After seeing this post from How About Orange, I knew I had to make a run to the craft store for fabric stiffener.

The first step in doing this project is preparing the fabric.  Click here for complete tutorial.  Once the fabric is treated…it will look like this…

You can’t tell from the photo, but this fabric is stiff like paper yet still pliable.  Instead of doing heart garland, I decided to do circles.  I thought I would give my circle cutter a try…hoping to save a little time.  I was very happy when the circle cutter worked!  Wahooo….major time saver!

I first cut a bunch of 2 inch circles and stitched them together to create a simple garland…

Next…the layered fabric garland.  I cut circles…lots of them.  1 inch, 2 inch, 3 inch and 4 inch.  12 of each.  This would have taken forever without the circle cutter.  It only took about 20 minutes with it!

and I was left with this…

I layered the circles centering each one and stitched a straight line across.  Once I had completed all twelve, I strung them together with thread…

I used my two garlands to get my mantle ready for Valentine’s Day.  Here is the finished product…

Happy Valentine’s Day decorating!!!

lucky # 3 … Colleen!!!  Winner of the Mini Cupcake Calendar from Monkey Mind Design. Send me an email to claim your fabulous prize!!!

Now…a little prize for everyone… a SALE!!!

I have knocked down prices on lots of Ready To Ship items.  Here are just a few of the items that are on sale…

and there is even one of these…

Hurry over and do a little shopping….

This might be my favorite thing I have made…EVER!!! Ava wanted a playhouse for Christmas.  I started looking around for a cute playhouse and couldn’t find much that wasn’t pink and princess themed!   I really didn’t want to look at a giant pink princess castle every day in our game room.  I am sure her 7 year old brother didn’t want to either!  Then I came across a teepee.  The only problem was that it was pricey and I didn’t like the fabric options.  One of my Modern Frills facebook fans mentioned an online tutorial.  I looked around a bit and found this tutorial.  It shows you how to make a teepee from a flat twin sheet…PERFECT!

This is how it turned out…

The entire project cost about $50 and took 4 hours 30 minutes.  I bought my sheet set on clearance for $8 at a discount store.  The dowel rods cost $40.  You could easily make this project for under $20 if you use PVC pipe instead of wood dowel rods.

I made a couple changes to the tutorial…

1. I used a sheet that had a print on it instead of a solid sheet.  Therefore, it had a “right” side and a “wrong” side to the fabric.  I had to change the direction of one of the door flaps to ensure the “right” side of the fabric showed on the outside of the teepee.
2. I used 1.5 inch wood dowel rods instead of PVC pipe.  Since the dowel rods were thicker than what was called for in the tutorial, I had to change the width of the pole pockets to adjust for the thicker dowel rods.

Happy Teepee making…

PS … She LOVES it!!!

PSS … Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

I LOVE this invitation!

This invitation is from a fabulous etsy shop, Monkey Mind Design.  Anita is the designer/owner behind Monkey Mind Design.  She runs her handmade greeting card and design company out of Denver, Colorado.

I absolutely love her simple, modern style…

Her shop is filled with all sorts of goodies…calendars, greeting cards and her matchbook doodle and notepads.

Keeping these in mind for next Christmas…

Anita has graciously offered to give one of her Sprinkled with Fun – Mini Cupcake Calendars to one of you guys!!!

What a perfect way to start off the new year!

You can enter up to 4 times.  Here’s How to Enter…

Here is some major eye candy from one of my favorite blogs… Mrs A in the Cove.

Every detail is perfect…I would like one of each please!

Hop on over to her blog to check out even more amazing party and dessert table inspiration!

PS … She is super nice too!

Since it actually looks and feels like Winter in Dallas right now, I decided to winter-ize my mantle.  When I think of winter, I think WHITE!  Although most of the items on the mantle aren’t white, they are all very neutral and warm.  Given the stark white background, I think it still has a very monochromatic look.

I love the way it turned out…

I did purchase one item to complete this project…the wood “holla” sign by Oh Dier.

The rest of the items were things I already had at my house.

My favorite part of this mantle are the two grey vases that flank both sides of the mantle.  I cut the “foot” portion off of two solid grey knee socks.  I slipped the socks over two clear glasses vases which came free with flower arrangements.  I rolled the edges slightly at the top so they didn’t appear unfinished and hooked an extra chandelier prism on one for a little extra detail.  This little DIY cost absolutely nothing!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Valentine’s day is around the corner.  Here are my new designs to celebrate one of my favorite holidays…perfect for February 14th…or any day for that matter!

and last but not least…

PS … The shop is now open!

I have been making some decor changes around my house over the last couple months.  I moved our bedding from the master bedroom upstairs to the guest bedroom.  I bought a grey quilt for the master and finally found a use for the grey drum shade I found at Anthropologie on clearance a few months ago.  It was missing something so I decided to add a few white rosettes.  I am obsessed with the WHITE!

materials…

• drum shade
• scrap fabric
• sewing machine
• scissors
• glue gun
• clear sticky circles (That isn’t their actual name…just what I call them:)

I had a white tshirt that I got as a freebie from a baseball game.  It was solid white so it was perfect for the white rosettes I wanted to make.  I started by cutting several strips of fabric in varying widths and lengths.

There are lots of tutorials on the web on how to make rosettes…here and here.

After making my rosettes and trimming any strings, I began arranging them.  I put a clear sticky circle on the back of each rosette and started arranging.  I like using the sticky circles as you can move the rosettes around while figuring out how you want to place them.  Once I figured out how I wanted the rosettes, I pulled the sticky circle off the back and used a hot glue gun to glue them to the lamp shade.

Making the rosettes is the hardest part of this project  Once the rosettes are done, the arranging and hot gluing is the fun part!

By the way….Happy Happy 2011!!!