

Delia has a great Nesting Series going on right now where she and guest bloggers are sharing some baby tutorials. You should definitely check it out! I'm in love with this cute little suspender dress. I love the fullness of the skirt. She also made another one with the same striped bodice but with a floral skirt. Super cute.

Ruffle Clutch by Bev of Flamingo Toes

What a beautiful ruffle clutch. The colors are so perfect, too. This will go with so much, too! Dress it up or down. She has a few other versions, too and a link to the tutorial on how to make the basic version.

Yoga Pants Tutorial by Katy of Sweet Verbena

I swear, Katy comes up with the greatest ideas. Do you wear yoga pants as much as I do? Let's all make these. Think of all the fun variations you could do with the fold over part, too!

Easy Pom-Pom Pillow Tutorial by Ashley of Mommy by Day Crafter by Night

Bright and cheery. Love the fabric choices. Click over to see the easy tutorial on this pillow cover!

Enjoy!

And thanks for reading!

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Valentine Video!!

2012-02-18T14:51:00.001-05:00

This is a little more personal than I usually get here on Miss Lovie, but I thought it was a fun idea so I figured I'd share it with you.

I made a Valentine Movie for Mr. Lovie.

Plain old cards are so 2011. Just kidding. But this was really fun.

Mr. Lovie is really the best so I wanted to do something special for him for Valentine's Day (that was also low cost!). So while he was studying at school, I did a photo shoot with the tripod, got a little creative with picnik graphics, and played around with iMovie. Here is a shortened version of the Valentine Movie I came up with.

Oh, and don't make fun of my cheesy photo shoot or "animated" hearts. I was going for cheesy, ok? Ha.

I've used Smilebox before to make videos from photos, but you can't add your own music unless you pay more and you can't make it this personalized (unless they've changed things since I've used it). My original movie valentine was actually the length of the whole song because I had pictures of us in there, and more pictures of me with meaningful text.

iMovie is really so freakin' cool. You can edit how your pictures transition, edit the music, add sound effects, record your own voice, and so much more. I'm excited to experiment more with it sometime again soon.

This video was so fun to make and would make a great gift for anyone: a child's birthday, a major milestone like graduation, a wedding present, an anniversary present, retirement, etc. If anyone would like a tutorial on how to make this video, let me know and I'll try to make it happen. :)

Thanks for reading!!

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Heart-Stitched Valentines

2012-02-18T14:31:00.001-05:00

I know, I know. Valentine's is over. Like, way over. But I promised I'd share so here we are!

These are the valentines I made for my kinder kids in my classroom this year. They were too cute not to share with you, don't you think?!

I love the way they turned out.

I simply made the printable on picnik and left the space at the top open for the fabric hearts. Then I printed them on card stock, rounded the edges, and zig zag stitched the hearts I cut from fabric onto them in a U-shape. Easy.

And I had to include a treat. I was excited to find these Fruit by the Foots so I didn't have to give them even more candy than I knew they'd be getting already!

Even though they're a week late, I hope you like them!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! And a great week!

Thanks for reading.
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Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

2012-02-13T23:24:00.003-05:00

Here's a sneak peek of this year's valentines for my kindergarten kiddos.

I just finished them tonight. I'll take better pictures tomorrow before I pass them out and share tomorrow night.

In the meantime, here's the ones I made for them last year.

These precious Girl and Boy Pirate Valentines printable and idea can be found here.

How cute, right?

They were a big hit.

What valentines are you using this year?

I'll post more about my valentines for this year tomorrow!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. I've been super busy with grad school and teaching. I'm only a few weeks into my last semester of grad school and I'm so ready for graduation already. Whew. Thanks for sticking around!!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

My Favorite Things Thursday

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm glad it's Thursday. Thursday comes before Friday. Friday=yay.

Especially after this week. It has been especially exhausting. As always, though, my work week with kindergarteners brought funny stories. Read the latest ridiculousness that is my kinder babies at the bottom of this post!

So I shared on my facebook and twitter that I am making some fun Valentines that I'm going to share soon, but they are still not done. I've been doing homework. And putting in grades for progress reports that go home soon. Nothing fun. I'll post the Valentines in the next couple of days, though!!

Thanks for checking out My Favorite Things Thursday! Enjoy the great projects I'm loving this week!

Where the Wild Things are Masks by Maggy at Red Ted Art Blog

Oh. my. goodness. These are awesome. They're just grocery bags painted with some added paper details. LOVE them. Love the Wild Things anyway, but this is just too precious. So creative.

Love is in the Air Tee by Shauna at Shwin and Shwin

I love everything Shwin and Shwin does. I think I pin pretty much every post she publishes, but I really love this sweet little tee. The colors are so great. I'm not the biggest red and pink Valentine's Day theme fan so this is right up my alley. How presh is her little girl, too?

Brownie Bites by Crystal at A Pumpkin and a Princess

Did you just die looking at these? Me, too. Seriously they look so delicious. You gotta click over and see her cute packaging for them, too.

DIY Necklace Made of Ponytail Beads by Shannon at Madigan Made

How clever is Shannon at Madigan Made?! This necklace DIY is fabulous. Click her link to see how she made dollar store ponytail beads into a really nice necklace.

Pieced Heart Pillow by Anna at Noodlehead

This pillow is so simple and fun. I just love it.

Vintage Needlepoint Purse Pattern by Danielle at Thompson Family-Life

Are you as much in love with this as I am?! I don't think I would even carry a purse this fun. I think I'd just sit it on a shelf and look at it. The colors are so great. Mustard yellow with any other colors, yes please.

Valentine's Mantel by Jamielyn at iheartNaptime

I just love the simplicity and sweetness of Jamielyn's mantel. The heart flag bunting is fantastic and I love the window pane with simple heart wreath in front. Her wedding pictures are, of course, perfect, too.

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Ok, Funny story time.

A kinder students says to me yesterday morning: You know why I don't eat downstairs anymore for breakfast?

Me: Why?
Student: I found out their juice taste like bears.
Me: What? Bears? What do you mean it tastes like bears?
Student: No, Bearrrs. You know. The kind of bears my uncle drinks.

:) Oh, that crazy cafeteria bear juice.

Have a great Thursday. Thanks for reading. See you soon!

My Favorite Things Thursday-Valentine's Day is Coming!!

2012-02-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

Well, it is officially February which means Valentine's Day is coming!!

Having a reason to make extra effort to show your loved ones you care about them is nice sometimes. I think it's a great time to not only tell your one-and-only how you feel about them, but it is also a great time to tell others that are close to you that you care! Sending sweet notes/cards/texts/little gifts to your sister/mom/dad/best friend may not always be the first thing on your mind every day, but having a reason to do that is fun, I think.

In what ways are you spreading the love this Valentine's Day? I'd love to hear!

Welcome to our second My Favorite Things Thursday!

I love finding fun things to share with you!! I am always so blown away by the creativity of those around me. Kudos to you all! Here are some of my favorites from this past week. Enjoy!

Mason Jar Gift Labels from Amber's Etsy Shop MudandTwigs

Skinny hearts, mason jars, contrast stitching, stitching on brown paper....what more could I ask for?! I absolutely LOVE these gift labels.

Heart Paint Chips Pennant Banner by Holly at My Sister's Suitcase

I was so excited to find this sweet little blog this week!! How fun is this banner! And so easy, too!! You've got to go check out this blog. It's seriously cute.

Chalk Board Mug by Amy at The Idea Room

I thought these mugs were so fun and easy. I have some chalkboard wine glasses from Pier One that I love and I adore coffee and hearts so I mayyyy just have to make some of these for myself. And the fun part is you could make the heart in any color!

Valentine Chair Pouch by Alison at Oopsey Daisy

I love the idea of Valentine chair pockets for a little family. Mr. Lovie might think it's weird if I whip some up for just me and him, but you better believe I have this great idea bookmarked (aka PINNED) for future use!!

Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizzas by all the girls at Six Sisters Stuff

Fruit pizza is the yummiest, right? How yummy (and precious) do these sugar cookie fruit pizzas look?! So fun.

Felt Peony Tutorial by Lena at Hopes and Seams

I actually found this tutorial a couple weeks ago. I just love the look of this felt flower. The details are great and the fading pinks and ivory (just like a real peony) are so good. This tutorial is definitely a keeper.

Groundhog Snack by Jill at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

And since today is Groundhog Day after all, I just had to share this yummy treat. How cute is that little groundhog?! This treat was a little too expensive to do with my entire kindergarten class, but I think we will do another version of this today with the kiddos that I will share with you later!

Which brings me to my funny story via a sweet kindergarten student in my class. He comes in and says, "Ms. Watts, today's Beaver Day right?" Ha! I'd mentioned Groundhog Day the day before in calendar...he was confused. And being the evil teacher I am, I pretended like I didn't hear him just so I could giggle again when he said it the second time, this time even louder...to which I replied, "You mean Groundhog Day?! It's tomorrow." So cute. Had to share.

Enjoy the day...Here's hoping the little "beaver" doesn't see his shadow!!

