A-Thread Clothing: Gift Card Giveaway~

Today, I have a fun giveaway for you!

 A-Thread is a new on-line clothing boutique that sells great clothes and has a great philosophy as well!

5% of every purchase from A-Thread gets donated to one of four charities, and you get to choose which one!  They call this Shop & Effect.  I think it's awesome.

I had fun scrolling through their website and checking out all their great clothes and

MyColor Inspired by Pantone Paint Winner!!

 

Congratulations Julie Workman!!

 

Please e-mail me by Friday to claim your paints!

 

kharris08 {at} gmail {dot} com

 

Thanks to all who stopped by!

 

Cheers!

Under $100 Linky Party

First, and most importantly, let me say my heart and prayers go out to all who have been devastated by Sandy.  Wow, the images are heartbreaking--it sure puts things in perspective in case you have been attending a pity party, at least I know it does for me.  I will continue to pray for healing to the area and people who have had their lives changed forever.

Secondly, and not nearly as important, Happy Halloween.  I have almost forgotten about it.  With a ten year old being the youngest child and the child who has always been the least interested in this day, I don't really get too terribly into Halloween.  I do have loads of candy for the little dears who will be stopping by.  It is suppose to be 65+ today, yeah--often Halloween in Montana means snow boots and snow pants.

Thirdly, my 12 Days of Christmas linky party will start tomorrow night and will remain open.  Make sure you are linking to the right party--this one opens tonight and closes Saturday and is for your under $100 ideas, the other is for Christmas ideas and will stay open through Christmas. 

And finally, it is my pleasure to share some great links from last week:

Chevron boards from Vintage Finds

Down to Earth Style shows you how to upgrade your builder's mantel

Fun chair from The Artful Life

One Creative Couple's furniture distressing techniques

Love Shabby Love's little bench

Recipes We Love seasoning mixes

Beautiful table from Daisy Mae Belle

Looking forward to your links!  {Please remember to read through the guidelines before linking up!

Thanks for linking up and for sharing you with us :) !!

Under $100 Linky Guidelines:

1. Please link to the specific post, not your blog!

2. Please only post ideas that cost $100 or less--it would be great if you share the cost of your project, but not necessary.

3. Please include a brief description in link up.

4. Grab my Under $100 button on the sidebar and include it in your post or a link to Beyond the Picket Fence so people can find you and more great ideas.

5. Please check and make sure your link works. If it doesn't you can delete it and try again.

6. Please no direct links to sales sites, i.e. ETSY or just a plain ol' commercial site, we are looking for inexpensive ideas we can recreate.

My Busy Buzzy Bee!

 My girl wanted a Bee costume this year and it turned out so cute, I had to share.  Plus it only cost me about $8 for the Goodwill Sweatshirt and the black Walmart twin size sheet.  I know it's super last minute, but here's the how to:

 Get a large man's size yellow shirt.  I got a fleece zippered pull-over at Goodwill.  A regular longsleeved t-shirt would work too.

Next rip some strips from the black twin sheet.  I did 6 - 1 1/2 inch strips, 2 - 2 1/2 inch strips, and 2 - 3 1/2 inch strips.  Pull off the extra strings.

Cut out the zipper and neck band.

I used a dress she already had as a pattern.

Remove the sleeves and cut up the seam.  Leave the cuffs on.

Cut down the sleeves to fit your girl.  She wanted them to come to the elbow so that's the length I did here.

Since I cut out the zipper, I used a piece cut from the excess sleeve to cover the hole.  It's wrong side out so you can see it better, but I topstitched it over the hole with the right side on the top to match the rest of the sweatshirt.

Next, use a ruler to mark lines where the bee stripes will go.

I stitched the strips on doing little hand tucks along the way.  Stitch both sides of the strip.  I love the random cute shape of the stripes.

Keep going most of the way down the front of the dress.

 Now let's add the sleeves and sew up the side seams.

I used a piece of the 1 1/2 inch strips to make the neck line, similar to bias tape but I folded the fabric randomly to give it a slight ruffle.  I think I will use this technique again on another shirt neckline.  It turned out so cute!

Here's another close-up.

Now finish the bottom stripes, this time going all the way around.  I did one strip with each width of fabric, gradually getting bigger in width.

