Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I tried something new lately and made tie onesies! They are so adorable!  My friend A showed me the tutorial from crapi'vemade.  P.S.  I love that blog name.  I think it's hilarious.  My onesies didn't turn out perfectly, but it's the thought that counts, right?

So, I can't figure out how to get two pictures on the same line.  Here are my two oneises I have made so far, and I love them!  Like I said, they aren't perfect.  If you want to try making one for yourself go here somewhere.  I couldn't find the exact link, but it's on her website somewhere.  She has a template and easy to follow instructions.  I made the pink one for my friend B, who is expecting a her first baby boy next spring, and the "hunting" type one for my friend L, who just had her second boy! I wish I'd made these for my kids...oh well.  If anyone else would like one of these, I would love to make you one! They are a cinch!  However, I don't have the money to keep buying onesies! So, if you'd like to send me money for a onesie, or just send me a onesie, I will make you one and mail it back to you!  (and any special fabric, that you want for the tie.)  Just contact me on facebook messages.  See you later!

p.s. I hate that snails and puppy dog tails  poem.  I think it's dumb.  

Owl Picture Board

When I bought this fabric, many months ago before I knew I was having a girl, I knew that one day I would have a girl and I needed to make a bulletin board/photo board with it.  It was so stinkin' cute.  I haven't jumped on the owl bandwagon/craze but these owls were so cute in the remnant bin that I had to take them home.

Supplies needed:
cork board/bulletin board
batting
fabric to cover
ribbon
furniture tacks
spray paint (optional)
scissors
staple gun
super glue (maybe)

Step 1: lay your batting over your bulletin board.  Make sure you have enough to cover the front and wrap around to the back multiple inches.  Pull tightly, but not too tightly and staple on the back.  Fold corners as needed to keep them looking as nice as possible.  Pretend you're wrapping a Christmas present.


Step 2:  Lay your fabric over the batting and position as needed. After stapling one side, pull tight across and staple the other side to the back of the bulletin board.  I used 3/8 of an inch staples after discovering the 1/4 inch staples were not long enough.  They kept popping out.  Continue stapling around, pulling tightly and trying to keep the corners looking nicely.



Step 3: The fun part!  Ribbon!!  I started with the corners that were farthest apart and stapled on the back.  If you want to measure how far apart your ribbon is, feel free.  I freehanded it and ended up with some rows farther apart than others. Oh well.

Step 4:  Lay all of the ribbons in the opposite direction, pushing a tack in as it crosses another piece of ribbon.  I read on one site that you could use Brads, but that didn't work out.  They weren't sharp enough and were too flexible.  I also only found tacks in gold and black from Walmart.  As a remedy, I bought gold ones because they would be easier to paint over and spray painted them yellow.

And that's it!! You have a beautiful fabric covered photo board!!  Enjoy!!

Next up, I have my adventures in canning and dehydrating as well as some appliqued tie onesies that I am making.  As soon as I finish them and mail them off, I will post them and the tutorial I used here!  See you soon!!

Hooded Towel Tutorial and Other Stuff

Ok, so I'm sorry I've been a slacker, but not really.  Life is good and busy and sometimes it is just better to live life! :D  As promised, here is a much needed catch-up post.

First off: Pallet bookshelves!  I had so much fun making these!  It was my first time using spray paint.  A little sad, maybe.  Fun? Yes!  I used this tutorial from six sisters stuff to make mine. (scratch that.  The link has been deleted. I will do this tutorial another time!)  I didn't taper off the top of the bookshelves like they did.  It wasn't very hard and only required a hammer, nails, palm sander, normal sand paper, spray paint, and some kind of hooks for hanging it.  I used Monkey Hooks from Lowe's.  My only problem is that I have too many books!!

This was a work in progress picture. But I love them!

Next up: Hooded Towels!!! This tutorial has been a long time coming.  I'm so sorry L!  I had high hopes for this towel, but had to scale down my expectations.  It still turned out cute and practical.

Materials needed: bath towel, hand towel (not wash cloth), ribbon, thread, scissors, rotary cutter, cutting mat, sewing machine, etc. (normal sewing things)

Step 1:  I folded my hooded towel over on the short ends and then pinned it to the top of the towel to gauge how big I wanted my hood to be.  I ended up cutting off about three inches off of each end.  Then either zig zag the ends or fold over for a nicer looking edge, and sew.

