The Coolest Thing I'm Not Showing You

I invented something awesome today, guys! Like, life changing amazingly simple, and kinda lame, awesome. I was driving yesterday with this cold and thought, "Someone should totally invent a ___________________________________!" So today, with the little extra energy I had this morning, I made it myself! And it's awesome, and perfect, and would totally make me famous on Pinterest. So I was already to do a tutorial here tonight and pin it.

But then, I showed my mom and sister. And my mom freaked out. And she said I shouldn't tell anyone, and patent it, and sell it, and become rich, because people would totally buy it. And I don't really believe her, but then I thought about coffee sleeves. How that's really a stupid, yet really brilliant, idea. Kinda like my __________________________________. So now I don't know what to do.

So here's the deal. This item cost about 50 cents and an hour to make. Could probably be less than an hour, now that I know what I'm doing. It's pretty cool, but I don't really know if it would sell outside a very specific demographic. However, if I Pinterest it, there are all those crafty people who would definitely make them, but that's another very specific demographic, and not really much overlap between the two.

So what do you think? Should I sell it or give it? Etsy or Pinterest?
Have you ever had a similar situation?

The Duvet

Once upon a time, I was trying to fall asleep in a bed that looked like this:

It was one of those nights where my mind was running a million thoughts a minute and keeping be up. For some reason, my brain decided I needed to make my own duvet cover since this blue monstrosity isn't very pretty and real duvet covers (the ones I like, anyways) are pretty expensive. So after creating it in my mind, I finally drifted off to sleep, and promptly googled "how to make a duvet cover" the next morning.

So I made a duvet cover! And I'm loving it!! I followed the directions from this site, Design Sponge (mostly. Some stuff I made up). It was such a huge help! So since I have no real tips, I'm just gonna show you what I did, okay? If you want a step-by-step, go check out Design Sponge. I started with these fabrics from Joann's:

and got started measuring and cutting

I learned how to do French seams from that website, and they are SO pretty! French seams make it so that there are no raw edges anywhere,

inside or out.

However, it takes a very long time, since you're basically sewing each seam three times. I did them for the front (picture on the left), but I cheated for the back. See, the other issue I had was that the butterfly fabric wasn't as wide as the other one. So it was going to be almost two inches shorter! I figured by cheating, I could get the look with less "waste". So I simply stitched it the regular way, then added the topstitch. And from the outside, you can't even tell! Then it was time to attach the front and back together:

Notice that the back isn't as wide as the front....the front was the perfect measurement for my comforter (according to the website).

So I did the grown-up thing. And did this:

Then I took a break. Went shopping. And did what Tim Gunn taught me: made it work! I just went with the shorter one and prayed that my comforter would fit! Then it was zipper time!

Not too shabby for my first zipper installation! I added a little inspirational quote I've read a few places lately:

"Never settle for less than butterflies". I love it! And I apply to every area of life, not just romance (which is probably what most people think of with this quote). But life's too short to not enjoy every moment!

Anyway. Without further ado, I present to you my finished duvet cover!

And guess what? The comforter fit perfectly! However, with these photos it's become apparent that I need to now get new sheets. And pillowcases. And my bed frame needs to be painted. And my room needs to be cleaned. So stay tuned! I may have more projects coming soon ;)

Pinterest Projects!

Over the past few months I've been making things off Pinterest and decided to share with you! And if for some reason you don't know what Pinterest is, go check it out! I'll wait....or pin some things til you get back!

Okay, all caught up? Good. Let's see what I've been making!

First up is the Christmas presents I made. I found the template for these boxes on Pinterest, and they were SUPER easy to make!

I made little things to put inside, including these handwarmers! There are TONS of different tutorials for these, so I kinda just made it up.

This next one came from my head, not Pinterest. I made these for the Sunday School teachers at church. So simple and cute! I bought candles at the Dollar Tree, and a packet of blank address labels. Peeled off the candle labels, printed/stamped some labels, and put them on. Added a little ribbon for flair. Gotta have flair!

Next Up: Vacation Piggy Banks made from Shadow Boxes! I love these. Just need to find a saw to make the holes in the top. My cousin and I made these to save for a cruise, hence the nautical themes.

I've also found some fabulous organizing tips on Pinterest, like the Life Binder I shared a while back. This one is amazingly simple: T-shirt filing. Fold the t-shirts, and stack them in vertically. You can fit more in the drawer, and they're easier to find!

Finally, some movie day treats! I had a girls movie day at my house for some of my teen girls and wanted to make it special. So I designed these popcorn bags, loosely based on various candy bags I saw on Pinterest. They're stitched together, which might make me crazy, but they were soooo cute! And the girls loved them! I did learn, however, that you should sew in some wax or parchment paper to prevent the oil stains.

And what good is a movie party without fun cookies?! The Pinterest ones were brownies, and since I don't do chocolate, I made these! Way cuter, in my opinion. And soo yummy!

Well, that's it for now! My fabric should be done drying so I can get started on my next project: A duvet cover! Happy Pinning :)

Royal Purple Monday!

Color Week is here!! Hooray! Today, I barely left the house. Seriously. I called out of work, and only left to get lunch from Wendy's. So the closest thing to royal purple I saw all day was my glue dot runner:

I used it to make this super cute box:

Now, this is super cute on it's own, but it holds a secret....

There's four boxes inside! How awesome is that?? I found this on Pinterest. You can find the directions here. I'm planning to make more of these for Christmas presents for my friends. I'll fill each box with cute little homemade gifts. How cute is this gonna be?!