Nikki's Crafts

Simple circle skirt

2011-06-23T06:42:00.001-07:00

This skirt is really fun. I had it ready for Eimi when she came home from girls camp.

In many ways this skirt is very similar to the scrap skirt. It made me nervous about the measurements because Eimi wasn't home to make sure it fit. She was happy with it when she saw it (yippee).

Step #1 Fold the fabric in 1/2 and cut a big triangle on the fold. Make it as long as you want or as short as you want. Do this 1 more time but make the triangle the same size.

Step #2 Unfold the triangles and sew both of them together at the ends.

Step #3 Add a 3 inch wide strip of fabric to the top and add elastic (measure the waist first to see how big it needs to be).

Step #4 Put the skirt on a mannequin or child and cut a triangle out where the right knee will be.

Step #5 Using a 4 inch wide strip of fabric make a ruffle and add to the bottom.

It is super simple and only took about an hour to make.

Simple Scrap Skirts

2011-06-23T06:16:00.001-07:00

I thought I would pass on how to make these simple scrap skirts. The tutorial will be at the bottom below the pictures.

Miss Emily modeling her new skirt

Miss Elissa modeling her new skirt

Step #1 Measure how long you want it. For Emily I measured 12 inches but knew that I would still add another 1.5 for the waist band and another 2 inches for the ruffle on the bottom.

Step #2 Cut scrap fabric into strips. I did 12 x 2 inch solid between each other strip. Some strips are 4 inches while others are 3.

Step #3 Sew all the strips together making a wide line of fabric. You can make it as wide as you want. The wider the fabric the fluffier the skirt.

Step #4 This part is optional. Add another 2 inch strip along the entire top and bottom of the skirt. This will make the skirt longer. I did this on Emily's skirt but not Elissa's. It looks nice either way.

Step #5 Add another 3 inch strip to the top and put the elastic into the strip. Once folded over and sewn in the strip will only be about 1.5 inches think. This is when the skirt becomes fluffy. To figure out what size to make the elastic, measure the child's waist (or your own) and sew both ends together. Simply sew it into the waist band TaDa you have a waist.

Step #6 Make a ruffle for the bottom of the skirt. I took a long strip that was 4 inches wide and sewed the sides together and gathered it. Sew it on the bottom of the skirt and the skirt is complete. The best part is that you don't have to hem it now.

I hope this makes sense. Happy sewing friends.

Thank you Christy Smedley for the idea. Now, when are you going to move in with me so we can make stuff all the time?

Water Bottle Bandana

2011-03-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

My kids aren't allowed to use those cute, fancy water bottles at school. They are only allowed to use the clear plastic ones that you get at a gas station/grocery store. I was worried that the water bottles would get mixed up at school so I made these bandanas for them. I think they turned out cute. The best part is that they are removeable and can be used on other items.

1. The names were embroidered on a piece of fabric

2. They needed to be cut out to the right length and hemmed. It wouldn't be so cute if they frayed. The bandanas were taken off the bottles for the pictures. They really are nice, just wrinkled.

3. just tie them onto a water bottle.

TaDa...they are done.

Now other kids will know who these belong to.

NameFrames

2010-10-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

I am super excited about these frames.

The frames started like these. A 4 pack of simple of frames that I bought months ago on clearance.
I took the frames apart and painted them green. The glass was thrown away and I put black paper on the cardboard insert.

I bought some letters at Hobby Lobby (the best store EVER) and painted them white. Using the tip of a pencil eraser, I put dots all over the letters using craft paint. The picture is sideways but you get the point.

This is the finished product. Eimi's new bedroom is pink and the accent color is going to be green. I think this is going to look awesome on the walls. Alice (the cat ) gives her approval.

More cards

2010-08-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some simple cards I had the Young Women make for the Relief Society. The girls made over 60 cards in record time. Amazing!

Emily's Rag Quilt

2010-05-13T06:32:00.001-07:00

This is Emily rag quilt I made for her for CHristmas. This is my favorite one. I love the colors and the design. It is very simple but turned out nice. Emily LOVES it.

