More catch up pics...

Cottage Pillows and Burlap Decor...

I know in November I posted a few pics of some pillows I had been working on. I've been experimenting with a few different styles since then and this is what I've come up with! A dear friend of mine ordered 2 of the personalized "Simple Chateau and Fancy Chateau" pillows for her daughter in law's for Christmas. They were hard work, but well worth the time and effort! One of my favorites was the Je' taime burlap pillow. I've incorporated a lot of burlap in my home decor this year and I wanted to keep this one...I've decided to post it on Etsy instead.

Catching up and Winding down...

Oh my! This has got to be literally the dizziest holiday season I've ever had! In more ways than one....first off, this year I tried making most of my Christmas gifts not only to be frugal, but a gift also holds more meaning to me if it comes from the heart. :) With that being said, I was up pretty late most nights trying to get things done in time. It wouldn't have been so bad, had I not realized sooner that I am getting too old (if you can call me old!) to go to Six Flags! ugh. The whole week preceding Christmas I dealt with a HORRIBLE case of vertigo resulting from my one wild ride on The Titan. The last ride of the night and it done me in...maybe next year I'll learn to avoid that one at all costs!
Enough about that...I've got tons of catching up to do! I don't really even know where to start. Ok, let's take one category at a time. I've finished about 5 or 6 hoodies in the last month and they all turned out adorable. Some I did not get pictures of b/c I gift wrapped them in such a hurry or shipped them out before I realized it. Again please excuse the quality of my picures, for one thing (as you can tell), I am my own model, and for another, I do most of my sewing late in the evenings, thus the lighting is horrid!

Happy Thanksgiving and Sweet Ruffles...

Happy Thanksgiving all! Just wanted to share a few ruffled pillows I made yesterday evening. Hope to sell these this weekend at The Old Red Lumberyard in McKinney. A sweet friend of mine has a booth and is going to add these to her wares. These pillows add a cute touch to any side chair, sofa or bedroom decor. Please check out my Etsy shop bellachalet99 and see what I have posted from time to time!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving night! "Gobble til' you Waddle!"

Give Thanks Pillow...

This past Saturday, I made a new pillow! This one is a bit smaller than the personalized pillow, but it has a sweet white ruffle instead. It now resides on my sofa, but will hopefully be sold soon!

"Feather Her Nest" Baby Shower! ~

I am so excited for my friend Crystal! Arriving around the 1st of the New Year 2012, will be little Miss Kinley Abigail and boy will she ever be spoiled rotten. I had the honor of hosting the baby shower at my house last Saturday the 12th of November. We went with a "Vintage Bird" theme complete with iron bird cages, baby bird cupcakes with coconut nests, an advice tree with sweet pink bird each guest hung with their advice for mommy, etc. The end result was adorable! Here are just a few pics of some of the decor as I was working on it, but the majority of the pictures were taken by a good friend of mine. The last one is of Crystal's corsage that I made for her....

I will try to get those and present them in a separate post.

Signing off...

Just wanted to say thanks to those few of you who have checked out my blog, placed orders and encouraged me to tap into my creative side. I pray that the Lord will bless this venture! I have a steady flow of other ideas that I want to eventually introduce, but I will work with the opportunities I've been given so far.
This has been a hectic, but exciting week for me! Finishing up a few orders to send out and preparing for a baby shower for my sweet friend Crystal. I hope to post pics of the decor when that is all said and done.
Until then, keep me in your prayers!
Love and hugs,
"Myrnie"

Fancy Smanschy!

Whoop! Whoop! I am SUPER excited about how this personalized pillow turned out!The little creative corner of my brain is going into overdrive with the endless possibilities here....I think Christmas ones would be adorable! I even thought about making one for Thanksgiving (Give Thanks). They sell for $50 each, and would be a gorgeous addition to a bed or sofa. I will be also making a set that says, "MADAME" and "MONSIEUR". :) Total cuteness....

Fall "Diva" Hoodie...

Just wanted to post a quick pic of another hoodie I made like the gray and turquoise one....LOVED the colors! It was chocolate brown and a mustard yellow color. I really need to find a decent camera to take my pictures! The quality of this photo is poor, therefore the colors do not show up that well.

The "Diva" Hoodie!

