Heart This - My First Weekly Linkage Report!

In the vein of Rocks in My Dryer's Saturday Linkage, MomAdvice.com's Amy's Notebook, and BooMama's Linky Interwebby Awesomeness, (that's a helping heapful of happy links right there!) I've decided to create a sort of favorites notebook here with the ideas and images and projects that I can't wait to try.

To that end, I've created a separate blog for my Heart This (hopefully weekly) posts. I will post my weekly webby finds here and at my Heart This blog (button in the left sidebar) on (or near - let's be real, here) Fridays.




In this, the Inaugural Edition of Heart This, I hereby link the following:

• I love this idea from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. What a great idea for involving your family during the holidays! h/t to Melissa at The Inspired Room.



• Here's a creative Dollar Store Crafts gift idea for the tea lover, the bracelet lover or the crafty girl in your life. So cute. These would be darling favors for a tea party!



• I think I'll see if my nephews want to make these fun elf hats when they come to my house at Thanksgiving. h/t to Sew, Mama, Sew!



• This will be our first Thanksgiving to host family at our house. I'm thinking this website will come in handy. It has calculators to tell you how much turkey to buy, how much stuffing to make and how long to thaw your bird. Cool!



• My dear friend Kirstin pointed me to this blog with the most ADORABLE turkey-day bibs & onesies! (and I love her header scripture!)

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!

Petite Purse & Presents - My First-Ever Giveaway!

All these purse pictures have reminded me of a random story. Bear with me...I'm about to give you way too much information, 'cause that's the way I roll. But hey - you're here for a giveaway...might as well stay for the entertainment (if you can call it that)!

Several years ago, I decided to use some frequent flier miles to take my husband on a surprise weekend skiing trip for his birthday. We didn't have much money, so I searched the internet for weeks to find a good deal. I finally found a deal at Breckenridge that included a Winter Fun pack (or something like that). The pack included free lift tickets and boot/ski rentals for 1 night of night skiing, snow tubing, a sled/wagon ride, and much more. I figured one night of skiing would be enough (although night skiing is kinda hard if you're a novice!), so I booked the condo and away we went. (See, I told you...TMI!)

At our condo, we heard about this fondue place. It sounded fun and different, so we booked reservations at 9 (they were full until then). We saved our appetites all day. That night, after the town had pretty well rolled up for the night, we hopped on the gondola for the ride up the mountain. It was freezing cold that night, and we were happy to take advantage of the wool blanket in the gondola! At the top of that mountain, we boarded another gondola, which took us to a second, higher mountain where the restaurant sits. Cool. We entered and were shocked to find that it was a prix fixe menu, with the adult meal costing $57. Each. Gulp.

Well, we decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it, since it was such a neat experience and a special occasion, and since we were hungry and all the other restaurants in town were closed. We enjoyed our fondue dinner. I liked it more than Brian since, well, I like cheese. Oh, and chocolate. ANYwho...At the end of our dinner, I reached for my purse and discovered it was missing. I knew I had it when we boarded the lower gondola! Thank goodness Brian had his wallet!

After Brian paid, we went to the upper gondola and asked the operator if he'd noticed it in any of the cars. He hadn't. We asked him to contact our condo if it was turned in. We then boarded and prayed our way down. When we reached the lower gondola, I asked the operator the same question. No, he hadn't seen it either. I sighed, frustrated, as we boarded the lower gondola. I reached for the blanket with my numb fingers and felt a lump. I moved the blanket, and Hallelujah! There was my purse! What are the chances that we'd happen to board the very same gondola car? Pretty slim. Fortunately for you, your chances at this giveaway are much better! (See how I did that? Pretty slick, huh?)

So you made it through my story. Thank you for your patience. Now for the good stuff!

Earlier this week, Cindy @ Still His Girl (who is totally artistically talented and has one of the funniest blogs ever - check her out!) stopped by my blog and left several really kind comments. Totally made my day!

Anyway, Cindy asked me if I'd ever done a giveaway. I haven't. Partly because I didn't think I had enough readers, and partly because I haven't had anything good to give away. Well, now I have something, and I know at least 2 people are reading...so...really good chances!

