Fall Recipe Book- DIY

Today we are going to be creating a small recipe book that you can use to create a collection of your favorite fall recipes.  I made this two years ago, and decided that now would be a great time to share it with the fall season in full swing!

  I will be the first one to admit, I can not and do not cook :)  I thought that this would be a great way to share recipes and talk fall foods and maybe try something new :)
Obviously you can create your book any way that you would like, I am going to share with you all how I created mine!  Everything that I used for this book, I had laying around my house.  It is super simple and super cheap:


Here are the materials that I used :

* a file folder for my journal base

*  graph paper 

* double sided fall themed scrapbook papers 

* 2 pieces of fall colored ribbon
* a hole puncher
*  masking tape
* woodgrain contact paper
*some fall themed stickers
* vintage fabric in fall colors
* embroidery floss
* fall colored buttons
* 2 silver metal rings for binding :)
* random vintage papers

and here are the super easy steps I took to make my cute little recipe book/journal :)


1.  Cut you file folder in half, straight across the middle.  If you aren't using a file folder, my only stipulation is that your recipe book is larger than 4x6 (you will see why later).  My file folder was green and the inside was this kraft paper color so I flipped my folder inside out :)


2.  Use your stickers, papers, contact paper, and ribbon to create an eye-catching cover :)  I did a lot of layering and color coordinating here :





3.  I used some of my embroidery floss to create just a little added detail of stitching on the ribbon :)

4. I also created a cute flower detail with the vintage fabric and embroidery floss :)

First I cut out three circular shapes from my fabric...

Next I pinched the fabric in the middle and held it in place while I stitched an "x" in the middle to hold my little flower in place on the book.

I decided to make three of these because I loved them so much!

5.  I added a piece of masking tape down the binding to give it a different look :)  Ta-da! you now have your book cover!! 

6.  Hole punch two holes on the binding so that you will be able to place your rings in to hold the entire book together :)  I also used a pair of scissors to round the corners of my book :)  I love the look of rounded corners.

7.  Cut all of your inner pages to size and punch the holes in the side as well!  I also added some stickers to my plain pages to give it more detail :)

8.  Put it all together and bind it with your rings!!

9.  Look at your book and drool over how cute it is!

I hope you put yours to good use!
If you have any great fall recipes on your blog, link me up so I can add it to my book.

xo

janel

Fall Leaf Garland DIY

For today's  project, I am going to show you two cute fall leaf inspired garlands/banners that you can make on the cheap to decorate your house for fall.

These are, in no way, original ideas, but I'm showing you what I made to decorate my little home :)

The first one here is made with real leafs!!  Although it is mostly still green here in St. Louis, there are a few trees that have started to change colors and look brilliant.

So, I went on a little walk with the husband and the pup and collected some of these lovely leaves.

Once you have your leaves, the only other supplies you will need is an exacto knife and some clothes pins (or any other type of hanging devices).

You want to do this while the leaves are still fresh.

Lay out your leaf and cut away.  You can spell out words with different letters on each leaf, or you can do a simple sentiment like I did below....

To keep them straight and looking fresh, you will need to press them in wax paper for a couple of nights :)  After that, you can use your clothes pins, etc. to hang them up in your home!!!

The second leaf garland I will show you today is made from felt embroidery floss.  You could definitely save a lot of time and energy by using a sewing machine on this one too though :)

First, you need to gather felt in your fall colors, and cut out a ton of leaf shapes.  My leafs are about 2.5 inches long.  I made an equal amount of each color so that I had 11 leaves in each color (I used yellow, gold, red, and brown for mine).

Next, use a running stitch to stitch all of you leaves together in a straight line.  It's that easy!!!

Again if you aren't sure about hand sewing it, you can always run your garland through the sewing machine, making sure that each leaf gets connected along the way.

Ta-da!!

A gorgeous felt leaf garland to hang in your home to make it that much more cozy :)

If you decided to make either of these, please post photos of them so I can see.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Also I would love to see any other cute banners/buntings/garlands that you made for the fall season!!

Have a great day!!!

xo

janel

in the works...

Here is a little peek at a couple of projects I have been working on this week...

*  pen pal badges for my sweet pen pals (tutorial from Mer Mag for Gap)

*  cute little jars for Amelia's nursery makeover (now I just need to spray paint the tops)

*  and Amelia's Halloween costume

and here is a little bit of happiness that a co-worker friend brought to me this morning :)

yay!!

Happy Tuesday friends.

xo

janel

projects!

This blanket is so gorgeous and it combinestwo of my favorite things, crochet and patchwork.  I am FINALLY a semi-pro at making granny squares.  If you have read my blog for awhile you know that granny squares and I have a love / hate relationship :)

We also know that I need another blanket like I need a hole in the head.

(examples: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten and those are only the ones that I have personally made!)  The collection of blankets is pretty ridiculous but one day soon there will be plenty of fort-making days with the little one and they will be needed.
So yeah, I decided that making this blanket would be a must.  I love BIG projects so much.
After a trip to JoAnn's I came home and started my granny squares immediately.

Those are the colors...I am so excited.
I also picked up a baby blanket Cross-stitch kit.  I haven't ever tried my hand at cross-stitch really but my mom had made me one while she was pregnant with me and I decided that Amelia would need one too.
The pattern is definitely not my style but it's cute and it's classic and it was the cutest of all of the kits they had so...that's that.
Here is what I have so far.

So far, I am really enjoying cross-stitching!  It is so relaxing and peaceful and it looks really pretty. 

I also picked up all of the supplies I need to make these and these!!

It's going to be a very productive couple of weeks!!

xo

janel

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nostalgia

A couple of weeks ago, my parents and I looked through a bunch of old photographs and albums from my grandpa.  He was quite the memory keeper :)

Amongst these photos, were a lot of old slides that I wanted to get developed.

Yesterday, we got the photos back from the slides and had another great day reminiscing.

Here are a few things that I learned from these photos:

1.  Contrary to popular belief, I apparently get my craftiness from my MOM not my dad.  My dad is super artistic and creative but my mom has some hidden secret talents that she has kept from me all these years!!

*  She made that huge macrame hanging!!  (and then apparently sold it at a garage sale sometime in the past)

crewel embroidery! umm hmmm!
And my dad tells me that she was quite the cross-sticher as well.
My crafty soul...I get it from my mamma :)

2.  My dad is the cutest hippie I know.

3.  My mom looks so much like my sister and my cousin Kelly and so many of these photos.

4.  I started blinking in photos from an early age :)

well, only sometimes...

I loooove looking at old photos, don't you?  I would love to have a little flashback post every once awhile just for the nostalgia of it all :)

xo
janel

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Reupholstery Phase II

(image) 

Sunday, we worked on Phase II of our reupholstery adventure :)

We finished stripping the base of all of the fabric and stuffing until we had just the "skeleton" of the chair left over.

It was really really neat to see just the base of the chair, and where it's form comes from.  I am finding myself looking at the upholstered furniture all over my house to trying to visualize and guess what it's insides look like :)

Here are some photos from Phase II:

Yesterday, I went to JoAnns and picked up all of our fabric and supplies so that could start deconstruction the old fabrics into patterns for the new fabric.  (Maybe tonight)
I didn't go with a bold print since the shape of this chair was just SO mid century.  I wanted to stay true to the era so I used some of those swatches I found on the inside as inspiration.
This is the fabric that we chose:

It's very tweedy, and Sherlock Holmes-y.  It think it stays true to the vintage fabric but with a tiny modern twist to it.  I love it, and it's perfect!!  I will get my pops of color from accent pillows :)

xo
janel

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