Lace Doilies @ Hey Lady!

foodcraft @ Design*Sponge

How to make a Fabric Valentine Book @ belle and burger

How To Sew Napkins and a Table Runner @ The Kitchn

Vanilla Creme Brulee @ Baking Bites

Secret Promise Rings @ imakecutestuff’s Etsy shop

Patchwork Notebooks Free Pattern @ Sew, Mama, Sew!

Mini Wreaths @ The Crafts Dept.

Seafoam Green and a Craftsman Galley Kitchen Update from Sunset via The Kitchn

Turn Thumb Print Leaves Into Family Heirloom @ ohdeedoh

I just finished and hung a fresh linen towel on the oven! I’m proud of how it turned out - a little embroidery, a little fabric print, and I have a new pre-spring towel to look at every day. It matches our kitchen perfectly.

It was really a super simple project. The linen towel is a blank from the store at my work, and the fabric is just a strip of quilters cotton that I’ve had in my stash for awhile. I used some rust-red embroidery floss and sewing thread to match the rust-red out of the fabric print. The embroidery design itself was super easy - I just typed up “miller” on the computer, found a font I liked, set it to an outline stroke, printed it out and traced the design on with water-soluble pen. I finished the backstitching with 3 strands of DMC floss in less than a couple hours in front of the TV.

To finish up embellishing with the fabric, I just gave myself about a quarter-inch seam allowance, steamed the folds into the fabric, pinned and straight stitched in the rust-red thread. It’s not 100% perfect, but oh well - I like it anyway! I love having a cute towel hanging there to see every time I walk into the kitchen. Now, I’m thinking about making one for Nathan’s rock-n-roll bathroom with these patterns from Sublime Stitching…I think he would like it, and it’s probably the only way I’m going to get some hand embroidery into the man bathroom.

I decided to paint the walls a medium gray, and play off of the painted white tile with black, white and red accessories. I took the cabinet off of the wall, removed the doors, took off the old door hinges and knobs, taped off the mirror and spray painted the whole thing a glossy red. Then, I installed new silver hinges and knobs. I also taped off and spraypainted a great oval framed mirror that I got way on sale at Hobby Lobby due to a crack in the frame (that you really don’t notice much now at all).

The other major fix I did was have my dad install a new track light fixure (it’s the 3-light version of this fixture). It is SO much brighter now, and of course the updated factor is great. (I swear, I will fix up or replace every light fixture in this house before we leave. I’m about halfway there already!)

For art, I rummaged in Nathan’s man room for some fitting pieces to frame. One publicity print I decided to frame was a black and white of Nirvana (one of Nathan’s most favorite bands) in a bathroom that I bought for him a couple Christmases ago - I thought it was kind of funny to put a bathroom photograph in the bathroom, har har. I also framed a red, black and white autographed flyer/poster for Queens of the Stone Age (Nathan’s favorite band ever). Last but not least, I bought a square frame that I spraypainted the same glossy red and used it to frame a logo off of a paper bag from Third Man Records, which Nathan visits all the time and where he spends a lot of money. I think it turned out pretty cool!

For accessories, I bought some new red bathmats and a hand towel from Target, and bought a new black magazine rack from Target and a black plastic trashcan. I also set out a small glass pitcher filled with white ceramic balls with an “M” on each of them, and used the cabinet shelf to display four glass IKEA vases that my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. Last but not least, I installed a new set of blinds on the window — something Nathan has wanted in there for a long while.

I’m pretty proud of how it turned out, and Nathan loves it! He was so surprised. Thanks to my parents for heading over to my end of town not once, but twice, to help me out - especially to my Dad, who intalled the light, hung the blind braces and helped me hang the cabinet back up on the wall.

Tonight I’m making our Valentine’s supper that we were too tired to do last night. And I have to tell you, Nathan wasn’t the only recipient of a surprise — he gave me tickets for us to go see Harry Connick, Jr. when he plays Huntsville in a few weeks! I was super surprised too, and am so excited…I have been a huge Harry Connick fan since I was a little girl. I can’t wait!

