Craft Rookie

Hot Air Balloon Pillow

2013-02-18T20:13:00.005-08:00

I made this today to go in the new nursery I'm working on. The hot air balloon is felt, the "ropes" are yarn, and the base of the pillow is just a basic cotton fabric. Easy peasy!

(Except don't do what I did and hot glue the balloon together because your machine needle will have a really hard time going through the hot glue. At least if you have my machine--what a headache!!)

Hot Air Balloon Beginnings

2013-02-13T19:54:00.002-08:00

A couple of things I have been working on.

Not sure if I've mentioned it or not on this blog, but I'm doing a hot air balloon themed room for my daughter and this new little baby boy. Here are a couple of the things I've completed for it:

Hot air balloons made out of felt for the mobile. This was my inspiration.

I've also completed these little scrapbook hot air balloon wall hangings. I ended up making the ropes thicker, so it looks a little different than in this photo, but you get the idea. :)

I've got a bunch of other little things in the "works," but for now, this is what's done. More posts to follow. :)

Easy Peasy Letter Decor

2013-02-13T08:12:00.002-08:00

I wanted to do some sort of letters hanging over the beds in the kid's room I'm working on. I was originally going to buy wooden ones and mod podge them with scrapbooking paper, as I have done several times in different variations. See HERE and HERE.

I just couldn't find the wood ones at a pricepoint I was willing to pay (or else they didn't have all the letters I needed in one style), so I ended up settling on the 3-D cardboard ones. (They are from JoAnn's Fabric.)

My intention at that point was still to mod podge scrapbook paper on them, but then I got thinking...mod podge and cardboard leave very little room for error. The mod podge would soak straight up into the cardboard, and we'd have a big mess on our hands.

Enter: Yarn. I bought variegated yarn from Michaels. (Baby boy's is similar, but has dark blue instead of pink). It was easy, just time consuming. Start at the top (back) of your letter, and put a dab of hot glue. Set your yarn on the hot glue and let it get nice and dry, and then just start wrapping the yarn around and around. The curves are tricky, because the yarn wants to slide down and not cover everywhere, but you just have to be patient and kind of go back and forth (as you can see on all the corners of the "O.") The "O" was the trickiest, because I had to thread the yarn through the center of the hole each time. The "E" was the easiest, because the yarn wrapped long-wise, so it took much less time.

If you are finding that the yarn is slipping (I noticed this mostly on the "E" because it has so many square edges and the yarn would sort of pop off on the corners), just add a dab of hot glue where needed and make sure it's not too goopy. Do your best to add the majority of the glue to the back of it, instead of the front.

Here is my daughter's name all done:

I'm about halfway done with baby boy's name, but I don't want to post it on here because his name is not general public knowledge just yet. :) Maybe I'll update with one of the letters when I'm done so you can at least see the yarn I chose for him.

Happy Crafting!!

Carseat Cover--Baby Boy

2013-02-05T08:04:00.002-08:00

I made my carseat cover last week. It's robots on one side, and little screws on the other side. I followed the exact same pattern as I did when I made my daughter's cover, so if you want a tutorial, click HERE. The only difference this time around was that I didn't use as heavy of material. When I had my daughter, we were living in Wisconsin and she was born in October. This time we live in New Mexico and he's going to arrive in April. SO, heavy flannel wasn't necessary. This material is a little more lightweight--not just lightweight cotton, but not flannel. It's something in between. Not sure what to call it.

Flannel Receiving Blankets--For Beginners

2013-01-28T20:12:00.002-08:00

Okay, these are so easy they barely require any instructions. I didn't take step-by-step pictures, because seriously, they aren't necessary.

These are done with one yard of flannel fabric on each side (so two yards per blanket). I got my fabric at JoAnn's when it was half off (which it is quite often, so don't go pay full price!). That made each blanket back/front together around $7.00.

1. Wash and iron your fabric.

2. Pin them back-to-back, cut off any excess around the edges that doesn't match up.

3. Stitch all the way around, except for a tiny edge (maybe 6 inches?) so you can flip the blanket inside-out.

4. Flip the blanket inside-out, then press the edges flat.

5. Topstitch around the whole thing, making sure to stitch the hole you left undone.

6. Do a second row of topstitching if you want--you don't even have to do this if you don't want to, I just like how the double-line looks.

