Smile And Wave

Group Giveaway Day

Modern Maven was developed by Tara Gray, an interior designer out of Colorado.  She creates one of a kind, Felt Flora wall sculptures and Fabric Embellished furniture items. Her pieces are created by hand and are fully customizable depending on your style, size needs and color palette.  No two pieces are alike.  

Each whimsical Felt Flora sculptures are hand made from viscose and wool felts. Petals are hand cut and stitched to create a variety of florals, each as unique as a true flower. Florals are stitched to a wrapped canvas, creating an easy to install, and lightweight, piece to hang on your wall either vertically or horizontally.

Modern Maven’s felt flora sculptures create an elegant focal point for a wide variety of locations. Installations have included residential, boutique store display and restaurant display. They are also a wonderful addition to a baby's nursery, child’s room or to be used as photography and dessert table backdrops.

Giveaway includes: (1) 11"x13" recycled barnwood framed Felt Flora wall sculpture.  The winner will able to select up to 3 colors of their choice.  The piece will be custom created once the winner is announced and contacted for color selections.  Value = $50

To enter this giveaway check out Tara's shop and leave a comment with your favorite piece before Dec. 4th!

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Vivi Dot is a Seattle based line of handmade accessories that all feature bold, fabric covered buttons. The line includes rings, hair accessories, necklaces, earrings and brooches. Designer Molly Hooper creates most of the fabric prints and supplements her own creations with bold solids, rich textured fabrics and laces, and other to die for patterns that catch her eye. You can find Vivi Dot on Modcloth, ShopRuche, Etsy and in independent boutiques around the world. 

Check out Vivi Dot's Etsy shop and leave a comment with your favorite item to enter to win. Follow Vivi Dot on Twitter for an extra entry before Dec. 4th!

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I'm Christal Huth of i Sewpose!  I'm a 20-something crafting enthusiast who is blessed to work and play in beautiful southern California with my animator husband and tiny, weirdo rat terrier, Oliver. Seriously he is the weirdest dog you've ever met. But the cutest too ;) I have an intense love for the silly, the sweet and strange and an endless fascination with how the stitched line can help me to express that.

Embroidery for me is relaxation//unwinding//meditation. I love the challenge of finding new ways to make this antique art form fresh//fun//relevant! Though I've dabbled in drawing and painting and pottery makin...I'm addicted to the needle and thread. i Sewpose is happy to continue to helping the clean up efforts of the Red Cross in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 

Giveaway: $20 shop credit. 

To enter to win this giveaway, visit i Sewpose and share your favorite product in the comments below.

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ONE LUCKY READER will be winning all of these giveaways! To enter to win you need to read each request from the sponsors above and then return with your links. The lucky winner will be announced Dec. 5th!

A big thanks to each of my sponsors this month! If you'd like to Sponsor Smile and Wave in December it's easy! Just check out my sponsor information page here.

-Rachel

Feature Sponsor Giveaway: Hello Holiday!

Just like the name would suggest, Hello Holiday has tons of new dresses for the holiday party season! From snuggly knit dresses for gathering around the fireplace with your friends to full skirts and pearl-encrusted peter pan collars, you can dress to impress or relax with sass and always feel your best.

The Hello Holiday girls use their profits to offer financing and mentorship for emerging fashion designers and offer several exclusive collections from these cool up-and-comers. One of the featured designers this season, Jane Round, is an 18-year-old design student at FIT who created an exclusive range of easy-to-wash and easy-to-wear sugary cotton dresses and skirts for you to shop!

So check it out! They have some cool dresses, skirts, accesories, beautiful coats, and a great denim line. As far as gifts go, you can't go wrong with their Sunglasses or Tights of the Month Clubs, or their Perfect Vintage Scarf Pack which comes with a postcard full of scarf-tying ideas.

Hello Holiday is excited to give away a $50 gift card to one Smile and Wave reader--just check out their website and comment below to enter! The winner will be announced Dec. 3rd.

Thanks so much for your sponsorship this month, ladies! 

