Guest Blogger: Marie from My Lil Pink Pocket

Happy Friday everyone!  Today we have a special treat.  One of my new-found blogging friends is guest-posting for us today (and I am guesting at her blog...I will post a link later)!  She is the sweetest gal! Oh, and before I let her take it away, let me remind you to enter my giveaway!  Okie, dokie, here's Marie:

Hello friends and readers of My Li'l Pumpkin Patch! I'm Marie and I blog over at Lil Pink Pocket. I'm so excited to be here today! Thanks Steph for swapping blogs with me today!

I am a wife of 8 years to my husband Tim and stay at home mommy of two adorable little girls, Deni is three and Capri is 16 months. I'm a do it yourself kind of girl and love creating! Over at Lil Pink Pocket you'll find a little bit of everything from sewing, furniture makeovers, recipes and everything in between! I'm excited to share a skirt tutorial with you today! I made similar skirts out of my husbands old button up for both my girls last week and you can see those here. My three year old is growing like crazy so I was excited when I came across the idea of making skirts out of button up shirts. I raided my DI pile and found a few. I hope you like it as much as I do! Enjoy!

What you need: -sewing machine -matching thread -button up shirt -elastic measured to the size you need

Cut straight across just below the armpits. I didn't realize I forgot to take a picture of the next step. Fold over the top 1/4 inch and press. Fold again about 1 1/4 inch to create a "pocket" to insert elastic for the waist. Next you will sew along each side of the button placket so the skirt cannot be unbuttoned. Insert elastic using a safety pin and secure in place. You can see this in the picture below.

For the tie in the front cut collar off shirt and fold edges in and sew a finishing edge on it.

Fold collar in half and pin the center on the middle of the waist band.

Attach and tie in single knot.

Isn't that the most clever idea?!   I absolutely love it!  And what a great way to use your DI pile.  FYI, for those of you who don't know, DI (Deseret Industries) is a thrift store. :)  It makes me want a daughter even more so I can make one of these!

Marie has a lot of other great projects on her blog that you should go check out!

Bench of Thought

Banco del Pensamiento

by ALVARO TAMARIT

A sculpture and a piece of furniture at the same time,

Bench of Thought has been carefully constructed using recovered books

with wood as a structural reenforcement.

Finished with a gloss varnish. 

http://www.saatchionline.com

Bottle garden

Brazilian Design Studio Rosenbaum is creating happier homes for financially challenged families.

Spread the Joy!

http://www.rosenbaum.com.br/

1000 drawers

Design Direct/Hamburg and "1000" unwanted drawers- come together in these funky cabinetries

http://www.entwurf-direkt.de

M Design

M Design and Project Scrap has just inspired my own journey reclaiming the value of abandoned furnitures in the street, verge collection or garage sales.

Thank you for the inspiration Marjolaine Poulin from Canada!

http://www.maobamboo.blogspot.com/

August Stache Party Results

There are tons of great projects for August's Stache Party!  (If you are new and want to join next month, here are the details).  I am so excited to share them with you.  I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have participated.  It has been so fun to "meet" you and check out your blogs.  As a way to say "thank you," I am randomly giving a prize to one of you. Details here.

Here is what I made from my stash this month.  For a tutorial, go here.

Each item has a direct link to the project, so check out everyone's and leave some comment love! I decided to share them in the order I received them, so here they are:

Leslie from Sage Endeavors made this chili pepper apron from what she calls her "behind the sofa" stash.  I love how she named her stash!  I need an apron like this!

Vanessa added some stained glass windows to her home.  Aren't these pretty?  They leave really pretty light on the floor.  Check out how she did it over at her blog, Dawne Design.

Alyssa from Sweet Sewn Stitches submitted this antique highchair makeover.  Isn't it darling?  It looks so clean and fresh!

Miya from Jellyfish Jelly completed two stash projects this month.  She created a Peacock Cake and a Sequin Mirror.  I love how she used mirrors!  What a fun thing to have in your stash!

Melanie from Bear Rabbit Bear made a play kitchen for her daughter that looks like soo much fun!