I recently posted about a purse I'd made in early October. I loved the fabrics together, but the overall result looked a little too small and young for the lady I wanted to give it to, so I just put it away in my gift closet and started over. Lucky for you, dear readers, I've decided to pull it back out and give it away. I hope it will make one of you, or some sweet girl you know, very happy!

Here's another picture of the purse...sorry the lighting is not very good.


But wait, there's more....

If you act now (or between now and Sunday evening), you'll be entered to win not only the cute little purse above, but also these lovely bonus gifts! That's right, the prize package includes the handmade purse, a Willow Tree Angel of Freedom ornament (slightly used - it used to hang on a display tree in our gifts & antiques store), a small journal, a cedar fall leaf ornament (leftover from our wedding favors - 7 years ago!), and a pecan beeswax lip balm from Bath & Body Works (never used! and sealed! for your protection!). Oh, and whatever else I decide to toss in between now and Sunday!

All of these lovely prizes can be yours for the low-low price of....

Telling all my readers your funniest purse story!
That's right...tell me about the hideous purse you had to have in 8th grade, or the time your children unpacked your purse privates at a church social. Maybe you left your purse in an embarassing place or your husband used it as a tetherball. Edited to add: If you don't have a blog, be sure to leave an email address where I can reach you!

Having never done a giveaway, I'm not going to promise I'll use a random-number-generator-thingie...maybe I will, maybe I won't....but I promise to be fair and impartial. So join in, won't you? Maybe I can help you get some Christmas gifts out of the way!

Oh, and thanks for stopping by!

Edited to add: Sorry, this giveaway is only open to residents of the US (or those with a US address, Natalie!). I can't afford to ship overseas right now. Thanks for understanding.

Another Late Night Purse...and an Announcement!

Alternate title: Why do I do this to myself?
Alternate title: The Crazy Crafter Strikes Again.
Alternate title: The reason I don't have an etsy shop...yet.

But seriously folks,

I decided to do the cute Beauty Purse pattern from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing. I bought these pretty tweedy suiting fabric remnants at JoAnn Fabrics and thought the contrast of fabrics would look good with the pleats.

Well.

What I ended up with was a series of unfortunate events.

Event #1 - I didn't take a close enough look at the fabric content. It was polyester. As in doesn't take an ironed crease well. As in pain-in-the-heinie to press and sew. Lesson learned. Check your labels.

Event #2 - I piddled around deciding on which pattern to use and didn't start sewing until 9:30. PM. Now you know why it's a Late Night purse. It doesn't have anything to do with David Letterman.

Event #3 - I sewed pieces on backwards. Twice. Yup. Brilliant.

Event #4 - I tried to iron the interfacing that I substituted for the recommended flannel. It was a soft stabilizer, and had the same weight and feel as flannel. Seemed like a reasonable substitute. BUT. It was a heat-soluble stabilizer. Disappeared into the iron. Great. That may lead to another unfortunate event at a later date!

Event #5 - The fact that I still couldn't get a good sharp press when I tried to iron the finished product. So it ended up "poofy".

Finally, Event #6 - I forgot to sew a button loop into it before I sewed the top up, so I had to rip stitches out to get that in there. I finished the project at 3:00. In. The. Stinkin'. Morning.

Whew. So much for a professional-looking finished product! Thankfully, my friends are very gracious about my less-than-perfect handmade gifts. And it gives me a chance to practice and learn and hone my skills. And next time? Well, maybe next time I'll start at 7:00 PM.



(Please excuse the poor picture quality and backgrounds - I couldn't find my camera, so I had to borrow one at the office!)

NOW....since you've been kind enough to stick with me through the tedious and tiresome tyrade above, I have a special announcement.

Tomorrow Morning, on this very blog site, I'll be hosting my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

Tell all your friends. I don't have tons of readers, so the chances will be pretty good! I'll announce the prize tomorrow...so please check back in!

Fun Plaid Purse for Fall

Once again, I burned the midnight oil, but the end result in this purse project was worth it! I think it's awfully cute and autumny!

