Baby Jayne's

Girl Scout Costumes- Madagascar

2012-02-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

I should have been working on finishing Valentines last week, but instead I spent several days making14 costumes for my daughters girl scout troop! They are participating in an International Food/Dance fair. Their assigned country is Madagascar. After researching, I discovered that the traditional dress in Madagascar is a lambda. It's a tube of fabric they wear around them, usually with a shirt underneath, and another tube of fabric for their heads. I took all of the descriptions and here is my interpretation :-)

I LOVE the batik fabric I found. It was tough finding enough fabric to have all 14 matching. I also did a matching sarong and head scarf for the troop leader. So fun. The event isn't until next month but we wanted the girls to help make them, so I had the outfit ready and the girls helped feed their elastic through the casing. I sewed it together and finished it. They also made adorable wooden bead necklaces as part of their outfits.

Now they just have to finish learning their dance! Fun times!!

Valentines Day

2012-02-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!! Wow! What a day! I have finally sat down and after catching my breath, wanted to post some of the fun things I got done for today. The highlights were the kids class parties and of course our wonderful family breakfast and dinner together.

Decorations: My kids love helping me decorate for Valentines day. I also add a little "extra" the night before. We had a busy day so I got our dinner all setup the night before as well. It felt very fancy.

Teacher Gifts: The kids and I made a batch of our FAVORITE Chocolate Chip Cookies, recipe HERE And wrapped them up cute for the kids teachers.

Of course they wouldn't be complete without notes from the kids!

The Valentines: I LOVE the process of making the valentines.

The Girl Valentine- Every year I let my daughter make her own. This year we came up with the idea of cutting out hearts in different color papers and sew them together with M&M's in the middle. They turned out so cute! We were doing them by hand at first, but we had to make 32 of them! So we ended up stitching them on the sewing machine. It was so much faster!

The Boy Valentine- I saw this adorable Valentine on Shindig Parties to Go and just HAD to make them. They are linked HERE. SOOOO cute!! We only had to make 14 of these so these were more doable. The only problem I had was finding Rolo's. I found some but they were 1.76 per Rolo!! I did not want to spend that much. So I found some 3 Musketeers candy bars on sale for .79. But then the template didn't fit! So I had to remake all of the templates :-( I copied Shindig's design so it turned out so cute. But I hated spending the time to do all of that when it was already done for me. Oh well. My son LOVED his rocket. He wrote his name on the back of all of the tags. So cute!

The Outfit- My daughter always has a new outfit for Valentines day. I made this dress from an actual pattern. I got the pattern for 99cents at Walmart. It was really cute and super easy. It only took me a little over an hour. It has a little cap sleeve. I made it a little big but added a tie in the back. She'll definitely be able to wear it the rest of the year. I love how it turned out, especially since the whole thing only cost me $5, including the pattern.

We had such a fun day! My kids loved their litte gifts, we had a fantastic dinner (steak, chocolate dipped strawberry's, homemade french bread were some of the highlights), and a really fun day delivery valentines and partying! Happy LOVE day!

Cheesy Corn & Potato Chowder

2012-02-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

My kids LOVE this recipe. It's super easy and has the best flavor of any Potato Soup recipe I've ever tried. This is perfect for a cozy winter weekend! Recipe is by Jackay on Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 T Margarine
1 C. chopped Celery (I leave this out)
1 C. chopped Onion
2 (14.5 oz.) cans of chicken broth
3 C. of peeled and cubed potatoes
1 (15 oz.) can of whole kernel con
1 (4oz.) can diced green chilies
1 (2.5oz) package country style gravy mix
2 C. milk
1 C. shredded mexican-style cheese

In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion. Cook and stir until tender, about 5 min.

Add chicken broth; bring to boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20-25 min. or until potatoes are soft. Stirring occasionally.

Stir in corn and chilies; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Pick Your Plum!

2012-02-02T16:27:00.000-08:00

First off, I LOVE Pick Your Plum! Have you heard of it?? It's a wonderful discount site/email that offers one item each day. It's kinda like Groupon, but it's all craft (ish) stuff. It's either supplies for making crafts or some times a completed item. I love the craft supplies. I've bought several things on Pick Your Plum and honestly look forward to their email each day to see what great find they are going to offer.

My ONLY problem with Pick Your Plum is that I'm in CA, and many times the items are sold out by the time I get online around 9 or 10am PST. Bummer. It's not their fault. It's a wonderful problem to have. But I would have bought a lot more Pick Your Plum stuff if they hadn't already been sold out. I'm almost tempted to check it when I first open my eyes at 6am'ish. Hmmmm.....

I was so excited to get to participate with the Pick Your Plum Series happening over on Cherished Bliss! Love this blog. I got a surprise "Pick Your Plum Item" in the mail and was asked to "do something" with it. So fun. There's also a link party going on for the next few weeks where everyone can feature their Pick Your Plum items! And there will be winners that will get free stuff from Pick Your Plum!!! I would soooo love to win that!! So follow the links here and link up!

SO, here's what I got.....

a very cute, hand crocheted, headband/ear warmers.

To be honest, I was kinda sad it was a completed item. And I thought, what can I show with this! But, have no fear, I did decide to do something with it. First, here area few things you can do with it, as is....

wear it as a headband/ear warmers. Very cute. However, I live in Southern California and haven't been rock'in the ear warmers since I went to college in Utah. So you could also try...