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Vintage Happy Birthday "Wreath"

2012-01-28T16:50:00.001-05:00

Happy Saturday!!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm excited because my awesome sister, Maggie, is up visiting me all weekend...and it's her birthday!! Since I still had my Christmas wreath up, (don't judge me...) I decided to make Maggie a special wreath so she'd know how excited I was to see her this weekend. And the Vintage Happy Birthday Wreath was born.

I borrowed both frames from other projects...The big one is the frame I used in my Framed Yarn and Lace Heart Wreath that I originally got at an antique store. The small one is one I painted to frame some Curly Girl Designs cards I love. Since neither frames were currently hanging, I figured I could borrow them.

Then I just cut out some letters from an old vintage sheet (the coral floral fabric) and used fabric glue to stick them onto a white oval of fabric and stuck it in the frame. Then I whipped up a couple of tiny buntings with the vintage sheet and some other fabrics and lace I had on hand. The corner looked a little bare so I made the bow using my speedy hot glue technique that I also used for these bows that I promise I'll share with you at some point.

Even though it's for a birthday, I think it'd be cute anywhere, any time really. I need about 10 more of those white and gold frames...love it.

Hope you like it!!

So while I was making the wreath last night, Mr. Lovie was making this awesome thing.

This Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie (found here) is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it.

Obviously.

Mr. Lovie and I make a pretty good birthday weekend team, I'd say. And don't make fun of me for my square "pie pan". It's what we had. Ha!!

Oh and Maggie was really excited to have her birthday on "Christmas" this year...

I mean why even take the tree down now, right? Ok so it might come down tomorrow. Maybe.

Her birthday presents look good under there.

Thanks for reading! Linking my "wreath" up to the parties on my sidebar!!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things Thursdays!

2012-01-26T07:37:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first ever These are a Few of My Favorite Things Thursdays!

Ok please, be real with me about the name...I've been trying to think of a good one for forever and this is the only half decent thing I came up with! Do you like it? Is it too long? If you have any other suggestions, I'd willingly take them!

The idea behind These are a Few of My Favorite Things Thursdays is to compile a list of some things I think are awesome and love each week. If you have any projects you want featured, just email me! (missloviecreations(at)yahoo.com) I tend to love everything... so narrowing it down is pretty tough, but I've got some good ones here for ya... And a good mix too. DIY clothing, V-Day decor, and a cozy, organized studio space. Enjoy. And go visit some of these ladies! You won't regret it!

My Favorite Tee Dress Tutorial by Jen of icandyhandmade

I want to make one of these, like, now. And find that mustard sweater. LOVE.

DIY Honeyed Peplum Skirt by Sarah of The Good Life

Uh, how amazing is Sarah?! She has some of the best refashion ideas. The original skirt here was $2.50. The gold buttons are my fave.

20 Minute Shirt To Skirt by Rebekah of Verdant Bents

I'm loving the blue, green, and gray plaid, but the reason why I'm really loving this skirt is it was made from her late grandma's old shirt. How nice would it be to have your grandmother's clothes live on in a different way? I really like that idea.

14 Days of Valentines with Printables! by Ashley of Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night

That's right, you can have these printables for free and pair them up with some cute little gifts and have a sweet and special 14-day valentine's event with your man! Almost all the work is done for you!

Valentine's Day Wreath by Emily of Everything Emily

CUTE.NESS. I love the big simple red bow. I love the cutesy colorful hearts. The hearts fabric totally makes it. And it's perfect against that door. Simple and sweet.

Valentine's Mantle by Gina of The Shabby Creek Cottage

Sometimes all the red, pink, and white of Valentine's makes me a little nutso. Pink is not my fave so when it is used in small doses, I am much happier. This simple and clean Valentine's mantle is perfect. The color of the mantle is awesome and it definitely makes the little bit of pink okay. :) They banner is fabulous and the little wooden slab + heart is sweet.

Stitched Heart Bookmarks of Allison of Little Lovelies on 30 Days Handmade

Even though I already shared these on my facebook, I just couldn't not talk about these awesome bookmarks. They are the cutest. Loooove the printables that go with them, too. And easy! I may see a class set forming soon for my kinder babies...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Newly Organized Studio by Leigh of Curly Girl Designs

The before stages of her studio gave me hope. My work space totally looks like that on a regular basis. I also love how warm and inviting her space is. The fabric on the chairs are great, I LOVE the rug, I'm loving the old bench/table that would be a perfect height for sitting on the floor to work on projects without breaking your back, the art on the wall is (of course) fabulous, and the organization in the closet makes me want to go organize everything right now.

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I hope you enjoyed this first features post!! Stop back for more next Thursday!

2012 Hopes and Goals and New Things for Miss Lovie

2012-01-23T23:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know the first month of 2012 is almost over and that this post is quite late. However, I still want to share with you some of my personal goals and also some ideas for Miss Lovie and hopefully get your input! More on that on down in this post...

If you haven't yet, please go check out the One Word Goal Series going on at Less Cake More Frosting. There is so much inspiration there from so many talented bloggers. I've loved reading along. It has inspired me to really think about what I want this year to be like.

Now, before I go listing my hopes and goals, I want to preface it with I have recently realized I might be crazy.

Currently I am teaching full time as a kindergarten teacher, attending grad school part time in a different state where I have to drive 2 hours to class once a week from which I am graduating this year(!), I'm writing and creating for Miss Lovie, and I am contibuting to BCD. Hm. Do you think I'm crazy, too? Those 2 grad classes are the real kicker here. They're going to take over my life.

That being said, however, I believe,

you always have to make time for the things you love.

I will (somehow) make it all work. And it's only for less than 4 months. I can do this.

Which brings me to my first #1 most important goal:

Be More Efficient.

With so much on my plate, I need to make the most of my time. In every aspect of my day. I am not an organized person. I always say I don't think my brain is wired for that kind of thing. I need to make a more conscious effort to be a little more organized with what I plan for my day: at school, in creating, and for grad school work. Also, I may or may not be a procrastinator...this does not help. I must overcome.

No more internet surfing for hours and hours on end.

Do homework.

Lesson Plan.

Craft.

Blog.

Repeat.

And, of course, I'll have to throw some relaxation and cuddling with Nixon Girl (doggie) and Matty Boy (Mr. Lovie) in there as much as possible...but that's it!! Until I'm done with grad school!

A few other goals...

Now. Those are all broad real life/creative life goals and while some overlap, of course, this does not include my school/work/professional goals at all. That's a whole other ball game which would require another blog entirely. Ha!

Now let's move on to where I need your input.

I would love love love to create a schedule on my blog so that you always knew what you'd see here on Miss Lovie. I love blogs that have special posts set aside for certain days of the week and everytime you come to that blog on that day you know you'll find it.

You know those I'm talking about... Like the ever popular: What I Wore Wednesday on the Pleated Poppy where Lindsey shares what she wore that day and throughout the week, $5 Friday on Simple Simon and Co. where Elizabeth and Liz show what they can make from $5 or less, or Sunshine Sunday on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar where Cheri shares what she is thankful for during that week. I love all those series (and all those blogs).

This is what I'm moving towards.

We have to take baby steps here, though. (Only because of my other life commitments. Boo to those.) Come summertime, though, you all better watch out.

That is unless the pool calls my name too often like it did last summer...oops.

Here are a few things I'm thinking of incorporating weekly. Let me know what you think.

photo taken from this wonderful Etsy shop. This fab print is for sale here!

1. Because we're both awesome...I am definitely going to do a feature-type post on Thursdays....

My thoughts are to search and find things in blog land that I love and feature them and then occasionally take submissions from readers as well! Does this sound fun?

Email me if you have a super fabulous post you want featured on Miss Lovie!!

2. What do you currently like to read here and what do you want to see more of on Miss Lovie?

Do you love all the tutorials? Keep 'em coming? More jewelry? More wreaths? More holiday decor? Sewing? Something new? Let me have it. I will definitely share my projects with you as much as possible, but what do you want to see most?

I may have over 4, 000 pins. Wow.

3. What do you think about a "What I'm Wearing" or a "What I'm Cooking" post once a week?

Pinterest has changed my life. I know that sounds crazy, but really. I have never cooked more than I have since organizing and saving recipes on my Recipes to Try board. Likewise, I have never been more inspired to pull exciting and interesting outfits together since pinning a ton of ideas to my Wanna Wear It board. A "What I'm Wearing" post would be an outfit post by me (a teacher on a budget!) where I'd also include my favorite fashion pins or links to favorite fashion blogs. A "What I'm Cooking" post would include a recipe or two I've cooked either from Pinterest or from a blog I've found via Pinterest and what I thought of it, how I changed it, etc.

What do you think?

Please respond! Sometimes I think I'm writing to myself! I want to know what you want! Let me know what you think in the comments please.

Great News!

2012-01-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

So if you follow me on facebook or twitter, you've already heard, but just so everyone knows...

I am officially the new jewelry contributor for Blue Cricket Design!

I'm so excited! Don't worry. I'll still be posting here just as much as always (and hopefully more!). But now you'll be able to get more Miss Lovie jewelry goodness in more places than one! I will also post any new projects that get posted at BCD on here in case you miss them.

