Every year we go and pick out own Christmas tree and have it cut down… my hubby has this “thing” against pre-cut trees.  Something about them not lasting as long… where did they come from?… how long have they been sitting… blah blah blah.  Anyway, our trusted tree farm failed us this year.  Very sad.  We went and ran through the trees.

Got some cute pictures…

Then, we left without a tree.  Something about the trunks being too small… he’s so picky!  (BUT, he was right!)

So, we ended up getting a pre-cut tree this year.  Shh… don’t tell anyone.  I kind of feel like when we find that farm that works for us every year, it will be like finding a long lost treasure that we must never speak of for fear of it disappearing into the winter night.

So, after getting the pre-cut tree from a different farm that was covered in mud… which made us all covered in mud… uh… and my newly cleaned truck covered in mud, we came home to decorate said tree.

Doesn’t he look excited!

We all kind of felt like this when it was over…

Maybe next year will bring back our favorite tradition.  **sigh**

Ta for now!

I have been admiring this child’s tent over at Sew Mama Sew for quite some time.  I had every intention of making one last year for my son, and it just didn’t happen.  This year, my SIL wanted to make one too, so it got done!  Yay!  We actually made 3 one Saturday.  They are fairly labor intensive (especially the way we made them), but totally worth it.

We decided that our children were too rowdy and crazy for the tee pee the way the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew had it set up, so we decided to change it (everyone who is surprised raise you hand).  The tutorial calls for you to add these plastic rings onto the inside of the tent to hold the rods… yeah, not enough for our kids.  We were envisioning having to fix it constantly, so we decided to add fabric casings to hold the rods.   We also used indoor/outdoor fabric so they could take the tee pee outside when we get sick of it being inside… you know… when the novelty of it all wears off  (i.e. the day after Christmas!).

Here’s a little tut to show you how!

Start by making the tee pee the way the tutorial tells you.  Laying out your fabric and cutting it accordingly.  (note: We bought 3 1/2 yards to give us some extra fabric for the casings, so we had to cut ours down to 3 yards before starting)

After you have your fabric cut, lay out your rods.  (we used 3/4 inch pvc pipe instead of bamboo… these measurements are assuming you use the same)

Drape your cut fabric onto the poles making sure you have equal distance between the poles (except for where the opening is going to be… we left a bigger gap there).  Once you have your poles in place and your fabric draped on top, take a marking tool and mark where your poles are onto the inside of the fabric.

We then cut 6- 26 inch by 3 inch strips for our casings.  Fold them over 1/4 inch on each side and press.

Next, pin down one side of the casing strip onto your markings (you should have 2 markings for each pole… one on either side of the pole, pick one side… left or right… and pin the others on the same side.  So, pin all your casings on either your left or right mark for where all the poles will go… make sense?)  Then, using a 1/8 inch, top stitch that pinned side down.

Next, lay out your fabric again, and pin the other side of your casing down 1 1/2 inches from the sewn down side and top stitch it down.  This will give your pole room to fit into the casing.

That is basically it… slip your poles into your new fantastic casings and see how stable it is!  It will also help the fabric not to fall off when you open the “door” to the tee pee.

Finish it according the the tutorial with the grommets (I also added a little bit of heavy interfacing to the back of the grommets for strength) and rope and your done!  I still have to spray paint the poles and add something pretty around the rubber bands, but I really like the way they all turned out.  I hope all the hard work will actually work and keeps these a little more stable!  Here’s to hoping.  Please email me if you have any questions… makes sense in my head, but may not make sense translated into bloganese.

Hugs!  Ta for now!

]]> http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/tee-pee-tutette/feed/ 4 dixiemango DSC_0614 DSC_0619 DSC_0617 DSC_0622 DSC_0624 DSC_0633 DSC_0638 DSC_0636 DSC_0644 http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/winner-winner/ http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/winner-winner/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:12:47 +0000 dixiemango http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/?p=1082 ]]>

Wow!  427 comments.  Amazing!  I guess you guys liked the frogs?  Very cool.

So I couldn’t figure out how to get the Random Generator picture on my blog, so I guess you are just going to have to take my word for it!

And the winner is comment #144… hold on… I have to go figure out who that is…

hmmm… looks like…

SUZY!!!  Who said, “Heather Ross fabrics are so yummy! Thanks for doing a giveaway!”

Congrats, Suzy!  Thanks to the rest of you for stopping by.  Hope you had fun visiting all of the blogs around blogland.

Come back soon… I will be sharing a little tutorial for a child’s Tee Pee here soon!

Ta for now!

