I have had time to sit down and reflect on what I want to accomplish in 2012. I am trying to keep my goals simple and we will see what happens.
1. Finish some of my UFOs! I have my Christmas quilt that has been in the works for 5 years or so plus several other kits I have purchased and would love to finish a few of them. So my goal is to focus on my current list of projects instead of scanning pinterest to find more.
2. Learn to sew clothing. I have made a few things but one of my bigger goals this year to learn how to sew clothing from patterns and make myself some clothes. I plan to start with simple pajama pants or dresses and go from there. Since I got a new Serger for Christmas, that will probably make the clothes making a little easier.
3. Learn to use a Serger. See Goal #2
4. Reorganize and decorate my house. I don't think I have bad taste but I have a hard time putting those finalizing touches on a room and bringing in accessories to make the room complete. My goal is to first, go through my house and clean out and reorganize. I usually do this once a year, room by room and it helps keep things sort of organized and gets rid of clutter. The next goal is to add those things that make a house a home and bring a room together. I plan to use Pinterest to my advantage here for ideas and inspiration. I also need to do this on a very low budget and hope to find help online with that.
I think the first thing I need to do to work on the organization part of this is to find some free baskets and bins to help hold stuff and color them. Craigslist and Freecycle, here I come!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
2011 in Review!
So I might be a week behind posting my End of the Year post but we have had some really beautiful weather here in Texas so I have been off the computer and been outside.
While I thought back of all my craft projects completed in 2011, I was at first disappointed at all the things I didn't get finished. Then, I started thinking of what I did complete and there was a LOT! I was going to put together a list of everything I completed but thought that would take a while. Instead I will focus on some highlights for me.
Completed 2 quilts, made progress on another
Learned to crochet and made several hats, a few scarfs
Started sewing clothes
Sewing bedding and curtains for B's bedroom
Learned to sew curtains, cushions and fabric bins
I think the biggest highlight for me was going outside of my comfort zone of only making quilts and branching into the sewing different things and learning to crochet.
Here are my top posts from 2011:
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Here is to an even craftier 2012!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Quilts in My Home - Christmas Tree Hanging
I love this little Christmas tree hanging. I believe my mom won it in a silent auction at one of the area quilt shows a few years ago.
I love the little pop of holiday cheer this brings from the colorful snowman to the Christmas tree.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Quilts in My Home - Christmas Angel
My grandma made this Christmas Angel quilt in 2001 for herself. It was handed down to me when she passed away a few years ago and I hang it up each Christmas in place of my Welcome Home quilt, using the same quilt hanger.
I love the simplicity and classic feel of this quilt. It is one I can hang up each year and will always treasure since my Grandma made it.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Project List and Finished Projects
So I haven't posted in a while, oops! I have meant to but like most people this time of year have been extremely busy. I finished up a few things, made several crocheted hats and tile coasters for a craft show in early December. I didn't very much at the show but got my name out there a little more. Like most crafters I was also busy finishing up some Christmas orders and gifts. Now that the holidays are over I am trying to figure out what project to start next.
Several of the things weren't on the official list so I added some and put below several pictures of things that I have completed recently. I am also looking at my project list and reordering some things.
Longhorns Tutu
Football Crochet Earflap Hat
Coffee Cozies for B's teacher's Christmas gift
Tile Coasters
Toddler Shells Beanie
Newborn Football Hat
Newborn Butterfly Hat
Child Butterfly Hat
Project List:
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
B's 2nd Birthday Party!
So the last weekend of October we had B's 2nd birthday party. The party almost got cancelled since we had to take B to the ER the Wednesday before his party because he had a febrile seizure because of a fever. He turned out fine, just had a little cold (with a big fever jump) and luckily was fever free for 48 hours before his party. It did put me back a few days with getting the house and things ready for the party.
Regardless the party was a hit! B had a great time and so did his friends. Since B is a HUGE fan of The Biscuit Brothers, of course had to have a Biscuit Brother birthday party! Their show is about music education so the child activity, goodie bags, cake, etc were all music based. I would like to thank my awesome sister for getting good quality images to use for the party stuff from youtube videos. Since the Biscuit Brothers are small, there isn't any merchandise out there to purchase so I had to make it all.
