My new purchase!

Last night I purchased an item that I’m really excited about. Could it be this? 

 

Or these beauties?

Nope, it’s this…a Brother SE 400 sewing and embroidery machine!

Now for those of you that know me pretty well, this should be funny. I think it is HYSTERICAL! I have never claimed to be domestic and I have absolutely no desire to become a ‘Domestic Goddess.’ I keep a clean house and I have a little OCD when it comes to organizing, etc. but I consider myself an average cook, I do not iron and I am not crafty. However, I am VERY excited about my purchase and can’t wait to put it to use (more to come in the future).

You may be wondering what started this crafty phase in my life, and it all began with $20 letters. That’s right, $20 letters! When designing Abigail’s nursery, I knew I wanted to incorporate her name in pretty wood letters, so I went searching the internet for a place to buy them. My friend, Jennie, bought some really cute ones for her daughter’s room off Etsy, so I looked there and fell in love with some. The problem…they were $20 a piece. Now this wouldn’t be a huge problem if her name was JO but since her name is ABIGAIL (seven letters!), these particular letters were too pricey. I am extremely picky and couldn’t find any other letters that I liked as much, so I decided to try to make the letters myself. Honestly, I figured this project would be an epic fail but knew that I would never know if I didn’t try, so I forged ahead. Jan, being the ‘Frugal Freddy’ that he is, thought it was a fabulous idea and supported me 100%. He said he thought it would be nice for me to hand make something for the nursery, especially since he had worked very hard painting the walls and putting up the chair rail (which looks professionally done and amazing). I agreed with him but I also know that he realized he could save $140 too!

I went to every craft store in town twice (we only have 3) and eventually found the wood letters that I liked and seven scrapbook paper patterns that looked good together.

I painted the edges of the letters and used mod podge to apply the entire piece of paper to each letter face. Note: I did a lot of research before beginning and several tutorials will tell you to trace the letter onto the scrapbook paper, cut out and then apply to the letter face. I tried applying the paper both ways, already cut out and whole. I definitely prefer the whole page method better. After the page dried to the letter, I used an exacto knife to cut each letter out. 

Once the letters were painted, covered and cut out (see above picture), I decided to jazz them up a bit with clear glitter and attached ribbons for hanging.

I am very happy with the result and it only costs about $25 for all seven letters! Woo Hoo! Score one for me! Since this project ended in success, I have a list of other projects that I am working on and will share once completed. And to bring this blog full circle…yes, the new sewing and embroidery machine will be working overtime once it arrives. It excites me more than the Burberry clutch and Jimmy Choo shoes. Who am I?