Craft Rookie

Shabby Apple Dress Review (and a discount!)

2012-01-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

Aaaand we're back.

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. We spent (a long overdue) 4 weeks in Utah visiting family over the holidays and we're just now getting back into the groove of things.

Before I left, Shabby Apple (remember their giveaway last month?) offered to send me a dress to review for you all. The one I chose was called "Ballerina." I chose this one mostly because the reviews said it was a good one for nursing, and since I happen to fall into that category at the moment, I decided to give it a try.

My thoughts? Well, here goes...

Things I like:

-The dress is made of a jersey fabric, which is quite forgiving as far as hiding extra flubber (of which I have plenty.)

-The dress has a built-in lining in the skirt, so you don't have to wear a slip with it--added bonus in the nursing department, but convenient even if you aren't.

-The color is a dark purple (not light, like pictured on the model on the site.) I look better in dark shades...pastels aren't my thing.

-There is plenty of bust-room (maybe even a little more than I'd like) which is hard to find.

-It falls a little below the knee, which, being LDS, makes a big difference to me. (Isn't it amazing how many cute dresses out there are just *this much* too short?!? SO frustrating.)

-The dress travels well. It doesn't get too wrinkly, and it washes up nicely (which is a plus when you get spit up on regularly.)

Things I don't care for:

-The ruching below the bust. In the description it says, "This dress flatters most body types and is particularly nice for new mothers as it hides a tummy!" Well, maybe that's true for some, and I suppose it doesn't make my doughy stomach look WORSE than it is, but I don't think it really does me any huge favors. Actually, I am quite narrow-hipped in proportion to the rest of my body, and I feel like the ruching sort of adds extra hippiness to my look. (Not in a good way.)

-The sleeves. There is a pro and a con to them: The pro is that they aren't "capped," so you have pretty good coverage of your shoulder, armpit, and upper arm. The con is that I feel like they are a little floofy, which makes me feel like I look more broad-shouldered than I should/am.

So would I recommend the dress? Yes. To most people. For someone who has my exact same body type, though...I don't know that this particular dress is the most flattering thing I've ever owned. BUT it is functional with the whole nursing thing, and it IS hard to come by dresses that are long enough, so bonuses there.

Am I glad I have it? Yes.
Will I wear it? Of course.

I would definitely buy Shabby Apple items in the future. After wearing this dress, I feel like I can vouch for the construction, the quality of the fabric, and the fact that it runs true to the size and length it is described at.

There are a TON of other adorable items on their site I'd love to give a try, too.

Like this:

And this:

I was looking on the Shabby Apple website this afternoon, and right now they are running a promotion: 20% off sitewide (excluding their side-saddle line). So many great women's dresses and skirts!! Just use the code NEWYEAR at checkout.

Full Disclosure: I was compensated for this post but opinions are all my own.

Ruffle Skirt Tutorial

2011-12-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

I looked all around town for a plain-colored skirt (either red, white, black, or denim) that would work with these striped Christmas tights I bought for Chloe. (I also bought her a pair of red striped tights). I couldn't find what I was looking for (at least not at a price I was willing to pay)--seriously, $30.00 for a clothing item my baby will fit for approximately a month?
No thank you.

So the alternative was to make her a skirt. I looked at the fabric remnants at Hobby Lobby and found this great piece of red fabric for $2.00. I was trying to decide if I should just do a traditional skirt with a hem and some elastic at the top, or if I wanted to attempt the ruffles I'd been picturing in my head. I decided to go for the ruffles, and I'm so glad I did. From start to finish this skirt took me about 4 hours. Not too bad.

Wanna make one for the cute little girl in your life (or for you?) Read on, my friend.

1. Iron your fabric. I only needed 3/4 yard for this project, but Chloe is only 2 months old, so she's still pretty little. If you are making this for an adult or for an older child you will need to adjust the fabric accordingly.

