My First Quilt- a T-Shirt Quilt

I finally finished my first quilt! I used my husband's t-shirts to make a quilt for my little boy to have while he's gone. It made it easier for my husband to go through and get rid of some of his old t-shirts.

Each of the squares are 15x15. For a baby it's huge, but he will grow into it. I used sheer fusible backing for the t-shirts and there is no batting because it's hot here and I want the baby to be able to use it all the time. With the fusible backing on the t-shirts and the actual backing it is still plenty thick. I used painter's tape to make my sideways lines while quilting it, and each line is A Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Book apart. (You know you love my measuring methods!) I used a nice gray for the quilting after finding out that micro-filament is difficult to use.

Sleeveless Onsie from Adult T-Shirt

I found this cute idea for a shortall on Pinterest. It's by Heather of Feather's Flights and she made a great tutorial and pattern. Check her's out here. I had some ideas of how I wanted to change it, so here's what I did.

I didn't use her pattern, although I'm sure it would be easier (I haven't had ink in my printer for quite awhile now, it would have been easier but at least it makes me think creatively!). I used one the baby already had and traced it onto tissue paper. I made sure to add quite a bit of space on each side, because I wanted him to have room to grow and for my seam allowance. I also was planning on making a tank top, so there was extra space on the sides of the neck.

The onsie I was copying didn't have the extra piece that Heather had on hers, it was just the front and the back pieces, the same shape. After cutting out the pattern I pinned it to the front of the t-shirt and cut it out of the shirt.

Next I cut the neckline and just cut a little bit off of each side and then pin it back together and sew it.

The sides also need to be sewn, put the two pieces with outsides facing in together, then pin and sew the sides, starting under the arm hole.

The next thing is to hem the legs and arm holes. I did just a single fold under and stitched it.

Next it is time to figure out the snaps. I used snap tape and sewed it on by first pinning one side to the bottom, but with both outsides facing in. I stitched one side and then turned it over so insides were both inside and stitched it closed. For the bottom snaps I pinned them outsides facing in and just stitched it once. Now when they snap the tape isn't very visible.

Travelling

I'm out traveling, so I decided to post a pre-blogging project, my decorated suitcase! I hate trying to guess which suitcase is mine at the airport so I personalized it to stand out. Go check it out at Arizona Mama.

Coke Can Charm

Today I'm over at Arizona Mama showing off my latest repurposing craft, a Coke Can Necklace. Check it out Here!

Starting a Tradition

I'm catching up this week on everything I wanted to post last month! This year for Valentine's Day we got the baby a new book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We love this book, but thought that a board book version of it would be best for the next year or so.

On the inside of the book I put in a sticker I created. It has to and from and a happy valentine's day so he can know where it came from when he got older. It also will make us stick with the tradition or else he will ask about it later! It also is much better than candy or a card, and he will get plenty of that from everyone else.

You can also check out the tradition of the rhyme we use for Christmas, click here!

Diaper Bag Replacement Purse

Don't you hate it when you clean so well that you can't find anything you need? Well I think I did that. I can't find the pattern I made for this purse anywhere. It was just a piece of tissue paper so it might have accidentally been tossed. It's so frustrating. Well I created it, so I can probably create it again when I need it. My mind is already onto a new pattern, so I won't be recreating it any time soon. I will show off the finished product.

My new purse turned out really well. Some women go shopping for clothes or purses when they need a little pick-me-up, and I go fabric shopping instead. I stayed up really late the night I got my fabric, first I was just watching White Collar (my new favorite addiction!) while cutting out the pattern. Then I just had to stay up a bit longer to sew it all together. I was going to add on to it, but I think it is good the way it is!

I designed this with the features I liked from my diaper bag, but made it much cuter. It has a little less space than the diaper bag, but I can still fit a ton in there!

The next time I will be sure to put a stabilizer in the strap though. As you can see in the pictures it tends to fold up and crinkle. It could also use a top stitch around the opening, but when you have stuff in it, it doesn't really need it. Hope this gets you excited for someday when I create a tutorial, thanks for checking it out!

Crafting a Christmas (Maybe!)

After pinterest giving me millions of ideas, I wanted to make gifts for my family this year. The entire family is getting a group gift that I bought on groupon months ago (score!). I can't say what it is, but it is a great idea! (hint:Subscription/Memberships are great ideas for gifts!) Even though I have great ideas I have been staying out of the craft room lately. I just haven't been in the mood (notice no new posts). So I'm on a 'if I get to it you might get a gift' basis.

So far, there are only partial gifts. Here are my pintrest links/sketches that everyone will be getting for now!

Earphone Holder (idea I pinned from Here)


Pockets (to put into a skirt they already have, idea pinned from Here)


Cloth High Chair (Ok, it's for my baby but the grandmas would want it for him! Idea was pinned from Here)


Cloth Stacker Toy (I saw a Huge fabric one on Pottery Barn Kids but I'm starting with a small simple one.)