Step 2:  I wanted a pleat in the back of my hood.  If you would like the same, read on.  If not, skip this step.  Fold your bath towel in half, right sides together.  Place a pin in the middle.  Decide how big you want your pleat to be.  I think I measured out a half inch or an inch on each side and placed pins there.  There should now be three pins in your towel.  Take out middle pin.  Pull the two pins together, and squish flat the middle part. The squished part should be on the wrong side of the towel. Pin all pieces of the towel together.  Sew over the pleat.  Reinforce a lot!

 Here is the pleat pinned and then sewn together.  There should be a "V" on the right side of the towel.

Step 3:  Fold hand towel in half, right sides together.  Sew the long side together.  Press flat and sew across the seam on the wrong side, a few times so it will lay flat. (If you want to.)  Turn right side out.

This is the back of the towel sewn and tacked down.  If you want it to lie flat, sew perpendicular to where you just sewed.

Step 4:  You should now have a hood! Sew ribbon over the top of the hood where you want to.  I did mine right on the edge.  I also folded the ribbon over a little big underneath so it wouldn't fray, hopefully.

Another way to do the hood is to sew a curved line at the back.  This makes the hood not so pointy.

Step 5:  Match the middle of the hood to the pleat in the towel (which is the middle).  Pin along the hood, right sides together.  Sew.

And you're done!  If I'm confusing, or you'd like to try something else, here are all of the blogs I used for inspiration:

Crazy little Projects
Sew Like My Mom
Designs By Sessa

And a few more than I can't remember. Google: Hooded towel tutorial or email or comment with questions!

HERE COMES THE GOOD PART!!  Lately, I have been working on baby legs and bows for friends.  I've gotten all of the supplies to make one of these awesome tie onesies from Crap I've Made for my friend L, and I made one of these swaddler socks for my best friend, S!

And I just finished mine for MY SWEET BABY GIRL coming in January!!! We are so excited! :D We took the boys to the ultrasound and they loved it.  It was so neat to see our sweet baby.  Everything is looking good and she is growing right on track!!  

What do you want to see next? my tie onesie when it's done?  The pallet bookshelf?  Some babylegs?  Or my photo board I'm making?  It should be done this weekend.  Talk to you soon!! :D xoxo

“It is my business to create” –William Blake as quoted in “P.S. I love you

I have this innate desire to create, and I think many if not all people do.  For some it’s the perfect code in a program, for others it’s beautiful music or a perfect pot roast. 

I never liked math and I’ve never been told that my singing is amazing.  I like to cook and I think I’m doing a pretty good job at creating people out of little people.

For me, creating is sewing, sanding, painting, cross-stitching, quilting, cooking, fluting (is that a word?), singing and writing.

No matter what my talent, I keep practicing and trying.  When the day is done, the munchkins are asleep, and my husband has reassured me that I’m a good mom, (even if I don’t feel like one) I like to create.

Every parent knows or at least feels that parenthood is a slow process with small rewards: a hug here, a smile there, kids finally sharing.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m not trying to be another cookie-cutter housewife and I hope you don’t perceive me as such.  Most of my creations are given away because it makes me happy to make someone else happy.  I love to be able to make something with an obvious end result, unlike cleaning or dishes that I will have to do all over again tomorrow.  Anyone can do what they love most no matter their circumstances. 

If there is one thing I have learned in the last 25 years, it is to stay true to who I am and who I've always been.  So this is ME! :D 

P.S. (you thought I was going to say I love you) Stay tuned! I have big projects and a big surprise for next week! No guessing!

My Newest Adventure!

So, I haven't been doing my normal crafty things lately.  I'm a little scared to saw my pallet and I need a different sewing needle to finish my hooded towel.  Boo. But my friend C showed me how to bead a few weeks ago!  And here are the things I've made from left to right are oldest to newest creations.

Pay no attention to the cup design.  It's the only thing I could think of that would show all of my earrings.  I really like my newest earrings on the right.  I scored these awesome shell beads from the thrift store.  Well worth my money.  The middle pair turned out well, but are a tad too long for my liking.  The thing not on the cup is called a "bead bomb".  It's a bunch of beads on wire, all woven in and out.  I plan to put it on a bracelet or necklace eventually with other trinkets/charms.  