-Rachel

Sharing Joy Through A Yarn Bombed Pine Tree

I was at the park on Monday when I noticed it - a real Charlie Brown Christmas tree amidst rows of hundred-year-old pines. It just looked so sad and suddenly I had an idea.

Yarn bombing has been around for awhile. I remember the thrill I got when I saw my first knit-covered establishment in Seattle six years ago and then again when we first explored downtown Colorado Springs. It was a fun surprise. It made me happy that there were people out there who intentionally created something unexpected to make the rest of us smile. It felt like getting snail mail from an old friend or someone dropping by with coffee. It felt thoughtful.

After school I gathered some yarn I haven't touched since Ruby was born, pipe cleaners from the craft stash, and the pine cones we used as name card holders for Thanksgiving. They were collected from our park two weeks ago so I thought it fitting that we wrapped them in yarn, tied the pipe cleaners to them and gave them a new purpose. All the other pine cones still laying on the ground were so jealous.

We headed to the park with a bag full of ornaments and a stool and made a few more while we were there. The kids helped hang a few before heading back to play. I always find it interesting how little kids hang all of the ornaments in one spot. 

After they had their fill I spread them out a bit and used the stool to get a bit higher with the rest. I tightened the pipe cleaners so they wouldn't blow out of the tree and can't wait to see if they're still there in a week. 

I asked Sebastian why he thought we did this project and he said, "To make people feel happy." 

It sure made me happy.

We'll probably go back plenty of times in the next two weeks and then finally take them down because all good installments make a graceful exit. 

Remember that day the kids and I wrote affirming notes and hid them all around downtown Colorado Springs after being inspired by Andrea's own beautiful shenanigans? Afterwards we heard from a friend that her co-worker's friend found one. The fact that someone found one and shared it with someone else who shared it with someone else and it got back to us made me so happy. It also reminded me that it's so easy to share joy and that it can come back to you and be rubbed off on other people on the way.

So, I'm already making a short list of other ways our family can share joy with those around us in fun and surprising ways. If you've got any ideas or stories about your own experiences I'd love to read them in the comments. 

I'm hoping to execute one project a week in the month of December and I'm calling it...duhn, duhn, duhn...Sharing Joy. We'll be sure to report back here after each project in hopes of inspiring other good ideas. Feel free to join us in your own shenanigans!

-Rachel

Two Vintage Inspired Tree Skirt DIY's

Making a custom tree skirt to fit your aesthetic is easier than you think. All you need is some felt yardage and any embellishments you'd like to add! I made one using some tinsel in my stash and hand-stitched it around the edge to add some more sparkle to our tree top table. This little corner is all metallics and neutrals so I stuck with a simple skirt. 

1. Fold your square of felt to make a large triangle as shown. 2. Fold again as shown. 3. Tie a ribbon to a pen and place the pen in the center of the longest edge. Hold down the other end of the ribbon at the point on the opposite side as shown. Carefully move your pen up and down without letting go of the top of the ribbon. This will give you a true circle when you cut and unfold. 4. Cut along your marked line as well as about 1/2" down from the top to fit around the trunk. If your tree and skirt are standard sized, you'll just make it a bit larger. 5. Unfold it once and cut along one folded edge. 6. Stitch tinsel along the edge.

Other fun options would be to add pom-poms, cut scallops, add hand-cut letters to spell something festive, etc. If your felt is wrinkled, set your iron on medium heat and place a tea towel or shirt on top of your felt before ironing. It will melt if you iron it directly so be careful.

For a standard sized tree I used one yard of felt yardage. For the smaller tree (3') I used about 18" x 18". Always cut larger if you're not sure what size is the best for your tree so you can cut it down to size without wasting material. Fabric glue that dries clear is another great resource for adding felt embellishments to your skirt. 

I spent about $2.50 on this project and I love the vintage look it lends. It's a great project to finish in less than an hour. It'd be a great project to let little ones customize with pre-cut felt, pom-poms, cotton balls, or ric-rac! 

