New Skirt For The Munchkin

 McKinley has needed new clothes for church for a long time but I haven't ever gotten around to it until now.  I made this cute skirt using this tutorial from Sewing In No Man's Land and then I also made a headband to match.

 I must say I love it!  Sorry, there will be no cute posed pictures.  I had to give Kin bribes just to get her to hold still for half a second and I certainly wasn't going to go outside in this freezing weather, so just imagine you see a beautiful field behind her or something. :0)

 The bribes only kind of worked!  Do you see her cheeks are full of goldfish crackers in each picture!

I don't know how people get in focus pictures of toddlers.  This girl is wild.  This is as still as I could get her and it's only because she would drop a cracker and pause to look for it.

The skirt has a high waist, although it doesn't look like it in my pictures because the waist was folded over.  Kelly also gives the pattern for an adult size and I'm tempted to make one for myself.  Go check it out!  I'll be linking to some of these places.

Pretty Pleated Pillow

I kind of have an obsession with pillows. Ironically, the pillows on my couch are p-i-t-i-f-u-l! I think they are about an inch thick because they've lost all their stuffing! I am determined to change that, so to start I made this pleated pillow. I want to have a mixture of both patterned and solid pillows but I didn't want the solid pillows to be boring so I have been on the look out for some pillow inspiration. I found some from Cottage Instincts when I saw this pillow hanging out in the background on this couch...

Image Source, Cottage Instincts

I attempted to copy hers which I'm sure you'd think is simple because there is not much to them but I am definitely what you would call a beginner sewer. As in, this is the first pleat I've ever sewn.  If I knew what I was doing I would've done a tutorial, but I didn't.  The things I will change the next time is add extra length to the pleated panel of fabric.  I only added an extra 6 inches for three pleats which was not near enough, but you live and learn right?

The sad news for this pillow is that it probably won't even be used. I am trying to use more bold colors in my living room and I don't think this fits into that category, but well see. I bought the fabric at Home Fabrics in Salt Lake, which in my opinion is the best place to get cheap but quality home decor weight fabric, they also have one in Las Vegas. I have to go every time I visit my family.  The fabric was on clearance for only a $1.00 a yard and was wide enough to get 2 pillows out of so you can't beat 50 cents!

I am linking this to a few of these places and also to the bloggers pillow party over at Stiched in Color.

Go check it out for some great inspiration.  I especially loved this one.  Definitely want to put that on my to-do list.

Doll Cradle Blanket

 Here is yet another thing made by my crafty mother.  She made it for my niece.  She found this little cradle on KSL.  Isn't it cute?  She made the blanket inside.  It is made from scraps from a quilt that my sister-in-law is making for her girls so the cradle will match their room.  I'll have to show that to you too.  I love all the vibrant colors.

My mom makes the quilt a "cheater" way so you don't have to cut all those tiny squares.  I'll have to share with you how she does it sometime. 

One of these days you'll see something made by me.  I've made some stuff but haven't gotten around to taking pictures.  Kinley has started only taking one nap a day and it's a short one, so there isn't as much time for crafting as I had before.   Instead I've been chasing a toddler around.  She can get into trouble quick!  Last week I was drying my hair while she played and when I came out of the bathroom I found her with my makeup and she had put it all over her entire face!  She was very proud of herself.  It was too cute!  If only I thought to take a picture!

Jean Quilt

My sister made this quilt for my brother and his family for Christmas.  I love these quilts!  They're made up of everybody's old jeans and nice comfy flanel.  Our family had one growing up that my Aunt had made.  It was the most fought over quilt when we would go camping or sleep out on the trampoline. They are nice and heavy and warm.  I love them.  My sister filled all the pockets with toys and surprises for their girls.  Another fun thing she did was give them the twelve days of Christmas books.  The kids get to unwrap a new Christmas book each night to read.  In our family we rotate which sibling we get gifts for and next year my sister has my family so I'm sending out a big fat hint to my sister right now and saying that I love that gift!  Was that a big enough hint?

McKinley's Rockin Rocking Chair & Other Cute Stuff

 My parents gave this to McKinley for Christmas.  I love it!  My mom got a plain wood rocking chair at Michael's for 60% off and painted it white to match the rest of her nursery and made that adorable flower petal cushion to go along with her garden room.

 I love it.  McKinley also got this cute pillow made by my Grandma...

 It says,"Like star dust glistening on fairies wings little girls are made of magical things".  The back has this fun, shimmery fabric.  The pillow fits perfectly on her chair.

Another fun touch my mom added to the chair is one of those tiny musical button things (I don't know what they're called), you know the kind that is put in stuffed animals.  She glued it under the arm rest so Kin has herself a secret music button.  She hasn't quite figured it out yet because the button is so small and kind of hidden but whenever she hears the music she does a little dance too it.

