Some Finished Projects

Here's a few things I've finished over this week.

First, I finished a cross stitch kit this week. It's from Bucilla and it was called "Fall Flowers". I picked it up from Hobby Lobby on sale (for like $12, but months ago).

I absolutely love the colors in this piece. The vibrant blues and orange/reds just look gorgeous.

Second, I realized earlier this week that next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. So I went ahead and threw together a few more coffee cozies, like I did last year.
The school colors are red and black and both of my Big Ks have coaches for teachers, so I went ahead and used school colors for theirs. Also, you can probably tell by looking that there was only one female teacher this year, and honestly I'm not crazy about the way that hers turned out, but KK liked it and it's for her teacher. The last one is for a student teacher in KK's room, but he's been there since the middle of the year so I figured he earned it.

I picked up some Starbucks gift cards to go with them, also like last year. Lord knows I need coffee to get through the day and I only have my 4, not a full classroom.

I have an idea of what to do for the SLP, since she got a cozie last year but I haven't gotten anything to make them yet. I'll show you when I do though.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Birthday Snacks

The 27th was KL's 7th birthday.
Here's what we decided for school treats:

Isn't he cute!!
Here was the inspiration (from a box of Teddy Grahams):

So I started with an apple sliced across to get a good circle shape, and then gave it a tsp. of chocolate icing (store bought per school's preference, of course). The picture I took is just the example so it has a little less icing because it was what the twins got to eat while KL's class had theirs.
Then when we got to the school, KL and a friend passed out the vanilla cookie noses/mouths (I used a food coloring pen to draw the noses on- tip: a quick dip under a running faucet amuses the almost birthday girl to see the water change colors and makes the color much more vibrant, even from when they're brand new), 2 blueberry eyes, and a choice of an Oreo to split for ears or 2 vanilla wafers because KL didn't like the Oreo with everything else. And then they assembled, if desired, their own snacks.
They all loved it. And I had a few wishing (and asking) to make another.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Princess Leia

I showed you my Cinderella dress for KL for favorite character day- KK chose to be Princess Leia.

I know what she really wanted was to make her teacher smile and wear her hair like Leia (because every little girl loves the side buns, right?). 

I didn't even start working on a costume for her until Monday night when she needed it Tuesday- talk about procrastination!! Luckily I came up with an idea to make it super easy. 

I looked online for costume ideas, and then wondered why bother when I knew I didn't have enough plain white fabric to make anything for her- but I did find this tutorial and pattern for her belt that came together pretty easily. I had a gray sheet with a worn spot that was recently thrown into my recycle fabrics and I had dark gray (think charcoal) felt. I know her belt is more silver but I figured the gray would work just fine. I used the felt to help the "patches" on her belt stick out some (and I added length because my 10 yo does not have a 20 inch waist). I also opted for elastic instead of Velcro- it just seemed easier than adding so much length that it could potentially sit funny. 

As for the gown, I took 2 of daddy's plain white t-shirts. I cut one of them right under the sleeves and stitched  them together. No fuss, no muss, no late night run to purchase fabric (and dad will take any excuse you give him to buy new clothes). 

Now, I didn't get a photo of just her in costume, but here's a picture of all my K girls before school- and in full costume. 

I love this photo. I'm pretty sure there's a little bit of everyone's personality showing through. Even the twins are showing just how different they can be, even when dressed alike- or maybe it's just me. 

Anyway, they had a blast. KK was a little worried once we started walking to school that she would be the only one in costume, or at least a little more elaborate than everyone else (and she was) but it only took a few minutes of being in the building and getting lots of compliments before she was okay with it. My little KL kept the dress on until supper time. She didn't want to take it off!! (KK took hers off for lunch, PE, and recess so it wouldn't get messy or hinder movement.) 

That's it for costumes, but here's a quick shot I took this weekend of KL in her squared-circle skirt I finished a few weeks ago- she just looked too cute. However, she was also wrestling with daddy while I was trying to get a picture so it's kind of blurry. 

That's all for now, 

Jo! 

Cinderella Dress

We are in the beginning of our ABC countdown to summer for my big girls, and Tuesday (F) is "Favorite Character Day". It says to come dressed as your favorite book character. 

KK has decided she wants to be Princess Leia, and really just wants the hair. 

KL, after changing her mind a million and half times, decided on Cinderella. We may have gone with the typical Disney design but the story line came from a book originally, right? Plus, after a movie gets famous Disney makes a few dozen story books using the characters anyway. 

So here's what we came up with :

I used the same concept as the tutu I made for KO a few weeks ago. 

I know Cinderella's dress is all blue but Hobby Lobby only had white, black, and hot pink options for the bandeau (and I didn't have time to order one online), so we went with the white. 

To give the tufts I added 3 strands of tulle in middle and tied them to the back. To hide the knot I just tucked them under the other rows of tulle. 