7. That's it! Each of these took me probably a half hour to sew. That doesn't include cutting/ironing time, which was probably a total of about another 15-30 minutes per blanket. So each one takes an hour, tops. Probably less.

Batman/Superman

Barnyard/Apples

Sharks/Fish

Now give them for baby gifts, or keep them to wrap your own sweet baby in!

Easy Flannel Burp Cloths (Very Minimal Sewing!)

2013-01-23T15:12:00.002-08:00

I know I have been sorely neglecting this blog, but it's mostly because I haven't been doing anything too crafty lately. I've recently started to get back into doing little projects because we're expecting a baby boy in April, so I had to get my behind into gear and make a few baby items! Today I made burp cloths. I went about it very simply:

1. Buy flannel. I did 1/2 yard of each fabric (so 1/2 yard for your main fabric, plus 1/2 a yard in a coordinating one for the back.) This will make you 3-4 burp cloths. It sort of depended on how the people at the store cut the pieces. If they cut them evenly, you really should be able to get four out of each 1/2 yard+1/2 yard (if that makes sense!)

2. Cut the flannel out in the shape you want the burp cloth. I did sort of an hourglass pattern because I like to have an indent for the cloth to sit on my shoulder. You could also just do squares if that's easier.

3. Iron out any deep creases or folds in the fabric, then put them back-to-back, pin them, and stitch in a zig zag around the burp cloth. I went around twice so they'd be nice and strong.

4. Take a pair of pinking shears and cut around the edges. I have no doubt these will still fray pretty bad around the edges once they are washed, but I'm okay with that, since it saved me tons of time to not have to worry about stitching them front-to-front, then inside-outing them and top stitching. I'm not really going for gorgeous here--just functional.

Voila! You have tons of burp cloths. A total of 4 yards of fabric gave me 13 burp cloths when all was said and done, so not too shabby if you ask me--just make sure you buy your flannel when it's half off!!

If you want a more "finished" look, you can also try this tutorial from when I made burp cloths for my daughter. It requires buying cloth diapers for backing, which can cost a bit more, but they are definitely nice and absorbent and washed up really well over and over again. I plan to use them for this baby too--mostly at home though, since they are more girly and are a little worn out at this point.

Looks Whoo's One!

2012-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Girl Pre-Party. All decked out in her owl clothes.

The Pinata.

She loved it. Every time she hit it with the stick, she giggled and giggled. One of the highlights of the party for me. :) I tried to take a video, but the kids in the background were too loud.

Singing Happy Birthday to her. She loves when everyone sings at her. She was a little distracted by trying to eat one of the leaves off of the pumpkins, though. (More pictures of the awesome cake my sister made at the bottom of this post.)

The invitations--before I wrote the info on them.

The fireplace--with the pinata and the treat bags we gave away at the end.

Favor bag. Each kid got one of these. They were filled with candy, toys, and owl tattoos.
Rice krispie treat pumpkins for each guest.

Dying our muddy buddies.

The Cake.
It was applesauce cake with homemade applesauce that my mom sent. One layer had raisins and one didn't. The design was a collaborative effort between my sister and I, but she did the decorating and I did the baking/frosting making. The owl, pumpkins, apples, leaves, etc were all handmade with fondant and gum paste and rice krispie treats.

Look how cute the tree is with those mini-apples. :) We bought this tree at JoAnn's (it was wooden) and covered it in modeling chocolate.

Up close of pumpkin.

Homemade owl sugar cookies. This was a day's work all on its own.

The Table.
We served croissants/hoagies, turkey and ham, cheese options, veggies, mayo/mustard, etc. There was also a veggie tray, chips and dip, homemade pasta salad, and desserts. The tablecloths were burlap.

Drink Table.
Cranberry/7Up punch with orange slices, and mason jars for the glasses.

The photo display.
This was one of my favorite things we did, and I wish the pictures did it justice, but it was really hard to get a photo of them all hanging, because there is so much going on in the background with the kitchen behind. It looks much better in person. I printed the photos I've been taking of her each month over the past year.

