Santa's Belly Ornament

I work in the Young Women's group at our church (for the girls 12-18 years old), and this week we had a Christmas Craft Night for our Activity. Each of the leaders came up with a different craft to teach the girls.

Here's mine - Santa's Belly Ornament

To make this, you'll need:

• square glass ornaments
• black paint
• white puffy paint
• strips of red cardstock (mine are about 1/4"x4")

Coil the strips of paper around something thin - I wrapped mine around the end of a paint brush handle.

After making each coil, put them in the ornament - I didn't count how many I coiled, but once you've filled it up, you're good :)

Then, paint a black stripe around the center of the ornament (santa's belt). Once that's dry, use the puffy paint to draw a square (belt buckle) around the belt.

Finish it off with ribbon to hang it up.

Framed Family Tree Fan

I've been working on this project for about 9 months (took long breaks from it). I knew I had some family history charts somewhere, so I spent a long time looking for my old college packets from a course I took. Then I finally decided to give up and ask my Grandmas for the 4 generations out. They both have an extensive amount of info collected, so I knew they would have it. But between playing phone tag and "out of town for the summer" road blocks, this project was kept at bay.

But at last, it's done.
I used the template from our good friend Martha Stewart. She says to write it calligraphy . . . but I'm not that talented. According to my sister, I have boy handwriting :(

So I used Photoshop and made the template the background and then typed my text in layers and shaped them to fit the arcs.

To add a little extra, I used cardstock and ribbon to add detail, along with putting my name and birthdate in a circle backed with cardstock as well. I'm still not sure if I like the green on the sides, so that may come out after I've had time to stare at it for a while.

It's hard to tell, but I have this in a floating frame. Anytime I try to take a picture of a frame on a wall, I get the flash glare - so it's on the floor, photographed at an angle. I guess I could have taken the top glass piece out to photograph without a glare, but it has about 15 clips on the back to secure the frame and I didn't want to break another nail trying to open and close them again.

Baby Shower Gift Set

I made a baby shower gift set last week . . .

Side Fasten Bib - my own pattern. Download the pattern here, and the instructions are linked from this post. The red square on the top, right of the bib is the velcro attachment (which doesn't show when it's being worn)

Rounded Burp Cloths - my own pattern. Download the pattern here, and get the tutorial from this post.

On the bib and the burp cloths, I used wonder under to attach the strip of brown fabric and the red fabric dots to the base piece before I sewed the backs on. It's hard to see in the pictures, but the red dots are different sizes - they get smaller from left to right.

Pacifier Clip - instructions in the previous post.

Tie Onesie - I used the pattern & instructions from Trey & Lucy. I've also used the pattern from Crap I've Made too. They are my 2 favorite patterns out there, but they are different sizes. One I like using better for new born/infants and the other better for toddlers because of the length difference. But that's just my personal taste.

Here's my son wearing the one I made him to wear to church on Father's Day.

Pacifier Clips

I had a pacifier clip for my son that I got at Target. I never liked it because it wasn't cute and it always felt too short. So I decided to make some of my own.

The snap end snaps to the pacifier, and the clip end clips to the baby's clothes.
First, I found ribbon I liked (the double sided ribbon looks the best in the end). I didn't want them too long otherwise it becomes a choking hazard, so I cut the ribbon to the length I felt was functional, but safe at the same time (the length ends up shorter than you cut since both ends fold in).
On one end, I attached a suspender clip (I actually bought some suspenders at the thrift store that looked brand new and cut off the clips to use) It was only about 75 cents for 4 of them compared to the $2+ for a set of 2 at Jo-Anns.

I looped one end through the slot and then folded the ribbon under and stitched near the clip to secure it.

The other end was a bit trickier. I used my Mom's "Snap Setter" to attach these - combined with the muscles of my husband to hammer them together. I tried, but aparantly, I am not strong enough. Her snap kit came with instructions on which pieces to pair together. But I also folded the end of the ribbon in before attaching the snaps so it was a cleaner edge.

The spacing between the 2 sets will depend on the pacifier you use. I use the Avent ones that have a really thin ring/handle thing. Other brands have a thicker handle, so you would want the spacing to fit the brand you use.

Autumn Wood Sign

I went over to vote for my favorite of the 10 Harvest Crafts creations at So You Think You're Crafty and liked several of them. I don't remember which one I ended up voting for, but #1 was something that caught my eye. I instantly thought "I have everything to make that already." The winning craft of the challenge will post a tutorial, but I didn't want to wait and wasn't sure if #1 would win this week's challenge. So I decided to try and make it on my own yesterday. The crafts are anonymous for voting purposes, so I don't know whose idea was to give them credit.

So here's my version of the "Count Your Blessings" board. My husband owns a cabinet business and saves some of the drawer fronts for me when he tears down people's old kitchens before installing their new ones. So before he takes it all to the dump, he brings me home some pieces from time to time. Here was the drawer front before I got my hands on it . . . ugly and in need of some TLC.

So, after a little paint, mod podge, paper, felt shapes and vinyl lettering, this board was transformed.

Nutter Butter Cookie Creations

I've seen these ghosts on several different blogs. So not really a person to give credit to . . . But I loved making and eating these guys. All you need to make the ghosts is Nutter Butter cookies, almond bark, and mini chocolate chips. Melt the almond bark, dip the cookie in and then put on the eyes and mouth.

Last year for a Christmas party, I made these reindeer - found the idea in a Family Fun Magazine. These guys were a bit easier than the ghosts. All you need is the Nutter Butters, pretzels, choc. chips, red M&Ms and frosting. Dab some frosting on each piece to assemble to the cookie.

