Fabric Frenzy

A co-worker of mine brought me a HUGE bag of fabric recently.  She sews (she is actually a great seamstress), and was willing to part with many of her leftover fabric scraps!  I am LOVING IT!  She has wonderful taste, so all the fabric is absolutely adorable.  I am trying to save the bigger pieces of fabric for some bigger projects that Mom and I have up our sleeves (down the road, so do not hold your breath), but in the meantime, here is a little taste of our fabric creations: 

And speaking of fabric, sewing, and whatnot...

"You hem me in behind and before,

And You lay your hand upon me."

-Psalm 139:5

And if you see something you like, please head over to our Etsy store to order!

Purple Power

Most things in life change. I would almost go so far as to say that life is just that: a series of changes, and then more changes, and then more. But some things just do not change. The first constant that comes to mind, of course, is God. The second? Purple. It has been my favorite color since I can remember. And that does not seem like it is ever going to change! It was my favorite color when I was three years old, and now, decades later, it is still my favorite color.

So... Here's to the few constants in our lives!

This is a lavender stretchy headband... I think it's adorable for little girls or babies.

Figured I should model at least one of the headbands!

These bobby pins are adorable on!  They are great for gals of any age!

I tried a few hair ties since we had so many requests for them at the last craft fair.

And of course, a ring! (:

"The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom." - Isaiah 40:28

"The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory." - Isaiah 60:19

Bobby girl

Although I am not too great when it comes to accessorizing myself, I do have to say that I LOVE bobby pins.  They are discreet, tiny, incredibly functional and powerful... I hardly go a day without wearing them.  As wonderful as they are, the average bobby pins are nothing special to look at. 

That being said....

A new spin on an old faithful!!!

Check out our Etsy shop for more where these came from!

Oh, Baby!

Springtime always makes me revert back to childhood a little.  My sister and I LOVED playing outside together.  We loved dressing up in springtime outfits, we loved Easter egg hunts, we loved it all.  One of my favorite parts of spring are the flowers that come alive.  Lawns get a little greener, and gardens get a little more colorful.  Andrew and I went on a walk last night and our whole street just looked... happier!  Colors, flowers, and big, full, green bushes were everywhere! 

So in honor of childhood, of spring, of flowers, and of the newness that each season of life brings with it...

Floral Baby Bands

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven."

-Ecclesiastes 3:1



Introducting Two's Company Crafts

As you may have noticed, the name of the blog has changed!  Over the past several months, I have blogged less and less and crafted more and more.  There just has not been enough time to do both!  So... as my mom and I are becoming more busy with crafting, we decided it only made sense to tie the crafting and blogging together. Although my mom and I have been crafting together for years, we have only recently begun getting our act together in order to market and sell our little creations! So... my mom and I are now "Two's Company." 

Over the weekend, we made an appearance at Medina Middle School's FIRST EVER Spring Sting craft fair and had a great day!  Everyone we met there was so sweet and encouraging.

Here is a little recap of the day: 

Our next appearance will be at Bark in the Park in Lebanon, TN on Saturday, May 5th from 11am-5pm!  It will be a day filled with lots of shopping, food, pet photography, and even pet microchipping.  Come out and bring your pet... mine will be there!  (: 

And while I am on a roll, hop on over to our Etsy account for a quick look-see!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/twoiscompany

2012: Stuff I have Made So Far

Last week I posted a few of the organization tricks that we plan on implementing into our home, but left to head to yoga before finishing the post.  So, are the last little bit of my organization attempts thus far:

Thanks to the original ideas, which you can find here and here, I made these two things for the front of our refrigerator.  We seem to have pens strewn about random places in the house, yet when we need them, we cannot find them.  This tin can seems to be doing the trick so far.  We know exactly where our pens are now!

And we are using the clipboard to help us keep a running grocery list.  It is so much easier to keep track of what we need when the pens and the list are so handy!

The original post of the clipboard, which you have probably already seen on Pinterest, suggests making and giving the clipboard as a gift.  I will definitely be doing that this year since our finances will be especially tight in 2012... now that Andrew is going back to school!  (:  The project is ALMOST free.  I had to purchase the clipboard, which was exactly one dollar plus tax.  Already had the magnets, ribbon, button, Mod Podge, and scrapbook paper.

The next project was kind of a combination of this idea and this one.  The two came together to make this:

 And this project was also free!

 All you need is an empty container like this one, scrapbook paper, and ribbon.  Stickers are optional, but I think they add a special touch.  (:

This wreath is obviously not useful for organizing purposes, but I had to come up with something to replace our Christmas wreath.  I used hot glue, buttons, felt, ribbon, a wooden "A," and a plain wreath.  The wreath cost $4 at JoAnn's, the "A" was $2, and I already had the other materials. 

The wreath needed a friend, so I made a matching "Welcome" sign!

