Etsy Love - Lavinia's Craft Shop

When a friend of mine recently added entrepreneur to her title of wife and homeschooling super-mom, I could relate to the excitement, anxiety, and hopefulness of such a new venture. 
Which is why I was thrilled to to lend my photography skills to help her set up shop...well that and any excuse to play house and dress-up with her lovely creations (and wish I owned them all). We had such a great time with our photo shoot!

This got me seeing Etsy in a whole new light, and now I think I may have slight Etsy obsession *grin*. So every Thursday for the next couple months I'll be featuring an Etsy shop I've fallen in love with! Not only do you get to ogle incredible finds by talented artisans, but at the end of this series I'll be hosting a mass giveaway of many of the beautiful featured items!  Are you squealing yet? If you aren't, you will be when you see the drool-worthy items in the giveaway! Keep an eye open, and follow along each Thursday...

Today, I'm excited to introduce my good friend Sandy and her brand new shop, Lavinia's Craft Shop! Shooting her beautiful goods was lots of fun for me, I wanted everyone to be able to see her craftsmanship in sharp view.



Meet Sandy |  Owner, Crafter
I am a homeschooling mom who loves the Lord. I decided to come out of the workforce after 15 years because I wanted to be home with my children. Every day I wake up and  I thank the Lord for giving me the ability to stay home with my two beautiful daughters. 

I first got into crafting about 20 years ago when my sister taught me how to crochet, and I have been crocheting ever since! It has been my dream for the past 20 years to establish my own crafting business. I am so proud to say that with the support of my husband and patience of my children it is finally coming to fruition! 

My favorite past times are crafting, singing, and spending time with God, friends, and family!

~Sandy

Thanks for sharing Sandy! What she hasn't told you is what a hardworking vivacious lady she is! Full of personality and spunk, always putting others first, she deserves to finally follow her dreams!

I had a hard time choosing which of her items to feature, but I managed to narrow it down to a few of the items I swoon over the most. *lopsided grin*  Oh, what can I say? You know me, I'm a sucker for great designs, colors, and textures! Uh, have you seen the throw pillow in the first picture? I'm SO in love with that throw pillow. At $18 it is a steal, and if you don't buy it, I might! *wink*

Well, what did I say? Doesn't Sandy make some of the cutest items? You should see me strutting around in her wear-ables. *grin* You'll definitely want to visit to her shop before the fall season starts, she has the cutest scarfs, wraps, and afghans!  

She also makes lovely home goods, and -exciting news- you could be the new owner of this gorgeous coaster set! Yes you! Keep an eye open for the finale of the series, you won't want to miss all the drool-worthy items you can win.

I'm very proud of my friend Sandy, she has shown great courage, determination, and hopefulness in this new venture. She's been committed to giving her all to her family, working hard homeschooling her girls, being a force in her community for good, and finally she is able to pursue her dreams!  I would really love it if you showed her some "Etsy Love" and followed her shop on Etsy and Facebook.  

How to Make Cute DIY Drawstring Bags

I've gotten that organizing itch again... with all the crafty projects, summer road trips, and junk drawer-like messes, I've decided to bring things back into order using drawstring bags.

What can I say, I'm the naturally messy type, and being able to scoop up items and toss them into like groups just helps keep messes to a minimum.

With three kids everything I own gets a lot of wear and tear, its ridiculous how much wear and tear considering I have all girls! I'd like these bags to stand up against the onslaught of use, so for these bags I'm using the sturdiest material I own; Smart-Fab's disposable art & decoration fabric. It is strong, it doesn't fray or fade with washing, and it is great for painting on, making this the material of choice for a durable and attractive drawstring bag! 

Smart-Fab material comes in rolls so you can make bags of any shape and size. I'm thinking about creating some long drawstring bags to house my kids kites, beach gear, and a dozen other items we lug around throughout the summer. 

I was surfing through the Smart-Fab Pinterest page, and was impressed with all the things you can create with these large rolls! With kids I'm always looking for sturdy craft materials, and if you're a mom you are too, so if you want more info take a look at their website or Facebook page.

The color swatch book let me preview the variety of colors so I could determine which I would love most and get rolls in those colors. I am a sucker for bold greens, blues, and of course black and white, but my ever girly girls begged for some drawstring bags in pink and purple. Aw, I'm a sucker for my munchkins...sure why not, some  in colors for me, and some for my girls! 

