New Baby Blanket

Do you remember this blanket I made? I loved it so much I just had to make one for my little guy Hunter.

The print is an Amy Butler print. We don't have a very good fabric store here in town so I thought it was a bit more of a blue color from the sample online. But it turned out anyway. I made it a bit thicker by using the top piece, batting, and a bottom piece (which you can't really see) and THEN the 3 pieces of flannel.

Come back soon to see the other version I made for my sisters new baby!

Have you been BOO'ED?!

Welcome to all those that are here to play our little Halloween game! This is something that my church family did when I was a kid and I have such fond memories of helping bake cookies and then doing a little "Ding, Dong, Ditch" on our friends homes. So this year I took it upon myself to bring this game back into style. If you happened to stumble upon this blog post on your own, GREAT! Start the game with your friends/family/ward members, whomever! Scroll down for the appropriately worded rule set and get started.  Don't forget, some people have special dietary needs, so get creative, you don't need to just make cookies. I hope you all have as much fun with this as I did and that it brings a smile to your face. Remember, no one is supposed to know who BOO'ed them (although I'm sure my friends have already figured out it was me that started this). This will be my only post for the month of October so that it is at the top of my post list and easy for people to access, look for more posts in November. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I am happy to report that the treat chain is in full swing, so trust me, those goodies you got didn't come from me, but thank you to the people that keep giving me credit for them. Someone loves you dearly and wanted you to feel included!

Ward Rules Set (LDS peeps, this means you):
Right click/Control click on the image and open in a new window, then print 3 copies.

Neighbor Rules Set:
Right click/Control click on the image and open in a new window, then print 3 copies.

Friends Rules Set:
Right click/Control click on the image and open in a new window, then print 3 copies.

Silhouette Fabric Ink

I opened my mailbox and what did I see? A fabric ink starter kit, just for me! :)
Let's get started. I have a handful of kids birthday's coming up, and our trip to Disneyland that deserves a custom toddler shirt to celebrate the occasion.
I'll show you the finished shirts at the end, so keep reading....

I found that tamping the ink on with a sponge brush worked really well for a solid ink look (as opposed to brushing which made my fabric stretch and pull.

So glad I had the forethought to put a piece of paper under it, I wanted it really solid so it bled through a bit.

I made sure I got the outline first so that there weren't any blank spots.

Let them dry, then iron for the type of fabric used. I washed mine after the iron because they were a little stiff and I wanted the kiddos to be able to wear them immediately. So here are the finished shirts! One for Blake, a 2 year old, made in the style of a scientific element. One for William since his family transplanted here for at least the next few years (he's one) and finally Logan's special Mickey shirt!

I think he likes it! I also stamped our cell phone number just below the back collar in small print just in case he got lost, you never know in those busy places and toddlers can dart off so fast if they want to. He was really good when we were there though, so I needn't have worried.

What would you make with your fabric ink? I'm thinking maybe some pillows next!

Boxy Toiletry Bag 2

We finally made it to Disneyland with the kiddos last week. It was so much fun... oh wait, I've already put this out of my mind, it was fun the SECOND day that we had no intention of originally having. My poor boy came down with Roseola on that first day we were there. It was really crazy, we drove down (only a 2 hr drive from our home) and he was fine when we left. About 30 min before we got there he fell asleep. Then he basically never really woke up. We spent all day in that "right after a nap" drowsy/cranky state. It was pretty warm but not terribly so, but he was running a bit of a temp. After trying to get him to participate for a few hours with no luck we decided to go back to the hotel to cool off and he never did! He just kept falling asleep!! So finally after a recommendation from a friend (why do we moms never think of these things in the heat of a stressful situation) I called my doctor's after hours call line. I sent my hubs out for a thermometer (of course the only time we have ever left home without one!) and when he got back our little man's temp was 104!!!!!! So I was sort of freaking out by this time. But the nurses we talked to were very nice and told us just to give him Tylenol and let him rest and drink fluids (done and done). So after a long night of Tylenol induced sleep we went back to Disneyland with freshly purchased tickets (ouch, they're expensive!) for a second day. We all had a lot of fun and although we only went on a handful of rides it was a really fun family weekend. Which leads me to my craft...

I wanted something to hold all my diapers and wipes that I wouldn't have to remove for rides (since I don't like leaving anything of value on my stroller at theme parks.) So I made a stroller trunk :)

I need to come up with a better way of attatching it to the stroller, but this worked for a quickie solution. It is the boxy cosmetic bag that I've made before and added to the stroller accessories I've already made.

Snail Art

Yes, those are snails on our artwork right there and guess what? They made all the squiggles too! Read on to see how we did it! Have I mentioned today how much I love Pinterest? I haven't? Oh, well, it's my new favorite place to go to find all those things I wish I had a mom to tell me and to find more crafts to occupy my time (like I need more of those!). While browsing the other day I found this awesome art made with snails and food coloring. Be prepared for a lot of pictures, it was a ton of fun so I got a little snap happy!