And there you have it--the party. It really turned out well...but I don't think she'll be having another "big" party for a few years. Maybe when she turns five. :)

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!!!

Baby's Room

2012-07-31T16:05:00.001-07:00

Chloe's room is slowly coming together.

I finally made the plunge and ordered some vinyl stickers for her wall over her crib. I hadn't quite known what to do with it until now (even in our old apartment), because I was worried if I put picture frames or wooden letters above her bed that they could fall on her, and I was worried if I put the tissue balls over her crib that they would fall on her (and she would tear them up and eat them).

I think the vinyl ended up being a good choice. We'll see how well they stay stuck.

Tissue balls over her changing table.

I had to make new ones when we moved here, because when the movers packed the old ones from her bedroom in Madison, they literally just smashed them into a box. So frustrating. Oh well, though, this made it so I could update: I added in a green one this time so I could incorporate more colors into her room besides just pink and purple.

I bought these little butterflies on separate occasions from Goodwill and the DI. I just painted them with craft paint. I think they turned out cute.

They are hanging on the wall right as you walk in her bedroom above the lightswitch.

There are still some things I'd like to do in her room. For instance, I really want to find a sturdy old rocking chair (or just a comfy chair) that I can put in the corner by the window. It will be great for that occasional nighttime feeding I still have to do as well as bedtime stories.

I also need to find a nice little nightstand or bookshelf that I can put her lamp on and a few of her little stuffed animals and stuff. I have a little row of hooks I bought that I need to find a spot for, too...just not quite sure where to put it yet.

At least it's progress, though. :)

In Love...

2012-07-27T18:44:00.002-07:00

...with this clock.

Buy it on etsy.com by clicking HERE.

Frisby Photography

2012-07-27T05:23:00.003-07:00

I've decided to take the plunge and try my hand at photography--for people other than my family! :-S I've always enjoyed taking photos, and I'm hoping that maybe this can become a more regular hobby for me.

Check out my photography blog by going HERE and tell me what you think! Maybe I'll even do a photoshoot giveaway (probably for Northern Utah). Would that be of interest to anyone?

Great Web Finds

2012-07-24T14:54:00.001-07:00

Love these. Great colors and texture.

Adorable pinwheels!

Cook your breaded chicken on a cooling rack to help it get crispy (instead of soggy) on the bottom.

Beautiful succulents!

Great lighting idea!

Outdoor pillows out of vinyl tablecloths.

Tree stumps for tables (I would do this on a patio, though.)

Love those stools.

Hanging planters with vines for privacy on your patio.

Hanging flat-sided cups onto the inside of your bathroom cupboards for storage. This would work in a kitchen for serving spoons, too.

Get rid of mis-matched shampoo and conditioner bottles, and fill up uniform plastic containers instead.

Store extra toilet paper in a cylindrical vase for a clean but functional look.

I love the idea of hanging a roll of paper towels in your bathroom cupboard for cleaning.

Pennant Banner

2012-07-19T15:54:00.002-07:00

I've been wanting to make one of these for a really long time, but I haven't been able to get up the gumption to sew a million little triangle pennants. The other night (at about 3am) I was laying awake and couldn't go back to sleep because this idea was churning in my head. It's probably not the first time someone has made these this way, but for some reason this is the first time I had thought of it. I kept going through the motions in my head for about an hour--I couldn't fall asleep. In fact, I seriously considered getting up, and going into my craft room to work on this. The only thing that stopped me was the thought that it could possibly wake up my sleeping baby...which didn't sound pleasant. Eventually I drifted back off, but this afternoon while Chloe was napping, I got everything out and whipped these up:

For one of my baby shower gifts, a friend gave me a whole bunch of squares of fabric all cut out with pinking shears. I have had them sitting in my fabric box for almost a year now trying to decide what to do with them. If I was ambitious enough, I'd make an adorable quilt, but saying as how my sewing skills are fairly limited, I figured this was a good way to put the adorable vintage fabric to use.

So here's what I did:

1) You will need a glue gun, strong string (yarn would work too), scissors, and your fabric squares.

2) Arrange your squares in the order that you like them.

