Flavor Me

Found this new site where I can put my whole online life in one place. I still need to figure out if I can get an etsy feed or not.

Photo and Card Holder

Had some wire laying around from who knows what project and came up with this little card/photo tree.

Eco-Friendly Cozy Dog Bed How-To

After we got our Christmas tree up and our home decorated for the holidays, our pup's bright orange and blue tie-dyed blanket seemed to clash with our red and green decor. I decided to make a pillow cover that was a little more in tune with a winter mood, and stuff it with our puppy's old blanket I was trying to hide. You can try the same thing for your home with items just laying around the house.

You will need:

an old blanket or two (try a thriftstore like Goodwill if you don't have one in your possession, or ask around)
scissors
tape measure
thread

needle or sewing machine
straight edge
padding (I used my dog's old fleece blanket that I was trying to disguise. You can use memory foam, a bag of fabric scraps, an old pillow or two, or anything else that is soft and cozy.)
Chalk or fabric marker

First I determine the dimensions of the final product. I decide on a 24" x 30" pillow/bed. I measure and chalke the outline of the top on my blanket.

If you are working with very specific diminsions, remember to add a seam allowance. In my case, I'm working with a more general size so it doesn't matter too much.


Next, I cut out the shape.


Now I have the top of my dog pillow. I could add the bottom pieces right now, but this is a homemade project - you've got to personalize it at least a little bit! I have another old blanket in a contrasting color that I use to cut out lettering for my dog's name. After the letters are cut out, I arrange them how I want them, being careful to leave a little room on the edges for the seam.
Before sewing the letters on, I pin them to make sure they're secure and stay where I want them.
I machine sew the letters on, but you can hand sew them as well.

For another embellishment, I cut out the pocket of an old flannel shirt and sew it into the corner. Now onto the bottom of the pillow. The bottom will consist of two overlapping panels, like a pillow sham. Each panel will be 24 inches wide and 18 inches long (half of the pillow length + 3 inches so the sides will overlap). I want to make the pillow a little thicker so I can fit an extra foam pad in it at some point. So I add 1 1/4" seam allowance to three sides of each back panel to give me about and inch thickness to the final pillow and cut out the corners. Now I'm ready to sew the pieces together. Each panel has two corners like the one pictured above. First I sew each corner together. Then I sew both back panels to the front panel.

Voila, your pillow is finished - all in one afternoon!

Now all that's left to do is stuff your dog bed with something soft and snuggly! It's a cost effective, sustainable, easy project!

Presenting This Year's Office Christmas Poem

Each year my office sends out a gift to our clients, and I am the lucky girl who gets to compose the Christmas poem that adorns the package and gives hints as to what might be inside. This year's gift is a mini gift box of Penzey's spices.

When Pigs Fly...My Etsy Treasury

Made my first etsy treasury. This one features cute piggly wigglies handcrafted in a variety of ways beyond the piggy bank. You can check it out here. (until treasury expires)

image from here

Pumpkin Romper

I saw the cutest pumpkin romper on Etsy, but it was $75. That's a new pair of heels that I can wear to work every day. So, feeling ambitious, I tried to recreate it myself for a much more conservative price of $20. I think it turned out pretty awesome. Maybe not as awesome as James' Larry Byrd costume, but pretty awesome.




The best part was running to the fabric store at the last minute after I had broken the needle on my sewing machine. I was explaining to the cashier about how I was working on a halloween costume and sewed right over a pin and broke the needle. When she asked what the costume was, I wasn't quite sure how to describe it, so I said it was a pumpkin romper. Her and about four other ladies around me start gushing, "Awww, how old is the baby?" I probably should have just made something up, but instead I was like, "Actually, it's for me." Everyone pretty much looked at me like a huge weirdo. I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Either way, I think it turned out cute.

Workspace

I love my sunny little nook in our office for doing all of my sewing.

New Wrist Warmers for Emily

Made the cutest warm fuzzy fingerless mittens/wrist warmers for my sister. I kind of don't want to give them away! Soooo happy with how they turned out. Happy Birthday Em!

LEED AP Certificate...

Image Courtesy of
LEED AP Explained

...finally came in the mail today. I had totally forgotten about it, so it was a good surprise on an otherwise mediocre day. If you don't know, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the AP is for accredited professional. It's probably the number one standard for building green, whether it be new construction, renovations, additions, etc. and addresses commercial and institutional buildings. Basically, LEED is a point system for showing quantifiable reductions in energy and other resource use. It's a little more expensive to build a LEED building in the beginning, but the payoff is a reduction in operating costs. There was one LEED project that my company bid on before I was even considering becoming a LEED AP, so I didn't know much about it then. Since then, I haven't seen any LEED projects come to bid that we've looked at. Although, there isn't much building going on period, and owners are already having trouble getting financing without extra LEED costs. Hopefully, if the economy ever turns around, I can actually use my certification. Until then, I guess I just have to keep upcycling sweaters from Good Will!

Whale of a time...

Betz White had the cutest tutorial on cashmere bunnies, so I thought I would give it a try. Instead of a bunny, I decided to go with a whale, no big deal - it's not rocket science. So I drew a whale, cut out my pattern and sewed it together. But I just felt like something was missing. I had to look at a picture of a real whale to realize I'm missing fins! Not the tale fin, but the side fins. I mean it's a pink cashmere whale, so I'm not trying to get that anatomically correct, but come on. Fins make the thing a whale.

image from here