Also different is the straps. I knew she wouldn't be able to wear it to school without some sort of straps. (Although, I already told her she will wear shorts and a shirt underneath in case she gets hot, or itchy, or tired of wearing a big puffy dress.) So we too a left over length (same as the skirt of the dress) and looped them the same way at her shoulders, and in the back they go through a hole and then I tied them together, so the shoulders could be adjusted, if desired or needed depending on how long it lasts. 

My biggest fear was that people would assume Elsa, and according to a Facebook poll, that's the first assumption everyone is making. But I've decided once we get a black choker on her it will be easier to tell. 

Here's the only in progress shot I took, it's poorly lit and wasn't planned on being added here, but KM was just too cute in it, and got very mad when daddy took it off for supper. 

But this photo shows why I decided on two layers instead of just one. The single layer was pretty see through and left a gap near the top of the skirt/bottom of the bandeau that the second layer (along with a little help from a small white strip that I weaved through the middle) took care of.

That's all for now, 

Jo!

Niece's Skirt

Yesterday we celebrated my niece's birthday, this is the polka dot skirt I whipped up in the last weeks.
Let's start with the wrapping. I have a dislike for gift bags- I really have no idea why, part of me thinks it stems from filling a paper bag with more paper just seems wasteful, part of me think it's the feeling of obligation to use it again so it doesn't seem wasteful. I don't really know anything for sure, except the fact that I don't like them. So here's what I did:

(There was another package that I wrapped after this, but it was just a box, so nothing special.)

I have seen several different instructions on using your wrapping paper as a bag so that's what I went for. I actually used this method for Christmas gifts too, but was frustrated with the fact that they only instruct you on how to do the "bag" portion and not how to close it up, but I think it turned out great this time. (Here's a link to a tutorial on making a gift bag out of wrapping paper, with an idea of how to close.)
When it came to closing I really just folded the extra down, tucked in the sides and taped, then covered that seam with a bow.

Anyway, enough on that here's the cute niece in the skirt:

I bought the tank from Target, and you can see she's got the bow in her hair too.
I also found a cute set of 3D press on nails that came with a ring and had pretty close to the same color pallet, so I bought those for her (they were wrapped in matching paper, but it was just a box so nothing special). Here's the text I got this morning from my brother:

It's a little hard to tell, but the eyes are googly eyes, so that's the 3D part. There were also a few with jewels on them too.

I love that little girly!! And I'm glad she likes her new outfit.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Little Bow Ties

I went to Hancock's Closing Sale and found these super cute buttons, at 20% off. 

I immediately thought of my sister-in-law, who loves elephants!! 

So of course I picked them up. I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew I needed them (or, at least really, really wanted them). 

After a few days, or a week, I finally thought I would make something for her two little boys, and after a little bit longer, I decided a few cute bow ties with cute button accents. 

Today, they're not quite done, but they're close enough to show you. 

I combined a few different online tutorials, one that was designed for a clip-on bow tie, but had good directions for the tie portion and another that used a Velcro neck band, because I liked that idea better than buying clips or sliding adjusters. 

I used 6x10 rectangles for the bow, a 2x3 rectangle for the center section, and for the length of the neck I used a 2x18 (I wanted them to last for a while so there's plenty of length to grow, plus they live a few hours away, so measuring is a bit of a challenge). 

Here's how they're turning out though: 

You can see above the bows that I still have the Velcro pinned, but sewing the Velcro on is the biggest part of what I have left. After that is done I just need to slide the neck through the center loop and decide whether or not it's stable enough to stay in place. If not, I'll throw a quick stitch in the back to secure it all and they will be done. 

I think they turned out adorable and can't wait to see them on my adorable nephews!! I love sewing and creating for the people I love!

That's all for now, 

Jo! 

Tutu

I've seen the pictures and tutorials on how to make tutu using a crocheted/woven headband and tulle a million times over and always think "my girls would love one- or twenty" but I've never made one... until now.

I was looking for the elastic for KL's squared circle skirt and found a headband on sale on JoAnn's site while I was there. I also used the left over tulle from the circle skirt and the teal glitter tulle from my niece's bow.

Here's how it looks:

 It's pretty much a big poof ball.

Look at that^, that's 8 full inches of flare, but it's oh so adorable.

The headband I found, is perfect for about size 6-9 months, so I won't be able to try it out for a while. (I will say is stretches far enough that my K twins were each able to try it on while making it because they were just drawn to it.)

This was actually so simple that I was done in 2 hours (counting cutting time).
I started by finding an infant skirt pattern online to see what the length should be (about 5-6 inches depending on the pattern- I chose 6 just to be safe). Then I cut up all the remaining tulle on my spools, in twice the desired length because they'll be folded in half (but only used about half of what I cut because it got so full so fast, I honestly expected to need another layer that I definitely did not need). And I used my latch hook tool to attach them, and from there it was like magic.

Here's how they're attached- just folded in half and loop them through the holes- it's so simple!!

Here it is before I attached the teal. I finished the row of pink alternating dark and light (although I did all the dark first and then all the light) and then just a few rows up I added the teal about every forth loop to spread it out because it was already full, and because I didn't have as much.