My trip to the Craft SuperShow and CHA Winter Trade Show was great. Exhausting, huge and overwhelming, but great! The night before we flew out, the Huntsville tornado touched down in our neighborhood very close to our house. I was on the other side of town, but Nathan was at home, and had quite a scare. Thankfully, he was safe and we didn’t sustain any damage at our house, but the power was knocked out for about 12 hours. Needless to say, I therefore did not get to do any laundry for my trip and had to pack in the dark (Nathan let me borrow his super cool head flashlight.) It was a pain, but our hotel had coin-operated laundry, so I was able to wash some jeans when we arrived.

My boss and I stayed at an Anaheim hotel that had a great location between the convention center and lots of restuarants. Nothing was too spread apart, but all that walking was hard on my poor little feet. Add in that we didn’t have time for lunch even one day, I thought I would have lost a few pounds, but alas I didn’t. Bummer!

The Craft SuperShow was so much fun - not super huge, but definitely very big, and I spent tons of money. I got some fabulous papers and crafty goodies, saw lots of cool products and got some great inspiration. I got to meet Kathy Cano-Murillo (CraftyChica), Cathie Filian, and Debbie Stoller.

The trade show itself was HUGE - we barely made it through 1/3 of the whole show on the first day, breaking for a 2-hour craft workshop (handmade books out of recycled materials with the author of Re-Bound - great class) and one of our business seminars (about global craft trends with Donna Downey).

The second day we saw most of the rest of the show and attended two more business seminars; and the last day, we finally finished out the show, went to our most interesting seminar of all (on consumer behavior within the craft market based on this year’s CHA research) and made some fantastic contacts. It was an extremely successful last day all-around, and we even made some great purchases, including a couple Slices, which I’m so excited about. I even got to meet Mark Lipinski, who was hysterical and so nice. He wrote a note to my mom (a huge fan), took a picture with me and gave me about 5 bear hugs.

We also got to stop by the studio/office of and have dinner with one of our best (and most fun) designers, Kari Mecca, who lives in Anaheim. It was part-business (wrapping up plans for photographing and outlining her second book that we will soon publish) but it was also really cool to see her new projects and her great workspace. She is great to be around and so insanely creative - check out her site. She also agreed to ship back our HUGE lot of purchases, freebies, catalogs and other goodies from CHA. Can’t wait for the box to arrive so we can sort through everything we stuffed in there.

Anyway, the trip was excellent and I got so much out of it, but I was thrilled to come home. Even though I STILL have been unable to do any laundry (plumbing problems - it’s finally getting fixed tomorrow) it’s always good to come home, and I’m pretty sure sweet home Alabama is more my speed than California.

Next up — weekend trip to my sister-in-law’s in Atlanta. I’m pumped to spend my IKEA gift card she gave me for Christmas!

Maybe, but really - I’ve been so busy at work trying to get the Easter issue of SB wrapped up so that when I go on my killer trip to California this Friday, I’m all set for my upcoming deadline. Yes…California! I’m headed to Anaheim with my boss (the VP of Creative Development at our company) to visit one day of the Craft Supershow and three days of the CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show - the biggest professional craft and hobby show in the world. I am so extremely excited and blessed to get to go. The farthest west I have ever been is Colorado and New Mexico, so this will be new to me — and I haven’t flown in 10 years, since I was 14, pre-9/11. I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous about flying, but I’m so excited. To put it in perspective, Nathan tends to get beyond excited about going to band shows, getting autographs from favorite celebrities, etcetera, and he always wants to know if there isn’t something I get as excited about — I told him, THIS is what I get THAT excited about!

Anyway, beyond that, I’ve honestly just been working a lot. I have a few small craft projects going on the side, and Nathan and I are working our way through Season 5 of The Wire and Season 1 of Big Love on DVD. Spike is still a ridiculous cat, we’re trying to get back on our budget, I’d like to lose 10+ pounds, and I’m ready for it to warm up a bit. Other than that…same old, same old around the Miller house.

Last year I did a review of 2008 with a photo from each month out of my Flickr account. I’m going to do the same thing this time. Enjoy!

