Robot with Balloon Sweatshirt

I don’t know about you, but it’s always a challenge for me to find blank clothing items for my son to decorate.  I love adding my own touch to his clothing, but find it cheaper to buy clearance items….that already has a truck or saying on it.  So, when I found this blank sweatshirt for $6 something at Target a few weeks ago, I snatched it up.  He wore it blank for awhile, until I finally decided to slap on some heat transfer vinyl.

I’ve worked with heat transfer a few times, and have always had a really hard time getting it to stick.  This time, I used a mini ironing board that I had been given recently, and set it on the floor.  This way, I could put all my weight into the iron, and I found that it worked really well!  I got my vinyl from expressions vinyl, and it is their easyweed.

I wanted something that didn’t involve lots of thinking, something I could slap on and be done.  So, a robot holding a balloon was of course in order! I did have to free draw the string to make it long enough for the robot, but it wasn’t hard.

My son is enjoying his new sweatshirt, and I’m loving the fact that this was a quick project that I did during the last few minutes of nap time!

Thanks for hopping over,

~Lynette

Tutorial Tuesday: Stuffed Turtle

Hi everybody!  I hope you’re having a terrific Tuesday.  I just wanted to show you a quick picture of a gift I made for my niece for Christmas using all scraps and batting from my stash.  I had to quickly sneak the turtle away from her on Christmas to snap a picture of it.  She loved it, especially the polka dots!  I used the tutorial and template from Ashley over at Make it and Love it.  The tutorial was pretty easy to follow, and I only had to pick a seam out once (sometimes I average…a lot more than that!)

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Tutorial Tuesday: Puzzle Cube

It was the week of Christmas, and I still didn’t have anything made for my brother.  I had something in mind to make for my husband, but when I came across this puzzle cube from  …..  I knew that I had to make these.  I had a hard time finding cubes at local craft stores, but my mom had enough in her classroom to share with me.  Thanks mom!

Here’s how they turned out.  The tutorial was very easy to follow, and I loved making these.  The only thing that I had a problem with was that the paint started to chip off after being played with for very long.  I think I will do some touch up paint and then spray with a clear coat to help seal the paint a bit better.  Find the tutorial at C.R.A.F.T to know how to make your own puzzle cube.

Have a great Tuesday and thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Holiday Crayons

Love this and have to share!  Here's a quick and easy way to make holiday crayons for your kiddos or as a gift for others.  Sew Totally Smitten shows you how here!  I will have to add this to my list for SURE!

Guest Posting Over at Or So She Says...

Hi friends!  I'm guest posting over at Or So She Says today.  Click Here for my guest post about activities kids love, and how to make a great babysitting kit for your daughters!  Come on over and visit me!  This is my very first Guest Post and I'm SOO nervous! :)  You should check out yesterday's post over there, especially if you have naturally curly hair like I do and don't know how to manage it! 

Car Seat Canopy

I made this a few weeks ago for a friend who’s having a baby.  She had asked for hair bows, and I added in a little extra and made this as well.  It’s reversible, and has polka dots on the reverse side.  I did two sets of straps, so the strap set not being used can hold toys for the baby once she gets older.  I was so excited, the canopy matched perfectly with the car seat and stroller set they got!  How’s that for not planning!?!


There’s a close up, and a view of the coordinating fabric.  I just LOVE how it turned out!
If you want to make one like this, here’s the tutorial from Buzz About Baby!  The only thing I did different was add the extra straps.
Enjoy!

Tutorial: Gathered Pencil Roll

My mom teaches some of the children at my church, and she has needed something to keep pencils in.  I came up with this, and gave it to her for mother’s day.

So, it looks like a crayon roll, and you’ve seen millions of those on blog land.  What’s so special about this one?  I’ll show you!

The back has a gathered look, like this clutch!!!  Perfect for a “big person,” pencil roll.  I made a clutch (which I’ll show in an upcoming post), along with this roll.  You can make your own!  Here’s how: (the fabric is layered, so all three pieces on the left measure 8’’ X 9’’)
Cut fabric:
2 pieces 8’’ X 9’’ (one for pocket, and one for “lining”)
1 piece 13’’ X 9’’
1 piece 4’’ X 9’’ (for strip across back)1 piece fusible interfacing 8’’ X 9’’
1 piece of ribbon (I used 7/8’’ grosgrain, 23 inches long---I would recommend using longer---especially if being used by a kid!)

