Shower and gifts...some baby stuff

A month ago I hosted my last shower for a while. Nothing fancy, but I found a few cute things. I did a transportation theme because I found cute papers. Used the big cut outs (was a scrap book kit from Target) to tape to wooden dowels and gum balls for centerpiece.
Cut some small airplanes from one paper and taped to fishing line and hung to ceiling.

Used coordinating vellum baby boy themed papers to put in Target dollar spot frames and wooden toys to decorate...let the mom take home the frames as part of gift.

Of course did the paper dot garland (I'm addicted to making them for everything).
The gift...Target dollar spot came in handy when they had these adorable fabric buckets. Filled it with hoodie towel and baby soaps and goodies.

Another boy gift...a hoodie towel (tutorial on right side column) and bought a soft waffle knit blanket and appliqued an initial on it.

Then it went in this fabric bucket with a few other goodies. :)

On another note, if you are live in the area and would like to come to a sewing bee/class I'm hosting check out the details on my Huntsville Craft Club group...button in the right column. Just let me know if you're coming so I can save you a spot! :)

In the sewing room

Maressa and I spent some time in my sewing room the other day. I had just cleaned up/out my room and found a giant pile of WIPs (work in progress). These were items I had started one day and never finished. Some years old, some from just a month ago. Some things had old been cut out and some things had the last hem pinned and ready to sew. I also have a sizable pile of things to be fixed. So I decided to get a start on these piles so things could be moved up and out.

Here is one giant pile....

And another...

Here is what I got done. Fixed K's pants that got a hole, the waist in an old skirt that Mar inherited from K, finished some Thomas pj pants I started for Micah, finished a super hero cape for Z that was supposed to be for Christmas last year and some ruffle pants I started for Mar. I also cut off the bottom of a dress I made for Mar last year that had button hole 'issues' and put in an elastic band to make a skirt.

Also finished this scrap patch pillow for my living room.

Anyway, back to about Maressa (2.5 years old) being with me. Even though I was sewing we had a nice morning together. I totally believe that this time can be shared. I do NOT want my crafting/sewing to be one of those things that I ignore my kids and do my own thing. I love sharing my room with them. Maressa is not big enough to learn to sew like Kalla. But I have given her a corner of my room to sit and look at books and play. This particular morning she sat up in a stool/chair at my table and colored while we oohed and aahhhed over her scribbles....

and I give her all my empty spools which she likes to stack and string on a plastic string...

to make a necklace.

And she served the one eared dog (in for repairs) 'coffee', ice cream and 'amburgers'. We had a very nice time together. :)

My furniture finds...the joy of thrifting

A month back I went thrifting looking specifically for furniture. I needed storage in my dining room in a bad way. I was so happy to find this really large dresser for only $50 in really good condition at Salvation Army. PERFECT for my dining room. It holds all my candles, table cloths, napkins and placemats, some seasonal stuff and party type stuff. And it has a nice surface on top that can be used as a buffet. As for the decoratey type stuff, I found the star on clearance at Hobby Lobby, the grass thingy at Target and 'shopped' the other parts of the house for the rest. I may one day paint it, but I like it as it is for now. :)

This little side table I got for $8 at a junky thrift store. Remember these tables from the 60's/70's? This one is turned on it's side and painted bright red. I love how contemporary the lines were and the height it gives beside the chair for a nice nickel finished desk lamp (from Target).

And speaking of Target. This little bistro was on the clearance aisle and I got the 3 pieces for nearly nothing. Perfect little something for the empty corner of my living room and matches the curtains! ;)

Stuffies and Pillows with kid art

As you know I really like homemade gifts. I'm trying to involve the children more in making things for others. So when it was time to send something to my niece who was turning 2 years old, I enlisted Kalla's help in making a gift. We made a unicorn stuffie (and I made an initial tee as well). I had Kalla draw a unicorn (one of her fav things to draw) on a piece of pink twill fabric with fabric markers. Then I carefully cut around the drawing trying to keep a little of it's shape. Then I placed that piece face down on top of another piece of twill fabric and cut a piece to match. Then I sewed them together leaving a hole to stuff it. Then of course you just reverse the piece and sew up the hole. Voila handmade cute stuffie.

When drawing the unicorn the first time, Kalla got too close to the edge for me to make a good shaped stuffie with it, so we turned it into a rectangle pillow instead and she kept this one for herself (since she wrote a 'K' on it anyway).

Of course, Zachary wanted to make one too. ;)

Fabric Finds...Head over to your local Hobby Lobby

While I am so happy that Hobby Lobby carries lovely in house printed fabrics, I am ecstatic when they get in a few designer pieces. The other day I was there checking the clearance/end of bolt bin they were putting out these juicy Michael Miller cords. Mmmm mmmm! Cord 3 tier twirl skirt and fun pants for the girls!

And I previously found these lovely seasonal Alexander Henry prints. Fun vintage looking holiday and this nice fall paisley. Holiday tdress and paisley twirl skirt with a squirrel tee for Maressa.

Run don't walk to your Hobby Lobby. Designer prints never stay in stock...especially with people like me needing 3 yards at a time! ;)

Make canvas art with free printables

Yesterday browsing blogs I came across a link to free printable art on a site called Feed Your Soul via How About Orange. I knew we needed the sleeping squirrel one being that 2 year old LOVES squirrels and we in fact are having nap time protests. lol
So I figured she could use some inspiration hanging by her bed. I didn't want to just hang the picture for her to eventually tear up, nor did I want it framed because 2 year olds don't have the reputation for leaving things alone that they can reach. So I came up with this idea. I already had some 8 X 11 blank canvases (my crafting pack rat tendencies come in real handy for instant crafting gratification). So to turn your free printable or any 8 X 11 printed paper into art on canvas keep reading. :)


Just need your canvas, print and mod podge. First I printed my art onto white cardstock. This squirrel print is just the right size. I did some others too and some of the prints are a bit larger. I simply trimmed them to fit the canvas.

