It's that time of year...

Just about everywhere you look you see a sign advertising for a craft fair and this year we will be at the Center Grove craft fair this Saturday from 8:30 to 4 pm! It is held at the high school and our booth is located in the cafeteria.  Everything we have in stock will be available for purchase and we will also be taking custom orders.  We would love to see you there! 
PS - we will be having another $30 gift certificate drawing, so if you come be sure to sign up!

Online Open House

Online Open House Giveaway for those that are not local starts this week and runs through Nov 6. We are going to do a contest...share us with your friends by sending them to our facebook page or our blog. Have them like us (or enter their email address on our blog) and then comment with your name on facebook or on the blog entry announcing this giveaway. The person that has the most new likes (or their name entered as a comment) will win a $30.00 gift certificate. Ok, start sharing!!!  Send your friends to comment section right below this post!  Don't forget they have to share your name!!!

We welcome to the Clothesline...The Back to School

The Back to School

The Back to School is very versatile...shirt, tunic, or even a dress.   Buy as a dress and then the next time the season comes around it will be a shirt as you can see on my dolls.  The neck is a scoop and adorned with a double collar and the shoulders are decorated with a button and tab.  Pockets are placed in the front for little hands to use.  Rickrack decorate the bottom of the dress.  Sizes are 12 months-8.  All other fabrics are available and custom orders are welcome!

Base Price is $37.00
Add $5.00 for 5T and up
Add $10.00 for designer fabric

The Clotheline was open Friday Night!

We want to thank everyone that came to the open house.  We had such a great time.  We really appreciate all the support and love as we start up this new venture.  These are a few shots from the night.  We want to thank Debbie, Stacie, and Kate for working behind the scenes while we were busy with customers.  Hope we can do it again, ladies!

Maeleigh, Keri's newborn niece made a visit!

Acorns are good for something: An Acorn Tutorial

We have these huge...I mean gigantic acorns in our yard!  Every late summer and fall, the squirrels come to our yard in gangs, fighting each other for the bizillion acorns that will fall.  So I had seen and been told about how you could use felt or wool to make acorns for fall decorations.  This is my version of an acorn...

Supplies:

Acorn caps

Glue gun

Quilt batting or pillow stuffing

Felt or welted wool

1.  First things first...you must go outside and walk around the outdoors exploring the ground and looking for leftover acorn caps.  The dolls and I had a great time one afternoon lolly gagging around.  

This is doll #1's hand...almost the size of the cap

My hand...

 2.  Once you have collected and semi cleaned out the caps, go back inside and grab that felt and glue gun.  I used a little quilt batting as the inside of my "acorn," but you could use anything even extra felt.  I simply put a large amount of glue in the inside of the acorn cap.  Then I took a circular piece of felt and added my quilt batting to the middle of it.  Once I situated it in my hands like I wanted it in the cap, I shoved the felt and batting into the acorn cap.  Done...easiest and cheapest decorations ever.

Hints...You do want to make sure you get all the outside of your felt in the acorn cap and touching some of the glue.  I have mine sitting in a bowl, but you could do so many things with these...acorn garland...scatter them around the TV...what ways will you use yours??? Share below.

Open House Reminder

Don't forget to come by 1415 Hickory Hill, Franklin, Friday night between 7-10 pm for our Girl's Night.  Amanda is hosting Playing House.  We will have light refreshments and drinks.  Come get some early Christmas shopping complete and enjoy some down time with other ladies.  Feel free to bring friends!  We are so excited to meet some of our fans!

New on the Clothesline for the Open House Friday

Tea Time Dress

Vintage inspired dress is great for the special occasions in your life...especially those holiday ones coming up.  It has an elastic neckline with an attached sash that ties in the back with a bow.  It is about knee length with a slightly ruffled skirt.  We just couldn't pass up the designer paisley print!  We have a ready to ship 12-18 months.  Sizes are 2T-6T.  All other fabrics are available and custom orders are welcome!

Base Price is $40.00
Add $5.00 for 5T and 6T
Add $10.00 for designer fabric

Fall Wreath Tutorial

So I have a love hate relationship with wreaths.  I love very simple ones, but the nature of wreaths just really isn't simple.  Wreaths are big, thick, large, over-the-top...that's just my opinion.  I always love them in other people's homes and doors, but they just never seem to fit into my decor.  If you love large gigantic wreaths, please stop reading here.  So Doll #3 and I went on a hunt for a fall wreath.  I was determined to find one.  Well three hours not well spent...so we have my version of a wreath, which came out of the last five minutes of our shopping with doll #3.  This is a simple craft you can do in just minutes and if you wait for sales at the craft store, it can be made for under $12.00.


Supplies:

2 or more wired garlands from craft shop  (can be whatever you want it to be, but should have wire in the base of it)

1-2 packages of whatever wired ribbon you like

Wreath hanger

Fall Garland

1. Take one piece of your wired garland and shape it into a circle.

2.  Take second wired garland and shape in circle around the first.  I intertwined the two so they virtually looked like one.  The nature of the garland I chose helped.  So when I finished it looked like this image below.

After second garland

 3.  Take your wired ribbon and start towards the top by fishing it into one of the individual branches of your garland.  Then I wrapped it all the way around the wreath intertwining it in the pieces of the garland.

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4.  I finished wrapping the ribbon at the top.  To give the wreath a polished look I tied the ribbon together at the top with a bow cutting the ends of the ribbon so they somewhat match and are clean.  