Front

Back

Personal Progress Value - Virtue

2010-05-05T19:22:00.001-07:00

This ornament is for the value "virtue". I used Gold for the writing as well as the ribbon. Gold is the color for virtue.

Step 1: use a small round, flat piece of wood. I found mine at Hobby Lobby. It came 12 to the package.

Step 2: Add ribbon all the way around the piece of wood

Step 3: Print or embroider the word onto a white piece of fabric and cut it out the same size as the piece of wood. Glue it onto the ribbon and wood.

Step 4: Add a piece of ribbon to the back

Step 5: Give the ornament to the girls after their lesson on virtue.

Personal Progress Value Ornament - Faith

2010-05-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

This ornament is for the value "Faith" It's to be used for the Daughter of God boards. We had a lesson on the value then passed out the ornament as a reminder to have faith in our daily lives.

Step 1: Take a simple white flower and take it apart. Use a large brad (of any color) and insert it in the holes of the flower. This will hold the flower in place without having to glue each layer

Step 2: Embroider or write the word on Orange fabric.

Step 3: cut the word out of the fabric then glue it on the brad.

Step 4: Add a piece of string or floss or ribbon to the back (not pictured).

Here is the board with 2 of the ornaments. The girls seem to like them. It makes me happy:)

Daughter Of God

2010-04-19T04:32:00.001-07:00

I was given the calling "Personal Progress Leader" at church a couple of months ago. It's exciting because I know how important personal progress is in the Young Womens program. ALso because I now have a daughter in the program. I deided to make these wood boards for each of the girls. The point behind them is I want the girls to wake up each day and reember that they are daughters of God. It's a great way to wake up, right? Also, they are going to be given an ornament each month to hang from the board. The ornament will have the values on them. It's a great visual and reminder for the girls to work on their progress and goals. I will upload the ornaments another time. They turned out nice.

Step 1: Use a plain board. Mine is 12x12. Sand the sides so there are no slivers to be had.

Step 2: Take a piece of 12x12 paper and cut it down to 11.5-11.5
Glue the paper onto the board. I used the spray glue (love that stuff)

Take some pretty ribbon (coordinate the colors) and put it around the board. You will want to cover the paper and the edge of the board.

Step 3: turn the board over and staple thick ribbon to the back. This is how the boards will hang from the wall.

Step 4: using either the cricut or stickers, gently place the stickers on the board towards the top.

Step 6: Last but not least screw 8 screws into the board. This is where the ornaments will hang.

In total I made 30 boards. and 30 ornament (tutorial to follow soon). I hope the girls appreciate them as much as I do.

Quilted Picture

2010-04-13T06:51:00.001-07:00

I get a monthly quilting magazine and found this awesome picture in it. I thought I would give it a try. I have never done fancy quilting before so I was excited about the project. Another thing I liked was that it was just 1 square that shouldn't take much time.

I started by looking around my house for any fabric that I already had. I didn't want to go out and purchase anything new. Browns and more natural colors are what I like most. I made up the qult square and added the name by using the embroidery machine.

A closer look at the actual quilt square.

I added 2 inches of dark brown around the edge and another 3 inches of light brown
around the outer edge.

It's important to hem the edge.

I used a board instead of a frame. It's 12x12. I have 32 of these boards for another project I am working on. This was an extra one. Bonus and FREE

Next lay the fabric onto the board and place it exactly where you want it. Fabric is a bit tricky to get even because it's a bit stretchy and moves very easily. Use something heavy (like a hammer) to keep it in place then lift up one end of the fabric. Spray adhesive it onto the board. Then gently place the fabric onto it. Do the same for the upper part. Please do not use too much adhesive. It can discolor your fabric (like it did mine)

Next take the staple gun and staple the hem down on the back of the board. I like to staple the hem because it helps it not fray.

Screw 2 screws onto the back. One on each side of the top of the board. Wind some wire into the screw

Now the project is finished. You can hang it up on the door

Or place it on the table in the doorway.

I love how it turned out. It's not quite as smooth as the picture in the magazine but I still think it turned out good. Especially by using what I had at home.