The goodie bags contained 3 noise makers (got a bunch for cheap at Oriental Trading), a Biscuit Brothers coloring page (found here) and 2 cowboy crayons that I made using an old candy mold. I put everything in a simple brown paper bag and sealed with some Go Make Music labels.
My sister made a replica of their Big Book of Music and the Mail Quartet Wagon for decorations. We put the birthday cards in the mail wagon and will use that as decoration in B's cowboy bedroom.
I decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake because they are easier to serve and easier for 2 year olds to eat than regular cake. One of the Biscuit Brothers - Buford, plays the banjo and I thought a banjo cupcake cake would be cute. I could find banjo cakes online but no banjo cupcakes so I had to figure it out myself. Around the banjo cupcake I made blue and red cupcakes and printed out pictures of the Biscuit Brothers on circle stickers, put them on lollipop sticks and put those in the cupcakes. Every time B saw the cupcakes he yelled - my show, my show!
For the activity - we made music shakers. I did this activity with B a few months ago and he loved it and plays with his music shakers almost every day. I thought this would be a good activity for the 2 year olds and some of the older kids as well. With the 2 year old parties I have been to, most of the time the kids don't care about whatever activity you have. I figured with this we would have left over colored macaroni and plastic bottles to recycle if no one was interested. I was surprised that the music shakers were a big hit and almost all the kids made one and several of them played with them later on. The only cost for me was the macaroni and some plain white labels so it was a cheap activity as well!
We also had a music station set up for kids to "Go Make Music" and well as tons of toys outside for them to play with.
I also made B two shirts to wear for his birthday party. I used iron on transfer paper to make a "Go Make Music" shirt and a Tiny Scarecrow shirt (the puppet from the TV show) for his party. He wore the Tiny Scarecrow shirt first and then after cake we switched him to the Go Make Music shirt. The best part is that he can wear the shirts again and again!
Lastly, I made B some birthday confetti cake batter pancakes on his birthday. I even put a candle in them for him but didn't care at all and just wanted to watch The Biscuit Brothers.
Friday, November 4, 2011
If your name is Heather...where did Heidi come from?
Now that I am "officially" launched my business with friends and family, I get asked all the time - where did the name Heidi's Nest come from? Well, here is my story.
It all started about 4 years ago on a long drive to Amarillo, TX. My husband and I were driving up to Amarillo from Austin to visit some friends for New Year's Eve. That year, I had made tons, tons of scarves for everyone for Christmas gifts. It was a big hit, something personal for everyone (we have a lot of aunts/uncles/cousins) that didn't cost me a fortune. While on our 8 hour drive as I was making another scarf, I talked with my husband about opening an online store to sell scarves, quilts and other such things. My husband is a computer person and he would create a website for me to sell things. At the time, I believe Etsy was around but I had never heard of of it before and it wasn't as big as it is today.
As we continue our long drive, we decided that my new store would need a name of course. I didn't really want to use my name in the store at all but couldn't come up with something generic that wasn't corny also. A few months early that year on our honeymoon in Germany, we went to a botantical garden in Frankfurt. They had a place there called "Heidegarten" and on the sign they translated it as "Heathers Garden." Since then, I started using the name Heidi online. We both thought Heidi would be a good name for the store and then went down the list of shoppe, shop, boutique, store, place, etc until we settled on nest. A few google searches didn't pop up anything and the name Heidi's Nest was born. So after all I really did the name the store after myself, but kind of translated it sort of, but not really into German.
My husband started working slowly on a website and I started to do some research on products and got my mom aboard to sell some of her things. She would make what she wanted and I would charge a small fee for the business end of selling things. The business never really got going as I was finishing grad school, then got pregnant, then had a child and didn't have much time for me or to or course make anything.