Now apply a layer of mod podge to the front of the canvas and one to the back of your printed cardstock. Place the print carefully on the canvas and smooth. Let dry (if you get impatient like I did with the first one and you go ahead and do your top layer when the bottom is still wet it makes your paper a little too wet and it starts rumpling and bending). Now apply a layer of mod podge to the top of the print to seal it.

For my toddlers art I wanted to hang it from ribbon. So after the top dried I turned the canvas over and used a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the top. Take a lighter close to the other raw ends of the ribbon to heat set it to prevent raveling. Then to avoid potential injuries I hung Maressa's art on one of those command strip hooks by her bed. Now we say goodnight to the squirrel at bedtime and at yesterday's nap she was distracted enough by her sleepy painting that she took her nap without the usual screaming routine (disclaimer: in no way do I suggest that cute art by the bed will alleviate bed time woes with toddlers, I'm sure our troubles are not over yet!)

So check out the free art...they have a little something for everybody and I printed several to hang in different rooms and for gifts (after all I did have 6 of those canvases on hand!) :)

A going-away-to-college gift

Our sweet babysitter of 2 years is leaving for college this week. So I gave her a box of goodies to take with her. An initial towel using these bubble letters for template, ribbon key fob, some Target spot fun goodies and some 'study fuel' (gourmet jellybeans).

All in one of those canvas cubes.

It was so nice having a regular babysitter and the kids are really going to miss Miss Kim. They even made her cute cards. :) Wishing her well in college!

Kids Crafts: Collars for their stuffies

Even stuffies need some bling sometimes! This was a fun project for my kids that they could do all by themselves.

All that is needed is some plastic craft beads and pipe cleaners. They simply threaded beads to their liking on the pipe cleaner and then we put it on the necks of their stuffies and twisted the ends together.

Calling all Local Crafters

I've started a Huntsville (AL) craft club on facebook. Anyone is welcome, but the main goal is to find other crafty chicks to hang out with and craft in this area. :) Nothing is organized yet, and it is totally on my whim today. lol Inspired by someone local contacting me through my blog.

Also want it to be a fun place to chat about crafts and share pics of what we do, links to awesome crafts to try that we find on the net and deals at Hobby Lobby. lol

So without further adieu, here's the link. Hope it works as I've not linked anything to facebook before and I've had trouble using ones other have done in the past.

If you live in the area (you don't have to live in Hunstville, just willing to drive there) and it's sound appealing to you please hop on over and introduce yourself.

Stencil yourself some art

I've been in the redecorating mode this summer (between all the parties). I took the wallpaper down in my dining room and painted it and put up my beloved chandelier--spoke of here. Then I realized my framed art on my mantel matched my new dining room better and I needed something brighter to go in my living room (to match some new stuff and better match my curtains--as seen here--I made a while back). Full living room and dining room update post soon.

Anyway, I already had this blank canvas so I decided to make my own art.

To do this you will need:

blank canvas

acrylic paint

freezer paper

sharp cutting blade and mat

You can't see in this picture very well, but draw your image on the freezer paper.
Then cut it out carefully with your blade. I didn't cut it out on every line, but used my drawn image as more of a guide. Remember if you want the color to be the drawing, then be sure to cut it out and the stencil will be the area surrounding that. You could instead use the drawing cut outs to put on your canvas to make those parts white and paint the background of your canvas instead.

Once you have it properly cut out, iron the paper to your canvas carefully.

Then carefully paint inside your stencil. Try to pull your paint away from the edges of the stencil outline as much as you can to avoid bleeding. Then while still wet, carefully pull your stencil up.

And there you have stenciled art. :)

Two very cute handmade kid gifts

My sister visited last week (with her 3 kids and my mom) and brought Kalla and Micah each a belated birthday gift. She made them both and are so adorable and creative I had to share! So get ready to put these on your kids handmade Christmas gift list!

This is Kalla's. It is a small wood box with a handle that she found at Michael's I believe and then mod podged papers and a label on the front.

Inside were all these tiny bears (also found at Michael's).

And on the back is felt and ribbon glued down to make a tic tac toe grid.

This has the super cute and tiny factor that appeals to all little girls...big hit in our house (and yeah, I've got to find the supplies to make Maressa her own...lol). This is going on my kid gift list for little girls and I'm thinking will make a great party favor when I have Maressa's teddy bear picnic party next year. ;)

And this was Micah's game. Dog themed of course...she knows my boy well. She decorated this small box with paper and a dog applique.

Then inside were laminated pictures of him. There were 2 of each to make for a custom game of memory. Too Cute!!

Now for something I made. My sister 'lovingly persuaded' me to 'whip up' a purse for her while she was here. She told me what she wanted down to pockets and all and picked out the fabrics.

This is what we came up with. A quilted messenger style tote with 2 pockets on the front with velcro flaps.

I forgot to take a picture of the back that was the ginger bliss dahlia print quilted around the edges of the flowers. She was happy with it. Now to one day make me my very own cute purse.

Just a little note

I'm going to be fasting from the computer this week. :) I'll be back the next week with more kids crafts, decorating and sewing tutorials!

While I'm gone enjoy one of my fav I Love Lucy clips!