I Am A Sewing Machine

 

Four years ago (I am having a hard time believing it's been that long) I bought this old sewing machine to see if I even liked sewing.  And I did!  I got really into it for a while, made a bunch of holiday gifts, and enjoyed having a new piece of furniture on which to store my crap (since that's the purpose it's served for many of those 4 years). 

And I really did like the sewing part...it was fun, relaxing, served as yet another creative outlet, and it is SO MUCH QUICKER than knitting...which might just be my favorite part. 

But although this old sewing machine is a beast, and I love the romanticism and style of its advanced age, I'll admit that it wasn't so easy to use.  It was pretty finicky and seemed to jam up on me a lot.  It required lots of oil and TLC to function.  And so I didn't seem to sew too incredibly often. 

Well, mama got a new sewing machine!  Brian bought me this awesome Brother sewing machine for Christmas this year and I am totally in love with it.  It is a breeze to use compared to my old beast, and so...I'm feeling totally reinvigorated about sewing again!

I've been sewing quite a bit, and have made some easy beginner projects including a couple drawstring bags (one for Sadie's ballet shoes, and one as a project bag for my knitting), and matching Sadie and Mama "rice paddies" (as we call them....rice bags that you heat up in the microwave to keep you warm).  

I made this fold-up changing pad for baby Maya...and hear that it's being put to good use....

 And am well on my way making (quilting! ) these colorful placemats....

 So much fun..blowing up my pinterest craftiness board with a billion and one ideas of things to sew.

Really Ties the Room Together

 This fall I somehow found some time to take on some projects that have been brewing in my mind for years!  So fun to finally make them happen and I love what they've added to our home.  First it was this family photo wall in our guest room (inspiration here).  

 I started by gathering all my old, outdated brass and wood picture frames and spray painted them all the same off-white color.  I put burlap and a fun ribbon behind all the frames, and anchored them at the top of the wall with fun doorknobs I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  The hardest (and most fun) part was choosing which pictures I wanted to display.

 

I saw this project on Pinterest and have always wanted to tackle it in order to display my Instagram prints.  I LOVE instagram, and was SO excited when Walgreens released an app to print instagram photos straight from your phone.   I found a funky, brass frame at Goodwill (it even came with a horribly ugly painting) and spray painted it.  Wire and tiny clothes pins finished off the project.  So happy with how it turned out.

 

I've been looking for a way to store our growing record collection for some time.  We were quickly running out of room in our existing entertainment console, but I didn't really want to buy a new piece of furniture for this purpose.  Enter IKEA Hack!  I became a big fan of the IKEA hack concept when we installed our built-in bookshelves on our second floor, so I thought it might be a great resource for this project. 

 I bought two inexpensive bookshelves at IKEA, and made the cushions myself (tutorial here).  It took me one night to make these come together and I think they are so much fun.

And Sadie LOVES her new window seats!