Five little Crafty Birdies

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Spring is in the Air

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:18:00 +0000

Lots of new spring outfits at Bella Sorella !

The Carly Dress in Larkspur

The Sophie Dress in Pink Garden

Bella Sorella Etsy Shop

5 Summer Bag Patterns~ Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:33:00 +0000

It is that fun time of year again when we need a bag for every occasion. The beach, grocery shopping, pool, summer vacation, farmer's markets! So I am scanning the web for some Fun, Free Bag Tutorials!!!!

Luscious Bow Tote

from Robert Kaufman

Always love Robert Kaufman fabrics and designs! Aren't these fabrics gorgeous?

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Maiden Jane's Oversized Beach Tote

Oh wow! How many beach towels can we fit in this oversized bag?!

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Beach Bag Pattern
by ReannaLily Designs

Another great beach bag (from a fellow military wife!! Hooah!). This one is great! I love the quilted detail of it. Her pattern is so clear and easy to follow! Check out the huge size! So big her son can even fit into this bag!! Thanks, ReannaLily!

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Teeny-Tiny Tote Tutorial
by KellyRachel

I love this little cutie. Great for your keychain! Great for your kids belt loop!
Clip it on a backpack!
I think I am going to make at least 5 of these!

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{EEEEEEEK!!!!} This is so amazing!! Make any bag into a camera bag! I love the genius behind this project! Go and check out Vanilla & Lace's Tutorial for this super fab camera bag!

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Okay, peeps! Let's go create some Summer accessory style with these amazing ladies and their creative ideas!!

~Rachel

New Etsy Shop and a GIVEAWAY

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:56:00 +0000

I have been away for quite a long time but now I am back with some fun stuff for everyone!
I have a new Etsy store, Bella Sorella. It is all things BRIGHT, MODERN and HANDMADE for the littles in your life! Stop in and check it out!

So to celebrate the new shop, there will be a GIVEAWAY!!!!

I will be giving away one free custom made dress of your choice and a matching hair bow! A total prize worth $25! You pick the dress and the size you would like.

Available sizes 0-8yrs

4 Ways to enter:

1. "Like" Bella Sorella on Facebook

2. Add Bella Sorella to your favorites on Etsy

3. Post a link to Bella Sorella on your Facebook Page Status.

4. Leave a comment on the photo of the dress you would choose!

**just added** Follow this Blog for another entry at a chance to win!

Leave one comment for each of your entries under this blog post.

Enter as many times as you would like. I will use a random number generator to pick the winner on

Tuesday, April 5.

Linking to:

Long and Uncreative Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:57:00 +0000

Hi guys,

We are in the process of moving to South Korea this summer. That means all my craft stash is on a slow boat ( takes two whole months) to Korea. This has been a very uncreative summer for me. I can't wait to get all my things and get all settled down in our new apartment in Seoul!

Seoul, S Korea

Photo Credit

I am looking forward to finding some fun new fabrics and textiles while in Korea! Excited to learn and explore there with my family.

You guys all enjoy your summer! Have some fun and send me pics of what you are creating. I am thinking of doing a little summer craft round up of some fun projects out there in blogger land since I am not working on anything!

Happy Summer

Photo Credit

Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:16:00 +0000

Ok so it was my first giveaway, it wasn't huge but exciting nonetheless!

Jane Smith of Multicultural Blogspot!!

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and for stopping by.
And Congrats to Jane! Email me your address and I will get him out to you ASAP!

Turtle Needle Case and a GIVEAWAY!!

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sat, 29 May 2010 22:12:00 +0000

Hey guys!!

A purple turtle needle case. He is equipped with an on the go ring. Of course you can use him on the couch while watching a good movie also! My sewing machine is in transit to South Korea right now(yes we are moving to South Korea this Summer. Can't wait to get my hands on some amazing new textiles!!) so I have to rely on my hand sewing and embroidery to get me through the summer. I have lots of hand sewing projects to share so keep in touch! I made this little guy to keep all my needles in while we are living la vida VAGABOND! He fits right on my embroidery thread ring and he is just so cute!

Love this little guy. Would you like one as well? Just leave a comment by June 4th and you can have your own little turtle needle case for your on the go summer!

On June 4th a random commenter will be chosen to get their own Little Turtle Needle Case!

Thank you all for reading!!

