Floor Mat Using Michael Miller's Groovy Guitars

I found the tutorial for this awesome playmat on pinterest and made it for my diaper bag, it matches his burp cloths, binky bag, diaper holder, wipes case and nursing cover.  I love being so matchy matchy!  This mat is awesome to have something to throw down on the floor at church so that he can lay and play and I'm not getting a blanket dirty and he's not on the dirty floor.

Super Dad Father's Day

Made some fun simple things for Father's Day decor this year. 

I made a very fun banner out of felt, found the idea on this blog

 Found this great free printable online here:

And made a cute yarn wreath, with mini bunting too:

Pumpkins 5

I saw this idea last year either on pinterest or just on her blog and fell in love and then this year I saw this idea and fell even more in love!  I knew that this was a must do project for fall and can I just say I am in LOVE!  My friend Mal and I made them today and I really wish my mom could have been here too, I know she would love them.

Our bottom coat of paint was a true orange and then topped with a redder orange and I love the sanded look with the second orange showing through. We used dowel painted brown and tied with twine at the stem and embellishing them with some fake fall leaves as well as tying them all together with more twine.  The sign is hanging on a screw.  I love them so much it makes me want to decorate for fall!

Hearts and Bows

My great friend Mal had a beautiful baby girl in December and for a gift I made her a blessing afgan.  The pattern I used I found about 13 years ago in Vanna White crochet book.  I have loved this pattern and it is my go to pattern for baby girls.  I even used it for my oldest daughters baby blessing.  The pattern is called Hearts and Bows.  I love how you can individualize it by changing the ribbon around the edges.

burpies and blankies

 Burp cloths using cloth diapers.  All of mine are flannel or minky in the center.  Boy have these babies come in handy, our sweet new baby has reflux horribly bad and we soak these bad boys.

It is quite hot where we live so I made a few 1 1/4 yard receiving blanket that were just one layer of flannel, no backing just hemming the edge.  I know these may look boring only one pretty side, pretty much a front and a back, but it is very hot here in the summer108 hot, so these light weight blankets are perfect.  I also made a nice thick snuggly flannel blanket too with minky on the back.

Michael Miller's Lagoon

 I fell in love with Michael Miller's Lagoon "Groovy Guitars" fabric and it instantly became my go to fabric for my baby boy.

I made a binky holder which I don't have a photo of and diaper holder and wipes case for the diaper bag:

 

A nursing cover to match everything:

And this adorable reversible carseat cover:

My friend Mal even through me a baby shower and made these cute items for decor and gifts for me:

All tutorials I used are linked through the name of the item I made.

Finger Puppets

Last year for Christmas I made some finger puppets for my 3 year old and also for my 1 year old niece and nephew.  I very happy with how they turned out.  

I got the idea for the 5 little monkeys from the blog homemadebyjill, you can find her templates and tutorial here.

I drew and created my own pattern for the 3 little pigs.  Although its not the best I was very pleased with how they turned out. 

 

Thanksgiving crafts, part 1

I am super duper in love with these place mats! I cut burlap the size of place mats and took a few strips of the edge for a frayed look. I then traced my girls hands on an orange fat quarter, there is a slight pattern to the fabric, but its all orange. I then hand stitched the hands on the corner and added legs, I then cut out an eye and giblet from felt. These pics are of my 3 year olds hand, I will add a picture of my older daughters and my table with all of them later.

Simple centerpiece made with $4 hurricane from walmart, filled with a cinnamon candle, red beans, split peas green and yellow and tied with twine.

I LOVE my Thankful bunting but wish it was laying against something darker. The bunting is made of burlap triangles and stenciled with 4 inch letters in Americana deep burgandy and has two burgandy rosettes on each end. Instead of using ribbon or twine to hang it I used cream colored bias tape.

Pirate Princess Costume

This year I decided to bravely make my daughters costume, I did purchase the hat because I found it on clearance for .75, and the black tights and black boots.

Her skirt is a black and pink tutu, I tied to pieces of tulle together around the elastic. I did 3 black and 2 pink, 3 black, 2 pink. I also tied some of the pink tulle in knots at the bottom.

