A Veil of a Tale!

Hello Friends!  Wow I've been a busy bee!  I did want to share with you a fun craft I made for my friend Rebecca.  We celebrated her bachelorette festivities this weekend traversing vineyards in Long Island - and I made her some stunning headgear for the special day.

Here she is being a good sport!

It was pretty simple to put together, I used a roll of 6 inch orange tulle, and sewed four strips together lengthwise, times two, for two layers total.  (I would recommend just using wider tulle from a large bolt if you can to eliminate this step, but you work with what you have.) 

I put one layer on top of the other and stitched them together with a gathering stitch.  I pulled the string to gather them up, then affixed the to a yellow headband I had on hand with hot glue.  I covered the interior of the headband with some yellow ribbon to cover up the gluey mess. 

I wanted to add some pizazz to the outside of the headband, so I used some strips of orange fabric and gathered them up into a ruffle, and glued them to the headband too.  So cool!  I think she liked it.  Or, she put up with it at least! 

A fun way to highlight your bride to be, add some color to her ensemble, and not be too gaudy.  Ha! 

More on our adventures in vineyards later!

I heart the beach

Hi friends!  I'm back from the beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware - what a fun, fabulous weekend! 

Of course we made a stop at Sonic which was AWESOME. 

Should I even admit that I ate French Toast sticks dipped in a Smores milkshake for lunch?  And that it was delicious? 

Matt and Julie liked it too. 

Daniel was a good sport. 

We had some amazing weather - I love the beach! 

Beachin It!

Off to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware this weekend with my friendliest friends!  Back soon - have a great weekend everyone!

Pretty

I think I should buy myself flowers more often. 

CSN Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered my very first giveaway!  I am thrilled to have so many people interested in it, and I now have over 100 followers!  Woo Hoo!

Without further ado, the winner of the $40 gift certificate to CSN stores is....thatlittlehouse! 

She said "I would use it on a Rowenta Auto-Steam Iron."

Congratulations!  I'll be emailing you directly with the gift certificate information.

NYC Journey comes to an end...

Here is the final installment for our journey through the mean streets of NYC! 

It wasn't mean though.  Everyone was nice and it was a beautiful day for a stroll. 

Lovely architecture. 

We did need a break once we hit Columbus Circle. 

Spirits still good! 

More of My Epic NYC Walkabout!

I told you there was more!  I've never really spent time near Columbia - its so pretty! 

(Matt you made a good choice.)

I just like plaques, what can I say? 

They were shooting a movie, Premium Rush - I didn't see anybody famous though. 

I love being a dorky tourist in my own city!

The diner from Seinfeld - in person!

Sweet Photo Deals

Have some great summer shots that you want to get printed up?  Today is your day!

Today, August 17, you can get a totally FREE 8x10 photo collage from Snapfish, including shipping!  I've gotten a few of these before and they are great, especially if you have vacation pics that you want to put together all at once. 

Put it in a frame and it makes a thoughtful gift, too. 

Go here to Surviving the Stores for more details - its pretty simple, though - you just load your pics onto snapfish (or use ones you already have on there) put together a collage with up to20 pics, and use code GRANDSHIP to get it for FREE!  Sweet deal. 

But wait there's more!

Walking NYC - ALL of it!

Land wise, Manhattan isn't that big, but I've yet to explore vast expanses of it, despite having been an NYC resident for the past 5 years. 

Lucky for me, my mom came across this article.  We decided to embark on a NYC walking adventure of our own this weekend - here are some pictures from our journey I wanted to share!

We met first at Grand Central, since my mom came in from Connecticut and I came in from Brooklyn.  We took the A train up to 207th - last stop and got out on Broadway.  Check out this cute little house!  Its quite old I believe - but amazing amidst all of the more urban buildings. 

I don't read Latin, but 1625 is old dude! 

Mom and I at the start of our journey, all smiles. 

Taking the Highline

Actually, you can't anymore.  Its been out of commission since 1980, when it made its last journey filled with dozens of frozen turkeys.

But you can visit!  The former elevated rail tracks were left to the elements for the past 30 years, and have now been turned into an amazing urban public park.  I checked it out this weekend and it was very cool!

My First Giveaway! CSN stores Gift Certificate Fun!

I am super excited today to annouce my very first giveaway!  I've been wanting to do something special for my devoted readers for a long time and what do you know, I came across an amazing opportunity!

