Lots To Talk About And Lots To Show - Peyton's Banner, Malia's Birthday And My Own Birdhouse

I have been working on this banner for Peyton's room for a few weeks. And I finally finished it on Wednesday this week. It's hard to tell from this picture, but it spells out Peyton. I have a ton of chipboard letters already, but I only had smaller ones for most of the letters in her name but the P. But I decided to use what I had on hand instead of going out and buying new ones. So the letters are small but it spells out her name nonetheless.

I am super excited to have it finished! I admit that I have been slacking since - and before - Peyton was born in decorating her room. But I really want to get it looking cute and fun for her. Her bed sits right below this and yesterday when she woke up, I found her standing in her crib staring up at it. When she saw me she said over and over "Mama, I love my present, I love it!" It was pretty cute!!!!

Here are some more pics of the details and each part of the banner:

This last picture was taken before it was hung up. I was trying to get a view of as much of it as possible without it being hung up yet. As you can tell I have used a ton of different brands to get it all put together, and a lot of fun techniques too.

Here is the list of supplies {from left to right}:

• White Flower Knobs - Hobby Lobby
• Ribbon - blue and brown polka dot is my stash, brown satin - Stampin' Up!, pink scallop purchased from Material Girls fabric store in South Jordan, pink striped Making Memories, blue and green gingham is my stash, caramel satin ribbon Stampin' Up!, green wrinkled satin blue velvet scallop trim American Crafts, orange grosgrain Stampin' Up!, green lace trim My Minds Eye, pink and white tool is from Joanne's, pink gathered Stampin' Up!, brown large width grosgrain is my stash, brown, blue and pink striped Making Memories, yellow polka-dot Making Memories,pink gingham Making Memories, brown polka-dot grosgrain Stampin' Up!, artichoke grosgrain Stampin' Up!, sky blue and white polka-dot grosgrain Stampin' Up!, pink stitched grosgrain Stampin' Up!, yellow satin is from Easter packaging of mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups : D, pink paisley from Walmart, hot pink organza Target Dollar Spot, rusted twisted wire {this holds the whole banner together and is strung from each large chipboard base to the next with the wooden spools over them}.
• Chipboard - large circle BasicGrey, large scallop flower Scenic Route, large letter P BasicGrey, large bird mini album Stampin' Up!, letter e Heidi Swapp, chipboard flower Maya Road, letter y Heidi Swapp, brown polka-dot frame American Crafts, letter t Heidi Swapp, mini tree and bird Imaginisce, green bird with white flowers American Crafts
• Wooden Spools - Roberts Crafts
• Patterned Paper - {around first spool} BasicGrey, yellow fabric paper Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, pink polka-dot {around second spool} Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, brown polka dot with roses {on large scallop flower) Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, Old Olive and Whisper White cardstock Stampin' Up!, brown with paisley {on large bird} BasicGrey, blue and white polka-dot Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, red and pink strawberry {used on rose} Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, pink and white polka dot American Crafts, green and yellow flower {cut as half scallop circle} BasicGrey, brown polka-dot bird Stamin' Up!, orange and green flower My Little Shoebox, pink and dark pink polka-dot October Afternoon, blue and white graph October Afternoon {scallops behind large circle and as part of the Scallop Circle flower over the doily}, green with brown circles BasicGrey, green graph with the black and yellow bee BasicGrey, green and white white damask American Crafts, brown and pink polka-dot October Afternoon, pink and white flowers {around spool after the letter n}, yellow and white polka dot Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, cream with pink, blue, yellow and green flowers BasicGrey
• Fabric - blue and cream Joanne's Fabrics
• Adhesives - cool heat glue gun, pop dots, glue dots, liquid glue, glue stick, tape runner, crystal effects
• Accessories - green leaf head pins Imaginisce, tree branch and bird with heart stickers Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, silver paper clip Stampin' Up!, blue button BasicGrey, brown and white string, gemstone brad, Stampin' Up!, blue flower Prima, metal flower All My Memories, cream crocheted flower Imaginisce, pink velvet flower Prima, white paper doilies Wilton, buttons are my stash, white damask flower sticker Heidi Swapp, flower sticker BasicGrey, green flowers Bazill Basics, pink brad All My Memories, pink glitter Stickles, brown brad Bazill Basics, metal flower and brad 7 Gypsies, decorative head pins Making Memories, pink corduroy button Stampin' Up!, pink gem stickers My Minds Eye Lush line, crocheted flowers Dear Lizzy for American Crafts, green gem brad K & Company
• Inks - Soft Suede, Old Olive and Rose Red all from Stampin' Up!, coffee alcohol spray ink Tattered Angels
• Tools - Crop-A-Dile, sponge to apply ink to paper and embellishments, fabric starch to make paper flowers, needle and thread to make ribbon ruffle flowers, glue gun, 1/16" hole punch, foam brush
• Punches - Bird, Scallop Circle and 1 3/8" Circle Stampin' Up!, butterfly Martha Stewart
• Die - Flower Fresh Stampin' Up! for Sizzix Big Shot
• Paint - cream acrylic Apple Barrel

What a list of supplies! I went absolutely crazy when I saw the Dear Lizzy line of fabric paper. I think it is an awesome idea. And I love that it is adhesive backed! It saved so much time not having to sand the paper down to fit the chip board. And I love the look of the fabric. I think it gives a fun and vintage look to the projects they are used on.