I had to get a little more creative on the top I sewed strips of black and white knit together into strips and then sewed a big piece of black knit on the back by putting right sides together sewing, turning right side out and sewing the opening closed giving me one long rectangle. Next using an eyelit punch I punched 5 holes on each side about one inch in from the edge and inserted large eyelits. I also put one exactly in the top center about 3/4 of an inch down. I then created a halter look with a corsetted back using pink ribbon, tied once at the bottom in a bigger bow letting the ribbon hang down.

I absolutely loved how it turned out!!!

New throw pillows for the couch...

Saying I was tired of my hand me down blue couch would be an understatement, so last year I caved and bought a microfiber two piece slipcover unfortunately it was in a not so lovely shade of brown more chocolate than brown, but the price was right and it covered the blue with pink flowers.

After covering the couch a year ago the blue throw pillow continued to remain on the couch until this month when I finally got around to making slip cover pillowcases, and I love the fabric.

So here we are no more ugly blue couch or pillows.

Halloween crafts...

I got a little carried away with making buntings for Halloween and decided to make two.

First I made a "Spooky" banner using the same idea as my "spring" bunting found here.

Next up was a fun one I made especially for my girls to enjoy. I used googly eyes for all the eyes and after I was done my 10 year old said to me, "mom I love it that you make these for us". It totally made my night. I just free handed all the characters/items except the pumpkin and witches hat which I used clip art for.

I also made a table runner, its quilted and its also my first attempt at anything quilted. Its made out of strips of fabric all different widths, I quilted the top with straight lines every half an inch and in the ditch, I also just used a rolled edge for binding. Although I can see lots of mistakes, I am happy with how it turned out.

Next using the same fabric from my "Spooky" bunting, and table runner I cut 8"x 1.5" of fabric and tulle and tied them to a double wire wreath. I then painted wood letters black and dotted them with purple puffy paint, tied the letters together with orange tulle and then also tied them to the wire with orange tulle. last I tied purple ribbon around it and hung it on the door.

So there you have it my fun new Halloween decorations for the year.

Wood name blocks...

Please ignore the horrendous ugly peach walls, we rent.

I originally had covered Ava's name in scrapbook paper, I like it but for some reason one piece of paper was constantly coming up. I decided I was tired of fixing and that I would just paint them light pink and stamp dark pink flowers on it. I actually like it so much better

Knock Off Pottery Barn Teen Felt Pillows...

I found this tutorial here, for PB Teen felt pillows and could totally see them on my 3 year olds bed! She loves them !!! And even asks to sleep with her purple pillow. These pillows are super simple and easy to make. They use less than 1/2 yard of felt and a pillow form. They cost around $5 each to make if you get your pillow forms on sale.

Rapunzel's Braid...

My 3 year old got a Rapunzel dress and light up shoes for her birthday and I made her a crown to go with it, but I just couldn't leave out Rapunzels hair, nor did I want to fork out $25 to the Disney Store for one.

So this is what I came up with...



I took 60 strands of yarn, about 3 yards a piece and hooked with a elastic I then braided them together, 20 strands for each section. I tied off the end with another elastic. Next I put another elastic at the top in order to hold all the little pieces down.

I took a silver hair clip from Sally's and covered it with yellow ribbon and hot glued to the back of the braid. I glued it at the very top just above where the braid began.

Next I got a giant Gerber Daisy and removed it from the stem, and popped off the back so it just had a small point. I then hot glued it to the front of the braid, just in front of the clip. This hides the top of the braid and the clip, and gives it a more finished look.

I got some flowers ( I only used one bunch that had purple and pink on it) on clearance at Michaels for $1.99 there were enough to make two braids plus I had some left over. I popped these off the stem and randomly glued them to the braid on the front and back.

Last, I tied a pretty purple bow to the bottom. I put a drop of hot glue in the center of the bow so that it wouldn't come undone.

That's it, super simple, super cute and inexpensive (less than $4).

My daughters little friend and her parents came over for dinner and to celebrate with us and I couldn't leave her out so I made one for her too. However I only made hers about 2 yards. I was worried about Ava's being too long.

My daughters little friend that is two kept stroking it and saying just like Punzel.