700 West

Sale Announcement

2011-01-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

I know I've been MIA for a couple of months, but I just wanted to make a quick announcement. I'm clearing out inventory on my etsy site. I'm posting a 15% off deal over at Freebies2Deals.com. This is a great website for awesome deals on everything. I found about half of my Christmas presents through it!!

So go check out Freebies2Deals.com and look for the "Lets Make a Deal" Linkup Party.

Halloween Tutorial: Somebody's Watching Me

2010-10-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

So, life has officially become hectic again. I've started school once more and in an effort to finally finish (only took a decade or so!) I'll be trying to complete as many courses as I can in a six month period. Therefore, any semblance of a social life is now long gone, ahh it was good while it lasted.

However I refuse to let my favorite holiday go by without decorating every inch of available space in my 500 square foot apartment!

I can't take any credit for this design, as I saw it at a Robert's a few years ago. It's quick and easy and depending on your resourcefulness, not very expensive.

Materials:

Vase

Spray of Fall Flowers

Google Eyes

Step One: Procure Materials

Step Two: Place google eyes on flowers. Depending on your household members (I don't have any animals or children) you can hot glue or simply place the eyes on the flowers. If you don't hot glue, then you can easily remove the google eyes and display your flowers until Thanksgiving.

Step Three: Display

But don't say I didn't warn you!

Big Announcement!!

2010-09-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to finally announce this - my sister, Sarah has joined the 700 West team and will be selling her unique, handmade tutus in the etsy shop.

Sarah is a stay-at-home mother to two children. Bridget (the wonderful model in the previous post) is 18 months and Dylan is the smartest three year old you'll ever meet (I'm just a little prejudiced). Including her husband, Justin and their puggle, Ammo, she has a houseful!

Sarah is a very imaginative person with amazing talents in crafting, cake decorating and cooking. She'll be sharing her ideas and projects with us soon - Welcome, Sarah!!

Five -Minute Project: Halloween Sign

2010-09-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

This sign looks like it took a lot of time and effort - but it seriously only took a couple of minutes (once you decide on your paper and colors!) And maybe the best part it only cost 4 dollars!!!

The boards were laminated extras from the As-Is section of Ikea and .99 cents each. The eye hooks, holding it together, were 12 for 1 dollar at Wal-mart.

Check out the quick steps:

Materials

3 Black-Laminated Wood Planks (As-Is section @ Ikea)

8 Screw Eye Hooks

Scrapbook Paper

Decorative Accessories

First Step: Screw the eye hooks into both sides of the top board.

Cruddy light, but they are just odds and ends from Ikea, Two are identical (top and bottom) and the middle is slightly smaller.

Two on the top (for the hanging ribbon) and two on the bottom (for the next board). Depending on the number of boards, continue to screw four screws into the middle board(s).

The very last board only needs two screws on the top side.

Second Step: Decorate! I printed the letters and cut them out, then added some decorative accents.

Third Step: Add ribbon and hang. (The boards were pretty heavy, so I'm going to grab something heavier to hang with before I put it on the front door)

Voila!!

Awesome sign for no time

and

{almost} no money!!

There are a lot of options - you can decoupage, you can use vinyl letters, stickers anything you can think of!

Hope you enjoy!!

I'm linking up here:

and here
Get Your Craft On

and one more

Halloween Fabric Pumpkins Tutorial

2010-09-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

I love these cute little pumpkins so much. They are so simple and come together quickly (once you get the hang of it)!

Please forgive any improper methods, I am so not a trained sewer!!

Materials:

1 strip of fabric 2.5" x 44"

1 square of fabric 5.5"

1 rectangle of felt 2.5 x 4"

Batting

Optional:

Ribbon (for decoration)

I used a strip from a jelly roll and the matching square from a charm pack. (Moda "Sweet") The jelly rolls are strips of 2.5" x 44" fabric. And the charm packs are squares of 5" fabric. The finished size of the pumpkins is determined by the number of panels you cut.

If you are NOT using a jelly roll strip the sizes are:

Skinny, Tall Pumpkin: 6 pieces (2.5"x 7.33")

Short, Round Pumpkin: 8 pieces (2.5"x 5.5")

If you use a jelly roll strip, the sizes are:

Skinny, Tall pumpkin - 6 pieces

Short, Round, - 8 pieces

Pair up all of your pieces, with right sides together. Then sew along the long side. (If you have a patterned piece, watch your pattern, so everything is facing the same direction!)

Continue to sew all of your pieces together on the long side, until you have one long piece.

Then sew your two ends together to create a circle.

To make the bottom, draw a circle out of your other fabric. This should be the same size as your cylinder of fabric. I found a ribbon cartridge that matched perfectly.

The easiest way for me to start pinning was to fold the fabric on the cylinder down about a half inch, match up my circle to the edge and pin. Then I flipped up the cylinder edge and finished pinning the rest of the circle. This seemed to hold it in place fairly well.

Then sew all around the bottom, making sure to stay on a curved path.

Use your scissors to snip the edge all the way around the circle **Make sure to avoid your stitches**

Then turn it over and on the top of the pumpkin fold the fabric over about a half of an inch.

Set your machine to the longest, straight stitch and stitch all around the top, making sure to leave a long tail of thread when done.

Stuff with batting to your liking.

Very carefully, pull one of the end threads to bunch up the top of the pumpkin. I just tied the ends of the two threads together once it was an acceptable size.