January was pretty quiet; I did a lot of crafting (like the embroidered elephant tea towel I gave to my mom as a late Christmas present) and we decided to start looking for our first house.

In February, we found the house we wanted and got a great deal in what I think must have been a pretty smooth buying process. With the closing date set for mid-March, we started packing!

March was a very stressful month. Since the closing date on our new house was set for mid-month, we had to finish packing everything up and get moved into our home by the end of the month. But we also hosted a wedding shower for some friends of ours at the rental, which was probably not the smartest planning on our part! The shower was great, though - a “calendar shower” where guests gave gifts according to an assigned month of the year. I made a sweet and savory snack for each of the four seasons.

Nathan had knee surgery at the beginning of April to repair torn cartilage, from which he healed very quickly. He still has some trouble, but I’m just thankful he came through the surgery as well as he did (the second knee surgery he had in two years). And while he was still recovering, Spike came to live with us! He was a feral cat that the parents of one of Nathan’s coworkers had semi-taken in in Knoxville, Tennessee. Because they discovered he had FIV and was a very attention-hungry cat, they knew he needed to be an indoor and an only pet. Having just bought a house where we could have pets (unlike our rental) we decided to take him in. This picture is from our first hour with him; shortly after this, he disappeared under our bed and hardly ate for a week. But he began coming out to see us more and more, eventually learned to play, and now he is the center of attention at our house. We are constantly asking eachother how this is the same scared little cat that came to live with us not so long ago.

May was a fun month; we visited my sister and her family one weekend, and then we traveled to Eufaula, AL for a very swanky wedding, in which Nathan was a groomsman. It was a great trip and an unbelievably nice wedding/reception. Eufaula was a really coool place to visit - it is an antebellum city with lots of historical mansions. I would definitely visit there just for fun, which we should get the chance to do since our recently wedded friends have settled down there.

All I remember about June is working on our house, since we were moved in enough to really start tackling projects. The biggest completion (and most important, of course) was finishing up my craft room/office in the laundry room. Right after we moved in and I painted, my dad helped me convert the closet into my craft desk space, with extra shelving and lighting. It is my favorite place in our house! I love having my own messy space where I can hide out and work on whatever I want without making a wreck of the dining room table or living room anymore.

In July we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I also had one of my coolest days on the job yet — a mock ribbon-themed wedding that my editor and I pulled together and got to photograph and a gorgeous chateau on Monte Sano Mountain. Nathan’s cousin and my friend, Brittain, was the bride, and our friend Katie was the bridesmaid. We had a sweet little flower girl and the most amazing wedding cake you’ve ever seen. It came together beautifully (and you can actually see the wedding spread in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Sew Beautiful).

In August we took our first real beach vacation together to Gulf Shores, AL. Our friend Jared’s (then-girlfriend) fiance Alison invited us to stay with some other friends at her family company’s beach house. It was beautiful and private and relaxing. We had the best time - it was the only true vacation with Nathan and friends that I can remember in a long time! We also realized that it was also the first time Nathan and I had gone to the beach together. I so hope we get to go back sometime.

September took me back to the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio for a work trip — have I mentioned I love my job? Tons of inspiration and a really great kick-off to fall. I heard they are moving the fair this year, so who knows if we will be able to attend again; I would hate to miss it.

My big sister turned 30 in October. We celebrated with a weekend girls trip with my Mom to Kentuck Festival, an awesome arts festival in Northport, AL. We had a great time, even though it was absolutely freezing! The picture is of us at the fair, where my sister and I carved out a mold for an iron paperweight that Sloss Furnace fired for her.

November brought lots of football games, football parties and big Alabama wins. Roll Tide! This picture of my parents’ pug puppy Ozzie pretty much sums up his excitement about the Iron Bowl. We can’t wait for the BCS National Championship game this Thursday.

December was kind of a stressful month because I was sick almost the entire time. I had a bad cold that turned into a nasty bout with Bronchitis. I missed several days of work at home with a high fever and I’ve still got some lingering cough and side effects. My energy level was nonexistant leading up to Christmas, which made getting ready for the holidays tough. By the time our 9000 Christmas events were over, I was actually pretty relieved. But all said and done, we had a great holiday and I got way too many nice gifts. The biggest of all - Nathan got me a new Motorola Android phone, which I can’t put down, and my mom gave me/us the finished quilt she’s been working on for over 2 years as a wedding gift. It’s gorgeous and I am constantly underneath it!

