Monday, July 20, 2015

Painted Fox favorites!

Have you discovered Painted Fox Treasures yet?
They have some of the greatest products out there, when they say farmhouse swag, they mean it!

I have ordered some items from them and they do not disappoint!
The quality is amazing and everything looks just like the photo!

Here are some of my favorites!
Owl Salt and peeper shakers!

This tray is just the perfect amount of chippy and distressed!

 This may just be the coolest pot rack I have ever seen!

And this tote is my favorite! I use it ever single day! Its the perfect size! 

Now go! Go SHOP!
Click the link below and have fun!




Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Shop info & updates

Hello! Are you still there?? Sorry that I have been MIA lately! Where does the time go? We are in the thick of summer and it's just flying by! I have been busy going on bike rides and out for ice cream!


With kids now out of school, filling orders in the shop and work that I have not had a chance to update in a while here! 
I have been thinking of how to manage it all and have decided that July is my month to get caught up, and also to get ahead and ready for fall and winter!! The shop will remain open, however I will be having surgery mid July and will not be working on orders from July 10-27. So please plan ahead if you are buying a gift!! It kills me to say no and not be able to get things out in time! I need some recovery time and it will be great to just lay around and spend time with my kids. At least it's summer and I can spend my time in the lounge chair sippin on some iced tea! Maybe I will even read this book and become inspired to make a quilt! Maybe....The thought of making a real quilt scares me a little!
I will not be taking and external orders via email or Instagram from now until August and spots will be limited through the fall and holiday season.
Coming up this week I have some signs ready for instant purchase! They are done and ready to ship!
Be sure to stop by my Etsy shop this Thursday at 6:00 pm cst for the best selection! I have a limited number available! 

That's all for now! Thanks for sticking with me!! I appreciate you! 

Missy


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Time for a giveaway!

Today I am celebrating a little social media milestone! I hit 3000 followers on Instagram! I am just blown away by that number, you guys sure know how to make a girl feel special! So as a thank you I am hosting my very first giveaway!

I have been making some new items for the shop and my giveaway is going to be this adorable State map! It comes in a 12" round hoop, you chose the state and fabric colors! 
It is ready to hang right out of the box! These will be added to my ETSY shop very soon! 
But for now, you can win one! Head on over to my instagram page to enter!

The giveaway runs until 6:00 pm CST Friday May 22! 

Good Luck!




Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Dye job

So I can't wait to show off my latest dye job! 😂 No, not my hair, although the shiny ones are popping through again!
I was asked to create a sign that matched a wedding invitation! 
This is the very bottom of the invitation. 
So first I got to work on making the sign. 
Stained the wood and then painted antlers in place. 
Once everything was dry I distressed and sealed it. 
Now it's time for the fun stuff! 
Dye the burlap! Today I used Rit dye in petal pink and tangerine. 
I mixed in a small sink wash tub, but a sink or bucket would do the trick! 
I added 3 cap - fulls of the pink and 1 tangerine. I know, very technical. I cook this way too, sometimes it works, other times we have cereal. 
Next, add the white burlap to the dye bath and check every minute or so until it's your desired color. Once you have the color you want, ring it out  and hang to 
dry. I lucked out and had a nice sunny day so my burlap dried very fast! 
Once dry it was ready to make flowers! 
I cut 1" strips and twisted and glued until I had all the flowers I needed.
I used apple green for the leaves. Such a pretty color! 
Then simply glued them into place! 
Here is the finished sign! What a fun gift! I hope the love it as much as I loved making it! 
Now go buy some Rit dye! It's awesome! 

Monday, April 27, 2015

Recycled barn wood frame


As I have been working on scrap maps I had an idea for a frame. My parents had a very old barn that my husband resided. So of course I insisted that he keep all the barn wood. It's like pure gold!

This weekend he made a frame from the wood for one of my scrap maps! The map is made with a moda fabric kit quilted onto a burlap background. .
I love the colors and how amazing they look with the wood! 

The layers of chippy paint, the natural weather to the wood! It's just perfect!! I am not sure if I can part with this one! How many maps can I hang in my house?

Happy Monday friends!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Fabric mini bolt tutorial

I did a post about this a few years back but I'm still getting some questions! I decided to do an updated post on how to make fabric mini bolts! 
I have become quite the fabric collector over the last few years and when I'm not careful I end up with piles like this: 
So before I let the fabric take over my room I made mini bolts using foam core. 
I bought a bunch of standard size boards all in white. One board will get you 8 mini bolts. I cut them down to 7.5" x 10".
You will also need long quilting pins. The small ones bend really easy. I fold each piece of fabric lengthwise and then into 3rds.
 I can wrap anywhere from 1/2 yard to 3 yards on one bolt. 
Begin by wrapping one end onto the bolt. 
Continue tonwrapmuntil you get the end of your fabric. 
Fold over the end to form a triangle.
 Fold over the edge and insert a pin to hold it into the bolt. 
You may need 2 depending on how wide the triangle is. 
That's it! They are so easy and store your fabric so neatly. 