 Here she is modeling the Christmas pajamas I made her while she reads some sort of fascinating story.  I think she loves the new seat.  I wish you all could hear her jabber like crazy while she's "reading".  If only I knew what she was saying.

Matt's mom made Kin an adorable, squishable, bunny blanket.

 McKinley loves to hug it.  She thinks it's a baby and packs it around.

 Thanks for all the adorable gifts!  I'll be back tomorrow to show you some other good stuff!

I'm Back...and My Favorite Projects of 2010

I'm back!  I love when blogs do a favorite's post at the end of the year because I don't see every post that everyone does and I get to find a lot of fun projects that I didn't see before so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. 

 

 I love how McKinley's nursery turned out, it was technically done in 2009 but oh well!  I'm afraid I can't claim most of the work.  My little stinker, McKinley, was born super early so I didn't have a chance to do much before she surprised us with her unexpected early appearance, luckily my mom and sister came to the rescue (because you know I couldn't possibly live without having a cute nursery!) ;0)

I loved this ruffly skirt made from an old t-shirt...too bad kids grow so fast, this has been too small for a long time!

 

 These necklaces were quick, easy and cheap.  Just my kind of crafting!

What little girl doesn't love a doll to squeeze?

You can't have too many accessories...right?

I love my dollar store painted frame holding a flower from my wedding bouquet.

I loved learning how to shir on this little dress.  It made me shirrr crazy!

Easy and cute hair accessory organizer.

I had to throw in a recipe here.  This is a good one. I don't think I ever cared what my syrup tasted like until I had Buttermilk Syrup...yummy!  Believe me.  You are going to be sorely disappointed with your bottled stuff from this point forward.

 

Sweet little, I scream for Ice cream onesie and matching hair clips.

This project was one of the most fun.  I loved planning McKinley's first birthday party.  So fun!

Thank you to everyone who visits my crazy little blog!  My camera is fixed and I should be back in business again.  I ran out of time and only got around to making one handmade gift this year and didn't even get a picture of it since I didn't have a camera.  My family however, made some incredibly cute things that I'll have to share with you tomorrow.  I also have all the pictures I needed to show you of my mom's kitchen redo so you should see that soon.  I have a crafty to-do list a mile long and a garage full of junky furniture to redo so hopefully you'll stick around for the ride and maybe I'll actually get some stuff done!

Did you notice?

Did you notice to my right?  I finally did it.  I finally opened a shop!  I need to support my crazy crafting habit somehow.  I thought I better hurry up and do it because I made Christmas pajamas to sell and I don't think anyone will want them if I had waited until after Christmas to do it! ;o)

So as a big thank you to everyone who visits my silly blog and leaves nice comments and everything I wanted to offer you a 15% discount on anything in the shop until December 15th, just enter the promo code POSIES.  Here's some of the things you will find...

and there will be lots more of these little things as well...

some candy cane striped ones...

and of course lots of flat out girly ones...

they're not your average pants...they have ruffles!  Everything is better with ruffles!

I have a lot more to add to the shop that is already made but I still need to take pictures and upload them.  I decided all those Etsy sellers earn every penny they get.  By the time you go pick out fabric, make the thing, take pictures, load it to Etsy and once it sells box it up and mail it off, I think I will have made more money per hour back in my babysitting days! Ha ha!  Just kidding...kind of. :o)  Even with all that said I am super excited!

Thanks for all your support!

Don't forget your 15% off code.  Go take a peek at the shop HERE.

Ok, it's wayyyyy past my bedtime!  Until next time.

Christmas Elf Stockings

Image Source

McKinley doesn't have a Christmas stocking and I want to make her one this year.  I found this tutorial for these elf stockings from Sew 4 Home and I think it would be perfect!  I want to make it shorter and fatter and add a jingle bell to the toe.  Sew 4 Home also just posted a tutorial for these stockings...

Image Source

I love the pom poms!  You can find the tutorial here.  Which do you like better?  Why is it that I feel like I have already ran out of time to start projects like this when we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet? 

Now, all I need is a mantle to hang them!  Maybe I will just have to build one like Mandi did (umm yeah, that's not going to happen, but it would be nice ;0).  Check it out here and while you are there check out her other amazing projects!  I love the wall of mirrors.

Meet Sally

She arrived on my doorstep a couple days ago and I can't wait to make her part of the family!  I had been borrowing my mom's serger to make all those pants, but I don't need to steal hers anymore!  I am super excited.  It's nothing fancy.  It's the Brother 1034D and they are really quite inexpensive as far as sergers go, but I'm still in love!

P.S. I will show you that kitchen makeover I promised, I just need to get some pictures first!

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.

"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!