A quick craft.

I had about an hour to work on a project I've been thinking about for a while now. It came together rather quickly!

I introduce my Magnetic Fabric Shapes! A great fridge toy, and better yet, both sides are magnetic.

Tutorial coming soon!

Ornaments: 2012 Edition

Here's a peek at the DIY ornaments that I made this year.

These four were the first that I made this year. Known as "Scrappy Ornaments" on Pinterest, The were super easy to make and turned out great! I sent these four to a friend and made two more for our tree.

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These rolled paper ornaments were up next and, BY FAR, my favorite ornaments I've ever made, especially the star. I would link to a tutorial, but I used bits and pieces of different tutorials to get what I was looking for.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial, let me know and I'll piece one together from the ones I used.

They were time consuming for sure, but the outcome was worth it! I'm just sad I couldn't keep these for myself, but the recipient was happy with them I think :)

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This next group was an experimentation of sorts. I wandered through Joann's and grabbed whatever I thought I could fill an ornament with. Here are just a few that I came up with!

The bottom one is my favorite I think, so sparkley!

 

That's all I've got for "DIY Ornaments 2012"! 

I have a little something something in the works for 2013, more to come soon on that! 

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season!

Gel Cling Storage

You know those gel window clings that have become so popular in the last few years?

I like them and think they're cute, but they're a pain to store. I came up with a quick and easy solution!

You will need:

• Wax Paper
• Gallon Plastic Bag
• Marker
• Scissors

Rip off 2 sheets, roughly the size of your plastic bag, of wax paper.

Trace the outline of the bag with the marker & cut. I cut in about 1/4" from the line so it would be easier to get into the bag.

Stick your clings to one of the wax paper sheets, then cover it with the second wax paper sheet to sandwich the clings between the two.

Slide into the bag, you're done!

Bonus is that you can store multiple sheets of clings in one bag. I have three in a bag right now, but I'd say that I could fit maybe 3 or 4 more on top of that.

So many ideas

So little time!

I really wish I would have ventured into the world of Pinterest earlier.

There are just SO MANY IDEAS. It's almost overwhelming. I've always been a fairly crafty person, and with the amount of spare time I had before, these things gave me something to do. So go figure I would find this website when I'm pregnant and my free time is about to become non-exsitant. Oh well.

I just wanted to share a few great projects that I want to try sometime in the next 18 years or so ;)

Since Christmas is coming up, I'll start with the holiday ideas!

Snowmen Ornaments (Simply Cute Creations)

Are these not adorable? And not to mention super easy.

Supplies: clear glass ornaments, fake snow, sharpie paint markers, baby socks (for the hats) and ribbon to make the hanger

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Play Felt Tree & Ornaments (Johnny in a Dress)

I'm hoping to make this for next year, since baby will be big enough to play with it by then!

Supplies: Various colors of felt (about 1 yard for the tree) and hot glue if you want any of the pieces to be permanent.

It's that easy! Felt sticks to felt, so that's all you really need!

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Whimsical Wire Trees

Inexpensive and easy!

Supplies: Any thick wire, copper or just the plain steel stuff, foam cones

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Jingle Shadow Box (Blue Eyed Blessings)

Completely customizable, you could probably do different themes for different seasons.

Supplies: Shadow box frame (any size - 8x8 is used in the tutorial), jingle bells, scrapbook paper and ribbon

The words could be done many different ways. The tutorial uses vinyl, but this could be done with stamps, stencils or could even be handwritten.

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And now for a few non-holiday ideas...

Frosted Vases (Mark Montano Blog)

Supplies: Jars in different sizes, Yarn, Masking tape, White Krylon spray paint, Fabric cut on the bias 1 1/2" wide by 10" per jar, Tea lights

These call for white spray paint, but I'm sure they could easily be done in other colors as well. Easy to match to any decor. You can even buy different size glass vases for $1 each at Dollar Tree!

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Puzzle Pillows

There is no real tutorial that I could find, but seriously, how fun would this be?

