Samm's Flower

I had all 4 kids in bed tonight by 8:30! I can hardly believe my luck! I must have done something really right today. It definitely wasn't dinner though I can tell you that right now, because my soup and rolls got scrapped for spaghetti, only I didn't have spaghetti noodles so I threw together what was left in a couple boxes of different sized shells. The kids thought it was fun though so who knows, maybe I'm on to something. Anyway, because of my stroke of good luck I can actually post the tutorial for the flower I used on Laila's headband that I showed you on Monday.

Every year my mom buys my girls a Christmas dress and this year on Christmas eve I decided to make a flower to go with Samm's. Fortunately, these flowers ended up being not only really cute but super duper easy and fast. Craft projects on Christmas eve is not really a great idea.

What I love about these flowers is that they look really cute on my girls, but they can also be a little more grown up too.

OK, lets get started. You will need 1/8 yard each of your fabric of choice (I used satiny fabric from the special occasion section) and a coordinating tulle. Pin 1 layer of fabric to 2 layers of tulle and trace your pattern on the back side of the fabric. (keep scrolling down for the patter)

Next you are going to melt and curl up all of the edges. I used a lighter, but I've also been told that you can use an embossing tool or wood burning tool. It took a few times for me to figure out how to get it to really curl up, so you will just have to experiment with what angle to hold your heat source at.

You are also going to melt the layers of tulle (individually) and this is the trickiest part because if you aren't careful you will melt half the flower instead of just the edges. Don't worry about how pretty the layers look individually though, because once it is all put together it will look good.

Once all the layers are melted all that is left to do is glue them all together with just a small dab of hot glue in the center of each layer and then glue something pretty in the center. I used some buttons that I already had, but I've also seen other flowers similar to these with three small pearls in the center.

For the back, cut out a small circle of felt. I found that a large spool of thread is the perfect size.

Squeeze the clip open a put a layer of hot glue inside.

Place your felt circle on top of the glue in the center of the circle.

Put some more glue on the back of the felt...

and glue it to the back.

This is the pattern that I drew. You can make your own or use mine. If you do decide to draw your own, just remember that the flowers don't have to be perfect because melting the edges changes the shape anyway. And I tried putting this into a google doc, but for some reason no matter what I did it made the flowers smaller so I had to figure out something else. Although, my husband, who was helping me, said "what's the big deal if it's smaller? Some of those flowers are huge on their heads." Um, that's kind of the point!

Anyway, if you want to use my pattern, simply right click on the picture and save it to your computer and then when you print it out choose the size "full page." and it will be the right size.

You can make one of these in every color by this weekend! Clip one in your hair, in your daughter's hair, onto a stretchy headband for your bald baby, or even onto a necklace.

And come back Friday for my Sally proof rolls. That's what we call them, because I can't seem to ruin them!

Covered Wipes Case {Tutorial}

I know these things are all over the blogging world and easy to come by but no crafting blog would be complete without it.  The covered wipes case has become increasingly popular and with the help of my friend and cousin Amy, I started making my own a while back.  Luckily they aren't as popular here in small town, USA so I can give these as baby shower gifts and most people haven't seen them before.

On Sunday a friend of mine told me she wanted to make one so I was trying to quickly explain to her how to do it. I finally decided I would just put the tutorial here for anyone interested. They are super easy and cute. I can put one together in under 30 minutes. Most of the items you will need you probably already have on hand. So lets get started.

You will need

2 coordinating fabrics (enough to cover each side of a travel wipes case)
1 coordinating piece of ribbon (approx 9")
batting
gimp trim (found in the fabric department)
hot glue gun
embellishment (optl)
I've got to warn you, I did take pictures for you but they were done at night and while I was watching a movie and visiting with my sister-in-law so they aren't the best quality. But you'll get the idea, I hope.

Start by tracing your wipes case onto your fabric. You will need two pieces so you can either do both in the same fabric or one of each of coordinating fabrics (which I think is the cutest). Then cut them out. Trace again on your batting and cut out TWO pieces of batting.

Glue your batting, one piece to each side, with a little hot glue.

Now start gluing your fabric on by putting a little hot glue on one end and then go to the opposite end and pull tightly and glue down the opposite side. If your fabric goes over the center line of the case (where it closes) trim the excess fabric off. Once you have all four sides glued down repeat on the other side.

Add a piece of ribbon across the center by gluing down one end (matching it up to the line where the case closes). The slowly glue down the ribbon across the case and to the other side.

Now that your ribbon is on you want to add your gimp to cover up the raw edges and make everything look pretty. Go slowly and do small sections at a time. I start in the center of the back so that my two ends meet in the back and the front looks nice and pretty. Do one side and then the other. Now open your case and make sure it's not stuck together! :)

You can be done here or you can go a little further and add an embellishment. For the girls I use a small version of my fabric flower and adhere with a lot of hot glue.