I hope you're as excited as I am. Click on over to see the rest of the contributors at BCD. I think Blue Cricket Design is going to have some even more awesome content these days with all those lovely ladies posting.

I'm hoping to get some good new projects up this weekend/early next week, but for now I'm going to start on grad school homework. Woh. Woh.

What are your plans for this weekend? Anyone making anything awesome?

Necklace Refashion Tutorial {Lengthen and Knot}

2012-01-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

Working on jewelry this weekend felt good. I need to do it more. It makes me happy.

I have all these ideas and then I look at my blog (and my jewelry stash) and realize I haven't done hardly any of them. Get on it, Allie. 2012, get ready for more Miss Lovie jewelry.

So here's the story. I had this necklace (above) I bought it from Express at least 4 years ago (maybe more). There's nothing wrong with it. I like it mostly, but I never wore it. I'd try it on with an outfit and I'd say "meh" and pick a different one that I wore all the time instead. So I decided I needed to just revamp it.

Lengthen it.

SO much better. I love the large antique bronze chain. The large beads at the ends where it connects to the chain were already there and they make the necklace flow nicely, I think.

Then I thought, what would happen if I....

tie it in a knot!

Ooh! I like that, too. Sweet! And in, seriously 15 minutes or less, I have not only one new necklace that I'm bound to wear way more, but two!!

Ready to make your own? Don't worry. You don't have to be a jewelry-making professional for this. It really is very easy.

Let's get started!!

Materials:
1. bent nose pliers and flat nose pliers

2. jump rings big enough to fit around your chain

3. lobster clasp

4. smaller chain (only about 5 or 6 inches worth)

5. large chain (13 inches, cut in half, or however long you need it depending on the necklace you're refashioning)

6. necklace that needs a revamp (mine was 16 inches long)

NOTE: I got almost all materials from Michael's. They usually have the best prices/sales on jewelry and they have a great selection usually. Tools really are relatively inexpensive. I say this all the time, but if you've never made jewelry before, don't let "Well, I don't have the tools so I can't do this" stop you. Jewelry making is fun and easy. Buy the tools you won't be disappointed. :)

1. Take apart your old Necklace

See? It's not bad really, it was just neglected.

Here's my deconstructed necklace. I think I'll have to find something fun to do with that sweet little bow charm. See how the ends of the necklace already have loops? We're going to utilize those!

2. Attach closure to the chain.

3. Attach large chain to old necklace.

Now attach both pieces of large chain to the necklace with jump rings as seen above.

It should look like this now.

And you're finished! Easy right?!

Or you could (unhook the clasp) and tie it in a knot! I love 2 for 1 deals!

Cuteness.

And versatility!!

This is one happy girl. Who wouldn't be when you get three day weekends which give you plenty of time to create, clean and organize, relax a little, and get ready for the next school week. I vote that we make three day weekends a regular thing. Who's with me?

Linking to the parties on my sidebar and

Get Your Craft On

P.S. Keep a look out...I just may have found another way or two to revamp this necklace...get excited.

Valentine's Day Ideas

2012-01-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

First, let me just say, I missed you.

I've been MIA from the blog for a week (or so!) longer than I wanted after the holidays. I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things after the last minute Christmas crafts I did (which I, of course, neglected to photograph....grr.) and after the glorious down time with family and friends. And as soon as I went back to school I've been swamped with end of the quarter duties including finishing report cards. Woh. Woh. I'm hoping for a snow day sometime soon (cue "Snow Day" song by Matt Pond from that Starbuck's commercial...) so I can have some quality creating time!

Don't worry, though. I have lots of great ideas for new tutorials that will hopefully come soon and I've been thinking about my goals and things for the new year on here which may include some new happenings I'd like your feedback on so I'll share those soon, too.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of last year's Valentine's Day tutorials. Yes, there are tutorials for all of these below. Enjoy!

Framed Yarn and Lace Heart Wreath

I really love this wreath. I may have to put it up very soon. Guess I'd have to take my Christmas one down first, though, huh? What? Please tell me I'm not the only one with my tree and front door wreath still up?! Mr. Lovie today suggested we just leave the tree up all year and decorate it with whatever season...hearts soon, then shamrocks, then birthday candles for his birthday...all good ideas that I legitimately thought about for a minute because I just really like our tree. It looks good in that spot!! Ha!

Anyway, back to Valentine's Day!

Ruffles and Hearts Table Runner

I made this runner over a couple snow days last year, actually. Love the colors. Love the heart and ruffle explosion. It's easy, too. You should try it.

And finally, for last year's V-Day decor, Love Birds

This was my first ever embroidery project and it was so relaxing and fun. Click on the link above for a template for the birds that I made and the full tutorial.

And, of course, if you're looking for some ideas for some Valentine's Day gifts, check out my Embellished Date Night Basket. It would make a fantastic gift for your mr.!

Thanks for reading. New stuff coming soon!

Miss Lovie's Top 10 of 2011

2011-12-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-24T10:18:00.003-05:00

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

2011-12-22T15:12:00.003-05:00

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!

2011-12-18T17:01:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-17T09:59:00.000-05:00

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!

Ornament and Evergreen Wreath

2011-12-15T22:19:00.001-05:00

This is a repost from this post here. I made this wreath last year and didn't take the best pictures in the world so I thought I'd repost. Enjoy!! :)

I was inspired to make this wreath by Martha Stewart's ornament wreath on her website: Martha's version.

We all know how incredible Martha is, but sometimes her instructions can be complicated and supplies hard to find- at least for me anyway. So instead of purchasing a wire wreath form and ornaments on wire stems (where do you even find those?!) I opted for an easier, more-cost-effective version.

I bought several boxes of ornaments at Wal-mart (they had such a great selection!), both large and small. I bought the evergreen wreath and foam wreath form on sale at Michael's. Whatever size you choose, your foam wreath form should fit just around the inside of your evergreen wreath as pictured below.

First, I used floral wire to attach the wreath form to the evergreen wreath in several places around the wreath. I feel like I saw someone else make a wreath similar to Martha's against an evergreen wreath, but I'm not sure where.

Then glue on your ornaments, alternating colors. Glue the large ones on first, ornament stem down. (I removed all the ornament tops that hold the wires before this step because I was afraid the silver and gold would show through, but if you put on plenty of ornaments you may not have to worry about that step.) I glued down clusters of large ornaments first and then glued the small ones in the open spaces.

When gluing the ornaments I first glued the ornament to the wreath form then put spots of glue on the ornaments that would be touching the one I was gluing down. The hard part was guessing where they would actually touch. Once you get going, though, it gets easier.

I started gluing in one spot and worked until I got all the way around the wreath ensuring there were as few open spaces as possible. Fill any open spaces with small ornaments. It's okay to glue small ones right on top of the big ones. This wreath is BIG.

Hang it up and adore the merriment it creates! This wreath is very large and makes a big statement on my front door. I'd show you the big picture of my entire door, but my apartment hallway is less than exciting.

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Here's a couple more of my holiday posts from last year in case you missed them!

Another Fun Christmas Wreath

Gingerbread Girl and Boy Ornaments Tutorial

I hope you're farther along in getting ready for Christmas than I am!!

It sure does sneak up on us, huh?!

Thanks for reading!

Linking to the parties on my sidebar.

Nest of Posies Posie Cluster Winner

2011-12-14T06:59:00.000-05:00

Ready to see who won a sweet posie cluster of their choice from Nest of Posies?!

It's Agnetha! Who said....

Congrats, Agnetha!!

I'm emailing you now!

Today You'll Find me...

2011-12-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

Today I'm over sharing my favorite holiday traditions at Mommy By Day, Crafter by Night!

Come check out my Christmas Morning Breakfast Casserole

and the never-ending Christmas Card pictures!

See you there!

Miss Lovie First Anniverary Event Wrap Up

2011-12-12T08:00:00.011-05:00

It was a fabulous week of great Christmas guest posts by some super talented women! If you haven't been by Miss Lovie in a while, here's what you missed!

Christmas Tree Decorating Tips by Ashley at Mommy by Day Crafter By Night

Carved Heart Ornament by Bev at Flamingo Toes

Christmas Photo Card Wreath by Dara at Teach.Craft.Love

Frosty the "Canvas" Snowman by Jen at Craft-O-Maniac

Naughty or Nice Printable Gift Tags by Heidi at Sew.Craft.Create.

Printed Twill Ribbon by Amy at Positively Splendid

Christmas Tree Inspiration from by at Living With Punks

All kinds of Christmas Gift Wrap Bow Tutorials by me!

The giveaways below are still open! Click on the images to go enter to win!

Shwin and Shwin Patterns Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-12T06:28:00.000-05:00

Let's see who won 3 fantastic patterns of her choice from Shwin and Shwin Designs Shop!

Congratulations to....

Meagan!

who said

Meagan, I'm emailing you now!

Fancy Christmas Gift Wrap Bow Tutorials

2011-12-11T15:41:00.002-05:00

Ok, be warned this is a long {and awesome} post. :)

I've been a gift wrapping machine this past week. Mr. Lovie has been spending lots of time at the library due to finals so it has given me time to get my wrapping done (without him peeking!).