A pattern would be beyond easy to DIY for this. Once I finally get around to making it, I'll be sure to share! I think this would be a lot of fun for a little kid to play with, not to mention me :)

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Scrap Fabric Hoodie

Again, there's no tutorial. If you have sewing knowledge, you should be able to make this!

Super cute and completely custom! All you need is a plain, cheap hoodie, scrap fabric and some sewing skills. I really want to make one of these, so when I do, I'll post a step-by-step for sure. No guarantee on when that will happen, but hopefully sooner rather than later.

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Styrofoam Wall Art (styrofoamcrafts.com)

Cute, inexpensive, easy and easily customized!

Supplies: Styrofoam sheets, scrapbook paper or fabric, ruler, paintbrush, craft glue, picture hangers

I really want to make something like this for our house, but I have no idea where I'd put it! Maybe I'll make a cute kid one for the nursery or something. I need more empty walls!

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I think I'll stop here for now. I could probably do four full posts just on owl themed things alone.. haha. I love owls, they're just so stinkin' cute! I'll stop and save those ideas for another day.

Once I get around to finally making some of these things, I will be sure to share!

Be sure to share your finished products and tips if you decide to make any of these, I want to see how others do with these. I hope you guys like the ideas as much as I do.

Happy crafting!

Quilted Ornaments

Some of you may remember me making these last year.

Don't remember? If you're the crafty type, be sure to check out the tutorial here.

I loved the way they turned out last time, so when I had the opportunity to make more for someone again, I jumped at the chance.

One of these years I'll finally make some for my own tree :)

Here are 2 that I made this year:

I've been considering making these to sell, along with other things, on Etsy. Do any of you have any experience with running your own Etsy shop? Tips? Any other suggestions for selling my handmade goodies?

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I also wanted to share an ornament that I found on Etsy. I fell in love with the unique vintage look, and luckily the person I bought it for loved it as well!

Sew Cute

I got a pretty good start on the nursery goodies over the weekend.

After looking more closely at the patterns I purchased, I realized that they were using pre-made quilt panels. Yuck. Where's the fun in that?

So, I had to wing it a bit and come up with my own pattern for the quilt front and the bumper panels:

Thank God for all those quilting classes I took in high school or I would have been majorly screwed!

I used the measurements provided in the pattern pack and went from there. I'll pretty much be making the quilt from the pattern I have in my head (and what you see above), but the remainder of the bumper will be using the pattern I purchased. As will the valances and the crib skirt. I also found a really cute pattern for a changing pad cover that I'll be making if I have enough fabric leftover.

So yesterday I got all of the fabric ironed and my squares cut for the quilt front and the bumper panels:

This morning I sewed everything together:

I probably won't have much time to work on anything during the week, but by the end of next weekend I will likely have the quilt done and most of the bumper.

That's all for now! It's coming along nicely.

DIY Nursery

After seeing some of the prices on nursery bedding, it was decided that I could just make my own.

After all, why spend upwards of $200 on a bedding set when half of it can't even be used anyway? I wouldn't even spend that much on bedding for myself! DIY is the money-saving answer.

So I found some patterns that I liked and went fabric shopping on Friday. I'm pretty excited to get started!

Here's the pattern pack that I'll be using for the quilt, crib skirt and bumper:

I know that the quilt and bumper don't get used that much anyway. The bumper can go on the crib for a little while at the beginning and the quilt can be used for tummy time or playtime on the floor. They'll get used.

I'll be using this pattern pack to make the valances:

I decided on Pattern A for that. I haven't decided on shades yet, we might just keep up the blinds that are in there now. If I do make a shade, it will also be the one from Pattern A.

Fabric shopping was fun, but frustrating all at the same time. I had this image in my mind of what I wanted, but do you think I could find it? Of course not!!

After searching the aisles for what seemed like forever, I came up with this fabric combo:

I knew I wanted the orange & yellow combo, but of course those ended up being the most limited color selections in the store! I'm really happy with what I found though, I'm in love with the yellow dragonfly fabric - so cute.

