Teacher's Gifts Pt. 2

Here are the finished products for the teachers.

I plan on adding a Starbucks gift certificate to go with them. I hope they enjoy them, I read a blog post recently (after finishing) that was a list of what to get and what not to get teachers. Thankfully, the list of things to get included gift cards and monogrammed items.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Teacher Gifts

My Big Ks brought home their A to Z Countdown this week, which starts on Wednesday, which means there's 28 days of school left... yikes! This school year seems to have flown by!
I decided this a good cue to start on year end teacher's gifts. I had already decided to make coffee cozies (and I'll probably put a $10 Starbucks gift card too) but hadn't started.

(There are 4 teachers I'm making them for, so there are times when you see 4 different sets, but while typing this up there is only 1 finished, I may post the others after they're all done on a day when I have nothing else to post.)

First I found a template online. (Disney's Spoonful has instructions for felt cozies, I used that, but if all else fails head to Starbucks, grab a hot coffee with a cozy and disassemble it once you get home).
Next cut them out of your fabric.

I decided I was going to put their initials on them so I grabbed some scrap fabric to match. Here's my combos:

Next, I added some Heat N' Bond to the back of the scraps for the letters.

Next I cut 4 pieces of scrap quilt batting to help contain heat, and protect hands from it - that is the point after all right?

Then I cut the letters for each teacher. I tried using Word to print fun fonts off but they just seemed really hard, and more trouble than it was worth. I ended up just free handing them. Next I secured them in place with the last step of the Heat N' Bond.

Next I secured the letters but stitching them on. I used several different methods for different looks. (You can see another one later in the finished product picture.)

Then I layered them to sew together. First the outside layers, right sides together. And then the quilt batting. Also, you need to add an elastic cord (I actually used an elastic hair tie but in half) between the outside layers, pointing inwards. Like so:

I think it's easiest to trace the template onto the batting so there are clear lines to follow when sewing.

Then sew it all together, leaving a gap (about 2-3 inches) to turn.
Turn it. I snipped the corners to make them easier to push out.
Next I ironed it and then stitched around the edge to close up the open area. (I took a couple picture but apparently none of them really turned out that great so I choose a finished product picture so feel free to ignore the button that's attached, sorry.)

Next to position the button by lining up the edges and marking how far the elastic reaches, unstretched, and make a mark. Then sew the button on the mark.

And you're done!

That's all for now,
Jo!

Bird House

I wanted something simple to do with my girls this weekend to keep them busy because daddy was supposed to be working and decided on a bird feeder.

We started with a milk jug,cleaned out.

I used a compass to draw a circle on the side (if you don't have one it's okay because it doesn't need to be perfect).

 And then I cut it out with an exacto knife. I used the opportunity of the big hole to finish drying the corners inside because it wasn't quite dry yet.

Next I let the girls go at it (I told them not to paint the inside because we don't want the birds to accidentally eat the paint): 

While they were busy painting, I took the lid and used an awl to poke a hole through the middle: 

I had to make it a little bigger with the exacto knife, just big enough to fit a string/yarn/ribbon whatever to hang it from. Tie a knot on the underside of the lid. 

Then pull it back up to make sure it won't slip through: 

Now, here's the finished painting by the big Ks: 

 After it dried we put the lid back on and added some seed:

Then I was a little leery of the cut edge of the circle so I took some flower patterned washi tape and covered the edge.

All that's left is to hang it and watch for birds:

(I ended up adding a little nail to keep it from slipping.)

That's all for now,
Jo!

A New Bow

Not much to talk about, I made a new bow yesterday. I didn't take pictures of the steps because I was trying a method I'd never used before, but I thought I'd share a picture so there's a least something to look at today...

I have mixed feelings about it but the girls loved it so I've got that going for me.

That's all for now,
Jo!

