Back in Business!

Just wanted to drop in and share a few things of what I've been up to the last few months.  Since I last posted, I have started teaching again.  As a result, my crafting time has been severely limited these days.  I am still busy working on several cross stitch projects and hope to post some of those soon.  

I'm very excited that now that it is fall the Pinterest Parties have started again with the City of Edwardsville.  We had our first party Friday night and it was a blast.  It was nice to see familiar faces from our winter/spring parties and lots of new faces too!  We made a really cute "Boo" door or wall hanging that you guys have probably seen all over Pinterest.  They turned out great!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Party Time!

Now that September is fully upon us, I have been happily busy with Pinterest Parties and making letter wreaths.

So far, I've done two parties... and they were a blast!  The first one, hosted by the lovely Miss Hayley, was a Leafy Letter party.  The ladies all did a great job and their letters looked fabu.

This last weekend I did a party that was a little different than the norm.  My sister hosted a spooky mother-daughter party.  Each little girl and each mom got to make a mason jar lantern.  It took a little longer than I thought it would, but the results were well worth the effort.

I love the way these look all lit up!  Once you figure out how to make these, which is pretty simple, the possibilities are endless.  You might notice we have a not so spooky, but still cute, snowflake, palm tree, and peace sign.

One wonderful discovery at the lantern party was a super tasty fall punch.  It is made with apple juice, cranberry concentrate, orange juice, and sparkling moscato.  It was really, really, ridiculously good.  Here is a link to a similar recipe on the blog Fleur de Lolly (the pretty pic is her's too), just substitute your favorite fizzy beverage for the ginger ale...or keep it if it needs to be kid friendly.  Enjoy!

Fall...Who's Ready For It?

Alright, it's September.  Bring on the fall weather!  Mind you, we've had a really cool summer here this year and it was great after last summer's inferno.  I just love fall weather though!  It really is the best.  The days are warm enough to get out and have fun, but the nights get nice and cool so you can just snuggle down under your blankets all warm and cozy!  And then there's the food!  Pumpkin bread, apple crisp, hot chocolate, chili...mmmmm. 

Over the holiday weekend, I decided that even though it will be up in the 90s for the next week, I was going to change the home decor and officially make it fall in my house!

Most things I have I've collected over the last couple of years from mainly Wal-Mart and my fav, Target.  I scored those cute shiny pumpkins last year at Target for like three bucks each!  My new favorite thing this year is that cute little hooty owl(he was kind of hard to photograph because he is so shiny and adorable but he's there between the lantern and white candle thing)....Wal-mart, two dollars and change.  I know, right!  

He's super cute and he had a little squirrel and raccoon friend that also had to come to my house.  If you hurry, you might still be able to get one although I know that my Wally was down to just a few raccoons the last time I was there.

I also have put up my fall wreath that I made last year.  I really need to figure out a way to hang it on my front door, but my husband is paranoid that my over the door wreath hanger thing will scratch up the paint on our new front door.  So, for now I guess it will just hang on the wall.

Oooooh, I almost forgot to tell you....I can't show you yet, but I finished my Parrots and Hibiscus cross-stitch!  It looks really good.  You'll have to wait until I get it all framed to see it!

Short Post and a Freebie!

 My goodness!  Has it really been August 8th since my last post?  Even though neither one of my children are old enough to go to school and I'm not teaching this year, it still seems like the back-to-school chaos got to us!

Things have been pretty busy here with lots of end of the summer activities and lots of fall/Halloween crafting!  I've got several Pinterest Parties on the books (and dates still available for those interested) and I'm busy getting samples and supplies ready.

My main reason for this quick little post is to give you (as promised) a free cross-stitch pattern!  I'm just starting to design my own patterns, because most of what is out there is kind of old lady and not my style.  Anyway, these pumpkins are a cute, simple little project that is great for beginners or those coming back to stitching!  It only uses three colors and you could easily change up some of the colors if you would want to.

Sorry my little sample here isn't done! :(  I hope to finish it this weekend and get the finished product to you soon.  Just shoot me an email (apetalpusher@gmail.com) if you would like this free pattern and I'll email it to you!

The Birds and the B

 I just realized this morning that I had not yet posted my second Fall Pinterest Party project!  If you are a Facebook fan of mine then you have already seen it.  If not, then here is it!

This is my Pinterest inspired bird silhouette painting!  It turned out really cute.  I love the look of the old book pages (although it hurt just a little to tear up a book) with the black silhouette against it.  I would say that the skill level for this project is just a tiny bit harder than the leafy letters, but don't worry, I'll help you make it.

Again, if you are interested in hosting your own Fall Pinterest Party, just let me know either via email or a message on Facebook.  I'm already booking dates in September so the earlier you reserve yours, the better!

In other news, I finished another one of my looming unfinished projects.  I finally got around to framing my cross-stitch letter B that I made for my son's room.  I don't know why I was so scared to frame it, it was really quite simple.  All I did was find some scrap white fabric ( I had some leftover white sheet from making curtains) and some quilt batting (I knew I had been saving that bag of batting from Granny for the last six years for a reason) and then made a little sandwich of them in the frame:  frame back, batting, white fabric, and cross-stitch.  The glass for this frame was broken a very long time ago, which made it perfect for my use!

Here it is in my son's room.  I think it looks pretty good.  It is hanging over his little book nook and he loves pointing at it and saying, "B!  Mama, B!"

Fall Pinterest Parties!

 It's August, the back-to-school shopping is in full swing,  and that means only one thing...Fall will be here soon!  What's not to love about this season?  The days are warm and the nights are crispy, cool, the hayrides, apple treats, and Halloween!  I'm really looking forward to taking my kids to the pumpkin patch and walking on the bike trails when the leaves turn.

Another thing I'm super excited to share with you are my Fall Pinterest Parties!  Don't know what a Pinterest Party is?  Let me fill you in!

A Pinterest Party is where you invite your friends to come over and bring a recipe that they have pinned for everyone to try.  As everyone is enjoying the treats, I will be there to help your guests create a fun Fall craft that is also from Pinterest!  I will bring everything we need to make an awesome fall decoration, wreath, artwork, etc.  By the end of the party, everyone will have something to take home, a full belly, and a smile on their face!

That's the basics, here are the logistics.  Each guest pays $20 to cover all of the crafting materials that we will need.  I will bring everything that is needed right down to the hot glue guns.  The hostess of the Pinterest party just has to invite her favorite people over and let me know how many are coming.  As an added bonus (aside from being a really cool person that hosts a party for her friends) if you host a party, you get to craft for free!

What will we make?  Well, here is the first Fall craft for a party...Leafy Letters!  These are right on trend with using letters in decor for your home.  They can be used as a welcoming Fall wreath for your front door, or as a decorative monogram on a mantle or shelf.  

To book a party, just send me an email at apetalpusher@gmail.com or send me a private message on the Petal Pusher facebook page!  Get your date reserved early so you can be all ready for fall. 

I will be back later this week with another party craft for Fall!