Jubilee of Trees

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

When we moved to St. George I had the feeling I would get roped into helping with the Jubilee of Trees. You see, my mother-in-law, Rosalie Scholes, is the Director of Facility Decor. Which means, she is in charge of.....
.... all decorations and set up for the Jubilee.... from Banners.....
... to presents in the foyer....
.... to a giant castle that greets you as you walk in...
....to walls that separate all of the booths...
.... and the details....


... there are a lot of details... I was feeling kind of guilty that we hadn't helped much. So, the last week before I asked, "what can we do to help." She said, "well, I'm having someone paint these banners and I just need some help outlining them in black marker." So, I headed off to a cold, empty warehouse (the staging area) to help. Little did I know.... I made the mistake of saying, "I can do that." So, I helped with the banners. I actually painted some of the banners. They hang from the ceiling to tell you know where each booth is. It was actually kind of fun and fun to walk through the Jubilee and see that I had done something to help.

And last, but not least is my mother-in-law's tree. She has decorated a tree for 23 years. She has won people's choice many times. She is awesome at what she does! This picture doesn't do it justice!
The Jubilee ends tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 22nd.) So, if you live in St. George and have the time... stop by and see for yourself.

-Anisa

Easiest Valance Ever!

Last night I whipped up a set of valances for our living room windows! They are sooo fast and easy that I thought I'd do a quick tutorial....

1. Measure your window width. Mine was 63"

2. Cut your fabric 2" wider to account for a 1" seam allowance on each side. I typically like my valance to drop 18". You will need to double the amount of fabric for the drop. So, basically I cut my fabric 65" wide x 36" tall.

So, here is my fabric all cut. I drew a little diagram on the picture. Basically, you will hem the sides first, then put the fabric right sides together and sew it into a tube. Turn it right side out and iron it. You will loop the tube over your rod. Then take two pieces of ribbon. I like mine to be 15" long. So, I cut them 30" and sewed the ends together. then slip them over the rod and slide them into place. It's as simple as that!

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'd love to answer any questions for you.

-Anisa

(P.S. Sydney... we need to make some for your new house now!)

Tip Top Cake Shoppe

One of the hardest things for me about moving to St. George is not having my friend Jacinda from Tip Top Cake Shoppe to make my kids birthday cakes for me. I took classes from her so I have learned how to decorate cakes, but I'm just not that good at it... and it's not my favorite craft! Here is the craft that I made for my 2 year old.....

It's nothing compared to this cake Jacinda made for my niece....
Or this one she made for my other son....
I have seen other people decorate cakes and they just aren't as creative as Jacinda.... I'm telling you!!!

so, if you live in the Salt Lake Valley, you can have Jacinda make an awesome creation for you. Right now she has a CONTEST going on where she will make 24 cupcakes for you... super yummy and you'd have Thanksgiving dessert taken care of! Check out the details on her blog.

-Anisa

My first try at Glazing

I love to paint furniture... and I have quite often. I usually spray paint and then sand and distress the furniture.

However, my latest project was a little different. I bought this hutch at a garage sale. I wanted to paint it red and I knew that if I distressed it, the green would show through. So, I came across this tutorial on glazing on All Things Thrifty. I painted with a brush this time because I didn't want the dusty mess of spray paint.

So this green ( I really didn't like the color... it was a little outdated) hutch transformed into this red hutch!
I love the red....
Here are some close-ups of the glazing. I did a dark brown instead of black.... I was a little nervous my first time around. But I still love the way it looks!
-Anisa

My first craft in the new house

So, many of you know that I moved... that's why I have been posting or crafting for awhile... too busy packing and unpacking. But sometimes crafting becomes a necessity.

So, here is our computer desk that is built into our kitchen... love having the computer in the kitchen. And you'll notice the nice stack of papers on the desk. I have no where to put my kids homework, calendars, etc. I forgot to send something to preschool with my son because the calendar was buried in the bottom of the stack of papers. Stainless steel fridges are not so good for magnets. And our fridge in encased by wood so I can't even hang stuff on the side.

So in the space below the window, I made a board to hang calendars and homework and reminders on. I simply took a piece of wood (mine was an old piece I had lying around). And I glued clothes pins to the wood. Then I mod podged a piece of scrapbook paper on the front of the clothes pins to decorate them up a little.
So now I have a place to hang my calendars and hopefully I won't forget to send anything to preschool again.
(Now what can I do to keep from forgetting to pick him up from preschool?)

-Anisa

I guess I've always been crafty

My mom has these cute little counted cross-stitch thingys hanging on a bulletin board in her guest room...

I made them for her when I was young.... I'm guessing in my Tween years. I guess I've always liked to do crafts stuff. (funny thing is... I don't think I've ever done any counted cross-stitching since).

-Anisa

Vinyl Chandelier

I purchased a rather large square frame at my local thrift store awhile back. It's about 18"x18". I bought it when I was obsessed with putting vinyl on frames.... but never got around to finishing it. I even bought the Home Decor Solutions Cricut cartridge just so I could make this frame.... anyway, I am moving so I thought it would be a good opportunity to finish up a couple of projects before I move. I just put the vinyl directly on the glass and I love it that way... but it would be really cute with a fun piece of fabric mounted behind it as well!!!

I think I saw this idea on someone else's blog, so if it was yours... please feel free to leave a comment so people know where the original idea came from!!!