Tuesday.

First off, let me just say how extremely excited I am that today is Tuesday and it's time for another new episode of Sons of Anarchy! Can't wait to watch it tonight :D

Ok, now on with the good stuff. Well, I obviously survived Fair on the Square! I was a very long, super awesome weekend. I'm so glad I did it. I slept for about 3-4 hours Thursday night and then didn't go to sleep again until 9:45pm Saturday night. Let's just say I was really realllllly tired. But, it was most definitely worth it. I had a great spot, the vendors around me were totally awesome (for the most part) and there was a steady crowd throughout the day. I was a little nervous as to what to expect, but I ended up doing really well- sold a little more than half my stuff! My neighboring vendors said their first times they barely made enough to cover the booth (which is $150) so I was pleasantly surprised Saturday night when I tallied everything up. If you're interested in anything, check the Facebook page as there are still a few items left (several wreaths, some pillows and a few birdfeeders). It was so much fun, I will definitely be doing it again next year. I would really like to try and make the Christmas Fair this year, I just don't know if I'll have enough time to get things done before then. (I'm booked pretty much every weekend through Thanksgiving) But we shal see!

Here are a few pics from the weekend. If you came out, thank you so much for stopping by and supporting me!! :)

Hope everyone's week is starting out great!

xoxo,
kris

Sneak Peeks!

In case you haven't noticed from the 5,000 times I've mentioned it, Fair on the Square is THIS WEEK! eeeeek! I'm so excited! This Saturday we'll be out all day, so come by and see us while you're busy shopping and enjoying all the awesomeness the fair has to offer each year. The weather looks like it will be amazing, so it should be a great weekend to be outdoors.

I've been working my fingers to the bone getting things ready, hopefully it will pay off and everyone will love our stuff. I have so many things left to do on the list before Friday, but I did make a last minute decision to add some Halloween crafts to the list too. (I know, I may be a tad insane!) I cranked out several of them Saturday and I'm really loving how they turned out.

Don't mind the shelf or random greenery in the background, I just hung them up for a quick pic in the middle of working Saturday night. I have a couple more that couldn't fit on the rod for the pic, but you can get the idea. I'm going to make several more so there will be a decent amount available for this weekend. On a non-Halloween note, I'm also planning to make some Christmas hangers as well... That is, if I don't run out of hours in the days before Friday night!

Here's another sneak peek at a Fall wreath that will be at Fair on the Square.

Please excuse the messy carpet, my shadow and the teeny tiny stem of a flower stem at the top of the pic, oh and the horrible lighting. yeah, I probably should have mentioned the lighting first. I should really learn to take pictures in the day, and not after I've been working for a gazillion hours straight.

And just because it's Monday, the boss it out, and I'm feeling great (all be it exhausted) I'll give you one more peak at another Fall wreath.

Again, don't mind the messy carpet or the edge of the Ruffle Wreath in the top corner or the horrible lighting. I'm making a mental note to take pictures in the daylight hours and only AFTER the wreath is completely ready to hang. HA!

I just get so excited and then once I've moved on to something else, I forget to go back and take another picture. Oh well, we live learn!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. It's October 1st y'all! Here's to a great week and an even better month, loving this Fall weather!

xoxo,
kris

Recent Happenings

I have been a busy busy bee lately! This will probably be the case until after Fair on the Square, but that's fine with me, I'm excited :)

Here are a few snapshots of what's been going on the past few days. Most of the time I get bogged down with stuff and forget to even take pictures, for those that follow on Instagram, sorry!

It has been raining A LOT. Which is awesome, makes crafting weekends that much more enjoyable.

I've been working on some tags for an upcoming project, here they are at stage one.

And here they are at stage two. I have one more thing to add, so they're not quite finished yet.

I've also been working on some Halloween projects for Fair on the Square. I'm really excited to show off the new Fall/Holiday items in THREE WEEKS!

My Monday morning didn't start off too great, I had a little fender bender on the way to work. Everyone is fine, however Dottie has some major scrathes and possible other damage, so I'm going to get her appraised this afternoon. Hopefully it isn't too bad, but that's what insurance is for I guess! Here's hoping the rest of the week goes much more smoothly than it started out!

xoxo,
kris

TGIF!

