Here is another new craft I made for the new house. I redid an existing framed print. I covered the mat with one fabric and covered the cardboard backing with the other fabric. Topped it off with a painted R to match the wall and voila! I love it!

New house

Here are a few things I've been doing around the new house!

After 5-ish years, tons of fun, and lots of work, I have decided to close AlexiaJean Designs.  It is time for me to move onto other things in my life.  I will be focusing on my family and home more for the next season of life.  I will still post crafty ideas here from time to time, and maybe I'll actually have more time to make tutorials (don't count too much on it)!  I'll still be sewing for my family and home, but on a hobbyist level.  I'm excited about what the future holds for me!

Feel free to find me on Pinterest if it's craft inspiration you are looking for!

Lego Party

We had our son's 6th birthday party over the weekend, and I'm proud to show off all the decorations and share ideas with everyone. I will say this: almost every single thing I did was either inspired by, or a complete knockoff from, Pinterest.com. If you need an invitation to Pinterest, email me, I'll be happy to hook ya up! It's a creator's dream come true!

I created these invitations using Picnik:

A couple weeks before the party I started collecting leftover boxes from the pantry, toilet paper and paper towel rolls so I could make these:

I also took made a million Lego dude crayons. Yep. One Million. 8 at a time. But, it was worth it!

These were the activity table settings at the party. Each kid got a small Lego set that came in a Lego Party Favor pack (which I'm 85% is being discontinued, because it was on clearance at Toys R Us), and a custom word search I made at Discovery.com. My teacher friends tell me this is nothing new, but it was new to me, and SO much fun to make a custom word search.

I used a few of the giant Legos for centerpieces

Here is the food table. We kept it simple with finger snacks and a cookie cake. The big Lego head is a storage container Caleb got for Christmas that added the perfect Lego touch. It was funny how many little hands just had to touch it! It is super cool!

Here was the main decor spot. A nice colorful arrangement of giant Legos, garlands, signs, and colors!! I love the way it turned out.

Goody Bags a la Pinterest ;)

Inside the goody bags, among other things, were these packages of DIY coloring books and Lego dude crayons.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my take on the ever-popular Lego party! It was a lot of fun, both to decorate and plan, and also for the kids that came. Feel free to use any and all of these ideas, but I want to see pictures! :)

New Year, New Project

I've been away from the blog for a while, focusing on family and holidays.

Oh, who am I kidding?

My son started Kindergarten back in August and I'm still reeling from the change of schedule. And my poor blog has taken a back seat.

But I got a new Macbook! Maybe that will help.

Who am I kidding?!

I did finally find some inspiration for the yards and yards of fabric my mother has been sending me from Africa. She is a short-term (if you can call 18 months short, when your mama is across the ocean) missionary associate stationed in Congo, where she teaches teenage girls how to sew. That's what we tell people, anyway. It's obvious from my stash of batiks and wax block prints (totally new to me!) that the REAL reason she went to Africa was to add to my fabric addiction.

Thanks, Mom!

So. That's my new project for the new year. I'll still be making "the usual" dresses and outfits, and assorted other crafty awesomenesses, but I'm going to be adding a new line of clothing and accessories I'm calling, "Let's Congo!" using the fabrics she's sent me. Squeeeeeee! I'm so super duper excited to debut the first fruits of this little labor of love.

Oh, did I forget?! This new line will also involve donations to missions in some way. I haven't sorted it out yet, but probably 10% of the sales will go to a charity that works in Africa. Which is the real love part of this labor. I'm excited!

Christmas Outfits

Here are a few quick snaps of the Christmas outfits for 2011! I am currently taking orders, so hurry before the fabric is all gone!

Dinosaur! Rawr!

What I've been working on!

More new stuff!

New in the Etsy shop

Available for order now in my Etsy shop in size 12-24 month

Another piece of progress

Today's menu consisted of lots of fabric, hot glue, and staples --provided by my friend, the electric staple gun. (Insert Tim Allen's Home Improvement man-bark here!)



I started out by recovering a bulletin board in my son's room. Super simple, quick fix for an outgrown memo board. One thin layer of batting, wrap it in fabric, add a few little details, and done!



I thought the nails and hooks were very masculine!

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Then I tackled some wall art for sister's room. This time I covered three 16x20 canvases with fabric, attached fabric letters, and embellished with scrappy flowers and buttons.



I'm very pleased with the outcome.



Mostly because I love this fabric soooo much! I really don't think I could dislike anything made with this.



It's going to be a sad day when I either 1) run out of fabric



or 2) run out of walls/windows/pillows/thingies to cover with it.



Oh, and I finally am starting to figure out the manual settings on my DSLR! I've been trying to learn myself, because that's how I roll, but until today it didn't really click. My kids' rooms are hard, because the lighting is bad but I'm finally getting it! Excited!

Pinterest Wreath

I've recently become addicted to Pinterest. Specifically, the iphone app. It's so fun to peruse the pictures while I lay on the couch or while hubby watches sports on TV. I have tons of pins on tons of boards! Last night I made my first Pinterest craft-- a scrappy fabric wreath!



It's no secret I like bright colors! I really love orange, and I think it looks great on our dark red, slightly outdated front door.



It even fits nicely behind the storm door. Win!



I used a large metal ring that I found in the jewelry section at Hobby Lobby for $2.47. Stuck a small nail in the back side top of the door and hung the fabric loop on it. Done. And Simple!

What do you think?

Pillowage

It's neat how throw pillows can really bring together the decor in a room. Lately, every bedroom in our house has gotten a new pillow or two. I started with this one.



I found this neat printable chandelier iron-on. I have to admit, my little inkjet printer spit out a gray chandelier.. so I used a black paint marker over it after I ironed it on-- which I would assume makes this pillow not very washer-friendly. Good thing it's on a grownup bed!



Next, the boy's bedroom got two new pillows. I just made a simple envelope pillow over for the larger pillow, and then used some scraps to make a small pillow.



It really ties in the curtains and wall art!



Now, the girl's room is a forever work-in-progress. I just finished the valance this week finally,



and these two floral throw pillows.



Again, another simple envelope cover for an existing square pillow, and a smaller envelope with three scrap flowers sewn on. For some reason, my children love to destroy pillows -- every button, tie or cute "extra" inevitably ends up torn off. I wonder what the fascination is... anyway, these flowers had to be sewn down tight. I sewed them in a circle radiating outward through all the layers until all the little petals felt secure.



I love the difference it makes!