A belt for a very skinny person. I do love this look as belt. Very fun. Or you can use this adorable crocheted piece to

embellish a bag! Yep, I cut it up and made it into this adorable small tote bag. My daughter has been begging for a new scripture bag for church. I thought this would really make it adorable!

I used the reversible tote bag tutorial from here, but before I started I simply sewed the ear warmer/headband onto the front piece of the fabric. Proceed with all other directions. I LOVE how it turned out, and my daughter is so happy. I think the headband makes it look so special, and so unique.

So thank you Cherished Bliss, and Pick Your Plum! I love your site! And I'll keep checking every day!

January Organization

2012-01-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

I've had fun organizing my house this month. It wasn't anything huge, but lots of drawers, cupboards, bins, etc. that just needed to get organized. Here are a few of my favorite things that I got organized-

Ribbon: The ribbon I have stored on the skein is all pretty and organized. But what about all the ribbon that you cut by the yard?? And all the remnants from packages and projects?? I had them organized by color into 4 different Ziploc bags. But I realized I never wanted to dig through the bag to see what I really had. So, here's how I organized it so I could see what I've got:

I had some extra USPS packages that I realized I didn't need to have stored in my house. So I cut up the boxes into 3 or 4 inch squares of cardboard (love recycling and reusing!). This was much cheaper than buying chip board because I needed so many. I just wound the ribbon around the different pieces of cardboard and voila...

Instant organization to my formerly chaotic ribbon mess! I found the cute containers in the dollar bin at Target! Love this.

I also found this cute matching pail that I'm using to store some extra ribbon, and my twine!

Family Home Evening Lessons: The other area that was an annoying mess was my box of Family Home Evening Lessons. I'd have various lessons or materials or stories that I come across or have used and instead of organizing them, I'd just dump them all into this box. Some things were in folders by topic and many were not. Well, the day finally came to get it organized. And I LOVE it!! Holy cow! I love having everything organized by topic and realizing that when I don't have time to do a brand new lesson, I can just pop open my box and pull out a great lesson!

It would be even better if I had some cute matching labels on all the folders, but I don't mind. I LOVE having everything in one spot, and clearly labeled. I had way too much stuff to put it all in a binder like a lot of people do. I'm really into this nice box from Costco.

It seriously feels awesome to have these 2 things organized. It's totally random, but they were 2 areas that I always thought of in the back of my mind that I needed to sit down and organize them!! Check that off my list!! Happy organizing!!

Photo Updated Bread Tutorial

2012-01-27T22:27:00.001-08:00

This has been on my 'to do' list for forever! This Honey Wheat Bread Tutorial was my first tutorial on this blog and the pictures were not good! I took them in my dark kitchen and they just looked awful! So, I updated all of the pictures in the tutorial! I left the tutorial in it's original link space, as I know it's been pinned and saved in that location. But, wanted you to know and check it out! Click the picture above or the link below for the updated tutorial!!

Honey Wheat Bread Tutorial

Grey & Yellow Reading Nook Redo

2012-01-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

Happy January!! Now that it's almost over, I'm finally back on the blog! It was a nice break for Christmas. Then I've been so busy doing projects, I just have not had time to sit down and blog about them. But now I have too many new projects to share, so I've got to get posting :-) So stay tuned for some fun new projects....

After cleaning up Christmas, I felt this tremendous "need" to update several decor items in our house! Many, I have been thinking about for a long time. First up was this little reading nook.

We have this unique small space at the top of our stairs. It's only 4 ft. x 6 ft. When our 3rd was born and we had to move all the kids around in their rooms (only 2 rooms for 3 kids), I ended up pulling the book cases out of the kids rooms and making this little nook into a reading area. My kids LOVE it! They sit there everyday and read books. I'm obsessed with reading and books and try hard to pass this on to my kids.

I have 1 girl and 2 boys so I needed something gender neutral and really wanted it to be fresh and bright.

The Before Pictures:
Notice, the hand-me-down 90's/2000 flower arrangement, rug, generic photo's, old hallway lamp. It was all just leftover stuff that didn't fit anywhere. I finally got rid of all of it, and put our personality into the space. (but I appreciate all the hand-me-downs, mom! It worked for 11 years!)

The After Picture:
Notice the new color scheme!! Grey and yellow!! Love it! When you only have a small space, you've got to make every inch work! Here's the updates:
Custom Artwork (ABC's)- I bought this print file on Etsy (My Posh Designs) and had it printed locally. I LOVE it! You'll notice I had this cute ABC poster that I got from a teacher supply store but it was generic and too large and no way to really hang it. I love this new print!

Flowers- Some new yellow Ranunculus in an old blue Ball jar that I had in storage. I also moved our paper back, chapter books up high so the little ones wouldn't be able to ruin them.
Chair Update- This chair was pink and white with my daughters name on it. She's too big for it now, but it's perfect for my boys. So, this chair got a new coat of white paint and new gender neutral cushions and pillow. Fabric is from the Fabric District in LA. The grey circle is Robert Kaufman.
Book Wall Hanging- I always pull out books that pertain to the holiday or season that we are celebrating. I never really had a good spot to put these, so I ended up making this wall hanging to hold our "featured" books. I change them sometimes weekly, just depending on what books we have. This is a heavy canvas material and its even plastic on the back. It doesn't fray so I didn't have to finish the edges. I simply made a pocket on the top so I could insert a wooden dowel. I then took plastic vinyl (sold by the yard at Walmart) and sewed some large strips across it to make 6 large pockets. They could easily hold multiple books. I hung the dowel with some grey and white polka dot ribbon on a nail.
New Lamp- Grey Lampshade, Silver Metallic Lamp- From Home Goods

Globe- I just love this accent item. I got it from Home Goods and mainly loved the colors. But my kids LOVE it! There's something about looking at it on a globe versus google earth that they really love. I love the 'old school'.