I'll share step-by-step instructions on how to sew drawstring bags below, but first I thought I'd share the fun I had painting designs after sewing. The girls also enjoyed painting their drawstring bags, but were a little shy about me sharing their creations on the blog. Ah well, you'll have to take my word for how adorably cute their designs were...but then again, I might be biased. *grin*

When painting your drawstring bags, insert a little piece of cardboard or paper to protect against the paint seeping through. Some of my drawstring bags have a different design on the back.  A great idea for organizing is to paint a picture of the items the bag will house, or to stencil a word saying what goes in each bag on the back. 

Steps to Sew A Drawstring Bag

You're ready to feed the string or ribbon through the top, and paint your drawstring bag. Once the paint dries, organize your knick knacks, sit back and admire your awesome work!

Linky Love

Place of My Taste
SNAP!
Persia Lou
Golden Sycamore
Lamberts Lately

My First Time...at a HomeGoods Store

I stepped through the automatic doors, took one look around me and whispered "oooooh noooo, I've just been taken hostage...by AWESOME". I know, I know, I'm a nut. See, I've never been in a HomeGoods store before and I guess I had partially expected a shop of antique like trinkets and furniture a grandmother would buy. What was I thinking?? Well now here I was, standing smack in the middle of the doorway, mouth agape, taking in the breathtaking beauty of what could only be my dream shop. I positively floated down the aisles, pausing to ooh and ahh at the pretty goods, then OOOH and AHHH more loudly when I looked at a tag.
I know, I'm a bit melodramatic when it comes to home decorating, but give me a break, I've been pinching my pennies and patiently waiting 10 years to make the house of my dreams! I look for every deal I can get my paint stained little fingers on. 

I'm working on my living room makeover, and boy is this budget a tight one. Well, you were asking where I got these gorgeous baskets you saw during the bookcase makeover reveal. And now you know, for once I sprang for a little something-something for muah! The big basket was $16.99, and the smaller one was $11.99.

How awesome are these? They are perfect for holding my big fabric bolts, and wrapping paper. No more leaning them in random corners of my house then bolting around trying to remember where I left that particular paisley. And if you didn't already know, I'm a huge sucker for pretty wrapping paper...and not because I'm a big gifter (my friends will tell you I'm not), but because they are fantastic for a variety of craft projects. Speaking of which, I also found several cute wrapping paper rolls at HomeGoods.

I'm also excited to have found a pair of 96" curtain panels for half price! Yes, that is $12 for long curtains that will frame the sliding door from my living room to my deck perfectly! *contented sigh*

Hey, in case you were wondering, HomeGoods did not put me up to this, I just thought you'd get a kick out of hearing my first ever HomeGoods experience. I mean, what warm blooded woman doesn't enter a strictly home decor store until she's 31?  *emphatic head shake* Its just not natural. Ok, but it was necessary...I needed to be sure we were complete debt free and had a savings before I introduced myself to kryptonite. Ask me in a few months if we still have a savings... *joking*

My Fab Furniture & ReStor-It

I was incredibly thrilled to find these mid-century modern chairs at $30 a piece. What a steal! Hooray for awesome Facebook swap & sell groups!
My new mid-century mod chairs are sturdy, and ridiculously comfortable, but they do have a bit of "speckling" where the finish looked like it was exposed to moisture and bubbled in a couple places. My poor chairs look like they have a mild case of psoriasis! I'm a little bummed since I like the wood finish, and I'm not exactly feeling eager to sand these chairs down and re-stain it. Ugh, I hate sanding spindles, and worst with the freezing temperatures we've been experiencing in the midwest I'll have to wait months for warmer weather. This type of project would have to be done in the outdoors to ensure proper ventilation.

Then a week after these darling new chairs came to nest, I was contacted by Master Manufacturing Company about reviewing their ReStor-It Furniture Touch-Up Kit. Could it be fate? I've always been curious about how well their Furniture Touch-Up Markers work, and with three kids scratched furniture is not only inevitable, it is sadly expected. 
Well, guess what came in the mail today? 

I am like a kid on Christmas morning when I get a package, and this is no exception! I'm eager, hopeful, and full of child-like curiosity (I wonder if I'll ever grow out of that).
The kit comes with 5 touch up markers in various finishes, and 3 filler sticks.

First things first, look for instructions. Next, sigh with relief because instructions are short and easy! Next whip out the furniture.
Here is the first area I want to try the Furniture Touch-Up Marker on: The back leg of my mid-century modern chair. 

