jara's wedding photos.

a couple weeks ago i posted about jara's wedding collection. it was so fun to create pieces for her bridesmaids, flower girl, and (of course) the bride herself! through the magic of facebook, i already have my hands on some beautiful photos from jara's wedding that i am excited to share.

jara wore her bridal piece so well! it looked so elegant with her veil and went perfectly with her gorgeous dress.

can you spot the treasures? (some girls wore them down low, so they're a bit hidden in the photos.)

i love this!

(and this.)

diva hair treasures models.

the boys' suits are so perfect with the girls' golden-tan shoes and hair accessories.

my beautiful, dear friend ashley nacke rocking her treasure like a champ. go check out her photography!

the adorable allie (another TU pal!) and the beautiful bride.

yesss.

it looks like everyone had a really great time at jara's wedding. i am so thrilled that she and her bridesmaids were happy with their pieces, and i love the way they looked on all the girls! i am looking forward to doing more wedding treasures, now that i am finishing up my third batch.

if you know anyone who might be interested in a hair treasures bridal party wedding collection, let me know. i welcome any and all requests!

some things that i like right now.

i'm about to go to bed, but i just wanted to share a few of my current favorite things:

i got bored last night and made this little guy.

 (vintage linen with a yarn-embroidered heart, filled in with hand-sewn buttons -- framed in a wooden treat from goodwill)

can't wait to hang him in my new abode!

also! i got some new nail polish today. i just started painting my nails (finger and toe!) last summer. how did i live 25 years without expressing my femininity through nail polish? beats me. but here's what i'm currently sporting:

the green doesn't have a name, so i will call it "green tic-tac." the toes are "purple passion." rarr. 

(i am aware that i have strange monkey toes. sorry about that. and if you click on this for a close-up, you will see how terrible i am at staying in the lines. yikes.)

and! last but not least, my VEGAS GOLD backpack from american apparel arrived today. it looks less like gold and more like tan canvas, which i am pleasantly pleased with. one of my new fabrics came today, too. three things in the mail were for me! (but one was my target credit card bill, so that was a bummer.)

(i'm mega superior gold.)

(and i am able to do as i'm told, babe.)

i have half-completed my week's mission already. hooray!

ok night night. there's a thunderstorm outside. 

brides and backpacks.

this is my mission for the week:

i am finished with all of piper's nine bridesmaids' and three flower girls' wedding treasures, and now i am getting ready to make hers! she has requested a piece to be modeled after this beautiful purple, black, and white one -- and i can't wait to get started. i have never done anything like it, so it will be a challenge, but i am excited for the end result!

(i'll post pictures of everything as soon as i am finished with the whole collection.)

on a side note, i ordered this backpack from american apparel:

the color is "vegas gold." it could either be a disaster or the best thing ever. all i know right now is that i've spent way too many hours shopping online for a backpack, and i'm just glad it's over. 

crystal's baby shower and handmade gifts.

last weekend i traveled to my southern home-away-from-home for a little nashville weekend visit. i lived in nashville, tennessee for three years, and during my time there i made a wonderful friend named crystal. 

crystal and i taught together at sycamore middle school, where she is the choir director / music teacher, and i was an english teacher. she is one of my closest friends, so you can imagine my excitement when i found out she was pregnant! 

she is due in just a couple weeks when she will welcome her adorable baby girl, lilly, into the family. i can say she is adorable already because of this crazy ultrasound photo: 

(it just never ceases to amaze me that it's possible to see such a clear picture of an unborn baby. i am borderline obsessed with pregnancy anyway, so this just put me over the edge!)

i visited with some friends in the city and then headed to crystal's baby shower on saturday. it was so fun to see her (and her big belly!) and spend some time talking with her about this new chapter in her life. lilly's nursery is adorable, and she really hit the jackpot at her shower. 

i made some burp rags for baby lilly. they were really easy and fun to make, and, according to my mom, burp rags get lost all the time at daycares / nurseries, so hopefully the L will help them to stay put! :

(Gerber cloth diapers with a different L pattern on each one)

(close up)

(even closer up)

(the whole shebang)

and, of course, i had to shower baby lilly with hair treasures! crystal has so many cute clothes for her already, so we are hoping she comes out with at least a little hair so she can wear her little hair accessories, too! either way, four of the five treasures i gave are headbands, so she'll be good to go! 

here is my favorite one. it just makes me think of crystal and her girly diva ways when i look at it! : 

i had a blast in nashville, especially at crystal's baby shower, and now i am just waiting for baby lilly to arrive and puke in the rags i made and become my newest baby treasures model! eee!

a few more pictures from the shower:

(crystal's first sight of lilly's baby treasures)

(i helped to assemble the stroller and a floor playpen thing. they don't call me "handy" bender for nothing. ps. no one calls me that.)