PJ Pants

Sorry it's been a while, with spring break and Easter (and managing to lose a camera) I've been a little preoccupied. We're also working on a slow moving bathroom remodel that's picked up pace recently so I've been busy there too. I could show you pictures of painted trim and a newly installed shower doesn't quite seem "crafty." Anyway, as a break today I decided to make a few pairs of pajama pants out of an old shirt my hubby didn't want anymore.

Since they're toddler pants, I figured I'd get two pairs- one from the sleeves and one from the torso- like so:

I traced the pre-existing pair of pants onto fabric. I used the pre-existing hems where possible (bottom of the legs and side of legs on the one from the sleeves). I gave myself a 1/4" seam for the all seams except the waist line, which I gave 1 inch. Then cut them out, pinned together to keep them from moving around too much.

Then I pinned and sewed up the sides of the legs on the pair cut from the torso. 

I then ironed the seams down and added a zigzag for a little decoration. The fabric was a little more stretchy than I'm used to so it's far from perfect but it's just pajama pants and it's the inside seam.

Next I pinned and sewed the two legs together: 

Next I folded down about 1/4" from the waistband and ironed it. 

Then I folded it down another 1/2" and pinned it to make a casing for an elastic band. I also added a tag to mark the back of the pants. 

I threaded the elastic through and stitched it shut. And here are the final products: 

Two similar, but not the same (because that's how dad prefers it) pairs of pajama pants. I accidentally stitched the set made of sleeves inside out, But I kind of like the look of the seams on the outside, and it's one less seam bothering baby legs (well toddler legs, but I refuse to call them anything but my babies). 

That's all for now,
Jo! 

April Fools

I'm not a fan of pranks- who is really?
So when it comes to my April Fools pranks they're really just an experiment in observation (which really isn't that different from most prank anyway). I usually change something just a little and see if it's noticed. This year, we went from this: 

And added a little left over glitter paint from our bow keeper: 

Close up: 

 I figured it was something I could easily live with, but the girls didn't notice until late in the day... yesterday. So I was a day late on April Fools but they girls thought they were fun and we're pretty excited about it. 

That's all for now,
Jo!

Another Shirt Dress

Since the first dress I made for KK didn't fit her I went ahead and tried again. (This time I used a more recently purchased- and therefore bigger- dress as my template.)
This time it was a plain white dress shirt so I did a little doodle stitching to make it not so boring.

I went with an under water theme- because what little girl doesn't love mermaids?
So this is a close up of the bottom:

(Since the colors aren't quite as clear as I remember when I took the picture: the octopus is pink, everything else looks well enough to tell.)

And the neck has a shell:

I finished it Tuesday night after she was asleep and I showed her Tuesday morning and she wanted to wear it that day! I love that she loves it! (However I finished it at 11 and need to put a backing to keep it from pulling out or itching her.)

That's all for now,
Jo!

Bookmarks

In today's post I followed an idea from Happy Hooligans.

My and the big Ks did this last week during Spring Break, but I was so busy the rest of the week and then working on home remodeling over the weekend that I'm just now getting around to posting (sorry!).

This was a really simple craft that I've had planned forever but just now getting around to. To be honest, my girls get excited when I let them use Sharpies, so they loved this. I also used two different types of recycled plastic bottles to see how each worked (honestly both worked fine for the craft until I went to add a ribbon to the top and the thicker I couldn't punch through).

So first we colored our recycled plastics. I used a Bath and Body Works soap bottle (I figured the rounded edges would be cute) and a milk jug.

 (When there's no school, KK will always prefer PJs.)

Then we used a pipette and dripped a few drops of rubbing alcohol on them to "marble-ize" them.

(KL got a little ambitious and squirted more than dripped but that's okay.)

We left them out overnight to make sure they dried good and then added a coat of mod podge to keep it from smearing. And finally we punched a hole and added a ribbon to the top (but for some reason I didn't take a picture after that). Here's the (almost) finished project: 

That's all for now, 

Jo!