It's finally Friday! Is it just me or do the weeks seem to drag on lately? I feel like time has flown by, Fall is just around the corner but it feels like just yesterday it was May, but yet the weekends still take forever to get here it seems. Such is life I guess.

Hope you are all having a great week and plan to have an even better weekend! I might check out the Bearkat soccer game tonight and then work on some Ruffles and Lace projects tomorrow. Last night was Hornet Hysteria at the high school, Candy and I went with a couple other friends to watch Miss Caitlyn cheer. She did a fabulous job! It is still a bit strange going back to my old high school, even after working there for several years, and being in a brand new gym that wasn't around back when I was young. Oh well, guess I'm getting old!

Last weekend I worked on some Ruffles and Lace projects for Fair on the Square. Here's a little peek at one of the creations.

Candy Corn Wreath

 

Dont forget to make plans to attend the Fair on the Square- Saturday, October 6th! There are a ton of booths with all kinds of vendors and goodies and of course awesome food vendors, and there's a beer garden too ;)

 

Enjoy your Friday and have a fantabulous weekend!

 

xoxo,

kris

Hump Day!

Is it just me or is this week going by reaaaaallllly slooooowwwly? Today should definitely be Friday, or at the very least, Thursday! Alas, I'll have to settle for Wednesday. Which is ok, there are only two more days left until the weekend and working on new projects!

Last Sunday I had an appointment down in the Woodlands so I just HAD to stop at Joann Fabrics and start stocking up for fall. I know I've gone on several times about loving summer time, but fall really is awesome..I mean if I really had to pick a fav it just might be fall, although really why pick favorites when it's not necessary? Joann's was having a fantabulous sale AND I had a coupon so I did really well for the day. Here's a little sneak preview at some fabrics I purchased. Remind you of anything in particular?

I actually took off work last Friday to get some stuff done since I had such a busy weekend of errands, appointments, and tons of driving. After making some major progress on the list Friday morning my mama and I hit up some antique stores in some nearby towns that afternoon. It was a lot of fun, even though it was crazy hot. Can you believe some of these places don't haev AC's or fans?! We didn't end up getting much, but I found a few awesome sites for future purchases (sorry, can't reveal any of those details hehe!) One shop we went in had an entire wall filled with old stained glass windows. They were so pretty!

The picture obvs doesn't do the glass justice, you'll just have to trust me that they were beautiful :)

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week and planning great things for the weekend, I know I am!

xoxo,
kris

We Survived.

Well, we did it. Christmas in July was a major success, and we survived the blistering heat!

I got everything all organized and ready Friday night, while watching the opening ceremonies of course, and then we loaded up the cars and headed out bright and early at 6:30AM Saturday morning. Our booth was on a nice little corner near the main road, so we had a good breeze for most of the day, which was probably was kept was from dying of heat stroke. The booth next to us was a whole little family working together, they were so cute! AND as it turns out, the daughters were in my sister-in-law's English class last year. Such a small world. We had a lot of fun meeting everyone and visiting with out neighbors. Ruffles and Lace did really well, especially considering the heat, and the fact that I don't think the event garnered as much traffic as they were hoping. There were still quite a bit of people, I just think more would have shown up if not for the sun melting our faces off. All in all, it was a fabulous day and a great experience for our first bigger show. We CAN'T WAIT to do another one! We're looking at doing Fair on the Square in October, I'll hopefully have more information about that next week.

Hope your weekend was as great as mine! (even though it's Monday, and I now need a weekend to recover from my weekend) ;)

xoxo,
kris

Movin' on Up!

I'm so unbelievably excited to tell you that Isabel and I will be taking Ruffles and Lace to Kate's Trade Days next weekend! That's right, June 2-3 we will have a booth out at Trade Days. For those of you who are not familiar with it, Trade Days is a monthly event for arts and crafts vendors. Located on HWY 190 it's just outside of Hville so caters to several different communities.

Here's how you get there:

Drive East on 190, once you pass the Dodge cut-off at 405 (you'll see Bubba's gas station on your left) be on the lookout for Kate's flags on your left.

Pretty simple!