Ready to make some of these??!

Or these?!

I LOVE wrapping gifts. Making bows is like a second nature to me because I have done it A LOT. In high school and through college I worked at Horne's of the Bluegrass, a gift shop in Paris and Georgetown, Kentucky and I attribute all my bow-making skills to Carolyn, a wonderful lady I worked with there. We wrapped hundreds of gifts during the Christmas season so I became quite the skilled bow-maker! I am now going to share those wonderful bow-making skills with you as well as some other super fun bows that I came up with.

First up is the Fancy "department store-type" bow. This is the bow I learned to make while working at Horne's.

Like all packages. Tie some bow around it first. I usually do mine like the gift above. You could do it in the middle or if it's a rectangle box, you can do it more towards the top like I did above. I usually just use enough ribbon to have very small tails like shown above that I can either keep or cut off completely. If you have tons of ribbon you can make those tails long so that they hang down the front of the package.

First create a loop with the ribbon. The diameter of this loop should be the width you want your bow to be when it's finished. I made a very big one because I wanted a very big bow. I used a very wide wire ribbon, but really almost any ribbon would work.

Tape the end of the ribbon in place. It won't stay very well, but it's ok. It'll work.

Loop the ribbon around at least 5 times. If you have tons of ribbon, do it 6 or 7 times. (I only did it 5 times to conserve ribbon.) Keep the loops tight together.

Close the loop flat.

Then fold it in half.

Then cut triangles out of the folded part of the loop on each side. Keep just a tiny bit of the loop left.

Use a small ribbon tie and cinch the middle of the large loop together.

Then separate the individual loops by pulling them apart and alternate twisting them down and then up.

Tie it to the ribbon on the package and snip the small ribbon.

Do some final arranging and you're done!

This idea can also, of course be down with ribbon that's a little thinner. You can play with the number of loops you use or the size of the loops. The more loops the fuller it will be. I usually increase the number of loops with the size of the bow I'm making. If I make a bow that will have a large diameter I will increase the number of times I loop it around.

This bow is so cute!! I just love working with tulle.

I found this great green tulle in the perfect width in the wedding section at Michael's. It was about the same price as or lower than some of there gift ribbons were ($2.99).

To make:

Create several loops of tulle on top of each other by wrapping it around your hands as shown above.

Grasp it in the middle like shown above and tie with small ribbon (or I just used a tiny piece of tulle).

Tie it onto the package. I think the bow looks super cute here, too. So you could leave it. Or...

Cut the loops apart on each side.

And cut the middle layers so that they are shorter than the ones on the outside edges.

And done. Precious.

I think this one might be my fave.

I did not even remember I had this fabulous gold glitter tulle. I bought it when I saw it in a sale bin at Jo Ann's and just knew I'd find the perfect use for it. I was right.

Create the pom the same way you did the fluffy tulle bow except cut the ends of the bow before tying it on and pull apart the layers and create a full circle pom.

Tie the pom onto the package.

And fluff! LOVE!

You could even play with mixing different color tulles.

I also made this one (not crazy about the color combo, but I wanted to show you the technique anyway) by rolling tulle along with the ribbon when making a Fancy Bow. It definitely created a very full bow.

I like this color combo and technique better, though. I created a Fluffy Tulle Bow and a Fancy bow and added them on together and fanned the tulle out nicely under the Fancy Bow. So fun.

I love simple bows. Why not add them to packages?!

The tulle for this bow needs to be very smooth. Instead of rolling to create the loop I folded it over itself several times as shown above.

Then fold a small piece of tulle over itself several times. This will be the middle of the bow.

Fold the bow like a fan and place the small piece of tulle around the middle and hot glue it to itself in the back.

And done! While I like this huge one, I think these would be precious if they were small.

Cuteness.

Fancy is always fun, but simple can be really great, too. I just love this fuzzy wired ribbon I found at Michael's. On the gift above I paired it with a glitter rick rack and tied a simple bow.

And on this one I thought that wired red fuzzy ribbon was enough!

I hope you enjoyed my Fancy Bow tutorials!! Have fun wrapping your own!!

Merry Christmas!

Linking to the great parties on my sidebar.

This marks the end to my Miss Lovie First Anniversary Event! Thank you so much for reading!

Today is the last day for the Shwin and Shwin Giveaway so be sure to go enter! The other giveaways are still going so go enter those as well!

Anniversary Event Guest:Living With Punks and DIY Christmas Tree Inspiration

2011-12-10T08:07:00.003-05:00

I’m so happy to be here for Miss Lovie’s Anniversary! Doesn’t time just fly by? Like this year, with Christmas! Didn’t we just have Christmas last year? I swear every year it goes by quicker….and I hear it’s not going to slow down. Anywho, I’m Susan from Living with Punks. I love to sew and craft, and I mostly do it for my punks. They are the light of my life (sometimes that light is so bright, I get a big fat headache…if you know what I mean ;) .

Today I thought I’d bring you some DIY Christmas Tree inspiration. The tree shape is the universal symbol for winter and Christmas. Just seeing them around makes me smile! I’ve made several versions of them over the years and I love all these that I’ve seen lately...

Inspired yet? I know I am! I want to make every one of these… and the awesome thing about all these trees is that they go with any décor! Just pick your color and go with it! Thanks so much for having me Allie! I’m off to make some trees :)
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Thanks so much for sharing, Susan!! I am so loving all the tree variations out there. Those vintage book trees are to die for. And the blingy ones of yours are so fun!

I'm sure you all know about Susan at Living with Punks, but if not you should go browse her blog immediately. She's got great holiday ideas including a New Years Glam Brooch, Salted Caramel Sauce, and these adorable Polka Dot Stockings. Some of my other favorite projects of hers are the Mondo Pom Pillow, Chrysi Pin, Land of Nod Floor Cushion. And these all come with tutorials!! :)

Don't forget to enter in these great giveaways. You still have a great chance to win on all of them!!

And be sure to check out the other guest posts from this week!

See Kate Sew Patterns and Shop Credit Giveaway!

2011-12-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

Ready for a fabulous giveaway?! Great, because I've got one.

Kate of See Kate Sew is letting me give away two patterns and shop credit!! How lucky are you?!

Here are the patterns you could win!!

the Happy Hedgehog pattern (I want this!!)

and the Pop-Up Pleats Camera Strap Pattern!

And this precious Smashed Ruffle Pouch is just one example of the many pretties in her shop!

I'm sure you know about the wonderful Kate and the great creativity she shares on her blog. If you aren't, go there now! Her Sewing 101 Series is fabulous, and I get really giddy looking through her pleat week and ruffles archives. There are so many great ideas! Go visit. You'll love her and her beautiful blog.

Ready to win See Kate Sew Patterns and

Shop Credit?!

Please leave a comment here for each entry. Be sure that your profile has your email on it or add your email address into the comment you leave so I can contact you if you win! You can do one (or all) fo the following.

Go to the See Kate Sew Shop and find something you would love to buy with the $20 shop credit. Come back here and comment to tell me what it is! (must do to win)
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway (up to three entries) and leave a comment here about what you did. Simply copy the following if you want to post it to Facebook or Twitter: You should go enter the See Kate Sew Patterns and Shop Credit Giveaway at Miss Lovie! #MissLovieBlogAnniversary
Go visit Kate and follow her via her blog, facebook, or twitter (up to three entries!) Leave a separate comment on this post telling me about each thing you did.
Pin a picture of the giveaway on Pinterest and write about it in the caption (or copy the following for the caption: You should go enter the See Kate Sew Patterns and Shop Credit Giveaway at Miss Lovie! #MissLovieBlogAnniversary

Good Luck!

The giveaway ends Saturday, December, 17. The winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Anniversary Event Guest: Mommy by Day Crafter by Night with Christmas Tree Decorating Tips!

2011-12-09T07:00:00.055-05:00

Hi everyone! My name is Ashley. I blog over at Mommy by day... Crafter by night. The name of my blog pretty much sums up my life at the moment (except I am a mommy by night too of course!) I have 2 little girls that are 2 1/2 and under. As you can imagine, with a baby and a toddler, my life is pretty crazy- but I love every minute of it. To keep myself sane, I craft! I love to push myself to my creative limit and I am always dreaming up a million projects at once! When my kiddos go to sleep at night, I get to crafting and blog about it.

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday of the year. For many, many reasons... Just one of them being that I get to put of my Christmas tree!!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS TREES!

There is just something about having a christmas tree in the room that just makes ya wanna burst into song... "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... Jack Frost nipping at your nose"- Ok... ok... maybe I am the only one that feels that way, but you have to admit that a Christmas tree makes ya feel good! Right? I put my Christmas tree up over a week ago and I have been enjoying every second of it!

Today I am going to share my tips of decorating your Christmas Tree on a budget!

To start, let me tell you the story of my Christmas tree... I got it 5 years ago at Walmart. At the time, I didn't have a lot of money and I didn't have much space. It cost me a total of $29.99 and came pre-lit. 5 years later {still have no money, and limited space} and it works great. It's pretty sparse, but it does the job and I try to make up for the sparseness with decorations! So with that said, let me tell you my tips for decorating your tree on a budget.