From ick to slick

2010-04-09T18:58:00.001-07:00

So my foot has been hurting for about 1.5-2 weeks now. I went to the foot Dr. and I have a problem with my joint and possibly a stress fracture. It's the middle toe in the joint in the middle of my foot. Youzers it has been painful. I have to wear this UGLY foot boot for 3 weeks. It's so ugly that I felt the need to fancy it up a bit.

Yuck!!!

Ahhh that's better. I just added a flower then a bunch of rhinestones. I really like it but after I finished I realized that I will have to go back to the Dr. in 3 weeks. Now I am a bit embarasses. Oh well, I make dance costumes for a living. This should be expected.

Hairbow Holder

2010-04-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

The other day I went to a store and saw the cutest hairbow holder. I thought I would try and make one. This is the end result.

Step 1:

Find a piece of wood and paint it white.
Step 2:
Cut a piece of scrapbook paper down to the desired size. Then take glue spray and spray it on the painted board. Gently place the paper on top and smooth it out.

Step 3:
Using 2 different kinds of ribbon staple them to the back of the board. The skinny ones on top and the thicker ribbon on bottom. The length of the ribbon depends on what you want. Bonus: you can see how much the wood was. I actually purchased mine a long time ago and finally found a use for it.
Step 4:
Tie the top ribbon into a bow.

Step 5:
Using the Cropodile and brads place the brads into the thick ribbon. This helps the hairbows not slip once placed onto the ribbon.
This is what the brads will look like when they are placed in the ribbon.
Step 6:
Take a little fabric fusion and put a dab of it on the back of the brad. I worry that it will fray now that there is a whole in the ribbon. Let it dry. You can get fabric fusion anywhere that sells fabric.
This is what the ribbon holder looks like once hung up. My bow is a little off. That's an easy fix.

Here is the holder with a bunch of my daughters hairbows on it.

Step 7: CRY

Now go ahead and take a moment to cry. Maybe this step is only for me. I have 3 daughters and the littlest one is 6. She wants to be older like her sisters (ages 10, and 12) and doesn't let me fancy up her hair very often. My baby just doesn't want to be a baby anymore. Her hairbows may just end up being a decoration.

I linked this craft up to:

Someday Crafts

and

Life in the pitts

and

Women Who Do It All

and

Me and My Bucket

and

Fireflies and jellybeans

and

Shabby Chic Cottage

and

Life as Lori

Please take a minute and check out what other friends are making. You will be so happy you did :)

Look for their button on the LEFT side of the blog.

A little vote

2010-04-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hi there friends. If you have a minute please head on over to our family blog and vote on a few pictures. It won't take time and you will have our undying gratitude.

Thanks, Nikki

www.mattshipleyfamily.blogspot.com

Polo Shirt Make-over

2010-04-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today I needed a shirt really quickly. The girls were having their pictures taken today but while they were having lunch Elissa got food on her cute pink shirt. I didn't have another one to replace it with so we headed off to Old Navy. I wasn't impressed with anything they had but I did find this simple pink Polo Shirt. It just needed a little sprucing up. Right next door was Joann Fabrics and they were having a HUGE sale. We ran right over there and grabbed a big button, small pair of scissors, a needle, thread and ric-rac. All 50% off. Woo Hoo. It only took a few minutes in the car while Matt drove. I put the ric-rac on the collar and the big button on the right side of her chest. Eventually I will also put the ric-rac along the bottom of the shirt. Problem solved. The photo shoot went very well.

Here is the simple pink polo shirt

And the end results. Not too shabby. The ric-rac matched her fancy hairbow that I bought for the photo shoot and the big button just looked cute. Not to mention how adorable Elissa is.

I was thinking...

2010-04-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today that I think Martha Stewart is a thief. Come on, you know I am right. There is no way that 1 person can come up with all those crafty ideas. I think she blog hops like me and then STEALS the ideas and publishes them as her own. Just a random thought.

Pencil Holder

2010-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is a simple pencil holder. I love this because I will place this onto my wall in my sewing room and NOT let the kids reach the pockets. That's right, I said it. I am not going to share. It will hold my nice pens and quilting pencils and also my sewing scissors.