The pattern is from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing. It's the "Charming Handbag". That's a really fun sewing book, by the way. If you sew at all, you should pick up a copy. Cute stuff!

Late-Night Purse Projects (and patterns!)

Here are a few purses I've recently made for gifts. This first one combined 2 fabric remnants that I love, but the purse came out a little too small.

The pattern/tutorial is here.
I think it's cute, but the combination of the size and the fabric made it look a little to young for the friend I was making it for. I toyed with giving it to her anyway, because it was late, but finally decided to save it in my gift closet until I need a gift for a teenager. It is quite simple, but I complicated things by lining it and by adding a bottom panel.

At 10:30 pm the same night, I decided to have another go at the purse for my friend (her birthday was the next day...way to plan ahead!). I pulled out some more remnants that I'd been saving for a special project and here's what I ended up with:





I LOVE the way this purse came out. I wanted to keep it! Love the pleats. This is still based on the pattern from above, and it also has lining and an added bottom panel.

Here are a couple of other purses that I made in the early summer. This is the simplest pattern/tutorial. They come together SO quickly. I especially like the brown one.

Pumpkin Patch and a Precious Little Pumpkin!

Last weekend, our dear friends invited us to join them and their Bible Study class (the younger-than-us-marrieds) for a day trip to Love Creek Orchards Pumpkin Patch in Medina. It was a GORGEOUS day, and the Pumpkin Patch was a lot of fun! Here's my favorite photo from the day:



I love the multi-colored pumpkins and gourds, so I made this photo my desktop background!

Here's a collage of some of the other sights:


My friend, Kirstin, and I got together the night before the pumpkin patch trip for a night of sewing and chatting. She is a precious friend, and truly a Godsend for me! Anyway, she wanted us to try making a fall-themed tutu with leaves for her little girl. We had a lot of fun experimenting and this is what we came up with:

Isn't she a precious pumpkin? We also made the pumpkin applique shirt. Cute, huh?

And this little rosette/bow/clippie thing:


It was a lot of fun collaborating on this project! I'm anxious to try some other tutu projects...anyone want one for a special little girl?

Welcome to my Pumpkin Party

Oh, I've been meaning to post on this for several weeks now, but life has kept me awfully busy! Several weeks ago, I invited my coworkers (several ladies) over to our house for a Pumpkin Party. We try to get together a couple of times a year for an outside-of-work gathering. Whenever possible, I like to make it craft-based because, well, I like crafts! So this time the plan was to make these glittered pumpkins. How hard could it be? Paint on the glue, shake on the glitter, right? Ahem. Let me just tell you that this glitter, while beautiful, has the consistency of cornstarch. As in, it coated everything in a 1/2 mile radius, except the pumpkins! Oh well, we had a good time anyway. Here's one of the few that I made:

I wanted to make sure all the ladies went home with something they were happy with. So, on the off chance that the glittered pumpkins didn't work out, I came up with these little cuties.

These are so simple. Just make a largish yo-yo (mine were about 9"), stuff with fiberfill, add a twig and a leaf, then cinch up your yo-yo and tie off the thread. After that, you can create segments or grooves on your pumpkin by wrapping ribbon or yarn around it. So easy!

We ate a yummy supper of Chili and this White Chili from A Year of Crockpotting, plus cornbread, homemade applesauce (also from A Year of Crockpotting) and pumpkin bread. I made souvenier "napkins" by embroidering cheap washcloths (7 for $2) for each lady. In the end, everyone went home with a glittered pumpkin, a stuffed pumpkin, and a pumpkin "napkin":


I think a good time was had by all. And yeah, I'm still finding glitter all over my house! Sparkly.

What special Pumpkin activities have you been up to?

Bye Bye Birdie

(I totally hate that musical, by the way). So remember when I shared my ideas for the Widows' reception at our church? Well, today was the big day. I thought I'd post a few of the highlights.

