Decorated Stars

I bought this star chain last year on clearance and just finally got around to finishing it. At least it's in time for the 4th of July. The star chain came in a rusted brown finish (they're metal). But I don't decorate with browns, so it didn't match my decor. I painted it a creamy white and mod podged scrapbook paper to each separate point. It took me forever to get 2 templates (one for each size star). I had to make several of them before I got it right. I left space between each paper and the edges so that the paint would show through.

Once I got the top coat on it, I added ribbon to the ends to secure it to the mantle.

Captain America Muscle Tee

When I saw this idea from Cheri, I knew I had to make one. Only problem was, I couldn't find a plain t-shirt anywhere. Target only sells them with pockets on the front - why would they do that?

And Wal-Mart was only selling muscle tees, so I went for that look.
I tried her method of using plastic wrap to apply the paint - I don't know how she did it so good, cause it was an awful mess for me. I got red paint on the side (even though I had a wide buffer of freezer paper surrounding the paint area) and I couldn't get the same "vintage" look that she did, so I just opted for one single coat - making it look a bit worn. And my red paint seeped through a bit around the edges, but I think that adds to the "worn" look.

And since I got red paint on the side seam, I decided to print out letters on my cricut to cover it up. I actually liked it better with the words down the side.

Snappy Top

I found a free pattern for this Snappy Top at Prudent Baby. It is sized for 12-18 months, but somehow it fits my 7 month old. She's not huge either - she only weighs 15 pounds - about the 25th percentile . . . so hopefully this will fit her for a long while then. I used yellow eyelet fabric, and since that was a bit see-through, I lined it with a white linen - which meant I had to tweak the instructions a bit. And I had to cut 2 of each the front and back of the shirt.

Instead of sewing bias tape around the arm holes, I just attached the lining to the shirt at the arm holes and turned it right side out and pressed it. So the side seams are sewn on each piece separately and the lining is only connected to the shirt at the arm holes and the neck.

My only issue with the instructions was it didn't say how far to put the neck of the body up and inside the collar piece. So I put it all the way in and tried it on her and that was squeezing her arms like sausage links - so I unpicked it and then lined it up along the open edge instead.

Other than that, the pattern and instructions were very easy to follow. This shirt went together really fast. And I love how it turned out. I'm already digging through my fabric stash to see what else to use and make more of these. You can even add to the length and make it a dress - so that will probably be my next one.

Oh, and thanks Mom for the green snaps! I'm borrowing her snap setter and snap stash - which technically means I'm using a few of them since she has some awesome colors.

Tie and Bow Tie Cloth Napkins

When I saw this idea at Our Daily Obsessions, I knew I wanted to make it for my father-in-law for Father's Day. I tried to find plain white dinner napkins at a couple stores but had no luck, so I decided to make the napkin too.

Afer I made the tie napkin, I thought it might be fun to make a bow tie one as well. The bow tie napkin is smaller - finished size 17"x17" and the tie napkin is finished 21"x21". I just traced a tie to get the shape and length. But I freehanded a bowtie.

I google'd how to make the napkins so it would have a polished and "non-homemade" look to it. I used a combo of a couple different links to get the clean corners. I didn't write down the links I used, but just google "how to make a dinner napkin" and you'll have a few choices. Here's a close up of the corner from the back side of the napkin.

Father's Day: Candy Bottles

For some reason, I had a hard time trying to come up with an idea for my husband for Father's Day . . . the kids are too young to do some of the cute kid-involved ideas for now. Then on Saturday, I remembered this idea on Sister's Stuff. And I was able to get help from my 2 year-old in filling the bottles with the candy.

I made my husband and his dad drink all the cream soda and took back the bottles . . . and neither of them wondered why I needed all 6 bottles empty that instant. I would have asked why.

4th of July Dress

So . . . Dana MADE me do it . . . Using her pattern and instructions, I made a dress for my daughter out of her Warhol Dress.

I turned this men's shirt into a 6-12 month dress for my daughter. I fits her perfectly except the shoulder strap (the one that doesn't tie) is too loose, so I need to shorten that. Otherwise, the length and shape is perfect. It looks adorable on her.

I applique'd stars on the dress with wonder under. After the white neck line was added, it needed something else to help tie the white all together. I also used red thread to top stitch around the stars.

I also did three rows of topstitching with red thread on the neck tie as well.