It's not too far, but just far enough to be out of the "city". We are very excited about this opportunity and can't wait to see everyone out there! I'm going to be working like a mad women tonight and tomorrow to get a lot of projects going/finished and then next week as well. This is our first big step into the market and we couldn't be more thrilled that it's an outdoor trade show. I will definitely be posting pictures of all the items and the booth here as well as the facebook page, so check back soon for updates!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial weekend, and please take time to reflect on the fact that this is Memorial Day and not just any long weekend. I am so thankful for the troops of the past and present who have bravely gone into battle for all of us, to those living and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice bless each and every one of you.

xoxo,
kris

Projects Galore!

Yesterday I mentioned that working on some projects recently for Ruffles and Lace has been keeping me super busy, well today I finally have some time to share some of the finished projects with you. My friend Isabel and I recently started Ruffles and Lace as a side venture, since we both love crafting and had been looking for a change it was the perfect fit! So instead of blabbing on and on about the business, I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

This is the 18" Yellow Rosette Pillow. The rosettes are all handmade as is the pillow. They are also made out of the same fabric as the pillow, however since the fabric is only patterned on one side it gives the rosettes a slight rustic/vintage look- which I love!

The middle pillow in this picture is a 12" Blue Rosette Pillow. Again, the rosettes are handmade along with the rest of the pillow. I can't remember if I've posted pics of the other two pillows or not (and since I'm too lazy to go back and look)... The White Ruffle Pillow is also 12" and the Pink Ruffle Pillow is 12"x14".

This fabulous little teacup bird feeder is probably one of my favorite items! I made four of them last week and this one is my absolute fav. The wooden rung is sanded, painted, and distressed then adorned with an oh so precious teacup that is accented with little pink flowers to match the paint. Bird seed will fit perfectly inside the cup as well as around the saucer, or you can fill the cup with water- or buy two and do both! :)

Isabel and I have some other exciting things in the works and will hopefully be getting that squared away soon, and then I will most definitely be posting about it!

xoxo,
kris



Ruffles and Lace!

Isabel and I are really getting this craft business off the ground. Today we got a Facebook page setup! You can go check it out here: Ruffles and Lace on Facebook

We are really excited for this new adventure and can't wait to get going on more projects to load and sell. In addition to the Facebook page, there's also an email address- rufflesandlace@ymail.com. If you have any questions about pricing or special orders you can send an email if you prefer not to post on Facebook. I will continue to update with craft posts here as well.

So, spread the word to all your friends to go like our page! :)

Super pumped for this weekend and celebrating Caitlyn's 16th birthday, followed by a rainy Sunday filled with projects. Be sure to check back next week for new craft posts!

xoxo,
kris

Pillows!

How is it already Monday? This weekend seemed to fly by.. I think we should have Mondays off just to recover from the weekend. Saturday was pretty busy with doing Caitlyn's hair in the morning (she had Protocal that night, which is basically prom). I love curling and styling hair, guess I missed my calling haha. I then went straight from Candy's house to Heather and Ryan's for Miss Ellie's Frist Birthday Party! They had it setup so cute and of course I forgot to take pictures. She is such a ham! That girl knows how to work the crowd. It was great weather for sitting outside and enjoying the day with friends/family. I was really excited to give Ellie the tutu I made (you can see pics in the previous post) along with one of my all time favorite childhood boos, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. I think that's where my strong desire to recycle as a child came from haha. One of the grandparents gave her a little wading pool so after cake and gifts she got in there and played for a while, it was too cute. I was super stoked to see Melissa, whom I never get to see! It's always fun catching up with old friends. :)

Now for Sunday, I spent most of the day working on sewing projects. I wanted to finish off 4 pillows, however the second fabric I was working with didn't want to cooperate very well so it took A LOT longer to finish it than the first one. Soooo, I still have 2 more to make. They're not too hard, if you know how to sew and have some patience. They will definitely be staples in the craft business with Isabel so let me know if you are interested or have a particular color/shape in mind and we can work something out.

Here's the first one. I did more sctructured ruffles on this one, giving it a more sophisticated, classic look. I think it turned out pretty well for that category.