See, doesn't it look like a blight? Well, here it goes! I'm testing the Light Oak and the Natural on the very bottom to see which color works best. Aaaaand the winner is...Natural!
Check out this progress! You can see an immediate difference...look at that line between the area I've applied the marker over and the area I have not.
Hee hee, so I yelled "hey it works!", and my three girls came dashing in to see mom coloring a chair. Their perplexed looks as they accuse me of "drawing on furniture" is priceless, finally the tables are turned. *smirk* I think I have some 'splaining to do or this could come back to haunt me. 

I'm going to let it sit for a couple hours just to see if it looks as good as it does when it hasn't been immediately applied.
Where is a timer image when you need one? *wink*

>>One Hour Later<<
Ok, I'm back with the results, and I have to say I'm very impressed! It looks fantastic, and required no sanding or use of strong fumes like a stain/varnish combo would have. 

Ok, now I'm really excited! I've dashed around the house a few times to see what other scratches or blemishes I can hide when I spy the coffee table of doom. This is my girls favorite place to craft and create. I've been thinking about refinishing this poor banged up little coffee table in my living room, but I figure the kids will just scratch up my hard work anyway. 

I used the Filler Stick on these scratches, and take a look at the results...pretty good right? If you look at the right angle and in the right light, you can see where I used the filler stick due to the slight difference in color between my table and the color of the stick, but generally you can't tell...I'm very satisfied with the results! 14 filled scratches later, and my coffee table has gone from doom to darling again. Even better, when I see one of my girls plop down at this coffee table, craft project in hand, I feel no stress. 

Yep, this works for me. I can see myself using the ReStor-It Furniture Touch-Up Kit for furniture I'm not quite ready to makeover. 

If you would like to give this kit a try in your own home, visit Master Manufacturing Company here, or like their Facebook page here. 

Happy Repairing!

Product Love: Hanger Hamper

I actually fold laundry in my bedroom, partially because the TV is in there, but mostly because I have not yet learned to tame the beast that is my family's laundry and often need a place to leave it until it can be folded. Thus the need for hangers nearby my bed/folding station.
This is how I stored my hangers before (brace yourself). >>>

That scary scary old broken basket ended up in my room because I needed a place for the kids to toss their unused hangers (thus keeping their closets tidier and eliminating the masses of mangled hangers from evading the corners of their rooms). 






I was absolutely over the moon when I found this Hanger Hamper from The Container Store online! I no longer have to wrestle with each hanger just to get it out of the basket. And I can easily swap the empty hanger hamper for a full one from the kids rooms when folding! FYI there are many different  hanger storage types at The Container Store, this one just happened to suit my needs perfectly.

Eventually I hope to buy one for each room. For the kiddy sized hangers I simply cut a piece of foam to fit the bottom half snugly, and when the kids grow into larger hangers, I'll just take out the foam!
For $7.99 each, I am definitely experiencing some happy product love here! *blissful sigh* 

Key Ring Pill Vial

I have such a nice little brother, and not just because he gave me this awesome key chain! Can you say "product love"? (!!) Typically I don't like key chains or anything besides my keys hanging from the ring, but this is functional and has proven very useful in a few emergencies. 

I have no idea where he got it this particular one, but you can find them on Ebay or Amazon. Google "key ring pill cache" or "key ring drug holder". 
The vials are used to store emergency aspirin, or whatever medication you might need in a bind. I already keep emergency aspirin and ibuprofen in my purse, so I decided to keep activated charcoal (in powder form), and cayenne in my vials. You're wondering why in the world I keep those two items? Here is another Google task for you: "uses for activated charcoal", this stuff is amazing! The activated charcoal is a must for people with young children.  I kept it just in case of accidental poisoning when my kids were toddlers. You know that moment when something suspicious is discovered on the corner of your munchkins mouth, but she seems fine and a little too happy? Yeah, I would sprinkle a little charcoal in their juice or milk and keep a close eye on them, just in case!   My family tends to use it whenever anyone has an upset stomach, gas, or diarrhea. Charcoal absorbs toxins, odors, and has many uses...be aware that it will also prevent any medication you might take from being absorbed while it is in the system. The cayenne I keep in case of cold or allergy induced mucous, sometimes I get this "tickle" in my throat that won't go away which leads to a lot of embarrassing  hacking, and drinking a little of this helps a whole lot! I also find it has other benefits when recovering from a cold or sore throat.
Whatever you decide to store in your vial, it is good to be prepared for any emergency! Better safe than sorry right?