Hand Artwork- One of our favorite books is "The Kissing Hand", about a raccoon that has to go to school but is too sad to leave his mama. So the mom makes him a kissing hand so he knows his mom loves him no matter where he goes. So, we made our own kissing hands. I got each kids hand print and gave them a heart (kiss) and had them put their initials. I love this because it relates to a book. The kids love it too.
Vase- I love the new yellow vase (from Home Goods). I want to get some large stick/flowery things to go in it but haven't found the perfect thing yet. I also cut down on a few frames.

Blue Runner- I loved this simple muted blue fabric and thought the runner helped break up the large white space of this cabinet.
A Big Reading Pillow- Many times I'll have 2 or all 3 of my kids hanging out here reading books or my oldest will hang out reading when her brothers are napping. I really wanted a big pillow they could use to lay down and relax to read. They love how soft and fluffy it is. I love the colors!

New Rug- From Ikea. Love it!
I know it's a small space, and it's a 'walk-through' space, but I love having it feel special. I love that it has a purpose and feels pulled together. Now onto other rooms... :-)

Neighbor Gifts- Hot Chocolate

2011-12-19T23:00:00.001-08:00

This was easy to put together and very fun! If you need something to throw together this week, this is it!

Hot Chocolate in a Jar (layered for pretty look)

and Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Sticks. This was fun and the kids loved it! You can find the recipe for the hot chocolate HERE.

Baking Gifts

2011-12-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

I made these gifts for some ladies I work with every week at church. It's not expected and I just wanted to do a little something so they knew I was thinking of them. I found the recipe and an adorable free printable for Oreo Truffles!!

Here's the link! They are so easy and look and taste so good!

I loved how they turned out so much, I'm going to make another batch for some teacher gifts and a few more friends. The boxes came from the dollar store, but I don't think they looked it. Have fun making these!! Thanks TomKat Studios for sharing!!

Favorite Things- Holiday Edition

2011-12-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

I LOVE my friends Favorite Things party! This year it was hard to decide what to bring. I ended up with this:

A Big Huge Fat Cinnamon Roll and a bottle of Martinelli's (Apple Cider)! I kept thinking of Christmas. We always have Martinelli's on Christmas Eve and Cinnamon Rolls Christmas morning! These are definitely some of my favorite things!!

Here's a link to the recipe if you're looking for a good one. This one is amazing!

Knit Scarf

2011-12-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a really fun and simple gift idea. I made this for my sister-in-law who loves Anthropology and those types of stores. This is loosely based on this tutorial. Knit is so great to work with. And to keep it Anthro-inspired, it's great to leave everything with raw edges.

I love the little ruffle and flower details. And I just love this knit fabric in general. I think she liked it! And thanks to my friend for modeling for me :-)

Advent Countdown- Books

2011-12-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

I had some big hopes of finishing this heirloom-hand stitched-amazing-very time consuming advent calendar for this Christmas! But when I found out I had started in a wrong order and it would take me longer to complete, I decided this year it was not meant to be. I'm going to work on it enjoyably through the year for next Christmas and not stress! So I needed a backup interactive advent calendar for the kids! I decided to go with the book countdown and I LOVE it!

(Book Advent: You wrap up 25 (or whatever number) Christmas/Holiday books and have them numbered. They get to open one each day till Christmas!)

I think we're going to do this every year and I'll tie it into my new amazing advent wall hanging I'll have done for next year. I ended up ordering 8 new Christmas books this year and doing only a 20 day book countdown. I'll keep adding more fun new books each year.

My kids LOVE it! It's our special time each night to read their stories and they are loving getting to "open presents" early! I highly recommend this for anyone thinking of trying it for the the 12 days till Christmas or for next year. Next year I'll also wrap them cuter :-) Getting the cold and flu the first week of December was not helpful! At least we should be immune and healthy for Christmas!

New Decoration

2011-12-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

I have seen these jars all over blog land and I even looked them up to buy on Etsy! They wanted almost $50 for a set of 3 and I didn't like that all 3 would be matching. I wanted different heights and different shapes, etc. So I decided it was time to make these for myself. They are super easy.

I'm sure there's some great tutorials out there for this but I kinda thought it looked self explanatory so I just winged it :-)

The bottoms are various candle holders. The tops are various jars or glass containers.

To Make: Simple paint the candle holders and any lids. I went with black as I wanted it to be versatile for all seasons. I also had to use a primer to get the paint to stick to the glass. Once it's dry, use your E6000 Glue to attach the glass to the candle holder. I held mine in place for a few minutes since it sits a little precariously on the little candle holder. Depending on your lid, you might need to glue the canning jar lid to to the ring so it all comes off together. And that's it! Now add some candy and bows and you're done!
I finally had to get pictures of these before all the candy was gone :-) Happy Holiday Decorating!!

Holiday Handmade Gift Exchange 2011 Complete

2011-12-02T23:22:00.001-08:00

Yeah! I got it in on the last day but I got it in :-) Here's what I sent my partner Cora!

A striped Christmas runner and 8 coordinating fabric napkins and

an everyday Monogrammed Table runner on 100% organic cotton.

