Another Felt Monogram Pillow

When my twin sister saw my felt monogram pillow she decided that she needed one for her home too.  So since I am such a nice sister I decided to make her one after some consultation on fabric choice.  I picked a warmer neutral linen fabric to go with her home.  Isn't it pretty?  I used the same process as I did to make my very first felt monogram pillow.

In the old school days we would have had the same monogram initial but now that we are married we have different monograms.  I think we both upgraded on monogram letters though.  We used to be O which is not nearly as fun as a monogram (Sorry Jessi!). That is to my little sister who also is married but is still an O :)

Look at those good looking monograms! Do you love or hate yours?

I am linking to

House of Hepworths - Hookin Up with HOH

Whipper Berry - Friday Flair

Guest Posting on Blue Cricket Design

Today I am guest posting on Becca's blog - Blue Cricket Design!

Becca was so gracious to have me guest post my DIY Mini Bookshelves for Sawyer's room.  I absolutely love her blog it is just filled to the brim with cute and craftiness.  Please stop by and spread some love. 

Mini Bookshelves for Sawyer's Room

Sawyer loves books right now.  I asked my dear hubby to help me build some simple mini bookshelves to store some books in Sawyer's room.  After some consultation with hubby we designed some easy shelves for his room.  He has been working on them for a few weekends when he had the time and I finished painting them last weekend.

I wanted to stack two right below the wall in his entry at his height.  We designed the shelves with three piece of wood.  We got all of the wood from Home Depot.  The back piece is 1/2" by 8", the bottom piece is 1/2" by 6", and the front piece is 1/2" by 4.5". The shelf is 22" long.

Hubby mitered the connecting pieces to add some strength.  The pieces are glued and nailed together in an L shape.  Hubby added 1" by 1" square side pieces to add additional strength.

I picked out a coordinating orange paint.  Behr Pumpkin Patch and sanded and painted the shelves.  I love the fun color.  I cut out the numbers from vinyl on my Silhouette and added them to the front of each shelf.  We nailed them to studs in the wall.  Aren't they fun?  Sawyer enjoys them already. He loves to take each book out and then put them all back.

I love comments!  Feel free to leave one.  I hope everyone enjoys their weekends!

Linking To

Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

Fingerprints on the Fridge - Favorite Things Friday
Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up
Be Different Act Normal - Show and Tell Saturday
DIY Showoff - Project Parade
Dittle Dattle - Amaze Me Monday
C.R.A.F.T. - Making Monday Marvelous
Craft-O-Maniac - Craft-O-Maniac Monday
Centsational Girl - Fair Weather Forum
Hope Studios - Tutorial Tuesday
Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On
The Lettered Cottage - How To's Day
Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love Wednesday
Beyond the Picket Fence - Under $100 Linky Party
The Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Beneath My Heart - Best DIY Projects of April

Easter Egg Hunt

Sawyer got to attend his very first Easter egg hunt at our neighborhood park last weekend.  He did pretty good considering it was nap time.  It was a gorgeous day.  Yes we are in CO and still don't have green grass. 



Look at all those eggs





Dad when can I get the eggs?

Sawyer managed to pick up 4 eggs before the older kids had cleaned the park of all of those eggs.  He didn't care though.  He had a good time and it was fun to see all the other neighborhood kids out.  

Happy Easter to all of my lovely readers! 

Easter Table-Scape

Is everyone ready for Easter next weekend?  We are going to dye eggs and Sawyer is going to our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.  It should be fun and hopefully we will get some good pictures.  We have some plastic eggs at home that he likes to put in a big bowl so he had been practicing and he also likes to say 'egg' so we should be good to go :)

Here is my quick and easy Easter-scape on my entryway console table.  Everyone recognizes my hydrangea covered Easter eggs and my first silhouette project - the stenciled trinket box.

On the other side is my vase from Home Good filled with green branches.  I also found that cool wire bunny at Joann's for super cheap now that all of the Easter stuff is on sale.  He sits on an old vintage book that I picked up at a local antique store.

Doesn't the table look kind of vintage springy?  I love how it turned out for the minimal time I spent putting it together.

Is everyone else ready for Easter?  What do you have left to do?  I love to hear your comments so feel free to add one!

Have a great weekend!

I am linking to

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up
Be Different Act Normal - Show and Tell Saturday
Sisters of the Wild West - Sister Sunday
Craft-O-Maniac - Craft-O-Maniac Monday
C.R.A.F.T. - Making Monday Marvelous
Dittle Dattle - Amaze Me Monday
Skip to My Lou - Made By You Monday
Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Graft On
Sugar Bee Crafts - Take A Look Tuesday
Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love Wednesday
All Things Heart and Home - All Things Inspired
Blue Cricket Designs - Show and Tell Wednesday

Run Series II - Running Clothing

I am still working on the post about your training schedule but I had finished this post on running attire so I thought I would post it.  Who doesn't LOVE talking about clothing?  Running attire is very personal - what some people love some hate.  But I thought I would share with everyone what my favorites are in case anyone is on the hunt. 


