Ta Da

I finally finished.  The hardest part for me is trying to do the packing/finishing.  I made little tags and put my info on the back and I think they turned out cute.  Now I need to make myself one.  Here are some pictures:

Felt topiaries

Here are the supplies you will need

• Felt (a lot so buy a half yard)
• dowel (I got mine at Lowes for .74, they are a lot longer from a hardware store so I will have enough to make 4 and some left over)
• Styrofoam balls
• pins
• a bucket- I got mine at the dollar store
• cup - to use to make a template circle - mine was the bottom of a small cup about 3" round
• Flower foam
• scissors

The basics of this is to cut circles - fold them in half and then in half again and then pin them to your ball. When you are done it will look like this:

Fill your bucket with flower foam or craft foam. Stick the dowel that you have cut to size and painted into the top and then into the bucket. Cover the foam. Attach ribbon and card.

Sorry the bucket is a little blurry, I wanted to show the details of the flower. I plan to decorate the bucket and make a tag too.

I started something yesterday but I am not done....it involves cutting hundreds of circles and a lot of pins. Oh, and in also involves felt!

Any ideas?

I'll give you a hint: these cute topiarys. I was planning on giving them away to the girls I VT but they take a long time and now I want to keep them. ssshhh

I will finish this project today with a tag that I am thinking will say - I hope our friendship will bloom and grow.

What do you think? Any suggestions before I finish up?

Crafty Gift Ideas

Happy Monday!


I hope your holiday preparations are going well. I know I've got about a million projects that I started and hope to finish in time. It goes so fast! If you're still in need a cute and crafty gift idea for someone on your list we've got some for you. I'm addicted to reading other craft blogs, so here's a few that I've found and love that are pretty simple and would make great gifts!


Kids
Car Cozie
Bow & Accessory Holder

Pre-teens/Teens
Flowers & Flower Necklace
Doodle Frame
Ipod Pouch

Anyone
Jewelry Holder
Cookie Kit


Treats
Mint Thins
Chocolate Covered Nuts

Diaper & Wipes Clutch

I finally made a few things off my baby list! Not for me yet, but for a friend's baby shower. I seriously have avoided going to baby showers in the past because I always feel lame bringing a generic present. What if they don't like the outfit you pick out? Or the blanket that they have 10 others of?

But, there are so many cool useful things out there that you can make that will for sure be one of a kind. At least here in VA where the craft blogs aren't so abundantly read :)

The one for today is a diaper and wipes clutch. Great idea for keeping your diapers all neat in the diaper bag, and also easier for a quick grab for a diaper change.

There are a few tutorials out there in blog land and since I'm not super smart sewing-wise I had to read through all of them to figure out what I would be doing. I ended using a few ideas from each of them when making mine, so I decided to make a new tutorial that will hopefully get you all the way through in one place :)

I ended up making this twice because the first one turned out with a few unwanted quirks. I ended up giving away that one, but I made it again so I could explain better how to make it right. (In the pictures, both bags are used. The only difference is the first one has a narrowed flap and the other doesn't. Don't let that confuse you)
Hope it's all clear :)


Instructions:
Cut one 8 x 10 piece and one 8 x 13 piece from lining and outer fabric

(*If you're an amateur seamstress like me, I'd recommend doing it once without these next 2 steps to narrow the flap, because it made it more complex when sewing/flipping and I got frustrated. But once you know what you're doing, I think this makes it just a little cuter)
Optional step: Line up large pieces back to back. Line up one of the short pieces on top as a guide.
(Optional Part 2) Line up a ruler where the short piece ends and angle the ruler about 1". Cut off the corner. Repeat on both sides.
(If you're not narrowing the flap, skip to here)

Pin front pieces to back pieces, right sides together. Sew with 3/8" (the one between ¼ and ½ so I learned...) seam allowance

Trim the hem on the lining closer to the seam so it will be less bulky inside
Also clip corners on the bottom of both pieces.


Turn the lining right-side out and slide inside the outside fabric (keep that inside-out)

Pin tops together, mark off a 3" area in the middle where you will NOT sew, so you can flip it.

For the corners, fold both the side hems toward the front and it will make them much neater when flipping. (see the pin? and sorry, it keeps turning this picture)
Sew around the flap and ends of the front, leaving your opening in the front. Use a 3/8" seam again. (See how I sewed the left hem toward the back, don't do that!)
Clip upper corners
Clip the corner where the flap meets the front – make sure you don't cut the seams. I also trimmed the seams around the corners a little bit too (not pictured) because it seemed really bulky.


Flip right side out, and tuck the lining inside. Stick a pencil in the corners to get them nice and square.

Pin the front opening shut. Press the flap

Top stitch around the front and the flap, closing the opening (about 1/4" seam) Cut two 1 inch pieces of sew-on velcro and pin where you want them.

Sew around each piece of velcro. Although I had to be more careful with my mistakes, I think it looks really cool with the contrasting thread on the top stitch and for the velcro.

Add diaper & wipes and you're done! This is big enough for a couple diapers and pack of wipes.

As a side note, this type of bag can be used to contain or protect anything. Just make it a little smaller and use as a glasses case, ipod/cell phone/gps protector or for anything!

Gifting

I am always excited when I have a baby shower coming up because it gives me an excuse to sew and try out some projects I've been wanting to try.  My friends baby shower was last weekend so all last week was spent making gifts for her.  I don't know how much she appreciated it but I had fun making them. 

I had a few problems, like my sewing machine stopped working and I had to pay a guy a hundred dollars to get it fixed.  Ick.  I will NEVER do that again.  Luckily he taught me how to do it myself and now I know what all the knobs on my machine are for so if the kids mess it up again (I am sure that is what happened this time)  I will be able to fix it without the cost. 

So here is what I made

A diapers and wipe case - a tutorial hereA binky clip

A wall hanging from a Martha Stwart kit - so easy!!  Just iron the animals and trees on a painted canvas.

My favorite and the one that took the longest, a teddy bear blanket

The back or underneath

The teddy bear blanket is 23x23 with satin ribbon binding and the pattern was found here on craftbits

The hardest part was sewing the bear to the blanket and making it strong.  It took me A LOT longer than 30 minutes!!  I really wanted to keep it.  Now I have to buy more fabric and make one for Abbey. 

The ones you buy in the store are tiny this is a decent sized blanket.

The binky clip is pretty easy, the hardest part is finding the clips.  I got suspender clips.  I had to ask but I found them in the button section of Joann's.  Then you just need ribbon - I handsewed a snap instead of velcro becaue I think velcro is too easy for kids to undo.  Then I put a smaller piece of ribbon down the middle. 

I need to make these things for my own baby now and for Ritz (when we find out what it is)