Maggie created a mini album that is absolutely gorgeous!  She blogs a fun story about it over at Midwestern Sewing Girl.

Kari, from a Grace Full Life, made this creative display of her and her hub's "song."  It is one of my favorite songs too!  The story of how she created it is very entertaining.

Kimberly from Little Rays of Sunshine made these Luscious Layered Bars.  I seriously could make these for dinner tonight. :)

Kristi from Bowl of Cherrys made this super cute shirt to cardigan.  Isn't she cute pregnant?

Katelyn, from Domestic Charm created bookshelves out of spice racks she found at Ikea.  I love seeing repurposed furniture.

 Terry from These Peas Taste Funny created these beautiful napkin rings.  What a simple, yet charming way to decorate your table!

 Jessica from Amaranthine Aesthetic shares her living room.   It turned out gorgeous.

Kristen from Life With The Ellwoods created this adorable snowman family!

 Steph from Southern Fairy Designs submitted two projects.  The first is her gorgeous lace flower necklace.  The second is her t-shirt skirt- it looks so comfy!

Ashlie and Shellie from The House Undone created this amazing fence bathroom decor!

Jill created this gorgeous afgan.  She even donated it to her local sheriff's department for someone who has experienced trama.  How thoughtful! (Sorry I can't find the image).

Nicole from Craft My Soul created this super cute shirt.  She has lots of cute poses of it on her post.

Tiffany from With a Cherry On Top did an amazing job on this embellished top!

Kim from Craftaphile, created these cute burp cloths!  You can never have too many of these!

Carlee from Ladybird Ln made some pads to send to girls in countries who have to miss school during their menstrual cycle.  What a fabulous idea.  (She actually has a monthly "Crafting For a Cause" you should check out.)

Rebekah from Somewhere In The Middle created this super cute mini album.  I love mini albums!

Katie from Craptastic made this door-on-the wall decor!  I really really like old doors, windows, etc.

Thanks so much ladies for participating!  I hope to see you all back next month!

Linking up here and here..

Shopping, Shopping, & more Shopping

It seems like around this time of year I do a bit more shopping than usual. 

It usually starts around mid August and last till the 16th of September.  That date is my birthday and I have a way of justifying numerous purchases by stating “it’s for my birthday!” 

Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this?

It started with this purchase back in August.

I already had a smart phone but honestly it didn’t seem very smart because there was very little that I could do with it.  After three years of living with the old dog, I broke down and got an iPhone.  Wow, so this what owning a (real) smart phone is like!  I am lovin’ it!!!  (after I learned how to use a touch screen.  Literally took me 15 minutes to type out my first 6 word text message!)

HOWEVER, my teenage daughter mentioned to me that I should be careful when texting or emailing someone because it likes to GUESS at what word you want to use and changes it.  I went back through some of my messages and oh boy….. did it ever!  I apologize if you were one of the recipients of those early messages. 

Also, the delete button and the reply button are right next to each other.  I did accidently erase a couple of messages/conversations when in fact I wanted to reply.  Again, I am so sorry if you asked me a question or we were talking right along and I never got back to you.  I guess in some cases you do need to be smarter than your phone.

  Have you ever hear of “Blacklion”?

I’m not sure if it’s a local thing, but it’s a huge store (think like super Wal-Mart huge) that is full of home décor, accessories, and furniture!  Even walking through quickly took about 2 hours!

Isle after isle of beautiful eye candy!

What I brought home….

and some incredibly soft creamy white fabric! (not photographed)

Miss Becca from Adventures in Decorating “PINNED”  a photo on Pinterest that caught my eye….. Pottery Barn Mercury Glass Pumpkins!    I really wanted these.  A whole pumpkin patch of them, please.

I thought I would humor myself and hop over to the PB website.  There they were with FREE shipping!   Uhhh, the agony.  I wanted them but still couldn’t bring myself to checkout.  Until….. an email popped up from PB with a 10% off code!  SOLD

I sure there are more splurges that have been made and will be made, but there really is no reason to completely rat myself out!  lol.