I may not have made a lot of crafty things recently, but I have been working on making something else--a baby! That's right, we are pregnant and due March 2013. And so, to be honest, for the past weeks I have not felt up to doing anything. The energy bank has totally run dry, so that when I get home from work all I can do is crash on the couch or bed and sleep until 6am, when it's time to do it all over again. Thankfully, I happen to have one of the best husbands in the world, who has been taking care of all the cooking, cleaning, dog-walking, grocery shopping, and all the other stuff I'm forgetting. He is the best!
But, last week, my soon to be newest sister-in-law was in town for a short trip which included her bridal shower, so there was a gift to be made! I had an idea of what I wanted to do a long time ago, but of course I waited until only a few days beforehand to actually get off the couch and do it. Bed Bath and Beyond was my backup in case my project went awry, but thankfully all went according to plan. Here's how it turned out (thank you Pinterest and Etsy for the inspiration!)
Okay, here's how I did it. I bought some burlap and Heat n Bond-type fabric stabilizer from Joann's, cut out a sheet of Heat n Bond that measured 8.5x11, and adhered that to the burlap. (For the record, if you ever misread the Heat n Bond instructions and have a massive accident where glue gets ALL OVER your iron--here's the solution: simply iron a fabric softener sheet and voila--the glue comes right off. Plus the smell of the dryer sheet is MUCH much better than the smell of burning glue. Just so you know.)
Next I cut out the burlap-adhered-to-the-stabilizer, made up the monogram that I wanted using Microsoft Publisher, and simply ran it through the printer. (Actually it was not so simple. My printer did not want to take the burlap at first, but my once again awesome husband somehow managed to push that burlap through until the printer accepted it.) After that I popped the burlap into a frame from Michaels, and tada it was done.
For a more helpful tutorial than this on how to print on burlap, here is a website I found super useful.
So Tim and Anna now have a little piece of artwork to hang on their new walls come October. And I feel a huge sense of accomplishment for actually getting a crafty project done. Since then I have even gotten a few scrapbook layouts done!
Since you have been so good as to read to the end of this post, your reward is a first look at our little baby (who at 8 weeks looked a bit like a hamster). Dave is convinced it's a boy, which, based on his family's history of making boys, is probably pretty accurate.