For this next one I was thinking more along the lines of a nursery or spare room used for readind/lounging, you get the idea, so I did more ruffles and placed them much tighter together. Basically it's a little more playfull/whimsical rather than structured. I love the look of the ruffles on this one :)

It's a little hard to tell from the pictures, but the white pillow is square and the pink is a rectangle. The rectangle shape looks great in person with the ruffles. Here's a side by side so you can see the difference, kind of.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm definitely in need of more sleep and will probably be a going to bed and an unreasonably early time tonight like a grandma!

xoxo,
kris

Spring Time!

Spring is officially here! I absolutely love the cold weather, however, I truely love this time of year when the days are longer and you just want to accomplish so much more in the day. Which brings me to the main topic for today, crafts! For a while now I've been contemplating starting an Etsy page and selling items I've created that route, but for some reason or another I've just never sat down and actually did it. Well, after much deliberation and "soul searching" I've come to the conclusion that Etsy is just not for me. I do want to sell my crafts, just through a different means is all. One of my oldest and dearest friends, Isabel, and I have decided to venture into this craft selling business together. At the moment we are just cranking out some items to sell and/or display through craft shows/fairs and of course this 'ol world wild internet web. So, if you know of any craft shows in the area that you think we might like to participate in, feel free to shout it out!

Here are a couple items I worked on last weekend.

This is my Ruffle Wreath with white and pink flowers. I still have a few touches to finish up, but it's basically done. I'll be making several more Ruffle Wreaths with different themes, so be sure to check back for more pics!

This is my take on a cherry blossom branch, this was the first one. I'm sure I'll be making more of these and varying the technique and/or colors and such.

And finally, I made this tutu for Miss E's 1st birthday party this coming weekend. I used four different shades of tulle and ribbon to tie at the top. I can't wait to see her in it!
I can't wait for this weekend to get back to work on my crafts! I have a huge project I'm working Sunday, hopefully I can get all four pieces completed by Monday, so I can post pics soon. I also ordered my own Cricut. I used to go to Candy's and share with her but with the new job hours it makes it rather difficult. But now that I have my own we can have a Cricut party ;) I'm going to get a table Friday after work and set it up in the "craft room" where the sewing machine is set up as well.

I'm just so excited to get going with this adventure, and see where it takes us!

xoxo,
kris

More Craftiness!

I had so much fan making the pillows in the previous post for Jo and her hubs that I've been in super crafty mode! I've been contemplating creating an Etsy page and selling my stuff, and I still haven't decided on that one yet...

Etsy is a huge step and requires either a large stockpile or a super speedy creation process - that is IF you get any orders. I've come to realize that the site is basically overstocked with a lot of the same stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love Etsy and will continue to check it out, but I'm worried that it would be rather hard to break into that arena. Possibly the equivalent of selling Mary Kay in a small town where 30 people already sell it kind of thing. Soooo, in light of my realizing this, I'm making baby steps and taking aim and buyers through this here blog, facebook, twitter, and good 'ol fashioned word of mouth from those people I like to call friends.

Hopefully you've already seen the pillow in the previous post, if not, UH scroll down and check'er out!

Sticking with the crafty theme, I need to add some pics from a baby gift I made and sold to a friend back in July. If you'll recall, way back in April I made this mobile for my friend Amy and her lovely baby Everleigh.

Doesn't Miss Caitlyn make an excellent Vanna White?

This is the mobile (along with a couple outfits) all packaged up, ready for the shower! I just loved the super cute basket that Candy let me use to wrap it all up in :)


Along these same lines, Amanda wanted a mobile for her gift at a shower in July so I made another one. She also brought me some baby fabric she picked out and made a couple burp cloths with the material. I made this mobile a bit different. I used the same size butterflies (as opposed to varying sizes like the previous pics) and also added some "crystal jewels" at the bottom of each strand for extra weight since the butterflies were smaller. I really like how this one turned out too!

These was taken at about 9pm, so the lighting in the house was pretty terrible. The only shots I could get to make the butterflies pop were in front of the ugly beautiful brown door here.

I was trying to show the little sparkling jewels in this one. Eh, maybe it kind of sorta worked haha!

Since the mobiles are rather hard to transport, I worked gift wrapping into the price and had it all packaged up for Amanda the night before the shower.

Here's everything all ready to go. The shower color was pink, so since I hate adore the color pink that's what I wrapped the goodies up in!