2. Cut five strips of fabric. 40 inches long, 3 inches wide.

Now watch this video so the rest of the instructions will make more sense:

3. Hem the fabric strip on one end. (As shown in the tutorial video.)

4. Create the ruffle edge on each strip of fabric. (As shown in the tutorial video.)

5. Pin each strip onto a flat piece of fabric.

6. Sew each strip on, doing your best to keep them evenly spaced (you can measure if it makes you feel better, but once again, I sort of just eyeballed.) I did a straight stitch and then a zig-zag. It should look something like this when they are all sewed on:

7. Fold over an edge of the fabric so it covers the raw edge of the top ruffle. (As shown in the tutorial video.)

8. Create a casing for the elastic waistband and thread the elastic through (we used a wire hanger--thanks husband, for the idea). I didn't video this part or take photos, so if you don't know how to create a little casing, you might have to google it. Sorry.

9. Turn your skirt inside-out, line up the ruffles, and one-by-one stitch them together. Do your best to line the ruffles up so that they look continuous. It should look something like this from the inside when you are done:

and like this on the outside.

Then put it on your cute little model:

Hope this makes sense. Email me with questions. :)

Giveaway WInner!

2011-12-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the Shabby Apple giveaway! I wish I could have everyone win. Maybe Shabby Apple will sponsor another giveaway in the future sometime.

I used Random.org to generate a number for the winner of the giveaway. The comment number that won was:

Comment #39!

Who is:

Congratulations, TiffanyM. I'll be contacting you for your information. Happy Holidays, everyone! Keep reading. :) There will be a tutorial coming soon for the ruffle skirt in the previous post.

Ruffle Skirt

2011-12-11T01:02:00.001-08:00

I just pumped out this ruffle skirt tonight in about 4 hours. I'm not gonna lie--it turned out awesome. Even better than I had imagined it. Baby Girl is going to look so sweet in it for the holidays! :) I took some videos and photos while I was making it, so check back for a tutorial.

Also, the Shabby Apple giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow. :)

How cute is this?

2011-12-09T04:44:00.000-08:00

**Shabby Apple skirt GIVEAWAY happening NOW (ends tomorrow!!!) at Craft Rookie. Click HERE to see how to enter.**

These look fairly simple. :) Perfect if you have young kids and are scared of what havoc they could wreak on your beautiful, expensive glass bulbs. Also, these would look super-cute hanging in a window (maybe a bad idea with condensation?), or from the ceiling. They would also be cute as a embellishment on a gift.I think this is originally from MarthaStewart.com, but here is a little tutorial HERE.

For some more crafty holiday inspiration, check out these other Craft Rookie posts:
"17 Days Until Christmas"

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

17 Days Until Christmas

2011-12-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

**Shabby Apple skirt GIVEAWAY happening NOW here at Craft Rookie. Click HERE to see how to enter.**

Delicious peppermint bark!Bake brownies right into cookie cutters, decorate, and then give away as neighbor gifts with the cookie cutters as part of the gift. :) Great idea! Cute Santa Hat cake pops.

Beautifully wrapped and simple gifts.Staircase with a bit of a crafty twist.

Flat gingerbread houses--so much easier than the 3-D ones. And more edible. ;)Green waffles=cute Christmas tree. (Bacon for trunk, peaches or cantelope for star, berries for ornaments.

Beautiful garland idea.

These would make cool neighbor gifts with some hot chocolate mix.

Red and silver pinecones.

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Don't forget!!!

2011-12-07T19:34:00.001-08:00

Only 2 more days to enter the Shabby Apple Giveaway! Click HERE to enter.

Working On My Photography Skills

2011-12-02T07:18:00.001-08:00

**Shabby Apple skirt GIVEAWAY happening NOW here at Craft Rookie. Click HERE to see how to enter.**

I tried my hand at a few Christmas photos of my sweet new baby girl.

She's got quite the little personality. I think they turned out pretty cute. :)

Can't Get Enough...

2011-11-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

**Shabby Apple skirt GIVEAWAY happening NOW here at Craft Rookie. Click HERE to see how to enter.**

I can seriously stay on Pinterest for hours. There are SO many great ideas out there! Too bad Christmas only comes once a year, huh? I couldn't possibly make all these things happen. It's fun to get inspired, though.

Christmas decor ideas:

I love these. Mmm...

I wish I was amazing at decorating cookies and cupcakes. I'm just lucky if the frosting turns out okay.