Tip #1: Don't spend a ton of money on the actual tree. Like I said, mine cost $29.99 and it does the job! Of course down the road I would love to upgrade, but since I need to decorate on a budget, this tree works great! :) Whatever money you save on the tree you can put into ornaments and all the fun stuff:)

Tip #2: Shop the after Christmas sales and clearance racks. Probably 85% of the decorations on my tree are things that I got 50-75% off at the after Christmas sales and saved to use for the next year. If you are like me, it's hard to do this because I want my tree to look perfect NOW! ;) But when you are trying to save money, this is a great thing to do. And just think- it will be so fun next year when you get to pull out all the new things you were able to get the year before on sale! It's like Christmas- Literally;)

Tip#3: Buy a little bit at a time. My tree has taken me 4 years to get it to the point it is now. It gets better every year and it is so fun to compare pictures from the previous years to see just how far my little tree has come!:) When you see something on sale throughout the year, snatch it up, add it to the Christmas pile. If you wait until Christmas time when all the stores have things full price, it can be pretty pricey to decorate your tree/house.

Tip #4: Buy things that aren't necessarily "Christmas decor" to decorate your tree. I love to use garlands and silk flowers in my tree to fill the sparse branches. These things can be found on sale throughout the year! This year I added 2 small berries wreaths to my tree to fill in the sparse areas- You can't even tell they are wreaths since I wiggled them into the tree branches.

Tip #5: Watch for Christmas Sales (during the Christmas season) and use coupons... Hobby Lobby, Roberts, and Joann are great places to buy things because they almost always have a 40-50% off coupon that you can use on one item. This year, I bought the things to make my 20 Min Christmas Wreath for 50% off at Joann and Hobby Lobby- and I didn't even have to use a coupon since they were having a sale!

Tip #6: Buy big things to decorate with on your tree. Now my husband might fight me on this tip;) You should have been in the room when I pulled out my "new" treasures to put on my tree this year {the 2 BIG vintage looking bottle cap signs that say Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas}... Needless to say, my husband was a little worried about how big they are- But as I always say "Go big or go home!" Once I got the tree all done, he loved them! ;) I love decorating with big things! It fills up your tree super fast and I just love putting chunky things into my tree that aren't really supposed to be put on a Christmas tree. Now- I know some of you are thinking that I broke the cardinal rule of decorating with odd numbers since I only have 2 signs in my tree- I know that I TOTALLY broke that rule, but I don't think my tree could have handled another one and I am happy with the way it looks- rule breaking and all:)

Tip #7: Break all the rules. (This tip doesn't necessarily have anything to do with saving money) Decorate your Christmas tree how YOU think looks good. Put things on it that YOU like. Don't worry about what is in style or what this years colors are. Christmas trends come and go, so just buy things that you love- whether or not it is in style. If you love mauve- then decorate your tree in mauve- gosh darn it;) In the long run, you will be so glad that you went with your style instead of doing what everyone else is doing.

So now here is how I decorate my tree!

Step #1: Have the hubby put up the tree (see how sparse it is to start??)

Step #2: Put ribbons and garland on. Then add your biggest decorations next so you can make sure they are evenly placed. Here is where I added my 2 bottle cap signs (which I got last week at Hobby Lobby for 50% off- they were $5 each!! LOVE!)

Step #3: I added my 2 berry wreaths.

Can you see the red berries on the left side of this picture- it is one of the wreaths.

Step #4: Add all of your biggest ornaments first so you can space things out well. Add the smallest ornaments last to fill in the gaps.

Voila! You are done- Now you are ready to cuddle up with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy your masterpiece! :)

Thanks so much for letting me stop by!
Be sure to stop by and say hi if you get a chance! I have lots of fun sewing tutorials, crafting ideas, and printables!

And if you need some printable Christmas tags

or a Dear Santa Letterform for your kiddos- I got ya covered:)

Hope you all have a great holiday season! :)
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Thanks so much, Ashley! I just love seeing the transformation your tree took! The berry wreaths are such a great idea. I wouldn't have thought of that. You can't even tell they're wreaths! I think I know what I'll be purchasing at the after-Christmas sales this year!!

If you are not familiar with Ashley and her fabulous blog, then please go get familiar! She is the sweetest girl who has the best ideas. Really. I think I'm probably going to try her Tied With a Bow Pouch tutorial for a Christmas gift, and how much would any little girl love to receive this Dolly Diaper Bag for Christmas?! And once the holiday rush settles down I can't wait to make this Anthropologie-Inspired Ruffle Shirt for myself!

Ashley's got some other fun stuff going on right now, too. Here in the next few days I'll be participating in her Holiday Traditions series. You should check out the fun ideas already posted.

And even though I dropped the ball on entering So You Think You Can Sew, I'm really excited to follow it!!

Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow for another great guest post!

Don't miss these fabulous giveaways!!

And be sure to check out the other guest posts from this week!

Anniversary Event Guest: Sew. Craft. Create with a Printable!

2011-12-08T07:08:00.001-05:00

Hi! I am Heidi from sew.craft.create.

Thanks for having me over Allie!

I love making printables (I am constantly offering free printables!) and I wanted to make a cute Santa tag for my kidlets this year.

So my question is: Were you naughty or nice this year?

Be sure to hop over to my blog for another printable {here}!

b/c even the naughty deserve something nice!

------------------------------------------------------------So cute, Heidi! Thank you so much for joining in the Miss Lovie one year celebration!! I think kids would really get a kick out of those tags. And I know several adults who would, too! Ha!
If you don't regularly go see Heidi like I do, then you should. She's always got some great ideas to share. Be sure to check out her holiday decor for this year: Naughty&Nice Printable and Martha Stewart Paper Evergreens, and some great ideas for gifts: Love Printable in 50 different languages! (I love this one), Crinkle Rocket Ship Toy for the sweet babies in your life (I love this tutorial for any crinkle toy!), and one of my favorites of Heidi's, the Rope Bracelet.
Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow for another great guest post!

Don't miss these fabulous giveaways!!

And be sure to check out the other guest posts from this week!

Maybe Matilda Crochet Patterns Giveaway!

2011-12-08T06:45:00.002-05:00

The sweetest ever, right? Do you crochet? Or are you planning on learning in the future (like me!)? Well then, today is a good day. Rachel over at Maybe Matilda is letting me give away 3 crochet patterns of your choice!

I actually just bought an already made Baby Bear Earflap hat like the one pictured above and received it in the mail recently so I can definitely vouch for its ultimate cuteness!

I have followed Rachel's blog for quite some time and have admired her great ideas and creativity. I have often marveled at her talent for making such cute crocheted items. (I really want to learn!) So, of course, her shop is full of crocheted goodness along with several different patterns to make your own... for baby or for you!

If you win, the 3 patterns you choose will be emailed to you for easy access. They will include instructions on how to make the item in several different sizes (and guidelines to make it in larger sizes as well if it's a baby hat) and she even offers to let you email her if you are having trouble while creating! Rachel also gives full permission to sell items made when using the pattern!!

Ready to win 3 crochet patterns of your choice from Maybe Matilda?

Yes?! Here's the deal:

Go to the Maybe Matilda Shop and pick out your favorite patterns. Come back here and comment to tell me which ones are your favorite! (must do to win)
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway (up to three entries) and leave a comment here about what you did. Simply copy the following if you want to post it to Facebook or Twitter: I entered to win the Maybe Matilda Patterns giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/maybe-matilda-crochet-patterns-giveaway.html #MissLovieBlogAnniversary
Go visit the wonderful and super sweet Rachel at Maybe Matilda and follow her via her blog, facebook, or twitter (up to three entries!) Leave a separate comment on this post telling me about each thing you did.
Pin a picture of the giveaway on Pinterest and write about it in the caption (or copy the following for the caption: I entered to win the Maybe Matilda Patterns giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/maybe-matilda-crochet-patterns-giveaway.html #MissLovieBlogAnniversary

Oh! And because Rachel is so great, she said I could pick two winners!! Good Luck!!

The giveaway ends Thursday, December 15 and the winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Be sure to check out the great guest posts from this week!

Anniversary Event Guest: Flamingo Toes with a Carved Heart Ornament Tutorial

2011-12-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hello Miss Lovie Readers!!
My name is Bev and I blog over at Flamingo Toes.

I am so excited to be here today as part of Allie's fun Anniversary party!!

I love to do jewelry, sewing and home stuff - and I have been having a blast this year making new things for Christmas!
I will confess. My ornaments had gotten kind of sad and shabby. And not chic. ;)

So I've been making some new ones this year to freshen things up!

This little ornament is fun and easy to do - it looks so cute on the tree. It would make a great hostess or neighbor gift too!
Here's my Carved Heart Ornament:

Ok - so it's not a real carved heart - but it's just as sweet, embroidered on linen in this little Mason Jar lid!