The first picture is what it will look like standing up. The second picture it is laying on the window seat. Not sure which one you could see better.
O.K. so here ya go. First I have no pictures. I started making this a few days ago but ended up sick and had to stop. I picked it up again today but didn't have my camera.

Step 1- Things you will need are Nice piece of fabric, a board, 3 pockets from old kids jeans, A staple gun, spray adhesive and fabric pins

Step 2 - Spray adhesive onto the front of the board and place the fabric onto it.

Step 3 - Once the adhesive is dry then pull the fabric onto the back and staple it down.

Step 4 - Place the pockets onto the front and staple gun the top inside of the pocket to the board.

Step 5 - Hammer the cute fabric pins (not sure of their correct name) to the top and bottom corner.

Step 6 - Place items into the pockets and hang onto the wall.

Step 7 - TaDa you're done.

Tap

2010-03-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple tutu for the girls tap duet. The booties and the tank top were purchased. The skirt helped tie it all together.

If you look hard you can see the rhinestones. It's not a good costume unless is sparkles :)

Junior Jazz

2010-03-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

This is our Junior Jazz Team. There are 5 girls on the team. With this costume I made 5 dresses, 5 pairs of bootie shorts, 10 arm bands, and 15 flowers. I am showing some of the same pictures as a previous post. Sorry

Below you can see the flowers and how we put them into the costume. They matched the dress so well.

Nextare the bootie shorts. Very simple - but important. We don't want naked girls out there. The teachers put the pretty flower on the booties. It's a nice way to tie the shorts into the costume. And it's sparkly :)

Here is the finished costume. It's my Eimi showing it off for us. You can see the dress, the arm bands and the flowers.

Junior Hip Hop

2010-03-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

This is our Junior Hip Hop team. This is by far one of my favorite routines as well as costumes. The best part is that 2 of my girls are on the team.

My little Emily is showing the pink corset. I was SO SCARED to make these but they were so EASY. That's usually the way it is. Hard things end up simple to make and easy things end up hard to make.
Below is the back of the corset. We don't have any pictures of the girls wearing them so I put it on a dummy. The green ribbon is a perfect match to the camo pants.

Here are the pants. SO FUN, simple and sparkly.

Don't you love the shoes?

Here is my oldest Eimi. She really rocks out the hip hop costume. I have the best job EVER!!!

Mousercize

2010-03-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

These are our very cute Mousercize costumes. This dance has 4 girls. They needed cropped shirts, a circle skirt with tulling, hairbows, bloomers and covered trampolines. It was a big job but I like the outcome :)

The circle skirt with the added tulling. It is super fluffy and fun. These are a bit tricky to make because the tulling has to be a bit longer to make than the top skirt.

Here is a better picture of the hairbows and the shirt. The shirt is just a simple shirt pattern that I cropped down and added elastic to. The teachers added the tie and the rhinestoning. It's really sparkly on stage

Normally I don't say "hey, let's look up this girls skirt" but in this case I am just showing the bloomers. See how the skirt moves? It's so fun having the bloomers underneath.

The finished product. These little ones are so fun to watch.

Broken picture frame made pretty

2010-03-18T15:20:00.001-07:00

We had pictures taken of the kids before Christmas but I never framed them. The frames were always expensive and I didn't want to pay for them. The other day I was walking around Hobby Lobby and found this frame for ONLY $6.00. SO AWESOME. I bought it not knowing what I would do with it. Today I went back to Hobby Lobby with some new thoughts on what I would do. This is what I came up with.

The frame is 16x20. The perfect size for what I need it for. In the picture below you can see the broken part of the frame.

The items you need are a frame

also some flowers, scrapbooking paper, ribbon, a big brad and a hot glue gun

First take the paper and cardboard out of the frame then add the ribbon onto the frame (where to is your choice).

Have the ribbon meet where the broken piece is.

Take the flowers off the stem and put the brads in the middle of the flowers. Then hot glue the flowers onto the frame. it's best to put the flowers onto the frame where the ribbon meets. This cuts down on the ugly :)

Next put the picture onto the scrapbook paper and cut the paper down to just barely showing. Put hot glue onto the scrapbook paper (not the picture) and place the ribbon onto it. The best part about this is that you don't have to purchase a mat for the frame. Just use the paper on the inside but turn it around. We don't want the man and boy to show on the other side. You want your picture to be the only thing you see.