3) Double-layer your string if it's thin like mine. Tie a loop at one end (this is easy if you double-layer it, because you can just tie the loop where the string doubles back on itself). You wouldn't have to do the loop at all, but I wanted an easy way to hang my banner when I was done. I also decided to do my banner in groups of six or seven so I could have the option of decorating with them in multiple locations if I wanted to. You'll see what I mean further down. You could do them all in one long banner if you wanted to, though.

4) Place your string on the fabric (lay the piece upside down so when you fold it over, the right side is showing.)

Take your glue gun and run a strip of glue right along the string. Quickly fold your fabric over and press right on the glued area so it sticks nice and tight. Make sure there aren't any weird ripples. You have to be kind of quick, because hot glue dries seriously fast.

5) Take your glue gun and put a dab at the bottom point of each square to help hold it down.

6) Keep going along, gluing and folding as you go. Only do one square at a time--like I said, the hot glue dries FAST.

7) Once you've glued them all down, cut the string, leaving a little bit at the opposite end for another loop. Tie your loop so you have one on each end of the banner. Easy-peasy Mac 'n Cheesy. You are done. Now hang it somewhere cute. :)

As I mentioned up above, I decided to do multiple banners so I could hang them in more than one place if I chose, or combine them if I chose. Here you can see two of them over the mantle.

Here they are all together. I did the same pattern for each one (green, pink, yellow, etc) so that if I choose to do them side by side, they will coordinate.

The best part about this banner? It's reusable, and a cinch to store! Look how nicely they fold into stacks. These would fit in a decoration box or drawer somewhere so nicely.

Simple as that.

You could do these in all sorts of colors for different occasions. This one is going to be used for my daughter's 1st birthday party in a few months, but will look great for many other occasions after that too. You could do more masculine fabrics for guys, or primary colors for a more unisex banner that would work for any birthday or holiday. Also, think themes like Fourth of July, Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day....!!! The possibilities are endless with this kind of thing.

No sewing required? Yes please.

How to Throw a Rainbow Party

2012-06-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

Wanna learn how to make this? Read on!

My friend Michelle's little girl just turned six. She asked if I could help her out with her rainbow party, and I was more than happy to. It was really fun doing all the cute, bright decorations.

Wes spent a long time hanging all those streamers.

Michelle and I made that rainbow pinata.

Balloon wall.
We used it later for a dart game, but first it was a cute decoration. (it was really hard to get them perfectly straight, and quite honestly, by the time we were putting them up at 10:30 the night before the party, we didn't really care.) If you want them more perfectly aligned you could measure where each one is going to go before you put it up.

Tissue pom poms.
(If anyone is wishing for a tutorial on these, I could do one. Leave a comment.)

Very bright and festive!

Food.

The whole table:

Fruit kabobs.

Veggie tray, popcorn balls, candy.

Jello cups.

Ham & Cheese and PB&J's.

Rainbow slush (before it had gone slushy.)
This is just popsicles taken out of their plastic and broken up. Sugar overload? Totally, but the kids loved it.

Playing games. (Pin the cloud on the rainbow in the background, there.)

Pinata.

It was kind of hard to see it bashed to pieces after all the work we put into it. The kids loved it, though.

The cake.

The kids were surprised to see how colorful it was inside. This cake turned out totally awesome, if I do say so myself.

Look at how happy that birthday girl is!
(She has a piece of cake as big as her head, how could she not be?)

Here is the recipe:

-2 Duncan Hines cake mixes

-6 eggs

-2 cups of sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.

Divide the cake batter into six equal bowls (large cereal bowls work great.)

Dye each bowl with a different gel food coloring. Add the color a little at a time until you get it to the shade you want it to be. (It will pretty much cook up the same color you dye the batter so don't worry about it darkening in the oven or anything.)

Bake (you can cook them two rounds at a time) for approximately 15 minutes, sticking a toothpick in at the end to make sure its done. If not, just give it a couple of minutes more here or there as needed.

When they come out of the oven, cool on cooling racks, then assemble your cake, icing each layer as you go. To help the cake have a little more structure, you can stick drinking straws down into the center and in other areas you feel need support.

Pictures in front of the rainbow wall.

We also took some group ones, but I didn't dare post pictures of other people's kids without permission, so here is just the birthday girl.

