The Itty Bitty Mermaid, Kinley's Halloween Costume

McKinley was a little mermaid for Halloween.  Notice, I didn't say the little mermaid, that would require her to actually wear the red wig I got for her that for some reason she is completely terrified of.  If she even sees it, she cries.
 
Wouldn't this picture of her sitting on a rock be perfect if the rock was in the middle of the ocean and not in the middle of my backyard?  If only I had some good photoshop skills and wasn't lazy! I used this wonderful tutorial from Elegant Bloggery for her tail.  It was really fast to make.  The part that took the longest was adding the fray check.

I never did get a good shot of her standing up to show you the tail. This picture shows the front but was taken before I decided to cinch the tube top in the middle and add a little bling (not to draw attention to her cleavage or anything :0).  I also got some tan dye to color the onesie to make it look more like skin but I never got around to actually doing it!

I just had to post this picture because I have a big case of momma pride.  I love this beautiful, blue-eyed girl and have a hard time resisting posting hundreds of pictures because in each one she's doing a slightly different smile or whatever (I know, I know she is totally my first and only child!). ;o)  Don't worry.  I don't want to turn into one of those people you pass by that pulls you in and takes out their wallet and forces you to sit through hours of looking through family photos.  I will try and resist and only post a few!  I hope you had a happy Halloween!

What I've been up to...

I've been making lots of these little things.  I will be opening up a shop soon to sell these sassy, little pants.

I'm also finishing up Kinley's Halloween costume.  She is going to be adorable!  I can't wait to show you!

"Knot" your average knot.

If you do any sewing at all, you will want to know how to do this knot.  It will change your life!  Ok, maybe that was a little (ok, very) dramatic, but it's a good knot to know!  It makes tying a knot so much easier/faster for me.  Click here for the quick tutorial from Heather Bailey.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I realize there is no shortage of recipes for these floating around out there but I want to put all my favorite recipes on this blog.  I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, I think this may even be my mother-in-laws recipe, I'm not sure.  This recipe makes a ton.  It made about 7 dozen cookies.  I made them on Saturday night and they are already all gone!  No, I did not eat them all. ;o)  You can always cut the recipe down or you can just make them all and share them like I did.

I have had the kind of pumpkin cookies that you make just by mixing a spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin and I like those too but I like these ones a little better so I've stuck with this recipe when I need a lot of cookies like I did this weekend.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 7 dozen

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 T. vanilla

1 large (29 oz) can pumpkin

7 1/2 cups flour

1 T. baking powder

1 T. baking soda

1 T. nutmeg

1 T. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. salt

 1 bag chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl cream together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin.  In a separate bowl mix together remaining dry ingredients (except chocolate chips).  Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Spoon batter onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. 

Felt Flower Clips Tutorial

This is the tutorial I posted for the blog swap the other day but I also wanted to have it here.  So in case you missed it, here it is...

Need to add some sass to your little lady's hair?  A couple of these should do the trick...

Gather your supplies:
-2 small felt squares, one slightly bigger than the other (mine measured 2" squared and 1 3/4" squared)
-one piece of, 3/8" wide ribbon cut to 3 1/2'' long (grosgrain ribbon works well)
-some sort of "bling" for the middle of your flower (I used a rhinestone)
-double prong alligator clip (you can get these for pretty cheap at beauty supply stores, I found mine at Sally's I got 100 clips for about $5.00)
-candle
-lighter
-scissors
-hot glue gun
-hot glue
-non slip shelf liner, optional (I got mine at the dollar store)

1-Heat seal your ribbon (to prevent fraying) by running the ends through the flame of your candle.

2-Sandwich your ribbon between the prongs of your clip, right side facing down.

3-Run a string of hot glue on top of the prong where the ribbon is.

4-Quickly fold the ribbon up and over the top prong.  Pinch the ribbon together to smooth out the glue.  Be careful, the glue is hot!  Remove any excess glue.

5-Continue gluing on ribbon and smoothing it out as you go.  Do just a little bit at a time until you reach the end of your ribbon.

6-Round the corners of your felt, forming two circles.  It doesn't need to be perfect.
7-Cut a slit in the middle as shown in picture.
8-Cut a slit on the opossite side of your last one.  Do the same to the other side.  You will end up with 4 slits.
9-Round all the corners.  This forms your petals.
10-Glue it all together.  Make sure your smaller flower is on top.
11-Glue your flower onto the center of your clip and now you're done!....unless you want to add some "no slip grip" if you're making this for a little lady with fine hair.

12- cut a rectangle of your shelf liner slightly smaller than the base of your clip.
13-Glue on the shelf liner to the back of the top of your clip.
14-Now you are done!  It can now grip onto the finest of baby hair, even a single piece of thread.
15-Repeat steps 1-14 and attach to some cute pigtails.  I love those little whale spouts!

