Happy Halloween!

I know this post is a little late and probably won't be read until after Halloween is over...please forgive me for my tardiness!  :)

Happy Halloween ya'll!  Halloween is probably my favorite holiday of the year.  It's just so whimsical and fun, and it marks the start of fall and the holiday season, which, in itself, is reason enough.  I feel like Halloween is one of those holidays where you are given creative license to be as tacky as you want, and I definitely like taking advantage of that.  This year I wanted to spend as little money as possible decking my Halloween halls, so here's what I came up with:

The only items I purchased this year for Halloween decor are these ridiculously cute owl salt and pepper shakers, and the gingham fabric for the table runner.  Table linens add so much to the room, but I didn't want something Halloween specific.  You can get so much more usage out of a simple pattern with simple color palette than you can with something that is holiday specific, and it generally turns out just as cute!  I was able to use this gingham (from Hobby Lobby) on the appliqued onesies as well, and I'll most definitely be able to use it again for something else down the line.  To create the runner I just cut the fabric the width that I wanted, and then frayed the ends to give it a worn look.  Nothing about Halloween decorating should be too perfect.  Or difficult.  :)

I had this skull leftover from the Target $1 section last year.  I just plopped him on the pedestal and spread a bunch of black bat necklaces around to act as a filler.  These are in our Halloween goodie bags, and I had a bunch of extras to give to the kids at work.

I found a printable for these bat cutouts from M.Stew, so I spread them out on the table runner to fill things in a little bit.

I really enjoy having a table made up for the holidays.  My crafts and "projects" have a habit of exploding throughout the house, and if there's something pretty on the table, it manages to stay clean longer.  Funny how that works.  :)

This next project should literally be called the easiest project ever.  It took me all of about 3 minutes to complete, and that's only because I was sock-sliding through the house to Taylor Swift half of the time.

I cut a piece of green dotted fabric (purchased from Hobby Lobby) to fit my shadow box frame, and taped it to the back of the mat.  Then I took these mustache stickers from Target and laid them on my paper.  A little double-sided tape and, ta da!  Super easy Halloween display.

Last up on the Halloween decor is this ribbon wreath, originally found on Pinterest, though I didn't pin it so I can't link up to the original blog.  doh!

I just bought a 10" foam wreath form from Hobby Lobby along with a BUNCH of black gross-grain ribbon.  I added a glitter ribbon in ever 4 ties or so just to add a little bit of bling.  Everything is better with glitter, right?  Just cut your ribbons at an angle about 13-14" long and tie around the wreath form.  Make sure you always tie in the same direction, and squish your ribbons together as you go so you get a nice, tight coverage.  I made this wreath last year but I still think it's just the cutest thing!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!  I'm getting a little concerned that we might not have many trick or treaters...it's 7:30 and we've only had 2 knocks!

xoxo- L.o.L.  :)

Pinterest Challenge: Fall Edition

We're back!  And with a Fall Pinterest Challenge project to share!  Before we get into the good stuff, though, let me take a minute to explain the blog/life/over-share in general.  I love writing, I love blogging, and I love crafting.  This blog is a way for me to express myself, share what's going on in our lives, and give me an outlet for my creative side.  It's fun to craft and make pretty things, but it's even more fun to brag share about my adventures in the DIY world.  With that being said, I initially started this blog with high hopes of turning our run-ragged house into a Pin-worthy oasis in a few short months (HA!).  And then life happened.  And on top of that, I began reading some of the other amazing DIY blogs in the blogosphere (yeah, I just used the word "blogosphere"), and I began to get discouraged.  While I was reading about BowerPower's amazing kitchen renovation, I began to doubt my own abilities.  Most of what we'll do at our house won't even compare with some of these other DIY blogs.  In short, I was intimidated.  Who would want to read about my measly little bookshelves when the Petersiks just single-handedly reno-ed their entire kitchen?

And then I began to miss blogging.  I would still craft and work on the house, but something was missing.  I realized that I needed to let go of my own insecurities, and just do what makes me happy.  So I've decided that I'm still going to blog, even if my mom is the only one that reads, and even if none of my projects come close to being as amazing as any of the other ladies involved in the Pinterest Challenge.  I love doing this, and I would LOVE it if you would come along for the adventure.

