Lonely Glove Monster

I was strolling through Pinterest a few months ago- or more, it was long enough ago that we hadn't put up the winter gloves yet- and I saw these cute little guys.

They're adorable right?
And they seemed pretty simple too. However, I don't really need anymore stuffed animals around my house because daddy has a slight addiction to grocery store crane games and it's because he's pretty good at them. I'm pretty sure that every time I clean out the toy room I end up with at least a half of a garbage bag full of stuffed animals that are ignored now and being re-homed, along with a few that end up tossed due to wear and tear.
So I decided that since it would be pretty small it would make a great toy for the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. It was the prefect excuse to give it a try.
Unfortunately when we finally made it through the gloves I only had one mismatch, which seemed really odd with how often I was told that there were no gloves to be found throughout winter, but what do I know.

Anyway, there's the back story- here's the result:

I took some left over floss from an old cross stitch kit (because my crafty nature refuses to let me throw away any) and used it for the hair. I think I had 3 strands and cut them into eighths, for 24 strands knotted around the seam into 48 strands of hair. That's really the biggest change I made. I did choose to and stitch everything, mostly because my pregnant belly didn't want to get up off the couch to use the sewing machine.
My KL loves it and is very upset that she does't get to keep it. I'm hoping to make a few more stuffed animals in the next couple days but we'll have to wait and see where my motivation takes me, as well as whether or not we end up with KO in that time period too.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Cross Stitches

I admit, most of my time right now is being spent making sure that everything is ready for baby's arrival so I haven't done too much crafting. I have still been sitting down to cross stitch to help relax at night. I've recently finished 2 so I thought I'd share them.

The first is baby KO's birth announcement, although not technically done since I don't have a birthday or weight to put on it yet, but everything else is done.

I bought this Dimensions kit from Walmart (one of the few that I've bought that wasn't on sale). I didn't want to repeat themes from my other kids so I avoided farm animals and nursery rhymes. KK was born before I was doing cross stitches, or at least in a period of me not doing them. KL's is a stack of cute, characterized farm animals and the twins' has nursery rhyme illustrations around the announcement details. So I thought the alphabet & numbers, even with animals, would be just fine.

After finishing the birth announcement I started a small embroidery project, bought on sale from Hobby Lobby and also a Dimensions kit.

This one was quick moving, I think I spent 2-3 days total. It was super simple.
KL was using it like a story to tell KM this morning. Something about the key to the house with the flowers in the window, and it went on but I don't remember. The twins like to point out all the hearts and of course the cupcake also, because what almost 3 year old isn't attracted to cupcakes.


That's all for now,
Jo!

Denim Skirt

My best friend's daughter is getting ready to turn 1 and birthdays are always a great excuse to make something. Since she's a girl, I decided a cute little skirt, neutral in color to match easily.
So I headed to JoAnn's with the thought of maybe white with a small gold print- or something similar but I ended up finding a cute dark denim with little white hearts printed on it and immediately fell in love with the thought of a denim skirt with a little white lace trim and grabbed it.

Here's how it turned out:

I love it!! (Honest moment- it wasn't quite done in this picture- there is only one side of lace attached.)

It isn't a full circle like I've been making, but I knew I would want 2 panels to keep the hearts in the right direction. So it's only 3/4 of a circle. I used a cheat sheet for the math (that I found on Pinterest) and then made a template on a large sheet of paper.

Construction was easy- I attached the two panels, and secured the hems to the sides- giving a two line seam on the sides. Then I attached the elastic waist (using another cheat sheet for waist sizes). And finished it off by attaching the lace trim, I did it in two sections (front and back) to the seams matched the skirt seams.

And to go with it I made this clustered denim flower hair clip.

It took me a while to decide I liked it- and a trim. I started with a 3-inch circle of denim, layered with a 2.5-inch circle of lace, and finally a 2-inch denim circle. I hand stitched a few lines with them folded in half one direction and a few more folded in half the other direction- so there was a little X o the back to help keep them pinched. And then stitched on a few "pearl" beads.
Here's a picture of an individual "flower":

But when I put them together they were just too big for my liking- so I trimmed the top edges so they didn't stick up too much and a little on the sides so they weren't pushing on each other as much; and I think I'm okay with it now.