I've loved getting to know Cora and her adorable family! I love doing the gift exchange! Big thanks to Linda for organizing all of this! Check out Craftaholics Anonymous for all the gifts!

November Ruffle Table Runner

2011-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun tutorial I did for Thanksgiving/November and shared on Cherished Bliss this past weekend:

Now that Halloween is behind us, I really wanted to update my table runner for November and Thanksgiving. I wanted something that was Thanksgiving inspired but not "in your face" Thanksgiving so I could use it for more things. (I have another turkey table topper coming up next week :-)

What do you think??? I love the burlap inspired, organic cotton I used for the center. I love the texture from the ruffles, and I love, love, love how the painted letters turned out!

It was pretty easy to make but I put together a few steps if you want to make you're own.

First, I used my Silhouette to cut freezer paper and make the template for the word, Thankful. I have to use the card stock settings due to the thick wax on the paper. But it does work.

Then get your fabric prepped. I cut a large rectangle for the center (mine was about 16 inches wide and about 30 inches long). I then cut strips for the border (I did 4 1/2 inches wide) and attached along each side. This is pretty quick.

The runner is now ready to paint on the lettering. Iron on the freezer paper in your desired location. I picked the bottom right hand corner. Iron it on, and then paint it. I used regular craft paint and then sprayed a little bit of sparkle on it. I used a burnt orange and mixed in a little brown.

While this is drying, you can prep your ruffling. I made all three ruffles and left them long, then measured it and cut it. I think it's hard to know exactly how well each fabric will ruffle up. There are a lot of great tutorials on making ruffling, so I'll skip that here. I did finish the edging of the ruffle so it wouldn't fray and also tucked the ends under when I attached each end so there would be no raw seams exposed.

Once your fabric is dry from the paint, find the perfect spot for your ruffles. I chose the left side of the runner. Pin them in place, then sew them down by sewing down the middle of each row.

The top of your runner is now complete. You can now hem the edges and be done, or if you want a little more "poof" in your runner, you can finish it like a quilt. This is what I chose to do. You lay the top of your runner face down against the fabric backing. The pretty sides of both the top and bottom should be facing each other. Then you sew the two pieces together around each side, leaving a whole about 6 inches.

You can now add batting if you'd like. Then flip the batting and the runner inside out through that small whole you left. Use your hand to pop everything out so it's all right sides out. Now iron everything flat. Sew up your hole where you flipped the runner. I also added some top-stitching along the inside of the border to secure my batting in place and make sure if wouldn't move around.
(This is where I sewed up the whole on the side. It's not very noticeable.)
(Here's a close-up of the top-stitching along the inside of the border.)

And Voila... the finished product

Guest Blogging- Cherished Bliss

2011-11-06T09:38:00.001-08:00

Hey, go check out my new Thanksgiving Table Runner over on Cherished Bliss today!

More details here tomorrow. Have a great Sunday!

Handmade Gift Exchange Holiday 2011

2011-11-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Are you signed up yet??? Sign ups just opened up over at Craftaholics Anonymous. If you haven't participated before, here's the scoop: You sign up and are given a name of a person you make a craft for. They make a craft for you. You get to meet a cool new crafter somewhere in the world, get to make a cute craft, and receive a cool craft. How fun is that!!

Just shoot Linda an email to sign up. Here's the link. Click on the link that says, Sign Up Form.

Oh, and you don't need to have a blog or an etsy shop or anything. You just have to be able to make 1 craft for someone. That's it. It's so fun. I hope you'll join in!! Happy November!

Thankful (Dry Erase) Place Mats

2011-11-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Happy November 1! Halloween was a blast but I'm excited to move on to Thanksgiving. I just love this holiday and especially all of the meaning behind it. Being thankful is so important, especially teaching this to our children. With that thought in mind, I came up with this fun craft, mostly for my children.

My kids love to draw, and unfortunately, sometimes it's on surfaces that are NOT meant to be drawn on. So, I thought it would be fun to make a place mat for them to use this entire month, that they could draw on to their hearts content!

These Thankful Dry Erase Place Mats are so fun. My kids have already been using them and loving them. They would be great year-round but especially perfect for this month. We will be using them all month long and teaching many lessons during dinner and while their waiting for dinner :-)

If you want to make your own place mats, here's the easy steps:

Supplies:

-Place Mats
-Plastic (you can buy it in big sheets at Walmart)
-Vinyl and cutting machine

I bought my place mats at Target. I wanted something light in color so you would be able to see all of my kids drawing and writing well. I think a light green or orange would be perfect too. You could also make your own place mat to use.

First, I cut my vinyl. I found a fun, kind of kid-ish font. Important step: Make sure you flip your image so it's reversed. You want the vinyl to stick to the plastic, not the fabric, so it will stick really good, and I wanted the vinyl to be sewn on the inside so my kids couldn't' pick it off. So you want the sticky part to be face up. To get this, you have to flip the image before printing. So use, whatever cutter, I used my silhouette to cut out my vinyl.

Next measure your place mat and figure out the area you want covered in plastic. My place mat had a seam bordering it's edge so I used this and just put the plastic in the middle. Cut your plastic so it's 1 large piece covering the area desired. I used a rotary cutter to cut the plastic. It was easier.

Now transfer your vinyl onto your plastic. Face down it should be reversed. Flip over the plastic and it should read perfectly.

Now place your plastic onto your place mat. You can pin it in place but I'd use only a few pins so it won't make a bunch of holes in the plastic. Now, using a coordinating fabric, sew along each side of the plastic.

