A Birthday Present

I saw this cute place mat a fellow blogger made. I forgot where, {sorry} and decided I had to make them as a birthday present for my MIL. So I made her 6 for all her grandbabies.

Four girly ones (all with birdie appliques that have a purpose...)
And two boyish ones
They all have a cute appliqué and place to put your silverware
They also have a cute coordinating pattern on the back.


I love the holders for the silverware. They add so much more to the place mat so it isn't boring.

Headband display tutorial

I sometimes do local shows and am always looking for cute ways to display my products.
This is for metal headbands. It doesn't hold a lot so it's a good way to show case your favorites with the rest to the side. And you can refill it as they go!

Supplies:

Paper towel holder

Roll of paper towels

fabric (thin and stretchy works best..it's not what I used)

hot glue

sand paper

paint and brush -or-spray paint

I got my holder at the D.I. for $1.00 !
See this hole and metal? I also used putty filler in my supplies, but you don't have to..
First, take your top off
Sand a little bit to give it some texture to grab the paint.
Fill the hole with your putty, let dry, and sand to get a smooth surface. (I obviously did this after a coat of paint...I was learning too)

Paint your desired color. Spray paint would work great too, but I didn't have any. So I just used my craft paint, which worked pretty well.
You don't need to paint the stem...it will be covered. Finish all the coats you need and let it dry.

If you want to sand the edges a little, now is the time.

Grab your fabric. You don't want to use something too loud. Remember what you want people to notice is your headbands, not the fabric on your display. It can have some interest, like mine, just not too much! Measure it against your roll of paper towel. Cut it three inches longer than the amount you need to fully cover it. And 4 inches taller.
To avoid sewing a nice hem, we're gluing it! Glue over one edge 1 1/2 inches.

Now roll, making sure you have a good two inches extra on top and on bottom.
You should still have an inch and 1/2 to over lap the edges. Glue it all the way and you will have a nice finished edge.

Now take one end of your roll, where you should have two inches hanging over. Glue around the inside of your roll and tuck fabric inside.

Do this all the way around, and to the other end until you have a nice covered paper towel. You want it to look nice, but as you can see it doesn't have to be perfect. I used home decor fabric so it was much thicker and stiffer. If you want to use a thinner or even stretchy fabric it will lay and fold a lot smoother and smaller.
Now place your covered roll on your holder, a viola, you have a display for your headbands..
Just add some headbands and you're good to go!

Zig Zag pillow

I think I'm wanting to make pillows for my couches now, vs. buying them. Their are so many fun ideas! Here is a tutorial for this one.

Bat pillow

love this for halloween! I might have to make a few. Here is where you can find it.

A skirt for Aubree ((by me))

I was sorting through my material the other day, and at the very bottom of my collection I found this fabric with a beautiful print. My MIL gave me her scraps from having a dust ruffle made in her grandkids room. It is already pleated with a hem! I decided it would make a great skirt for my three year old.

I measured her waist and found that the fabric was the perfect width to make her a skirt for next year! It already had a hem and a finished top. All I had to do was sew some elastic to the inside and sew the two edges together. It took me all of 5 minuets!

Then I decided the top wasn't a polished enough look for me (it was serged...) And after trying it on her it was too long, even considering it is for next year. So I unpicked...added a thicker hem. Which I like the look of better anyway..



Then I made my own bias tape, sewed it on, added elastic and closed it up...

This is how it turned out. Even messing up in the beginning, it was a real fast skirt. And turned out super cute!

A bookmark ((by me))

For my brother's 16th birthday I ordered a stamped washer to make him a key ring. But I had to order four..It took me a while to think of what the other three should say. I decided to get the names of my Aunt's cats. I wasn't sure what I would do with them.. and then I remembered that she loves bookmarks. This is my experiment to make a "book thong". It is definitely no where near as beautiful as the ones she buys. But as I said it was an experiment. I'm not even sure if it works right...so I took some photos of how I think it could/should be used...



I don't really have a lot of beads or pretty things, so it's pretty simple. But I think she'll like it for 4 reasons. 1. It's personalized with the names of her babies. 2. It has purple ribbon. 3. You can never have too many bookmarks and 4. I made it for her :) So happy surprise Jenni. I hope you like it.

A green scarf ((by me))

My two friends and I started this scarf in the winter, but we soon found out that three schedules and three sets of kids don't always agree....

We met twice and got about 80% done...Well I finally decided I just wanted to finish! So I did and I like how it turned out. I haven't sewn with stretch knit before, so I had fun adjusting to it. ( I have been missing my sewing manuel for YEARS)...but I got the hang of it in the end, and now I have practice so I can do better next time.

Stain cover up ((by me))

I LOVE buying white shirts for my girls. They go with anything, but kids will be kids and their shirts never stay white. I loved the lines on this shirt, but my daughter got a lot of little stains on it. I had a lot of ideas to cover them up. Each one getting more elaborate and involved. But for the most pary, I like the look of simplicity. So this is what I did.

I used heat and bond and applied it to the back of my fabric. Then I drew four hearts in different sizes and shapes. I cut them out, applied and covered up those stains.
To add a little more subtle interest, I sewed along the edges. And of course that helps it stay on better. It's nice not to throw out a shirt just because it's stained. And now it feels like she has a new outfit.

Halloween in August ((by me))

My friends and I had a craft night, to make some Halloween banners. It wasn't fun trying to find cute Halloween paper in August. But they did turn out beautiful. You'll have to click on the picture to get a better look.

I decided to make a "beware"

And "creepy"
We used the baby boy mini cartridge to cut the panels out. And the Halloween cartridge for the rest. Both were designed by my friend Natalie. (She amazes me) The beautiful frame has skull images on the corners. So cute. It was kind of a pain to punch out all the little pieces. But worth it. And the font is perfect! We cut out rectangles of white paper to put behind the frames, and the letters on top of. On the bottom of the panel we punched a hole (the smaller side on my crop-a-dile) added an eyelet and put a beautiful crystal on the bottom. We cut one inch strips of black broad cloth to tie all the panels together with a pretty bow.
And for the last detail..silver glitter around the edge of the black frame. This was really simple. You just use a glue pen to draw your line around the frame. Add glitter, shake, and let dry.
I'm excited to put these up this Halloween.

Pez art

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this idea. I think it would be so fun for the toy room, with different collection of their favorite movies hmm.. Find it HERE.

What do you get...

When you take a bunch of fabric...
Random accessories, and 1,200 circles? (That's right. 1,200 circles, hand cut by me and my sis!!!)

A beautiful wedding!

My sister asked me to make her wedding bouquet. I was honored, scared, daunted and willing! It gradually turned into more. :) I was happy to help and even happier that she loved it all. What I ended up making was:

For the Bride:

Bouquet

Veil (which she ended up making)

Veil flower embellishment

Wedding Party:

5 bridesmaids bouquets

1 toss bouquet

5 poppy headbands (bridesmaids)

15 boutonnieres

4 mom/Grandma corsages

Additional family:

6 poppy headbands for nieces

2 stretchy headbands for baby nieces

It was a long process, but I was glad I could be such a big part of her wedding. Here are some shots.

Bride's bouquet:

Bridesmaids bouquets:
Veil with flower
Boutonniere
Bridesmaids headbands:
Nieces headbands:
Baby headbands (sorry for the bad pic')

(I didn't get a picture of the Mom corsages, but it pretty much looked like the baby headband, with out the band...)

And the beautiful couple!