Ready to make your own? You'll need:
linen
embroidery hoop
floss - brown & red
Mason Jar Lid - wide mouth (both ring and top)
cardboard or chipboard for backing
glue (I used hot glue)
jute or ribbon for tie
optional - drill
Ornament Pattern - click here to open

Start by tracing the pattern onto your fabric. You'll need to write in your initials. You can easily trace your pattern if you tape the pattern to a window, then tape your fabric over it. The light will shine through and you can trace the design onto your fabric with a disappearing ink pen.

Place your fabric in an embroidery hoop.

For the entire ornament you'll be using a stem stitch. Here's a quick how to.

Thread your needle with three strands of brown embroidery floss. Bring your thread up from back to front at the top of one of the pattern lines.
Put your needle back in about 1/4 of an inch and then back up about at the middle point of this stitch.

Pull the needle through. Then make another small stitch in the same direction, about 1/8" away, coming up at the base of this stitch.
Keep the loose thread up above your stitches.

Continue with the stem stitch, following the lines of the pattern.

Stitch all the wood grain lines of the pattern. It might help to do smaller stitches on the curves.

Use the same stitch and outline the heart and arrow and sew in your initials with red embroidery floss.

Using your jar lid as a pattern, cut out batting and a cardboard or chipboard circle.

Optional - You can drill small holes in the top of the Mason Jar ring to thread jute for hanging the ornament.

Cut a length of jute and thread it through the holes and knot it.

Trim your fabric so it is a few inches larger than the jar lid.
Place the batting on the lid and then the embroidered fabric. Wrap it around to the back and glue down.

Glue the embroidered circle into the jar ring. Glue the cardboard circle onto the back.

If you didn't drill your holes, glue a length of jute/ribbon to the back for hanging.

Hang your cute new ornament on the tree!

I hope you like it!

I'd love for you to come by Flamingo Toes sometime to say hi! You can check out my other tutorials here. :)

Happy Anniversary Allie!! Thanks so much for including me in the event!!

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Thanks so much for joining in the celebration, Bev!! What an original, unique and sweet idea for an ornament!! I love doing embroidery. Yours looks so great!

I'm sure you already know this but Bev has some of the greatest ideas on her blog. I always think of her as the awesome knockoff jewelry maker because, well, she is. I have a ton of her great jewelry tutorials pinned. She also has some more great Christmas ideas up this year. Go check out her Swirled Wire Chain Ornament, Linen and Lace Topiaries (which I think I am in love with), and her precious Felt Hot Cocoa Ornament that I want to make in every color.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the fabulous giveaways!!

And here are the rest of the posts from this week's Anniversary Event! Click on the picture to check them out!

Anniversary Event Guest: Positively Splendid with Printed Twill Ribbon Tutorial!

2011-12-06T07:00:00.006-05:00

Hello, everyone! My name is Amy, and my blogging home is Positively Splendid. My goal is for my blog to be a haven of crafting and DIY inspiration, and a place where creative people of all skill levels can come and feel right at home. On any given day, you might find me crafting, sewing, or cooking up a storm. I would love for you to pop by and say hello!

I have to say that I am tickled pink to be here for Allie's first anniversary celebration! Today I'm sharing a quick and easy project idea for really kicking your holiday gift wrapping up a notch with a personal touch: Printed Twill Ribbon!

For this project, you will need:Wording PDF files {{free downloads}} OR word processing softwareMerry and Bright PDFJoy to the World PDFWhite twill fabricFreezer paperIronComputer printerRotary cutter and matSewing machine and thread or fabric glue
step 1 / Using your rotary cutter, cut a piece of fabric and freezer paper that is precisely 8.5x11 inches. It is very important that these pieces be cut exactly so that they will run properly through your printer! Use your iron on a cotton setting with no steam to iron the freezer paper to the back side of your fabric, making sure the shiny side of your freezer paper is touching the fabric.
step 2 / (If using the provided downloadable PDF files, skip ahead to step 3.) Create a document using your word processing software with the wording you wish to appear on your ribbon. Make sure the page has a landscape orientation and that there is a bit of space between each row for trimming. For 1-inch-wide ribbon, you will need 8 rows of wording.

step 3 / Place your assembled fabric/freezer paper piece into your computer printer so that the image will print onto the fabric side of the piece. Print your wording onto your sheet, and leave the freezer paper backing attached.
step 4 / (This is how the templates I've provided should be trimmed. If you've created your own, you'll have to trim according to your particular margins, etc.) Starting at the bottom edge of your page, trim 1/4" from this bottom edge. Now, trim strips that are 1" wide, so that your wording is centered in each strip. When you reach the top row of wording, trim the top of this piece so it is precisely 1 inch wide. Remove the freezer paper from the back of your strips.

step 5 / Overlap the ends of your strips and sew together using a zig-zag stitch. For a new-sew option, you can also use fabric glue for this step.

Your ribbon is ready to embellish any package that strikes your fancy!

Something that I think would also be really cute would be to use a pinking blade in your rotary cutter when trimming your strips.

In addition to the ribbon using the provided templates, I also made a personalized version with my son's name. I love the idea of using this ribbon with each child's name in lieu of gift tags this year!

Thanks so much to Allie for having me over today! I hope to see y'all at Positively Splendid very soon!

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Oh, my goodness, Amy. I love love love this. Especially your idea about putting kids' names on it to personalize gifts. How much would my kindergarten students love me forever if I did that?! ha. Thank you so much, Amy for joining in the celebration!!

I'm sure you are all familiar with Amy's fabulous blog, but if not you need to get over there quick! She really is so talented. Need some super fun Christmas ideas? Go see her Whimsical Christmas Mantle, her Advent Cookie Tree, and her Rolled Rosette Christmas Tree!

If you haven't yet, please go check out and enter these giveaways!!

And be sure to check out this week's Anniversary Event Posts so far!!

Frosty The Canvas Snowman by Craft-O-Maniac

Christmas Photo Card Wreath by Teach.Craft.Love

Posie Cluster Giveaway from Nest of Posies!

2011-12-06T06:45:00.002-05:00

Today Miss Lovie readers I have an exciting giveaway for you! Kellie from Nest of Posies is letting me give away a posie cluster of your choice from her shop!!

Kellie is so talented and not only does she have a beautiful shop, she also shares her talent on her blog. Go see these great holiday ideas: Chevron and Ikat Gift Tags and Christmas Party Tablescapes for Kids!

Kellie has the most beautiful shop full of great bags, scallop posies, beautiful scarves, and fun headbands! There are so many great options for unique Christmas gifts for your friends, your mom, or anyone! And lucky you, today! You might just get to win a sweet Christmas gift, a beautiful posie cluster of your choice!!

more colors in her shop!!

Here's how to win:

Go to the Nest of Posies Shop and pick out your favorite posie cluster. Come back here and comment to tell me which one is your favorite! (must do to win)
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway (up to three entries) and leave a comment here about what you did. Simply copy the following if you want to post it to Facebook or Twitter: I entered to win the Nest of Posies Posie Cluster giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/posie-cluster-giveaway-from-nest-of.html#MissLovieBlogAnniversary
Go visit the talented Kellie at Nest of Posies and follow them via their blog, facebook, or twitter. Leave a separate comment on this post telling me about each thing you did.
Pin a picture of the giveaway on Pinterest and write about it in the caption (or copy the following for the caption: I entered to win the Nest of Posies Posie Cluster giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/posie-cluster-giveaway-from-nest-of.html #MissLovieBlogAnniversary

Good Luck!!

The giveaway ends Tuesday, December 13 and the winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Be sure to check out this week's Anniversary Event Posts so far!!

Frosty The Canvas Snowman by Craft-O-Maniac

Christmas Photo Card Wreath by Teach.Craft.Love

Anniversary Event Guest: Craftomaniac with a Snowman Tutorial

2011-12-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

HELLO Miss Lovie readers, Jen here from CraftOManiac. I am excited to be apart of Allies First Anniversary Event. YAY! and Congrats Allie.

Today I am sharing with you my

"Frosty The Canvas Snowman" 

I used "3" different sized CHUNKY Canvas Corp. boards to create him.

I used "3" chunky canvas boards for the snowman.

I used sticks from my back yard tree to create his arms.

I used a piece of orange fabric scrap for the carrot nose.

I used black felt I cut into circles for the buttons and the eyes.

I used pink paint and a round foam stamp for the winter rosy cheeks.

I used a cut piece of minky fabric for the scarf. Fabric from Poppyseed Fabrics.

I used a walnut stain stamp for the edges to give it more dimension and weather it a little.

I used a cut piece of black waxed cotton for the mouth. Waxed cotton from Canvas Corp.

......and if I didn't RUN OUT OF BLACK FELT I would of made him his top hat, I still PLAN on doing so. ;)

and here is my Snowman Popcorn Covers and my Bakers Twine Snowman Christmas Card.

THANK you again Allie FOR letting me be apart of this fun event.

jen

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Oh my, Jen!! So cute! I would have never thought to use those canvases to make a snowman. Love it!! Im loving all the bright blue in your Christmas decor this year, too!

I'm sure you all know all about the fabulous-ness that is Jen, but if not, please go check our out and say hi! And her apple green and turquoise decor really is super cute. Go see more of it here and here! And if you missed her Whimsical Candy Ribbon Trees, you shouldn't! They're precious. Thank you so much Jen for sharing today!!