]]> http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/winner-winner/feed/ 1 dixiemango http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/its-so-hard-to-say-goodbye/ http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/its-so-hard-to-say-goodbye/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:16:06 +0000 dixiemango http://dixiemango.wordpress.com/?p=1075 ]]>

Boyz II Men had it right… It is so hard.  I miss you already.

I made this for one of my BFFs (yup, the one who doesn’t believe in BFFs… we are still friends).

I LOVE this bag.  You know I just love green and it looks awesome with this black and white… classic.  This is the Pleated Purse Pattern.  I just enlarged the width by 2 inches.

The black and white is indoor/outdoor fabric.  It gives it great weight.  It also makes it easier to clean when you put it down in something yucky that your children left behind for your purse to find (not that I would know what that is like, I’m just sayin… IF that were to happen, you’d be okay).  I guess in BFF’s case, it would be her dog… dogs do that too, right?

I also made a little drawstring bag for all that stuff that gets lost at the bottom.

It was hard to part with, so I told her she could return it if she didn’t like it… so far, I haven’t gotten it back in the mail.  I guess she likes it  (the text she sent saying, “love the bag and you won’t be getting it back” was prolly a clue).

You have a few more hours to enter the giveaway.  I am totally overwhelmed by the response… SERIOUSLY!  Never woulda thought.  Can’t wait to see who won.  I wish I could respond to each and every one of you, but my eyes are crossed and my children are feeling neglected at the thought of it!  BUT, I LOVE reading each and every one of them… some are quite funny!  I’m loving all the college people who are entering too… ha!!

Ta for now!

What a fun day here and over at Sew Mama Sew!

I suppose this day (or week) would be your best chance at getting hooked up with some free stuff… and really… who doesn’t love free stuff?  It’s not just for college folks.

So, I am giving away these two amazingly fun and fantastically soft fabrics from Heather Ross.  Seriously, ya’ll, this cotton is SO soft!  Each is a half yard cut for a total of 1 yard.  I just heart these frogs.  I hope you do too.

And because I think these would make a super cute dress OR a really fun purse, I am going to include a 7″ zipper and some purse handles.  I hope they make this giveaway a little more fun!  I’m all about the fun, ya’ll.

I will be keeping the giveaway open until Sunday the 6th at midnight.  I’ll post the winner on Monday the 7th.  All you have to do is leave a comment.  If you want to post about this specific giveaway on your blog, I’ll give you another entry (just leave me a separate email saying you did with a link to it… thanks!).  Leave your email so I can contact you if you win.  I heart international folks too, so please feel free to enter, my far away blogsters.

Ta for now!

Okay, let me first start by saying if you are in my family and have already read the DO NOT VISIT MY BLOG email, then SHAME on you for peeking.  Look away now before any harm is done… go on now… you will see soon.  Hugs to you, but go… go now!

Okay, now to you my lovely blogsters… I thought I would start showing you some of my handmade holidays that I am embarking on this year in hopes to inspire you to do the same.  I made these cute headbands for all the little girls.  I love how they turned out.  I just got several stems of silk flowers and promptly yanked them all apart and then hot glued them all back together until I felt like they were full enough for my liking.  Then I hot glued them onto an elastic headband.  I tried sewing them on, but they were just too thick and I nearly lost a finger when I tried.  Seriously.  It wasn’t pretty.

I stumbled on this (the giraffe at the bottom) not long ago and thought is was just oh so cute and would be totally fun for my little girl.  So, I am trying, but not sure if I am thrilled about it so far.  I mean… that lady’s is so cute and adorable.  Mine is just… well… you can see for yourself…

So, what do you think (note: the ear is not attached and the snout is not attached or stuffed yet… they are just on there with pins.  The eyes are just pins too.  Really only the tail is attached and the body is stuffed)?  Do I keep on it and see how it turns out, or do I stop before I get in too deep?  My husband says that he doesn’t think it looks like a giraffe at all and is calling it a “gironkey”  (cross between a giraffe and a monkey… he thinks he’s so funny).  I can’t seem to finish her off.  I tend to lose steam on a project when I’m not in love.  So, I need some encouragement… or an excuse to quit.

So, on a side, but also related note… I haven’t been able to sew as much because an old shoulder injury has been acting up.  Boo!  BUT, I found this amazing Kinesiologist/Chiropractor.  I went to see her today and I am totally PUMPED that she is going to be able to not only help me with my shoulder, but also my knees and just all around healthier life style.  So, maybe I’ll be back at it full force before long.  Whew Hew!

Anyway, be back on Wednesday because I am going to be having a GIVEAWAY!  See you then.

Ta for now!

Okay, so since I totally blew it on my blog’s anniversary, I am going to participate in this years Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day.  Yay!  I am excited.  I hope you are too.