That's it! Now, just make sure they use dry erase pens to color and you're all set!!

Have Fun!!

Linking Up to:
Cherished Bliss
Running With Glitter
Sugar & Spice

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-30T23:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a fun, crazy month!! I have been crafting away but I feel like I still have so much to do. Here are my 2 final Halloween projects I got finished. (yes this picture is sideways but I can't figure out how to flip it in blogger!)

First is this adorable table topper! I love it! I got the pattern at a class at my local quilt shop. It was puzzle pattern piecing (I thought that was hard!) and applique. It was great for improving my technique but took me forever to finish. I'll be excited to pull this out next year and get to enjoy it all month long!

And my kids Halloween Costumes! They were pretty easy on me this year. They are the pirates from Jake and the Neverland Pirates cartoon. There's Jake and Izzy, and my baby is Cubby, but his costume wasn't much, just a bandana and the right color clothes. :-) My mom came to help me figure out how to make the cool vest and made a pattern for their boots. They are open on the bottom and have elastic that goes over their shoes. They are very cool. I love how it all turned out. Izzy needed a little necklace bag for her pixie dust. A few accessories to the shirts and things and we were ready to go. I love that they picked to be something all together! So cute!

I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!! Check back for 2 super fun Thanksgiving/November projects this week :-)

Halloween Ghosts- Kids Project

2011-10-27T21:39:00.001-07:00

Besides finishing costumes (which I'll post over the weekend), the kids and I had 1 last little project up our sleeve for Thanksgiving. We had fun making these cute little ghosts to hang in our tree!

In case you wanted to make some this weekend with the kids, here's the basic instructions.
Supplies:
-White Fabric
-Pinking Sheer Scissors
-Ribbon
-Plastic Trash Bags
-Black Marker

-Cut out the fabric. It can be any size, and it doesn't have to be straight. That makes it more spooky :-)
-Crunch up a trash bag (or 2 or 3 if you want to make it bigger), and stick it in the middle of the fabric.
-Fold the fabric down over it and secure it with ribbon right under the bag.
-Take your marker and give it 2 eyes.
-Now their ready to be hung. Use fishing wire so it's invisible and they'll float from the trees.

(I ran the invisible thread through the top of the ghosts head so they would float)

-My invisible thread broke once I hung it, so I have to get some fishing wire tomorrow, but here they are hung with ribbon.

I'll post a new picture when my ghosts get to fly :-) Happy Halloween Weekend! We're all ready to party!

Halloween Trail Mix

2011-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a yummy Halloween Trail Mix recipe I got from my mom. It's surprisingly VERY yummy!

1 package (equal parts) of each:
M&M's
Candy Corn
Mini Oreo's
Roasted Peanuts
Fishies

It looks so festive on our counter and a fun little snack :-)

Halloween Pillows

2011-10-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

I got this project from my pinterest inspiration! I made several modifications but love how it turned out! Instead of using burlap, I used a softer muslin fabric, as I'm sure my family will still want to lay on these pillows and get cozy.

I painted on the letters instead of using spray paint or glitter. My mom tried the glitter and it kept coming off on the couch. I think this look works for my room.

I decided to do piping around the trick and treat pillow and add some accent borders around the or pillow.

I LOVE how the piping turned out. I think it makes it look so classy. The back stripe pillow is Robert Kaufman Dr. Seuss fabric. I thought the wavy stripe lines looked very Halloween-esque!

Happy Halloween!

New Pattern in the Shop!

2011-10-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

I've been gone a little bit, but mainly because I've been getting this big, huge tutorial done!! Yeah!! You might remember- I made this adorable 2 inner compartment tote bag, for the gift exchange on Craftaholics Anonymous, see post here.
It turned out so amazing I decided I really had to make the tutorial for it, and voila! It's finally done! You can check it out in the shop.

But here's a few details- It's 19 pages, 43 full color photo's that walk you through the entire completion of the bag. It teaches you how to make:
*2 inner compartments for great organization
*how to have no raw seams or edges
*ways to reinforce your seams
* how to easily adapt to multiple sizes or embellishments
*padded shoulder straps
*how to find the perfect placement for your shoulder straps
*a great way to make gussets for your bags
I had fun finishing up these bag samples this week!!

Now on to Halloween.... :-)

Gift Idea- Table Runner

2011-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of my good friends was having a birthday last week and I needed a little something for a gift. We don't do big presents, just little things, but I was hoping to get creative and come up with something she'd really like. I decided on making this table runner! I love how it looks on my table but it also matches her house perfectly. It took about 10 minutes to make and she loved it!

I think this might be my go-to gift for friends this year! So easy, not very expensive, but so fun. Who doesn't love a new pretty table runner to change up their table ?!

I pared it with some monogrammed note cards I found at a sale. Such a fun gift! Happy Birthday my friend :-)

Preschool Pillow

2011-09-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

My second baby just started preschool for the first time!! It's only 2 days a week for 2 hrs. and 45 min. but it's his first step away from being under my wings. I wanted him to have a little piece of my while he was gone so I let him go through my blue fabric bin (his favorite) and choose fabric to make him his preschool pillow. They use this each class for their quiet time (where they transition from outside to inside time). I loved what he picked. And he LOVED the big R on it.

