A few baby gifts

Sweet baby Nash is here so a few welcome gifts were in order.  Before Wade was born one of my husbands co-workers gave us a bunch of their old baby stuff.  One of the items I inherited was a bassinet.  I had always thought it would  be fun to have a bassinet because they are so cute, but kind of a waste of money when I already had a pack and play for my baby to sleep in.  So I was so excited to have one just fall into my lap, but there was only one small problem...it was ugly!  So after a lot of trial and error I finally managed a decent looking recovery.

 Doesn't he just look so comfy in there?  I really love how it turned out!  I'm really sorry I don't have any before pictures, but it was pretty bad.  It was pastel green with this lacey ruffle all around it, just gross. 

It's definitely not perfect, but certainly looks a lot better.  Basically I deconstructed it, sewed over the pieces, and tried to put it back together as best I could.  There's a little plasticy(?) foam pad the baby sleeps on and I don't know what used to cover it because when I got it there was nothing.  So I made a comfy minkee matress cover and that's probably my favorite part.  If you want to know, the fabric is Riley Blake.

For another gift I made a plush raccoon.  I used this great tutorial.  It was a very easy project and took no time at all to put together.  I mostly used fleece so he was ultra soft and cuddly and felt for the accent pieces. Mine turned out a little smaller than the tutorial, I don't think I printed the pattern out correctly.  But it turned out to be a perfect size for a newborn!

And the final gift was actually for babys daddys birthday, even though baby will be the one to wear it.  It's a jersey (kind of) with his name on it.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I hope his dad likes it as well. 

This is probably my biggest sewing accomplishment yet.  I have this kind of hatred for gerber onesies, I don't know why, I just don't like them.  So I tried to make my own, and I think it turned out pretty awesome!  I traced a 6 month onesie I had and sewed them together with the help of this tutorial.  I made bais tape out of jersey to give the edges a finished look and that was by far the hardest part.  The name and number are freezer paper stenciled on.  I think I may have to make this a tradition and make him a new jersey ever year so he'll always have one that fits!

Welcome Baby Nash!

Tangled

I had some of my own projects during our craft week extravaganza that Hayley already posted about.  Of course they turned out cuter with her help than if I would have done them alone.  Pictures are slow to come, but you've all seen the finished nursery now and the boys' Halloween costumes will be shown off soon.

I knew I wanted to make Zaya a braid/wig for her birthday since she LOVES the movie Tangled.  I didn't realize she was getting two fancy Tangled dresses as well so it worked out perfect.  I bought some yellow yarn and cut it in strips using Jack as my model since he's barely taller than her. The length was more than double what I wanted it to end up since we looped the yarn around the headband to make it thicker and studier.  We tied it in a knot around an elastic headband (I think it's a slip-knot--this is where Hayley was so helpful!?) since I didn't want to rely on sewing or gluing--then I just started braiding.  We hot-glued some flowers on after and I think it turned out really cute.  (My model is folding his arms in defiance since he had to be photographed wearing something for a GIRL!)

And here it is on the pretty princess who was hard to snap a photo of in the middle of her tea party!



Craft Week Extravaganza!

So it may not have been that extreme, but we sure got a lot of sewing and crafting done during my recent visit to St. George! 

Just to name a few:

We got started on some curtains for Shelly's nursery, made a cushion cover for her rocking chair, sewed up some pirate pants, fabric painted a special birthday shirt, made a cowboy vest, sewed a simple summer skirt, attempted some comfy knit baby pants, and Shelly even created an adorable tangled braid for her neice.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of everything because some things will just have to wait until Halloween, or until the nursery is finished.  But I do have a few pictures to prove how productive we were!

First up, a Captain America shirt for superhero Ryan!

I guess Ryan is a big fan of Captain America right now, so I gave freezer paper stenciling a shot to create this tee.  And I must say, I'm very pleased with the results!  The perfect Captain America shirt to match his "america" headband. 

  A shot of freezer paper stenciling in action.  One thing that I did learn is that it's okay to iron freezer paper over dried fabric paint.  I did the red circles first, but then to paint the white I had to iron freezer paper over them.  

I was pretty sure I had ruined the shirt because of the burning smell it emitted while ironing, but in the end it was perfectly fine.  If anything I needed to iron longer because paper was not sealed very well so I had white paint leak onto the red that I had to later go back and touch up.

Next, a super simple skirt.  

We used the fabulous and oh-so-easy tutorial found on the awesome blog MADE.  And seriously, it was so easy!  

Sadly, the skirt was a gift for Shelly's niece, and the our model flat out refused to try it on for fear of being a girl.  Wade was easily coerced into trying it on, but because of his rather petite build he looked ridiculous, and I'm sure he would never forgive me if I put a picture of him in a skirt for all the world to see.  

So instead this will just have to do!

Cute, huh?  And luckily I have just enough fabric left to make another for a certain little princess... if only her mother would get me her measurements!

One last thing!  The single reason this craft week was so successful was thanks to my parents and their amazing birthday gift to me.  This is my new best friend!  It makes sewing clothes (and knit/jersey) a breeze! I can't wait to show you all the fun projects I have in store now that I have her!

