Isn't She Pretty?!

I've been wanting to making a petal pillow for quite sometime now...when I first stumbled upon this tutorial, I didn't know "how" to sew yet (not that being able to sew a straight stitch qualifies me as a "sewer" but you get the picture) and after my 3 hour sewing class at JoAnn's I think I know how to use my machine.  On Monday, after class, I convinced Stephen that we needed to go to JoAnn's to get the things I would need to make my petal pillow.  It was silly of me to go and purchase the materials because I really don't have the time to even make the darn pillow (I've had A LOT of projects and readings and papers to do for my summer grad school classes, especially this past week and it's consuming my life).  BUT, that didn't stop me!  No, no, no!  When you've got the materials sitting around just begging to be used, you've GOT to do something about it...so I did...

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Look at how good she turned out!  ***This isn't because I am a fantastic seamstress but because she was super easy to make, just a little time consuming...YOU CAN DO IT!

This pillow would be perfect for any lady in your life (including yourself), only don't go thinking you can put it on the bed you share with your spouse because if they're anything like mine they'll remind you repeatedly that there's a flower on the front of the pillow, just in case you've forgotten :)

p.s. did I mention that the whole thing (pillow form included) cost me $15?  $15 for the felt, fabric, 2 colors of thread and pillow form...yes please!

I got this idea from VandCo. when she spotlighted Cluck, Cluck, Sew a couple months back.  You can go here to see the tutorial.

***the 1 thing that needs to be changed about the tutorial is when you go to sew the edges of the 2 short pieces of fabric (right after you've sewn the flower on the front piece), she tells you to sew the short edges of the fabric, but that is a typo - you should sew the edges that measure 19"...this will make sense to you if you read the tutorial :)

Email me if you have any questions and make sure you let me know if you make one cause I wanna see it!  

Happy Sewing!

I'm linking up to:

Shabby Nest; It's a Hodgepodge Life; Fun to Craft; A Few of My Favorite Things; Home is Where My Story Begins; TidyMom; Chic on a Shoestring Decorating; Punkin Seed Productions; The Romantic Home; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Remodelaholic; Kojo Designs; Tatertots and Jello; Funkyjunk Interiors; A Vision to Remember; Craft Envy; I Heart Naptime with Chocolate Sundaes; Simpsonized Crafts and Thensome; Tools are for Women Too; Between Naps on the Porch; Keeping it Simple; It's So Very Cheri; The Girl Creative; The DIY Showoff; Under the Table and Dreaming; Mad in Crafts; Hope Studios; All Thingz Related; Sugar Bee; Tip Junkie; Silly Little Sparrow; Todays Creative Blog; Sew Much Ado; Me and My Bucket; Trendy Treehouse; My Backyard Eden; Blue Cricket Design; Someday Crafts; Bargain Shopping Paradise; Life in the Pitts; Cheap Chic Home; Somewhat Simple; Fireflies and Jellybeans; The Shabby Chic Cottage; Everything Etsy; Life as Lori

Divine Intervention: Part 2

For those of you who read my Divine Intervention post (originally posted on Tuesday, May 11), these pictures are for you.   Here are pictures of me with my sweet friends Holly and Jen from that crazy wedding from this past weekend.  Please note my outfit...cotton summer dress {check}, flip flops {check} and a pashmina shawl to try and dress the whole thing up {check}.  I couldn't have looked better if I tried ;).

{I stole these pictures from Jen's awesome blog - go check it out!}

Divine Intervention

My sweet and crazy friend, Ashley got married this past weekend in Lexington, KY.  It was a perfect time for a wedding considering that it was Mother's Day weekend so Stephen and I were already planning a trip to KY and the wedding was within our reach to attend :).  I was excited to go and see a bunch of people/friends that I hadn't seen in awhile.  I was anticipating wearing the dress that I had worn to my rehearsal dinner.  I didn't go the traditional "white" dress route for our rehearsal dinner mainly because I couldn't find one that I liked.  I decided that I would get a dress in one of my favorite colors (green!) which would be fun because it's one of Stephen's favorite colors as well.

I knew the dress was in Louisville from the last (and only time) that I had worn it so I only ventured to KY with my black shoes and some accessories to match.  Stephen and I took a field trip to Target in hopes to find a black wrap to help keep me warm on the unusually cool May day that we had on Saturday.  I couldn't find a black wrap but I did find a really pretty colorful one (with bits of green in it - PERFECT!) to wear AND it was on clearance for $3.54.  SCORE!  