Since we just had a little baby girl, I think I'll be giving a couple of these a try:

I don't think this would mail very well...but otherwise, it's adorable. Maybe for neighbor gifts?

Oh to be able to sew that well...(slash to have the time or energy to sew these things):

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

SHABBY APPLE GIVEAWAY STARTS NOW!!!!

2011-11-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

Get excited, because Shabby Apple is letting me do a give-away for one of their oh-so-cute skirts!

If you've never been to Shabby Apple's website, you are missing out. They make beautiful women's dresses and skirts of all varieties. There are classic styles, vintage-inspired dresses, swimsuits, and they even carry a line of maternity dresses. They also sell accessories, and even kids clothing!

So after much deliberation, I've decided that the skirt we are going to give away here on Craft Rookie is The Francine Skirt:

Here's what the website has to say about this little gem:
We know. You need a wardrobe staple as fashionable as it is functional, sticking it out rain or shine, season to season, year after year. Make it timeless, make it versatile, but please don't make it boring. Enter Francine, the antidote to your deepest wardrobe doubts. Cut in canvas twill the perfect thickness for all-season wear, this high waisted black pencil skirt needed only a smart bow topping to fulfill the measure of its waist-defining, hip-slimming, eye-catching creation.

If you want to see this dress (and others!) up-close and personal, straight from the Shabby Apple site, you can go to the page by clicking HERE.

So are you excited for this?
ENTERING TO WIN:

1) Leave a comment with your name and email or blog address so I can contact you if you win.

2) Become a follower of Craft Rookie and tell me you've done so in a SEPARATE comment. (If you already are a follower, just let me know in a comment as well.)

3) "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook by going HERE and tell me that you have done so in a SEPARATE comment. ****THIS IS A REQUIREMENT. If you don't do this, you are ineligible to win, so make sure you don't forget this part!!!****

So that's how you enter! There should be three comments from each person that enters if you've gone about it correctly. (Which is a bonus for you because it means that you have 3 chances of having your comment picked!)

The giveaway will close in the evening on Saturday, December 10th. I'll contact you via email if you win and get your information on what size you need, your contact info, etc.

Red and Green! (and a little pink...)

2011-11-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

My most recent Pinterest finds:

Those curly things in the last picture are pipe cleaners! How cute, right?!?

NOTE: Visit these posts for more great Christmas inspiration
"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men

2011-11-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

I attempted the reindeer cookies I talked about in THIS post.

I didn't think about doing them until I was already home from the grocery store, so I used what I had on hand (meaning the pretzels aren't chocolate covered and the candies are a little different than the ones they use in the original recipe.) I think they still turned out pretty cute. I also used gingerbread dough instead of peanut butter like the original poster used.

This is the recipe I used:

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground Ginger
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

I found the recipe HERE.

I also made "Ninjabread Men." My husband bought me cookie cutters for my birthday last month. They turned out pretty cool, right? :)

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving weekend and that you enjoy this coming Christmas season.

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:
"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Shabby Apple Loves Us

2011-11-22T14:28:00.001-08:00

Get prepared...there's another SHABBY APPLE giveaway in the near future here at Craft Rookie. :) Details coming soon! Keep checking back.

It's That Time of Year!

2011-11-21T15:03:00.001-08:00

Loving these tree and garland ideas from MarthaStewart.com.

Also, here are a few great ideas for entertaining and easy decorating around the house.

And how about these fun ideas for festive desserts?

NOTE: Visit these posts for more great Christmas inspiration:

"Red and Green (And a Little Pink)"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

One Month Photos

2011-11-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I have a good excuse--I'm too busy loving and snuggling my new baby girl! I hope you'll forgive me for my hiatus. In the meantime, here are some pictures of her cute face. She's 5 weeks old already--where does the time go?!

Thanks Sam and Monika of S.A.M Crowfoot Photography for these precious shots!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone this week! We sure have a lot to be thankful for over at our house.

Our New Favorite Person

2011-10-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Chloe Alexis was born on October 13th, 2011. She was 8lbs 3oz and 19.5 inches long. We like her a little bit...

