Father's Day Idea - Mustache Mug

I've seen a couple blogs out there that did something like this, but they just free handed the design.  I don't have that much faith in my drawing skills . . . plus, I wanted both sides of the mustache to be the same - like mirror images and I knew I would mess it up if I just painted on the mug without a stencil of sorts. 

These are for my Dad and my Father-in-law...they will be loaded up with some goodies by gift-giving time.  And I'm pretty sure they don't check my blogs, so revealing it early shouldn't spoil anything.

I used porcelain paint that I found at Michael's and a non-foam paint brush.  The rest is pretty self explanatory. 

I drew a mustache and imported it into Sure-Cuts-A-Lot and the cut it out with my Cricut.

The only issue with using vinyl is that when you peel off the vinyl when the paint is dry, it tends to peel off the paint as well.  So I had to do it slowly and use my fingernail to hold down the design at the edge when pulling at the vinyl...definately a headache step, but you could avoid that if you just free handed the design.  Once it's baked in the oven, the paint hardens and won't peel off anymore.

Newborn Hat

Here's a baby knit hat I made for my nephew on the way - he was due last week and still hasn't decided to arrive yet :).  It was really easy and fast to make - tutorial here.

I did an applique star on the front to give it more umph - and then did some "x" stitches on the sides to keep the brim folded up.

A Baby Apron - the bapron!

If you follow Craftiness is Not Optional, then you've seen her "bapron" tutorial.  I knew I wanted to make one for my sis-in-law who's due date was last week and is ready for that boy to arrive!

It's a bib, but it's sort of an apron at the same time.  It covers more of their body/clothes from spills and ... my favorite part is that it ties in the back.  My daughter pulls off her velcro ones mid-meal every day, so this would be a nice feature.

Make sure to check out the link to the tutorial so you have an idea of what it looks like on . . . it didn't really fit my 18 month old when I tried it on her, so make sure to check out the pics in the tutorial. 

Here's mine...

Pinwheel Hair Clips -- great for summer!

When I saw this idea on The Mother Huddle, it was one of those "gotta make it now" projects.  But of course, I had to put my own twist on it.

My daughter is hard on hair clips - rips them out all the time, so just using heat n bond like the example, I knew she would destroy it.  Plus, I don't have heat n bond - just iron on interfacing (which is only fusible on one side).  So I had to stitch them together, but I actually like the look better - it's a bit more polished/finished.

Here's the close up of stitching it before I cut the slits in the corners.  I did 2" squares - perfect size for a small toddler with not much hair :)

...and disregard her messy hair - she went to bed with wet hair and my husband thought it would be funny to give her a faux hawk and let it dry that way over night.  I had a heck of a time getting it to even lay this flat...and the headband is the only thing keeping that front from spiking straight up.