This was a cool ring I made at my mom's in Minnesota.  Unfortunately, I left it in the locker at the temple, and they threw it away with the old lockers because they were getting new ones. :( Boo. Again. Oh well.

I don't know a whole lot about beading yet, but I have always wanted to do it! And now I am!  If you'd like me to share my tidbits of knowledge, I would be glad to!  What have you been crafting lately?

Drum roll please...

My husband got me a pallet!! I am so excited to make those pallet book shelves I mentioned earlier! Update on the hooded towels: no progress for a while.  I think I need a bigger sewing machine needle for sewing through the towels.  Two layers was too much apparently.. :(  Sorry for the lack of posts. I am lazy like my friend L the lazy  blogger. See ya peeps! (and eat your peeps....)

Bathtoy Bag

Have you ever been to the Make it and Love it blog by Ashley?  I love it! I'm pretty sure I check for new posts multiple times a week.  Recently she had a post with fifty things to do/make for kids.  They were all tutorials that she had already done.  I've done a few of them, and found a good idea for one more: a Bathtoy bag!  I bough some mesh material from the remnant bin a few weeks ago and wanted to make a holder/bag thing for all of R's toys but didn't know how to begin.  So, instead, I made this:

and my bathtub thanks me for it!! No longer, is the bathtub in the main bathroom covered in toys.  I found the tutorial here at the Make it and Love it website.  Mine isn't as fancy as hers.  But I figured, I have two little boys, who could care less about ribbon and frills, so why bother? :D

I got these fancy hooks at Lowe's because let's face it, Lowe's is better quality than Wal-Mart.

And that's it!  Next up, I think is a Hooded Towel!! I'm really excited and hoping to start it tonight!  

What are you up to lately?  Any crafts up your sleeves? 

Belated Christmas Pants!

They aren't really Christmas pants.  They are just Pajama pants.  But it sure sounds festive!!  So, there was this one time when I decided how cool it would be to make pajama pants for my kids for Christmas....the only problem was that it was mid-December!  But I made them anyway!

I used this tutorial that I found online.  And they turned out ok. The instructions were a little confusing at times.  I made R's first and the waistband didn't quite work out but luckily R is still really skinny.  B's turned out much better! For a long time, like a month, B had to wear his pajama pants whenever he found them.  Even if it wasn't bed time!  These pajama pants are special because I made pajama pants out of the same fabric when I was a teenager! I love them! They probably won't fit by next Christmas, but that's ok.  I want to make homemade Christmas pajama pants a tradition. :D

I have lots of projects I am working on and lots that I have in my head.  I currently tried to make a stretchy baby shirt from a pattern and it was kind of a failure, but I learned a few things and will try again another time!

This is my failed baby shirt.  It crossed over at the neck and was very simple.  My fabric was off-grain though and some of instructions, like overcasting, weren't necessary and made it slightly  harder.  Live and learn!  Some of my ideas include making a fabric covered picture board with this fabric:

So cute!!  And a wood pallet book shelf like the one found over here.  How awesome would that be?!  Or some hooded bath towels.  You can find a link.  There are lots.  Stay tuned! :D

Men's Wallet

Have I told you how much I love to make things? Oh yeah, I have....Well, this Christmas I decided to do all homemade gifts.  And no, I wasn't being cheap.  I believe that gifts mean more when more effort and thought is put into it.  So, I had to come up with something for my brother-in-law J.  He lives far away and I don't talk to him a whole lot.  So I decided, that as a man, he could always use a wallet.  I, of course, don't have much money for fabric so I used some old sunday pants and some ripped maternity pants.  Ha, ha.  Sshhh, don't tell him I said that....

As you can see, I didn't get a picture of the outside, but it is green like that middle part.  These are the pockets.  It turned out way too bulky for my liking so next time I will try more lighweight fabrics.  J says he is using it for his hunting calls and licenses and stuff! Neat! If you want to see how I did it, or make one for yourself, I used this tutorial from Modest Maven.  Who, I am now following.  I love crafting blogs.  

P.S. Thanks friends for commenting on my last post! It made my day! :D