TADA!!! Here is the finished product. I am so happy with it.
The glass reflected quite a bit. Sorry.

Total cost of this frame is

$6.00 for the actual frame

$4.00 for the ribbon

$5.00 for all the flowers

$3.00 for the brads

total = $18.00

That's less than half for a frame with no booboo's. Plus your personal touch makes it so much more meaningful.

My Bumblebee

2010-03-18T04:25:00.000-07:00

This post is LONG overdue. One of my biggest pet peeves is how cheap looking halloween costumes are. They are made poorly but yet cost a fortune. A few years ago I decided that we would no longer purchase the costumes for the girls. JD is too cool for mom to make his so those are still purchased. I guess it's a good thing though because I have no idea how to make boy stuff. Sounds crazy I know but it's intimidating to me. This last year Eimi wanted to be a bumblebee. We looked at all the packaged costumes and thought "we can come close"

The skirt is a simple circle skirt pattern. We added tulling underneath and a cute sparkly flower trim. The skirt fabric was also super sparkly.

The wings on Eimi's back were angel wings that we spray painted black. Hey, it worked. We bought the headband and the shirt is a simple t-shirt pattern. Underneath we also have a cute pair of bootie shorts. In the final picture Eimi is wearing black jeans. It was so cold outside that we made her wear jeans so her legs wouldn't get cold. Eimi is also VERY picky about her clothes. She didn't want her leg warmers up over her knees. She chose to have short ones.

The one main difference in the costumes is the shirt. I thought the shirt was a bit immodest and Eimi is my little nun. She likes CLOTHING. Making her costume made it possible to modestify it. She was a happy bumblebee.

The above picture is the finished product and the picture below is what we tried to copy. Did we do a good job?

Go To Bed

2010-03-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

These pajamas are absolutely adorable on these little girls. Just a simple pattern with fluff added to the bottom make the girls look toasty warm. Elissa and Mia are supposed to look grumpy on the beds. It's part of the dance.

The blanket that Elissa is under is just a simple piece of fabric that I hemmed. It doesn't get any easier than that.
In total I made 2 blankets and 5 pair of pajamas. The teachers made the hairbows and added the rhinestones onto the pajamas.

Ghostbusters

2010-03-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

These are Eimi and Maddie's duet Ghostbusters Costumes. They were ordered but I had to modify them a bit.

What I like about this costume is that it shows you can do little things here and there to make the costume yours. First of all they came pretty big. I had to cut around 4 inches off the length then hem it up. Next we added the name to the front. Then on the back we ironed on the Ghostbusters logo. This costume is a favorite of mine because after the season is over Eimi can use it for Halloween. Simple yet perfect.

Below is a picture of the Ghostbusters logo. The teachers put the rhinestones on the costume. It's super shiny on stage :)

The names were made by cutting up an old (unused) cloth diaper and embroidering their names. Next you cut out the name in an oval then sew it onto the costume around the edges. Finally rhinestone around the edges to give it a sparkle.

This would be cool on a jean jacket for a little girl or a boy without the rhinestoning. Super simple yet looks sharp

Covered Trampolines and bows.

2010-03-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

These were just simple mini trampolines that needed to be covered. I took pretty sparkly tulling and taped and tucked into the springs of the trampoline. Afterwards we added big bows to the front of them. The bows look a little off in the picture but I think it's just because the trampoline is being jumped on.

Wouldn't this be cute in a lattle girls bedroom?

The bows are simple to make. It's just a 4x4 piece of babric sewn together except in one spot. Turn it the right side out and add some stuffing to the inside. Sew the open spot together using a blind stitch then wrap a piece of thread around the middle of the square. This will create the bow. To make it pretty, wrap another iece of leftover fabric around the middle of the bow to cover the thread. Then stitch the fabric together in th eback. You can Attach these cute simple bows to a hairpiece or another piece of fabric. Very simple and very cute. In total I made 16 small bows and 12 large bows to complete the look.

In a later post I will explain the costume.