I also made a pair of these to match the "I Scream" onesie I made.

I will be linking to some of these parties.  Check them out for more crafty ideas!

White Chocolate and Cinnamon, Caramel Covered Apples

Back before I had McKinley, when I was working full time, I had a co-worker bring these in to share with everybody but I'm pretty sure I ate almost all of them because they are sooo good!  I couldn't stop myself, and I don't even usually like white chocolate!  This isn't an exact recipe but you can't really mess them up.

White Chocolate and Caramel Apples

-Apples, you can use any kind, but I think green Granny Smith apples would be perfect!

-12-15 caramels per apple.  The kind that is individually wrapped. Kraft sells them, or you can usually buy them by the pound this time of year.  You can also be an over achiever and make your own caramel :0)

-White chocolate (I used a bag of white chocolate chips which covered 5 apples)

-Cinnamon and Sugar, just enough to sprinkle over top

-1-2 Tbsp. water

-craft sticks (popsicle sticks)

1-Wash apples, remove core and stick in craft sticks.  Place apples aside in refrigerator.

2-Remove wrappers off the caramels and place them in a saucepan along with your water.  Melt caramels over medium low heat stirring constantly.  Melt caramels until they all come together but make sure it's not so hot that it's super runny (you want it to be slightly viscous still).

3-You can either dip your apples directly in the saucepan or you can transfer the caramel to a bowl that is tall and narrow so that you can cover the apples in one good dunk!  Dip your apple in the caramel, tip and swirl the apple until you get the desired coverage.  Lift the apple out of the caramel and let drip to remove any excess caramel to avoid a big pool at the bottom of your apple. If you want your apples to look "pretty" I would suggest melting more caramel and chocolate than you need so that you don't have to spoon the caramel on to have the last few apples covered. Place apples onto a lightly greased piece of wax paper on top of a plate and stick the apples in the refrigerator until cool and the caramel is set back up.

4-Melt the white chocolate.  I put the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.  Set your microwave to half power and microwave for 2 minutes.  Take it out stir until smooth and then if needed microwave the chocolate for additional 30 second intervals until you get it to the right consistency.

5-Dip your apples into the chocolate using the same process as in step 3.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and place apples back into the refrigator until cold.

Enjoy.  You are going to love them!  Not to torture you but, I am eating one as I type and it is HEAVENLY!

I will be linking up to some of these parties.  Check them out!

Blog swap with Amy from Naptime Crafters

I am thrilled to have Amy here from Naptime Crafters.  You have to go check out her blog to see all the cute Halloween costumes she made for her family.  Here's Amy...

Wow I'm excited to be blog swapping with Kelli- she is so creative! I really can't get enough :)

I'm Amy and I blog over at naptime crafters. I'd love to have you come visit:) I'm a SAHM to my adorable little miss. During her very brief naps I love to bust out the craft supplies and get busy!! Here's our latest- little miss helped:) 

Materials:

• Halloween Paper
• Black Paint
• Paint Brush
• Googly Eyes
• Tacky Glue
• Chubby little hand:)

1. Prepare your work area. I started with a big piece of orange paper in case it took more than one try: surprisingly it didn't- I seriously couldn't believe it!! Make sure you protect your work surface too

I also stripped little miss down just in case and threw an old t-shirt on to protect my clothes too

2. Paint your kiddo's fingers on one hand- try not to get the thumb since you won't need it.

3. Make 2 hand prints on your orange paper. I repainted her hand in between. Try not to worry about those little smudges- you know grandma will love them:)

4. Paint in a black spider body.

5. Let your spider dry and then cut it out- I decided on a pretty wonky shape. Add some googly eyes with a bit of tacky glue. Add your spider cutout to a folded pieces of Halloween cardstock and you're done.

*If you want to stick this cutey in the mail I think it takes extra postage since it's not flat...

Happy Halloween! Looking for some more fall fun? You can find these Halloween projects over at naptime crafters:

Paper Plate Skeleton

Mr. Pumpkin Toy

Candy Corn Ruffle Tee

Cheerleader Costume

Halloween Finger Puppets

Thanks so much Kelli- it was a blast!!

"I Scream" Shirt Tutorial

I made this "i scream" onesie the other day for a cute little baby.  Do you want to make one?  Well then, here you go...

Supplies

-I Scream Pattern Download

-something to applique (shirt, baby bib, onesie, etc.)

-scrap fabric

-coordinating thread

-Wonder Under or fusible web of choice (Wonder Under can be purchased by the yard at any fabric store)

-freezer paper (can be found at most grocery stores)

-exacto knife

-cutting mat

-fabric paint (I used a textile medium mixed in with acrylic paint, more info below)

-foam paint brush

-tape

-all the usual sewing supplies (sewing machine, scissors, iron etc.)

