Korra

Our baby girl is here!  

Miss Korra was born on November 4th (her due date!)

Meeting her big brother for the first time

This is why I'll be absent for a bit longer.  She's a wonderful baby and we are so happy she is a part of our family!

My handsome husband holding his baby girl.

Hope everyone is doing well-I'll be posting when I can!

{Blast from the Past} Burlap Pumpkin

I'm currently ready to pop-this little girl is due in just one week!!  So crafting has been, shall we say, non-existant lately as I've been getting things ready for her arrival and {trying} to keep up with school AND being mommy to my little man.  Here's a past Halloween goodie to tide you over for the time being :)


Ribbed Burlap Pumpkin

When I first saw the orange burlap at Joann's, I knew I had to have some.  And I knew I wanted to make some fun fall decor with it.  I have insomnia some nights and one of the nights I was lying awake, starting at the ceiling, the idea hit me.  An orange burlap pumpkin!  I could see the whole thing in my mind-all the details, where I'd put it once it was done, the works.  I got so excited I got up and wrote it all down.  So here is the fruit of my sleepless night.

What do you think?  

And now I'm going to show you how to make your own!  This is a super-easy project that's both inexpensive and fast-the whole thing took me under a half hour.

To make yours, you'll need:

About 1/2 yard of orange burlap

Brown embroidery thread

Polyfill

Thread

Hot glue gun

A large circle to use as a guide

I wanted my pumpkin to be a good size so I needed to use a BIG circle to use.  I flipped over my hamper and traced around the top onto the burlap, then cut it out.

This will be the "body" of your pumpkin.

Cut 6 pieces of embroidery thread about a foot long and thread them through the center of the circle.  Tie the ends in a knot.

With the knot on the inside, stitch around the outer edge of the circle and pull tight, gathering it all together.

Fill with polyfil before tying the thread.

Flip over and arrange the 6 pieces of thread like so.

Pull them tight over the pumpkin and tie together at the top.  Tuck the ends into the hole at the top.

I made a little stem using a scrap of green burlap that I had.  You could use a stick or felt or fabric-whatever floats your boat, really.  Attach it to the top of your pumpkin with hot glue.

There you have it!  I love the way the thread gives the look of ribs.

Right now it's keeping my rolly-polly scarecrow company on my kitchen counter.

I hope that everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!

It LIVES!!

Happy day, my computer is working again!!!!  YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!  

{can you tell I'm excited?}

Now I'm just in the middle of the tedious process of getting everything re-installed and moved over from my other drive.  I'm hoping to have everything back up and running and have some posts for you by the end of the week.  Hopefully everything cooperates with me :)

Thank you again for your continued patience!!  Seriously, you guys are the BEST EVER!!!

Oh SAD Day

So.  My laptop is dead.  Like super-dead.  I can't even get it to start up.  If you like Scraps and Scribbles on Facebook, you might have already seen this sad announcement.

This is bad because now all the projects I was getting ready to share are lost.  But don't lose hope {I'm trying not to} as there will be a way to recover my data {yay!} it just might take a little while.

So, please bear with me while I get this mess all straightened out!

{Fashion Friday} Pinning Away

You may have seen the little Pintrest P hanging out over there on the right.  Yes, that does mean that I joined Pintrest.  You should come follow along.  It's seriously addicting.  

Here's what's been catching my fashion eye lately:

Source: loft.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I absolutely adore this maternity top from Loft.

Source: google.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Stripes and ruffles: two of my favorite things

Source: saksfifthavenue.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I could never afford these shoes {unless I won the lottery or something crazy like that} but they sure are gorgeous!

Source: shabbyapple.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I've always loved the combination of silver with turquoise.

Source: stylehive.com via Courtney on Pinterest

This top is simple gorgeous.  I think I could make it or something very similar.

Source: vandco.bigcartel.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I love everything about this bag :)

Source: polyvore.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Love love LOVE all of the cream, especially that top.

Summer of Weddings

It's been a busy summer, wedding-wise, for our family.  

In June, one of my husband's younger sisters got married.

The bride with her oldest brother {my hubs}

The bride and groom {ignore the small child at the bottom :) }

In July, my grandpa got re-married and I had the pleasure of being their photographer.