I've heard a lot about CSN stores of late across the blogosphere and decided to check them out myself to see what all of the fuss is about.  Its pretty awesome - basically, its an online retailer that has over 200 stores and pretty much anything you could want, from kitchen tables to car seats, dumbells to drills, and everything in between!  One stop shopping to the max!

Furniture, housewares, shoes, home decor - makes me want to have a bigger apartment!  Prices are totally reasonable for high quality items with an insanely huge selection - you should check it out.  AND to make that easier, CSN is offering a $40 gift certificate to one of my readers! 

YOU could win it, for real!  How you ask?  Simple!

GIVEAWAY:

To enter:

1) Follow me through Google Friend Connect or Blogger. Leave a comment letting me know!  If you already follow, just say so.  If you're new, welcome!

This first one is mandetory for entry - if you want some extra chances, I've got those too:

2) Check out Dining Rooms Direct or any of the CSN sites and leave a comment with what you would use the gift certificate for (or towards)! 

3) Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment with the link and your twitter name!

4) Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link!

Make sure you leave a comment with your email address for EACH entry.  This giveaway will run through next Wenesday, August 18th, and I'll be selecting a winner via random.org on Thursday, August 19th. 

I am so excited and hope you are too!  Thank you to my pals at CSN for making this possible. 

(Just so you know, I was not given any compensation for this post - I wanted to give back to my super duper cool readers and CSN made it happen!)

**Giveaway is open to those in the US and Canada only. 

Today's Pick ME Up - Your Time!

This totally made my day! 

Recently I won an amazing giveaway on Mary Janes and Galoshes (an amazingly inspirational and creative blog, btw).  I was lucky enough to receive a gift certificate to Your Time on Etsy - let me tell you I was beyond thrilled when I received my package in the mail today! 

I selected the lovely earrings and necklace above.  Of course, the nice picture of the earrings is Lata's, from her Your Time page on etsy (since there is another set available!), and the cheesy cell phone pics of me modeling my necklace don't do it justice.  It is gorgeous!  It is a little silver ring that has the word "focus" inscribed on it, with a delicate chain.  I love love love both of these items!  PLUS I have an event after work today and am so happy to wear these with my ensemble. 

You should definitely check out Your Time - she makes such lovely handmade jewelry, and all of the prices are incredibly reasonable.  Amazing stuff for gifts for friends, family...or yourself :) 

Thanks Lata, for the beautiful pieces, and thank you to Taylor for hosting the giveaway!  You made my day, ladies. 

Bunting Bonanza

I went a little crazy with the bunting this weekend. 

First, I wanted to make a little banner for a new baby girl in the world - and practice my bunting skills. 

Also I'd received some super cute bias tape in a swap that I was itching to use! 

Then, I decided to make one for the shop, so that I did! 

Had to make my own bias tape for this one, which was kind of a pain but it came out well.  (You can check out the listing here.) 

Lastly, for now at least, I had a stack of coordinating fabric upholstery samples - wasn't sure what to do with them before now, since they were small, but ta da!  They turned into my favorite effort yet.  Plus, as always, I'm thrilled to find a cute use for something destined for the garbage. 

Very autumnal, no?  I like it.  What do you think?

Purse Perfection

I printed out this free pattern forever ago from Artsy Crafty Babe forever ago, and its been sitting on my desk since.  I finally got my act together and whipped up one of these cute Phoebe bags and I love it! 

Its got a magnetic snap so your stuff stays put.  (If you need help with the snap, check out this post from Messy Jesse to walk you through it - with pictures!)

A little pocket inside for your cell phone or what have you. 

It fits on your shoulder comfortably, and is roomy enough to fit your wallet, a paperback, and all of the vitals but not too massive to overwhelm you. 

The pattern was simple and easy to follow - I think I may just make a few more! 

Scrappy Crafting

I love when I can make a cool craft using stuff I already have, and especially when it would have been destined for the dumpster too! 

My retractable tape measure ceased to retract, which led to a messy sewing box.  No worries; I had a backup (or 10) but I didn't want to toss it because...well, I don't know, but I hung on to it nevertheless.  Then I got an idea! 

Inspired by this tutorial from How About Orange, I made it into a little bow by cutting it up and stapling little loops. (You could glue them too - the skinny tape measure was a little unweildy with a full sized stapler. I hot glued them together into the bow shape. 

But WAIT!  That's not all! 

Too cute just to grace a package (although you could do that too, by affixing some double sided tape to the bottom), I glued on a little scrap of fleece and a pin I had.  Yay!  Now I can show my passion for sewing on my sleeve...or shirt, or bag, or wherever I want.