I'll hopefully get started on all this in the coming weeks. Of course there will be pictures to come!

Finished Quilt!

It took me a little while, but my chenille blanket is complete. I LOVE how it turned out.

About halfway through the sewing, I started to doubt my choice of using brown flannel on the back, but I'm happy to say that I was wrong to doubt! I kept telling myself I should have chosen green instead, but now I'm glad I didn't. I love the "pattern" the brown gave the chenille... so pretty! And so soft!

Here are a couple other shots:

Is is bad that I really want to make another one? Anyone need a blanket? :)

Quilt Binding

This morning I was able to pin and sew the binding on my quilt. It went a lot faster than I thought it would! Thank God for that, because nothing about this quilt has gone quickly. Maybe I'm just impatient!

I used Wrights Satin Blanket Binding in Seal Brown. I bought two packages, but ended up only using one. I'll figure out a use for the second one eventually.

The part that took the longest was ironing the satin to the shape I needed it to be, but even that wasn't too bad. Once I had everything ironed, the pinning and sewing when fast!

As I type this, the whole thing is in the wash and will then head to the dryer for the finishing touch. Here's to hoping it doesn't fall apart while it's in there!

Quilt Progress

I haven't had much time to work on my quilt lately, mainly only on the weekends. Meaning that it's taking me a lot longer to complete than I thought it would!

Oh well. I managed to work on it pretty much all day today, so I got a good chunk of it done!

I was able to finish the diagonal quilting portion, which was the most time consuming - I'd say about 5 hours worth of stitching:

Then it came time to cut through the channels on flannel on the back - which will eventually become the super soft chenille. The Olfa Chenille Cutter (use a 40% off coupon online) was fab for this. Some people use scissors, but I couldn't even imagine doing that - it would kill your wrist!!

After the back was all cut, then I squared off the edges:

With everything squared off, I used a dinner plate and a washable fabric marker to mark and cut the rounded corners:

Use that first rounded corner as the template to cut the other three corners:

Now all I have left to do is the binding! I'm hoping to work on that tomorrow morning so I can toss this thing in the wash and see the finished product. I hope it turns out half as good as the one from the tutorial!

Quilt Update (and step-by-step)

I posted about a week ago that I was going to be starting on a new quilt project. Well, I got started over the weekend! It's a tedious process so far, but I think the end result will be pretty amazing.

Using this tutorial as a guide, here is what I've done so far...

I chose this fabric and these three colored flannels:

The tutorial wanted the printed fabric cut to a 45" square, but the fabric I chose was only 44" wide. So I cut that down to a 43" square and the flannel (since it needs to be a bit smaller) got cut down to 42" squares.

Then I layered everything and matched up the edges. I decided to sandwich the dark brown flannel between the pale yellow and light blue. The printed fabric should lay face down, while the flannels will lay face up for all three.

I placed pins around the edges, about 5" apart to hold my layers together.

I used whatever straight edges I had available to mark my diagonal line from corner to corner down the center of the flannel. I used a washable fabric marker (that is so old that it's dry and I had to go over the line about 10 times..).

I then sewed down my line with the flannel side face up. Once that line is stitched, then flip it over to stitch lines about 1/2" apart on the printed fabric side. You want to stitch on the printed fabric because that way any mistakes or bobbin mishaps will be easily hidden on the back side. Especially since it will be cut apart to make the chenille anyway.

Use the sewing machine foot as a guide to space your stitching lines.

Stitching the lines is pretty time consuming! But so far, I'm really loving the way the diagonal quilting looks. I can't wait until it's finished!

Here is what I have done so far, front and back. It doesn't look like much really. The diagonal stitching only covers about 10ish" or so, so far.

... and here is an example of why you want to stitch your lines on the front - where mishaps aren't as noticeable. I had a bobbin issue that I couldn't figure out, but once it was fixed, it was smooth sailing!

I'm hoping to have all the stitching done by the end of the week, then it's on to the fun parts :)