Diary of a Rather Crafty Girl

Christmas Craft Madness

Oh my goodness I have been on a Christmas gift crafty marathon the last few weeks. I have a list a mile long that I want to finish early since the baby will be here Dec 27th. I know by December I'm not going to feel like doing as much.

However, first I'll show you the halloween costume that I made for myself. I saw this post over at Make It Love It and knew that I had to make one. $2.79 cents for the black tshirt at Joanns and a $1.11 for a bottle of white fabric paint and I was on my way to cuteness. I stenciled using freezer paper for the first time and it was super easy and turned out great. If you aren't familiar with this technique you can check out this tutorial at Julie Ann Art. The technique is so easy but it did take forever for me to cut the stencil out.

Next up, I've been working on little toddler fleece bathrobes. Layla requested a pink Hello Kitty bathrobe which made me think this would be a really cute gift for a few little people on my list. This is one that I made. I think I may add pockets for all of those little treasures that little ones like to carry around in their pockets. I'm also planning on adding an appliqued initial for the recipient. Layla's robe is, of course,  pink with a hello kitty applique and her name embroidered. I'll finish it tomorrow but I'm keeping it to give to her for Christmas as well. I even mastered the bias tape around the edges which I have always been scared to do. I watched a video by Amy over at Angry Chicken that made it all make sense to me finally! I used a McCalls pattern that was super easy.

And what new mommy wouldn't love these cute burp clothes and matching bibs? Seriously I want to keep them for myself! I used a cloth diaper and instead of just putting a strip of fabric on one side, I covered the entire back side with a very soft snuggle flannel.

And bibs to match of course. I used a thin white terry cloth for the back and the matching flannel for the front and pearl snaps because I hate velcro. I just traced an old bib that I had for a patter and added 1/2 inch all the way around. If you need a tutorial this is basically how I made these.

Last but not least I finished a ton of headbands for all of the little girls in Lex's class. I bought the pattern on etsy from Fabric Boutique. It's a great way to use up scraps which I have boxes full of. I made 25 headbands which are reversible. And I used my embroidery machine to make these awesome flower pins that can be attached to any of the headbands. I plan to use them for bows on the packages that we hand out. Now if only I could think of a cute teacher gift to make out of scraps.

And here is another peek at the headbands.

Hope everyone has a great week. I'll try to post more this week as I finish up a few more projects. :)

I finished another boppy cover for the shop this morning and thought I would post it. I think it turned out super cute.

Scrappy Boppy Cover

Last week I went to a consignment sale with my friend Olivia to see if I could find a few baby items that I had on my list. I had bought a boppy at a consigment shop a few weeks ago for $21 and was so excited about the good deal. Then here I found another boppy for $3! Seriously, I couldn't pass it up for 3 bucks! I used my old boppy all of the time so I thot it couldn't hurt to have 2. However, it was one of the old school boppys that was made of a really ugly fabric and it didn't have a cover.  So, I got online and found a pattern and here we are.

I am bound and determined to use the fabric I have to make the remainder of my baby projects and Christmas presents so you're probably going to see lots of scrappy goodness around here.

So, I used lots of scraps for this super cute boppy cover and it only cost me $2.25 for the zipper at Joann's. And I conquered my fear of sewing zippers. Why was I so scared of them? I really have no idea because it was crazy easy. I love that blue fabric with the little hedgehogs. I've been saving that little scrap forever.

Here’s what you need to make your very own boppy cover:

• Boppy Slipcover Instructions
• Boppy Cover Pattern

This tutorial and pattern is from http://economicalbaby.blogspot.com.

This is how mine turned out. I have a feeling I'm going to be making a few more of these.

And here is proof that I can do a zipper.

I'm cutting up lots of scraps for Christmas gifts so check back soon for more ideas for a handmade Christmas.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I changed a few things on the pattern to make it fit better. First I used a 22 inch zipper instead of a 24 inch. I also sewed my seems closer to 3/4 inch instead of 1/4 inch. I didn't want the cover to be baggy. Now if we can ever pick this baby's name I'm going to go back and monogram it on there.

The Big Kid Room

When baby Simmons #3 gets here we're going to be moving the Ls into a room together. I've been looking for fabric that would work for a boy/girl toddler room with really not a whole lot of luck. Yesterday I found something that I simply fell in love with. It is perfect for them. What do you think? The coordinating fabrics are precious too.

 

Baby Abby Carrots

These dolls are so much fun to make!! I've already got 3 more cut out... including a ninja and a pirate (can't leave Lex out).

 

Sewing-Pallooza

Sewing is so soothing to me. It takes my mind off of everything and I get to create super cute, useful things. I love it. Two friends have given me large bags of old clothes lately. I've been using them to upcycle. It is amazing what you can turn old clothes into.

I've posted a few things on etsy because my Layla just doesn't need anymore clothes... However, local friends wanted to buy them so I took them down pretty quickly. Hopefully I'll be posting some more soon. In the meantime, here are a few of the things that I'm working on.