If you haven't entered to win 3 Shwin and Shwin patterns, then click the image above or here!

Anniversary Event Guest: Teach. Craft. Love. with a Wreath Tutorial!

2011-12-04T07:05:00.001-05:00

Hi Miss Lovie followers!

I hope you are as excited about Miss Lovie's Anniversary Event as I am. I'm honored that she has asked me to be a part of it. I absolutely love Christmas decorations and am excited to share this latest one with you. Every year I struggle with what to do to display all of the photo cards I get from family and friends. Last year I used clothes pins and it worked well but I am in a new house this year with new places to display things and needed something different. Now I'll be honest, what you are about to see is not my original idea. It totally flopped. So, the materials that I ended up using would not have been my first choice but I used what I had. Guess that just means I'll have to make another one next year? ;)

What you'll need:

*Fabrics/ribbons of your choice. (I used felt which is harder to work with for these kinds of things. I wish I had used cotton fabric but it worked out ok.)

*Wreath form that pins will go in. (Again, looking back I would have spent the extra money for the thick white foam but I have a straw one instead.)

*flat thumbtacks

*hot glue

For the wreath part, all I did was wrap felt around the wreath form. I used hot glue and straight pins to make sure it was extra secure.

For the thumbtacks you could do just about anything you want. I made a couple of different things.

Circle Flower:

Cut several circles. Use one as the base. Fold the others twice in half and glue on the base. There's not really a certain way to do this. Just add them as you go. Add a bead or other embellishment.

Bow:

I just tied a regular bow and then glued a small piece around the knot to give it a more polished look. Here you can see where I hot glued the thumbtack to the back.

Second flower:

This is another version of a flower. I cut long, thin strips (about 1cm) and folder them accordion style a little bit at a time and glued as I went around the circle. Again, add bead or embellishment to cover up the middle.

And this is what I got....

You could do this in so many different ways which is what makes it so much fun. The flowers would have been much easier with thinner fabric. I had also hoped to use fabric button covers to make these but the felt was too thick. I may still try that if I need more pins. I had fun making the thumbtacks and of course this is something you could do for other cork boards you have in your home or office.

I hope you found this inspirational. Just think foam and thumbtacks and see where it takes you. My mind keeps thinking of other ways I could use these things so I hope yours does too. Thanks for reading!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Oh, Dara. So cute!! That is a way better and prettier solution than taping them to the door frame haphazardly like I usually do. Haha. And you are right...there are so many different possibilities and different ways you could go with that wreath.

If you haven't been to see Dara at Teach.Craft.Love., please go visit her and say hi! She is my good friend in real life and was my inspiration to even start a blog. It is only appropriate that she be here to share on my blog's first anniversary!! And you've got to go see her beautiful Christmas table decorations and wreath from last year. I can't wait to see what other Christmas creations she comes up with!

Shwin and Shwin Pattern Giveaway!

2011-12-04T07:00:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited for you all! Today Shauna at Shwin and Shwin is graciously letting me give away 3 patterns of your choice from her and her sister's beautiful shop!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the Shwin sisters are amazing. They have some super great sewing tutorials on their blog, and their Sewing 101 series has been super helpful to me! I have pinned a ridiculous amount of goodness from Shwin and Shwin and I am so excited they have now opened up a pattern shop. Their eye for style and design is so great.

I think my favorite is definitely their newest pattern, The "Claire". I mean, is there anything cuter? And there's even more great patterns available in the Shwin Designs Shop!

Read on to find out how to win?!

Head on over to Shwin Designs Shop and see which patterns you would pick. Come back here and comment to tell me which pattern is your favorite! (must do to win)
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway (up to three entries) and leave a comment here about what you did. Simply copy the following if you want to post it to Facebook or Twitter: I entered to win the Shwin&Shwin pattern giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/shwin-and-shwin-pattern-giveaway.html #MissLovieBlogAnniversary
Go visit the fabulous Shwin sisters and follow them via their blog, facebook, or twitter. Leave a separate comment on this post telling me about each thing you did.
Pin a picture of the giveaway on Pinterest and write about it in the caption (or copy the following for the caption: I entered to win the Shwin&Shwin pattern giveaway at Miss Lovie! You should too! http://missloviecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/shwin-and-shwin-pattern-giveaway.html #MissLovieBlogAnniversary)

Good luck! The giveaway ends a week from today on Sunday Dec. 11 and the winner will be announced shortly after. Winners will be chosen by Random.org.
Giveaway is now closed.

Don't forget to check back later today for the first guest post of the Miss Lovie First Anniversary Event! Dara at Teach. Craft. Love. has a great Christmas Wreath tutorial for you that you won't want to miss!

I Know Thanksgiving is Way Past Over

2011-12-03T14:24:00.003-05:00

Yes. I'm aware it's December 3rd. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is way past over, but I just had to show you my cheese ball turkey.

I love him.

He got skinnier as the day went on at my cousin's house for Thanksgiving.

I realize his face looks a little sad. I worked on his eyes for a while, cutting tiny pieces of felt off to make them just right, but no matter what I did he still looked like he hates you. Or like he's mad he is a cheese ball. Or that he's plotting ways to kill you. Ha. I still love him.

Here's the original.

Found here via Pinterest.

This was so fun and easy. I have a feeling Mr. Turkey Cheeseball will be back every year.

We had a great time hanging out with family at Thanksgiving..

and playing with sweet puppies...

and cuddling with them, too.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well. It's crazy that I haven't posted since then.

I'm sorry! I've missed you. But, see... I got sick right after Thanksgiving and stayed sick for several days. My sore throat and cough acts like it's gonna just stick around forever, but I am better. I have wanted to stop in and say hello, but late nights at school and exhaustion have made it difficult. I have either fallen onto the couch with cough medicine and tissues surrounding me or I have just fallen asleep after work this whole week. I hope you'll still love me. I have lots of fun ideas for December and I can't wait to get working on them finally and share them with you!

Of course, you know the fun ideas start this Sunday with the first post of Miss Lovie's First Blog Anniversary event!

Be sure to mark your calendars! And stop in every day to see what great Christmas idea you will find! I know you're not going to want to miss any goodness from these lovely ladies who will be posting!

The event starts Sunday Dec. 4 and goes through the following Sunday, December 11.

And don't forget about the giveaways! What's a party without free gifts?!

I'm excited. I hope you are too.

Grab a button from my sidebar to spread the word if you want!

Announcing: Miss Lovie's First Anniversary Event

2011-11-21T22:15:00.000-05:00

So on December 8, Miss Lovie turns 1 year old. How CRAZY is that?! This has been one wonderful year of crafting craziness. This blog has been the driving force that has pushed me to go beyond what I thought I could do - in creating and in blogging. I have met so many wonderful people (you!) and I have learned so many new things.

And I've loved it all.

Thank you for letting me share my crafting life with you. Thank you for reading, thank you for all your kind and loving comments and emails and thank you for your continued support and love in the future!!

Since it is Miss Lovie's birthday/anniversary and all, and since I want to thank you for encouraging me and my crafty obsession over the past year by reading Miss Lovie, we need to have a party.

So, get ready for a full week of fabulous guests posts and giveaways December 4-11! All the lovely ladies posting for Miss Lovie's First Anniversary Event write fantastic blogs that have inspired me so I am honored to have them be a part of my celebration. I know you'll enjoy their posts! The giveaways are yet another way to say thank you to you!

And, of course since the Miss Lovie anniversary falls in December this will most definitely be a Christmas party!!! I don't think you can ever get enough Christmas craft inspiration.

Mark your calendars. Dec 4-11 for lots of great guest posts and giveaways!

Please use this button if you want to help spread the word!!

I still have a few spots available for giveaways so if you have a small business you think Miss Lovie readers would be interested in, feel free to email me!

Pre-Planned Date Night Basket: A Tutorial

2011-11-13T20:22:00.005-05:00

I originally saw this idea here via Pinterest.

This blogger, Shannon, planned and paid for dates in advance so she and her husband wouldn't waste time wondering what to do for their date night. They just picked an envelope and went! I loved this idea. After Matt went crazy and bought us an awesome new couch for our anniversary, I knew I had to do something special for him, too. So I made us a Date Night Basket! In the original post, Shannon actually made one date for each month and labeled them accordingly, but I wanted ours to be more flexible, so I just labeled them 1, 2, 3, etc. and I only did 8 because I was pressed for time/that was all I could think of for the moment.

And I, of course had to embellish the basket and envelopes a little with ruffles, hearts, garland, and embroidery.

Each envelope had a double felt and burlap ruffle.

Then inside each date envelope, there is an info sheet describing the date along with gift cards, cash, and anything else we would need to go on the date described.

Here's Date #7, I believe.

I used the photo flyer template in Microsoft Word 2010 to create all the info sheets inside each envelope. Each one had different color schemes, descriptions, and pictures to match the date.

Want to make your own Date Night Basket??

Let's do it.

Materials Needed

Large envelopes

Basket (I got mine at target on sale!)

