:: Inspire Me Thursday :: JoysHope

Do you read the blog JoysHope?

You don't?!  Well... click here then.

You're Welcome.

Please welcome Julie from JoysHope

to The Benner Daily today!

She is here to inspire you...

This is something she's good at!

So, sit back, relax, and be inspired.

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Greetings Friends of the Benner Daily.

I'm Julie and I ramble on and on over at Joy's Hope.

My life is full of pink and drama, I'm a recovering Diet Pepsi addict, love me some spicy food and could lock myself away from the world with just my sewing machine and Dave Matthews for weeks and weeks if my life allowed.

Would you believe me if I told you that you could make A.Maz.Ing Christmas gifts for less than 50 cents each?  (By the way... why don't keyboards have cent signs?)

Seriously, 50 cents.

Take that crappy economy!

Here's what you need to make eighteen gifts.

Why eighteen?  Why not eighteen?

A six foot long 1x6 pine board from Lowes or Home Depot cut into 4 inch pieces.

(Bat your eyelashes at the nice lumber man.  He just might cut it for you.)

Black paint

Mod Podge

Wire edge ribbon

Foam brush

Staple gun

Cute xeroxed pic of your family, preferably taken by DrewB.

After you or nice lumber man cut your wood, paint each piece and sides black.

Trim your picture.  The board is actually a bit less than 6 inches wide.  False advertising.

Put a thin even coat of Mod Podge on the board.

Lay your picture on top and smooth out all creases and bubbles.

Cut a 10 inch piece of ribbon.

Admire the cuteness.

Staple the ribbon to the back.

If you want to be fancy, cut a piece of felt the same size and glue it on to hide the mess.

If you are lazy (like me) just write 2009 on it and call it good enough.

Hang the cuteness.

How easy was that?

Give one or a few to your in-laws, your grandparents, the mailman, whoever.

You made eighteen.

No need to be choosy.

I'm going to make a bunch of all different pictures and hang them on my tree.

Have fun with these.  They are my new obsession.

Peace out girl scouts!

*****

Thanks for the inspiration Julie!

This is something I definitely want to try.

I mean, what mailman wouldn't love to get something

like this?  ;o)

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Let me feature YOU!!  Just email me with your blog address, and a project(s)/ tutorial you'd 

love to share!  Come on!  Inspire us!!

My Email:  shealynn@gmail.com

Inspire Me Thursday - Make It & Love It

Don't forget to enter the Material Gal fabric giveaway!  Scroll down, or click HERE.

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Today is our very first installment of Inspire Me Thursday!!

I am so excited about this new weekly

installment!  We all need inspiration, so,

who better than to feature all of you? 

If you'd like to be featured on Inspire Me Thursday,

please email me!  shealynn AT gmail.com -

we'd love to have you!

I am so excited to be featuring Ashley

of Make it & Love it!!  I know I have mentioned

her blog several times, whether on here or on Twitter.

She is so incredibly talented!  It's so hard NOT to get inspired going to her

blog!  I have about 30 of her projects bookmarked as "to-do".

I know when you start looking at her blog you will love what you see!

Block out several hours of time, because you will not

want to stop looking through her blog.  Inspiration to boot!!

I asked Ashley to write a little "About Me" note to all

of you.  Here is what she had to say...

The Benner Daily Readers:

"I started sewing as a little girl with my mom......you know, the basic apron, pillow case, and curtain.  They were always funky, uneven, and quirky.....but that's how it all began.  Then after having little kiddos and working with a tight budget, I started making things that I saw in the store (clothing and crafts) but didn't have the money to splurge on.  I would look at something, figure out how they did it, and then give it a try at home.  I was completely shocked at first that I could produce something usable.  And it just went from there.  This is where the blog came about.  I loved what I was doing and wanted others to see that making new things wasn't so tough.  I started sharing secrets and giving examples of how to make something that may look way harder than it is.  I get such a rush from creating new things.....and an even bigger rush from hearing how others are finding my tips useful and have created their own collection of homemade crafts and apparel.  Love it!  And then when I figured out that you can use old clothes to make new clothes, I became completely addicted and immersed in my sewing projects.  Come on....making something ugly and ill-fitting, into something seriously adorable?  That's a great feeling.  And honestly, it doesn't take a great seamstress to create a great project.  Anyone can start with the basics and grow from there.  So perfect."

I know!  She is fantastic - And nice!  Oh she is so nice.

So, Ashley has been kind enough to share 4 of her "favorite" projects with us.
She told me it was so hard to choose.  ha ha!  I can only
imagine it was!!

I will post 1 picture from each of her tutorials.
The picture will show her finished product.
The link above the picture will take you directly
to the tutorial she created.

Here we go... Enjoy!

********

Re-Purposing Skirt/Leggings



Woman's Corsage Shirt



Trash Bag



Basic Stuffed Animals





Aren't her creations amazing?  I know!  So much to do just from her inspirations!!
Ashley not only has a rad blog... she also has an awesome
Etsy shop... Go to her Etsy shop now... you won't be sorry ya did!

I really hope you've enjoyed the first installment of "Inspire Me Thursday"!!
Make sure and leave some comment love on here letting Ashley know
how seriously cool she is.  ;)


ASHLEY:  Thank you SO much for letting us feature you!!
You're amazing and truly inspiring!