I sewed this cute little skirt out of some upcycled knit. Then I did some messy applique bubbles on the side. I'm kind of in love with it and may never take it off b/c I think it is the most comfy thing I own now. So, I'm working on a pattern that will either be for sale at Sugar Giggles or as a tutorial here on the blog. I'm not sure yet. If it is for sale, I won't be charging much because it will be my first pattern to create. If any of you sew and would like to be pattern testers email me at summer @ sugargiggles.com

This skirt has a foldover knit waistband. I wish I would have known how to make these when I was pregnant! The waistband could be made taller for a maternity skirt.

The bubbles are from scraps of fabric and the peace sign is from the front of a tiny little girl's tshirt. I loved the hot pink applique. I found it at a garage sale for a quarter. :)

Here are a few more tshirt dresses that I made as well. One as a gift and one for sale (Elmo already sold). I'll be posting more in my etsy store this week.

Vanilla Wafer Heaven

We made the most delicious homemade vanilla wafers today. Lex helped me and they turned out fantastic {as you'll see there is a tiny little finger trying to eat batter in every picture}. However, I think that next time I won't let them get quite as brown. I ordered Tahitian Vanilla Beans and I think they really made the cookies fantastic.

Lex had lots of fun measuring everything and pouring it in. But just like a little boy, he thought it was the coolest when we put the mixer on speed #10! "Go faster Mom, Go faster!!"

The batter is super thick... kind of like butter cream icing. I piped the dough onto cookie sheets and they looked so pretty.

Lex wanted to pipe some of the cookies too... but only so that he could grab the dough and eat it as soon as it came out. :) He snuck quite a few.

And these are the final cookies. They would be simply heavenly in a banana pudding! I think I may have to go get bananas tomorrow and try it. I may never buy nilla wafers again. :)

I also did a little sewing this weekend. I stopped by a garage sale in our neighborhood last week and found lots of tshirts for dresses. I made one for Layla today but didn't get a shot of her in it. I think it is my cutest so far. I can't wait for her to feel better so that she can try it on.

 

New Crafties

While even the thought of tatertots grosses me out, I found this blog {Tatertots and Jello} today and thought some of you might enjoy it. She has lots of cute crafty things on it. The cupcake liner wreath in her projects and tutorials is precious.

I also found this tutorial for repurposing men's dress shirts that I think I'm going to have to try. This is so cute.

These bleach stenciled tees are also super cute! I definitely may have to try these.

 

Also, here is a little preview of another of the tshirt dresses that I made for miss Layla... This is not a very good photo at all. Sienna wanted to give Layla hugs and kisses and she just wasn't having it. Anywho, Mel gave me a stack of tshirts for this dress... she said that she thought dress was kind of ugly... but she also thought the tshirts were kind of ugly. hehehe. gotta love my overly honest friend. :)

I {heart} Quilting

Last night I had the urge to sew. I've been wanting to test the waters of pillow making. I finished a quilted pillow cover for a pillow form that I have had for ages and now I'm in love. For the center of the pillow I used an old scrap that I had made a little bag with ages ago for another project. I applied iron on rhinestones which you may not be able to see well in the picture.

Lex seems to love the pillow... He says it is moma & dada. If only we really looked that cool. haha.

I also got 4 more squares sewn for Lex's I Spy quilt. We bought more fabric yesterday so I think I have enough scraps to finish it... unless someone just wants to donate more scraps to me. However, I don't think I'll have to buy anymore.

Cupcake Cuteness

Seriously this is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I wish someone would make me a cupcake bouquet!! :)

I may have to order the stuff to make one. You can get it here.

In other news, Lex and I are headed to Savannah and Charleston Wednesday night to visit family for a little vacation. Boy do I need a vacation! We're going to be spending Wednesday through Monday with my grandparents and Dad's side of the family. Then we'll be in Charleston to visit Tim's family the following week. We're going to go to the beach and I am so excited. I love Sullivan's Island and that's where we always go.

In my scrapbooking world I have been super busy lately. I put out a call for a Creative Team that will hopefully get me in gear to create more regularly. Tomorrow is the last day for the call. And I'll announce the new team when I return from vacation.

Also, I've been working on an awesome kit with Amy Hutchinson, Nikki Beaudreau, Edeline, Kim de Smet, Vicki Stegall, Sunflowers & Janosch Designs. Girls, this kit ROCKS! It is over 400 megs of purely genius papers and elements. I hope everyone likes it as much as me because I think it is my favorite kit that I have ever worked on. I had so much fun working with this group of gals. They are truly fabulous designers!

43 beautiful unique papers in patterns and solids.

I can't even begin to list the elements. There are TONS of really cool handpainted, doodled, acrylic and more elements.

Too many elements for one preview!

 

Here are a few of the beautiful layouts that everyones creative team worked on. I am just in awe of the amazing artwork. You did a great job gals!

I've got some more layouts that I'll put up on here tomorrow if I get a chance. Otherwise, be sure to check around the galleries to see everyone's latest work with the kit.