My next tree skirt was directly inspired by a vintage skirt I found on Etsy that sold while it was in my favorites. Since it wasn't a new handmade skirt someone was selling I decided it'd be okay to reproduce something similar myself. I used the same technique as above to create the skirt and then hand-cut the stars in two sizes from felt squares. I attached them with fabric glue although it'd look sweet if it were embroidered on as well.

Our old tree skirt was hot pink and scalloped but it was time for something different. I love that this kind of project is inexpensive enough to change out when you're ready but special enough to keep through the years. If you make your own I'd love to see photos!

Enjoy!

-Rachel

Our First Christmas Festivity with Friends

A sweet new friend invited us to join her family and some other friends to see the lighting of the trees at the historic Broadmoor Hotel and Resort here in Colorado Springs last weekend. It's the kind of event that you find more enchanting than any description would've prepared you for, partly because of the location (one of the most gorgeous buildings I've ever seen on this continent) and partly because of the millions of twinkle lights. We got there in time to visit awhile with our friends and dance to Christmas music all the while enjoying the happy crowds and lake full of geese in front of us. There was a Dixie Band that led Santa and his elves across the bridge to light the big tree and then the whole lake lit up. It was beautiful. 

By the time the it was over the kids were getting antsy and we were all famished so we didn't get to stroll the grounds much but I'm thinking I can get Brett to take me on a date night to walk around with hot chocolate in hand. Talk about romantic! 

We did manage to get some fun shots in front of this wrapped willow tree. They're a bit blurry again but we'll take what we can get. It turns out my viewfinder has been messed with a bit and has been out of focus and causing some blur. The worst part is that I didn't even notice for so long! My friend Tara's husband happens to be a photographer and noticed it was off when I asked him to use my camera to take a picture of us on the lake. I think it's time to take it in to get cleaned and adjusted. Oh, and time for me to get my eyes checked. There's been a little more squinting lately!

It was a festive start to the season and one of those things we wouldn't have heard about had we not been invited by someone who'd been there before. It prompted yet another list on my kitchen chalkboard of all the things I'd like to do as a family to fully enjoy this holiday season. We usually do small activities with an Advent calendar but I'm also trying to think outside the typical and hoping to include another activity or two in the vein of guerilla art. Maybe we'll glitter a bunch of pinecones and hang them in a pine tree at the park or doorbell ditch a movie night box to some neighbors. The wheels are spinning!

Do you have any special plans to celebrate this season? It's my absolute favorite!

-Rachel

Image credit: B/W photo by Luc

Cyber Monday E-Course Sale

Hi everyone! We are running a special Cyber Monday sale on all our e-courses from today through November 28th. You will receive 25% off any e-course purchase when you use the code: ABMSALE during checkout. Maybe you've been considering checking out the latest Blog (Design) Love course, or you've been wanting to get into art journaling with your friends. Now is a great time to try out one of our courses while they are 25% off! Check out all our e-courses here.  

-Rachel

 

All Shiny and Bright

I pulled every box of Christmas decor from the basement and garage on Black Friday with all of the excitement you'd expect from a kid on Christmas morning. I promised myself I'd wait to decorate until the Thanksgiving leftovers were properly chilled in the fridge so I wasted no time in spreading out four years worth of thrifted, handmade, and store bought Christmas decor across our rather large dining room table. About half of it has made it's way to it's resting place and the rest are waiting on inspiration.

My decorating process isn't a quick one. I have been set on a color scheme for about a month but I still have to do things in layers and see what's missing, what needs to be edited down, added to, or put away for another year. This year the large white tree is decked out in pink, red, and gold, the small white tree has mostly gold, the aluminum tree I found a few weeks ago in Perry, OK is still waiting it's turn and we're also planning a trip to the tree farm for the kids. 

A good chunk of these ornaments were found about three days after Christmas last year so it was fun pulling them out without rembering them. I really don't know how they all made it in the move without being smashed to pieces. They'll soon be spread throughout the house with the exception of the front porch. It's been designated as the natural Christmas tree room.