Wet Bag

I found this idea to make a wet bag. It can be used to put a wet swimsuit in to bring home or when we are potty training and have an accident out of the house. I can put the wet items in this bag and then not get my diaper bag wet.
I made mine a square - finished size 9"x9" instead of the 9"x12" in the tutorial. I didn't have the waterproof fabric that she mentions, but I did have some of the clear plasticy vinyl. That was tricky to sew with, but using tissue paper between the machine and the vinyl helped.

My fabric seemed too plain and needed something else. I used freezer paper stenciling by cutting out the letters with my cricut and used fabric paint to put the words on the front. I also applique'd the yellow circle on the front with wonder under.

4th of July Wreath

I've been in a wreath mood lately and was trying so hard to find a patriotic wreath online but couldn't find anything but a couple of the tied rag kind - and that's not my taste. So I thought of this idea.

Felt stars and a navy ribbon.

I bought a styrofoam wreath at the dollar store and some red felt at Jo-Ann's and started cutting stars . . .

Unfortunately, these 2 stacks didn't even cover half of it. My hands were so tired from tracing and cutting stars so this wreath actually took me about 5 days to do. I took some quilting pins and pushed them through the center of the star and then attached them to the wreath. You can't really tell they are stars when it's all done, but I like the spikes.

Then I attached the navy ribbon and cut out some white stars from craft foam and glued them on the ribbon.

I love it - and it's been a while since I did a craft without inspiration from someone else's ideas . . .

I'm linked up to . . .

Ribbon and Pearl Bracelet

I made a pearl and ribbon bracelet for my niece. I can't find the same tutorial I used, but here is another one that I just found by doing a search in Google . . . same technique.

Rolled Felt Flowers

I saw this tutorial at eighteen25 to make rolled felt flowers. I made this headband for my niece for her birthday. Since she's 10, I didn't want to make 3 big flowers. I felt that would look too huge on her. So I did one large (the size in the tutorial) and one medium and one small. I just found smaller circles to trace as my template.

Birthday Wreath

I saw this idea on How Does She? And thought it sounded like a cheap, easy craft. Well, it was easy, but it wasn't anywhere near as cheap as I thought it would be.

Problem #1 - I had a heck of a time finding the right sized balloons. I looked at Target, Wal-Mart, Michaels, Dollar Store, Party City . . no luck. I found either water balloons (that would take too many to fill a wreath) or the giant ones (that would be way too big and not look good for a wreath.)

I happened to be at Safeway getting milk and walked by the balloons and found a pack that would be the right size. They were packed in bags of 100 - I ended up using 350 balloons, my sister ended up using 250. I packed mine in tighter and her's were a little looser - both look great and full.

Problem #2 - I found floral pins that the tutorial mentioned to use, but they were about 3 inches long - so they would stick out the back of my wreath. I guess I used a smaller wreath than they did - mine was the styrofoam one from the dollar store. So I ended up using sewing pins with the plastic balls on the ends. They worked great.

Problem #3 - I didn't plan on using 350 balloons since the tutorial only mentioned about 140 balloons, so I didn't have enough pins. So we doubled them up and used 2 balloons per pin - it worked just fine.

I love how it turned out. But for some reason I thought it would only be about 5-8 dollars. But it turned out to be about $15 dollars to make it in the end. Still not too bad, but it was twice what I thought it would be.

ABC's in a Can - Take 2

I couldn't think of a craft to do the other day, so I decided to make another ABC can for my daughter - that she will use in a couple years (since she's only 6 months old). That lid looks red in the picture, but it's the hot pink Similac Soy Formula lid, and I found a paper that had the same pink in it - perfect!

Children's Floor Cushion

I found this idea to make a kid's floor cushion with a handle for them to carry it around easily. This one is for my son, and with my next Jo-Anns coupon, I'll get the same print fabric (but in green and pink) for my daughter's - that she won't be able to use for a while since she' s only 6 months. That way they match, but are different colors. This was really easy to make - her tutorial was very easy to follow.

Hand-Made Baby Quilt

My Grandma makes the most amazing quilts. This is her latest (I just got it last night). This is the Baby Quilt she made for my Daughter. And the thing I love about her quilts is that they are 100% hand sewn. She doesn't use a sewing machine for a single stitch. That's a labor of love!!
Another fun thing about this quilt is that some of the pink pieces are scraps left over from the twin-sized quilt she made me when I was 10 years old.

Here's a close up of some the applique and stitching. And she did a light scalloped edge around the whole quilt - which is about 45"x45"