Insta ♥ Friday ...

hope you all had a wonderful Christmas ♥

we're having a quiet week full of pajamas, new toys & my crochet hooks (+ some yarn :)

i haven't shared my instagram pics with you lately so bear with me ... there's a bunch

if you don't already follow me i'm : raisinguprubies

♥ saw this bicycle ... isn't it the cutest thing? ... um, yes please

♥ actually got our Christmas card done this year ... yikes

♥ have you had an apple sandwich yet? ... why in the world not?

♥ a memory game i made for my bestie's daughter ... it's a really cute project the instructions are here

♥ i'm so excited about these little dresses ... stay tuned, 'cause they're gonna be poppin' up in the shop & on the blog in the next couple weeks

♥ the girls & i had to improvise when we ran out of suncatcher paint during a Christmas craft 

my 10 year old said "mom, just google it" 

oy

... did you know Elmer's glue & food coloring produce the same exact result?

♥ found this idea here ... this was a birthday present for one of my besties ... eeek! right?!

♥ new camera! early Christmas present from the hubs ... so excited about this

♥ these holly tags were a hit in the shop ... i was knee deep in 'em after black Friday

♥ i totally scored a huge pile of vintage sheets at the thrift store! bonus: it was 50% off that day!

♥ spa in a jar :) gift for our school nurse, who we drive crazy every. single. day.

♥ i've been dying to make these for teacher gifts ... every year they escape me

not this year! find the printable at Eighteen25

♥ happy mail & lots of packages

♥ Snickerdoodles

♥ baking at the last minute

♥ wrapping at the very last minute :)

( i am the queen of last minute ... and i loathe it )

♥For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life ... John 3.16

truth.

♥ nom nom nom nom ... :)

♥ my youngest got Josephina as a Christmas gift ... she has glasses and everything ... 

she sleeps at the end of her bed :)

♥ my craft table also doubles as a video-game-playing-fort-hideout

yes. fun. :)

Have a Happy New Year!

i'll be back next week!

loves to you♥

linking up here!

tea party mat for Two ♥ {with free pretty things for you!}

just poppin' in real quick today! 

tons & tons to do with just a little time before Christmas day :)

wanted to share this little tea mat i made with another 

just-too-cute vintage image 

... from my bloggy bestie 

Keren from Free Pretty Things for You ♥

when i saw this graphic in her shop this idea popped in my head :)

(a small problem i have)

this little tea mat was for my girlfriend's daughter a few weeks ago, for Christmas 

i think she loved it ... i think i love it too! anyone wanna have a tea party??

(i may have secretly played with it before i packed it up in the basket)

there are no directions since it's easy enough to do with basic sewing knowledge 

or even hot glue, felt and some pinking shears!

i used some leftover felt and pink gingham i had, and cut them to equal sizes 

quickly stitched the two long sides together and added ricrac to the two short ends to cover the raw edge

(forgot to get a close up of this, but you can see it in the picture at the bottom of the post)

use iron-on transfer sheets to transfer the image onto a small piece of white fabric

same directions as the vintage inspired message board here

then used a zigzag stitch to sew the image to the mat

the rolled felt flowers are the same as the ones i made for the 

drum shades in my craft room here

add some embellishment and you are done!

now it's time to play :)

oh, and if you want to make some felt tea bags, 

cut two small squares of white felt with pinking shears

then cut a piece of brown felt small enough to fit in between the two white ones

sew them together and insert a piece of cording into the top before stitching it completely closed ... cut two hearts from some more felt and glue them together at the other end of the cord. 

this was a fun Christmas gift! what about for a little girl's birthday?

the tea set and cupcakes were store bought and the picnic basket was from a garage sale

fun!

Merry Christmas everyone!

♥ 

sweet parties here:

Free Pretty Things for You! ♥ Whatever You Want Wednesday

live laugh Rowe ♥ live laugh linky

the 36th Avenue ♥ Party Time!

Tatertots & Jello ♥ Weekend Wrap up Party

Funky Junk Interiors ♥ SNS

i{heart}naptime ♥ Sundae Scoop

my craft room ... Christmas style ♥

it's been a while since i've had any pictures of my craft room up on the blog ...