There you have it, a Rainbow Extravaganza!

It was a total success, and one kid even said, "This is the funnest birthday party I have ever been to!" (Admittedly, he was the same kid who a few minutes before had said this was only the second birthday party he'd ever been to...but we'll take it.)

Gymboree Sale Today!

2012-06-12T09:57:00.001-07:00

Today Gymboree is having a sale where everything is $13.99 and under. Granted, $13.99 is still a lot of money for a kid outfit (I usually try to keep my baby clothing purchases under $5.00), but given that this is current season stuff, and that even when Gymboree clearances stuff out, their dresses and two piece outfits rarely goes this low, you may want to check out some of their stuff.

I would not recommend buying shoes or other accessories right now because most of them are at the $13.99 price, which is not a good deal.

Awesomeness Overload

2012-06-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

Some of my recent favorites from Better After.

Chairs.
I've been eyeing chairs like these ones everywhere I go. I really want a cute, unique pair of chairs to go in my new living room. If you ask the husband, though, it's coming after the flat screen TV. Makes sense, I suppose, since so far every major purchase we've made has been because I pushed for it. House, anyone? Appliances? I think it's time for his TV.

Perhaps we'll splurge and get a 26-incher. Kidding, kidding. :)

Love these bench ones too. How cute for an entryway somewhere or an empty wall.

Loving these lamps. I'm pretty sure they just painted the glass on those pretty turquoise ones, and it's really easy to recover a lampshade in fabric like those yellow ones. See HERE.

Actually, loving this whole bedroom.

Awesome end table re-do. I actually have one shaped just like this just begging for an update.

These remind me of THIS makeover I did a couple years back. These bright chairs really dress up an office or craft room.

Dressers? How easy would this be to paint? It looks really custom--but it would just take some creative use of painter's tape and a trip to the craft store for some cute knobs.

This one looks stenciled. So cute!

Love this neat "Ombre" dresser. How do you properly use the word "Ombre" in a sentence?

Other random favorites:

Hutch top to kid kitchen:

Beautiful chair/step-stool recover:

Also, loving these chair makeovers. Perfect for under a desk, a set for a dining room, or even just a stray chair in a corner somewhere. With a little endtable, maybe? :)

For these and more great before and afters, head on over to Better After. You can narrow down your search to look for specific types of makeovers (bathroom, kitchen, nursery, etc) by looking in the "Categories" list in her right sidebar.

Til next time!

Happenings

2012-05-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been really MIA, haven't I?

Perhaps it's due to the fact that I spent most of April packing and organizing and then visiting family, and most of May getting ready to move. There hasn't been a lot of crafting going on around these parts, and now, once again, we are in a hotel for a few weeks, so I don't anticipate much crafting in my near future.

Soon enough, though, we will be moving into our new house, and then the crafting can commence once again!

I did manage to squeak out a few bibs and a dress for the babe awhile back.

I also scored this set of primary color bowls for a friend. Go Goodwill!

Last, how awesome are these cute tire swings??

(Horse, Giraffe, Elephant)

Raspberry Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

2012-03-20T22:49:00.006-07:00

I have the instructions for both a half-batch and a full-batch. If you have a bread mixer, you can do the full batch without much trouble. If you have a KitchenAid mixer, the half batch may work better.

Rolls
(that raise in your fridge!)

*This recipe also works well for crescent rolls, cinnamon rolls, and orange rolls.*

-2 1/3 cups warm water--nice and full--a little warmer than room temperature (FULL BATCH 4 3/4)

-2 1/3 tsp salt (FULL BATCH 4 3/4 tsp)

-Scant 1/2 cup of sugar (FULL BATCH scant 1 cup)

-1/4 cup shortening, melted in microwave--you want it to cool down a bit but not re-solidify (FULL BATCH 1/2 cup)

-2 large eggs (FULL BATCH 4 eggs)

-2 scant TBSP yeast (FULL BATCH 4 scant TBSP)

-6-8 cups of flour (FULL BATCH 12-16)

1. Put warm water, salt, and sugar in bowl.

2. Take out half your amount of flour and mix the yeast into it. Mix the flour-yeast mixture into the warm water mixture.