We headed back to my parent's house in Louisville to get ready for the wedding (which was at 5:30).  I had big plans to leave their house at 4 to give us ample amounts of time to arrive at the wedding in time.  I went upstairs at 3 to start the process of getting ready and the first stop for me was to my bedroom closet to remove the dress so I could iron out any wrinkles in it.  Much to my dismay, the dress was NO WHERE IN SITE.  I repeatedly sifted through the things hanging in my closet in hopes that I had simply overlooked the dress.  Still, no luck.  I searched every closet in the house, as if someone decided it would be a good idea to take the dress and store it in with the holiday wrapping paper, smart, I know...but, I was DESPERATE people!  I called my mom up certain that she'd know where it was, but unfortunately she was no help either.  WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO???  

Let's reiterate the issues at hand: I was in Louisville, KY with time ticking closer to the time that we needed to leave to make the hour drive to Lexington and I had NO DRESS and only a pair of black shoes.  Awesome.  My sweet and loving husband was trying his hardest to help, "Kari, why don't you wear the beautiful dresses that are hanging in your closet?"  Let's talk about these dresses, they were all in the brown family (meaning I would need either brown or white shoes, of which I had neither) and they were cotton summer dresses that I had not worn in at least 3 or 4 years.  I had to suck it up and deal with the fact that I was going to attend a formal, night wedding in a cotton summer dress...ugh.  Onto the next dilemna, NO SHOES.  

Again, in case I haven't let you know enough, I married someone much better than myself.  Stephen OFFERED and then went through with his offer happily (with nothing but a smile on his face and a sense of graciousness) to go to Target and bought any and all white or brown shoes that he thought I would like to go with any of the dresses.  I continued to get ready and he returned with his finds.  Let me tell you, NONE of the shoes that he brought home were looking good, at all.  He was so pleased with his purchases (bless his heart) but they just weren't going to do the job (in his defense, I went to Target the next day to return the shoes and there were SLIM pickin's there!).  The ONLY pair that would work were a pair of white flip-flops with little rhinestones on them.  Awesome.  A summer, cotton dress with flip-flops to be worn to a fancy, evening wedding.  I was sure to fit in.  

Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Get over it!  That's what I did.  I sat in the pew while the wedding was beginning and was trying to tuck my flip-flop adorned feet as far under the pew as possible so that no one could see them.  I was trying to not think about how underdressed I was and to think more how everything in the wedding was so beautiful!  I loved all the details and the colors, I couldn't get enough.  That's when I got excited to see the bridesmaids walk down the aisle...

Did you just hear that record scratch???  If you're confused, refresh yourself with the picture of the dress that I wanted to wear to the wedding....

Look familiar???  THE DRESS THAT I WAS GOING TO WEAR TO THE WEDDING BUT COULDN'T FIND ANYWHERE IN MY HOUSE WAS THE EXACT SAME DRESS AS THE BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES!!!

Dear God,

Thank you for knowing more than I could EVER know.

Thank you for hiding my dress from me so that I couldn't wear it to Ashley's wedding.

Thank you for knowing that if I would've worn the exact same dress I would've felt like a schmuck.

I'm glad that you're in control...even over small things like what I'm going to wear to a wedding.

Love,

Kari

Some highlights from my favorite wedding ever...

Hit play to see some highlights from the best wedding I've ever been to (mine) :-D

And be sure to give it enough time to load...

If you're having a hard time seeing it, click here and watch it directly on youtube :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrO0H8q6-Gs

Please and Thank You!

A couple of weeks ago I was getting dessert with Stephen and our friends to celebrate a birthday.  My friend Sarah had such cute little earrings on.  I asked her about them and she pointed me to this place...uhhhh ohhhhhhhhhh!

You know where this is going, don't you?  {I feel a case of want and shouldn't buy coming on...}

These were the cute earrings:

There's just so sweet and dainty and if you sit very quietly you can hear it, "Kaaaaari!  Buy meeee!!!"

Well I had full intentions of doing just that...and then I saw their price tag :(...maybe I will save some lose ends and get me some!)

And while I was there, I ran into these beauties also...oh did they sing my sweet name as I walked buy them:

Oh how I wish they were mine!