(crystal taking a look at lilly's designer burp rags)

babies. i love 'em.

fabrics (my weakness).

just bought these cute fabrics! i'm getting excited about decorating my new apartment. i'm planning to use these fabrics to cover canvases and make a little collage on my living room wall.

mustard yellow, trees, and birds. be still my beating heart:

(from fresh squeezed fabrics)

owlies! eee! :

(from mimis)

dandelions, of course:

(from coco bleu)

i'm still searching for the perfect curtain fabric for the living room and bedroom. i'm not sure of the window measurements, so i have to put that project off for a little bit. 

also, my bedroom has big white closet doors that i am planning to remove (just for the duration of my stay) and put up long drapes instead. i did the same thing in my college apartment and first nashville apartment, and i loved it! it really makes life easier. 

if you have any suggestions for online fabric stores or etsy shops, please let me know! 

jara's wedding collection.

hi, world! i have so many fun things to share -- recent projects, trips, and overall goodtimes. but for today, i want to post some pictures of a wedding collection that i created for jara.

my dear friend ashley nacke sent jara my way, and i was so excited about creating pieces for each of her six bridesmaids and flower girl, as well as a bridal piece for her! i had inspiration: the bridesmaids' shoes and jewelry, and the elegance of jara's dress. here's what i came up with:

the whole set:

three headbands and three clips for the bridesmaids. (i made the tiny flower girl clip later.)

 the largest of the twisty-style design, beaded with large pearls:

(each piece is slightly different in size, beading, and design.)

the largest of the flower-style design, beaded in a triangle design:

the bridesmaids' pieces are made from a textured vinyl-style fabric, similar to the texture of the shoes.

a smaller twisty-style headband, beaded with two large & two small pearls:

a mid-sized flower-style clip, beaded with small pearls in a pea-pod design:

(backed with felt and attached to a metal alligator clip)

the smallest of the twisty-style design, beaded with three small pearls:

(this one might be my favorite!)

the smallest of the flower-style design, beaded with a single small pearl:

(the flower girl's clip was the same style, just smaller.)

jara's bridal piece:

(an ivory satin rosette topped with an earring that jara provided)

a side view:

we had originally talked about attaching feathers to the rosette to make it a little more fabulous, but jara decided on this piece by itself. it definitely worked with the elegance of her dress!

jara just got married yesterday (congrats!), so i can't wait to see pictures. i'll post some as soon as i can. i have one more wedding collection to finish this summer, and i hope to do more in the future! if you know anyone who could use some wedding treasures, send them my way!

more side projects: handmade gifts.

it's a busy time of birthdays, weddings, graduations, and baby showers! i created some handmade goodies for a couple of recent events.

my friend tori just graduated from high school. she works with me at the coffee shop, and i just love her to death. as a graduation gift, i decided to give her a double-disc mix that i had promised her long ago. 

each cd is in a calico fabric pouch with sewn edges and a sewn-on track list, courtesy of my typewriter. the pouches have flaps that close to keep the cds safe and nestled in. i hope these songs bring her joy at indiana wesleyan next year!

on friday i traveled north to goshen, indiana (my birth place!) near my original hometown, nappanee. my oldest, dearest friend, heather had a really unique wedding that was completely free! it's such a cute story. i wanted to create part of brent and heather's wedding gift, so i decided on a handmade greeting card: 

(the Z is for zebell -- heather and brent's last name! the card is made from a paper bag, black & white cotton fabric and a lime green zig-zag stitch. i used my typewriter for the inside message and the "happy wedding" on the front.)

bffs since kindergarten. what a beautiful bride!

i have some more hair treasures wedding projects to work on this week, as well as some little goodies for a baby shower. busy, busy bee! handmade gifts are my favorite. give one to someone you love. ok? 

my most recent project: vintage flour / grain sack pillows.

i have mentioned my friend debbie here before. i worked with her at the coffee shop, and she is one of the sweetest, most genuine people i know. when she came to me with a project a while ago, i was more than happy to create something special for her!

debbie bought some vintage flour and grain sacks after seeing this pillow on the pink pig antiques blog:

she supplied me with three vintage sacks, pillow forms, and striped "ticking" fabric in blue and red. the rest was up to me! it took me a while to complete this project, but when i finally buckled down, this is what i came up with: 

here's a little bit of the journey from start to finish: 

i cut open the grain sack, ironed it, and cut it to fit the size of the front of the pillow.

for this pillow case, i trimmed it with red stripes and sewed the pieces to the front.

for this one, i mixed it up a little and used both red and blue stripes for the trim. i also added a small straight "ruffle" around the outside edge, made from excess pieces of the pillsbury grain sack.

and here are the finished products (click on any of the pictures to see a larger version!) :

red trim and a blue piping style edge:

(this pillow case has a red stripe back.) 

my favorite vintage sack! blue stripe trim and a 2" red stripe ruffle:

(this pillow case has a blue stripe back.)

the mix-and-match red & blue stripe trim with a straight "ruffle" made of the pillsbury vintage sack:

(this pillow case has a blue stripe back.)

three peas in a pod:

one more close-up:

all of these pillow cases have velcro closures on the back, so they are completely removable and washable. i like to keep things practical, so going with the removable cases seemed like the best option! 

these creations reminded me how much i love to sew. i spend a lot of time hand sewing, gluing, and designing, but i especially love to design and assemble using my sewing machine. i am looking forward to more projects like this in the future!