New Stuff I Have Done

When I came across this tutorial for Clothespin Dolls, I was in love. (Thank you Going Sew Crazy for the tutorial!)  I think these will be really cute as a take home for my daughter's birthday party coming up in mid June. I plan to put a little candy in their "hands" or maybe a "thank you for coming" note.

I picked up a jewelry box from goodwill for $3.00 the other day. There was not really anything wrong with it, but I wanted to give it an "adult" update. I need to add the ribbon around the front and bottom to be done. I am really happy about how it has turned out.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Like always, I have more stuff I am working on.

Thanks for coming by!

Busy...busy...busy

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything. We have been busy little bees. My son just turned 4 and my daughter is about to turn 2. I love big birthday parties, which require some work. I have a couple of things I want to show you, but have not uploaded the pictures yet. The weather man says it will rain tomorrow so I should have time to get some stuff done.

I also got a really nice camera for Mother's Day. The Olympus e600. I LOVE Olympus. I can't even tell you when I got my first Olympus. My 4 year old takes pictures with my old stylus which is a 4 megapixel.

I *heart* this camera!






Please keep an eye out for some updated crafts done!!


Thanks!!

Spring Petal Bag

I picked up this bag at the dollar store a while back with all the intentions of making another petal bag. I found a really cute dress for my little one yesterday and finally got motivated to make the bag.

The process is simple and inexpensive. The bag was $1.00, the petals where also $1.00. The bead trim I had on hand, but could  have easily used ribbon.

I glued the petals right onto the bag using hot glue. I staggered the rows.When I got as far up the bag as I wanted to go, I trimmed the petals even. I then glued some pearl bead trim I had sitting around.

It took me no more than 45 minutes.

We're using for Easter eggs tomorrow!!

Thanks for coming by,

Use for Extra Stuff

I got new jeans a while back and happened to keep the hem. (It was about 2 inches.) I had thought that maybe I would make a headband. Looking around the blog world, I began to notice the "fabric flower" trend.

I trimmed the cut end so that it was even. I then hand sewed a running stitch with a knot at the end. I pulled it tight and got a flower!! I then added some buttons in the center. All I have to decide now is if I want to put them on hair clips or headbands.

Another little tid bit. I find myself facinated by empty dvd towers. The last one I had I covered the inside with tissue paper and added a battery operated tea light. With the short tower I finished the other day I had an "aha" moment. There are two cords I use all the time. My ipod cord and the camera cord. They usually are found under the mess on my desk or next to the tower. I coiled them and put them in the tower: PROBLEM SOLVED. It made me smile!!

(I am thinking of cutting holes into the sides so that I don't ever have to open it to use the cords, but can just pull the end out.)

Two post in one day!!

Smile often,

Flower Lantern

I saw a paper lantern "makeover" on craftynest. They show the large lanterns redone. I marked it as something I wanted to remember for future use.

Today at the dollar store, I found a paper lanterns with battery tea light and decided to try it out.


HOW TO:

materials-
1 paper lantern
3 flower stems
hot glue
string and tac (to hang)


Assemble the paper lantern. (I hung mine from my kitchen cabinet so that I could work on it.)

Take the backs of the flowers. Glue the center and petals together. Trim the back off the center so that it is flat.

Glue the flower to the lantern. Make sure the flower petals overlap. Glue some of the petals to the lantern where the flower petals fall away too far.

 

To further fill the space, trim extra flower petals and glue them in where needed. Use them to fill where the lantern images are easily seen.

WHAT I LEARNED:
* Next time I will use smaller flowers. That way can cover the lantern completely. (Like craftynest.)
* I will use lighter colored flowers as well. My lantern had print on it so I needed to cover it, but I think yellow flowers would look really cute as well.
* The lantern I purchased had a tea light that changes color, so having some of the original lantern show was a good idea.
*The whole project took a little over an hour, but next time it should go faster.
* In order for these to be table top, the flowers should not be so close to the bottom.

 The tea light changes colors so I tried to take some pics where you could see that. Sorry for the blur, I could not get my camera to cooperate. (purple, red and green)

 Thanks for stopping by!!

Quick Pillow/ Stuffy Tutorial

I was in Walmart the other day. I was looking at some t-shirts when my little one got hold of one that had Kai-lan on it. Of course, the t-shirt was a size 6 and my daughter is 19 months. She just hugged on it and would not let it go.

That of course gave me an idea when I got home. I made her a Kai-lan pillow out of the t-shirt. I was surprised by how cute it came out and how quickly I got done. Here's how.


Need:
t-shirt
sewing machine
stuffing


Here is the t-shirt I started with:

Turn the t-shirt inside out and pin it together.

I traced a line around the image about half an inch away. This was my sewing line. I pinned along the line so that the shirt did not move. Then just sew, but make sure to leave an opening so that you can turn the shirt inside out. (the picture below is of the shirt sewn.)

Next cut away the excess shirt. I left a little less than half an inch. Also be sure you clip into the excess, being careful not to cut a stich, so that the curves are smooth when you turn it inside out. I forgot to take pictures of this step or when I turned it inside out.

Once it is inside out, stuff and then stitch your opening closed. My little one loved it so much, she took her nap with it.

The whole process took me less than half an hour. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am very new to sewing so if I can do it, anyone can!!


Thanks for stopping by!!

Wall Art

I found this great site called Wordle. I have seen images like these before, but had no idea how they where made. Yesterday I played on this site for over an hour. Then inspiration hit - I should make one of these for my kids.

They came out WONDERFUL so I have to share.

(I am going to paint the frame pink.)


Materials:
paper (resume paper I had laying around)
8x10 picture frame (dollar store)
computer & printer

On wordle I entered each child's name in all capital letters, about 7 times. A word detected more often will be enlarged. I then entered lots of descriptive words for my kids in lower case. For example, my little girl was "sweet, diva, smile, princess." You get the idea.

Once you enter the words, the next stage has to do with the way the final product will look. You can change the font, the orientation of the words, and the color scheme. I found I could not select what color specific words where. (If you find this out, let me know.) Also, there are set color schemes you can use or you can customize your own. I wanted all pink tones for my daughter so I had to find a website that would give me the code for the colors I wanted. In comes this Hex Color Code Generator. I selected the pink tones on the spectrum, found the color scheme suggested, and entered them into wordle.

Once you have the image how you like it, you only have two options: print or save to gallery. I printed mine on some nice resume paper I had left over from my other life.

I purchased an 8x10 picture frame from the dollar store. I took the stand off the back so that I could place it on the wall without the bulk.

Now all you have to do is trim the printed image, reassemble the frame and hang it up. YOU ARE DONE!

I hung mine on their doors using Command Picture Hanging Strips.

As I was falling asleep last night I realized this would make a great wedding gift for a friend. I am going to put in their names with words to describe them and marriage. I also have one made for our family. I have a feeling this site will be on my "go to" list for quick, inexpensive gifts!

I hope you have an much fun as I did.

Thanks for coming by!!