Of Bow ties and Suspenders

I've been a busy little sewing bee lately.  

Making darling little things, likes bow ties and suspenders that match.  

Getting ready for Spring and Easter and all that good stuff.

I got in contact with a local, darling shop here called O' Child Children's Boutique. 

And have started selling my bow ties and suspenders there.

This has always been a dream of mine to have something I made, being sold in a real store.

It's pretty much super exciting!

I'll be sewing up some more and selling more on my Etsy shop soon.

The bow ties were made following A Little Gentleman's Bow Tie Pattern, of course.

A Man's Manly Apron.

 

So a while ago... Father's day I think....?  My husband asked for a big manly apron to wear for when he cooks in the home.

Simple enough.  Time was getting kind of short and I thought, "Oh, this time I'll just go out and buy one."  So off I set out to check all my favorite stores and came home with 0 aprons.  They were all terrible.  Saying things like "Real Men do Dishes" or weird BBQ innuendos.  So not going to work.  

So Father's day came and went and my poor husband received no apron-- but received an even better gift....The promise that I would make him an apron.  Okay, that's probably not a better gift.  But I did eventually follow through and for Christmas I made him an apron.

It's simple, nice, big, and manly.  It's made from outdoor fabric, so it's thick and sturdy.

As an early Christmas present my husband gave me a serger.  Because he's super kind and thoughtful like that.  So to make him his apron I basically just serged all my edges and sewed them to the inside.

For my top piece I added a second layer so it would look nice and lay flat.

My dimensions are as follows:

And though it took him a half a year to get his apron, he finally has it and really enjoys using it.

  

And I'm always in for a real treat when he uses it.  Like the other night when we had a stay-in date night and he cooked me these delicious burritos made with real home cooked tortillas.  It was fabulous.

See? What a lucky gal I am.

Wise words, indeed...

Updated the chalkboard this morning.  

I was inspired by this Chalkboard print found on Etsy.

Need more chalkboard ideas?  Check my chalkboard idea Pinterest page.

Liebster Award + Facebook Fan Coupon Code

Guess what??  I got an Liebster Award.  Sweet!  Huh?  

Well, the liebster award is a “pay-it-forward” award given by other bloggers to recognize us smaller bloggers. It’s a great way to find new blogs and meet new friends. Freshly Completed was nominated by Stripes and Polka Dots . The rules are: mention the person who nominated you with a link to their blog. Answer the eleven questions given to you. Nominate 11 other up and coming bloggers (that have under 500 followers). Make up a new set of 11 questions for your nominees. 

Here are my 11 questions:

1. Who is your hero?   My mother.  She's the bees-knees.  I strive to be just like her.  She's creative, inventive, intelligent, kind, gospel-oriented, and brave.

2. What is your biggest fear? Loosing a child.

3. What is your favorite food?  Lame...but chocolate.  Or gelato.  

4. What is your favorite book?  My favorite books are the Harry Potter series.  What?  They're awesome.

5. What do you enjoy most about blogging?  I love creating things.  I love sewing up things for my family and for others, but being able to share that love with others and create tutorials is super awesome.  When someone writes me an emailing sharing what they've made from my tutorial?  That's the BEST.

6. How did you come up with your blog name?  I started an Etsy site first called "Freshly Painted"-- so I wanted a blog that started with "freshly"...something.  i really wanted "Freshly Created" since I'm always creating new creations-- but that was taken.  So I opted for "Freshly Completed"-- to share all the projects I've completed freshly.

7. What blog/website are you most obsessed about?  There are a LOT of blogs that I majorly adore.  Top of the list is Made, Make it and Love it, Delia Creates, and Craftiness is NOT Optional.

8. What is your favorite aspect of yourself/body?  I love my eyes.  They look awesome in the summer when I'm outside-- grabbing yellow hues from the sun.

9. What is one thing most people don't know about you?  I would love to write a children's book some day.

10. What is one of your New Year's resolutions for this year?  To read the Book of Mormon.

11. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?  I would LOVE to visit Florence, Italy with my husband some day.

Thanks so much for my Liebster Award from Stripes and Polka Dots.