Anyone that might be interested in ordering a mobile, burp cloth, or pillow feel free to contact me! There will be varying pillow options coming soon, so keep checking back for updated pics of the pillows you'll be able to buy.  I have numerous color available for mobiles and can do varying options other than butterflies. The pricing obviously varies depending on what you're looking for so just let me know what you would like and I can get a price to you. For those of you who do not live locally, I can ship items to you as well!

You can leave a comment with inquiries, email me at klg2525 AT yahoo DOT com, facebook me, send a tweet, call or text, send a smoke signal, a message in a bottle...

Basically what I'm getting at is feel free to contact me in any manor you are able to!

As I finish the projects I'm currently working on, I will post pics of those as well. Until then, spread the word - I'd love to get some of my stuff out there!

Hope you're having a great week. Happy Hump Day!

xoxo,
kris

Project Reveal.

Remember when I told you about a project I was going to be working on and gave absolutely not details about it? Well, I finished it last weekend and delivered it last night, so I can now tell you about!

One of my oldest and dearest friends Jo, and her cooler than cool hubby, relocated to a much closer area - which is Ah-Mazing! I wanted to do something nice for them to commemorate the occasion and was having trouble deciding what to do. I didn't want to purchase any decorative accent pieces (ie wall hangings or vases etc) since the hubs is an artist and has decorated their space in a fairly rad manner. The obvious place to go from there would be a plant, eh BORING! Having visited several weeks ago and got a feel for the colors and decor I decided my best bet would be to make something. I settled on decorative pillows since I knew Jo had been looking for some. However, since I didn't want her to purchase any before I could complete the project and get it to her, I had to tell her I was making pillows. I know, I know it kind of ruined the surprise, but I didn't show her the fabric or anything so there was still somewhat of a shock value.

The first step was finding some super awesome material. I searched for several hours at numerous stores one day and ended up actually buying some upholstery fabric at Hobby Lobby of all places.

Before I share the photo let me just say, I seem to be relying a lot on my iphone camera rather than actually taking out my real camera.

Therefore, I apologize for the less than stellar quality/lighting/angles/overall goodness.

Here's the fabric, straight outta the shopping bag.

If you can't tell, it's black with a kind of tan-ish pattern. The pattern itself is actually flowers, but I love them because they look like starbursts :)

After talking to Jo and telling her my plan, she mentioned that she really needed pillows for her bedroom too. Since her bedding is dark, I decided to make the pillows larger than previously planned so she could use them in either the living room or bedroom.

First things first, I laid out the fabric and cut it into 4 matching panels (each measuring 21"x 21"). I then pinned the edges, right sides together. I reeeeeally need to purchase a serger - hopefully soon! But, since I don't have one yet, I did a double seem for extra strength (hence the 21", the pillow itself is 20"). I also backstitched on every corner to ensure major stability. I left about 3" open on one side of each pillow, this is where I will turn it right side out.

Here's what they looked like at this point. (They look brown because they're inside out!)

Before turning the material right side out, I pressed open the seems so the pillow would have better shape once stuffed. So, once they're pressed open, turn the fabric right side out by carefully pulling it through the 3" opening.

They should now look like this!

Now, comes the fun part. Stuffing. Fiberfill. Yay. Since these bad boys were rather large, I had to use 3 16 lbs bags of fiberfill on each pillow. It actually took me longer to stuff the pillows than it did to complete the entire previous section! It's not as bad as it sounds, just tedious. I planted myself on the coffee table and watched some baseball while stuffing and stuffing and stuffing.

Did I mention it took 3 bags for each pillow?

No? Ok, just checking.

Once they pillows are nice and plush with fiberfill, it's time to close up the 3" opening with a good 'ol needle and thread. I actually went over the opening twice to ensure stability, especially since I did a double hem on the rest of the edges.

Here's the finished product!

Again, I've become a horrible picture taker and forgot to get a shot of both pillows together.

I had a ton of fun making these for Jo and the Hubs and already decided on my next project! You'll have to wait and see for that one as well because I'm thinking of gifting it too ;)

Hope you've all had a great week and are planning a super awesome weekend! I'm heading to watch Candy's daughter cheer at a high school football game tonight. LOVE the Friday night lights - can't wait for some fall weather to go with it! :)

xoxo,
kris