New triple bunks.

Ben designed new bunk beds for the "girl's dorm" and "boy's dorm" in our house. We LOVE them!! We are almost done with all of the work, just a few loose ends left to tie up, but I couldn't wait to show off his handy-work. This is the girl set. We stained them with colored stain and we really like how that turned out. It's almost the color of cranberries. I still need to paint the boards that are attached to the wall. I'm going to paint them the color of the wall so that it looks like the beds are floating. :) 

This is the boy set while still under construction. We ordered new bunk mattresses, but they haven't come in yet. I will show you guys pictures when they are completely finished. We stained these green, it looks like the color of bamboo. The kids LOVE these beds! And oh the space we have now! I'll be back soon with finished pictures! xo, Sam

If any of you make beds using these plans could you send us a picture? We would love to see your take on it! xo, Sam

Edited to add: With the increased interest in these plans there is no way that I can email them to everyone. I'm sorry! But you are more than welcome to follow the link and download them for free through our shop. When you give your name and email address a download link will automatically be emailed to you.

Edited to addWe now know the meaning of viral! Ha! That's exactly what happened to the triple bunk bed plans. When the idea came to give them away for free our thought was that a few other big families out there may like the idea and we would be able to help them out. Over the last few months being able to share the triple bunks for free has brought us many new big-family friends and that has been very exciting! We never dreamed that the idea would be this popular! Unfortunately, it has also brought a lot of spam, negative attention, and more email than we can keep up with. We recently decided that the best way to deal with this problem would be to charge a fee for the plans, a price low enough that everyone would be able to afford them, but enough to deter the spam problems. We felt almost guilty for making the decision, but with a family of five children to raise and a home based business to run something just had to be done. We are very sorry for the inconvenience, and we hope you still love us. :) Because apparently we are very offensive to some folks. ;) You can now find the plans using THIS LINK.

My World is Torn to Pieces!!!

Spring cleaning kinda got outta control here at my house, so it's upside-down! Last night we got all of the ceilings done.

Today we begin painting the walls! YAY! It all started with my bedroom and kinda snow-balled from there.

I love it! So when I get overwhelmed by all of the mess and chaos, I just got to my room and enjoy the cleanness of it. :)

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress! xo, Sam

I've been to fabric heaven! Twice!

 The $2.50-$3 room.

 The $4 room with LOADS of Civil War reproduction fabrics.

 The $3 room.

 Another $3-$4 room.

Six rooms of fabric priced at $2.50-$4 a yard, 18 rooms of quilts, the sweetest little old man EVER, and all that fabric in the picture above for $208. That's 65 yards of fabric for $208. UNBELIEVABLE! The last time I went to see him was about three years ago. Ben and I went again a couple of weeks ago and then today I took my Mom, Mom-in-law, sis-in-law, and (other mama) Shell back for a ladies day out! We had so much fun! When Ben and I went I posted on Facebook that I had been and gave his address, then when we were there today I met a couple of ladies who had seen that post and went to visit him! YAY! If you are interested in taking a little trip to see him DO IT! Tell him that the pattern maker from Birmingham sent you! He is an elderly man who runs this out of his home, so if you plan a trip call first and make sure he will be there for the day. Here is his information:

Quilt Shop Gallery

(662) 728-3302

1114 Highway 30 E, Booneville, MS 38829

Three Essential Oil Recipes

 It is very possible that I am addicted to my essential oils. I love that gentle, natural, herbal smell in the air. I mentioned making fresh ironing water on facebook this morning and a few people wanted to know how, so I decided to put my favorite recipes (if you can really call them that) here for all. They are Bath Soak, Ironing water, and Natural Air Freshener.



Bath Soak

You will need:

an empty container with a lid, a bowl, a fork, essential oils (my favorites are lavender, rosemary, and peppermint) Optional: dried herbs, Epsom salt

My favorite combinations are rosemary and peppermint, lavender and peppermint, or rosemary and lavender. You really just can't go wrong with these three. :) I put a couple of cups of baking soda (and Epsom salt too if I have it on hand) and add in 3-4 drops of essential oils for every cup. I mix it in well using a fork to smash any little clumps and store it in a sealed container.

It's wonderful for sore bottoms (diaper rash), bug bites, sore muscles, tired feet, or just relaxing. I've also used it with just peppermint oil to open up stuffy heads. Sometimes I wash my hair with it too if I feel like it's looking dull. I use it before or mixed with my normal shampoo. I love this stuff! My kids call it "soft bath" because it makes their skin feel soft.

