“I just think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful.”  Drew Barrymore

Old Stuff

I'm going to do a Trunk Show this Spring and I'm starting to think about what I want to have at the sale.  I haven't decided where it will be yet.  My sister wants me to do it at her house in Texas, which might be a good idea.  I could use it as a practice run before I have a big one here at home. So now I have to work out some details.  I don't want to take custom orders because I put too much pressure on myself.  I'm better to just put out what I have and that's it until the next show.  Hate to be limiting like that but I've learned that my time-management skills leave something to be desired when it comes to custom work!   

So, I was going through my Tabbo picture files and realized that I have a lot of pictures I've never posted on here.  I thought I'd share some this week.   Some of these are really old...I've certainly come a long way since I started!

 

 

 

 

              

 

 

 

 

Winter sewing

I'm determined not to buy any fabric for the Spring until I use up some of my stash.  I have some of the most gorgeous fabrics just sitting there begging to be turned into something fabulous!  So, I did a couple of bags last weekend while the husband was gone.  It gets harder and harder to work on projects because my kids have so many activities.  I'm really trying to get things done in the mornings now and I'm determined to take more pictures.  So here are some things I've actually finished lately...

I've had this gorgeous silk for a long time just waiting for some inspiration.  A friend gave me the solid teal silk that matches perfectly.  I made a cute little evening bag for Spring.  It's lined with cream silk, has a snap closure, and the handle is a silk ruffle. I think I still have enough of this to make a pretty Spring scarf.

This is a tote I did for the girls.  Someone is always headed to a sleepover and looking for an overnight bag around here!  Originally, I was making this into a reversible skirt but decided the fabric would be better as a bag.

Here's the inside...it's nice and deep and has a good sized pocket.

As I was taking pictures I realized it could still be reversible.  Of course the snap would be on the outside, but it's still cute for a different look!

  I went down to Islamorada in the Keys for one of my husbands' fishing tournaments and I thought I needed a couple of bags for myself to take along.

 

I really like the size and shape of this bag but it seems a little boring.  When I was in Miami I noticed a lot of women with scarves on their bags, so I made a removable bright red bow.  I think it finishes it nicely.

I'm not really on a zebra kick, I just happen to have alot of it in stock.  This black and white is a reversible upholstery fabric but I went ahead and lined it in a solid black.  It's nice and heavy and the bottom is wide but the top is pleated to make the opening a little smaller.  The leather handles give it a finished look.  I love the pink ruffle going up from the bag as opposed to facing down.  This will be great in the Spring!

  

So that's it!  Besides a couple of groovy outfits I had to make for a Disco sleepover, a bunch of heat therapy bags to sell in Hubby's waiting area, a few scarves, some ruffled hearts (see below), and a skirt for the Keys trip...that's what I've been doing!  Notice I got a new camera for Christmas?  I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm hoping it will make me post more often!

 

Have a great week! 

Christmas Cloth

  My Mom would tell you that she is not "crafty", but she can't hide from it.  She needlepoints, she sews (well, she USED to sew...and she taught ME how to sew!), and she has a great eye for decorating.  You should see the Christmas pillows she made this year!  So, back when she was newly married to my Dad, she cut out some pictures from a coloring book and traced them onto felt and then covered them with sequins.  She never really new what to do with them but I remember getting the felts out at Christmas every year and loving them.  Last year, she made them into a Christmas Cloth for me.  She needlepointed "ornaments" for the whole family, then put the sequins felts and the ornaments on this beautiful cloth.  The whole thing is gorgeous and so special to me!  It is the perfect size for my dining room table!

The cloth is satin and trimmed with gold tassles.

See how the Angel, the reindeer and the tree are all sequins?  Isn't it great?!?! 

She made the ornaments from needlepoint and used a metallic thread so the whole thing really sparkles at night with a soft light on it.

See how she added the sailfish ornament for Bill?  Love it!  The little gift box is for me.

I hate to put it away!

No... she's not crafty! :)  Thanks Mom!

   

Christmas Re-cap

We're back from a fabulous Christmas trip to Disney with my Mom, all of my sister's and their families.

