I’ve had these faux leather leggings for a while now but I’ve found out that I’m very particular about how I wear them. I am in the camp that to make leggings (any kind of leggings) appropriate to wear out of the house, that your top needs to be long enough to cover your bum. I don’t have too many tops that length, so I actually don’t end up wearing these or any leggings very often other than for pjs. When I was at the Loft a while ago I grabbed this cute dress to try on. It ended up being way too short for a dress but I thought it would be perfect as a tunic for leggings. Thanks to a gift card and a great sale it ended up in my closet! I bet if you were shorter than me (5’9″) this would make a great dress too without leggings. How do you wear leggings? Do you think the cover your bum rule is sill?
Over the past few months I’ve been slowly redecorating our room. Ever since we moved into the house (2 years ago) it honestly never really got finished. The kid’s rooms always took priority. We did paint it in a mad dash before Finley was born but that was about it. I love our room. It has vaulted ceilings, lots of space and pretty morning light. I love the idea of your bedroom feeling like a little retreat. Anyway, i’ve been buying a few items here and there to create a more finished feel. Mostly plants. I’ve wanted to keep everything bright and light feeling. Lots of white and neutrals. Our bed was feeling a little sterile though. That’s when I came up with the idea of creating some fun accent pillows for the bed with some cute personal touches.
I teamed up with Canon USA to make these pillows come to life! I was planning on just printing onto some transfer paper BUT did you know you can print right onto fabric from your printer?? How cool and convenient is that?! All you need is freezer paper. I was totally jumping up and down when it worked.
Materials needed:
Muslin
Freezer paper
Scissors
Rotary cutter
Yarn
Embroidery floss
Fabric/felt
Batting/pillow forms
Kids drawings
Craft paint (optional) Pixma MG7520 Printer
Directions:
1. Cut a piece of freezer paper to 8.5×11″ (or whatever size your printer prints). Iron the freezer paper to a piece of muslin that is slightly bigger than 8.5×11″. That way you can trim it exactly to the size of the freezer paper after you iron it. You want the edges to be lined up perfect so that it will feed through the printer right. The freezer paper gives the fabric some “weight” to be pulled through the printer. Make as many fabric/freezer paper sheets as you want photos printed. I ended up making 3 – 8.5×11″ sheets to use in the printer.
2. With our PIXMA MG7520 printer I was able to print the photos right on the muslin/freezer paper sheets I created. I printed 2 b&w photos and then I even scanned a piece of Rowan’s artwork using the scanner on the printer. It made the coolest pattern fabric when it printed. Make sure you load your fabric paper the right way. You want to make sure the photos print on the fabric side NOT the freezer paper side.
3. When everything is printed, peel off the freezer paper back and discard. You will now be left with the printed fabric. The world is your oyster! I’m going to make pillows with mine. How cute would little patches for your kids jeans be?
4. Here comes the extra fun part! Since I wanted pillows bigger than 8.5×11″ I was able to get creative and think of some fun ways to design the pillows. For the first one I cut 1.5″ strips of fabric to sew around the square picture. I sewed the checkered strips first, then added the polka dot fabric creating 2 borders to enlarge the front of the pillow. You will also need to cut out a backside piece of fabric for the pillow.
5. Before you sew the pillow together add any embroidery/details (buttons, paint, etc…) that you want to the pillow. I decided to stitch the words “sweet dreams” onto the front. After you finish, pin right sides together and sew the edges of your pillow together. Leaving a small opening at the bottom to turn and stuff.
6. To finish it off I added some tassels to the corners of my pillow and then stuffed it full of batting. Hand sew the opening closed at the bottom when you’re done. You can really have a lot of fun coming up with your own pillow ideas. The possibilities are endless!!
Yay! It’s the weekend. I got myself an unlimited pass to our local hot yoga studio this month and it’s been the best decision ever. Totally love the solo time sweatin’ it out in a dark, hot room. Can’t wait for my next class. This is random but Oh dear! We’ve hit another rough spot with Rowan and sleep. Why, oh why can’t this child sleep through the night. It takes every fiber of my being to be patient with her in the middle of the night with her ridiculous requests. I love her but HALP! Ok. Anyways. Happy weekend friends! Hope your’s will be filled with more sleep than mine is going to be.
Here are a few of my favorite things from the internet this past week:
1. We may be in the midst of winter but I am day dreaming of family bike rides like whoa! I’m kind of obsessed with all the bike options Wayfair has to chose from. Have you checked there site before? So much awesome stuff. I am loving this bike, this one and of course this one as well!! Is it summer yet?