This is a cubby from target meant for a kids room, it works perfectly and was rather inexpensive. 
I also have a cabinet that my hubby built years ago for me. 
I keep all my fabric organized by color to make it look pretty and it's easy to find! 
Now for the scraps. They all use to be in one large bin. But I have recently bought this great cabinet at wal mart and some great bins from Hobby Lobby to sort all of my scraps by color. It works great and I use more scraps now that they are organized and out in the open! 
I hope that answers all of your questions on the mini bolts! If not feel free to message me and ask! 



Monday, April 13, 2015

Hand painted wood signs

Now that it's finally warming up I can work in the garage again! This weekend I took full advantage of the warm sunshine and worked on some new wood signs.
My mom owns a green house and is making a gift shop this year!
I love to paint signs and this was a great reason to do so! Each sign is hand painted with decor arts chalk paint. I really love the finish of their paint and wax. I also stain some of the wood and distress with a palm sander. I use my silhouette cameo machine to make all of my stencils.

This guy above is pained onto a reclaimed wood pallet board. I am in love with how it turned out. I may just have to keep this one for myself!

I have several others that I am working on and wanted to share a few with you. 
I added burlap flowers that I used my sizzix to cut out. I sewed cute little buttons in the center and glued them in place. 
I really love mixed media, so I am working on adding in different elements to each sign. 

More to come later this week and if they do well, I may just have to add some to the shop!!
 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday, April 10, 2015

How to dye burlap-a tutorial

Happy Friday!! The sun is shining and I hear robins singing!
So it's really no secret that I love to dye burlap! I use the liquid rit dye and it's so easy!
You can make any color you want! 
Today I'm going to make coral. I simply did this in a washtub in my craft room. 
I used Ivory burlap to start. 
Mix 1 tablespoon of tangerine and 1/2 tablespoon of scarlet into hot water. Remember, the more water you add the lighter the the color will be. 
Add your burlap, and let soak. Stir it around a bit and continue to check the color often. The longer it soaks the darker it will get! 
Once you have your desired color remove from the water and wring it out well. Depending on how much color you have added you may want to wear gloves so you don't stain your hands! 
The color will get lighter as it dries. I did 3 different shades. I used the same batch of dye, I just added a little more color to deepen the shade. 
Now is the toughest part, waiting for it to dry!!
 I have this awesome metal shoe rack from Amazon that works great to dry fabric in front of my fireplace! 
Here are the 3 colors all dry. So yummy! 
Now you're set to create your fun project! 
I made flowers for a pillow!
Now you have the entire weekend to go & play with some Rit dye and burlap!!
Have fun! 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Bunny & flower pot tutorial!

I love that spring is here! The rain today is a sure sign, now if only it would warm up!!
I have been working on a lot of maps these days, but also some fun burlap daffodils and bunnies! 
These were a little tedious but so much fun! 
First I made the pompoms from a thick wool yarn. They fluffed up as soon as I started cutting! For the large pompom I wrapped the yarn around my hand! It worked great, just take of your rings! Ha!! 
For the daffodils I used rit dye to dye the burlap yellow. Burlap dyes beautifully! I just do it right in the sink!
For the Orange centers I simply added some liquid dye to water in a spray bottle and sprayed until I got the desired color. 
I cut 6 petals and sewed them together with embroidery floss. I glued the center in place and made stems from floral pics and green burlap. 
To assemble I added a styrofoam ball inside a 4" pot. I used a dowel rod and inserted it into the large pompom and stuck into the ball. I arranged the flowers and then covered with spanish moss. They were so fun to finish up and will look great in my window all spring! 
I had a bunch of bunnies ready to go for Easter! Think Spring!! 

Sunday, March 29, 2015

My first big SALE!

I have been thinking a lot lately about my shop and where it's headed & after a lot of consideration and really evaluating my shop, I have decided to change my focus and put more effort into the the items I really enjoy making and that perform really well.

I love to create, so sometimes I go gang busters and make 10-15 new items and fond that I really could have made 3-4 and that would have been ok!

I have changed some of my processes and my focus.

So my trials and errors are your gain! I have decided to have a big clean up sale!
All the items in my sale area are in stock and there is only 1 available!
Once they are gone, thats it! Some other items in my shop are simply going to be deleted.

I want to offer the best of my products, the ones I truly get excited to make every time I get an order.





So I would love it if you would check out my first ever sale at The Little Green Bean here. Many items are discounted over 50% from the original price! They won't last long! Thanks so much for all of your support!