Nursing Cover Tutorial

2011-10-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I made my nursing cover. (One week before my due date....I may have been pushing this project a little.) I got a nursing cover at my baby shower, but when I took it out of the package I realized it wasn't giving me the coverage on the sides that I wanted...so I decided my only alternative was to make one that custom-fit me. :)

It really was pretty easy. It just took a little bit of pondering as I went to figure out exactly how I wanted it.

I started by ironing my fabric:
Then I cut it down to the size I wanted it. I wanted a lot of coverage, so I ended up basically using an entire 3/4 of a yard. With the excess I'd cut off, I made sure I had a piece long enough to serve as the neck strap.

Originally I was going to do it all in one strap (ie not make it adjustable) but later I changed my mind. You see here though that I cut it into a straight line and pinned the strap as though it were going to be one long strap. You can do it this way and then cut it down after, or you can just start by cutting the two straps to the length you want them. It's not a big deal either way. (You'll see what I mean later.)After getting the two pieces of fabric to the size I wanted them, I faced them toward each other (so front sides facing) and then pinned them together so I could stitch the edge. (This picture shows the back folded over onto the front.)
Once I had them pinned, I just took it to my machine and stitched all around the edge (leaving about 6 inches or so to pull the fabric through.)
Once you pull the fabric through, stitch up the hole. (I was originally going to trim the whole thing with bias tape, so I didn't worry much about the stitching of the hole, but in the long run I didn't end up doing the bias tape, so mine has the stitching showing...which isn't a big deal, but you may want to do it differently so it doesn't show.)
So when it's all stitched up, it will look something like this on the edge (except for the hole part, which will look like the picture above):
It will basically look like a blanket at this point. Notice my lack of concern about the white edging...I was going to bias tape it, so I didn't think it would matter, then I decided it looked good enough I didn't want to waste my time stitching around it all again. The moral of the story is to always make your project look as nice as you can as you go so you can change your plans without worrying about things that "should've" been covered up. (Oh well...)
Now stitch your strap up the side so it's nice and strong, and then inside out it and iron it. (Or if you are doing two strap parts like I ended up doing, you can cut the strap down to the sizes you want at this point to make inside-outing it easier.)Now for the neckline. I had a little bit of a struggle at the fabric store deciding how I wanted to go about this part. JoAnn's only had 1/4 inch boning available, and I was worried it was so skinny it would roll or not be able to carry the weight of the rest of the cover well. They also had what they call 1" "belting" (I assume for the waist of dresses, etc.) but it wasn't as sturdy as the boning (since the boning has wire). So I ended up buying both (you need approximately 12-13 inches) and then I hot-glued the thinner boning onto the inside of the thicker belting, so I had the pliability of the boning combined with the thickness of the belting (so it wouldn't roll so easy). Sorry if that makes no sense. You can kind of see what I mean in the pictures.

Belting and boning:
Boning glued on inside of belting:
It worked for me. Most of the tutorials I've read online about nursing covers say to just use the 1/4 inch boning, so obviously that works for people. So if you don't want to go to all the trouble of hot gluing, etc, then just do the boning.

Next, pin the boning/belt combo onto the top of your cover. You will just basically set the boning on, fold the cover over it, and then pin as close to the boning as you can. Measure where the center of the cover is, as well as the center of the boning so that it's right in the middle.
Now comes the tedious stuff. If you are doing one strap that just goes around your neck, you just need to take the strap and pin it on the edges of where the boning is. You could also make two equal-sized straps and sew them on so you can just tie the cover around your neck. If, however, you want your neckline adjustable without having to constantly tie and untie, here's what you do:

