Cottage & Family [Search results for Lavender] 

I LOVE Lavender !!

Every time I go visit my family on the Central Coast

of California I drag them to a Lavender Farm ~

There are certain things I just love to do when I am there and

totally took for granted when I lived there ~

Besides the lavender farm, the ocean is a must :)

My mom's friend grows lavender and she saved just

a ton of it for me ~ I was soooo excited !!

Here are just a few of the pictures of the lavender

I am totally hoarding but ya know there are only so many

places I can put lavender in my house ( I guess.... )

I actually do make sachets for my website

and had a tutorial here if you would like to visit ~

Remember the lavender that I brought home from California ~

It smells soooo good !

I have been making lavender sachets with it that have been alot

of fun to do ~

This is just a quick tutorial on how to make them ~

They are easy peasy !

First start with a piece of fabric ( I use vintage that I have tea dyed ) ~

Stamp the image or images you would like to use ~

I tear the edges so that they will fray ~

Next with another piece of fabric cut the size you want it to be ~

This one is 7.5 by 10 inches giving me 1/4 inch seam allowances ~

Sew on your stamped image pieces ~

Then fold your fabric in half right sides together leaving

a space at the bottom to turn and stuff it ~

When you are done sewing turn it right side out, iron

and stuff with just a little batting and I put 2 generous

spoonfuls of lavender ~

Next turn in the raw edges of your open spot and sew ~

I use my machine because then I am going to sew on lace so

it is okay ~ You can hand sew it if you would like ~

The next step is to embellish with whatever little things that

you want ~ On this one I used gathered tea stained dryer sheets,

seam binding and vintage buttons ~

I also like to stamp the fabric after it is sewn but before the

stuffing ~

It is fun and they smell yummy !

If you don't want to make them yourself

then you can find them at Katies Rose Cottage ~

Ohhhhh what a glorious weekend we had in Fredericksburg Texas ~ I have been there before but I forgot how much I love it ~ It was just a three day weekend road trip for 4 friends of laughing, shopping, eating way too much, flea marketing, perfect weather and wine tasting ~ what a blast we had !!!

Fredericksburg is in the Hill Country of Texas and it is full of shops that are just the essence of Texas ~ we spent 4 hours just shopping on this one street there ~ it was so much fun !!!

One of my favorite things is lavender so we had to stop by a lavender farm and winery called Becker Vineyards ~ next month is a huge lavender festival which I would love to got to but maybe next year !! ~

We stayed at one of the friends in laws house and the view in the background is from their gorgeous backyard !! It is amazing !! Being from California, I had no idea that there are even hills tall enough to have views like that in Texas ~ It was a treat to stay there for the weekend !!! ~

I am sitting at the airport waiting to head back home to HOT Texas ~ It has been really nice being in California but it is time to go home ~

I love to go to Paso Robles and wander around the shops there ~ One of the places we went was "We Olive" where you can taste everything and it is yummy !

This is my sister and mom trying something good I am sure ~

This is some of the olive oils and balsamic vinegars to taste ~

Another shop I love to go to is "The Cottage" ~ Sandi has wonderful antiques and home decor in her shop ~

I want to start carrying lavender items on my website so we stopped at a lavender farm ~ I always seem to drag my mom and my sister to a lavender farm when I am in California ~ You should smell my suitcase right now full of this ~

We went for walks every evening and it was stinking cold so I had to borrow warmth since it was hard to even imagine packing for cold ~

My mom and dad live on a mountain that overlooks 3 cities ~ It is absolutely a gorgeous view ~ I could sit on their deck for hours and wander around their gardens full of beautiful flowers ~

There are always deer roaming around which is so much fun to me to see ~

This is LAX today ~ Oh my gosh I think everyone is cramming the last trip in before school starts ~ It is a total zoo !

Well it is getting time to board my next flight on my journey home ~

Today I wanted to show you

a quick and easy way to make

a Pocket Pillow out of a pillowcase ~

The first thing to do is rip the front

from the back ~ I just snip a little

on the sides and top and

then rip the rest ~

Next figure out what size you

would like it to be lengthwise

and again snip and rip ~

Then fold up the amount you would

like to be your pocket ~

Then bring the rest of the

fabric over your pocket so that

right sides are together ~

Do whatever size you like ~

Cut the extra fabric off the bottom
~

Pin and sew leaving an opening

at the bottom for stuffing ~

Then turn right side out and iron

folding the bottom opening

so that you can stitch it closed ~

I love to add a little lavender

to the stuffing because ...

I LOVE lavender :)

After stuffing hand sew

the bottom closed ~

The really fun part is embellishing!

I took an old doily and added

a rose to the top of it and then

glued it on using Fabri Tac ~

To make this a hanging pocket pillow

I cut a piece of ribbon and glued

it to each top corner ~ then I added

some ribbon bows ~

I did a tutorial on how to crinkle

the ribbon here ~

Then I added a vintage photo

and a piece of hymnal music ~

That is it ... super easy and fun!

I just got home from a few days

in Central California ~

Oh my goodness it was glorious

there! The weather was awesome

( it was great to get away

from the Texas heat )

and well I just pretty much

love it all ~

Family, childhood memories, the beach,

the mountains, the vineyards,

the weather... I could go on and on ~

It is funny how when we lived there

I completely took the beautiful

hills and ocean for granted ~

It has been 16 years since we

moved to North Texas and I am

a happy gal to have family

in California and flight privileges :)

I am a lavender freak so seeing it

all over is amazing to me!

This is a beautiful bed and breakfast that

a friend's wedding was at in Templeton ~

This is a really fun place in Avila Beach called

Avila Valley Barn ~

This is my sister and niece

picking yummy apples ~

I have been home a day and am totally

ready to go back ~

Hopefully in October for the

Remnants of the Past Vintage Show

and

Three Speckled Hens Show ~

Now it is back to work (fun)

for me ~