Here's the buffet centerpiece:

The plants are Dusty Miller. They were sold in 6-packs in the Walmart nursery, and they were 50% off, so I paid 84 cents per 6-pack. My original intent was to use English Ivy or another trailing plant, but I just couldn't find any cheap enough and in small enough pots. We cut the 6-packs apart and wrapped the little pots in burlap, then tied them off with synthetic raffia ribbon. We also tied on little "You are loved" tags. In addition to this centerpiece, we clustered several more Dusty Millers in pots on a few of the tables.




We put squares of burlap on the tables, then added a large twig, a next (or a pot with Dusty Miller), a few eggs, and a couple of glass bowls filled with crinkled paper (we put Robin's Egg malted eggs in these bowls).




I even made cute little nest cupcakes. But I forgot to take a picture of them at the reception! Here's a picture of the buffet table, and you can kind of see them:


When I realized I didn't have a better picture, I took the leftovers out of the freezer and took this picture of a few cupcakes on top of the washing machine! And just so you know, after I took this picture, I had to eat one. Oh yes I did. And just so you know, Brian had to eat one too. I love frozen frosting. Reminds me of those little Baskin Robbins ice cream cone clowns I used to get as a kid. But I digress. So anyway, here's a closeup of the cupcakes on the washing machine. The colors are kind of wacko. In reality, the jelly beans are very pale mint green and a pretty turquoise blue. I only made small cupcakes for the reception, but I made 4 large ones because I had a little extra batter.


At the end of the reception, each of the widows received a long-stemmed rose:

(the cute nametags, by the way, were made by another deacon's wife, Rosalyn)

They also took home a Dusty Miller plant and a box of goodies:


We had a good time visiting with these sweet ladies. Some of them are under 45. Some of them are newly widowed. Some of them have been widowed for many years. God tells us to care for the widows and the orphans, but we were blessed today by our time with them.

It was a fun reception, but now it's time to put all the birdies and nests away. I'm going to share one nest with one of the ladies that was there today. But now? Right now it's time for this little chickie to get some rest!

A Little Birdie Told Me...

Our church has an annual Widows' Reception, to honor and minister to the widows in our church. The deacons and their wives host the reception, and this is the first year we've been involved. I am helping with the decorations (along with 2 other lovely & talented ladies). Since we'll be on the verge of spring (it comes early in South Texas!), we decided to use a birdie theme. Here are some ideas I sketched up:

(click image to see it larger)

Next, I created a "palette":

Then I went shopping. I decided to start at Goodwill, as I was looking for inexpensive pottery/ceramic containers. Our plan is to purchase nursery 6-packs of English Ivy or other ivy-like plant, break up the 6 packs into individual "pots", wrap the pots in kraft paper or burlap, tie off with twine and a tag, and place the little pots into a larger pot. Some of the pots will also go on our cake stand towers. At the end of the reception, each lady will receive a long-stemmed rose from a deacon. She will also receive one of these little ivies, and a take-home box of leftover goodies. So I was looking for roomy pots at Goodwill. I spent $9 on all of the pots/planters. After the shopping trip (see what I found, below), I enlisted Brian to help me. We took a walk along the roadsides that surround our neighborhood. I, with a large basket, and Brian with a pair of pruning shears. I'm sure the neighbors wondered what we were up to! There is a greenbelt just outside our neighborhood, and we went and trimmed out creeping vines that are growing in / killing the trees. We also picked up moss balls and twigs. We went home and I started building "nests". It was a messy process, but I think they're pretty cute. I had to make some of them smaller because I was running out of materials, but I think it's good to have variation. So here's what I bought and made:


The little green planter I purchased on a previous trip to Goodwill. The eggs are resin, and hen-sized. They came from our family's store. Here's a closeup of the little white planter in front:

And here's a closeup of the largest nest:


It's going to be a dessert reception, so I'm thinking I may try to get these adorable cupcakes made. So cute!

I'll take pictures at the actual event and share them later. Then I may have a few nests for sale in my soon-to-come etsy shop...stay tuned!

Wooly Cuteness

From a $3 wool sweater I picked up at Goodwill I made 15 ornaments for office coworkers. I brought the sweater home and felted it by washing it in hot water and drying it on high heat.