Oh my goodness! This has got to be my favorite one yet. :) I decided to try a different look and sew the ruffles all the way around the hood and some on the pockets....muy bueno! I'm going to be working on a brown and mustard colored one tomorrow night....Please stop by and leave comments to tell me what you think! Until then! CIAO!

And more ruffled hoodies!

I was so excited to be able to create another hoodie for a friend of mine! Her sister in law is an alumni of Auburn University in Alabama, thus the navy and orange. (It will be a Christmas gift!) This one I made from fleece and it looked SO warm...I was so pleased with how it turned out.

Love You More.....

Still blissfully in love with the sweetest man on Earth after 12 years! Sunday the 6th, was our anniversary. Friday, Michael took me to eat and gave me this cute pillow! I love it! He knows how much I like the grain sack look...

Marshmallows..

Why is it that I can create the most exquisite cakes for other children and my own get stuck with something random? I guess I can honestly say though, that in this case, Nolan was very pleased with his cake! If ever in the world a child had a love affair with marshmallows, it would be him. They are the first snack he grabs after school, the last one before bed, his favorite topping on everything, and the VERY first thing he thought when handed his list of "do-not-eat" foods from the orthodontist! I literally thought he was goint to have a nervous breakdown when he realized his
"Marshmallow World" was in jeopardy. Thankfully he's been cleared to continue his indulgence and he's as happy as a lark!
Here is a snapshot of my last minute Marshmallow Mountain cake.

Another Hoodie!

I made this really cute hoodie for one of my aunts in Louisiana...pardon the bad quality of my photos. :( It was adorable in person! She wanted a black hoodie, with red and charcoal gray ruffles. I think with my next hoodie "experiment", I am going to get a little crazy with the ruffles.I want to maybe do a random pattern all over both sides of the shirt. We'll see what happens...

Something New...

I am a bit excited! I have seen pictures of scarves lately that I would love to have and decided to try and make one myself. Here is what I came up with in about 20 minutes! Love it! I think I am goint to widen my next one just a tad, and make the ruffles a little bigger. I think these will be one of the items I post on my Etsy shop; BellaChalet99.

Distractions....

How come when I start out to get my house spick and span, I always get distracted?! Went to get the vaccum cleaner out of the closet and came across a BRAND new package of moss I've been meaning to use for this project! Sooo....after about 30 minutes of cutting and glueing, TA-DAH! My brand new letter "S" to hang in my dining room!

This is so cool! I have now officially figured out how to post from my phone!

Dress for Less!

No I do not have copycat fever! Ok...maybe just a little. About a year or so ago I was coveting the most adorable hoodies on another website, but they were a wee bit out of my price range. :( Soooo....I went out and bought me a plain old hoodie, gathered up some old long-sleeved t-shirts, and went to work today! Ta-Dah!!! My very own embellished hoodie! I think my husband thought I was a nut....when I finished it and put it on, I went squealing through the house ready to show it off!
I think I'm going to be recycling a lot more of my old t-shirts now! Orders anyone?! Here's my email address: mlsmds99@yahoo.com :)

Mums the Word! It's Homecoming Time!

This past Friday night was homecoming for Melissa High School. My neice is in 6th grade and wanted a mum so I agreed to make one for her. She went with me to pick out all the "ingredients" and this is what we came up with! I loved the mix of plaid and zebra print! She declared that it was the PRETTIEST one in the whole school.....let's hope! Maybe I'll get a few orders for next year!

Ashton's Baseball Cake~

Friday night I made another birthday cake. This was one was for my boss's eldest son, Ashton. He loves baseball so his Mom and Dad picked out this cute baseball cake! The cake itself was chocolate which can sometimes be tricky when it comes to spreading on WHITE icing, but it turned out pretty good!

Lights of Bling!

Wow...I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit this weekend! I was able to finish my chandeliers and I think they turned out cute. I added a bit of brown grosgrain ribbon to the middle of the white ruffle on mine. The other ruffle I kept small and did not add any color. I figure if someone wants to buy it, I would rather it somewhat match their decor.
The cool thing about shades is that you can always change them out or even go without them!

More Projects and Ideas...

I've been working on a few things the last few days. Particularly the chandeliers I'm revamping. I think the shades are going to turn out pretty cute. I'm adding a white damask ruffle and I plan to add something in the middle of the ruffle when I'm done. I will post the finished product of the one I am selling, hopefully this weekend.