We put up all the Christmas decorations yesterday — the house looks huge to me without all that clutter. After some dusting and redecorating, things will finally be back to normal for 2010.

A Business Card Case @ petits details (inspired by this tutorial: Cute business card case tutorial @ Jennifer Ladd Handmade)

D.I.Y. Thrifted Pattern Gift Wrap @ Creature Comforts

tutorial - baby food jar pincushion @ CraftPudding

Vintage Christmas Cone Ornaments @ Cupcakes and Crinoline

Ombre Glittered Seashell Ornaments @ Martha Stewart

Make a Felt Mitten and Ice Skate Ornament @ BHG

Make Mini Wreath Ornaments, Tags & Decorations @ scrumdilly-do!

SF Flickr Finds: Erinowes’ Chalkboard @ Apartment Therapy

button snowflake pillow @ artsy-crafty baby

sans water snow globes @ cheeky magpie

Winter Wonderland ornament @

michael johannson @ katie pruitt

a tiny gingerbread house that perches on the edge of your mug @ not martha

Felt Crayon Holder @ Skip to my Lou

Vintage ornament wreath @ My Life - My Loves

flickr friday : twinkle, twinkle. @ design is mine

Holiday Inspirations from the Style Circle @ Style Me Pretty

Well - it’s basically done! Except for the mini wall quilt I’d like to finish and the new rug I’m probably not going to get, I’m all set in our new room. Here is the before:

And the after! Walls are painted an extremely light blue - “Frosted Juniper”, lamps have gotten a facelift with red spraypaint and new shades, new bedding, new accessories and newly sewn curtains. (The big tv my parents gave us for our anniversary helps spruce things up as well - love it - but we would still like to get a tilting wall mount so we can see it better while laying in bed.

(Let’s just ignore the overflowing hamper in that last picture! I’m dealing with that as I type…)

One of my favorite parts of our new room is what you see as you walk in - two little white shelves that were given to me by my editor, as she was getting rid of them from her son’s room. On them, I’ve placed a flea market vase and a red vintage teapot (thanks, Mom!) and we’re displaying our newest vintage soda cooler below.

I also love our vintage fan we picked up at our favorite antique store awhile back. It finally fits in the room I imagined it being in:

And to top it all off, now I have a fantastic Christmas tree for our room! I saw it at a photoshoot I had the other day at Emma’s Tea Room. I was teasing the owner, Rebekah, that I was going to buy it off her - and to my surprise, she offered to sell it to me. I was so excited when she said she had a second one upstairs and that she would sell it to me at her cost. I am so thankful to her and I absolutely LOVE my new tree. It’s about 4 feet tall; I bought some cheap, plain red ornaments at Target to decorate.

I’m excited that the whole room is basically finished. On to the next project…

BUT - I did have an ornament-making party on Day 5, at which I made 7 ornaments in one sitting! So I think I more than made up for it. I had some work friends and my mom over to listen to Christmas music, eat yummy snacks, and get creative with some Christmas ornaments.

We had a great time. There was plenty of glitter, wine and paint. To be honest, the cleanup wasn’t bad at all - half of the craft supplies disappeared when my guests left, and after I stuck everything back in my craft room, all I have to do is roll up and trash the vinyl table cover I put down and I’m done (aside from the glittery sheen on our floor).

My makings: 7 new ornaments!

From left to right, a silver ball with glittery dots and “Miller” spelled out; a mini matte silver ball with glitter swirls; a paper Christmas tree with silver tinsel and rhinestone gems; a gold ball with rhinestone gems and silver Sharpie swirls all over; a mini glittered ball in three shades; a paper accordian rosetted made of vintage sheet music, mini tinsel and a precut glittered chipboard tree; and a silver ornament with gold glitter polka dots. They are all hanging on my tree with care!