Sunday Sweets: Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad in the whole wide world! <3 p="">

A Matching Serger Cover to Complete the Set

It took a while to get to (seems like I always have repairs or other projects that need me before I can get to the fun stuff!), I have finally completed my Serger Cover to match my original Sewing Machine Cover! Again, I didn't really have a pattern (although, in retrospect I believe I shall make one, as a serger is most definitely shaped quite differently from a sewing machine!), so I just went with the shape of my serger as best I could, and and voila! The finished product:

Complete with side pocket for scissors, tweezers, and accessories:

Once again I used a paper piecing pattern from sewhooked.com--I love the paper piecing, because I can utilize all those little scraps that I don't have much use for. I'm the sentimental type, so of course I still had a few scraps leftover from my sewing machine cover, and couldn't wait to use them to create a matching set! :)

Pretty Pillows

Over the past several months we have been slowly collecting things for our new little apartment to make it feel more like "Home Sweet Home." Since we are of course your typical newly-wed-struggling-college-students, many of our additions come courtesy of DI and/or homemade. After we found our lovely little couch at DI, my younger brother decided it needed some pillows and was kind enough to purchase some for me (also from DI, we're big fans if you couldn't tell). I dug through my fabric bins to find some home decor fabric and I got right to work on recovering my new pillows!

The first pillow was tricky, as I attempted to recreate "The Easiest Pillow Cover Ever" that I have seen floating around Pinterest, but sadly for me it wasn't so easy... Here's what it's supposed to look like:

However, in retrospect, I think my decorator fabric was much to thick for this particular design, no matter how hard I tried to tie that blasted knot. I gave up and just bunched the fabric together in an effort to strangle the pillow, and one of those miraculous "happy accidents" of creating happened--it actually looked really good like that! So I quickly grabbed a needle and thread and tacked the fabric all around to create a lovely little flower!

For the remaining two pillows I kept it simple, although I did end use extra fabric from the first pillow and made matching piping. The best part was that I made one of these pillows completely wrong-side out, but didn't notice until I was totally finished and admiring them on the couch! I was so bummed out, and probably would have just left it that way, but since it didn't match its twin I had to fix it (my perfectionist gene). In the end though, I am quite pleased with the result:

Home Sweet Home! :)

Oh, and of course I can't forget to mention, my brother actually got me FOUR pillows, but I just couldn't recover the last one--it is perfect just the way it is. ;)

Dabbles with Flowers

Back in high school I was the very proud president of our school FFA! (Future Farmers of America, in case you didn't know) Yes, I still have the jacket and everything--one of these days I will have to pull it out for Halloween of something. :) Anyway... what actually got me into the FFA was my wonderful Floral Design teacher, Charles Bigo--that was by far my favorite class! We made all sorts of arrangements for holidays, weddings, or just for fun. I did the flowers for my sisters' wedding a few years back, as well as the flowers for my own wedding--while I don't do flowers all that often these days, it's still one of my favorite things to do. Fortunately, I have had a younger brother or two in high school the past few years, so when Prom or Homecoming comes around, I get to reminisce and get back to work! :)

This year for Prom, my instructions for the floral wristlet were simply: "Her dress is sky blue with silver accents." Not many flower options to match that description, but I took the challenge and was quite pleased to find that the local flower shop had some absolutely STUNNING orchids, and having never worked with orchids I just had to give it a try.

My little brother, all grown up! :)

May the Fourth Be With You...

I was recently introduced to a wonderful new holiday by the Big Bang Theory--Star Wars Day!!

"It's not May the third...

And it's not May the fifth...

It's May the Fourth--May the Fourth Be With You." 

Totally made my day--how clever! So this past weekend we decided to celebrate this holiday by watching all six Star Wars movies.

That's 15+ hours, by the way, and man were my joints sore afterwards--but totally worth it! As suggested by one of my favorite blogs, The Dating Divas, My husband and I turned it into an extended date night, and it was so much fun! We even had Star Wars themed snacks of course--although, since it wasn't planned with a great deal of advance notice, I didn't quite go all out like Bernadette and Amy on the Big Bang Theory--sorry, no fondant Death Star this year.

However, we did enjoy a variety of intergalactic snacks:

My personal favorite was the Yoda Soda, complete with R2D2 cups I made the night before.

And of course, what would Star Wars Day be without some Princess Leia Buns?? ;)

As they say, May the force be with you! :)

Christmas catch-up--back online! :)

It's been such a LONG time! For the fourth time since we've been married (which has only been about a year and a half), we moved AGAIN! Haha, this time, however, we plan on staying for at least an entire year--for which I am EXTREMELY happy about. :) 

Anyway, because of our move and financial reasons, we have been without internet since October! I didn't think it would be such a big deal--I mean, I grew up without internet, I don't NEED it, right? However, turns out that these days internet is rather necessary in our lives, and at the very least, it is extremely helpful to have. We have been holding out for free internet from Google Fiber (we see the trucks around town all the time!), but they have yet to make an appearance at our apartment complex, so this past week we re-budgeted and made some changes, and now we're finally online! :)

Okay, so after that long explanation (and partial venting on my part, haha), time for a little look at Christmas this past year!