5.  Hang your wreath.  In 10 minutes, you have a simple wreath!  Well, 3 hours and 10 minutes!!!!

Christmas Deadline & New Fabric Options

We must have a deadline for Christmas orders to place and guaranteed by Christmas.  We are currently going to say December 5th is the deadline to place a Christmas order.   This could change depending on how productive we are or how busy we are.  We are encouraging early ordering.  Thanks so much!

Just an FYI that we have some new fabric options...check it out on the Fabric Option Page!

Tutorial Thursday: What's on the menu?

Bite Size Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 lb ground beef

1 pkg stuffing mix for chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs

1 bottle (16 oz) Kraft orginal BBQ sauce

1 can (16 oz) whole berry cranberry sauce

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line 2 cookie sheets with foil, spray with cooking spray.

In large bowl mix meat, stuffing mix, water and eggs until blended.

Shape meat mixture into bite sized balls and place on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake 16 minutes, rotating meatballs when they are about half way done.

Meanwhile bring BBQ sauce and cranberries to a boil in large saucepan on medium heat.

When meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and stir to evenly coat.

Put meatballs in crock pot set on low.
ENJOY!

Yields: approximately 60 meatballs

For our blog fans...a few new items on the clothesline!

Here are a few new items that are going to be added to the clothesline soon!

Hot Momma Skirt  

Right now with the fall special price is Older Girl $32 and Adult $38.  

Apron Shirt $30.00

Felt Flower Hairbows

 Various prices depending on size and style $2-$5.00

Elastic Reversible Handbands

Adult $10.00 Children $7.00

We can even add a rolled or felt flower.

Thursday Tutorial: Home Decorating the Sentimental Way

This week's tutorial is about home decorating...yes, I know, really do we need another blog about home decorating...BUT this one is a little different.  I was doing my normal internet browsing...you know the place you go to online after all the emails have been replied to, the exams all graded, the house all picked up, the kids all in bed, yada yada yada.

So I was browsing and I came across a free download of the sheet music to Silent Night.  Okay so what does Silent Night's sheet music and home decorating have anything to do with one another...well you see...in this tutorial I'm sharing my philosophy on home decorating.  Your home should be about creating a space that makes you happy, that makes you comfortable, and reminds you of the experiences you have had in your life.  It should be a reflection of your family and what inspires you as a family.

Any person can recreate the pages of the Pottery Barn or Ballard Design Catalogs at a cost, of course.  Yes, your house will look beautiful and complete...even polished and finished.   Sounds nice, right?  The perfect pillows fluffed in the perfect position on the chic couch that looks great (oh wait, but isn't that comfortable to sit on.)  Wouldn't it feel a little empty?  Wouldn't you be missing the YOU in your house?  I think so and so does my heart.

So back to that Silent Night Sheet Music and a happy heart...

When I begin thinking about how I'm going to decorate a space in my home, I always consider my budget...but I also consider and think about things I like or that represent a memory or experience for me or my family...so I came across this free download browsing...or maybe even on pinterest...

You see every Christmas Eve me and my whole extended family go to church at 11 pm at our country church.  Every year at midnight, we end the service much like other churches singing Silent Night by candlelight.  And every year, I cry, no wait, wail like a baby, but it's a good cry.  It never fails...I just can't help it.  I'm not sure what it is...if we are all together as a family, whether it's such a special spiritual moment, or I'm just exhausted from all the holiday celebrations or maybe all three, but it always happens.  So when I saw this free download, I had to slip it on the desktop for safe keeping.    A few weeks later, I realized what I could do with it...frame it and hang it on the wall for a Christmas decoration.   So I have a cool meaningful decoration for the cost of a black frame from Wal-Mart or Target.  SCORE!

This has happened other times as well...I have this family tree in my dining room...well play room for now, but eventually will be my dining room...I found these really cool old wool letters, 1-5, several years ago.  I think I bought them for $2.00 somewhere. The hubs asked, "What are you going to do with those?"   My response, "I don't know."  Of course, he rolled his eyes as if saying here she goes again...crazy lady!  Well it happens there are five people in our family, so I thought one day...how can I use these to make a unique family tree...each person represented by one of the wool numbers?  So I traced a large oak tree from ...
another free download

Finished Family Tree

Then I added the wool numbers to the tree with a name plate on the tree.  Just a little tracing and taping and I have a unique family tree and one dining room wall decorated.

So the point of this tutorial is to grab up the things that you are drawn to in life and mean something to you...even if you don't know how you will use them right then.  They will be there when something creative comes across your computer or an idea pops into your head.  Add that shell that you found with your kids walking the beach on Spring Break to the decor in the bathroom.  Frame the sheet music to the song that you and your husband danced to at your wedding.  Then when you look at that decoration...you'll smile and be reminded of that moment in your life.  So throw away those catalogs you get in the mail and think outside the box or at least make room for those personal touches that inspire and keep you being the YOU you want to be in life.  This Christmas season I'll be smiling/crying over my Silent Night sheet music everyday!  That makes a happy heart!

I'm excited....

I put in my first zipper last night and it was super easy...not sure why I hadn't tried before.  I know you guys don't really care, but had to share with someone because the husband wasn't so excited and Keri was already gone for the night.  I don't blame him a football documentary was on TV.

Zippers were intimidating to me...see look how mean and scare these look...found these on a craft resource page...how talented is she!!!!

Amanda