Dear sisters,



Your birthday presents may be late, but you can get excited for what's coming by looking at Betsy's gift that she took home this weekend.  Yours will be a different color, but I hope you like your cute tote bag with a big bow!  They're taking me longer than expected, but with one done, the other two should go quicker.  I need to make myself one too.



Also, while Bets and Mom were visitng--we got crafty and got some supplies for this craft I saw on Pinterest:

It's a little time-consuming to wrap the wreath with yarn, but super easy to do while watching TV and the finished product is so cute.  There will probably be leftover yarn if you want to join in the fun.  Now I need to get back to nursery projects and finish that room soon before I run out of time!

Buttercup bag

A couple months ago, I made Cricket a little purse for her birthday. I knew she was getting a cell phone and going on a trip to Disneyland with her grandparents so I thought it would be something cute and useful.

I used the free pattern for the Buttercup Bag on Made By Rae. It only takes a fat quarter of fabric for the outside print, along with a little fabric for the lining and a magnetic snap. Overall, quick and easy, and perfect for a gift or to use for yourself when you're not carrying a big diaper bag.


A shot of the inside with a little souvenir money tucked in the pocket.

Family Tree Wall Hanging

I've had the idea for this project in my head for awhile now. I finally got around to making it for mom for mother's day, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. I got my initial idea from this pillow, and then went from there. Here's the finished project:



I tried my hand at free-motion quilting on the leaves. The first few didn't turn out so well, but once I got the hang of it it went by pretty quick, and turned out to be very addicting. I embroidered mom and dads initials and the year they got married on the tree trunk. The names by the leaves were just written in sharpie (thank you Betsy, we all know my handwriting is terrible!), and a few of the leaves are left blank for when new kiddos come along.

I love the way it turned out, and I think mom likes it too. Now if I could only figure out how to make one for my little family of four without it looking ridiculous.

A July Project

I celebrated the 4th of July this year by finishing an unfinished project. I thought my project for the day was going to be sorting through all my fabric and organizing it into new little plastic bins. But I found this cute "America" I had stitched from who-knows-how-many-Julys ago in a bin of red, white and blue fabric. So instead of "organizing" it into a new bin, I sewed it into this wall hanging. I think it turned out to be a pretty fine way to celebrate a "too-hot-to-go-outside" holiday!

A June Project

On June 23, 2011 my Aunt Roma, who is my Mom's sister, turned 90 years old! We were invited to a birthday picnic for her the following Saturday. I really wanted to give my aunt 90 presents, but since I didn't know what she might want or need that I could afford, this is what she got. . . . . . a thought-a-day for 90 days!

I found 90 little thoughts or quotes and matched them up with a little Mary Engelbreit picture. After they were all typed and glued onto scrapbook paper, I took them to a copy shop to have the spiral binding attached. Just in case I'm not alive to make you one of these books when you turn 90 years old, here are my top ten favorite quotes:

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back

and realize they were the big things."

"A small house will hold as much happiness as a big one."

--early American proverb

"Learn that nothing very bad or very good ever lasts very long."

"Wear a smile and have friends, wear a frown and have wrinkles."

--George Eliot

"Enjoy when you can and endure when you must."

--Goethe

"Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want."

"Remember that triumph is just a little "umph" added to "try"!"

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more;

whine less, breathe more; hate less, love more;

and all good things will be yours."

--Swedish Proverb

Don't forget little kindnesses and don't remember small faults."

--Chinese Proverb

"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

Craft Catch-Up

I'm itchin' to do another project, but remembered I haven't shared my last projects yet. I did a super cute felt name for Sarah's baby shower. Hayley shared this link with me for the idea. Super easy!

And I finally finished LuLu's vintage baby quilt, the pattern was a gift from Hayley and cute fabric from mom who bought it in St. George a year ago when we were hoping my bun in the oven might be a girl. Also fairly easy, I can handle sewing in straight lines. And the finished product, uber, duber CUTE!

Check it out...

So you know how I created that bookmark site to keep track of all kinds of crafty ideas and inspiration? Well, I'm sure you all check it about as much as I do (rarely) and even if you were looking for something you saw before, it's not easy to find again. I saw this post the other day on a blog I follow that was filled with cute ideas for a spring party. Then I followed the link for Pinterest where you can see all kinds of inspiration this blogger tagged. The site is described as "a place to catalog the things you love" and I love the idea! I requested an account and haven't heard back yet, but this will be a much easier way to not only mark things I find online and love, but then be able to find later and actually be inspired by when I'm ready to do something crafty! Do you follow me or am I a dork!? Stay tuned and you'll want your own account, I'm sure.

Changing Pad Cover

I originally wasn't going to post about this project because it's kind of stupid, but it was so easy I thought I'd share so those of you expecting would know how ridiculously simple it is to make your own changing pad cover. Not to mention it's super cheap!

I was very generous with my seam allowances and such so it's a little baggy in places, but it gets the job done. Not too shabby for just winging it. And the best part is that it only took me one hour, and that was while being distracted with two little ones! As always, I happened upon a tutorial for Changing Pad Covers the day after I finished mine. Theirs is much prettier. Now I'll have to make a few more since I now see how cute they can be!