It's made out of all minky fabric and is just a cover so I can wash it when it's sent home. Too bad on day 1, he got it confiscated for participating in a pillow fight! Next time, he'll get to lay and love it :-)

Repurposing Strawberry Baskets

2011-09-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

Good bye summer! It's been fun. But I do admit I'm looking forward to fall...warming the house baking...the smell of pumpkin...falling leaves...wearing jeans. But as I was tossing some of my last strawberry baskets of the summer, I realized how cute these little baskets where and decided they could definitely be used again.

I decided to wrap pretty pink satin ribbon around the basket and make a handle out of cute polka dot ribbon and add some filling.

All it needs are some cute treats, a little present, and it's ready to go for a friend. I used these for some ladies I visit each month. It's a very fun and inexpensive way to dress up a little gift!

Hometown Quilt

2011-09-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

What do you think? This is a sneek peak of the quilt for my sons new big boy bed! The pattern is called Hometown. It's an old pattern from an old quilt magazine I got from my sister's mother-in-law. I thought it looked so boy'ish. Their room is all blue and white with just a few red accents. I'll post a picture of it once I get it back from getting quilted. I'm so excited to finally get this done!!

Maisonnette Fabric

2011-08-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

I found this cute fabric shop through a blog!It's called Maisonnette, in Oceanside CA. Here's their super cute blog. MADE mentioned some of her favorite fabric stores and this was really close to me! I've been wanting to stop by for months and was finally in the area and got a chance to stop in. They have ADORABLE fabrics! I picked up this adorable knit fabrics and this adorable oilcloth fabric. It will be my first time sewing on oilcloth! I can't wait to figure out what I'm doing with some new fabric stash :-)

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

2011-08-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome dessert. This is great for summer or winter. I needed a dessert to bring to the beach that wouldn't melt and would be a big hit. I brought this and it worked! Enjoy!

1 C. light corn syrup
1 C. sugar
1 C. creamy peanut butter
6 C. Rice Krispie Cereal

Directions:
1- On low, dissolve sugar into corn syrup in a large pot
2- Once dissolved, almost to a boil, take off the heat
3- Stir in peanut butter and then rice krispies
4- Pour into greased 13x9 pan
5- Cut when cooled

Summer Lemonade Stand

2011-08-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

My daughter has been dieing to have a lemonade stand this summer! We finally found the perfect day, and along with her cousin and brother, they had an amazing little lemonade stand. They made $20 together and were so happy!
My mom had the vision for our impromptu stand. We used a big box, covered it in white construction paper (attached with duct tape), then decorated. They added 2 long sticks to attach their sign. It was so cute, and best of all free!
Here's the link to the best recipe for homemade lemonade! The girls actually went to their Great Grandma's house and picked a huge bucket of lemons to make their fresh lemonade! It was so much fun! And I LOVE the recipe!

Changeable Activity/Quiet Book- Tutorial

2011-08-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'll show you how to make this adorable activity/quiet book from a simple place mat from Target in less than an hour. They are so easy!

I originally made this for our summer vacation. We were going to be on planes and in the car for a long time with no movies, so I needed some good distractions and activities. My kids went crazy for their new Activity Books. Not bad for a place mat, right?!

After our trip, they are being used as our new Sunday Quiet books. I am super bored of the same quiet books every week, and I'm not even the one using them! My kids have been using their own Sunday bag. I don't know about you but I have a million bags on Sunday! And I hate carrying around my kids 2 extra bags for the last 2 hours of church. These great little activity books solve both my problems. I can fill them with different activities each week and they are small and compact enough to fit into my bag after our first meeting is over. Awesome!

Let's get started on making it....

Supplies:
-A Cute Place Mat (I found mine at Target. You want it pretty thick since it's the cover of your book. I went with a linen type of fabric.
-Some plastic vinyl (I got mine at Walmart for very cheap)
- Some heavy duty ziplock bags (I used 10 but you can do whatever you want)
- Some fabric for handles (less than 1/4 yard)

Step 1: Cut 2 separate rectangle pieces of plastic. They should be about 1 1/2 inches smaller than your height of the place mat and about 1/4 the width. Mark the center of your place mat (I used a disappearing ink pen). Then pin into place your 2 plastic pieces. These will make the inside pockets of your book.
Step 2: Cut 6 small pieces of sew in Velcro. I pinned these in to the place mat as well. See picture above. I put them on the corners and middle of the sides of the mat.

Step 3: Sew the plastic and the velcro to the placemat. I also added some extra seams along the plastic to make 3 separate compartments in the front pocket, and a small pencil pocket on the back.
Step 4: Lay down your plastic bags along the center of the mat. I used 10 baggies. I had 5 going 1 way and the other 5 facing the other way. They need to overlap by about 1/2 an inch in the middle. Pin these down so they don't move when you sew. Now you will sew down the middle of the baggies, attaching them to the mat. I sewed 3 seams down the baggies, all pretty close together along the center of the mat. See picture.
Step 5: Now you just have to make some handles. You can do anything for this. I decided to find some coordinating fabric and braid it into 2 handles. To braid it, simply take your 3 pieces of fabric (I did 1 inch wide), and pin them together and then pin to your pants. (Make sure you don't pin yourself!)
then start braiding...
Now just figure out how long you want your handles to be, finished off the 2 ends with a zig-zag or overlock, and sew them into place on the 2 sides of your bag. I tuck the overlocked edge under so it doesn't show. Make sure the handles are super secure since it's a guarantee that kids will swing these things around :-)

Step 6: Now the fun part, filling your book!

Since this was for a trip, I filled mine with 1 pack of their favorite candy, playing cards, coloring pencils, workbooks, blank paper, and some small games.