 Can you imagine the big poof on a baby learning to crawl? The thought just makes me smile!!

That's all for now,
Jo!

Finished Quiet Book & Quilt Update

I've been feeling particularly motivated lately, possibly the "Spring Cleaning" feeling telling me to "clean" up my WIPs or maybe it's the nesting telling me to get it done while I can. Who knows.

But because of it I now have a finished quiet/soft book. So here's a look:

This the the Front Cover, I thought about adding a decal or lettering, but my desire to finish it made me whip it up before I had the chance to. (This motivation is kind of win some, lose some.)

Now, I'll just go through page by page, there's not a lot of activity in them, it's really meant for toddlers or older infants- it's more of a "look" book than a "do" book. 

So here's pink: 

 Red and Orange:

 Yellow and Green:

 Blue and Purple:

 White and Black:

 Brown and a rag style Rainbow (it needs a little fluffing):

 Then there's the 1 activity page:
Matching the "crayons" to their color words, which were stitched with their respective color thread (by hand because I don't have a machine for that and they're too small to try to do with my sewing machine).
Also, I planned on attaching a pocket to hold them in, but again the desire for progress skipped a few steps. The ribbons of the crayons are sewn into the spine, not the page seam like I originally planned, but I fray checked the ends to prevent fraying and decided they could just lay in the page, no need for a pocket.

 All matched up! As you can see the color names are stitched on the "crayons" also.

The pretend play, art pallet.

 I forgot to add a pocket for the paint brush, but I was able to pull up just a little of the Heat N' Bond to store it under the pallet. (Now to find a paint brush that fits, for now, here's a corner pusher stand in.)

 Here's the spine. I sewed the cover to the pages in the direct middle (or as close as possible- there wasn't a perfect middle). And then I sewed the first and last pages to the cover also, to give the depth of the spine, you can see all 3 lines in the picture below, for the middle I stitched the whole length of the cover, for the sides I just stitched seam to seam (less a little short coming on the lower right, oops).

After finishing this last night, I also started piecing my quilt together. What started out as 21 t-shirt pieces, is now 3 large groups waiting to be put together- I was so excited to start piecing my first quilt! It was a great feeling to get that far too, I wasn't sure if I'd make it. Here's a picture of the pieces sitting next to each other before I started sewing.
Sorry it's a dark picture, it was meant to just be a quick look for the person I'm making it for, but I thought I'd share it with you. (Also, my K girls have dubbed this quilt, with what I'm sure is the utmost affection, the "Creepy Quilt".)

That's all for now,
Jo!

Bow and Skirt

My niece is getting ready to turn 5 this month.
She is quite the girly girl, so I thought I'd make her a cute circle skirt (actually a circle instead of square this time) and a bow to match it.

Here's what I have so far.

I looked around at a few shops and liked this fabric the best (I chose a jersey knit so I wouldn't even have to hem it!!). This fabric is called Spring Dots and I got from Hobby Lobby; while I was there I looked at their sale section and the thick blue, purple, and green polka dotted ribbon was marked down so I went ahead and grabbed it, along with the teal glitter tulle for below the bow. I looked through my ribbon stash but was missing a pink that matched, so I headed to Walmart and found the thin pink and brown that topped it off. (The pink elastic is left over from the last skirt, luckily both the girls I'm using it for are pretty thin so there's plenty left.)
It looks like I need to fluff my pink and brown a little more (on the left side of the above picture) but I think I managed to incorporate most the colors pretty well and it turned out not too bad.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Easter Craft

I forgot about this one last week.
With Spring Break we had a planned a fun day with friends to do a little crafting and enjoy a little company. Unfortunately, our friends got sick and we have to reschedule, but I did still let my K girls do their crafts, I just didn't take any pictures of it, because they were working while I was doing chores, stopping by when needed for the next set of directions.

Here's the example I made though:

Isn't it cute. It's also pretty easy.
Here's what I used:
1 plastic Easter Egg
2 pipe cleaners (1 cut in half, and you only need 1 half)
1 pom pom
glue and a permanent marker

The ears and feet are pipe cleaners (full for the ears, half for the feet). I bent them in half to help make them even, and then put one end through each of the holes that are in the egg (I'm assuming from the mold for the plastic but I'm not really sure why those holes are there- also, some eggs don't have the holes or only have one, so make sure you've got an egg that will work). Bend them around and tuck them back into the holes, just enough to make a small bend to hold them in place. The ears go on the "top" portion of the egg, the feet into the "bottom" shorter portion.

Glue the pom pom to the back of the "bottom" portion to create a "tripod" with the feet so it can stand.

Finally, use the permanent marker to draw a cute little bunny face on.

I didn't come up with this idea, I found a picture on Pinterest, but couldn't find actual directions attached to it. Also, I know I used all the same color for my example, but how cute would it look with something like a purple body and pink ears? Have fun and use you're imagination.

That's all for now,
Jo!