Microsoft Word (some sort of flyer template that allows you to insert pictures and add descriptions)

Gift cards or cash, and anything else needed to prepare for the date

Fabric for ruffles, garland, and sign on front of basket (burlap, felt, and tulle)

Mod Podge (or other glue to adhere the labels to the envelopes)

Embroidery thread and needle

Hot glue gun

2 pin backs

Sewing essentials

Plan Your Dates

If you decide to make your own Date Night Basket, remember: the dates don't have to be elaborate and can even be free! One of mine was Late Night Coffee/Catch up on DVR Date and I threw in some fun coffee flavors.

I found lots of date night ideas here (site found via pinterest again. My favorite thing to do on there is type in what I want to the Pinterest search and I find the coolest stuff!). Some of her ideas are a little too much for Matt and me, but I did use her book store date idea for Date #7 above (it even has free printables that go with it).

Flea Market Date. Ha. There's a huge one close to us and we've never been so...

On the date nights I planned for us to actually leave the house, I had a gift card or cash ready for however much we would be expecting to spend there. I tried to pick things that we either haven't done or don't do that often.

Once your dates are planned, and materials are gathered, create your word docs for your info pages and print them on a color copier. I took mine to a Fed Ex Express and had them printed.

Don't forget to print your labels, too, for the outsides of the envelopes.

Here's a sample of the labels I created for the envelopes:

You can download your own Date Night Labels here.

Cut and Mod Podge your labels onto the center of each envelope.

Then create a ruffle for each envelope (cut two fabric strips, both should be as long as double the width of your envelope, one thinner than the other and ruffle them at the same time) and glue on. For a more detailed post on how to make double ruffles and glue them on, see this post.

Embellish the Basket

There will be a post later about the heart and pom garland seen on this basket. For now let's make the fabric label for the basket.

Create a wide ruffle.

Cut two strips of fabric about 48 inches long and 5 inches wide, stack them together, and ruffle down the middle. I used tulle and burlap

Form the ruffle into a circle so that the center of the circle is all touching.

Sew right sides together and set aside.

For the oval in the center, cut two ovals of felt and cut out your message for the center in a contrasting color of felt. To stitch the message on, I used an embroidery running stitch with 2 strands of embroidery floss.

Once the message is stitched on, stack the ovals on top of one another, wrong sides together and do another running stitch around the outside border. If you want, you can stop here.

I wanted my border to be a little more fun so I added in a looped running stitch. The tutorial for this says to use contrasting thread for the looped thread, but I stuck with the gold.

(The links that provide the embroidery stitches go to a wonderful site full of embroidery tutorials! I found the site via Mique of 30 Days Blog via Pinterest)

Once all your stitching is complete, hot glue the oval to the center of the ruffle circle.

Trim any fabric that sticks out too far and you're done!

I wanted to attach the fabric label to the basket without ruining the basket in case I ever wanted to reuse the basket for something else. I figured out that if I stuck a pin in through the weaves it would stay, so...

I hot glued two pin backs onto the wrong side of the fabric label in the places I knew they would need to go in order for the label to be centered an in the right place.

Hang it on the basket (don't worry about clasping the pins- they'll stay) and you're done!

If you make little garlands like I did, you can pin them to the fabric lining of the basket just inside the rim of the basket in the front. By doing it this way, you can detach it anytime you want to use the basket for something else.

Give it to your love and watch him be super surprised. I love this idea, too, because once the dates are all done, you can always fill the envelopes again!

And even though I made this for my love for our Anniversary, how much fun would this be as a Christmas present?! Or birthday?!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Thanks for reading!

Linking to the parties (including here and here and here) on my sidebar!

Let's Go to "The Hop" {Poodle Skirt Tutorial}

2011-11-07T21:34:00.001-05:00

For those of you who may be new to Miss Lovie, you should know that I teach Kindergarten and LOVE planning fun days for the kids. So last Friday was the 50th day of school and we celebrated by having a 50's Day. Kids and teachers were invite to dress up. Of course, I was pumped about it because it meant I got to sew a poodle skirt. YES!

Here I am, ready for the "Hop"! I know you like those shoes, too, right?!

I used a suiting type fabric that was much more lightweight than the felt you usually see on poodle skirts and it laid very nicely. I used black zig zag sequin trim (which I also used on this table runner) for the bottom of the skirt. LOVE.

It was a very dance-able skirt (dance-able is a word, btw.)

See?

You twist like this...

and this.

We went all out at school. With all the outfits, decorations, making and drinking root beer floats, learning the Hand Jive and The Twist, comparing the 50's lifestyles to today's, and of course lots of counting activities to 50, it was a super fun day.

We made paper chains (the kids made them themselves!) and they had to create their own pattern since we were learning about patterns at the time in math.

We made Rock and Roll records.

And we even had a teacher on roller skates during the Sock Hop!

I have some fabulous pictures of the kids boogying at the Sock Hop, but I'm not permitted to show them! Just imagine almost 250+ kids in the gym doing the Hand Jive. haha!

Here's my kindergarten team all dressed up. Love them.

If you're a teacher and want to do a 50's day, we got a lot of ideas from here, here, and here. Some of those links include some great printables we used!! Or you could follow me on pinterest and I have some ideas under my "School" Board.

Want to know how to make your own awesome poodle skirt? Of course you do! You never know when you might get invited to your very own "hop"! You could use it as dress up for kids, Halloween costume, or 50's day like us!! Read on :)

Poodle Skirt Tutorial

Materials Needed

2 yds. of lightweight material of your choice

(to keep within the Poodle Skirt tradition go with baby blues, powder pinks, black, etc.)

1/4 of a yd. (or less) of white fusible felt

(I used fusible felt so I didn't have to get wonder under, but you could use regular felt if

you had it on hand and use wonder under with it.)

1/4 yd. (or less) of contrasting cotton fabric.

Elastic for the waistband (3-4 inches wide), enough to go around your natural waist plus 2 inches.

Trim for the leash and bottom of the skirt (about 2 yds. for the leash trim and 4 1/2-5 yds for the trim at the hem)

(On my skirt, I used thin black sequin trim for the leash and a thicker zig zag sequin

trim for the bottom hem of the skirt)

A tiny piece of coordinating ribbon for the bow on the poodle's collar

sewing essentials

Create the Skirt

There are a lot of poodle skirt tutorials out there that look more complicated than necessary. As soon as I realized I got to make a poodle skirt, the perfect tutorial popped into mind. I just knew Dana from Made's Circle Skirt Tutorial would be the perfect fit for this project.

Source

I was excited, too, because I've been dying to try that tutorial anyway! It definitely was a great fit. Making the skirt part was SO easy. Thanks Dana for such a great tutorial!! Definitely use the lightweight fabric like she suggests- it makes a huge difference in the look of your skirt.

Follow the tutorial just as she says, but before you sew on your elastic, make and sew on the poodle and trim.

Make the Poodle

I used this poodle pattern (scroll down to find it), but here's another one if you like it better. I actually copied the image onto a word document and enlarged it as big as a regular 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper would allow me to do and then printed it. This may vary depending on whether you make the skirt for an adult or child.

Pin the pattern to the contrasting cotton fabric and then cut it out. If you used cotton fabric for this step like I did, it'd be smart to use some kind of Fray-Stop (the spray or the gel) on the edges.

Pin the pattern to the fleece. Don't worry about the legs or the tail for this part, just cut along the body and make the balls for the feet and the tail separately.

Lay your fleece over the cotton body of the poodle, making sure it's lined up on all sides.

If you did not use fusible fleece, follow the directions on the Wonder Under. If you did use fusible fleece, flip it over and iron on top of the cotton side to get the fleece to stick. Be sure to line the fleece up carefully-especially on the balls for the paws and tail!

Pin the poodle to the skirt and make sure it is in the place you want it by trying the skirt on or holding it up to you in a mirror. Use Wonder Under to adhere the poodle to the skirt. Then sew along the outside edge of the poodle (about 3/8 an inch). Careful around the curves of the circles!!

Sew on all the trim

Once the poodle is sewn on, pin down whatever trim you're using. If you use sequin trim, please be smarter than I was and pin it in a way that allows you to sew along with the direction of the sequins. I sewed against the sequins and it created some puckering in the fabric along the leash and it was difficult to sew at times. When pinning the leash, pin it in a curly pattern as seen above.

After it's all sewed on, tie the coordinating ribbon in a bow and tack it to the dog's "collar" with a few stitches (either hand-stitched or on the machine).

Then sew on the trim to the hem. See what happened to me? I ran out of the zig zag sequin trim and, of course, I made this at 9:00 the night before our 50's day so last-minute runs to the fabric store weren't even possible. There was only about 8 inches or so that was lacking trim so I just sewed on some regular zig zag trim. I may go back and fix it later. But it worked for the day. No one noticed....I don't think

Sew on the Elastic

Sew on the elastic just as Dana describes in her tutorial for the circle skirt and you're done!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! I'd love to see your poodle skirt if you make one!

Now I'm off to go dance some more....

Thanks for reading!

Linking to the parties on my sidebar.