I nominate:

Rachel from Nest of Eggs

Courtney from Sweeter than Cupcakes

Leigh Ann from Your Home Based Mom

Cheryl from That's What Che Said

Gabby from Essentially Eclectic

T. J. from Sugar Blossoms

Lizzie from Lizzie Jane Baby

Beth from The First Year Blog

Jennifer from Big D and Me

Dana from This Silly Girl's Life

Kayrn from Dieters Downfall

Here's the 11 questions for my nominees to answer:

1. Where did you grow up?

2. If you had all the free time you wished (with no responsibilities), what would you do?

3. What inspired you to start a blog?

4. What do you love about blogging?

5. What is your least favorite aspect of blogging?

6. What do you wish you knew how to do?

7. What is one of your blog goals this year?

8. If you could attend one conference, which would it be?

9. Who are your blog idols?

10. What are your thoughts about Pinterest?

11. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would you go with?

Thanks so much, you can follow me here on Facebook and to all my facebook fans:

Again my Etsy shop is Here.

Sweetheart Sweatshirt Refashion

This week's challenge for Project Run & Play is a REFASHION.  I knew just the thing.  I had this gray sweatshirt for my 5 year old son, but realized it was too small for him.  I knew with a little work it'd be just right for my younger daughter.

When brainstorming ideas I decided to add a Valentine's day spin on it-- 'tis the season.

Here's how I made it:

MATERIALS:

1. Print off Heart Page HERE

2. Freezer paper

3. Red and White fabric paint

4. Embroidery thread

5. Shirt or sweatshirt

STEP ONE:  Print off heart and trace onto freezer paper.  Line sweatshirt with a brown bag or newspaper.

 STEP TWO:  Cut out heart out of the freezer paper.  Iron centered on sweatshirt in place.  Place stencil in place, iron down for 30 seconds.  Remove the inside heart.

STEP THREE:  Paint your heart.  I was going for an ombre effect.  So I had dark red on top, then added white with each layer going down.

I added three coats.  Repeating the process and waiting about an hour between each coat.

STEP FOUR:  After completely dry, remove freezer paper and iron down with a towel on top for 30 seconds.

STEP FIVE:  With embrodery thread make x's going around the heart.  I started with light pink at the bottom, changing threads darker as I went up.

STEP SIX:  Now onto the sewing.  I cut off the sleeves and resewed the middle to narrow the tummy part.

STEP SEVEN:  To make the neck thinner I just folded it to the inside, pinned it all down and zig zagged it down.

STEP EIGHT:  I wanted shorter, girlier sleeves, so I cut out a chunk in the middle and reattached the sleeve ribbing.

 All Done!

Again, here's all the changes I made.  Simple things to make it so cute.

Why, hello there, sweetheart.

Something about this photo below I am just really drawn to.  She looks so sad, but she's not.  And you can see baby's head photobombing at the very bottom-- ha, ha.

A perfect shirt for Valentine's Day!

Crochet Owl Hat

I made something the other day(s).  It was one of those projects that I started and stopped a lot-- which was kind of nice.  Usually it's very hard for me to stop a project.  But this one I would work on whenever I had free time and we were sitting around.

I decided to make an owl hat for my 3 year old.

I looked at two useful patterns one from Repeat Crafter Me and one from Daisy Cotton Patterns.  Both, probably very helpful-- the problem is I can't follow crochet patterns.  When I see directions like "*1 HDC in the next stitch, 2 HDC in the next stitch* around. (18) " my whole insides twist and my brain starts taking over convincing me, "Oh, don't try to understand that-- that's just crazy talk.  Plus, they want you to count and keep track-- where's the fun in that?"

So as usual-- I skipped trying to follow any patterns...and did my own thing.

The result?  It was a very fun project-- though maybe not as professional as it would look if I would have followed a pattern.

We went outside for a quick "photo shoot" in our freshly fallen snow from last night.

My girl's a natural.

After-- we came back inside and put on all her snow equipment and she and brother played outside this morning until they were too cold to stand it (about a half an hour).

Fun project, the boys are requesting Monster Hats now...I'm sure I can make something up for them, too.

A Grateful Person-- Chalkboard Idea

I saw this printable via LDS Printables HERE.

 Lovely, had to add it to the wall. 

I'm grateful for many things in my life.  

I am blessed and made happy every day by my family and by my husband who gave me this lovely print to hang upon my wall.