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.