Trick-or-Treat Tote Bag

I love when I can make something and spend NOTHING on it. I made this trick-or-treat tote bag for my son using scraps. It only took a little over an hour - I made the whole thing during his nap. This post is loaded with pictures of the process . . . sorry for a lengthy post. First, I traced a tote bag that was the size I wanted it to be, but I added a little to the edges to account for seams. I also wanted a flat bottom to it so I could have the corners instead of a flat bag. I cut the same size pieces out of the lining fabric.

Sew the bottom seam on both the lining and the outer shell. Then using a 1.5" square template, cut the corners on each bottom edge of the lining and the shell.

Since I wanted a design on the front, this is where i added it. First, I cut the oval shape out of the fabric that had been fused to the wonder under. Then I ironed it to the front of the bag.

Next, I top stitched the edges with a decorative stitch.

Back to sewing the bag . . . sew the side seams on the outer shell and the lining (but leave a 3-4" hole in one side of the lining to turn the bag right side out later.)

Next, box the corners on the lining and the shell where you had previously cut the squares out from. Bring the side seam to the bottom seam and stitch. This is what gives you a flat bottom to the bag.

Sew the handles to the outer shell. You could make handles out of fabric, but I used the stuff that's used to make belts since I had that on hand and it was faster.

Now, with the outer shell turned right side out and the lining still inside out, put the shell piece inside the lining and line up and pin the tops together.

Stitch around the top edge of the bag.

Turn the bag right side out through the hole you left in the side seam of the lining.

Hand stitch the hole in the lining's side closed. Then, tuck the lining into the bag and iron the top edge flat. Top stitch around the edge to keep the lining flat and in place.

Next, I painted the "BOO!" onto the bag. I normally would have done this in the beginning, but I didn't want to wait for the paint to dry before putting the bag together. So I did it at the end. I used my Cricut to cut the letters out of Freezer paper, ironed it to the oval and then painted it with the fabric paint. Once that's dry, it's done.

Shadowbox Frame

If you aren't LDS, then this document won't make much sense to you. Our Church keeps a record of Priesthood Lines of Authority - which I sent in a request for so I could do this project.

This project could be done with any document that you want, so even if you aren't LDS, the technique could be something you want to try.

I emailed lineofauthority@ldschurch.org and they replied with an attached form to fill out and mail in. The stipulation is that you have to be requesting your own record or that of someone in your household - and they will need some info including the membership record number.

Once I received that in the mail, I retyped it and printed it out on vellum paper. I debated doing this on a transparancy sheet, but opted for the frosted vellum look.

I used a 10"x10" shadowbox frame and positioned the vellum (with a paper border) up against the glass. The picture below is of the document inserted into the frame.

Next, I used a template for a tie from Crap I've Made (that I had first used to make a tie onesie for my son a few months ago) to cut out the pieces in a fabric and batting. The tie wouldn't show up unless it was closer to the glass since the vellum isn't completely transparant. So I cut one tie out of the fabric, and 4 ties out of scrap pieces of blanket batting since that's thicker. Depending on the depth of your shadowbox frame, you may need less or more thickness. You could do this out of paper and not even use a shadowbox frame with dimension.
Then I glued the pieces together and adhered them to the center of a 10" square cardstock. Next, I inserted the paper/tie into the back of the frame and closed it up. Voila! A dimensional framed tie and document.

Beaded Coasters

I made these about 6 years ago, so I don't have pictures of the process. But I'll explain it . . .

Supplies (I got all of these at Jo-Anns):
thin cork circles
Small circle mirrors
seed beads
thread
glue
felt

Process:
1. Thread hundreds of bead on the thread (this took forever, but I remember watching t.v. at my parent's house while doing this)
2. glue the circle mirror in the center of the cork - this is optional, but I didn't really want a full bead coaster
3. while the glue was still tacky under the mirror, I tucked one end of the thread under it to hold it into place
4. begin winding the beaded thread around the mirror from the center out, gluing as you go (keep beads tight on thread and tight against the previous row)
5. when you get to the end of the cork, glue the other end of the thread to the bottom of the cork
6. cut a circle of felt (slightly smaller than the cork so it doesn't show from the top) and glue it to the bottom of the cork
7. let dry, and you're done

I've been using these for about 6 years now and they've held up tremendously well. I have to keep them out of the reach of my son since he tries to chew on them.

New Diaper Bag

I made this diaper bag from Simplicity 2924 . . .

The pink fabric is one that I had be eyeing at Jo-Anns for months, but couldn't bring myself to pay the $10 a yard they were asking. Well, my patience paid off. I found it in the red tag clearance section for $5 a yard . . . but even better, they were having a 50% off sale on red tag fabrics . . . so it was only $2.50 a yard. The green striped fabric was left over from a Ralph Lauren sheet I've been cutting up for months (bought at goodwill). And the interfacing and ribbon are scraps left over from other projects. So all in all, this probably cost me about $4 in materials (and I got the pattern for .99 cents at the last sale).

It was the most detailed/involved pattern I've used before. It was easy, but took a lot of attention. I used lining, interfacing, elastic, made interior pockets, side pockets, pleats, and a fabric flower. It took me several days, but that's just cause I run out of energy quickly being 8 months pregnant, and trying to fit in the cutting/sewing during nap times. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

The pattern called for a ribbon bow on the front, but I decided to take some of the fabric scraps and make a flower instead. I put the green fabric strip on top of the pink one, and sewed a gathering stitch down the middle. Then I wound it into a circular shape as I sewed it on.

Side pockets for bottles or sippy cups.
There are 4 interior pockets . . .

For my son, I had been using a diaper bag my sister made me from an Amy Butler pattern. She told me she will never make that pattern again - I guess it drove her nuts. Anyway, that diaper bag has been beat up over the last 18 months, plus, this time, I wanted a diaper bag that had the flap to close - I drop things out of my current one too much and it's huge, so I tend to over stuff it.