3. Throw eggs in after you have mixed the yeast mixture so they don't kill the yeast.)

4. Start adding the flour. Slowly drizzle in the melted shortening alternatively with the flour (toward the end of the flour.)

5. Mix in mixer for 3 or 4 minutes, then look at it and decide if you want to add more flour or not. If it still looks goopy, add some more flour until it gets to the consistency you want. (Try to avoid adding too much flour at the end of the mixing.)

6. Put your dough in the fridge in a bowl big enough to allow it to double in size. Cover with saran wrap (spray the bottom of the plastic wrap with cooking spray so the dough doesn't stick to it when it rises.) It should take about 1/2 hour to an hour. When it has doubled, it is done.

***

7. Punch down your dough.

8. Melt about a half a square of butter to brush onto your dough.

8. Roll about half of the dough out onto a floured surface (put shortening and maybe flour on your hands to help keep it from sticking to your fingers). Roll it, flip it, roll it. Brush on butter--and if you are doing cinnamon rolls, cinnamon sugar (and raisins if desired--but you need to plump them first by soaking them in warm water for a bit before you add them to your rolls).

9. Next, either roll in a long roll and cut with dental floss (for cinnamon rolls), or roll your dough into a circle, and cut with a pizza cutter into pizza-like slices, and then roll the rolls up individually (from the thick edge into the pointy edge.)

10. Put your pans of rolls in a warm place and allow to raise until they are fluffy--they should look about like you expect them to look when they come out of the oven.

10. Bake at 375* for approximately 10-20 minutes depending on your oven.

11. If you are doing rolls, when they come out of the oven you should brush a little butter on top. If you are doing cinnamon rolls, glaze with icing.

A Little in Love...

2012-03-12T15:50:00.003-07:00

I have been admiring these online. Most of them come in kid AND adult sizes (ie I could get a pair for me and Chloe and we could MATCH!) I also noticed, there's a coupon code right now for them for an additional $5.00 off of a purchase. The code is SHARETOMS.

I am particularly in love with these Tiny Toms:
How sweet would Chloe look in those!?

I'm also digging THESE:

A Little Late-Night Inspiration.

2012-03-04T19:50:00.006-08:00

A few things I ran across on Etsy tonight that I am IN. LOVE. with.

Click on the pictures to go to the Etsy shop where I found each item.

Now I need to go feed my baby.

Things I Should've Thought Of...

2012-03-01T06:35:00.006-08:00

This list of ideas came in a forwarded email to me this morning (thanks, Mom!). I'm not sure what the original source is, but I just had to share some of my favorites...

Turn a muffin tin upside down (this one is all fancy shaped, but you could use a regular tin) and press cookie dough around them, bake them, and voila--cookie bowls to put ice cream in!
Put a tension rod under your sink in your bathroom or kitchen to hang your spray cleaners on.Keep apples from going brown in your kid's lunchbox by securing an elastic around it.Organize your craft supplies by using plastic cups and a muffin tin--secure the cups to the tin by putting a magnet on the bottom of each cup.Use baby powder to get sand off of your child's legs at the beach.
Use a straw to get the stems off of strawberries.
Store your flat and fitted sheet, and the second pillowcase inside of the other pillowcase to keep sets together. (I love those sheets, too--very pretty.)
Put an old nylon stocking over the end of a vacuum hose to pick up items you want to find, but not suck up the vacuum (like earrings or bobby pins).
Secure some wire to the top of a closet to keep your wrapping paper organized and out of the way.
Cut x's out of a shoebox lid to make a homemade cupcake holder or carrier.
Rub a walnut over scratches in your wooden furniture.
Who knew, right?

Pillowcase Dress & Baby Headbands

2012-02-28T23:54:00.003-08:00

My friend Eliza and I have been working on pillowcase dresses for our baby girls this past week. I finally finished mine tonight after buying the ribbon I needed for the straps. I think it turned out super cute! I also made this headband to match it. I made it a little big because it needs to fit her noggin at the same time as the dress--which I'm hoping will be this summer. I really liked how it turned out. I've discovered making baby clothes is a labor of love. I think I will continue to purchase 99% of her wardrobe instead of making stuff, but on occasion it can be a fun little challenge.