I added some little cars and little "men" to my sons, along with some small books. The dollar bin at Target is great for this. I'm going to swap some stuff out to some church related items when we get back from our trip.

I'll be making several more of these as Christmas Gifts for some of my nieces and nephews who have everything :-) Hope you had fun making them!

Linking Up to:
Tater Tots & Jello
House of Heppworth
30 Days
A to Z
Sugar Bee Crafts

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

2011-08-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm calling these Back to School muffins, even thought we enjoy them year round. These will be the perfect thing to give my kids for an after school snack or a little extra thing in the morning. I don't know why but my banana's seem to be going bad faster this summer so we have been making these muffins almost every week. My kids LOVE them and I love getting to use my wheat grinder :-)

Combine in your mixer:
6 Ripe Bananas
1 1/3 C. Canola Oil
2/3 C. Sour Cream
4 Eggs
3 C. Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla

Mix until completely combined.

In separate bowl mix: 4 C. Whole Wheat Flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Add your flour mixture to the mixer and mix until combined.

Pour into greased/cup muffin tins or a loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 18-20 min. for muffins and 45 min -1 hour for a loaf. For me this makes about 3 1/2 dozen muffins. Enjoy!!

Sewing Lessons

2011-08-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun this past month teaching some sewing classes to some adorable little girls. I had 5 little girls come to my house for a "Sewing Camp". They learned some basics of quilting and completed an American Girl quilt. They also learned some basics of clothing design and completed a basic skirt for themselves and a matching one for their American Girls. I also had some younger girls who completed their first ever sewing project, a pillowcase. I had so much fun teaching them and being there as they sat down to a machine for the first time. I'd love to continue teaching sewing classes through the year.

Rice Krispie Swords

2011-08-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

My kids LOVE the new Jake and the Neverland Pirate's cartoon on Disney. So when I came across this project for Rice Krispie swords....I couldn't resist. They are super easy and also VERY tasty.

Step 1: Make your Rice Krispie's like you normally would. (2 T. butter, 1 bag marshmallow's, 6 cups of Rice Krispies in a buttered pan).
Step 2: Let them cool. Then cut them into rectangles. Insert a craft stick (tongue depressor stick) into the rectangle.
Step 3: Now melt some chocolate in a glass measuring cup. If you're melting chocolate chips, then you need a little bit of vegetable oil to get a good consistency. Once it's melted. Let your kids dip their Rice Krispie's into the chocolate and add sprinkles.

They are surprisingly delicious. And my pirates loved making and eating them.

ps- Let them totally cool again before eating or you get a big chocolate mess of a face. But that was pretty fun too.

July....? and a project

2011-08-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, where did July go? I was busy playing with my kiddo's and having one of our best summers ever! We're only half way done. I'm not quite sure why/how I thought I was going to be able to get so many crafts done when I have all 3 kids home all day everyday for the summer. I think I'm going to be getting a lot more done when school starts and I get at least a few little breaks :-)

So I apologize for slacking. I will continue posting Christmas ideas and projects and keep them organized on the side bar for easy finding. Here's one of my Christmas projects I've started in July and I'm praying I finish by December 1! Check back for some fun present ideas I'm working on!

It's difficult to see. But it's going to be an awesome embroidered Christmas Advent Calendar. The pattern is from Bareroots. I'm a sucker for their patterns. This one has a pocket for December 1-25. And a cute heading and border. This will be an awesome decoration and I really hope I get it done.

Here's what it's going to look like when I'm done. So cute!

We don't start school for another 4 weeks or so. I'll be in and out, enjoying this time with my little's. But I promise some awesome projects are in the works. Keep checking in :-)

Winner

2011-07-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Winner is Laura at Every Day Easy! Send me an email Laura so I can get your address and send you the bag! Congrats!

Pocket Full of Pink

2011-07-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Today I'm guest posting on Pocket Full of Pink! Come check out my post! And in honor of my guest blogging today, I'm doing a little give away! All you have to do is *Become a follower and leave a comment! That's it! And you could win this adorable summer handbag!

Complete with an interior pocket, bamboo wooden handles, and red/white quilted fabric, this bag is the perfect size for a night out, or to hold your things for a trip to the pool or beach.

Giveaway closes Monday night at 5pm. Winner will be announced Monday night! Thanks for playing!

Popsicles

2011-07-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

I think July is a very good time to enjoy Popsicles with the kids! We had this on our list of fun summer things to do. We had so much fun making them, and even more fun eating them!
Instead of just making them with fruit juice, I wanted more of a fudgesicle kind of taste. I of course had to google a recipe and came upon this great cooking site with the perfect recipes. We made a banana with chunks of vanilla wafer, and a chocolate with chunks of oreo cookie. Totally FABULOUS! Have fun!

Auntie Lolo's Crafts

2011-07-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

I'm guest blogging today over at Auntie Lolo's Crafts!!! So excited! Come check out my project and the launch of a new series I'll be featuring this month- Christmas In July!! I'll have some fun Christmas projects and presents featured this month. Come check back in!

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

I hope you got all your projects done! I've still got a little baking to do in the morning but the projects are done! Enjoy the day!

Handmade Gift Exchange

2011-07-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

So did you get your project done?? I can't wait to see all the fun gifts at the

My partner is Colleen from Alaska. I didn't get mine in the mail till the last day, so she won't get hers till Tuesday, but I'm so excited to share!
This isn't just any old monogrammed tote bag. This is a 2 inner-compartment tote bag with 5 pockets! Perfect for the busy crafter who needs to stay organized. Stay tuned for a full pattern and tutorial available in my etsy shop in the next week! I love this bag and hope my partner does too! Thanks for hosting the party, Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous!