I guess he doesn't like it...

Church quiet books

My friend told me about this good idea she came across for church quiet book printables. Coloring in church only lasts for so long and even for kids that don't read yet, I think the pictures would be good to look at. Check the site out and from there you can link to the different books. They can all be printed as 4x6 photos and bound or hooked together with rings.

Here's another link to download conference packets for different ages of kids, just in time for tomorrow. Actually that site is a fun resource to check when you have to teach on Sunday, whether it's primary or Young Women...just to get more ideas if you need. Have a good weekend!

Hem jeans with original seam

I mentioned how I hemmed my jeans to a couple of you and never got around to sharing the tutorial I found. I misplaced the link, but found a similar tutorial that explains the process. In my pic below, you can see the fold just above the hem from where I took an inch in, but I don't think it's noticeable when I'm wearing them at all. Let me know if you have any questions if you want to try it!

Crayon Roll

So I know there are plenty of tutorials floating around the internet for crayon rolls, so this is nothing new or unique, but I'm pretty proud of it. I actually made it for our flight back to Utah to try and distract Wade with something new. It definitely did it's job! I still don't think he fully comprehends what crayons can really do... he just likes to pull them out and put them back.

Best part about this project is that it was absolutely free! I used my scraps I had left over from the Heather Bailey Ring Stacker Toy I made for Luke for his first birthday, which unfortunately I never did take a picture of.

Linking up to...

My Latest Obsession

My sisters mentioned an organizing blog they sometimes look at called Sunny Side Up, well, I'm hooked. I drool over her before and after pictures of closets she has organized. Weird, I know. But here are some of my before and afters. I couldn't help myself.

First, my spice cupboard. Overflowing. Look at how much stuff was in there! Now, all nicely organized and I don't have to pull out every single jar until I find what I need buried in the back. Next up, my baking cupboard. I don't know why I have a baking cupboard because this stuff rarely gets touched. I forgot to take the picture with all this junk still in the cupboard, but you get the idea. I found new spots for those rarely used items and put my regularly-used cookbooks here instead. And nice little (what I had on hand) containers for those little things. Now, the junk drawer. This is embarrassing to even post, but this is what it was and it only got opened to throw more junk inside. And wouldn't you know it, it was ALL junk. I threw so much garbage away. The drawer was so empty that I filled it with tools that I was too lazy to take outside to the shed. Now the real reason I started organizing anything. My utensil drawer. I hate digging through this drawer hunting down what I need. I decided to just get rid of stuff I never use or have five of or is just kind of cheap. I would rather have nice things than a drawer full of junk. And now . . . look at this thing of beauty! I love opening this drawer! I love to find what I need, I love that it looks like this every time I empty the dishwasher and put something away, I love carefully putting each measuring spoon in place. Ahh. I'm sure this love affair will wear off quickly. It has only been a week and Brandt has yet to open this drawer, but for now, I'm in love.

Onesie Dress

So cute, I just couldn't resist. This tutorial from Prudent Baby was called the 10 Minute Onesie Dress. Ya right. But it did get done and it did turn out cute. I have so much cute fabric that I can't wait to make some more.

Knit Baby Blanket

I saw this super cute tutorial the other day and just couldn't resist making one for my upcoming baby! I've only ever tried sewing with knits once before this (sorry Betsy!) but this tutorial made it look sooo easy. I did have a much easier time than before, but I'm still not super happy with the results. I finished this in about an hour and a half, and I think if I slowed down and took my time it would have turned out much nicer.

Don't look too close, my stitching is terrible!

Close up of the cute fabric...

And now I'm all set to bring this little one home, just have to patiently wait until he's ready!

Ironically enough I ran into this roundup the very next day, a whole slew of tip and tricks for sewing with knits! I will definitely be trying again very soon.

A January Project

I don't know if this qualifies as a creative craft project or just some cute craziness. Earlier this month I saw an interesting idea for a perpetual calendar-journal. I thought I would try it out, but I didn't feel like cutting up index cards or looking for a basket. Instead, I decided to use a composition notebook and divide it into months and days. Because the composition notebook has only 100 pages . . . and because I wanted to have one page per day . . . I decided to make this book just for winter. . .


Of course, I can never do anything simple and efficiently. No, no, no. I have to cutify everything I touch . . . so the first pages are a winter collage made from my stash of Mary Engelbreit (the queen of cute) calendar pages. I divided the book into three sections for the three winter months: December . . . January . . . and February.

I even made spiffy tabs for each section!

The plan is to write a couple lines each day all year. Then next year I will write a few more lines underneath the 2011 entries. . . and so on and so forth. I'm hoping it will be fun to read about the past years at the same time I write in new stuff. And if it works, I plan to make a book for the other three seasons, too. Most likely, it will be so dumb I will want to do what my Mom attempted to do with all her diaries before she died--toss them! Oh well, it's more fun than putting away the rest of my Christmas decorations which is what I should have done by now.