An Unhealthy Obsession

I need to watch this:

Like I need to watch this:

So if I recognize this then WHY am I HOOKED?!  

A better question - If I already know the outcome (thanks to Reality Steve) then WHY am I HOOKED?

i. can't. stop. WATCHING!!!

I wish I had an excuse....

a) My Young Life girls watch it, it's how I stay connected in convo and get them to hang out with me...ummmm I don't lead YL anymore :(

b) My little sister makes me turn the channel....I don't have a little sister and I don't live with her either

c) Stephen really likes it....he makes fun of me and the show...can't say that I blame him.

What is wrong with me?!

I had a favorite (and then I found out the outcome), and I don't even laugh anymore at the fiction and absurdity surrounding the show...AHHHHHH!!!

One thing I know to be true:  good thing there's only 2 more weeks left in this train wreck that we call entertainment.  

Please still be my friend - this is my first step towards recovery: admitting that there's a problem.

Are you addicted to something you're not entirely proud of, in fact you'd hope it wouldn't come up in front of people you don't know so you don't have to own up to it?  (I'm not looking for deep dark sins here, something you're willing to share on the blog comments...in fact please don't post deep dark sins on here, it will make me shift in my seat out of discomfort) 

You Pregnant? Me either...but IF you are (or thinking to be eventually...)

One of the classes that I'm taking is Developmental Child Psychology - sounds interesting, right?  It kinda is, but sometimes I wonder why I'm taking this class (again) for my Reading Specialist certification.  With that feeling set aside, the 2 chapters that we read for last night's class were all about conception (what could happen to the fetus while in womb that could effect it later) and then birth.  While reading this, there were all sorts of cool statistics and facts that I thought everyone should really know, not just those required to take the course, so I'm going to share with you some of the things that I found to be the coolest :)

There is no rhyme nor reason - just the ones I thought were neat-o skeet-o...


-The Lamaze childbirth technique uses breathing and muscle relaxation exercises to teach women how to manage the pain of labor and delivery (I know, I know, we all already knew this) BUT what I thought was interesting: Mothers who choose to take Lamaze classes experience shorter labor, require less medication, and are less stressed and more positive about the birth experience.


-Women who are anxious and under emotional stress during pregnancy also tend to have infants who are physically more active in utero.  After their birth, these infants tend to be hyperactive and irritable, to cry more, and to have feeding and sleep problems, and they are less attentive at 8 months than other babies.  What to learn from this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." - Philippians 4:6


-In one study, when pregnant women were under severe life stresses, those with supportive relatives and friends had only a 33% rate of complications in pregnancy and childbirth compared with 91% rate for women lacking social support.  LOVE and SUPPORT YOUR PREGNANT FRIENDS!  That means we should all love Mandy Stone and Anne Warnick...oops!  Sorry Anne!


-Safe conception ages range from 20-40; anything earlier or later than that is more susceptible to higher risks (35 year old mothers frequency of delivering a baby with Down Syndrome: 1/385; 40 year old mothers: 1/100; 45 year old mothers: 1/40 - wow. scary)


-Researchers have compiled evidence for differences in newborn temperament among children of different ethnicities and races.  For instance, Chinese American babies, in contrast to European American and Irish infants, have been described as generally calmer, easier to console, more able to quiet themselves after crying, and faster to adapt to external stimulation or changes.  What does this mean?  That Jen and Ben Brzinski's baby will be much calmer and easier to console than the Warnicks could ever hope for their own baby. :-D


REASONS WHY YOU LOVE YOUR CHILDREN EVEN IF THEY'RE DIFFICULT:
-A higher rate of developmental problems appears in later life among children described by their mothers as difficult babies.  Why?  There are 2 factors that may contribute: 1st is a more "difficult" or less malleable child is likely to find it harder to adapt to environmental demands and so is more prone to stress and the toll it takes on emotional well-being.  2nd reason (which is REALLY sad) is that a child with a difficult temperament is more likely to cause adverse reactions from other people and thus suffer the psychological damage caused by social rejection (one of which is parental irritability.YIKES!)


That's all I've got on this.  I realize that I'm a little bit sporadic in my blogging and that's due to my procrastination causing stressful catching up in my classes.  I'm ending that cycle TODAY so plan on hearing a lot more out of me in the near, near future :).  Bye for now Blogland!

Go Girl!

Every girl needs one of these...just sayin'!