Cut your stem out. I cut out a square, stitched three sides of it, leaving the bottom open and then cut to match the stitch. Flip it right-side out and lightly fill with batting.

The final step was the hardest for me. I finally hand-stitched the ruffled pumpkin top to the stem, just going around with a very quick, simple stitch. (Again, I'm no seamstress!) It created a cute ruffled base to the step. If this is for a little kid, I would definitely recommend finding a more secure method.

I finished it up with a matching ribbon.

Please excuse Jennifer...

2010-05-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delays... I had a pretty nasty root canal this week and I think that blogging on Percocet is probably not the best. Look for some awesome announcements and dazzling designs next week!

Five Minute Project: Dollar Store Frames

2010-05-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

I found some adorable picture frames at the dollar store the other day. They were an awesome pattern, but the color was not so much my style.

I had some white craft paint ( I think it was also from the dollar store from a previous trip!).

I let it dry, cut out some cute birds from my "home decor" cricut cartridge in vinyl, added some matching paper and voila - cute bathroom accessories!

They turned out better than I was hoping, but I'm still not sure if I like the pictures. The nice thing with the vinyl is they are are super easy to change!!

New Facebook Fan Page

2010-05-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

I just set up the facebook fan page. Now to just get some other than my immediate family to like it!!

J'adore

2010-04-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

My purple chiffon headband, that I adore beyond words, was featured in a treasury!! Check out some of the other awesome items to add some purple pizzaz to your day!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bd83d6f4f416d91a952d785

Wonder of Wonders

2010-04-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm Back!!

So school is done now (and maybe for the next three months, fingers crossed), work is wrapping up and spring has sprung (for the day at least) in Utah. I was actually able to get some crafting done this weekend and created several new headbands. I'm super excited about the new styles and hope everyone will like them. Here's a sneak peak...

I have some more new stuff coming soon. My first attempt at jam, an awesome party favor that's super easy to make and preparations for my first potential craft fair.

Lots of stuff going on and more to come. Stay tuned....

New Headbands

2010-03-12T09:13:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics with the new headbands - should be on etsy soon!

Ginormous thanks to Ashley and Darien!!

Updated Design

2010-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

Trying to update the blog to be a little more current. Other things have kind of taken over these past couple of weeks, so I've been quite neglectful. Biggest update - I'm going to GERMANY for a week and half. I'm so excited I can barely stand it. One of my mom's dearest friends is currently stationed by Frankfurt and I was able to weasel in on her trip to visit her. I leave on the 18th and will be gone for a week and a half. (But my 6'2 little brother will be housesitting for me, you know, just in case anyone was curious.)

Other exciting items in the life of Jen... I learned how to make some new types of flowers and should have some cool new headbands in the shop this weekend. I also hopefully will get some great new product shots with my sis Ashley visiting for the weekend. Taking my microbiology midterm this week - crossing of any available digits would be nice.

So that is my big, long, please excuse jennifer note for being absent for the last two weeks. I really love making the headbands and other accessories and hope to be able to really get some awesome designs put together soon.

"Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility. Whatever our circumstances in life, my dear brethren, let us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence in all that we do. Let us set our minds and bodies to the glorious opportunity for work that each new day presents."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Two Principles for Any Economy," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 56

Squeee!!

2010-02-09T21:33:00.001-08:00

I signed up for the accessories showcase on esty and I'm hoping it pays off - we'll see!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

To kick off the wonderfully short month of February, I finished up some awesome headbands in a new line called "Heart Felt". These all portray a warmth and comfort with the soft yarn wrapped headbands to the embroidered felt hearts. Check out the latest at the etsy shop!

Introducing the Flamenco Headband!

2010-01-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

I love this headband like no other, the trio of eggplant-purple flowers just reminds of flamenco dancers and Espana!

Just listed!

Moving Forward!

2010-01-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

Resolution isn't the best, but the packaging is looking pretty awesome (if I do say so myself!)

Supermodel in the making

2010-01-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

Um... do all kids under 2 have perpetually runny noses? Is this one of those "have-to-be-a-parent" kind of things? My niece, Bridget was my unwitting model for the day on Saturday. She really was a good model, when she wasn't trying grab for the camera. Maybe a career as a photographer is more up her alley. Here's some of the pics!

Last Day for Grand Opening Sale

2010-01-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

I promise I'll write about more interesting things as time moves. Right now the store and trying to get a little bit of traffic is tying up most of my limited free time. Some things I'm contemplating - theme weeks (with tips and links), giveaways, and who knows what else thrown in.

For now, make sure to check out the last day of the Grand Opening Sale. Only until midnight all items are buy one get one free. That makes each headband/headwrap only $6.00!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Sunday!!

Craziness

2010-01-21T15:03:00.001-08:00

New Wedding Line

2010-01-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

The introductory blossom is up and running (well running as well as it can without any legs!)

Check out the perfect cream colored accessory for your wedding dress.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39009417

Sneak Peek!

2010-01-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

These should be up by the end of the day!

Welcome to the Grand Opening of 700 West

2010-01-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking out my new blog on all of the current and upcoming headwear and accessories from 700 West. I'm really excited to show what I've been working on and get ideas for new items. Feel free to look around and make sure to check out my etsy page at http://www.700west.etsy.com.

Make sure to become a follower to be the first to get news about contests and sales.

Look for our Grand Opening Sale happening soon!