Because of the cost of all of the parks, we decided to do an "H and H" Christmas.  Handmade or Hand-me-down!  Would have been right up my alley if I hadn't so over-extended myself with orders before we left!  We gave the whole group matching red hoodies and I was able to pump out some matching Christmas boxers for the girls the night before we left.

 

Disney parks were sooo crowded, the red shirts ended up being great!  We stood out like sore thumbs!

  

It was a great trip and it went way too fast!!!  So, yesterday I took down all of the Christmas decorations and I thought I'd show you the trees I had made.  Sorry about cutting the tops off in the pic!  The green is made from satin petals that I singed.  I have some great ideas to do more next year...so many possibilities! 

Fun project to do while watching football!  I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!  I am going to make a real effort to write on here more this year.  It's tough to write when nobody knows about it...conversations with myself I guess!  I should start leaving comments to myself..."wow!  Those trees are awesome!!!  You rock!"  LOL!!!  Maybe I'll try to get someone else to read TABBO this year!  Happy New Year to me!!

                        

Merry Christmas!

This year we decided to have a Christmas Recital for the girls and some friends.  We share the same piano teacher and we thought it would be fun to have them each perform their Christmas songs for the parents and friends.  We won't be home for Christmas this year so this gave me an excuse to go ahead and decorate anyway!  It was so much fun that we think it will become an annual event.  I thought I'd share some pics of the house and the party...

We usually put up a tree in the Family room but this year we put it in the Piano room for the recital...

This is the view from the family room to the front entry.  You can see our snowman collection on top of the entertainment center.

I put a group of family pictures from Christmas's past in the Entry...

Here is the front stairway banister

This year's Christmas craft (more on that later!)

Dining room buffet with green and red trees that I made.

Looking down from upstairs. 

 In the Family Room

                                                                                                  

Can't wait til next year's party!  Merry Christmas from the Danko's!

Finally...

Lots of pics in this post!  Since we gave Austin her own room for Christmas LAST year I really felt like I should get it finished before Christmas THIS year!  Why do these projects take me so long?!?!  Maybe because I change my mind a hundred and one times before I commit?  Well, here it is.. I'll start with some of the "before's"...

 Initially, we were going use this as a guest room.  We painted stripes under the chair-rail (which I never liked) and we really didn't want to have to re-paint.  The challenge was trying to find something girly that would work with this green! 

 Austin practically inhales books, so I wanted her to have a comfortable reading chair to curl up in.  I looked EVERYWHERE and finally found this chair at a local consignment store.  Husband thought I was crazy!I picked up this bench at HomeGoods.  It opens and has a small amount of storage space, perfect for books!

Here they are re-covered...

I found these ceramic medallions at a local drapery supply store.  They were plain ceramic, so I painted them and then glued them to wood dowels...really simple!

I LOVE the way the chair came out!  I also have a tall reading lamp on its way.  NO, I didn't re-do this chair by myself!  I wish I was that talented!

 

 The fabric I used was Annie Selke Home.  I love the color combinations and the large flower print on the chair and windows seems to tone down the stripes.  I've been wanting to do one of these button pillows for a long time!  I think it turned out cute and I really like the pink on blue.

This is just a Target lamp that I covered.  I cut out the flowers and sewed them together, then used ModPodge to attach them to the shade.  I put a pink ribbon around the top to cover those threads.

I went with a plain, cream duvet from The Company Store and then added the pink pom-pom trim down the sides.  I'll probably add a dust ruffle and I'm still hunting for a nightstand.

Love, love the Amy Butler gumdrop pillow!  So cute and so easy to make!  I also covered a couple of canvas's with corkboard and fabric but somehow didn't get a picture of those.  All in all I think it turned out cute.  Husband hung the letters over the bed without asking me how I wanted them and since he was nice enough to do it, I guess I shouldn't complain.  I would have done it differently, of course, but we can live with it!  Austin loves her new room and I'm just happy to have it done (mostly!)!

I've been selling a LOT of jammies in the shop which is keeping me very busy.  Now for the Holidays!  Can't wait to get started!  Have a nice day!  Stephanie