CTR towel

This last Saturday we were invited to a baptism for one of Savannah's friends. We wanted to take her something special for her baptism, so we bought an 8 pk of large white towels at Costco for $18 (since Savvy is getting baptized this year we know we'll use them all). I then appliqued the CTR shield on one of them. It made a special gift for her. I wish I could remember where I have seen this, so I could give them credit, but I have no clue. Just know I didn't come up with this on my own.

Apron

So I made this apron today. The tutorial can be found here. I like it, but it was my first attempt and the tutorial is a bit vague. I think the next one will turn out better.

Superhero cape

For a primary activity a month ago I was asked to make a child's cape. This was the result. I followed the online tutorial here, and just appliqued on it the CTR shield. I actually made 2, and my kids loved them. Easy, playful, fun.

Car seat tent, toddler purses, and a car cozy!! Phew!

My cousin is due with a girl in May. It's her fourth baby so I thought it'd be fun to do a little gift for each of the four. For the baby, I made a carseat tent. I think this idea is brilliant. No more throwing a blanket over the handle and chance it slipping off the sleeping baby. The fabric is bright and springy, don't you think?




I can't seem to find the exact tutorial I used, but they are all similar give or take a few inches depending on the size of your baby's carseat. Just google "carseat tent tutorial". :)

There are two girls (about 6 and 4) so I made them Easter purses and flower headbands to match.

The first in a blue pinstripe:


I used these tutorials and modified them/combined them for a custom look:

toddler purse by Adventures in Crafting
gathered pocket tutorial from MADE


I can't find the tutorial for the flower headband - however what I did was cut out two circles of felt. Cut out lots of small circles (don't have to be perfect). One at a time, fold them in half and stitch one small stitch to hold them in place onto one of the felt circles starting on the outside. Add one at a time and alternate which ones lay on top of the others. Then I added a button in the middle. Place your headband between the two felt circles and hot glue the two circles together. Hopefully that quick explanation makes sense.

Here is the second purse:


For her little boy, I made a car cozy, tutorial from Homemade by Jill.


The cars fit in the numbered pockets. I didn't have any duckcloth, so I used a car print flannel instead. I thought it was a perfect fit.

Fold in half:


Fold over in thirds:


Velcro the belt onto the front and you're little boy's hands will be busy waiting at the doctor's office, during church, or in the car!

Peeps

If you're looking for a cute, easy, Easter decoration then check these peeps out. A little bit of felt, paint, and ribbon and you're good to go!

Easter Dresses

Easter dresses done!
I used Simplicity # 5827 view E and added a slip and a chiffon overskirt. I was lucky enough to have all the fabric on hand for the 3 dresses and just bought the zipper and the pink fabric for the belt.

I used a pink sparkle organza and the tutorial here for the flowers and attached it with a rhinestone type button.

Gidget Dress

I don't know how many of you out there follow "So You Think You're Crafty" but they have some fun things and free tutorials :). This last weeks winner made this Gidget Dress and I really wanted to try one so this is how mine turned out.

I didn't follow her pattern to the "T", but I like how it turned out. The pattern I used for the dress was Simplicity 9643 and view A without the collar. I used some nice spring colored cotton fabric.
and for the back.....

I think I might modify this pattern some and make shirts for my other 2 girls.

My Husband is a Dentist

This isn't the reason why I made this little tooth fairy, but isn't she cute? I found the tutorial/pattern here. I followed the pattern pretty closely, except I added a ribbon binding on the top of my skirt after experiencing difficulty attaching it the way the tutorial explained. I'm not sure the button-eyes are my favorite. I might figure out something else for the eyes the next time. The buck teeth are cute, don't you think?

Right now she rests on my OttLite, but will soon be gifted!

Avoid Debt

I recently found this website See Me VT with helpful ways to share the monthly Visiting Teaching messages.