 So here's what you do. Get up extra early to pick up the snails before they hide from the sun and put them in a container with a loose lid until you're ready for them (so they don't suffocate or escape). I used an old trash can and a big plastic lid from a storage box so that it wasn't an exact fit but they could still get air and their shells were too big to fit through the spaces.

When your kids are up and in a cooperative mood break out the snails. Put a few drops of food coloring in a bowl and a little water to add some volume.

Put out a big piece of paper, dip the snails in the food coloring and let them loose!

Check out this guy speeding along!

My son finally caught on that it was fun to "recharge" their paint.

He didn't like that it was slimey though...

So he dropped the snail in the bowl before getting down low (that had to be like a 50 story fall for a snail)! Luckily no snails were harmed but I made sure he handed them to me first from then on.

They were all over each other.

I think they could smell one another or something. Can you see how they're starting to get stained from the coloring?

Here is the finished product. FYI if they stop moving it's because they're eating your paper! Do what I did and give that one a time out until he decides to stop munching away.

This was so much fun, try it! BTW I used the paper to wrap some birthday presents, nothing goes to waste around here!

Red/Yellow Diaper Cake

I had the privilege to attend an old friends baby shower today. I LOVE going to showers for boys, I have so much fun boy fabric that I'm a kid in my own candy store when I start to make things. I decided to forgo the typical baby blue for this one and went with some really cute orange/red fabric I bought to make my littlest one a quilt (eventually!). Included is a top layer of a tie onesie, middle layer of some fabric covered burp cloths and a last layer of size 2 diapers (BTW Megan, they are a small 2 so be sure and use them before your little guy grows out of them!). After I took this picture I included a few little stroller toys to keep little Andrew occupied, I hope she liked them!

Baby Blanket and Binding Tutorial

Going through my draft post list I came across this gem. I made this blanket and lovey combo for my first born, he is now two, shows how long this post has been waiting for the inspiration to write it. Since I am now making him a quilt for his toddler bed I thought it only appropriate to get this off of my to do list first! Since this was my first attempt at a blanket I went super simple. One piece of flannel on the front and one piece of minky on the back.

I did one stitch around the edges to keep it from slipping on my machine and grabbed my satin binding.

For the lovey, I pinned ribbon around the inner edge of my binding before stitching.

Here's how I mitered my corners:

Open the binding...

Pinch the front and tuck under, do the same with the back...

 

 Fold over keeping the inner fold against the outer edge...

 

Pin closed and sew edges and up the corners.

What kind of baby blankets do you like to make? Quilts? Simple flannel? Crochet?

Happy Crafting!
Holly

Peg Doll Update

I guess I forgot to post this a while back, but remember the peg dolls I made? Well, my niece loves them. That's all, I just wanted to share this smiley picture with you all. Have a great day!

Jute Toiletry Box

Do you ever have a moment when you see something and think "I have to have that NOW!" That happened to me yesterday when I was blog hopping and landed on Southern Flair Crafts. I saw the Upcycled Kleenex box and knew I wanted one for myself!

Only one problem, I didn't have an empty Kleenex box. Luckily for me I keep all sorts of empty containers. I grabbed the plastic bin I had bought a Costco size amount of Raisinets in and chopped off the top. I won't go into too many details about how to make it (since you should pop over to her tutorial), but I will show you some modifications I made (since I'm lazy!)

 I used a glue gun (because I have no patience for dry time) and wrapped and glued and wrapped and glued.

 I pulled out an old tee-shirt out of my pile...

 and cut a large rectangle. (notice I kept the finished edge)

 I sewed the long side shut (it's not pretty I know, but I was going for quick and dirty here)...

 Tied together the unfinished end....

 Threw the whole thing inside and stretched the sleeve of fabric around the top...

 Voila! Quick and dirty. Thanks Tammy for the fabulous idea :)

Happy Crafting,
Holly

Father's Day 2012

Well, I haven't had time to do new research for you all but here is a repost from last year. I think I'm going to try this new Super Hero dad gift box though! Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads!!!

Ok, so I know it's a day early, but how else would you know where to find father's day ideas! I've done a little research for you all and here's what I came up with:

 Food: Dad's love cheese, grease and bacon. Pretty much equals a cheese burger. Here's a recipe for a giant burger and for the large bun to go with it. Serve it up for the family and make sure Dad's setting is an extra special one with this special napkin fold.

Entertainment: What man doesn't like Star Wars? Set him up with a remote, a Star Wars flick and a bucket of goodies with these fun printables and some really cute kitchen items that will hopefully get him in the mood to join the fun in the kitchen (or so he at least notices where the kitchen is.)

  Gifts: Want to give him the stuff he really uses? Use these printables for some food items. Does he have a super stylish office? Use this idea as a quick and inexpensive gift that goes perfect with dark leather and wood decor.

Hmmm anything I've forgotten?! Oh yeah, wrap all your gifts in these cute bags!

Happy Father's Day to you all and please let me know if there is a craft on your blog you'd like me to link to, I'll review it to make sure it's on topic and let you know if you're chosen (BTW: Followers get chosen first, just sayin'!)