sincerely yours, dena

I got my Easter Basket in the mail today from my parents. I always look forward to the homemade card and the special something my mommie always makes for me. This year she quilted me a table cloth. Thanks Mommie!

Our new bedroom was so boring and blah. It’s the room in our house where we spend the most time in, it deserves to be beautiful. I’ve always read in magazines how you are suppose to change your linens to match the season. Well, we’ve had the same khaki/blue color scheme for several years now. While my husband was away on a boys weekend trip, I went on a mini holiday of my own at Target and Lowe’s. I found this king size comforter on the sale rack for $34. Stores like Target have matching coordinates thru out the store. That’s where I picked up the matching bowl (on the side table) and dinner plate (displayed behind the bed). I am proud to say the miter saw is my new bff.

Before	After

I got the idea of putting a 2 inch shelf on top of the molding in Country Living and I’m so glad I spent the extra $10 and 30 mins cause it’s perfect for rotating pictures without putting holes in your walls.

To dress up the bedside lamp (which is older than the comforter) I glued a strip of fabric ribbon around the brim for an extra punch of “Oh Yeah!” Notice the bedside table, that was found on the side of a Boston city street. It’s one of my favorite finds.

The common complaint around my house is cold feet. It totally being valid considering we keep the house at a cool crisp 66 degrees. I looked into buying slippers for our guests but it’s just too costly. In Sew Pretty Homestyle I found this pattern that I thought I would give a whirl. Note: these slippers only fit little people, not folks with gigator feet like me.

If I buy a gift off a registry, I have to do something to it to make it original. So….. if you buy a pillow, make a pillowcase! The bride will never forget what her husband looks like. I should have wrote on it, “If lost, pls return me to my wife”

I just have too much fun with iron on transfers.

Last minute prep for turkey day massacre includes folding the napkins. Bright Settings has online video which is like personal instruction on how to fold these crazy guys. They have 12 different options to choose from:

I’ve found a new home in cyberspace where the neighbors are super friendly and creatifiic! Country Living Magazine’s website allows you to register within their forums, ask questions and get inspired. Need convincing… just check out Little Girls’ D-Ring Ribbon Belt Apron by Sommer Designs

Current forums include:

• Antiques & Collectibles
• Decorating
• Home Improvements
• Women Entrepreneurs
• Crafts & Simple Projects
• Gardening
• Outdoor Living
• Recipes & Entertaining

We finally get to see the benefits of one of the baby shower games. Eric “wearing” a onezie with a picture of his big sister on it. He’s still got a few lbs to put on before he can roll with it but you get the point. The back of the onezie says “Got Treats?”

Such a simple idea that takes no time to execute but is perfect for my nephew who is such a “little man.” I have extra bibs laying around because… i have no excuse, i like to have extra gift items just around in case of a crafting emergency.

Just to be clear, I stole this idea from Uncommon Goods (picture below) but why pay $20 plus shipping and handling if you can do it for $1.50 and in 20 mins?

Here’s how:
1.) Cut a tie shape out of cardboard making sure it fits the bib you plan to use.
2.) Trace the tie shape on a piece of fabric using a washable fabric marker
3.) Pin the fabric cutout to the bib and sew using a wide close together stitch.

Vintage print baby necktie bibs from Uncommon Goods

Every year when I make the Jimmy Buffet T-Shirts the girls always look frumpie in normal unfitted Ts. This year I found this book: Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt and got inspired.

Making the shirts was so easy and they turned out wicked cute! Each shirt fit each girls style and shape.

Every year my parrothead in-laws throw a huge rage in honor of Jimmy Buffet and every year I make a T-shirt for our caravan of friends who join us. The annual Maine get together had a theme this year “License To Chill.” I copied the Maine drivers license from the google images and modified them using Adobe Photoshop. I started by enlarging the license so it would fit nicely on a T-shirt. Then I changed the information on the licenses to be party appropriate. I made everyone 21 for the day! I then printed them out on T-shirt printer paper and transferred the design with a hot iron.

We looked pretty cool and my husband even got stopped at the gas station and was asked where she could get one.