Celebrating 2000 Fans!

We are celebrating the success of 2000 Facebook Fans!! I wanted to thank all of my customers and supporters in helping make my little Fabric Nerds dream come true, because without all of you Fabric Nerds would not be here. I figured what better way to say thank you than a giveaway! Hop on over to our Facebook page to enter our celebration giveaway where you have the chance to win a HALF YARD BUNDLE of the upcoming line "Little Monkey" by Blend Fabrics. Retail value $23.00!!

<3 Kris

Fabric Nerds

Bit by the Sewing Bug

I think a couple of weeks ago I was bit by the sewing bug, because I just want to keep creating :) 

I have been making some dolls as Christmas presents for little munchkins in my life. After posting pics of them on Facebook I keep getting asked the same question...Are they for sale? So I have decided to make a new Handmade section in the shop. So stop on over and check it out!

Here a a couple of handmade dolls that just made their debut in the shop...

Eye Patch the Pirate

Sunflower the Ballerina

Keep checking back because each week will bring new creations!

<3 Kris

Fabric Nerds

A Handmade Christmas: Ballerina Doll

These last few months I have really been working on living a simpler life as a family. Putting our energy into what we find important and not what other people tell us is important. One area that I am working on with my kiddos is that "Momma doesn't need to buy you everything you see." In the past my husband and I have agreed to disagree in this department. I admit it..I was a spoiler and my husband well not so much.  In these last few months I have really done a 180 in attitude change on this topic and completely agree with my hubby. Our kids currently have more toys than a lot of kids I know, not just due to me but they also have a grandma and an auntie that love to spoil too ;) Having sooo many toys, I feel takes away that something special each toy holds.

My attitude change brought up a question to myself; "Whatever happened to simple, imaginative fun?" When I was a kid my brother, sister, and I used to pretend that our swingset was an obstacle course that we had to get across, it was so much fun. I got a couple of stitches from it but it was a blast! I used to wheel around this old little shopping cart and pretend nature was my grocery store. Leaves were steak, sticks were fruits and vegetables, and hands down this grocery store had the most beautiful flower arrangements. My sis and I would sit in mom's hosta garden by the driveway and create little homes in the hostas for our My Little Ponies and Glo-Worms.  [Daydreaming down memory lane] :) 

I want that for my kids. I want their creativity and imagination to take the spot/need of wanting "things". Seeing them run around the backyard, letting their imaginations take them away just brings me so much happiness. Last night Abby was a cowgirl and she was warning the town folk to watch out because Old Man Luke was back in town. She would warn them by "yodeling" <3

With this want for simpler came the goal to make this Christmas for my kids a complete no store bought Handmade Christmas. I am not making other family members give them a handmade Christmas, but as far as my husband and I, our gifts to everyone are going to be handmade this year. They are both still young enough that whatever momma or daddy makes is special. I hope by having a Christmas like this it will begin to instill in them that toys and presents don't need to come from a store for them to be awesome, fun, and special.

I just completed my first handmade present. Yay! This one is for my little dancing cowgirl Abby. I found this wonderful softie and doll pattern shop called Dolls and Daydreams. The owner Sarah is the biggest sweetheart around and her patterns are absolutely adorable. She has so many to choose from that it was hard to decide, but I absolutely fell in love with her Ballerina Pattern and knew it would be the perfect doll to make Abby for Christmas. Her instructions were easy to follow and the doll itself was surprisingly really easy to make. If you have some sewing experience you are good to go! 

Meet Amelia the Ballerina. I gave her red hair of course :) and prettied her up with different shades of pink since Abby tells me her favorite color is no longer purple but now pink. 

Let me just warn you...doll making is addicting! I am contemplating on selling some in my recently reopened handmade shop Abby's Attic  because her patterns are just so much fun and easy to create. I have been checking out her other patterns to see what I should make next. I am thinking a pirate doll for Luke. 

Have any of you guys had a Handmade Christmas? What was your favorite handmade item you ever received?  Mine was a beautiful topsy turvy doll my mom made me one year. I remember playing with her all the time.

<3 Kris

Fabric Nerds

Up and Running on YouTube

I have been brainstorming for a while on what I could do to add to the awesomeness of what Fabric Nerds has to offer. After talking with a couple of friends and running around some ideas, I came up with what I think is a great addition to the Fabric Nerds website...YouTube Tutorials! 

After getting over my camera shyness :) and figuring out how to take a video and semi edit a video, I came up with my first tutorial. The first tutorial is on how to make quick and easy Fabric Braided Coasters. It is a perfect project for all those scrap fabric pieces you have lying around that you don't have the heart to throw out but they are not big enough to do any of your projects in mind. They would make awesome gifts for a house warming party, Christmas, etc... when given as a set. They are quick, super easy, and one of those projects I just love because the color combination possibilities are endless.

Here is a sneak peak of what mine came out like...

Well I hope you like it. Bare with me through these first couple of videos as I try to learn the art of movie making :)

<3 Kris

Fabric Nerds

Birthday Celebration!