Stuffed Animal Backpack (My own idea! Crazy... I have been getting used to stealing ideas)



I decided to write about our Christmas after writing a comment that kept getting longer and longer on Nicegirlnotes.com. I may be a nerd, but I think it's interesting stuff!

My Mom always has a rhyme she used to buy us presents for anything. It was something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. Santa is using that with my 5 month old, although after a page was stolen out of my magazine he may need to find a better book choice than one with paper pages. Other than that there is an outfit, a toy and jars of baby food(yay!).

We aren't going to be getting him anything because he has a lot of what he needs and awesome grandparents that I'm sure will be spoiling him anyway. I am going to try to finish the cloth stacker toy from us, but it looks terrible so far. Lucky for me, the baby won't care, he'll just be happy with the wrapping paper!

Pressed Flower Cards and Embellishments

I wrote a guide to pressing flowers at Arizona Mama. Click Here first.

When you have pressed flowers cards and anything else are easy to make. One lady commented that a bookmark would be a good gift idea to make.

Materials Needed:
Pressed flowers
Cards (Or cardstock cut and folded)
Anything else you wish to embellish your cards with
Packing Tape (Or laminate sheets, it works better but I had none)
Envelopes if wanted

Lay your pressed flower on the card where you want it. Anything else that you may want on the card should be placed there already, it usually makes it easier as tape is difficult to put things over. You can also make adjustments to the flower, such as trimming it shorter, pulling off leaves or thorns.

Take a large piece of tape (larger than your card) and place it over the flower, make sure there is about 1/4 inch of tape around all parts of the flower, you want to make sure that the tape will seal well. If your flower is wider than your piece of tape, you can lay another piece of tape on it, but you will get a slightly noticeable line across the entire thing.

Next you will trim the edges of the tape that hang off the sides of the card. You can also fold them over and glue a pretty piece of paper to the other side, hiding the edges of the tape.

This works well for cards, and for small embellishments. I put some of my pressed flowers or smaller pieces of cardstock for putting on cards later, for using as gift tags and for scrabooking embellishments.

I went the cheap and easy route, but if you wanted to do this for scrapbooking you would need to find an acid free tape or laminate sheets.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out my Arizona Mama posts!

Mod Podged Coasters

This is a super simple mod podge project. I found glass candle bases at an overstock store. I mod podged the paper to the underside, and let it show through. On the very bottom I did a very generous coat of the mod podge in case of any spills. I didn't do it for these ones, but a felt piece glued to the bottom would make a nice addition to the project, to further protect your tables.

Go Green: Money-Saving or Earth Friendly? (Reusable Gift Bags)

I don't care why your trying to go green, for me it's just to save money and feel better about not being as wasteful. I'm making a ton of different gift bags to get ready for birthdays and Christmas this year. I reuse the regular paper gift bags, but they get destroyed really easily. Wrapping paper is one use only too.

These bags are pretty simple to make, I made a bunch of different ones from scrap fabric, and they turned out really cute. I don't really use patterns, but these are really just a cylinder shape.

Tote bags or drawstring backpacks would be a good way to wrap presents too.

You can also check my etsy shop to buy some of these that I have made.

Meal Planning Made Cute

I've been seeing these cute meal planner boards all over the blogosphere and in stores. I wanted one, so after my intense yard sales day I found a frame to use. This would make a great Christmas Gift Idea for those of you planning Christmas early.

I forgot a before picture so this was after one coat of cherry stain. I found the stain in a small 2 ounce bottle on clearance at Wal-mart. I bought it because it was only 50 cents and we needed to cover up some scratches from moving our table.

The frame was much too light to match our kitchen so I brushed on about 5 coats of stain. I then brushed the edges with a stiff brush to make them look a little bit darker. I did this to the crease also. Distressing the frame would work well here too, but I wanted to save myself a step.

My husband came home right after I had finished painting the frame and wanted it for his office. Good thing I bought 2 frames!

In between coats of paint I worked on the paper arrangement. I chose to layer the butterfly paper in the back, the strip of tan textured paper on the left and a title of the leafy accent scrapbook paper. This could be done to look amazing in a million different ways.

I created the printed Jamer's Dinner Menu on Adobe Photoshop. The question of the day was, If you were a restaurant what font would you be? I figured we would most likely be a steakhouse. My husband was teasing me, we have a western room (the guest bedroom, not the kitchen) and thought I was going to put it in there instead of the kitchen. You can buy the printed design on my etsy or order a custom one if you don't want to make your own.

I used scrapbooking tape to arrange all the paper against the backing of the frame, and cut and pinned the vellum down with a brad in each corner. I even mod podged my marker to look cute.