Top - Sports Bra
Very important - the basics.  My running staple is the C9 Champion sports bra.  You can get them at Target. I love them because the come in so many fun colors and are cheap!  They are comfortable and don't loose their elasticity over time after many washings.  They are a great buy at under $20. 

Bottom - Running Skirt
For training I love these running skirts from runningskirts.com.  Runningskirts.com is a company founded by two twin sisters who were determined to design fashionable and flattering in additional to functional high performance running wear.  They are comfortable to run in.  You can buy them with brief or compression short bottoms underneath.  They also come in a million colors.   They have two side and 1 rear pockets. There are many other companies that manufacture running skirts. 

Bottom - Race Ready Shorts
For racing I prefer to wear race ready shorts.  Especially for longer distances like marathons.  These shorts are super lightweight and have a million pockets (7 to be exact).  They have places for everything you will need to bring on your race.  You will be able to fit all of the Gu or other energy gels for the entire race in the short pockets.

Socks

My absolute favorite socks are the Hera low cut socks from Asics.  These are the absolute best in my opinion of keep the feet cool and also preventing blisters from forming.  Good socks are very important when you are running lots of miles and sometimes are overlooked.  I think they second to footwear in order of importance.  Training can be painful if you don't have appropriate socks and blisters form. 

Running Shoes

I am not recommending any particular shoe.  What is most important with purchasing running shoes is to go to a reputable athletic shoe store and have them watch you walk and run to determine your pronation.  Once your pronation is determined they can suggest shoes based on the support you need.  Yes gone are the days where you pick your running shoe out because it was the cutest.  I have gone through so many brands Asics, Saucony, Mizuno, New Balance since I started training.  That is another important tidbit - make sure you a replacing your shoes frequently enough.  Running shoes last between 300 and 600 miles depending on what surface you are training on.  Shoes will last will last longer on treadmills and shorter on dirt trails. 

What do you prefer to train in? Are any of these your favs to? 

I am working on a post finally for my entry way Easter-scape and the hubby and I bought some wood at home Depot last week for a fun project for Sawyer's room.  I can't wait to share. 

500 Followers and Blog Spotlights

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I am recovering from a very emotional one.  All I can say right now is I just want everyone to hold on extra tight to their loved ones today.  You never know when God will change your course. 

Thank You
I wanted to take a minute to thank all of my followers!  Thank you so much for supporting this little blog that has grown to 500 followers over the last 6 months.  I appreciate each and everyone of you!  It means so much to me and I love reading every single one of your comments. 

Blog Spotlight
I wanted to share the love and spotlight a few of the DIY home projects out there.

Painted stairways from my buddy Jamie @ That's my Letter

 

And this sunny version from Anna @ Take the Side Street

This stunningly restored french blue buffet from The Upcycle Furniture Company

Here is Shabby French Cottage's kitchen reno on a budget - $1,200.00.  Isn't it gorgeous?

And this amazing dressing room straight out of a magazine from Domestic Jenny

Sew a Pillow with Piping Tutorial

I know I have sewed a million pillows and never added piping.  I was afraid!  Not anymore.  I am pleased to say I completed my first pillow.  I thought I would do a complete tutorial for all the other DIYers afraid of attempting pillow piping.

You are going to need for a 20" pillow
20" pillow insert
1 yard of fabric
84" of welting
Matching thread
Sewing machine

First select your fabric.  I found this geometric trellis fabric at a local fabric store.  It is a heavy weight fabric and probably not something I suggest for your first time.  With all of the layers it was tough to sew the last piece on straight.  I wanted to make a set of two - 20" pillows for our sofa in the family room.  As I said in my previous pillow tutorial - I always make the pillow cover smaller than the insert so the pillow looks full.  I subtract and inch on each side to do this.  But then you need to allow for a half inch seam on each size so the fabric ends up being the same size as the insert - 20" by 20".  I also cut at the same time an 82" long by 1.5" fabric to cover the welting.  If you don't have enough length you will need to sew two or more pieces together.

The first step is to sew the fabric around the welting.  I decided to have the piping on my pillow match the pillow fabric but it would also be cute to have a coordinating but different fabric for the piping too.  Pin the fabric around the welting with the right side out. 

Then sew as close to the welt as possible with a zipper foot on the sewing machine all the way down the length of the fabric and welting. 

Then with one of the pieces of pillow fabric right side up you are going to pin the welting around the pillow with the welting on the inside.  Start at the middle of the bottom and work your way around the edge keeping your welting fabric edge and the pillow fabric edge even. 

At the corners you will need to cut a few snips out of the welting fabric to turn the corner smooth.  Then sew on the welting with the same zipper foot staying on the same stitching as before.  Start at the bottom and work your way around.  When you get to the bottom you will need to cross the ends over each other and sew to keep them from fraying. 

When you get done it should look like this.  Last step is to sew on the back.  Place the last piece of fabric wrong side up and pin it all the way around.  Sew the top piece on as close to the edge of the welting as possible.  Leave about 10" open at the bottom to stuff the pillow.  Insert the pillow and then hand stitch the bottom closed. 