In August 2010, I decided to start selling Thirty-One. At the time, it was a newer direct selling company that nobody had heard of so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out of the house, interact with other women and make some money while staying at home. Little did I know I would join Thirty-One and then it would take off - they had something like 500% growth last year. I felt this new thing I was doing became way to saturated way to quickly it was hard to really push the stuff. In December 2010, I did a little craft show selling Thirty-One but the whole time I was seeing other people sell what they made and I decided while sitting their bored out of my mind for 4 hours that it was finally time to launch Heidi's Nest.
Of course you can't launch a business overnight with no inventory or plan, so in January 2011, my mom and I met and hatched at a business plan. She would make quilts and I would make some quilts, scarves, hats, blankets and other gift things like crayon rolls, car rolls, blocks, etc. We would create a facebook page and etsy shop to sell our good and occasionally do craft fairs too. from January-September 2011, we both worked on creating some inventory to launch with and my little sister who does graphic design created a logo and banner for our shop. We officially launched on Facebook in September and I launched the Etsy shop in October 2011. We have sold a few things at a craft fair and I had done a few custom orders and now will be waiting for the first Etsy sell. We have about 30 items ready to go but I am slowly retaking photos and posting them on Etsy and working on making more things too.
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/heidisnest
Etsy store - http://heidisnest.etsy.com/
It all started about 4 years ago on a long drive to Amarillo, TX. My husband and I were driving up to Amarillo from Austin to visit some friends for New Year's Eve. That year, I had made tons, tons of scarves for everyone for Christmas gifts. It was a big hit, something personal for everyone (we have a lot of aunts/uncles/cousins) that didn't cost me a fortune. While on our 8 hour drive as I was making another scarf, I talked with my husband about opening an online store to sell scarves, quilts and other such things. My husband is a computer person and he would create a website for me to sell things. At the time, I believe Etsy was around but I had never heard of of it before and it wasn't as big as it is today.
As we continue our long drive, we decided that my new store would need a name of course. I didn't really want to use my name in the store at all but couldn't come up with something generic that wasn't corny also. A few months early that year on our honeymoon in Germany, we went to a botantical garden in Frankfurt. They had a place there called "Heidegarten" and on the sign they translated it as "Heathers Garden." Since then, I started using the name Heidi online. We both thought Heidi would be a good name for the store and then went down the list of shoppe, shop, boutique, store, place, etc until we settled on nest. A few google searches didn't pop up anything and the name Heidi's Nest was born. So after all I really did the name the store after myself, but kind of translated it sort of, but not really into German.
My husband started working slowly on a website and I started to do some research on products and got my mom aboard to sell some of her things. She would make what she wanted and I would charge a small fee for the business end of selling things. The business never really got going as I was finishing grad school, then got pregnant, then had a child and didn't have much time for me or to or course make anything.
In August 2010, I decided to start selling Thirty-One. At the time, it was a newer direct selling company that nobody had heard of so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out of the house, interact with other women and make some money while staying at home. Little did I know I would join Thirty-One and then it would take off - they had something like 500% growth last year. I felt this new thing I was doing became way to saturated way to quickly it was hard to really push the stuff. In December 2010, I did a little craft show selling Thirty-One but the whole time I was seeing other people sell what they made and I decided while sitting their bored out of my mind for 4 hours that it was finally time to launch Heidi's Nest.
Of course you can't launch a business overnight with no inventory or plan, so in January 2011, my mom and I met and hatched at a business plan. She would make quilts and I would make some quilts, scarves, hats, blankets and other gift things like crayon rolls, car rolls, blocks, etc. We would create a facebook page and etsy shop to sell our good and occasionally do craft fairs too. from January-September 2011, we both worked on creating some inventory to launch with and my little sister who does graphic design created a logo and banner for our shop. We officially launched on Facebook in September and I launched the Etsy shop in October 2011. We have sold a few things at a craft fair and I had done a few custom orders and now will be waiting for the first Etsy sell. We have about 30 items ready to go but I am slowly retaking photos and posting them on Etsy and working on making more things too.
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/heidisnest
Etsy store - http://heidisnest.etsy.com/
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