You need two D-rings. I sacrificed one of my husband's belts he never wears so I could use the rings. You can buy them at the craft/fabric store too if you want (I just didn't do that because I wasn't planning on doing it this way when I was at the craft store.)
Now cut approximately 5" of strap, and loop it through the D-Rings. Then pin the strap as close to the rings as you can, and stitch them on. Then pin the strap onto the (not-yet-sewn) neckline. I tucked the strap down into the fold, and then folded it back upward and pinned it again. I know that's confusing...but does it kind of make sense? If not, just do whatever makes the most sense to you.Once both the D-ring side is pinned on as well as the strap for the other side (that will hook into the D-rings), you can stitch away along the neckline there. Stitch the neckline so you get your straps hooked in, then take the pins out, flip the straps upward, and stitch an "X" shape on each strap as well to 1) keep the boning from sliding up and down on your neckline, and 2) to add support for your straps and get them holding up the right direction. (Email me with questions.)
Once you've stitched everything, your D-ring side should look like this (sorry for the blurry pic):
Your strap side should look just like your D-ring side, only without the D-ring (and obviously that strap will be much longer, since it's the main "strap" part. I think mine's about 20" long? This really depends on how tall you are, and how much adjustability you want built into your strap. Just try it and adjust as you go.
Okay, you are officially DONE (unless you want to edge it in bias tape). It should look something like this when you are done:
The boning/belt neckline combo should make it poke out kind of like this, so you can peek down at your baby while they are nursing:
Not too hard, right? It just takes some time. If you want to speed up the process, you really don't have to line it with two fabrics, you can just hem around one piece of fabric. Just make sure it's dark enough and thick enough that you're not worried people will be able to see through it...because that would be awkward. For everyone involved. :)

I understand that my explanations are wordy, but you just kind of have to trust your instincts on the parts that seem confusing. (Or if you aren't an "instinct" person, email me.) There's no easy way to explain it.

Good luck!

Carseat Cover

2011-09-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

I made this carseat cover for Baby Girl's new carseat. I didn't use a tutorial to make it, but I've read a lot of different ones in the past. Make It and Love It is where I'm pretty sure I saw it for the first time.

You can use Make It and Love It's tutorial, or if you prefer my instructions, since I did mine a little differently, here goes. (Or use a combination of the two since we have totally different styles of explaining things, so you might get something out of hers you can't get from mine, or vice-versa):

1. Buy 1 1/4 yards of each of the two fabrics you want to use. That was the amount that worked for my Chicco Keyfit 30. If you have a different style of carseat, you may just want to take a measuring tape and get a feel for how much fabric you think you'll need. I really don't think you'd need much more than that though, with any carseat.2. You will also need either sew-on velcro for the handles (that's what I did) or else you can buy thick grosgrain ribbon (like on the Make It and Love It tutorial.)

3. Cut your fabric pieces to the length you want it exactly. I trimmed off an edge of both fabrics so I'd have some leftover for the handles. (I'm talking like maybe three or so inches down one side of each of them.) Your fabric should basically be cut into a square (all stitched up mine measured approximately 40x40 inches), or if you want you can make it a tad more oblong (since carseats are kind of oblong.)

4. Lay the fabric pieces back-to-back and pin them. I used flannel since my baby is going to be here in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin for her early months of life. If it's summertime or you live somewhere warm you can do a lighter fabric. Make It and Love It did fleece, but I thought it just looked too suffocating, so just make your own decision on what will work best for you.

5. After the fabric is all pinned up, just sew around the edges. I'm kind of zig-zag happy because I really want my projects to stay together nicely, so I did a zig-zag stitch first, then a straight stitch. Remember to leave enough of the edge unstitched that you can flip the fabric inside out.

6. Once you've flipped it inside out, sew in a straight line around the entire thing (this includes stitching up the hole you left to inside-out it.) I actually did two lines around the edge, just to give it a more finished look (and just in case something didn't hold on the first line, particularly since that's your only chance to stitch up the hole you left on one edge.)7. Once your cover is all stitched up, you are almost done. But now comes kind of the tedious part. You need to make the handles. It's pretty simple, it just takes some time. You just need to cut out strips of the fabric to the length and thickness you want them to be. Then put them back-to-back, pin them, and stitch them, just like you did the carseat cover.