I usually don't do these little hand-outs, but this month I needed something because for one reason or another we couldn't visit our sisters. This month's was a little purse:

I heard a rumor that you could find little chocolate coins in the $1 section at Target, but I couldn't find them at mine. Instead I got Werther's Caramelts...have you tried these? I'm not a huge fan of Werther's Originals, but these Caramelts are so yummy!

Inside the flap of the purse, is the last paragraph of the message, where it talks about how we need to exercise faith in the Savior to be better in sacrificing our wants in order to meet our own and others' needs. The 5 "coins" inside are labeled with 5 things we can do to manage our money wisely and avoid debt. I thought it was actually a great little way to discuss the lesson!

For the Boys

Over at MADE Dana has been "celebrating the boy" for the whole month of February. This inspired me to make a few boy things as well.

First I made a pair of pants for our little Mister.
I used a really great tutorial here - I just had to adjust the pattern down to a 1 year old size (it is in a size 3). I used fabric I had in my closet. The stripe fabric is a linen and I'm not sure what the other is called, but it looks just like khaki pants material.

Maybe the back pocket is a touch big, but oh well.

I really liked the cuffs. They were a nice touch.

So if you have a little guy, give this pattern a try. It was not difficult, but super cute.
Next....
Then I made a blessing outfit for my soon to be born nephew. My little sister is expecting a little guy here in a couple of weeks. I was glad she chose out the same pattern I made for my little guy, it made things a little easier for me.

I used McCall pattern 3063. And honestly, I just used what I had in my fabric closet (there is a lot in there believe me). Not exactly sure what the stuff is called, but hey it looked good.

I hope my little sister likes it!

Valentine Skirt and Top

It's sunny today...perfect for a photo shoot! So we changed into the special outfit, snapped some pics and then hurried inside to change back into play-clothes so we could run around outside. This is about the extent of a photo shoot with a toddler. I realize the pictures look a little strange with her head cropped off, but I don't want her sweet face on the internet.

I found a white t-shirt on clearance at Target and this is where the project began. The black and white taffeta worked perfectly with the red (it's felt...wish I could've used something more fitting for the taffeta, but I was determined to use only what I had on hand). I eyeballed the skirt as I cut it out (should've made it longer in the back to allow for the diaper. Oh well, next time). I cut a strip of red felt and stitched a gathering line down the middle. Gathered it to the ruffle I wanted, and sewed it along the bottom skirt hemline.

The shirt is similar to several "tuxedo" styles I've seen across "blogland". I simply cut a u-shaped piece of felt and stitched it right to the top of the collar line in front. Then I sewed a ruffle to match the skirt and stitched it around the "u". I added a couple black buttons, stitched a ruffle around the collar, and called it good. The collar stretched quite a bit, but shrunk up a little in the wash.
Since you can't see her hair-clip in this picture, I took a separate close-up to show you the details. Super simple folks. Two felt hearts with a small snap-clip inside. I cut a small slit on the back heart to allow the metal part to stick out. Then I stitched around the edges.



Did you notice the customized, matching doll she's hugging? If you missed the post about the doll, click here. After all, what little girl doesn't want a doll that looks like them!

My fabric Valentine

Over at Sew Mama Sew blog they had a fabric Valentine contest. They provided a tutorial for the envelope and card, and you supplied the design. So I decided I'd give it a try. I didn't win anything, but it was fun anyway. This is what I came up with-

A faux suede envelope with a crochet edge and held together with a heart button.
Inside-


And then for the card-

I love owls, and I knew I had to apply one to my card. It is times like these that I wish I had an embroidery sewing machine, but since I don't I stitched the writing with my machine using a narrow zigzag, and a close button hole width stitch.

RUFFLED

From the title I'm sure you can guess what I've been up to. Yes, indeed lots and lots of ruffles. My inspiration the "can can skirt". And once I started I knew I had to do 3 skirts. In the pattern she uses cotton fabric for the main portion and non-fray chiffon for the ruffles. I decided to use only fabrics I have on hand, so I used a red satin for the main skirt and a chiffon with sparkles for the ruffles. It did fray, so I just cut it, and did a rolled hem on the edges before I ruffled it. If you have the non-fray, it would definitely save you some serious time. My skirts were a little more formal, but I think perfect for Valentines day!