It's funny because about seven years ago we went to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving to meet up with my English host family and their dear friends. We had the ultimate ideal day after Thanksgiving day cutting down a tree in the snow, having s'mores by a huge outdoor fire, and enjoying hot apple cider in their beautiful home. Their home, by the way, was decorated to the nines with a Christmas tree in every single room including the walk-in closet. I remember thinking how beautiful and extravagant it was - as well as a teensy bit ridiculous - and laughing with Brett about it. I think I'm on my way to that same place folks! 

I'm going to enjoy every second of it.

-Rachel

Thanksgiving 2012

We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year since the kids and I had recently traveled to see my side of the family and Brett had just come home from training. I'd only ever cooked a full Thanksgiving meal once before when I was in my first trimester with Sebastian. Needless to say, I was too nauseous to enjoy most of it.

It was just going to be our family and any stray soldier friends of Brett's until we found out some friends of ours from Seattle that we hadn't seen in six years were free to join us! They're currently also in Colorado so we decided to catch up over some organic turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, my Grandmother's sweet potato recipe, and a store bought pie because I bought evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed. Let's all give Brett a round of applause for driving to the grocery store at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night to save the day. 

We ate and talked and corralled children. A few had naps and we got in a round or two of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving after a trip to the park. We caught up on everyone we used to know and exchanged parenting stories. It was a beautiful day and no one got food poisoning!

We're all learning to live lives of gratitude, aren't we? Thankfulness for where we are, what we've made it through, and all the lessons we've learned along the way. Thankfulness for the people who used to be in our lives and the ones that presently are. Thankfulness for the room we have to learn and discover and grow.

I hope your Thanksgiving day was memorable one way or another (if you celebrated with us in the U.S.). Also, I think the key to not getting overstuffed is to host it at your home. You're too busy cooking, cleaning, clearing, visiting, and checking on kids to have seconds!

-Rachel

 

Winter Wreath DIY

This wreath is a project I contributed to an e-course in 2009 and have continued to hang in our home every Christmas since. It's one of my favorite wreaths because of all of that winter white mixed with those shades of pink and green that I just can't get away from no matter how my tastes change. It's an easy one to recreate whether you can crochet or not-simply substitute any crocheted flowers with something similar in felt. 

To make your own wreath you'll need a foam or straw wreath form, 6-9 strips of 3" wide felt or fabric (depending on the size of your wreath), felt in assorted colors, yarn in assorted colors, crochet needle, embroidery thread and needle, buttons, bells, or other embellishments (doilies, ribbon, pom poms, etc.), and scissors.

1. Wrap your wreath with your strips of felt or fabric making sure to wrap over the loose ends tightly or stitch them together. 2. Secure the last strip at the end by stitching it to the felt underneath. Trim the end off. 3. Crochet a few wagon wheels in different sizes.  If you're not sure how to make one, try out this tutorial. For really advanced flowers, check this one out. Once you get the basic circle down, you can experiment with adding a second row. Cut out felt leaves and little flowers in differing sizes to fill in the blanks. 4. Add stitching to your leaves and flowers. 5. Decide where you want to start one of your larger crocheted flowers. Thread your needle and knot the other end. Stitch through the felt and using a small stitch through both of your crocheted pieces, stitch through the felt again. Secure in three little spots and tie off. Continue with each of your pieces.

Use another strip of felt or some pretty ribbon to hang on your wall.  Make a few for friends to give out before the holidays are over or create a few in different sizes to place around your home.  It took me about an hour to put it together after I had finished crocheting my flowers.  If you aren't comfortable with crochet work, you can still get a fabulously full wreath with felt flowers, pom poms, and other adornments.

Enjoy!

-Rachel

 

Holiday Ad Sale!

Take advantage of this last month of holiday shopping and share your shop or blog with the readers of Smile and Wave at an even more affordable price! All Large, Small, and mini ads are currently 20% off until midnight on November 23rd. This guarantees a full of month of advertisement in the sidebar all the way up to Christmas eve. 

Enter promotional code "thanks" to take 20% off of your ad at checkout. 

Tis the season!

-Rachel