It's a NEW YEAR!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE how quickly 2011 passed, nor how much can change in just a year.  God is so neat that way!  Just full of surprises...

Some of the goals we set for our little family are to get more organized (and stay that way!), and to be more frugal.  I am sure both of those have been popular resolutions this New Year.  Since Andrew is going to be returning to school (he starts classes at MTSU this month), it is important for us to save every penny we can.  We do NOT want to have to take out loans for the classes that he needs to take, especially since we are still working on paying off existing school loans.  And being organized is important as well.  He will need a good, quiet place to study and to work on his online classes.  I do not know if it works this way for everyone, but I am much more able to apply myself to getting work done in a serene, clean, and organized environment. 

Here are the strides I have made so far: 

First, we had to figure out a way to organize our Christmas decorations.  One of the worst parts of Christmas is when the season comes to an end and you have to UN-decorate your house!  But doing it in an organized manner made it a little more fun, and I do not feel apprehensive about having a mess to dig through next Christmas when we are ready to decorate again. 

I did not take pictures of the packaging process, but I opted to take things out of their original boxes and bags and package them in large Zip-lock bags.  Doing this created more space and allows me to see clearly what is in each bag. 

Then, using scrapbooking paper, I created a little folder for the front of each box.  Each folder contains a card with a heading on it indicating what is in each box.  If you pull the card out of its folder, it gives a more specific breakdown of what is in each box.  This way, you do not have to unstack or dig through multiple boxes before finding what you are looking for. 

I used the same idea for Andrew's Army clothing and gear.  I am not sure if we should part with it altogether, but it is definitely going in the attic... if not the trash.

I did the same thing with two long, narrow boxes that I put under the bed.  Both boxes are labeled as "Summer."  One box contains Summer clothing and the other contains Summer shoes. 

Click here to see where I got the idea.  She also has better pictures, as well as pictures of the insides of her boxes.  I love her idea because it is SO functional and helpful, and the pretty paper makes the boxes much more pleasant to look at!  :) 

The next order of business was updating our filing system.  The one we used for 2011 was ineffective at best.  I am not an online bill payer, so we still get LOTS of bills, paper statements, etc., in the mail; thus, we have LOTS of paper to sort through after just a few months into each year. 

I purchased a simple, 19-pocket file folder from Staples (Target had some very pretty ones but they seemed expensive), and dressed it up a little with scrapbooking paper so that we can keep it displayed accessibly on a shelf without it being an eyesore:

It only seemed right that the inside of the folder would match the outside, so I dressed that up with scrapbooking paper as well. 

Here are the labels I used: 

• Automobile
• Bank Account
• Buggie (our dog... shot records, vet receipts, etc.)
• Comcast
• Dental/Medical
• Education/Loans/Bills
• Financing
• Health Benefits
• Insurance
• Licenses
• Other bills
• Prescriptions
• Personal
• Receipts
• Rent/mortgage
• Taxes
• Utilities
• Miscellaneous 

 There are a few more little projects I have done, but it is time for me to get started with the day... will post them soon! 

"May you have the courage to turn your face to the God who meets you in darkness and in daylight."  - Jan L. Richardson

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR!!!

One Day Closer

Yesterday was a lazy Saturday, and it is looking like today is going to be a lazy Sunday... and those are often the best kind!  Andrew has drill this weekend so I have the house to myself today.  And other than a few loads of laundry, I have not done much of anything!  (:

The first thing I did after waking up this morning (AFTER having my first cup of coffee) was flip the page on our new advent calender.  I made this Christmas Countdown last week, and am very pleased with the result!

We started, obviously, with 25 days, and now we are working our way down to 1!  And then to CHRISTMAS!!!

Each day has a little snippet of the Christmas story on it.... The versions from the books of Luke and Matthew, and some of the prophesies from Isaiah.

I painted a wooden clipboard, and hot glued the big bow to the front to disguise the ugly clip. I had the Christmas-themed scrapbook paper left over from last year.  The bow was also a left over scrap.  I cut the numbers out with a Cricut.  The clipboard cost only a dollar.  The whole project was very easy and cheap, and hopefully we will get a few years out of it! 

For our coffee table, I set out both last year's and this year's December editions of REAL SIMPLE magazine.  And then I filled a glass vase (originally used for our wedding) with plastic, gold ornaments and pine cones.  I snagged the pine cones from our neighbor's yard and then sprayed some canned snow on them. 

For practicality and pizazz, I made some Christmas-themed coasters, which I also put on the coffee table.

I did not invest much into our tree this year, since I have just a hodge-podge of ornaments that do not really go together.  We put black and white photos on the tree to spice it up some... some of Andrew and me, some of my family, some of his, etc.  I would love to perfect this idea, and start putting pictures of Christmases past on it each year.

This is the message of Christmas:  We are never alone.  ~Taylor Caldwell