Headbands Now on Etsy

Yesterday I posted a tutorial for pleated headbands and said I would be putting some of the ones I have made up on Etsy soon.  That is exactly what I did today so stop by and check them out if you would like!

Here are a few of the ones I posted:

Thanks so much! 

Ashley

Pleated Headband Tutorial

Today I want to show you how to make a pleated headband like the one shown above!  This will be my first tutorial so please let me know if you have questions!  So many of the bloggers out there do such a good job at detailed tutorials and I hope I can live up to them! 

First you want to cut out a piece of fabric measuring 16 X 4.5 inches.  This is a great project to use up any of the scrap fabric you have laying around! 

Next, cut out a piece of fusible interfacing.  I used Pellon Wonder Under. (this step isn't a must, but it makes the headband more stable)  The pellon should be about 1/2 in smaller on each side than the fabric.  Now you want to iron the interfacing onto the back side of your fabric.

Once the interfacing is ironed on securely, peel of the paper backing.  Now you want to fold over the short edges of your fabric and iron those flat to make sewing them down easier.

Now, sew a straight line across the edge that you folded over.

Then fold your piece of fabric in half lengthwise where the two front sides are touching and sew a straight line down the side.

Once you have done this, your piece of fabric should look like this:

Now, you want to turn it inside out so the front side of the fabric is facing out.  Use either your fingers or a safety pin to do this.

Once you have turned it all the way inside out, iron it flat and the fusible interfacing will fuse together and give you a nice sturdy piece of fabric.

Now, you are ready for the pleats!  Starting at one end about 2 inches in, lift up the fabric and fold it towards the end you are closest too.  Depending on how many pleats you want you can adjust the measurements accordingly.  I just kind of eyeball it to make the pleats even.  Continue folding these pleats until you reach the end of your fabric.

Once you have all of them folded, iron over the whole thing so it will hold in place better while you are sewing it together.



Now you are ready to sew.  I like to use the zigzag stitch on mine to give it a little something extra, but feel free to use any stitch you may want!  Simply sew right down the middle of the pleated fabric making sure to sew where the pleat flaps are facing you so they don't get caught up in the needle.



It will look like this:

You are almost done!  Now you just need to sew or hot glue on some buttons on one of the ends, and hot glue a thin elastic headband to the back.  (Note: don't stretch out the headband to glue and I usually glue mine over to the side so it can be worn on your head off to the side.)

And now you are ready to wear your fabulous handmade headband!



If you aren't into the whole crafting thing, I will be adding some of these to my Etsy shop soon!

Happy Sewing!

Ashley 

Eat More Chicken

Today on Pinterest I was so excited to see one of my friends had pinned a copycat recipe for those scrumptous little bites of heaven. . . Chick-fil-a nuggets!!  Of course I had to pin it and can you guess what I just bought at the store yesterday?  Lots of chicken on sale so of course I HAD to try this not so secret secret recipe out! 

We try not to eat too much fried food but y'all, we are from the South so you just have to every now and then and boy do we like it!  Frying is always a little time consuming but this recipe was definitely worth it.  It wouldn't have taken so long but I wanted to make chicken sandwiches instead of all nuggets and the larger pieces of chicken took a little bit of time to cook all the way through.

The recipe can be found at http://www.mynameissnickerdoodle.com/2011/03/fabulous-food-friday-79.html.  I made a few nuggets and three chicken breasts for the sandwiches using the same recipe and they turned out great!  Keep in mind it is not going to taste just like Chick-fil-a, but it is a great substitute and the hubs was pretty impressed!

 Frying the chicken

 The nuggets

 Breasts and nuggets

To go along with our chicken sandwiches, I bought a bag of frozen sweet potato fries and spruced them up a bit by adding a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar about 5 minutes before they were done.

It is safe to say I will be making this recipe again and I hope you try it and enjoy it too!  It was a big hit at our house!  Let me know how yours turns out and don't forget to Eat More Chicken!