 Freezer Paper Stencil

1- Print pattern and trace "i scream" onto the paper side (dull side) of your freezer paper.  I have heard that if you cut your freezer paper to be 8 1/2" x 11"  then you can print directly onto it but my printer is finicky and won't take it, but maybe yours will!

2- Tape your pattern onto your cutting mat and cut it out with your exacto knife very carefully.  Take your time.  Remember to save the inside of the letters e and a.

3- Place your stencil where you want it on top of the onesie.  Make sure you put the inside of the e and a back into place.  Iron down the stencil very well. This prevents any paint from leaking.

4- Grab your fabric paint.  If you are using a textile medium like I did (which turns any craft paint into fabric paint) mix them according to the directions on the bottle.  I chose to buy the textile medium because I already have a bunch of acrylic paint and that way I have lots of color options for any freezer paper stenciling I do in the future.  I found the stuff I used at Joann's for $2.99.  Don't forget your coupon! 

5- Put another piece of freezer paper in the middle of your onesie to protect it from any leaks.  Now get painting!  I use a dry foam brush and paint on very thin coats until I get the desired color/coverage.  Let your paint completely dry.  Once it is dry, heat set your paint by turning the onesie inside out and placing a cloth on top and iron as usual.

Creating the Applique Ice Cream Cone

6-Trace the the cone pattern onto the paper side of your Wonder Under.  Remember that your image will be reversed but for this case it doesn't really matter.

7- Iron Wonder Under onto the wrong side of your fabric scraps.

8- Cut out your pattern pieces and peel off the backing.  Arrange the pieces however you'd like onto the onesie and iron them into place according to your fusible web instructions.  For Wonder Under I just stuck my iron right on top of it and gave it plenty of heat for about 20 seconds moving the iron back and forth.

9- A little trick I learned for appliqueing on stretchy fabric, such as a onesie, is to stick a piece of paper underneath the onesie.  When you do this the machine grabs onto the paper instead of the stretchy fabric.  This helps to avoid any puckers in the fabric and makes it a lot easier!

10- I used a normal straight stitch to applique but turned the stitch length down so I would have more control going around all those curves!  If you use a straight stitch instead of a zig-zag (the typical stitch used when appliqueing), then your applique may fray a bit when washed.  I like the look of that but if you don't, then use a zig-zag stitch.

11- To applique, stitch along the very edge of all your applique pieces (make sure you are only sewing through one layer and not sewing the shirt closed!).  I thought it would be cute to stitch through the middle of the cone to create a waffle pattern but then I got lazy!  Once you are done, clip your threads and carefully tear away the paper. Your shirt is complete!

Pair it with some matching hair clips and you are set!

Come back tomorrow.  I am doing a blog swap where I'll show you how to make the flower clips.

I will be linking to some of these parties.  Check them out for more crafty ideas!

More Cards

 Here are a few more cards I've made recently.  This congratulations card I made up using a floral design I found online (sorry, I don't remember where) and some more felt flowers I made using some scraps. 

Here is a card for a new baby.  I got the design idea from Julie Cameron of Paperhearts.  She used stamps for hers but once again, I am cheap so I just found some cute free fonts online, like I did last time.  She has some incredibly cute cards on her site that you should go check out.

Cute Apron Tutorials

Image Source

Someone asked me if I could make an apron tutorial and since I have never worn an apron (except the ugly plain ones they made me wear in all the cooking classes I took in college) let alone sewn one, I thought I would point out some incredibly cute apron tutorials I found online instead.  Seeing all these adorable versions makes me think I "need" one. You might notice I like the over the top girlie versions.  This cute ruffly one is made by  Morgan Moore you can find the tutorial here.

Image Source

I love this version by Sew4Home.  You can find the tutorial here.

Image Source

and last but not least is this cute reversible scalloped apron made by Warehouse Fabrics.  You can find the tutorial here.  Any of these would make such a fun gift for someone who loves to cook. 

Hair Accessory Frame

 I needed something to hold all the flowers I made for my craft booth, so I went to the thrift store and found these frames for $1.00 each.  I popped out the odd velvet, cat fur filled pictures (yuck!).  I spray painted the frame with some leftover spray paint (Rustoleum Heirloom White) and then cut two pieces of cardboard the same size as the old picture and covered one with some plain pink scrap fabric that I already had.  I pulled the fabric so it was really tight across the cardboard and attached it with some hot glue.  Than I added the leaf ribbon that I have had for a long time and didn't know what to do with.  I stretched the ribbon tight across the frame and attached that with more hot glue, lots of hot glue.  This is what the back looks like of a third one I made with a frame I already had. 

 Next I popped on the other piece of cardboard to cover up the mess I made and here is what I ended up with...

Tada!

a cute, hair accessory frame.  I love that it only cost me a dollar and some leftover supplies I already had! 

Linking to: