best things this week

this week has been pretty rough.  borderline awful.  so, in attempt to round house kick this bad attitude in the face, I'm going to tell you some of the awkward and awesome happenings this week, to steal a phrase that couldn't be more perfect.

AWESOME
hubs got his refill of cindy crawford's meaningful beauty products in the mail yesterday.  two fold funny because 1: it reminded me of when he got sucked into that infomercial like a cheerio into a vacuum cleaner and tried to tell me about how I would have too. "its this melon that's only found in one place on EARTH with a shelf life of 16 years!", and 2:  he's obviously not the one who orders things online normally because he totally didn't know that they automatically sign you up for shipments every month for the rest of your life.

AWKWARD
standing in one side of my in-laws sink wearing hubs oversized flip flops while madly plunging the other side (with a TOILET plunger...ugh) to unstop the overflowing sink that was caused by hubs juicing beets the night before.  after letting it (the plunger) drip dry, I carried it across the floor where it almost immediately dumped nasty poop/sink water on the floor.  the beav immediately ran over, slipped in it, and nearly concussed himself (plural for concussion) he hit his head so hard.  what. a. day.

AWESOME
I was asked to photograph a PAYING client yesterday.  this is monumental.  and no, it's not my mom.  but almost.

AWKWARD
turning on the oven to bake some cookies and not remembering until I nearly burn the house down that the oven is where my mother-in-law keeps her PACKAGED bread goods.  TWICE.  I've now ruined approximately 5 english muffins, ten croissants, three loaves of bread, three biscuits, and quite possibly, and oven.  hubs hurried and destroyed the evidence to save me from embarrassment.

how does that song go?  fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?

AWESOME
family has mad skills.  my brother decided to BUILD copies of this and this.  check it.
ps. these are the copies.  He measured, bought, stained, and affixed all the wood (and metal) to create the items below.

mad skills?  most definitely.

AWESOME
the beav is starting to learn how to dribble.  a ball, not saliva.  hubs bounces it while he tries to imitate him and dances around the room.  so cute.  Have I told you his first word was CATCH?  should I just get a minivan now and get it over with?

AWESOME

taking these pictures of my brother.  hot off the press.  and really, could he get any better looking?  He litterally ROLLED out of bed and threw on a shirt. ridiculous.


everyone should make an awesome and awkward, it really changes your day!  thanks for the idea syd.

something beautiful: fabric

and you know what's even more beautiful than fabric?  a giveaway of fabric in the form of a clutch.  I went to a couple fabric stores this past weekend, and I found some great stuff.  I've fallen head over heels for fabric, and I want you to as well.


so here's the deal.  pick a fabric combo that you want for your clutch.  and then I'll make it.  and then I'll give it to you.


pretty sweet deal, huh?  a free custom clutch?  yes, please!


so there are two main colors, but with two different inner fabrics (meaning the one you'll see when you open your clutch.  of the two of each color (navy and camel), chose your favorite inside fabrics.  I'll make two clutches, and then you get to choose which one you will win when I'm done!


deal?  deal.

option a.

 b.

c.

 d.

fabric IS beautiful, no?

imitation modification {giveaway}

first, pick yourself out some rockin fabric.  bring a friend.  this is wayyyyy more fun.  preferably a friend who gets giddy in a fabric store as this makes it even better.  we chose an eighth of a yard (i had no idea what that even meant) of gold/mustard yellow and a bright red.  (and maybe quite a few other patterns....)


bags and clutches at Last Chance were pretty pricey, and I had to part with the gloriously seafoam green clutch for $25 dollars because it was dirty and they don't care.  so we found one at Marshalls.  $7.99..... boo. yeah.

you'll need this.  and PLENTY of it.

then you'll pull out that fabric, lay it out flat, and spray a layer or two of starch on it, then iron.  when you are finished and it is dry, fold it in half, hot dog style (moment of silence for Mrs. Hamel's first grade class), and repeat with starch and iron.  but starch it good.  the fabric should be pretty stiff.


determine how big you want your flower, and how full.  if you want your flower a smaller size for a smaller bag or clutch, trim along the hot dog edge that you can peel open, not the side that is folded over. begin cutting the fringe.  to cut the fringe, begin cutting down from the folded edge to the open edge.  leave very little fabric attached, maybe  half a centimeter, but make sure you don't cut through, like I did here (notice this short strand).

sew a straight line across the bottom to hold the two edges together.

do this along the entire piece of fabric.  when finished, very gently begin rolling like a sleeping bag from one side of the fringe to the other, hot glu(e)ing along the way. like this.  

once the entire piece is rolled, find the center and flatten it out.  starch and iron around the edges again to make it super flat, or give it some volume and let it bounce a little.  be careful not to iron over the center to reactivate the hot glue that has already set.

attach to the bag or clutch using a hot glue gun.  because of the ginormity of the flower, hot glu(e)ing it to a pin and pinning it to the bag was impossible, but for a smaller flower, it will work to pin directly to the bag.

realitymade total cost: $8.99

the pros at emersonmade price: $58.00

this picture is not great, I admit.  but its late, and dark, and I'm tired, so tired.


here's the best part.  winning it.  I'm loving bright red, white, and navy blue these days, maybe I'm feeling patriotic.  also yellow and pretty much any other color (seafoam green, for example).  


so here's how you win.  comment with your favorite color combinations this season.  that's it.  (update: you will not be forced to follow my blog to win). I'll draw Monday morning.  

ready.

go.