Book Cover

We have a birthday party this weekend for a (soon-to-be) 7 year old.  I figured most little girls love arts and crafts, so I sewed up a personalized cover for a sketch book.  Between the book and a few pretty pens, we're in business! 

 I added a little pocket to the inside cover for papers or pens or whatnot.

I love how it turned out.  Although the size is different, I used this tutorial from Delia Creates.

Pirate Wand

My little guy (the pirate for Halloween), wanted a wand too.  But not a fairy wand.  A PIRATE wand, of course!

So I took one of those sparkly, glittery wand sticks and sewed up a poofy skull and crossbones (the image is an iron-on transfer).  Here you have it!

Rainbow Loom Case

Have you seen this Rainbow Loom case pattern by Noodlehead?  I haven't purchased a pattern in quite a while, but went ahead and splurged this time and really enjoyed this project for my daughter.

The instructions were easy to follow, and I love the multiple style cases you can make from this one pattern.

This is the inside of the case, with a vinyl pocket for your bands, or whatever...and two pockets at the bottom for your loom(s).

The only gripe I have with my case (not the pattern...she certainly does mention you can do this by hand)....is that I SHOULD have done the last binding step by hand.  I quilt, I know how.  And I found it difficult around the curves to match the inside/outside pieces.  So, although the binding looks nice on the outside, on the inside I have this...

Annoying, when the rest of it is so beautiful!  Oh well, next time I know.  And I'm sure there will be more!

(Fairy) Wands

This is a project that was really truly a complete joy to work on.  I found the idea here, on 'heartmade'.

I didn't add a pocket to my wands as they do in the tutorial. 

I started making just a few of these for Miss A's 6th birthday....but couldn't stop!  Here's when I knew I was in trouble...

"Oooooo they're so pretty!  And I have so much more felt...and so many more sequins.....I should just cut out a few more....."

And then there were the sticks (dowel rods).  I didn't have any glitter glue so I just combined a bunch of glitter to my Mod Podge and went to town.  It took about 3 coats to get them as sparkly as I wanted them.

And so, I ended up with SEVEN wands.  For 3 little girls.

And then you KNOW Miss A wanted to make a wand.  Since she has decided to be a 'rainbow flower fairy' for Halloween, we made hers a rainbow wand.  She sewed on the sequins and I sewed the layers together.

I did want to say, I loved the idea on the tutorial where they glued a bit of stuffing to the end of the dowel rod to keep it in place inside the star.  That worked great (I used hot glue).  But when I got all the way around the edge of the star, I found it easiest to use a dab of hot glue to keep the ribbons and star firmly in place around the dowel rods.  THEN I finished with the last few stitches to close the star completely around the dowel.  Sometimes I had to sew a few stitches through the hot glue....that's what thimbles are for, people.

Halloween Pirate

It's good to be a pirate for Halloween...

The hat was from Oriental Trading, and the sword is a Jake and the Neverland Pirates accessory.

His t-shirt was originally an adult size t-shirt that I cut zig-zag around the bottom.  And, bonus...when you cut it too short you can sew on an additional layer to lengthen it.  Also...if you sew up the sides on the OUTSIDE of the garment, well, you just use pinking sheers to cut off the excess and call it good.  Right?  Or maybe you should give up on sewing for the day...

The pants were old pants of his that were too short anyhow...cut a little zig-zag at the bottom of those as well.

The eye patch was actually from a tutorial over at MADE, here.

For the 'skull and crossbones' on his belt and eye patch, I simply printed off a picture onto iron-on transfer paper.  My little guy loves skulls and crossbones right now!

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) hoodie from 21 Jump Street

My husband rarely asks me to sew something up for him, so when he asked for a Halloween costume this year I was pretty excited.  And with how easy this request was?  Please.

He wanted to be Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) - the molecule Channing Tatum did as part of Molecule Mondays on the movie 21 Jump Street.  If you search for it on youtube you can find a video clip of the rhyme pretty easily.

I had my husband go ahead and purchase the hoodie (why make it when Walmart sells it for $6??) and appliqued the rest!  The pictures were printed onto iron-on transfer paper and ironed onto the sweater.  Turned out WONDERFULLY!

The front....

The back...

One of the best things about this hoodie is that it's completely washable!  Happy Halloween!

Halloween Mason Jars

I love all the mason jar crafts out there!  Our Halloween "ghosts"...

Mod Podge, orange tissue paper, and black construction paper.  This was a fun one.  Plus, you have to love it when you're working on stuff like this and your table looks like THAT....

I used the instructions from Our Best Bites here.