8. Then sew the velcro on. (You'll sew one side of the velcro to the inside of the handle, and one side of the velcro to the outside of the handle. Don't worry...it'll make sense once you go to pin it on.) I went zig-zag crazy here because I wanted the velcro to be nice and tight. I tried to keep it looking as tidy as possible, while still zig-zagging the crap out of it. I think it looks fine (and that velcro isn't going anywhere!)9. Once your handles are all made (you need two) you need to figure out where you want your handles on your cover. This took some pinning and re-pinning for me. I wanted more of the cover hanging in the front of the carseat than over the back (where there is already a visor for protection), so I couldn't just pin the handles smack-dab in the middle. This isn't to say you couldn't...I just didn't want them there. So once I figured out where I wanted them, I pinned them onto the cover and then gave it a try on my carseat. It took a couple of tries to get them sitting just where I wanted them to hook on the handle, but eventually I felt good about where they were at and sewed them on. (As you'll notice in the picture, I sewed them opposite directions from each other...oops!)***Keep in mind here that you don't want the cover attached so tightly to the handle of your carseat that you can't get your hand around the handle. Let it sag just a little in between the cover handles so you have a spot for your hand.***10. Same thing as with sewing on the velcro: zig zag it onto the cover like crazy. Especially if you do flannel or fleece, the cover is quite bulky and heavy in comparison to your skinny little fabric handles (or ribbon if you choose to go that route) so make sure you stitch them on really well to your cover. At first I just did one thick line (back and forth, back and forth) to sew them on, but it was making the cover still hang with a lot of weight pulling on that one stitch, so I ended up stitching the handles onto the cover in multiple places to give it more support and keep the cover from ripping away from the handles. This is what it looks like from the inside of the cover (where no one will see, by the way, so don't worry about beauty--focus on securing it tightly and sewing it on in spots to help it not rip with the weight of the cover.)And there you have it. Hook it onto your carseat, and you have a cozy little cave all ready for your little one! When you head into a grocery store or wherever, 0r when you get the car nice and warm, just flip the cover up over the handle of the carseat so they don't get too hot and so they have lots of air!

PS: I've heard you are actually supposed to not drive with the handle up, so just make sure you are following the safety regulations suggested (this may mean taking the cover off when you drive or at least folding the handle down.)Like I said before, there are a million ways to go about this. This is just how I went about it, and it's not right or wrong. The way you make your cover will vary based on the weight of your fabric, how strong your velcro is, what kind of thread you are using, and whether or not you make handles like me or use grosgrain ribbon like on Make It and Love It. Just don't stress too much over it. Your baby won't care what it looks like, and the whole point is just to keep them warm, not to win a sewing award. :)

Good luck, and as always, you are free to email me with your questions.

Another PS: I've read that some people just buy a receiving blanket or a flannel or fleece blanket of some kind and sew some handles (or ribbon handles) onto it. This would work just fine, since essentially the cover is just a flannel blanket. If you aren't really comfortable with the whole process of stitching the blanket, then that really is a great alternative. :) Happy Sewing!

Baby Girl Tutu

2011-09-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

I made this little red tutu to take some newborn pictures when the baby comes. If you want to see how I made it, you can refer to my tutorial HERE.

PS: We're officially down to 14 days to go! :) (At least theoretically.)

Corkscrew Hair Bows

2011-09-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

My latest project (besides getting the baby's room ready!) has been making corkscrew hairbows to attach to headbands. I used THIS tutorial here to figure out how to get the ribbon to curl, then kind of did my own thing from there.

So here's what I did:

First you start by wrapping the ribbon you want to use around wooden dowels. (I found that silkier/thinner ribbon actually curled better than the thicker grosgrain ribbon.) I didn't have any dowels on hand, and I really didn't want to go to the craft store just for them, so I improvised and used the handles of my wooden spoons. I don't use wooden spoons in my every day life {ever} so I didn't feel bad donating them to the cause, but if you use your wooden spoons to cook with then you should probably not use them for this (because they will dry out and crack in the oven.)

So I wrapped the ribbon around the handle. If you wrap it really tightly at the top, you won't need to use anything to secure it at the top, but when you get to the bottom, use a straight pin to hold it tight on the bottom. (I've also seen people use clothespins or those {metal!} binder clips.)

