Happy part 3: DONE!

I finished the couch cover today!! I would like a huge pat on the back please because it only took me about 7 years to finish all of them! I was so over this project years ago and when I brought the stuff out again the other day to finally finish it, I rushed it and made mistakes. And then was so happy it was done I didn't iron or straighten; just put it on and took bad photos. I'm just so excited it's done!!!!

I didn't get the excitement I was hoping for from a certain someone whose name sounds like John but is not spelled like that:)  I made fitted couch covers with a zipper and piping and flaps, etc. I deserve more than a "that's great". Right??? Here is the 1st one I covered (over stuffed-chair) and here is the 2nd one.

So now I need to make new pillow covers..hmm.. so many ideas..

Someone has no front teeth. My friend Connie found this really cool park/lake/playground/everything place about 15 minutes from our house. We didn't come prepared so the girls went in the lake in only their shorts. Scandalous! 

Doll Garland

Doll garland made from this free tutorial. I actually made two; assembly-line style. It was tedious and time consuming but sooo cute in the end! I inserted Peltex in between the dresses to make them nice and sturdy. I feel the need to explain that I did the messy top stitching on purpose. It's like a kid made them. I did forget to embroidery the XOXO on the middle one before the photos.

Animal Toiletry Bag

My German BF is moving to Colorado soon so I made her a going away gift. This toiletry bag has been made so many times I forget to read the instructions. I should have read them because I forgot (again) to insert the Peltex. It was way to floppy so I cut slits in the lining and inserted the Peltex and now it's lovely.

I think I mentioned before when I made Connie a bib for her baby out of this same fabric that she has a thing for animal prints. She probably loves them as much as I love mushrooms.

Pattern is from Jessica bought here and fabric is from someone on etsy (waterproof lining too).
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Thank you for all your kind comments about Jon's mom. I have passed these on to him. The memorial was actually fun considering. We got a bouncy house for the girls (and a couple of other children that came) and the weather was perfect. Jon's sister got a Taco bar (this company sets up a grill and grills the meats and even makes the tortillas from scratch). The only down part was the speeches. We were all in tears. But I really appreciated hearing what people had to say because even though I have known his mom for 20 years now, you forget what this person is like when they get sick and become someone else. She was basically a bed-ridden Alzheimer's patient for most of the past year and at the end never left her bed and could barely speak coherently. That's not the Mickie I knew. The Mickie I knew loved gardening, the Zoo and the History channel. She couldn't appreciate any of these things pretty much as soon as she was diagnosed. She worked at a circuit board company for 30 years and loved her boss and coworkers (same place Jon worked for 9 years prior to the Army). She will be missed.

Classy Party Garland

A super classy garland for my sister-in-laws birthday. Hopefully she gets it in time. 

Made from thick glitter card stock from Joann's and my Silhouette machine. Inspiration is from Urban outfitters.

Mushroom Jars

Have you seen these jars with the animals glued to them? Here, here and here. I wanted to make these sooo bad. I had my friend save me some jars and right before painting them I realized (light bulb moment) that they would be soooo cute if they looked like mushrooms! With woodland creatures perched atop them. I'm a horrible spray painter (just a little too heavy handed and spazy) but they will do for now. I used my Shilouette machine to make the white circles out if vinyl. They turned out good except for my placement of them. Not so good around the edges ( I will be redoing the lid with the deer on it).

I sprayed the lids with a tan paint 1st only because I thought it was gray primer but when it came out it was tan. ooops. Then I did a couple of coats of the red. I used just regular spray paint (all purpose). Sealing it with a clear spray kept it from being tacky and gave it a nice sheen. I have not glued down the animals yet as I was trying to decided which woodland creatures I like the best.

Along with a serious love for fake mushrooms I have a thing for fake pretzels too! they are all over my Christmas tree and now they hang year-round in our kitchen. I found this giant one at a hobby-type store  here in town. I also found the ceramic spoon, fork and knife there.

Back in November my blog friend Venus posted about these adorably cool pin cushions she makes and I had to have one. She has them for sale in her etsy store along with really cute aprons!
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 On a side note...we are home for a very short time. Jon's mom passed away last Friday from the brain tumor she had. She passed 1 year and 2 months after being diagnosed. We have been celebrating her life by going to Disneyland (she had a thing for Mickie Mouse since her name is Mickie) and will be having a "celebration of her life" get together this weekend then we fly back to Germany.