So, on December 2nd they are going to post all the blogs and shops giving something away and then you go and follow whatever directions and hope to win.  How fun!  You may stumble upon some really great shops/blogs at the same time.  So, it is like you win even if you don’t win a “prize.”  Or at least that is what you can tell yourself if you spend hours on end entering into all those giveaways (like I will, no doubt) and your name is never drawn, but let’s think positive, shall we.

Ta for now, my blogsters (only one person voted so that is what we are going with for now)!  I’ll be back before December 2nd, but I will definitely see you then.

I just love how easy and fun appliqué really is (can you end a sentence with “is”??  oh, well, this ain’t no english grammer blog, ya know).  I just love how you can take a plain ole shirt and make it so purrty with just a lil bit o fabric (okay, I’ll try to stop now with the poor grammer, but no promises… I stink at grammer).    My sister in law and I took our kids for their annual “cousin photos” and my little girl was going to wear her oh so fun dress I made, so the cousins needed something to match.  I took some of the fabrics from the dress and made these stinkin cute shirts.

The boy got stuck with a navy shirt and khakis, but that’s what he gets for coming out a boy… ha, just kidding… I have to figure out how to make his clothes fun too.  Maybe by next year, I will come up with something (hint, hint… would love some ideas, bloggians.  On a side note, what should I call those of you who peruse my blog?  Bloggians… like North Carolinians or bloggies… like “what’s up my bloggies?  Any other ideas?  Moving on…).  So, since my sweet sister in law likes the appliqué so much as well, we decided that a class was in order.  Once she started, she questioned my judgement on starting her sewing adventures with such a project that requires more precise sewing, but since she is a perfectionist much like myself (I say that with love… there is no shame in being a perfectionist… embrace the perfectionism, I say), I knew she would do a wonderful job.  AND she DID!  You gotta trust Carrie with these things…

I KNOW, she seriously did that!  A novice sewer and first time appliquér.  Fantastic, wouldn’t you say?  I see more of this sort of thing in her future.

So, on another side note, check out the jewel I found at my favorite local discount fabric store.  You really have to dig in that store, but sometimes it really pays off.  I mean, I’m so not a digger… I like a good deal, but only if it doesn’t require much from me, but when it comes to fabric, I will dig for days and jump and giggle like a little school girl when I find something like this for $3.50 a yard…

Okay, so not only is it really cute, but it is probably the softest cotton I have ever laid my hands on.  It is Heather Ross fabric.  Have you ever had the pleasure of touching her fabric (although, I don’t know if it is all of her fabric, but certainly this one)?  I can’t wait to sew something for a little one with this… or maybe I will make some pj pants for me out of this.  Really, my bloggies, it is DIVINE!

Well, ta for now, my blogsters (Ha, I like that one too!)

So, I told my MIL that I wanted some jars to store some of my sewing stuff… you know, hardware, thread, other stuff, whatever… and she totally came through for me.  Sent hooked me up with these old canning jars that belonged to her MIL and her mother.  So, not only do I have cool jars, I have old cool jars that have been in the family for like forever!

I hate to even wash them because they are so great!  Don’t you love them? I have somewhere around 15 of these.  I KNOW… now, what exactly should I put in them??  I really want to find some old wood spools of thread to put in some just for some color in my studio.  Oh, I can just see the possibilities.  Now to find old cool sewing stuff… hmm.  Oooh, and vintage buttons in the one milk jug.  Very cool.  Any other ideas out there?  Help me out here.

Ta for now!

I always love hearing those stories from seamstresses who grew up learning to sew at the feet of their mothers or grandmothers.  And, although, I have learned so much from my mother… sewing isn’t one of those things.  So, that isn’t my story, but I’m loving my story just the same.  My mom claims she isn’t crafty at all, but she has been watching me sew so much, that she decided to give it a try.  So, the daughter becomes the teacher.  It was such a great time.  I hope we do it again!  AND she did such a great job.

Pretty awesome for her first go… wouldn’t you say?   Nice job, mama!

Now to the mystery revealed part… dunt, dunt, DUN!  I asked my secret sister where she got the jar for the ribbon jar in my last post… well, I found this in my secret sister package today.

Jelly?  Huh?  Never would have thought.  She said she got it from a local discount bread store and almost threw it away(GASP), but thought it was too pretty to do such a thing… I totally agree (WHEW).  She thought it was funny that you all liked it so much and it almost ended up in the trash… that would have been a tragedy indeed.  So, there you go… check out your local discount bread store and find you some yummy jelly just to get the fantastic jar.

And speaking of jars… I have some really great ones to show you in my next post… I mean REALLY great.

So, Ta for now, my bloggies.