Next you need to immerse it in water. Leave them in long enough for the wood to soak up some water, and obviously, enough time to get the ribbon soaked.
Next lay them onto a baking sheet {covered with tinfoil} and stick them in the oven. The tutorial I originally read said to do it at 200 degrees fahrenheit, but I felt like that was taking forever, so I upped my temperature to 250 and it seemed to work better. You need to leave them in the oven until the ribbon is completely dry. For me, this took about 35-45 minutes. You can just keep checking and see if the ribbon seems dry or if it's still damp.
Once they are done, take them out and just let them cool off a bit (it doesn't take that long). Then carefully unroll them from the spoons. I'm not sure why, but I failed to take a picture of this step. Basically, you'll have big long curly ribbons. Then you just cut them to the length you'd like depending on how floofy or hangy you want them to be (technical craft words there, I know...). I cut mine into strips about 3 inches or so long. You can kind of eyeball them and get the hang of what you are looking for.

Next, take your strips of curled ribbon and layer them onto a straightpin (with a ball at the bottom so they don't come off the other end). You can kind of arrange them onto the pin as you go so that they sort of alternate and fan out. (In other words, you don't want to stack them all the same direction...vary the direction you place them on the pin.) Once they are on the pin, the tricky part begins. You have to sew it all together (the original tutorial I looked at says to use floral wire, but I wasn't sure that would secure them good enough, and I didn't want it to come unwrapped and poke my baby!). So anyway, I took the layered bow (floofed and shaped how I liked it) and stuck it onto my sewing machine so that the foot of my machine was sitting right on the center of all the ribbons (self explanatory, right?) and then I just stitched forward and back, forward and back, forward and back until I felt like it was nice and secure. The stitching can be kind of difficult because it's hard to get all the ribbons onto your sewing machine without them shifting from how you've arranged them on the pin. Just be patient and go slowly and it should work out fine! (It just dawned on me that you could also just hand-stitch them together with a needle and thread. This might be a less frustrating approach, though it might be kind of hard to push the needle through all the layers of ribbon.)

Once they are all sewn together, you need to make the clip to stick to the bottom of them. If you are making them for an older child that you plan to clip it right into their hair, you could get the hairbow kind that actually clip into hair. If you are making them for children with less hair and you plan to attach them to a headband, then I would recommend alligator clips.

Heat up your hot glue gun, cut a strip of coordinating ribbon, and glue it onto the clip like so: After it's dried, trim any excess ribbon that might be going over the head of the clip.

Next, decide which sides of your curly bow you want to be the top and bottom. I just kind of inspected mine and tried to put the prettiest side upward (the pic above is of the bottom of the bow where I decided to glue my clip on. If you look closely you can see the stitching from the sewing machine). Take the clip, and add hot glue to the top of the ribbon you just attached, then place the clip onto the curly bow and push down.Then just let it dry for a second, flip it over, floof it, and you have yourself a corkscrew bow to attach to headbands (or straight to hair.)Hope that makes sense! You can email me with questions, or go to that other tutorial I linked up at the beginning and see if they explained it better. (It's really not that complicated!)

Also, before I sign off, here's a sneak peek at what's been going on in the nursery:

Christmas in August

2011-08-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

**Shabby Apple skirt GIVEAWAY happening NOW here at Craft Rookie. Click HERE to see how to enter.**I know Christmas is still a ways off (and that Halloween and Thanksgiving are still ahead of it,) but I wanted to post a few of the neat Christmas ideas I've seen floating around the web recently. Just so you get them tucked away in your holiday arsenal. :-) To see the links where these pictures came from, just click on whatever picture you are interested in and it should take you to the website it came from. :)
For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:
"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Happy Holiday Planning!

A slide indoors=Awesome.

2011-08-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

Home Decor ideas I'm digging on Pinterest right now:

Pillow Cuteness

2011-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Saw this over at the Moda Bake Shop today. Um...awesome???? Yes!!!

I love pillows with embellishments like this. So cute!

PS: I need some ideas for simple sewing projects for babies. That don't cost a lot. :) Thoughts?

Cloth Diaper+Flannel Burp Cloths

2011-06-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Now that we're all settled in Albuquerque, I've been working on burp cloths from this tutorial from So She Sews. They were kind of time-consuming at first, but as I got going, I got kind of a rhythm and they became easier. They were actually really fun, and come on, who doesn't love making things with cute baby fabric?

Now you wanna make some for all the babies in your life, don't you? ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

I know this blog is sorely neglected at the moment, but I thought maybe a few of you would be interested in our most recent photo shoot:

It's a Girl!