For this case (which I'm giving to someone who had a boy) I added buttons from my button collection. And now you are done. Throw this in with a package of diapers or wipes and it makes a perfect baby shower gift.

Ruffled Heart Tee

(My camera is still at the shop so, sorry again for the bad camera phone pictures!)

A couple weeks ago I went to Old Navy to buy my 8 year old another pair of jeans. This girl has already destroyed four pairs of pants and one pair of snow pants in four short months. The snow pants only took one month! I'm giving up all hope that she can ever wear pants that don't have holes in the knees. Anyway, while I was at Old Navy I saw THIS tee and thought it was cute, but immediately thought about how I could do it not only cuter, but cheaper. And with Valentines day only a week away, I have come up with something that is not only super cute, but super easy. I'm talking NO SEW, if you graduated Kindergarten you can do this, easy!

Here's what you need:

*Plain colored shirt (I wanted to use ones that my girls already had, but they were all covered in stains. Good thing Old Navy had them on sale for $2.50!)

*A yard to a yard and a half of trim or lace depending on the size of the shirt and how many layers you want the heart to have. (I got mine at Jo Ann's and I had a little bit left over from both of the shirts I made, but they will make cute hair accessories)

*Fabric glue

*Fray check

*Disappearing ink pen- optional

*Construction paper and scissors

Start by cutting out a basic heart in whatever size you want. Just remember it's going to get much bigger the more layers of trim you put around it so you might want to start small.

Trace it onto your shirt using a disappearing ink pen. You could use a regular pen as long as you completely cover it up with trim.

I did actually start out intending this to be a sewing project, but when I discovered that it worked just as well with the fabric glue, I abandoned my sewing machine altogether. You could sew the whole thing if you really want to, but I'm all about fast. Anyway, start by putting a dab of fray check on the end of your trim and glue or sew it down starting at the top of your heart.

Continue all the way around your heart. Add another dab of fray check to the second end and then tuck that end under before you glue it down so it has a more finished look.

Start again with your second layer using the outside edge of the first layer as your guide. I wanted to hide the stitching on the trim so I laid it just under the outside edge of my first layer.

Glue and glue some more!

And then proudly show your daughter her awesome new Valentines shirt!

I went with an opposite color scheme for my youngest daughter and the lace that I bought for hers was a huge pain! I thought it would be so cute because it was kind of sparkly, but it had elastic down the middle and it just didn't look right so I ended up folding it in half and sewing it together before I glued it down. I still think it turned out cute, but I would not recommend buying anything with elastic down the center or using a tee shirt that has pleats a the top. Another annoyance.

I grabbed a quick picture of her when she tried it on and wasn't planning on posting it, but I thought it might be a good idea for you too see what it actually looks like on. Just ignore our messy closet in the background.

See, So easy! It will take you an hour tops, and you still have a whole week to whip one up before the big day.

PS. For more fun craft ideas, check out THIS party and THIS party that I'm linking up to!

Appliqued shirts

The weather has finally started to cool off here and I am loving it. So, in honor of the cooler temps I decided to get a jump on the kids winter wardrobe.

OK, really I was in a crafty mood but I didn't want to sit at my sewing machine for hours. So I decided to spice up a few long sleeved shirts with appliques. Sometimes it's all about instant gratification for me!

At first I was just going to do shirts for the girls but then James asked for one too and I couldn't say no. For his I went with flames on the sleeves and he thinks it is the coolest shirt ever.

Samm not only wanted a shirt, but she wanted to draw the design herself. I really wanted to tell her no because I had a cute retro flower all picked out but I must have been feeling generous because I told her yes. She drew a heart bow and it looks so cute. I am very proud of her! She has been telling everyone about the shirt she helped make.

I'm still working on Macy's so a picture of that one later.

OK here is a quick run down on appliques in case you have never done it.

• Find a pattern you like online or draw one yourself. I didn't have any printer paper last night so I found the flame design online and then had to draw it myself.
• Cut out your patter.
• Iron a piece of wonder under(found at any craft store) onto the back side of your fabric.
• Trace your pattern onto the back side of the wonder under.
• Cut it out, peel off the backing, and iron it onto a shirt or whatever you are decorating.
• You can leave it as is at this point but to make it sturdier it is best to either machine or hand stitch around the pattern.

Very easy and very cute!

Do You Think You Can?

When I told Chris I was going to make Ava a tutu for her 1 year old pictures he said "Do you think you can?" So, I know I'm not that crafty, but come one. I'm not that bad!

It turned out really adorable and Chris was very complimentary after it was done. It was super easy and made for adorable pictures! (I'll be posting a link on my personal blog when they are available to view online).

Instead of trying to type out all of the directions I will just tell you that if you are interested, Google "how to make a tutu" and there will be a short video you can watch. It is super easy and no sewing is involved. And it only cost me $5!