Once I made the skirts, I realized they needed a top to go with them, so I used a very generic shirt pattern and made them each a shirt. I used a cream knit that I had on hand and just appliqued on a heart and added the ruffles on the sleeves.

My girls were excited to wear them to school the other day, for their Valentine's parties. Lydia dumped rootbeer on hers 2 hours later, I washed it (and I was amazed at how well it washed on the gentle cycle). By evening she had cut 2 holes in the shirt :/. Darn it, I thought reinforcing her to only cut paper with the "kids scissors" would be effective. I was wrong......

Now Savannah is telling all her friends, that "I" will make them each one.

One Wild Suit!

I'm sure you're wondering "What in the world is that!" Well, that my friend is snake skin spandex. Isn't it awesome! My mom picked it up for me, and I didn't really know what I'd do with it. I thought maybe I could make a white elephant gift or something. However, the other day Paige's dance teacher asked me to make costumes for her class for the recital. Well before we purchased the material I figured I'd better make a practice suit (since I've never sewn on spandex, let alone a dance suit). So I made Paige this crazy cool dance suit.

From start to finish it took me less than an hour- That included converting my serger to coverstitch. I'm so excited about this feature! It made the suit look very professional.

I don't know if something is wrong with me, but I actually thought it was darling?

Sparkly clothespins

This weekend I had a baby shower for my little sister, and I made these sparkly clothespins to hold up a onesie garland. I just painted the clothespins a pale blue, and used a craft glue spray and put glitter on them (Martha Stewart topaz blue). Then I just hot glued buttons on them. Easy peasy! I loved how they sparkled!


And here they are holding up the garland. I appliqued the white onesies, but I didn't take a close up. It was fun.

Cupcakes

My friend taught me to make these lovelies...aren't they cute?


My friend created these and doesn't want me to share with the world...so if you're interested, email me and I can give you the details! (by the way, they aren't real cupcakes...it's lotion inside! Cute gift, huh?)

By the way, I apologize, the cupcake is sitting on top of my scriptures. I realized that afterwards.

Tile Coasters

These little coasters have been floating around the craft blogs. Have you seen them? Super easy, fun and cheap! Since I'm not much of a kitchen-lover, I actually made lots of these for Christmas give-aways (for some reason, I can't find the pics of those ones right now...) In fact, I was asked to teach a small group craft class on making the tiles! Here's the video tutorial I followed:

Video Tutorial

We made sets of 4. Each person paid $3 to cover supplies (napkins, polyurethane, modgepodge, foam brushes, tiles...which were $0.16 at Home Depot). If you're interested in making some, I recommend shopping at Tuesday Morning for napkins. They have a lot of variety and great prices. (Actually, instead of napkins, I used tissue paper for my Christmas tiles...options, options, options!)

Valentine Wreath

I saw this beautiful wreath and knew I had to try it. I haven't done much with felt and thought this turned out gorgeous and almost luxurious looking! I also found this one, which may have been the original tutorial...not sure.

Note: The wreath was only placed here because that's where the sun was shining! it usually hangs in my kitchen :)

Another Black Apple

Well, it seems Meredith is carrying the blog "weight" here! Way to go Mere! I too have been crafting and sewing a lot these days, but our laptops and internet have not been cooperative. The situation is improving however, so watch out for several posts!

I heard recently that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I decided my little girl needed a Black Apple doll too. Remember how I said our laptops have been sick lately? Well, I couldn't print out the templates. So I drew my own. I was surprised how close it turned out! The idea actually came from a valentine skirt/top that I made for L. She needed a little matching doll to carry around, right? So here's the final product (I will soon get a picture of the outfit and post):