Procrastination and Quilts

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:12:00 +0000

So a while ago (like over a year ago) I whipped up this quilt....top. I found the pattern over at Moda Bake Shop. Love their blog, it has tons of great projects! I thought the Stacked Coin Quilt was so cute and I just had to make it. Well, over a year later and I have yet to finish it. So a few weeks before Mother's Day this year, I decided to motivate myself to finish it and give it as a Mother's Day gift to one of our moms or sisters.

So I pulled it off the shelf where it has been sitting for quite some time....

(How tacky is my picture with the batting hanging out?!)

Now, look down there. Do you see it? Pathetic how far I have gotten on the quilting!! How lazy am I? But I guess with 2 little boys under the age of 2 it is nearly impossible to sit at the sewing machine for more than 5 minutes at a time!

I am thinking I should stick to very small projects that give instant crafting gratification!

Oh! And here is another one!!

This one is from miscellaneous Amy Butler fabrics and linen. Love linen!

Fabric Flower Corsage and Card for Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:35:00 +0000

I found this cute tutorial for fabric flowers and thought I would modify it a bit for mother's day gifts. These are super cute fabric flowers that can be used in many different ways. As a corsage, on a blouse, or maybe on a purse

Here is how you can make this fun little flower!

Here is one pinned on a purse!

Click on picture to see instructions enlarged.

Now you can just pin these little flowers right on to a card stock card. Make a little "Happy Mother's Day" label or any other label you would like and you have a cute little gift for all the gals in your life! I am thinking of making these as Teacher Appreciation gifts also.

Love to hear from you all!

Rachel

Passport Wallet Update

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:51:00 +0000

This is a quick photo update to my Passport Travel Wallet Tutorial.

I now have some passports to add in the picture. So I thought I would show you!

Rachel

$1 Toddler Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:58:00 +0000

So, I was at Always the other day, aka Wal Mart. My daughter thinks it is the Always store because they have that huge sign on the front of the building that says ALWAYS!!

Anyway, they have reduced their fabric departments down to about 6 different fat quarters. Blah, well, their fabric wasn't always the best quality, you could get some good deals on certain sewing needs.

So I got a few fat quarters. And started experimenting and came up with this cute little toddler dress. I just used one of my daughter's size 10 shirts. Cut off the arms and used the bodice as the dress pattern. Now, I am going to do the same thing for my big girl, and just use a whole yard instead. I am going to use the same technique to make her some tops like this. Won't be $1 but will still be cheap and super cool for summer!

Used some of the scraps to make this cute little square flower. Used ribbon from my stash for the straps.

And here is a picture of it being modeled. I had to chop my models head off in PS because it was my 2 year old SON! I did save a copy of the photo with his head in it. One day that picture will come in veryyy handy!

Bye for now!

Rachel

Tatted Surprise from Swap Partner

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:15:00 +0000

Hi there. Recently I joined a "Something Handmade" swap on Swap Bot. Wow did I get a good partner, Bonnie! She is a tatter. Something that I think takes amazing skill, hand coordination and patience. Three reasons why I will never attempt tatting. Bonnie however is awesome make sure to check out her blog! I am just loving this little gecko. Thinking of putting him in a little frame of his own. And the bookmark, well my little 9 year angel tried to swipe it for her reading. I caught her just in time!

Oh! And she send me these cute tatted earrings too! I just love Bonnie!!

Bye for now!

Rachel

Photo Necklace Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:15:00 +0000

Mother's day is coming up and I wanted to get all the moms in our family some of those super cute silver photo necklaces. If you order them online through some of the big photo publishing sites, they can be very pricey. BUT...here is how you can make your own on the cheap(er)!

Supplies

Chain. Pendant.

Charm

(I got these earrings on Ebay and just took them apart to use only the charm)

Glossy Mod Podge

Small paint brush

1x1" Photo

Resize your photo to fit your charm. My charm is 1" X 1" so I resized my photo to that in Photoshop. If you don't have Photoshop you can use Word or even PowerPoint to resize. If you do have photoshop, make sure you go over to Coffee and Tea Photography Blog. Rita is awesome and has amazing actions and presets for PS and PSE and they are COMPLETELY FREE!! I love her Vivid Action and it is what I used on my photo.

Make sure to wipe the Mod Podge off the edges of the pendant before it dries.

Apply a few coats of the Podge and you are done. Chain your pendant and print a cute little gift box to wrap it in!