2. I am pretty sure this is the best looking dessert ever.
5. James is the coolest. Love when she does her Worn posts.
6. I was at a friends house the other night and they served me a glass of wine in these glasses and I couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. I felt so fancy!
7. Rachael. Rachael. Rachael. She’s a good egg. I highly suggest you read her blog.
8. I can’t get over these shoes! So adorable for so many reason.
9. Love this idea of putting a ribbon in your closet. What do you think?
10. I got Rowan this super cute sherpa/shag pull over this winter and ever since I’ve been desperate to find something similar for myself. Viola! The search has ended!
11. Hahaha. Love this post! It was honest, silly and super fun to read about the failures of 2014.
I’ve always loved these 52 week photo projects.
One photo of Rowan and Finley each week of the year, plus one of them together because why not?
Can’t wait to see how they’ve grown at the end of the year.
Are you a list maker? A goal setter? I am and I’m not all at the same time. I normally like making resolutions for the New Year but this year it didn’t even cross my mind. The ball dropped and I just moved on with life. The other night I was thinking about it… why didn’t I feel the need to make them? I decided in all my 32 years that this is the first year I feel ok with who I am, where I am, and I don’t need an overall list of goals to strive for. I don’t mean any of that in a sense of being lazy or that I have it all figured out and there is nothing for me to change. I mean that for the first time, I am confident in knowing where my strengths are and honest enough to know where I fail (a lot) and I am ok with that. Getting older kind of rules in that sense. I am proud of the things I have accomplished and I am daily working on the things that I struggle with (e.g. expectations, patience, achievement). I am excited for this year! I think it’s going to be a really great one.
Last year was a big year of growth for me. I was pushed in a lot of ways out of my comfort zones and really had to trust and draw closer to Christ. I took a hard look at the things I was trying to strive for and prayed if those were right for me and for my family. Things like our eating habits, exercise, the view I had of myself, schooling, foster care, this blog and the way we spend our time and money. We made a lot of changes and are still working through some of them, but God is good and He loves us deeply. He always gave us answers when we needed them and strength to wait if need be. This verse really struck me last year “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” – James 4:8. That’s where I struggled most this past year I think. I was stuck between what I thought I wanted and listening to God. Ever wonder how much smoother things could have gone if you just truly trusted and listened to what God had planned for you in the first place? I always think of the Israelites in the Bible and wonder how quickly they could have gotten to the promise land if they had just been obedient. We could all save ourselves a lot of heartache. Fear and disobedience can make a journey much longer. BUT the good news is, He also redeems. We must remember that he makes ALL things new. All of our journeys, struggles, doubts, are all used for His glory in the end. I can say without a doubt the Lord used mine this past year. What hope we have in Him!
So here I am. The beginning of 2015 with an open mind and open heart. Trying to draw closer to God and listen to what’s in store for us this year. I don’t want to be divided between the world and God, I want to trust in a way that I’ve never let myself before. I want HIS work to be done.
Yesterday was officially the last day of Christmas vacation (we extended it a bit because of Finley’s bday yesterday). I’m not sure I’m ready to take on a schedule again, have Kev back at work or get back into the grind of homeschooling. Once we start it will be fine- we will be back in the groove by Thursday. Although today was pretty good, maybe we will bounce back quicker than I think. Christmas already seems like a distant memory. Doesn’t it? We had a pretty low key Christmas break. It snuck up really quick and then slooowed down the few days we spent out in Massachusetts with family. The girls were at a super fun age this year for Christmas. Besides Rowan’s singed hair during Christmas Eve service there weren’t too many bumps along the way. One thing I really love about Rowan is that she is very grateful, she very genuinely says thank you for everything. She was very sweet opening all her gifts. Finley was also really into it as well. Tearing little tiny pieces of wrapping paper- it took her forever to open each gift. Every time she would get one unwrapped she would yell “OP, OP! (Open). She could have dragged on Christmas morning all day if we let her.
Being home with our parents was awesome. We are lucky to have both our parents live about 20 mins away from each other. We were able to get a few dates while we were visiting (free babysitting!!) which was a rare treat for us. Kev was also able to play hockey a few times with his friend Adam and I got to visit Amy at her beautiful shop in Worcester. We celebrated Kev’s Dads retirement, got to go swinging on the rope swing, ice skating with the girls, had a lovely NYE with friends and just enjoy time together as a family. I would do over these last 2 weeks in a heart beat.
Just stopping in to share a few random pictures from our Christmas today. Hope you all had a relaxing and wonderful time.
Welcome to my personal lifestyle blog. It features topics such as motherhood, family life, fashion, cooking, and all sorts of adventures. I hope you enjoy what you find!