The last ruffle only got two stitch lines across the top as I wanted a bigger ruffle for the bottom edge.

Here is the back side.  I didn't mark the back so the top stripe is a little wonky.  Perfectly Imperfect!

For the wings I used some super thick upolstery batting I had from another project.    Regular batting will work, it just won't have the stiffness this batting has.  You could add some interfacing to achieve the same effect.

Cut the shape of the wings.

Cut 2 pieces of white fabric and sandwich it together holding it in place with safety pins.

Stitch the wings in place.  I used a spiral pattern for each section.

Lastly, get a headband and some black pipe cleaners.  I curled them in a spiral and attached them to the head band.  Super easy and cute!

Now my girl is ready to go Trick-Or-Treating!

 I safety-pinned her wings in place.  3 across the top, and one in the center bottom.

 My busy Buzzy Bee!  Too Cute!

Happy Halloween!

Le Joker lamp, designed by Christian Ræder in 1970, reedited by Le Klint

Last Minute Halloween Craft: Paint Chip & Washi Tape Candy Corn Garland~

Nothing like putting things off until the last minute. I picked up these paint chips for.ev.ah ago because the colors reminded me of candy corn, and I got this *brilliant* idea that they would make a fun garland.  I found them again a couple of days ago, and hurried to make this cute little garland to share with you all.  I figure it's better late than never.  And if you like it, you can always

...And Breathe

Do you ever have to remind yourself to breathe?  I do sometimes, my mind starts to roll and roll, the schedule starts to fill up, the house needs attention,  and somehow in the middle of all the craziness the creative juices flow and all I want to do is create what I want...but I can't.  Breathe...inhale...slowly...deeply.  It will all happen--or won't.  I can write the ideas down and get to them later.  So today I will breathe, I will take the time to notice the little things, I will listen.  Here are a few things I have been doing:

Football--the season ended Saturday with a playoff loss--this is my boy!

 

Preparing for my 12 Days of Christmas--It starts Thursday night!

 

and special orders galore--I don't have any pictures of those right now...breathe!

I like Nobody

I like it, a lot! The Nobody chair produced by Danish brand Hay, that is. Made of PET felt, a 100 % recyclable material made from used water and soda bottles, Nobody's only structure is textile : the felt was put in form presses and heated up... No frame, plastic, screws or glue are used in its production. How more eco-friendly can a chair be?

J'aime Nobody... j'aime beaucoup même.... La chaise Nobody est produite par la marque danoise Hay. Faite de feutrine PET, un matériau 100% recyclable fabriqué à partir de bouteilles d'eau et de soda usagées, Nobody est faite exclusivement de feutrine, pressée, chauffée et moulée. Aucune coque, aucun plastique, aucune colle ou vis n'est utilisé dans la fabrication de cette chaise. On peut difficilement trouver plus écologique comme design. 

The fun story behind the lighter grey chair pictured above is that there was a mistake in the shipment sent to Laurence Simoncini - she had ordered dark grey colored Nobody chairs only. When she unpacked, she realized the lighter colored chair was the queen mixed with the darker ones. Brilliant!

Pour la petite histoire, Laurence Simoncini avait commandé des chaises Nobody uniquement dans le coloris gris foncé. Suite à une erreur dans le colis, et à l'ouverture des cartons à réception, Laurence s'aperçoit que la chaise gris clair arrivée par erreur met en valeur les autres chaises et devient point focal. Génial, non?

Sources 1 ❘ 2

Little Villa Illusia

This little gem is a true "home away from home" in Hanko, the sunny south of Finland.

We went for an Autumn midweek getaway to find some peace, rest and comfort in the middle of our own cabin renovation.

Not only did we find a comfortable bed and warm shower instead of our usual, more "rustic" way of "bucket-showering in the sauna", we found a place that has been planned and created with heart and soul, paying attention to every little detail.

After admiring the harmonious deco surrounding me, I sank into the comfy lounge with great selection of interior magazines that were neatly stacked on the shelf.  Of course, this serene vision was accompanied by the snoring of my lovely partner, snuggled in the end of the couch..

My holiday had begun!

I warmly recommend this lovely little Villa, for more info, check;

http://www.pikkuvillaillusia.net/4

Now, let the pictures speak for themselves...