I'm so happy to have Jo Ann as part of our family-she is a truly lovely lady.

 me with my sibs

My handsome husband and I

family shot

First dance

my beautiful mom and sister and me

And, as I mentioned, I have another sister-in-law getting married on Tuesday and some very good friends getting married on the 20th {remember the ones I did the engagement pictures for?  I'm also photographing their wedding.}

I guess it's the summer of love :)

{Who's That} Canvas People

If you haven't heard of Canvas People by now, you are seriously missing out.

Canvas People is a great company that turns your photos into a lovely canvas.  Their motto: A canvas in every home.

I turned a cute family pic into a canvas and I just love it.  The quality is superb and the price is great.  When we have visitors who haven't been to our house before, many ask me where I got my photo canvas from and I happily tell them.  These canvases also make a great gift for your loved ones-Christmas IS only a few months away {though I'm trying not to think about that yet.}

And you can use any photo! {of course it has to be yours to use}  So you can turn anything and everything into a one-of-a-kind work of art.  There are all kinds of fun effects you can add to jazz up your photo even more, too.

Right now, Canvas People is offering 25% off all sized canvases as well as free shipping! 

{Blast from the Past} Stripped Bow Tee

Some of you lovely readers are relatively new to Scraps and Scribbles, which got me to thinking that it might be fun to re-visit some older posts occasionally.  Up for Scraps and Scribbles' very first Blast from the Past is this fun bow shirt.

I found this cute top over at Mod Cloth.

Photo courtesy of Mod Cloth

  As soon as I saw it, I fell in love and knew I needed one for my very own.  Then I got to thinking, I could probably make it for less than I would pay for it from Mod Cloth (sorry, Mod Cloth.)

Not bad, eh?  Best part, it was super-easy AND it was under $5 to make.  And I'm going to show you how!

To make your own, you'll need:

Tee shirt

Matching fabric, preferably a non-stretchy cotton material

Matching thread and needle

Cutting mat and rotary (or just a measuring tape and scissors)

I got my striped tee at Forever 21 for just $3.50!  I was so happy, not only because of the price but also because it was exactly what I was looking for.

To determine how big I would need to make the bow, I measured from shoulder to shoulder just under the neckline and for the ties, I measured from the center of the neckline down to where I wanted the ties to end.  Remember to double the width when you cut out your pieces since you will be folding them in half.

If you want to make a bow the same size as mine, here are the measurements:

Bow: 8 inches by 12 inches

Ties: 4 inches by 26 inches

Center loop: 4 inches by 4 inches

Using my momma's super cutting mat, ruler and rotary, I quickly got all of my pieces cut out (I so need a cutting mat and rotary!  It saved me SO much time!)

Like so.  The next step is to piece your bow together.

I started with the smallest piece and worked my way up.  I folded the piece for the center loop inside out and stitched along the side, leaving the ends open.  Then I turned it right-side out, formed it into a loop, with the seam on the inside and in the center, and folded the raw edges under about 1/4 of an inch, and had the ends overlapping about 1/4 of an inch.  

Then I stitched the ends together, forming the loop, like so.

For the bow, I did the same thing, only instead of leaving the ends open, I started sewing at each corner and worked my way to the middle, leaving about an inch wide opening in the center to use to turn it right-side out, then stitched closed the hole.  I did it that way because the loop will cover the stitches.  

Once the bow was done, I accordion-folded it, length-wise and slid on the loop.  

Then I stitched together the piece for the ties, in the same way as the bow, starting in the corners and working in towards the middle, leaving a 1 inch opening.  But before I began sewing, I angled one end by folding the outer corner in towards the raw edge, creasing it and using the crease as a guide, cut it at an angle.

Once the tie was finished, I threaded it through the back of the loop, like so.  I had the un-angled side 2 inches longer than the other, since I was going to be turning it up at the end.

I laid the bow flat on the shirt, with the loop just under the neckline in the center, pinned it all in place and stitched down the sides of the bow, and the corners of the tie, folding up the un-angled side.  By just tacking down the corners, it gives you room to move without tearing or pulling at the shirt.

And there you have it!  I wore it the very next day, I was so happy about it! 

And here it is more recently, showing off my tiny baby bump at 19 weeks :)