 Ironing Water

You will need:

water, essential oil, and an empty container with a lid

I use hot tap water, fill my container, and add in about 15 drops of essential oil. I then let it sit for a day or so before I use it. 

A lot of people boil their water for several minutes first, some use only distilled water, and some only use it in a spray bottle and never put it in their iron because they are afraid it may gunk up the iron. I, being the outlaw that I am, have always put it in my iron with straight up tap water and have never had any trouble. That said, I do use my iron A LOT, and it is probably used and changed so often that it doesn't have time to cause any gunkage.

Another thing, my FAVORITE container is an old detergent bottle. The spouts on them are perfect for pouring into the iron and they are a good size to handle when they are full. Oh, and sometimes I make a little extra, put it in a spray bottle and spray the furniture to freshen it up.

Natural Air Freshener

You will need:

essential oil, pine cones or cotton balls

This one is as easy as it gets, I just add a few drops of oil to a pine cone and let it smell up the place! I also use cotton balls and hide them away under or behind things in my house, in drawers, closets. purses, near or in vents, just any place that is especially stinky. :)

I hope you enjoy these! xo, Sam



A new frock. :)

 The first thing I sewed up in my improved sewing loft was this little pink and white striped frock. I thought of doing it in white but then this pink just looked so spring-like that I chose it.

The wide lace across the front just makes it! I'm thinking of making Easter sewing easy on myself this year....

For this dress I used the Miss Violet bodice, lengthened about 1 1/2", I gathered the bodice up a bit, and added a skirt 1 1/2 times the width of the bodice. Those three tiny changes made a whole lot of difference! If I make Molly one I will use the Miss Lily pattern and omit the bubble. There won't be the neck ruffle, but I think she will like it better plain anyhow. Easy Easter....that just sounds lovely. :) xo, Sam

Sewing Loft Reorganized

Two weeks ago, this place really had me down. Blah. It was so messy, and unorganized, and uninspiring, and in need of a major overhaul. You see for a very long time this was The Handmade Dress office and sewing loft. Then Ben built his office and moved all of the office stuff (printers, paper folder, desks) out and into it's own place. That left me with a lot of holes that just slowly filled with a mish mash of junk that didn't really have a permanent home. UGH. It was so overwhelming after market that I just felt like burning it all! Well, maybe it wasn't that serious, but it felt that serious for a while. :) That's when I made a call to my best girl, Kim. She is the organizing and party planning genius of our group of friends. She rescued me!! She came and got me straight! Ahhhhhh.....so much better. We worked for EIGHT hours in this room. We went through EVERY button jar, project bag, fabric bin, ribbon basket, sketched paper pile.... It was a long day. Now, I am once again in love with this space. And Kim, you rock my face off! I owe you big time! So let me show you friends around... Above you can see the cutting station, craft station, and drafting table.

My drafting table. Yesterday I did a lot of painting. I painted the corner shelf and added it to the drafting area, I think that's going to help to keep my drafting table from being so cluttered.

This area used to house our printer (ha! That was before we had such a beast of a printer like we do now) now it's perfect for holding all of those crafty bits of things that needed a home. I hung a coat hook in the back to hang gift bags. I love sewing on and decorating gift bags to give with handmade goodies! 

 Here is my desk and cutting station. The filing cabinets used to hold patterns, but now, it's full of yarn! Organized by weight in those clear zip up bags that come with comforters and sheet sets. I love being able to find my yarn all in one place!!!

 I painted that picture frame white yesterday too, I love this embroidered piece! It makes me happy and I can pin pattern pieces to it to keep them out of my way. The white frame just made it fit in this space so much better.

 With all of these improvements it was time for more pattern weights. Over time my old ribbon wrapped bolts have been lost and taken off by kids, so I made more. This time I used strips of fabric to wrap them.

Now I'm all stocked up! I don't know what they are more useful for, keeping kids occupied building and stacking them or holding pattern pieces down.....

Now  for my favorite improvement of all! I painted this old tea hutch to hold all of the jars of buttons, crochet hooks, clothes pins, and bits that we found! Pink and white with wooden buttons for drawer pulls! I love it!

All of those baskets are full of laces, ribbons, trims, and elastics. Sooooo much better! Mary helped us that day too, and she organized and refolded all of my fabric by color.

Now I am so excited about Easter sewing!!! And pattern making, and crafting, and eek! Just sitting here and soaking it all in! YAY! xo, Sam