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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

DIY Felt Christmas Pillow

 This is a really easy pillow to make with very little sewing. It is made with felt, which will not fray. I love the way it turned out and cost me under $10 to make!
(I had some of the supplies laying around the house.)

Supplies:
- 1/2 yard cream felt fabric (at least 38" wide)
-16" pillow insert (that's just the size I already had on hand)
-White thread
-Green felt leaves (I found mine at target in their Christmas decor, but you could cut your own)
-White pom poms (you can find bags of them loose at the craft store, I just had some on a strand so that's what I used)
-Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

I made a simple envelope back pillow case and because I used felt I only had to sew along each side and didn't need to worry about hemming the other sides. 

First you will need to calculate what size to cut your fabric based on the size of your pillow. For the length you will double the size and add 6. My pillow was 16" square. These are my calculations:

16 + 16 + 6 = 38"length

For the width you will take the pillow size and add .5"

16 + .5 = 16.5" wide

Cut your fabric to your size. Mine was 38" x 16.5". 

Next lay your pillow on your fabric with the right side of the fabric facing up. Fold the fabric around the pillow, overlapping it to create an envelope back. Pin along the sides where the fabric overlaps and then slide your pillow out.

Now pin along both sides and sew. When you are done sewing each side, turn the pillow case right side out. 

Arrange your felt leaves in the shape of a wreath and using a hot glue gun, glue it in place.

I wanted a neutral colored pillow, so I covered the red berries on the original garland with the white pom poms using the hot glue gun. 




Tuesday, December 10, 2013

7 Books to Help Strengthen Your Marriage

Marriage is hard and takes a lot of work. Lots of forgiveness, grace, selflessness, sacrifice, and love. These are some books that I have found extremely encouraging along the way! Add them to your reading list and ask your spouse to join you in reading some of them. 

1. Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas - What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?

2. Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas -How God uses wives to shape the souls of their Husbands

3. Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll - The truth about sex, friendship, and life together

4. From Anger to Intimacy by Dr. Gary Smalley and Mr. Ted Cunningham - How forgiveness can transform your marriage

5. The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller - Facing the complexities of commitment with the wisdom of God.

6. The Five Love Languages by Gary D. Chapman -How to express heartfelt commitment to your mate

7. Just How Married do You Want to Be? by Jim and Sarah Sumner - Practicing oneness in marriage

Dear Vines Giveaway

A good friend of mine has started her own business making these beautiful bracelets, and she would like to offer one to one of you for FREE! Please visit Dear Vines HERE to shop and read below to find out how to enter to win one! 
 Visit Dear Vines on Facebook or Instagram 
to find a promocode for 25% off through the end of the year!

Dear Vines also offers mini vines for little girls.
And a mens line will be coming soon!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Visit me on instagram HERE to ENTER!
To enter the giveaway you must follow @thedearvines on Instagram
and repost the giveaway with hashtag #dearvinesgiveaway

If you would like additional chances to win follow Dear Vines on Facebook HERE and SHARE the giveaway for another entry, make sure to comment below letting me know you did! 

Giveaway ENDS December 14th at 12am.
Winner will be chosen using random.org.