My grandma bought Madison a small old wooden chair over a year ago. We kept it outside for the patio but as time went by it became very weathered and not used much. (this child actually has way to many chairs LOL) So I decided to spray paint it! I was going to give it the distressed look but to my surprise did not need too. After painting it, it still had that "weathered" look which I love. It now looks better with some color. I am doing some new things to our patio and thought it would be perfect for decor and of course still there for Madison and Makailyn to play with.
As I was painting the chair I started to think back from my early teens when I used to say I wasn't crafty and I just didn't have time for it. I giggled when I remembered that because growing up that's all I did with my grandma. She was THE "Susie Homemaker". It wasn't just her recipes that were made from scratch it was her creativity to make things. It's funny how when she was my age she was Mod Podging things and here I am doing the same thing.
Growing up she would always teach me new things. We used to make pouting dolls from toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, yarn, a sock and toddler clothing. Remember those? Their a little scary looking when you look at them now but I promise they once were popular! We even used to make little angels out of flower pots. The list goes on.....
She was not surprised when I started doing embroidery. She said, it was just a matter of time and that I'm slowly taking after her. Although, I wish that were true. She is the REAL DIY'er. The REAL thing. I do a lot off of inspiration of other's and put my own style and creativity into it and I tend to not do things from scratch like she did. I would call myself the 30 minuet DIY'er ;) I like that I can take shortcuts and still get to the finished product. Thats just me and my style. I prefer to do things quicker. Although, it of course doesn't always take just a quick 30 minuets to do something but you get my drift.
Now my grandma has no problem spending as much time as possible on a project. She used to do a lot of sewing which unfortunately I do not know how to do. What? Your telling me you do embroidery but can't sew?! Sadly, yes. Embroidery and sewing are extremely different yet in some ways similar.
More of the time goes into prepping and finishing than the actually embroidery itself (depending how many letters or design you do) You have to make sure the fabric is hooped right, the thread and bobbin are threaded correctly, everything is aligned right, spacing is right, letter or design size Etc. When finished, removing the stabilizer or topper and cutting any thread. A lot of the stuff Ive done for Maddie Mae designs has been sewn by 2 different friends. They sew I embroider. It's been great business for all =)
It's such an honor to learn all I've learned from my grandma and I am still learning from her. She is very wise and is someone I really look up too. She's always showing me new projects to do, new recipes to try and telling me stories from when she used to do them. Another thing we have in common is we both LOVE to host parties. Whether its a dinner party, holiday party or birthday party. We both have so much fun doing it. Speaking of holiday parties (most known for Christmas and now recently Easter) she makes the best sugar cookies and icing from scratch. This is another tradition I want to pass on to my girls. I have been making them with her since I can remember and Madison was old enough to get involved this past christmas. It was so special. We even used her cookie cutters she has had since the 50's. One day she will pass those onto me and I will pass those on to my girl's.
I would love to share this oh so sugary goodness with you all. In MOPS we made recipe books for our craft and everyone had to bring a printed copy of a recipe they wanted to share and I of course had to do the sugar cookies =)
Here are two other super easy projects I did. Aside from seeing them on Pinterest and pinning some ideas my grandma was actually the first inspiration for these ;)
I absolutely LOVE Mason jars. They are so versatile! They are great for a sunny day with sweet tea, you can use them at parties and of course decorating ideas like these. The first picture I used Krylon Premium Sterling Silver paint which I am using on my patio. The second photo I used Krylon indoor/outdoor flat white and am using that one in my kitchen. You can buy the mason jars at Hobby Lobby or Michael's or H-E-B actually sells them by the case in any size.
Well hope you enjoyed reading this. Now go bake some sugar cookies ;)