Cut out simple shapes (hats, mittens, hearts, stockings, & trees)and stitched them together, then added a few vintage buttons and some hanging ribbon and voila! I'm keeping the heart and the tree. They make me feel all snuggly inside!

The Holly and the Ivy

Deck the Mailbox
Originally uploaded by thingspondered

Inspired by Meredith, I decided to decorate our mailbox (shared with our neighbor) with clippings from our yard.

We don't have native pine here, and I didn't want to mess with cedar, so I used the holly that Brian had just clipped, some English ivy that grows in our backyard, some sage, and some boxwood to create this little swag. I would have liked to have used more boxwood, but we trimmed them recently, and I couldn't clip too much more off without it being noticeable! I intended to go on a berry hunt just down the road, but then I found these little berry picks in a Christmas storage tub and decided they would work. The swag is weighted in back with a limestone rock to keep it from blowing away. I think it lends a natural and festive touch to our mailbox, and makes receiving Christmas cards that much more fun! And, the combination of the holly & ivy reminds me of this song:

The Holly and the Ivy - author unknown
The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ, Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom as white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to be our sweet Saviour
refrain

The holly bears a berry as red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good
refrain

The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.
refrain

The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ for to redeem us all.
refrain

The holly and the ivy, now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.
refrain

I also carried several holly clippings inside to add to the decorations in there. I'll have to remember to ask Brian to trim the holly next Christmas, too! Why don't you take a nature walk and see what God may have planted in your path to remind you of Him?

Who's the Boss?

Does that title date me, or what?

front of folder
Originally uploaded by thingspondered

So yesterday was Boss's Day, but at our office we were already having a big October birthday shindig, so we "postponed" Boss's Day until today.

We'd recently sampled a DELICIOUS Mocha Punch recipe, courtesy of our pastor's wife, so we decided to go with a coffee break theme. We had the Mocha Punch with cookies, and gave our bosses Starbucks gift cards in these little gift card folders. This one is one that I messed up - the scored lines are crooked - so I kept it as a sample. I cut them out of a regular size manilla folder, and added score lines with my paper trimmer/scorer. I made the coffee stain by coloring on the lid of my Stampin' Up marker, then I filled it in with a lighter color. I tied each folder to an individually wrapped biscotti.

On the inside of the card, I included a post-it with the "To Do" list for the day.

Our executive pastor (in charge of personnel) got an extra note on his. Our children's minister (a woman) got a "girly" bow. Here is the whole set of them:


Everyone enjoyed the coffee break! And, dear reader, here is a link to the recipe for the Mocha Punch, so you can enjoy a break too! It tastes very much like a Starbucks Mocha Frappucino, but you get a lot more "bang for your buck", as this serves 20 or more. You should be able to buy all the ingredients for under $12.

It Pains Me to Show This...

Aggie Pillow Originally uploaded by thingspondered

But I need to celebrate! As a Baylor girl, I hate to wave the Aggies flag...er...pillow, but as an Aggie's daughter, I guess I can toe the family line just this once!

My mother-in-law ordered this pillow. It has been a challenge! It was my first time to do piecework, a quilt block, braided trim, and an overlapping back (like a pillow sham). You practiced seamstresses will recognize the faults, but for a novice like me, it's worth celebrating!

Here's a picture of the back:

Go Bears! (And Aggies, I guess!)

FFF's 10/5/07

FFF's 10/5/07
Originally uploaded by thingspondered

So here are my Flickr Friday Fave's for this week. This collage has a sort of vintage feel to it.

I love, love, love that little embroidered birdie. You must check out LittleLovelies' other lovelies!

And I'm starting to feel the fall love, even though it's still quite balmy here in Texas. I wanna sit in the pumpkin patch and sing with those two cuties! Would you look at those GORGEOUS heirloom tomatoes? Yum. And the litle acorns in the bottom left corner are really sweet glass beads by Lori Flanders. I love them!

So many pretty finds on flickr this week, but my favorites are the puppy dog paw and the 2 hands on the top row.

Tune in this weekend for some seriously yummy autumn recipes!