Tomorrow I turn the BIG 3-0! I am still unsure how I feel about it yet.  I know it is far from old but at the same time I feel like I am officially a GROWN UP, even though I have been married for 6 years and have 2 beautiful redheads and adulthood has been around for awhile now. :)  To celebrate this momentous occasion my hubby and I are headed out of town to BOSTON!!! Back in the day (before kiddos) we would make it a yearly tradition to head up to Boston catch a baseball game and explore the city. It's one city that this country girl actually loves! Since having the kiddos sadly me and the hubs have not gone on an overnight trip by ourselves in the last 5 years! So needless to say we are in desperate need of some ALONE time. A HUGE THANK YOU to my Mom, Sister, Brother-in-law, and Mother-in Law for tag teaming the kiddos to make this trip happen for us!

I was reading this article the other day called "Turning 30: 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know" and I am glad to say I have done and know majority of the items on that list YaY! After reading it I was thinking about things I have learned in these 30 years and here they are...

1. Having a couple of AWESOME friends that you can count on any time day or night to be there for you (and vise versa) is so much more important than having tons of "Acquaintance Friends".
2. Sadly some people even as adults, will just never grow up and leave the high school drama behind. Accept that fact and move on to what is important in YOUR life.
3. Life is short. Make the relationships you have with people count and be worthwhile.
4. It's important to stop at times and take a deep look at the life you are living. Are you content and happy where your life has taken you? If not stop and alter that path to help lead you to the contentment and happiness we all deserve.
5. No matter how much you want to, you can not change someone. The only things you have control to change is yourself and your behaviors/actions in situations.
6. Living a simple life is not wrong. It may go against the grain of society and people might think you are an odd duck for not caring about the materialistic things in life, but it is NOT wrong. 
7. Finding happiness and joy is so much easier when you look at the simple things life brings you instead of all the other stuff.

That is all I got so far. All of these 7 things have been huge life lessons for me in the last couple of years and they are still work in progresses but I am getting there. 

What are some life lessons that you have learned along the way?

To celebrate my BIG 3-0 Birthday even more, Fabric Nerds  is having a HUGE one day only sale. Tomorrow, Fri July 20th take 30% off all orders $30 or more!! Use coupon code: BIG30. (Note: All orders placed on Fri-Sun will be shipped out on Monday)

Happy Fabric Shopping! 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend full of family, friends, and fun!

<3 Kris

Easy Peasy PJ Pants

This past Father's Day (or as my daughter calls it Daddy's Day) we decided to go on our first family camping trip. To make it a little extra special I thought I would whip up some camping pj's for the munchkins. My kiddos are 21 months and 4 years old, so anything Momma makes them is always awesome :) I did some searching on Pinterest and found a super easy tutorial at this awesome blog, My Cotton Creations. Her photo tutorial has great detail and is really easy to follow. I whipped up these pj pants in no time! Just a bit of a warning once you realize who easy they are to make you might decide to stop buying pj pants and making everyone you know a pair :)

Here are some photos of the kiddos modeling their pj pants on our camping trip...

All the fabrics you see in the pj pants can be purchased at Fabric Nerds. For my daughter's pants I used Daisy Cottage Main Print and Fly a Kite Yellow Gingham (for ruffles seen in first pic). For my son's pants I used the picnic print from the Crabtastic Line. 

A HUGE ONE DAY SALE at FABRIC NERDS is coming up next Friday, July 20th. I am celebrating something BIG and wanted to celebrate BIG with all of you. Stay tuned during the week for more details on this BIG event.

Summertime Recipes: Part 2

My husband, bless him, gets up at 5am for work. Call me a late sleeper or a lousy wife but my body will hate me for the rest of the day if I wake up before 6am. So needless to say I am not up at 4:30 cooking up some breakfast for my man. Because of this, his breakfast typical consists of some type of variety of Pop-Tart. Definitely not anywhere near a contender for the most nutritious, filling, or energy packed breakfast. These past couple of weeks I have started to make some giant muffins the night before. They are quick, easy, and absolutely delicious (plus this recipe will save you money and a trip to the bakery). The best part of this recipe is its versatility, you could use it for all different muffins such a blueberry, banana nut, strawberry, the possibilities are endless.

Peach Crumb Muffins

Ingredients:

Big Muffin Tin

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 - 1 1/2 cups diced up fresh peaches (or your fave add in)

Topping:

1/2 cup white or brown sugar (your preference)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, softened and cubed

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Line muffin tin with muffin liners (or just thoroughly grease muffin cups)
3. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
4. Add oil, egg, and milk into dry ingredients mixture, and mix well.
5. Fold in peaches
6. Fill muffin tins up to the top (this will create nice giant bakery style muffins)
7. Make Crumb Topping: Mix together white/brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter until stars to resemble a nice crumb topping.
8. Sprinkle crumb topping over muffins
9. Bake for 22-24 minutes in the oven or until done (mine took 23 mins, check if they are done by inserting a toothpick into the center)
10. Enjoy this bakery worthy breakfast you just created!

<3 Kris
Fabric Nerds