I'm so excited to give it to her- she always looks cute, so I know she'll be adorable in this skirt and bow.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Infant Circle Skirts

I have to be honest, I absolutely love making circle skirts. Partly because they are just absolutely adorable, and partly because they come together so quickly. Today I've got 2 new ones to show you, following the same basic process that I have with all the others.
I made these in preparation for baby KO, and I figure they'll be so easy to just slip over a little plain white/solid colored onesie for a super cute outfit.

Here they are together.

These are the fat quarters I picked up while shopping Hancock's sale a few weekends (probably closer to months now) ago. And the pink polka dot elastic was bought there also.
This was the project I had in mind for them, so I purposely picked out coordinating colors for the ruffled hem on the skirts.

Since the ruffled hem is the only difference- here's a quick talk through, because I have a hard time remembering to take pictures through the steps and really I'm not posting anything that you can't find a pattern/tutorial for somewhere else on-line, especially since that's where I usually get my ideas.
I knew that I wanted the hem to be about an inch, so I cut 3 pieces off the long end of the fat quarter (21-22 inches, depending on the brand and shrinkage) that were 2.5 inches wide. I sewed them together to make one very long piece. Then I ironed it in half, so it was only 1.25" tall. Then I ran basting stitches to gather it to size. Then I sewed the ruffle to the skirt, using a .25" hem so I had my 1" ruffle. I don't have a serger, so I did a zigzag stitch over the exposed edge to prevent fraying. And then I ironed the ruffle down and stitched above the ruffle to secure the edge of the ruffle to the skirt, keeping it in place.
If you ask me, the gather on the pink is better than the red, but on a cute infant no one will notice.

Here are shots of them individually:

I will say, that as much as I love making circle skirts, I have a love-hate relationship with visible elastic. I'm always terrified that the amount of tension I need to attach it properly will cause uneven stitches and ugly seams. Luckily with this project, my tread matched perfectly to the elastic and is better hidden, but there have been times when I use a contrasting thread for decoration and ended up wishing I didn't. Oh well, sometimes -okay, usually, it isn't perfect, but it's still a labor of love.

That's all for now,
Jo!

Post It Clip Boards

This is what I decided on for the SLP for Teacher Appreciation. (If you only knew the amount of progress my KL has made in 2 years with her you would be buying her gifts too.)

They are cute little clip boards for Post It notes, and even a little bigger- they're about 5 inch squares, I don't remember the exact measurement.

Anyway, I saw the idea on Pinterest and thought it was too cute. The original idea used cardboard coasters but I was scared that they wouldn't hold up to frequent classroom use, so I set out for other ideas. I first I looked at the coasters still just to see if there was another option- maybe a sturdier plastic but at Walmart all I could find was round coasters- no go! I found 5x7 wooden plaques for $1 a piece (a little more than I wanted to spend) and picked them up in case I couldn't find anything else, and I didn't at Walmart, so I brought them home and tried to put a clip on them, but they were too thick- no go! So I headed to Michael's to see what they had- I was thinking wooden again, because I really wasn't sold on thin cardboard, but I wandered for a bit first and found the chipboard section of the scrapbook area. I found a pack of 6 chipboard squares, meant to be used as a base for a small scrapbook, held together by the metal rings you see in the picture. I still looked at the wooden crafts and found coasters, but they would've been a little more expensive and I like the idea of the bigger squares in case the kids are using scratch paper after the Post Its run out, or because they just need a bigger area.

So here's what I used besides the chipboard:

I also used Mod Podge, scrapbook paper, and washi tape- most of which you'll see as it's used.

So I started by putting a good coat of Mod Podge on the chipboard and then attached the scrapbook paper. I added a little weight as it dried so it didn't warp.

Then I trimmed the edges off with an exacto knife. I found that I had 4 (well 5 technically, because I have the blue in yellow also) cute gingham patterned colors so they could be similar but not the same.

After the base was all set I moved on to the clips- they are just blinder clips, I'm assuming they are "large" sized because there are 2 sizes smaller and 1 larger in most office supply stores, or even Walmart's office section. I looked to my washi tape collection and found coordinating colors.

And then I simply added a piece to both sides of each clip and tucked the extra under (I wanted to make sure it wasn't pulled off by a kid the first time they were used, so I intentionally left overhang).

Then I simply clipped them to the top of the board.

Since the chipboard already had holes, I figured they could be used to keep them together so I punched one of the 2 holes and used a ring that came with it to keep them together. Then I added the Post Its and they were ready to go.

I think they turned out pretty cute and here's hoping she can get plenty of use out of them.

That's all for now,
Jo!