Having our very own apartment this year, you know I was SUPER excited to decorate! I mean, decorating is at least half the fun of Christmas, right?? ;)

Our lovely little sparkly tree:

The weekend before Christmas my husband got SUPER sick, which is very unusual for him, and had to stay in bed all day. I still had some ornaments to finish from a Relief Society crafting activity I had attended with my mother (and of course I didn't actually finish the projects during the activity--haha, I never do!), so I stayed with him and worked on my ornaments. If not for 12+ hours of nothing else to do, I'm not sure I couldn't have gotten them done--thank goodness for silver linings! ;) 

And, funny story, at the time I bought my Christmas tree several years ago, I also bought several things to put together a matching Christmas wreath. Sadly though, I never got around to making it, and had all but given up on the endeavor. This year, however, I decided it was time--I started working on it early in December, but admittedly didn't finish until just a few days before Christmas--but I did finish! (I'm like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, I can't NOT finish things, even if it takes me a few years :P)

Along with our tree and Christmas wreath, we continued our tradition (well, decided it would be our tradition now, haha) of getting a new nativity for our collection. Throughout the years I have collected a few nativities from around the world (we love exploring the different cultures). 

My mini-nativity from Mexico (this one fits in the palm of your hand!):

Olive wood from Israel:

Hand-painted from Mexico:

 Last year my husband and I were pursuing at Deseret Book and fell in love with this strange little Celtic Nativity, as well as an Eskimo Nativity; we couldn't afford to get both, so we drew straws and the Celtic won (remind you of FROZEN?):

But this year I finally got to go back and get the Eskimo one! (I have been waiting all year for this).

And now, last but not least, my FAVORITE Christmas decorations from this past year--stockings that my mother MADE for us! Aren't they so beautiful?? They even have our names embroidered on them--I have the best mom in the world! :)

On Christmas morning, Vera was the first to find her gifts under the Christmas tree--and didn't let them out of her sight the rest of the day!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Can you believe how quickly the cold is taking over?? I heard that it was even SNOWING in some places! Crazy... Fortunately, we have our beautiful headband ear warmers in shop just in time to warm up--check them out HERE! :)

Sage Green Rose:

Brown and Blue Floral Fantasies:

Black Beauty:

Beautiful Blue Bow: 

Fresh Fuchsia Pink Bow:

Sunshine Yellow Bow:

Fall is Here! :) Zyrtec Beauty Tips to Combat Allergy Face

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zyrtec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

"Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile." 

~William Cullen Bryant

 

Autumn is by far my favorite time of year! To me, it's even more beautiful than Spring; the colors, the crisp feel in the air, the warm festivities approaching, I just love it. This week I've noticed that we are finally moving into the Fall season, and I couldn't be more excited! There is only one flaw to this almost perfect time of year: the transition itself. When the season's change, they bring with them a brand new set of allergies to face--it's most obnoxious. That's usually how I can tell that Fall is coming--my eyes get dry, my nose and sinuses stuffy and runny, my throat turns into a toad each morning, and my face and skin break out in random patches of itchy redness. It's not even close to Christmas and I already look like Rudolph.

 

Thankfully, we live in an amazing technological era of the world where we are provided with tools to counteract these nasty allergies, one of which is a wonderful little antidote, ZYRTEC®. ZYRTEC® is the #1 allergist recommended brand among OTC oral antihistamines. It provides fast* allergy relief of your worst allergy symptoms of sneezing, runny nose, itchy watery eyes, and itchy nose and throat, caused by indoor and outdoor allergy triggers such as dust, mold and pet dander, tree pollen, weeds and grasses. Check out Zyrtec on Facebook for more!

 

 

 

When I was in London many moons ago, I encountered an entire country filled with new allergies that I was not prepared for, especially seen by the lovely red hives that would form from everything that I touched; fortunately, one of my peers was kind enough to share Zyrtec with me, and it was amazing! It really helped with my congestion and with my hives, and I could actually enjoy my time abroad rather than spend it in a sinus-induced fog, hiding my red itchy skin from photos. It was great. 

 

So, not only does ZYRTEC® help you FEEL better, but if you check out their website there are TONS of beauty tips for helping to combat Allergy Face  beauty challenges (remember how I told you about my Rudolph nose when allergies hit?) Check out this great video all about Allergy Face! 

 

 

I've always known that other women out there suffer from allergies, but it seems like I was the only one that LOOKED like I have allergies--turns out that is SO not true! Two-thirds of women feel ugly/unattractive because of of their allergy face. In fact, over 58% of women have been told that they look like they're "coming down" with something, simply because of Allergy Face--50% of women have actually MISSED going out because of this. My favorite, is that 53% of women wear "allergy disguises"--isn't that nuts? I know personally I've kept concealer in my jeans pocket, so that every time I blow my nose from my allergies, I could quickly cover my bright red Rudolph nose before anyone could ask me if I'd been crying, or if I'm sick! 

 

 

What are YOUR tips and trick for combating ALLERGY FACE™?

 

Sunday Secrets: The Journey

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Sunday Sweets: Time to Start

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