A much less time-consuming craft we've also been dabbling in lately is headbands (as previewed above).

I had planned before Chloe was born to put headbands on her a lot, but as it turns out, I usually only put them on long enough to take a few photos or for church because they tend to leave marks on her head that make me feel guilty. My new-found solution (besides the cloth ones Eliza and I made with elastic only in the back) is to buy adult elastic headbands because then they sit on her head way looser and don't leave marks.

I've been dolling them up by glue-gunning flowers and bows onto them. I'm excited to have people (hopefully) stop mistaking my poor bald child for a boy (granted, this only happens when she's in her car seat and her bright girlie clothes are covered with her blanket...but it's still annoying.)(Purple bow and purple elastic from Hobby Lobby.)

Navy felt bow made by Eliza, white elastic headband from Hobby Lobby

(Black checkered bow from Hobby Lobby, Black elastic from Walgreens.)

(Hot pink flowers from Joann's, pink headband from Hobby Lobby)

(Red polka dot bow and black elastic headband from Hobby Lobby)

Wes calls this her "Nephite Headband." I think it just looks too far forward because it's wide and she has no hair in front. :)This last one is to match her Easter dress which is made out of this fabric:Cute, right?
(Gray flowers from Target, neon yellow elastic headband from Walgreens.)

Cute Stuffed Owl (with mini-tutorial)

2012-02-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

With some inspiration from various blogs and photos on the web, my friend Eliza and I set out today to make some little owl friends for our baby girls. We used fabric and felt scraps we already had, so the only thing we had to purchase was the stuffing.

Our main inspiration came from this photo on Etsy:

(Click on photo to go to the Etsy page--where you can purchase a pattern to make this owl.)

I didn't take pictures of each step, so this isn't really a tutorial, but I will give a few brief and basic instructions. If you need a step-by-step, the pattern on Etsy is $10.00, or you can email me with questions. If you think you can do it from the photo like we did, I say go for it! :)

1. We drew a pattern by hand and cut out each piece and traced them onto the fabric. You'll need a head, a body, wings, eyes, and legs.

2. Trace all your pattern pieces onto the fabric, and cut them out (you need a back and a front for each piece so you can sew them together and make a doll.)

3. Stitch the eyes to the head. (I stitched the red part to the head, and then hot glued the felt (white and blue) at the very end, but you can do either. Sewing it all on would work too, especially if you aren't using felt.)

4. Stitch around the edges of the wings and stuff them. Stitch the bottom of the wings so the stuffing doesn't come out while you are waiting to sew them to the rest of the owl.

5. Stitch the head to the body (front pieces and back pieces). Pin the wings so they are facing the inside (so when you flip the whole thing inside-out they are on the outside.) (Use THIS tutorial from Make It and Love It for more details if you can't figure out how to make the wings work--it's the same concept as the giraffe hair she does with the ribbons).

6. Once everything is pinned together, stitch it all up--all the way around, except for the bottom. Just hem the bottom like you would a skirt or something so that it has a clean edge on the bottom. Once you are done stitching, it will sort of look like a hand-puppet when you flip it inside-out. You should be able to reach your hand all the way up into the head. (In fact, at this point you could leave it as a puppet if you wanted.)

7. The legs. Basically you just cut a long, skinny (ish) piece of fabric (maybe 10-12 inches long and 2.5-3 inches wide), fold it, stitch up one side (and the bottom), then flip it inside out. Similar to making apron strings. (Check out THIS tutorial for apron strings.)

8. Stuff the legs.

9. Stuff the body of the owl.

10. Pin the legs to the bottom of the body on the inside, then sew the bottom, stitching in the legs as you go. Sorry if that's confusing, I don't know how else to explain it. Email me with any specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.

11. Now you are all done! (Unless you didn't sew on the eyes and still need to hot glue them.)

12. Give it to your favorite baby or child. They will love it. :)

This owl is perfect for hugging:

Or eating.

Or squeezing.

Or telling secrets to.

Okay, now I'm just making photo captions up to show off my cute baby. :) All done.

Shabby Apple Dress Review (and a discount!)

2012-01-23T19:25:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-11T14:08:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-12-11T13:14:00.001-08:00

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.