A Matching Red, White & Blue Pillow

2011-06-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

My new flag pillow needed a friend on the couch. I decided to use some scraps and came up with this cute rectangular pillow to go with it. I love 4th of July decorations!

And if you haven't figured out your 4th of July centerpiece yet, here's the perfect thing! I posted it last 4th of July and am using it again as I host my husband's family for the big 4th of July BBQ and fireworks!

Here's the tutorial.

4th of July Ruffle Pillow Tutorial

2011-06-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

Now that Father's Day is done and we're (finally!) officially into summer, let's get ready for 4th of July!!

Here's my newest addition to my 4th of July decor! I just love how this ruffle pillow turned out. Simple, easy, and even my daughter said," it's a flag!" I love that it's a little bit unexpected. If you'd like to make your own, here's the simple steps.

Step 1: Get Your Supplies

1/2 Yard of White Fabric
1/4 Yard of Red Fabric
1/8 Yard of Blue Fabric
16 inch Pillow Insert
Sew-On Velcro

*All of my measurements are for a 16 inch square pillow insert, but you can adjust accordingly if you have a bigger or smaller insert. I did have plenty of extra fabric I'm going to use for another little project this weekend.
Step 2: Cut out your pillow pieces in white. The pillow insert is 16 inches. Cut 1 piece exactly 16 inches square. Now cut a second piece 16 inches going 1 direction and then about 19 inches in the other direction. Then make another cut along the 8 inch line. So now you should have 3 pieces of white- 1 is 16x16, another is 8x16 and another is 11x16. These two will make flaps that will fold over each other so you can get your pillow insert in and out.
Step 3: Cut (4) 2 inch strips out of red material. Cut (2) 2 inch strips out of blue material.
Step 4: Take 1 of your blue strips and cut it in half. Take one of your red strips and cut it in half. Now take the 1/2 strips and sew 1 blue to 1 red. Repeat with the other 2 strips. You should now have 2 strips that look like this.
Step 5: Now it's time to ruffle all of your strips. There are lots of tutorials on ruffling. It's very easy. Simple change your settings on your sewing machine: lengthen your stitch to almost as far as it will go. I use a 4. And increase your tension to as far as it will go. I use a 6.8. I also use a gathering foot as I think it makes it ruffle even more, but it's not necessary. I also hold my finger right behind my presser foot and bunch up the fabric as it comes out. Hold it until you can't hold it anymore, release and start holding again. This really helps it ruffle up. For this ruffling, run your seam at the 1 inch mark so it will go down the center of the fabric.
Step 6: Take your 1 all blue strip and fold over the end 2 times so it is a finished edge. Take a seam down this fold so the edge is finished (ie. no raw edge).
Step 7: Now we're going to lay out all of the ruffles. Take your 16x16 white fabric and position your strips on it. Position one of the blue and red strips along the top, another about 3 inches below it. Then place the 3 all red strips 2 inches apart down the rest of the pillow top.
You're now going to move the red/blue strip over to the left. You want the blue ruffling to start on the left and go out 6 inches then turn to red.
Take the one blue ruffles strip and lay it in between the two blue pieces of the strips. Line them up so all of the blue pieces stop at the 6 inch line and let the 2 red pieces continue on the remaining part of the pillow top.

Step 8: Pin all of the ruffle strips into place. Then lay the pillow top on your sewing machine and follow the line again down the center of each strip, sewing the strip to the white pillow top. Try to get on the same white line. Sometimes it won't match up. Don't go crazy with it. But I think it looks better with just 1 obvious line going down the middle. It would be different if we were using red thread I guess.Step 9: Now the top is done, we're going to make the back of the pillow. Take your 2 white pieces (the 8x16 and 11x16 pieces), and overlock one of the 16 inch sides on both pieces. Take the 11x16 inch piece, fold the overlocked edge over and sew down this edge. This will make a finished edge that will show on the pillow.
Step 10: Now you're going to lay the 2 flap piece on top of each other, overlaping them until their new width should be 16inches (16x16). Make sure the pretty finished side is on the top. This is what will show on the outside of the back of your pillow. Pin the two pieces where they overlap. I usually sew one little seam on each side where they overlap so that when I place the flaps over the pillow, they stay in place.
Step 11: Now we're going to add velcro to your flaps so it will stay closed nicely. measure to the center of the flaps where they overlap. Take your small square of velcro and pin the velcro to each side of the flap. It should look like this. Then sew the squares of velcro on. The back of your pillow is now ready.
Step 12: Now you're going to put the pretty side of your pillow (the side with all the ruffles), and the pretty side of your 2 white flaps (the side with the finished edge facing up), and put them so they are facing each other ie. right sides together. Pin the two squares together all the way around. I also pushed up some of the ruffling to make sure it didn't get caught in the seam allowance.
Step 13: Now you're going to sew all the way around the square with a 1/4 '' seam allowance. Then you can overlock all the way around the square. This will also cut off any extra ruffling that is still poking out. If you don't have an overlock, simply cut off the excess ruffling and do a zigzag stitch all the way around the square.

Step 14: Open your flaps on the back of your square and flip the pillow cover inside out. Poke the corners out, insert your pillow insert, close up the velcro flaps, and you're done!