But enough with the sharing, let's get down to the Pinterest Challenge: Fall Edition shall we?  I've only blogged about one other Pinterest Challenge, which you can read about here, but it was so much fun that I couldn't wait to start my fall project.  Our neighbors across the street are just a little bit older than us, and in a very similar situation regarding their house.  They bought their house a few years ago and have been slowly working on renovating the entire thing.  They are much farther along in the fix-er-up process (Amanda's dad is a contractor...JEALOUS!), and they just welcomed their first child last week!  I am self-admitedly a little baby-crazy, so I immediately jumped on the Pinterest baby-train er...board, and started pinning like crazy.  Here's my sneak-peak Instagram picture that I posted last week:

P.S.-You should follow me on Instagram @ KindieT and on Twitter @KindraTaylor.  Creative, I know.

When I first began searching Pinterest, I didn't realize how girly baby-stuff is!  The little boys of the world are really missing out, because the girls get all the cute stuff!  I was determined to change that for baby Noah, and I wanted to make his gift a little personalized as well.  I found this project on Pinterest and immediately knew what I was going to do.  Do you ever have those moments when you immediately see a project start to finish in your mind?  And then it turns out just as perfect as you imagined it?  That was this project.

See Kate Sew has all kinds of cute tutorials, and she warns in the directions that this might be addicting, and it is!  I want to applique everything now!

For this project you will need:

• Permanent Heat n' Bond (dark purple)
• Onesies (or t-shirt or whatever else you'd like to applique)
• Small scraps of fabric

We didn't know Noah's name at the time, so I decided to choose other things that were personalized for him.  The onesies came in a pack of 3, so I just decided to do a mustache for the third one, which may not be personalized but is pretty darn cute.

I already had the gingham fabric from my Halloween decorations (which I'll share later in the week), so I just needed to buy the onesies and the other 2 fabrics, which set me back a total of $13 for everything.  And I have enough fabric and Heat n' Bond left to make 50 more onesies.

First, find your pictures that you want to trace.  I just googled "florida," "pug silhouette", and "mustache."  Pretty clever, hunh?

Make sure your pictures are a good size for your project, and print them out.

Once they are printed, cut them out so that you can trace onto your Heat n' Bond.  With the state of Florida, I just cut around the most obvious landline.  Remember that you're going to be cutting this out of fabric, and if it's too small it will most likely be unnoticeable once appliqued.

Cut a piece of Heat n' Bond large enough to trace your shape onto.  If you follow the directions on the Heat n' Bond, it tells you to press a warm iron onto the Heat n' Bond and fabric for 2 seconds.  Once the Heat n' Bond is bound to your fabric, trace and cut your shape.  Remember that you are tracing on the back of your shape, so it is going to be a mirror image when you iron it on.

The Heat n' Bond directions say to press the applique object to the fabric with a warm iron for 6 seconds.  You really can't mess this up.  Just as long as it sticks and the edges don't come up, you're good.  

Once your objects are adhered to your onesie, use the sewing machine to outline the object for extra stability.  I used contrasting threads because I wanted to make sure they were "boy" enough, but it's really up to you.  A few things I learned through trial and error:

• A sewing machine is really better than needle and thread for this, because you want to make sure your stitch is even all the way around.
• Go very very slow.  Most parts of the state of Florida and the pug I just hand cranked so I had more control.
• Leave your needle in the thread to turn the fabric
• Make sure you only sew through the first layer of the onesie. (I'm sure you could figure that out, but just a reminder!)

Once I finished, I cut a little felt star and hand stitched it on to Orlando, just for a little bit more personalization.  They turned out SO cute and it was such an easy project!  Instead of wrapping in regular wrapping paper (and mainly because I don't have any boy-ish wrapping paper), I tried the Furoshiki wrapping with a scrap of fabric I had leftover from the project.  

Isn't that the easiest and cutest project you've ever seen?!  And now I have gift ideas for everyone who may have a baby anytime in the future.

:) L.o.L.