Halloween Letters

So, a few years back I saw these string wrapped letters (I have no idea where, originally) and thought, "wow, that looks so cool!".  And then I tried it.  Halfway through realizing it was insanely annoying to try to push the ball of yarn through the teeeeeny, tiny hole in the letter 'P', I gave up.  For about 2 years.  And then I got tired of looking at it and actually got around to finishing it! 

There is a TON of hot glue on this baby, but it sure is cool!

First Day of School Bracelet

I recently saw this idea over at The 36th AVENUE, using cheap hardware washers to create some really pretty jewelry.  With my daughter's first day of Kindergarten on the horizon, I wanted to make her a little something she could take to school to remind her that I'm thinking about her....so I came up with this.

One side says 'LOVE', so she remembers I love her no matter what, all the time, every moment.

The other side says 'LEARN', so she remembers why she's at school.

Maybe not the most inspired words, but really, good enough for this overtired, overemotional Mama on Kindergarten-eve!

I used rainbow colors ('cuz, what 5 year old girl doesn't love rainbows?!?) and literally tied knots to keep the embroidery thread secure.  I used a screw-on clasp at the other end so she could take it on and off.  I did have a little trouble keeping the embroidery thread knotted so I added a bit of Aleene's Tacky Glue at the end knots and so far it is working perfectly.

She loved it.  She wore it for 2 days straight.

'Smile' Wall Art

I found this quote a few days ago on Pinterest and loved it.  Although I'm not great with lettering, I went ahead and tried it anyway, and actually really love how it turned out!  I hung it in my living room, next to my sewing desk.

Kid-Made Birthday Gift

Yep, it happens.  We get to the day of a birthday party and my energy to make another pencil case or crown is just GONE.  Well this time, Miss A came up with a great idea of making the present herself!  She knew the birthday girl likes jewelry, and she had the most fabulous time making this necklace and bracelet.  I just hope that the recipient knows how hard Little A worked to make sure that this gift was a special one!

I found some pretty 'Handmade with Love' printables here.

Marbled Easter Eggs

Have you seen these fun dyed marbled Easter eggs yet?  They looked like fun, and like they'd be pretty easy, so we gave them a go.

I'm not sure if the lady who made them peeled her eggs right away or not, but our eggs didn't end up quite so white around the 'cracks'.  And our eggs were pretty soggy/mushy.  Now, we make hard boiled eggs weekly 'round here, so I'm pretty sure that had something to do with the dying process and then letting the eggs sit for a day or two before peeling.  I'll try it again sometime but will plan to use them right away...

Happy Valentine's Day!

We made Hershey Kiss Valentine Rings for our Valentines this year...

I found the idea here.  The kids loved this one as well, but aside from choosing colors it's a Mama made project.  It's difficult for little hands to wrap those pipe cleaners around and around correctly!

They did turn out great, though.  My 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School class LOVED them, and I'm sure they'll get the same response today in preschool!

Tall best friend...

I saw this on Facebook but have no idea where the original quote came from.  I whipped up a version of my own in Powerpoint and had a little fun...

Pencil Case

It really has become my go-to gift.  The kids love them, and I'm hoping that the parents love that they're a small addition to any child's arts and crafts drawer.

So be forewarned....if you invite us to a birthday party and I haven't already made one for you....it's cooooommmmmiiiiiinnnnggggg......

18" Doll Apron

Whenever I visit family with kiddos, especially around the holidays, I try to bring along a little something handmade.  This year, it was doll aprons.  3 for a friend and one for my big girl.  Gotta love those 18-inch dolls!


The pattern is Simplicity 2465:

And who doesn't love chili peppers!

At some point I'm hoping to make my daughter an apron to match her doll....but only time will tell if that project gets finished.

Travel Pillowcases

So I actually made something for my two little ones!  We travel a ton, so I'm pretty excited to try out our new travel pillowcases.  I had made one previously as a gift and loved how it turned out.

They are HUGE.  Certainly big enough for pillows, jammies, stuffed animals, and books.  And I love the zipper pocket on one side.  I let the kids choose their own fabrics, so they're thrilled with the results as well.

It's raining crowns...

I love, love, LOVE these little crowns....

I just think they are so sweet.  I tried a few new things this time.  A doily...

And, some ribbon...

I love how they both turned out.  And, who knew, but JoAnn Fabrics carries colored elastic!!!  I picked up some of that for the next batch of crowns I make so it won't just be a normal white elastic on back.

And more pencil cases...

Gotta love how quickly these little pencil cases come together...

Teapot Cozy

Have I gotten my sewing mojo back just in time for Christmas?  Here's hoping!

I sewed up a few teapot cozies recently.  The first one, for me...

The second one for a family member.

And since I only had a few strips of those flowers left, I made that family member a smaller patchwork-y cozy as well and finished off the scraps.

You can find the pattern here.