I would string my own beads for this, but I don't seem to have the skill. I have tried and tried to no avail. If someone has any helpful hints for those of us who are bead challenged, please pass them along.

Isn't my little model a cutie? That is my big girl, Ryleigh. Just as sweet as she is cute!

I would love to hear from you!

Rachel

Travel Passport Wallet Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Wallet

So, in case you hadn't heard, and most of you haven't because I am so way new to the blogging world, we are spreading our wings and moving to South Korea this summer. Since there are five of us, we will have a ton of boarding passes, passports and IDs to present at each and every airport along the way! So, I thought I would come up with a Passport Travel wallet to keep all of our documents handy on our travels. Of course, I don't have a passport (my old one expired and new one is in route via USPS!) or a boarding pass on hand for the pic. So I used a check book and regular wallet stuff, and turns out it works great as an everyday wallet too! So, even if you aren't moving to Korea you can still whip up this fun wallet!

Supplies

Fabric: Two 9.75" X 8.75" Front and Back

One 4.5" X 8.75 Pocket

One 4" X 9" Pocket

Two 4" X 9" Strips

Interfacing:

One 9.75" X 8.75"

Two 4" X 9"

Elastic string

Two Buttons

Here is the inside.

So This is your first step after cutting your fabric. To get the slanted pocket just measure in 1" on the top and 1" on the side and put a small dot at both. Use a ruler to connect the dots and cut along that line.

Create a finished edge for the opening of both pockets.

Front piece

My straps are a little long in this pictures. I cut them down after taking the picture. Sorry, didn't mean to be confusing!

Almost done...

I marked this picture for what I intend the pockets to be used for during travel. But I kinda like my checkbook and all in here. I think I may start using it everyday !

Thanks for stopping by!

I would love to hear from you!

Rachel

Easter Egg and Chick Craft

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:30:00 +0000

I found the cutest little Easter egg and chick craft on Making Ends Meet.

Ok. So mine is nowhere NEAR as cute as hers. Obviously my embroidery skills are....umm, can we say nonexistent?! Anyway, check out her cute blog and the tutorial for this last minute Easter craft. Now I am going to go and scour You Tube for embroidery instruction videos.

Have a very Happy Easter!

Rachel

Chair Back Bag How To!

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:35:00 +0000

I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, improvements!!
Thanks,
Rachel

EASTER Chick Bag/Basket

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Outdated Easter Place mats............

...transformed

into super cute over-the-chair Easter bags.

This was super easy, cheap and fast. Even if you don't have the animal shaped place mats, these would still be easy to make. I just Found some matching fabric from my stash and made a back and the two straps. Measured the straps to make sure they were long enough to fit my dining chairs. I used heavy fusible web for stability in the back piecing and straps. Left the top open and filled with Easter goodies for my kiddos.

Anthropologie Love

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:07:00 +0000

ANTHROPOLOGIE.

I am loving some of these things over at Anthropologie. I just can't get enough of all the gorgeous things on their website. I am conspiring ways to copycat some of my favorite things from them. Because if I actually purchased the things I like, well, my husband might have a heart attack. LOVE the deciduous puzzle. (For those of you who don't know, I was once a biologist, in my pre-mommy life. So the biologist in me influences my style a bit. I like to bring the outdoors in and have things a little rustic! Ok. So until I win the lottery, I am going to start working on recreating some of this Anthropologie cuteness.

Pincushion Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:43:00 +0000

Pincushion Swap, originally uploaded by RyMama.

Just finished my pincushion for my very first swap ever! Made a fun new blog friend, Dixie over at Dixie DIY.

The swap was sponsored by Freckled Nest.

Spice Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Five Little Crafty Birdies) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:26:00 +0000

Spice Jars 2, originally uploaded by RyMama.

Being married to a soldier means I am always packing up and moving. Four times in the last 5 years. Taking my spice collection with me each move is important. Those spices get costly! As my collection grows, it just doesn't seem to fit into our Army housing cabinets. So we came up with this storage idea. I ordered these hexagonal jars with magnetic lids and these magnets from Amazon.

Then all you do is stick the magnet inside the lid, fill up the jars with your spices, and you are done! It's easy, convenient and pretty to look at too! I don't have these labeled yet. I use my nose to tell me what spices are what. But my hubby gets very confused. So I am thinking of getting some small round printable labels to put on the lid tops.