I have it standing on a metal picture frame holder now, I might try some super duty magnets later. Now I can be organized in my kitchen and it's cute! If you want one already finished for you, click here.

Hot Glued Fabric Flower

This fabric flower was made from some of my tablecloth scraps from when I reupholstered my chair. It was super quick and easy. All you have to do is cut a long strip of fabric, mine was about an inch and a half wide, and dab some hot glue at the very end and twist the fabric to make a roll and you glue it in a spiral to make it look like a rose. Glue your end to the back and cut a piece of felt and hot glue that on the back also. I added a leaf and a clip.

Ribbon Memo Board

Many people have done this project, and if not, you need to try it. It was easy and it's useful.


Mine were both made from what I had around the house, left overs from other projects. The first one I did I used a wooden picture frame that had held a mirror (used on the wanted poster). It was from the dollar tree. I put cardboard inside the frame to back it since I had taken the mirror out.

First you want to find fabric, batting and ribbon. The fabric needs to be a few inches bigger than your frame on each side. The batting should be the same. I didn't have batting, so I used stuffing. It came out a bit more lumpy, I like to think of it as cloud-like. The ribbon is tricky, measure your frame diagonally (I got 17 inches), add 2-3 inches (20). Multiply that by 4 (80).

Lay down your fabric and then your batting. Fold around the edges of your frame and staple them down. I used a staple gun, but a normal stapler can work also. Make sure you pull the fabric tight.


Next you will cut your ribbon. Of your total length, cut it in half. Then cut one of the halves into a quarter of the original length. Now you have a half piece, and two quarter pieces. Take one of the quarters and staple the edge onto the corner of the back of your frame.

Pull the ribbon across the front of the frame (over your fabric and batting) and staple the other side to the back of the frame. Make sure that the ribbon is laying flat. Do the same thing from the other two corners.

Next take the half piece of ribbon and staple it on the back between the two side corners. Pull the ribbon across the front of the frame to the middle of the top of the frame and staple it on the back. Fold the ribbon to go over the front of the frame and pull to the next side and staple it on the back. Fold it over, and pull it to the bottom middle of the frame. Staple and fold again. Pull it over back to the original side of the frame and staple it next to the other end of the ribbon. Confusing? The first picture is of the finished back of the first sample and the pictures below that are of my second sample. The thinner black ribbon is the first two quarters you stapled on, and the thicker brown ribbon is the single half-piece of ribbon.




That was all that I did on the first sample, I liked it just the way it was, I pinned on a cute flower and cute pin for whatever I wanted to hang on it later. The second sample I added a little more. I used pins to hold down the ribbons a bit tighter and for some cuter looks. On the backside after I pushed the pin though the cardboard I bent them and put a piece of duct tape to hold them down better. (If its on the back who cares what it looks like :) I also stapled a loop of ribbon at the top to use when I went to hang it up. There are all sorts of variations you can do for this idea, just be creative and use what you have! You can find the first sample on etsy.com. Thanks for reading!

Cuter T-Shirt Idea

This was a shirt that someone gave me, I loved the style of the shirt but it said something weird on it, in a font that made it only fit for kids in high school, and not my style.

First, I found some extra fabric I had laying around (actually a pair of white boxers that had been tossed into my scraps after my husband decided he didn't like how they fit) and I cut a square out that covered the words.

The next step to making this fabric look cute is to make a stencil. I like to make my own stencils because then they're personalized and because I don't have to buy them. To make your own stencil, find an image (or if your artsy, draw one!) on a google image search or clip art. Then put it in word or paint and make it the size that you want it to be on your t-shirt and print it out on the card stock. Then you will cut it out. Keep in mind that sometimes if you don't use a stencil image that there can be center pieces that will fall out (Think about cutting out an "A" and how you need the middle triangle to be there), so draw lines of parts you need to keep when you cut.

After you've made your stencil it's time to paint it onto the fabric. Fabric paints work best, but I've found that acrylic paints still work, they wash fine and only fade a little. I sponged my star shape on and then brushed the silver on around it. I also stitched on a button in the center.

When your fabric is finished it's time to take it to the sewing machine. I used a zig-zag stitch to keep the frayed ends from fraying too much and sewed a big square around the writing on the shirt.

Hope you can use this idea to make something even cuter!

WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE

We saw this idea at a trading post near the Grand Canyon and it was a super cute idea, but mine looks much better. One of these will look great in our cowboy themed spare bedroom. If you want one for your house you can paint one yourself, it was a fun project. You just cut a piece of plywood, and paint it to look like wood, or stain it if your piece of plywood looks good enough, and then print some words that you want to stencil and cut them out of cardstock or cardboard and sponge them onto your background. Then I used tacky glue to hold the mirror to the wood and hot glued the leather cord around the mirror.