First, take your 4’’ X 9’’ strip, fold RIGHT sides together, sew into a tube with 1/2’’ seam.  Then turn right side out, and set aside.
Second, take your 13’’ X 9’’ piece.  On the 9’’ sides, measure and mark at 3.5 inches and 4.5 inches.  Do this at both ends of the fabric.  Then set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length in order to gather.  Sew a line at 3.5 inches, and 4.5 inches.  DO NOT BACKSTICH! :)  Then pull one string on each seam to gather your fabric till it measures 9 inches.
Third, turn on your iron!

Fourth, take your 4 X 9’’ strip and fold it so the seam is in the middle.  Press it this way.  The picture above can help you!

Fifth, attach your fusible interfacing to the WRONG side of your gathered 13 X 9 piece.  Then set the 4 X9 strip on top of the gathered piece where your stitches are.  Set your sewing machine to a smaller stitch! Sew the strip to the gathered piece, like the picture shows.

Take the 8’’ X 9’’ piece you’ll use for the pocket.  Fold it in half, so you’ll have a rectangle measuring 9 inches X 4 inches.  Set it on top of the piece intended for the “lining.”  If you folded it right, the edges will match up.  Pin the pocket to your lining.  Then, starting at 1/2 inch, mark on each inch.  You’ll have eight    1- inch spaces to hold 8 pencils, and 1/2 inch clearance on each side. (If you look closely, you can see my marks in the picture below)
On each mark, sew a line from the rough edge of the fabric (bottom), to the folded edge of your pocket (top).  Make sure you backstitch at each end of each pocket!
Ninth,  take both panels and put RIGHT sides together.  Sew around the whole thing, leaving about a 4 inch gap for turning.  Turn the material so it’s right side out, then stitch up the hole and topstitch around the whole thing.  During the top stitching, you can slip in your ribbon piece for tying the roll shut.  I attached it afterwards, but it would fit nicely in this step.

A few things I learned:  When adding your ribbon, keep it as close to the edges as possible so you don’t sew a pocket shut!  I almost did (oops!)
This roll will fit pens and mechanical pencils nicely, but if you have brand new regular pencils, you will need to make the panels a bit taller.  I underestimated when thinking about seam allowances.
You’re finished!  Enjoy!  If I left something out, please let me know!
Linked to these parties!

Oh what do you do in the summertime? Part 1

Last summer I worked as a nanny.  I got really bored, really fast.  This summer, I am working with the same family.  To prevent boredom, I have planned several “themed,” days.  I decided that if I was expected to blog the ideas, I’d keep the momentum going, so here we go!  I will most likely be doing 1 themed day per week, but if I do extra, I will definitely post about it!  My very first series, how exciting!
Disclaimer:  I am not a mother.  I will try to plan activities that take very little prep, but I know moms are busy.  Use as many or as few activities as you want.  Simplify as much as you want as well!  These activities are for a four year old and 2.5 year old, but can be “grown up” or “grown down” (is that even a real phrase?!) as much as you’d like!
So let’s get started.
Week 1: Potato Day!
You’ll need:  A few of these babies, and some other stuff (to be explained later in the post)

Activity #1: First, we’ll do potato prints! 
You’ll need:  Potatoes, a knife, washable kid paint, paper
I got this idea from the Family Fun cookbook my mom gave me years ago for Christmas. 

Cut the potatoes in half, and then cut them so a shape sticks out.  I am not particularly good with knives, so I will not show you pictures of this.  I also found that simply cutting the potatoes at different angles worked great too.  That way you have several sides to use as stamps.



Then get your washable kid paint out, and go to town!

Activity #2: Potato Pals, People, Monsters, (whatever your kids decide to call them!) 
This idea also came from my handy Family Fun Cookbook!
You’ll need: potatos (mildly soft ones are easier), toothpicks, and any other crafty items you have (buttons, raisins, yarn, cupcake wrappers, material scraps, etc)
*If you think your potato pals will simply sit on the counter for others to adore, cut the bottom of the potato to help it stand up flat.  If not, leave it so you don’t get potato juice all over the house.  (I left mine whole…the potatoes visited every room in the house!)

