Winners!!!

Congrats to Brits and Keilann for winning the giveaway!! And thanks to all of you who participated. I love reading all of your nice comments! And a huge thanks to Miss Amy for letting me be a guest on her blog this week. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.

-Meg

Two can win! July Giveaway - Family Trees by Naturally Meg

I'm so excited to be hosting a giveaway here on Amy's beautiful blog today!

My name is Meg. I'm a wife and a mom to a beautiful little boy. I love bitter, dark chocolate and anything with lemon or lime. I like wearing skirts, painting my toenails red, and listening to good music. I really love making things, especially with my hands. I love to sew, knit, and paint, and try to do something craft every day if I can. I love nature and just about everything in it. I find that my greatest creative inspiration comes from the beautiful things you find in nature. I especially love trees...

I run a little shop called Naturally Meg where I  make custom family trees. I love making these trees. Family is the most important thing in my life and I love that I can make something to represent this wonderful gift of family to others. Each tree is handmade by me, and personalized with the initials or names of your choice.

Today TWO lucky winners will receive a personalized family tree of their choice with free shipping. Take a look, there are many different trees to choose from.

Shop: naturallymeg.etsy.com

Blog: naturallymeg.blogspot.com

Rules of the Contest:

1. Leave a comment

2. You must have an active blog

3. You must be a US resident

4. Extra entries for becoming a follower of the blog

5. Make sure that you have an e-mail address listed on your blog or in your comment so that I can contact you if you win.

***This giveaway is now closed***

Guest Post: Anthropologie Hidden Hummingbird Tank DIY

I am obsessed with chapstick, and am constantly losing my latest stick. I own 27 cardigans, and the collection shows no signs of slowing. My husband and I love visiting national parks, and want to see them all someday. I am usually overdressed. I think shoes might be the most important part of your outfit. I love moody music and YA fantasy books. The 4th of July is definitely my favorite holiday, and believe strongly that fireworks should never be taken for granted. My childhood (and current) dream is to restore a historic home. I like to think I am witty, and I think I am much more funny in person than I am in writing.

you can find my bargain style finds here | überchicforcheap.blogspot.com

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I started coveting this Anthropologie Hidden Hummingbird Tank months ago. I love the floral neckline so much it hurts.


{Hidden Hummingbird Tank - $78}

As soon as I saw that price tag I started plotting ways to make one of my own. Then I remembered this ridiculously awesome fabric that has been in my mother's fabric stash since about 1991.


It's a single side floral printed fleece. My mom said she bought it to make my little first grade self a sweat suit. So awesome.

I cut the flowers and leaves out to use in my design. I also cut leave shapes out of the solid blue portion of the fabric.


I laid the pieces out to decide what order I wanted them in. Then I pinned the shapes onto the shirt so I could begin sewing.


I used this button + carpet (heavy gauge) thread I had hanging around to hand sew the pieces onto the neckline. (I have no idea where this came from or why one would use thread on carpet. But it was in my Grandma's thread collection that I was lucky enough to inherit, along with my adjustable dressform. I owe almost all of my sewing equipment and fabric stash to the women who came before me. end tangent.)

I used a crew cut tee from wet seal that I got on clearance, so I cut out the neckline in a scoop. If I were doing it again, I would snag a scoop or v-neck tee to begin with. Here are some good options:



{Casual Scoop Neck - $2.50 | Basic V Neck - $3.50 | Basic Mid Scoop - $2.50}

I added stitching around the edges while sewing the pieces on. Then, I added beading to the flowers.


Here's the finished product:


{photos courtesy of Jackie Norris}

I am sort of in love with it. It took me a long time to do, but I couldn't be happier.

What do you think? Anything you are craving to make this week? Leave a comment!

{Thanks for having me, Amy!}

Happy Things

Today is the beginning of the rat race - the start of my very busy month! Since I will be out of town all week, I have posted a few videos as a fond and temporary farewell! They made me smile and now I would like to pass the joy along to you. I love innovation and people who think out of the box and break the norm!

Speaking of innovation, I will be having a very cool guest blogger later this week to help me out while I'm away! I'm really excited to have her featured on H is for Handmade so please check back to see what pretties she will be featuring and show her some love! 

Have a great week!

Puppet Theatre Tutorial

I checked out Hancock Fabric's big sale the other day. Very dangerous! Everything is marked so low that it was hard to control myself! There are a lot of really great fabrics on clearance right now! If you want to check it out, I was told that the sale will be going on until July 7th. This fabric in particular caught my eye:

                                 

(P.S. it feels more like a canvas instead of polyester)

So what does one do with 2 yards of red and white stripe, outdoor fabric? 

I use a portion of it to make a puppet theatre, of course!

I think this puppet theatre would be cute in any fabric, really. I am just a little enamored with stripes and anything circus themed right now so, naturally, I opted for that route. I thought about doing a more detailed tutorial, but I found that it was mainly just taking a few measurements and simply hemming all the sides. It was so simple that I just thought I would make a key for you to go off:

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These measurements are for a standard 32" doorway. If your doorway measures differently, you will need to adjust the width of the fabric (see letter A) which will also result in a different length of your peak (see letter c).