The end result!  Isn't it pretty? It's not perfect but not too bad for the first try.  Now you can make professional and expensive looking pillows for a lot less.  It took me a few hours to do my first one.  But now that I know the process it will go much quicker the next time.

I am linking to

The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

Fingerprints on the Fridge - Feature Yourself Friday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up

Sisters of the Wild West - Sister Sunday Link Party

C.R.A.F.T. - Making Monday Marvelous

DIY Showoff - DIY Project Parade

Craft-O-Maniac - Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Dittle Dattle - Amaze Me Monday

Sew Can Do - Craftastic Monday

Skip to My Lou - Made for You Monday

Between Naps on the Front Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

Hope Studios - Tutorial Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On

Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love

Blue Cricket Design - Show and Tell Wednesday

Run Series I - Race Training Essentials

Since I had some comments and emails regarding running I decided I would do a running series with a few posts while I am training for my race.  I thought my first post would be about race training essentials.  If you are thinking about running a 10K or half marathon/marathon  for the first time or would like to improve your times this is a good post to read. 

Line of port-a-pottys at a half we raced

There are four race training workout essentials:

Long Run - The most notorious workout for running long races.  Generally the long run increases each week up to and sometimes over the length of race distance.  These are run at a steady pace, you don't want to push yourself and not be able to complete the distance.  Long runs increase endurance and also build confidence in your ability to race the race distance. 

Speed Work - These are bursts of running shorter than race distance. These can vary and sometimes be at your goal pace and sometimes faster.  Speed work builds cardiac strength and teaches your body to run more efficiently.  If you are a beginner it is best to limit the amount of speed work in workouts and focus on adding mileage and building endurance.  Increasing mileage and adding speed work can lead to injury.  There are two types of speed work generally used - tempo runs and intervals. 

• Tempo runs are runs at a comfortably hard pace starting at 3 miles at a time and increasing to 5 or 6 miles.  Tempo runs are important because they train your body to sustain speed over distance. 
• Intervals are smaller faster paced distances injected into your run.  Some training dictates it by time i.e. pick up the pace for one minute and then an easy jog and repeat.  If you have a track or run on a treadmill you can do distance intervals i.e. run 4 x 800 meter runs with recovery jogs in between.

If you are new to adding speedwork start out with one workout a week.  For longer distances like the half and full marathon tempo runs are more beneficial than intervals.  Here is a good link to check out to calculate the pace for your tempo and intervals (and also long and easy runs).  It is based off of a recent race time. 

Easy Run - These runs are ran at an easy comfortable pace.  Easy runs are essentially recovery in motion and are good breaks between speed work outs and long runs. 

Rest - Rest means not running.  It is very important to let your body rest and recuperate, especially after long runs and speed work.  Your body needs to be rested so you can perform each workout at your peak. 

Knowing the race training essentials the next step is to put together your race traning schedule.  There are a few popular running websites that offer pre-made training schedules.  A few good places to research when you are trying to put together your race training schedule are:

• Hal Higson - Has both half marathon and marathon training scheduleds
• Runner's World - Smart Coach
• Jeff Galloway - Has both half marathon and marathon traning schedules

This is probably the most important but most boring post I will do on running. I will have a few more, one on favorite running attire and one on favorite training gear. The next post will have important tips for your training schedule and incorporating the above race training essentials.  I hope I haven't put everyone to sleep. 

My First Silhouette Project - Stenciled Trinket Box

I am still working on the living room.  I wanted to make a little something to tie in the color of my DIY moss balls.  Michael's has a great selection of storage boxes right now.  I found a cute square box.  Okay so the outside design is not so cute.  No problem we can fix that. 

I searched online for a geometric file from the Silhouette online store.  I found a great one that was identical to the yummy Waverley Lattice fabric.

I measured the box and changed the dimensions on the Silhouette image to match the length of the box.  I cut out the pattern from card stock.  I was able to fit two sides of the pattern on one cut out so I only needed to make two cuts on the machine.  Here is the stencil, isn't it gorg?  I can't believe a machine can cut that intricate of a pattern.

I painted the top of the box with a moss green color and spray painted the bottom with Heirloom white spray paint.

After painting the box I cut the stencil in half and two make stencils for two sides.  Then I sponge painted each stencil with coordinating green paint.

After they dried I glued them on each side using spray adhesive.

I borrowed it for my Spring/Easter entryway console-scape.  Doesn't it look pretty with my hydrangea eggs?

I am linking to

Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

Fingerprints on the Fridge - Feature Yourself Friday

Inspiring Creations - Friday Favorites

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up

Be Different Act Normal - Show and Tell Saturday

Sisters of the WIld West - Sister Sunday

DIY Showoff - Project Parade

Craft-O-Maniac - Craft-O-Maniac Monday

C.R.A.F.T. - Making Monday Marvelous

Dittle Dattle - Amaze Me Monday

Skip to My Lou - Made for You Monday

The DIY HSHP - More the Merrier

Sew Can Do - Craftastic Monday

Hope Studios - Tutorial Tuesday

Tip Junkie - Tip Me Tuesday

Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love

All Things Heart and Home - All Things Inspired