Stick the toothpicks in the potato where a body part will be.

Then put buttons or anything else you’d like on top of the toothpick to make a face!  My kiddos used yarn for hair, cupcake wrappers for beds/bathtubs or hats, etc.
Activity #3: Potato Faces!
You’ll need:  Paper, Marker, print out of body parts, crayons if your kiddos want to color the faces
For my body print outs, I used the Crayola Art Studio program my husband got me for my birthday last year.  It’s pretty much a glorified version of paint, but it has many images that are very useful for preschoolers/kids.  I LOVE this program!  I think it was around $25 ( I just saw it on Amazon for under $20), and it’s very worth it!
***SUPER COOL!*** I was checking out Crayola’s Website, and found some printable coloring pages with face parts on them!  So go ahead and print these pages out here and here, and you’ll be set!

Take your paper and draw what looks like a potato.  (Yes, I used blue paper… :)


Here’s just a couple examples.
Have fun!  Posting to these linky parties
If you do any of these projects, I would LOVE to see them!  If you have any ideas on what I can do in the summertime, leave me a comment and I’ll try it out!

Hair Bow Mania!

      One of my friends is having a baby girl in a few weeks.  When I asked her what she would like/need for the baby, she said she LOVES the hairbows out there, and anything else cutesy and girly.  That surprised me, because she's not the most "girly-girl" I've known!  So hair bows it is.

     I've found some great tutorials for hair bows and fabric flowers (I think I have at least 20 bookmarked!)  I ended up attempting a few, but once I tried the Hair Bow Tutorial from  Savvy n Sassy, I was hooked!  These are SOOO easy, and only took me a few minutes to put together.  I love that you use thread to make the middle of the bow rather than wire or ribbon from other tutorials.

While looking for supplies, I happened upon a fabulous find!  You know those headbands that have the little loop you can slip different clips in for babies?  I found some…at Walmart of all places!  I looked EVERYWHERE.  They’re made by Goody.  Here’s a look.  They may be a tad big for a teensy baby, but I’m positive she’ll grow into them!

 

They were $5.00 for a package of 3 headbands.

Here’s a bow on the headband, to show the effect (although we can’t show it on the baby because she’s not here yet!)  The rest of the bows are pictured below!

 

(That green is the color of the title of the post…don’t know what my camera and computer are thinking!)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Butterfly Ruffle Shirt

As I was making the ruffly shirt from Disney at Ruffles and Stuff, I decided that it almost looked like a butterfly...and then I realized Ruffle Butterflies would be DARLING.  So here's a tute so you can make the little lady in your life a ruffle butterfly shirt!

You'll need:

1 t-shirt/onesie (I used a 24 months size t-shirt from Walmart)

3 rectangles of 6-7inch X 8 inch knit (multiple colors or 1 color---your choice!)

coordinating thread (I used three different colors because I had three different fabrics)

sewing machine

scissors

About an hour (it took me WAY less than that, and about 3 X's as much time to get the silly tute to post correctly....arrrrggg BLOGGER!) 

:)

Moving right along...

*Depending on the size of your shirt, you can fit more (or less) butterflies.  This tutorial makes it so you can trim your butterflies even after you've sewn them on if their wings are too big!

First, cutout your fabric.  Go to your sewing machine and set it to the longest straight stitch there is.  Make sure the ends of the thread are pretty long before sewing.  Sew close to the edge on one of the 8 inch edges of one rectangle.

To make your ruffle, you'll grab one of the threads and start pulling to allow the material to gather.

That's how it looks while you're in progress.

(sorry the material changed colors...I forgot halfway through I was doing a tute!) 

One you've got it pulled tight, it'll look like this.

Theny you'll trim the material so it looks like a butterfly wing.  You'll make antoehr wing using the same steps.  Then place it on your shirt where you want it and sew the wings onto your shirt.

Remember to change the stitch to a shorter stitch, and don't forget to backstitch!  

Also make sure that you sew pretty close (if not on top of) your "ruffle stitching," so the ruffles don't come undone!

 

Now you've got the butterfly sewn on, and you can add its antennas!  With a zig zag (or any other stitch of your choosing), sew a line forward and back a few times.

Now you've got one complete butterfly!

Repeat the steps for the other butterflies and you've got a ruffle butterfly shirt.

 

 

 

Enjoy!