(sorry, I have not yet invested in photoshop, so this is blog drawing is very elementary!)

A = This measurement is your doorway's width - remember to add an inch for a seam allowance

B = 46"

C = Find the center of your fabric and measure up from where your window is - or will be, then fold sides in all the way down to almost the top of the window to make a peak. See photo below.

D = 20" 

E = 12" 

F = 20" - This too may vary with the doors width

                    

A total of 3 tension curtain rods will be used to hold your theatre in the doorway. After you have cut out your fabric and hemmed all the sides, including your window, you will need to add 2 pole pockets on the back. 1 right above the window and the other right below the window.
(I purchased my rods at Walmart for $2.50 ea.)

You will also need to attach a ring large enough for your 3rd tension rod to fit through, on the top of the peak to hang your puppet theater.

Additional details I added:

A pocket to hold a flag which I made from felt and a chopstick

A felt scallop banner to the bottom and top of the window to hide stitching for pole pockets

Thanks for stopping in! If you decide to make one, I would love to see pics of your project! Have fun!

Perfect Picnic Tutorials

To me, nothing says "summer" like a perfect picnic! There is just something magical about a mobile meal and dining alfresco! I have gathered up some really great tutorials and ideas to ensure that your next portable dinner outing is equipped with the best handmade accessories! Bon appetit!

Try this eco freindly dish cover tutorial by Allison Hill for your fruit salad!

No picnic is complete without a comfy and durable blanket! Tutorial offered by Craft Stylish.

A great 2-in-1 project! A placesetting tutorail to keep your utencils handy from My Patchwork.

Give your basket a quick makeover with this tutorial by V and Co.

Make these portable cushions from the tutorial by Sew, Mama, Sew to ensure that you have the most comfortable spot at the park!

A tutorial for this handy little condiment caddy can be found at Design Sponge!

If you just want to eat out in the backyard all summer long, how is this little project? Tutorial provided by DIY Diva.

What's a picnic without the great food? Try out a few recipes from DeeDee Stovel's Picnic Book!

Children's Mailbox - Tutorial

Here is the mailbox tutorial I did for U Create. I was asked to wait to post this so that U Create could have exclusivity to it for a month and that it's readers would find it there first. I can't believe that was over a month ago, already! Whaaat? So, now I am presenting it to you...just in case you happened to miss it!

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My child loves to help us get the mail! He looks forward to the postman coming each day and delivering envelopes filled with what he believes to be invitations to extravagant parties and letters and pictures from Grandma! I don't dare spoil fun by telling him that what he is looking at are merely utility bills and grocery adds! The thought occurred to me that we could have this kind of fun all day long by making him his own little mailbox! Now I love to drop him a little note and picture and watch him pretend the day away and see his imagination run wild!

Materials needed:

1 sheet of poster board

2 sheets of 12X18 stiff felt (a.k.a. Easy Felt)

approx. 1 yard of ribbon (preferably canvas/cotton)

scissors

craft glue or hot glue

patterns printed off computer (provided at the bottom of the post) 

Step 1: After printing the provided patterns, cut 1 set of each piece in both your felt and your poster board. The poster board will provide durability and rigidity to your mailbox. The felt will then be the cover.  

Step 2: Cut a strip of ribbon to the length of the side of your back and front piece. Apply glue to the entire area of the ribbon. 

Step 3:  Glue your 2 pieces of poster board together. Allow glue to dry completely. 

The ribbon will act as a hinge and will allow you to fold and bend your pieces more easily.

Step 4: Now apply ribbon to the opposite end of your paper just as you did in step 3. Allow glue to dry completely. 

This is what you should have when the 4 steps are complete. The ribbons will be on the INSIDE of your mailbox.

Step 5: Apply glue to the entire exposed area to the back of the ribbon. 

Step 5: Fold your front piece over and adhere it to the glue covered ribbon. You will need to hold it down and allow glue to dry completely.

This is what it should look like after all 6 steps are complete.

Step 7: Cut 6 pieces of ribbon measuring 2" in length and glue as shown to the poster board piece labeled "bottom".  These will act as tabs and make it possible to adhere the bottom to the mailbox.

Step 8: Begin to glue the tabs to the inside of your mailbox.

This is what it should look like after the 8 steps are complete.

Step 9: Cut a piece of ribbon the length of the top lid of your mailbox and glue to the lid and the back of your mailbox as shown.

Step 10: Now glue all your felt pieces over the poster board for a more finished look.

Now you can add any embellishments you wish! I simply embroidered on a piece of canvas and glued it to the front. I added a ribbon tab under the lid to make it easier to open and I also used it cover my edges to give it a little detail. You can add a hook or loop of ribbon on the back if you want to hang it on the wall or just leave it as is if you are setting in on a flat surface.

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