(you can see the whole room here) 

(and some more here)

mainly cause most of the time it's a mess with product for the store & packing supplies

oy

but i had to get it in order for last weekend when i hosted a cookie exchange that my close friends and i have every year ... this year we had so much fun ♥

i wanted to spruce up the room with a little bit of Christmas cheer

but didn't want to over-do it since there is already so much color & detail in the room and well...

i was just plain tired :)

so i went the simple route :)

ahhhh.... simple....

i feel like this little bloggy of mine has come a long way 

since i first posted about my craft room ... it's been neat to watch it grow ... 

when Better Homes & Gardens came last month, it was the final push i needed to get in gear and tie up all the loose end projects that i never finished 

if you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen a few of these updates ... but this bunting was made from my vintage sheet stash, just cut in strips and tied to some twine

with some nails & hot glue, i now have pretty things to hold up my garlands and pictures

i hammered the nails where i wanted the spools to go, 

then with a little hot glue on one end, slid the spool onto the nail

with some help from my two aunts :) finally got around to organizing my fabric stash

this shelf holds only vintage linens ... the other side has my non-vintage yardage

i love how pretty they all look together ♥

i filled some apothecary jars with a hodge podge of things 

that i thought we bright and Christmas-ish :)

the trees were made with styrofoam trees, again with strips of different fabrics

wound around from top to bottom ... made pompom's for the tops

i think Christmas can be found in the everyday of things

it doesn't always have to be in red & green

i love to be outside of the box :) don't you?

my cushions were upgraded too when BHG came, these were from Target

i love how they add simplicity to such a busy room

my sewing area hasn't changed much ...

the twine and large spools of thread that i mostly use for packaging, 

were put up out of the way on wooden dowels 

the sewing machine cover was made from a vintage pillowcase 

... thinking about selling a few in the store

remember my decoupaged trinket box?

it has definitely earned it's keep :)

it holds all my littles

my entry way get's no light at all, it's hard to snap a good picture here

but this is where my Joy to the World sign is with another wreath like the one on my craft shelves ... i got the wreath and wording around the chalkboard idea from Miss Mustard Seed

(even though her's is way more grand & gorgeous!)

so these are my besties :)

they are the friends that encourage me & laugh with me through everyday things

i love them so dearly ... they are the sisters i never had :)

we have craft night once a month ... we leave kiddos with daddies and we come together to eat and make stuff ...and eat stuff :)

and there's never a dull moment, at all....

every December we exchange cookies and handmade gifts

we even get a little carried away making stuff for each other's kids :)

it's hard to find good friends in life ... hard to find one, let alone five

and i can honestly say they are all a blessing to me ... love ya girls ♥

Merry Christmas bloggy friends ♥

you have put gladness in my heart ... psalm. four. seven

sweet parties here:

live laugh Rowe ♥ live laugh linky

i {heart} naptime ♥ Sundae Scoop

Tatertots & Jello ♥ Weekend Wrap up Party 

Funky Junk Interiors ♥ Saturday Nite Special

the 36th Avenue ♥ Party Time!

joy to the world ~ wood slice project ♥

Christmas is next week!

these past few weeks flew by ...

i just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you ... for the love & support given to my blog and my shop ♥ it puts so much gladness in my heart to hear that God is encouraging you through this little place here in bloggy land, and i really appreciate all of you so much!

i spent some time last week putting up a few new Christmas decorations

and this wood slice art is one of  the things i wanted to try ... so here it is!

the wood slice is from AC Moore

the wooden letters are from Michael's

i found a huge box of maps at a rummage sale,  and i bought the whole thing for $7!

( i ♥ rummage sales with big boxes of maps)

i mod podged the map onto the wood, 

when it was dry, went over the top with two more coats for a shiny finish

once you cut the twine to fit, string the letters and wrap the ends around to the back of the wood ... just a little dab of hot glue and some felt will hold it like Fort Knox

super easy project with just a few supplies ... i love the simplicity of it

hope to be back this week with a few pictures of my craft room ... Christmas style :)

much love & happy crafting ♥

sweet parties here ♥

Free Pretty Things for You ♥ Whatever you want Wednesday! 

Live Laugh Rowe ♥ Live Laugh Linky 

Yesterday on Tuesday ♥ a Crafty Soiree

the 36th Avenue ♥ Party Time!

Tip Junkie ♥ Tip me Tuesday

Tatertots & Jello ♥ Weekend Wrap up Party

Funky Junk Interiors ♥ Saturday Nite Special

i {heart} naptime ♥ Sundae Scoop

quiet ...♥

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers ... neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans eight. thirty eight. thirty nine.

if we've ever needed You ... it's now ♥

to the parents who have lost their children ... our hearts are broken for you

lifting you up in prayer to the One who knows you by name ♥

last chance for wrappin' up Wednesday ... ♥

today is the last wrappin' up Wednesday before Christmas! 

i added a few things to the shop this past week ...

it's not too late to get pretty tags or a gift for a friend ...

i will be shipping everyday this week ~ so use the coupon code WRAPPINUP20

good through the next 24 hours :)

happy shopping ♥