I love using the fabric paper to make the twisted flowers. I put one on the bird with the letter t and then another on the circle with the letter o. They are really easy to make but a little time consuming. I have mentioned before Liz Kartchner did a video tutorial on how to make them for American Crafts. I apologize, I don't have the link anymore but it is on her blog and it is a link to You Tube.

On the first circle on the left side, I am still not sure what to put there. So I will figure it out shortly. But I wanted to hang it up now anyway. I noticed now that it is hung up too that there are some ribbon bows that I want to change the size of, some of the pin wheel flowers that are popping up and some other mistakes that I would like to fix. But for the most part, I just love it!

Here is my adorable niece Malia in all her birthday glory! She wore her "Birthday Princess" crown throughout pretty much the whole party. And she was excited when her mom told her she could wear it to school the next day because that was her actual birthday. She did take it off for a bit in the party when her and her cousins were singing and dancing because she said she didn't want it to get ruined. It was pretty funny. But she is such a cutie all the way! Love you Malia!

So I finally got my birdhouse finished!I am so in love with October Afternoon right now! All of the papers but 2 are their brand. The red rose at the top is Stampin' Up! and the yellow polka-dot around the window is American Crafts Dear Lizzy. Most of the October Afternoon paper is from the Fly A Kite collection. I love everything from the colors to the patterns. They have such a great vintage feel. They make me want to rummage through some of the belongings of my mom's mom that I have. I have a small red tin that belonged to her with some old plastic beads and things. Nothing of great value to anyone else but

me :-).

Seeing the above picture makes me think of Friends episode with Monica's dollhouse and how she won't let Phoebe play with it because she brings her great big huge dog that is taller than it. I say that because of the ceramic green bird off to the right side of the picture. It's huge compared to the birdhouse that it is next

to :-).

I also can't get enough of these adorable bird houses. They are extremely inexpensive and so fun to decorate. Now Peyton wants one for her room too. I will have to get a shelf in there high up so she can't get to it. She is in a "take apart anything that she can" phase right now!

Here are some more close up pictures:

I am so glad I got this bird punch from Stampin' Up! I absolutely love it! I use it all the time. I have a die also that has a cute bird on it, but this is so much easier!

As I have said many many times, I am totally addicted to these paper flowers! They are so much fun to make and I am getting speedy at them. It occurred to me that I could also do the flowers with the Scallop Circle punch. They are made pretty much in the same manner as the regular roses. I promise now that I have these 2 projects out of the way, I will do my tutorial. Husband, I am recurring you to help me take pictures so I can do it :-D

 This time I used the Martha Stewart Lace border punch to create the trim on the sides, as well as the grass at the bottom. How cute would it be if grass was really polka-dotted like that!

Here are the supplies used for making the birdhouse:

• Birdhouse - Roberts Crafts
• Paint - Cream from Apple Barrel
• Patterned Paper - October Afternoon, Stampin' Up!, Dear Lizzy for American Crafts
• Brad - Circle Gem Stampin' Up!
• Punches - Bird, Scallop border and Scallop Circle from Stampin' Up!
• Ribbon - green wrinkled American Crafts, brown gingham and green polka-dot are from my stash
• Tools - foam brush, file BasicGrey, low heat glue gun
• Adhesives - Mod Podge, Crystal Effects Stampin' Up!, Pop Dots Glue Dots, glue stick

I will probably end up adding some kind of banner to the front of it hanging from the roof like I did with my mom's. But I couldn't decide so I just decided to leave it for right now.

I am super excited because I have been talking about making a Christmas Village for forever. And finally I found the perfect houses to do it! Hobby Lobby has the cutest raw houses to use! I have 2 so far and then I plan to get about 5 plus then I want a building for a church. Now I just need to find the perfect Christmas paper to use! I can't wait!!!

To switch gears, I get excited this time of year because as the weather gets nicer, my DVR gets more free space. This is all because I am watching hardly any TV. From fall to spring, I am a TV junkie! But once my favorite shows end for the season, there are only a few shows that I have to watch in the summer. So that means more time for things like reading, audio books {which are perfect for listening to while crafting!}, going to the park, having a BBQ, taking Peyton swimming... I love warm weather. I think I was made for it. It's hard in the winter because I am so not a fan of the cold Utah winters. I love the long days and short nights. I hope summer comes before July this year, because the last few Junes have been super cold here. So hooray for summer! I hope it's here sooner than later!

Last thing before I am off, I am loving my ipod right now! {not that I ever stopped} But I can't get enough of Ingrid Michaelson, Muse, Blue October, She and Him and pretty much any singer/songwriter I can get my ears on. Hope you guys like my playlist here on the blog!

Have a great Memorial Weekend!