Ashley

The Help

Wow. . . The Help was such a great movie!  No, I haven't read the book but I definitely plan to since I enjoyed the movie so much.  The truth is, I'm not a huge reader but I am working on that.  I loved to read when I was younger but I think that required reading in school ruined me.  Over the past year I have started a list of books I would like to read and am slowly checking them off.  I think I'm going to have to bump The Help a little further up the list!

I found the movie very inspiring and empowering.  I loved the concept of someone using their talents to give someone else a voice who couldn't have a voice on their own.  That is something that the Lord has given me a passion for.  In our society it is so easy to focus on ourselves, but we have resources and means that could help give a voice to so many others in our country and throughout the world. 

Daniel and I went on a mission trip to Haiti last summer and two of the biggest things we took away from it was the need to show others that they are valuable and loved by God and to teach them skills that will far outlast handouts.  Many of the people we met did not have a voice; they were trapped in the crossfire of a corrupt government without the hope of education or resources which often results in little self worth.  My prayer is that the Lord would use the things He has blessed Daniel and I with to bring glory to himself and that we would be faithful servants and useable no matter the cost. 

Here are a few of those books I have been reading:

I would love some book suggestions to add to my list!  Leave me a comment below!  Thanks so much for reading! 

Ashley

Texas Friends and a New Slogan

Last week we were so blessed to have our amazing friends, John and Stef come for a visit!  We all went to college together at UT Austin and John and Stef got married this May.  Having our Texas friends here is always like having a little piece of home in Tennessee! 

Wednesday was John's birthday and we all celebrated NashVegas style!!  For lunch we went to support Blood:Water Mission, the non-profit that my friend Alyssa works for, by purchasing lemonade for their Lemon:AID campaign. 

Check out Blood:Water Mission at http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

We then celebrated with dinner, shuffleboard (a John and Daniel tradition), fun at the Wildhorse Saloon, and red velvet cake- yum!

On our last day together, we went to support my hubbs and our good friend Jason in their very first Duathlon in Tullahoma, TN.  They ran, biked, and ran some more and we are so proud of these two!

Lynchburg was super close to the race so we went there for lunch and the Jack Daniel's tour.  Ol' Jack had a pretty catchy saying that we all thought would make a great Claudie Belle Designs slogan (haha):

It was a wonderful visit full of awesome company, great conversation, good food, board games (shout out to the Litzler's for introducing us to Ticket to Ride), and lots of memories!  We are so blessed that the Lord has put such amazing people in our lives!  We definitely do not deserve what He has given us!

Ashley

Flower Clip Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Laura for winning our first blog giveaway!  A big thanks to everyone who entered!  Be on the lookout for more giveaways in the future for your chance to win! 

Thanks!
Ashley

Vintage Mantle Display & Giveaway

I recently discovered Pinterest, a site to "pin" things you like.  Places to share ideas and get some great inspiration are always welcome as I'm constantly looking for new things to make!  Last week I saw a cute shelf display and decided it was time to spruce up our mantle and the great thing was I already had everything I needed for this summery vintage feel!

Our mantle was a craigslist find from last December!  We do not have a fireplace, but I had been looking for a cute and fun way to hang our stockings because my parent's came up the week before Christmas to celebrate with us!  I found this one on craigslist and loved the distressed look and how they had put shelves in the opening to hold picture frames or anything you might want to put there.

I really love old windows and have been able to find several free ones in our area.  I simply picked one out of my stash, cleaned it up, and proped it up on the mantle against the wall.  I also have a slight obsession with bunting!  It is just so stinkin' cute and fun!  I made mine with twine and some fabric scraps that I cut into flag shaped triangles.  I simply hot-glued the triangles on the twine leaving about three inches between each one. 

The old camera and "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook belonged to Daniel's grandparents!  I love using old family items because they have a story to tell of your family's past. 

And now for the Giveaway:
I'd love to hear from you about an old family heirloom or item you have in your home!  Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing to win this Flower Clip from Claudie Belle Designs.

 Leave a comment through Sunday, August 7th to be entered.

 

Happy Decorating!
Ashley