Prophet Frame

We made these at Super Saturday last month.  I love this photo of President Monson.  It gives him a really comforting Grandpa look.

Here is the link to the original idea.  But we couldn't find the wide rectangle frame that she used, so we used the square ones from Wal-Mart or Michael's and just trimmed the picture of President Monson.  These were a popular one with the ladies that attended the crafting day. 

The frame is 97 cents or a dollar - depending on which store you get it from.  So this is a really affordable project.  Part of what makes the frame cheap is that there is no glass to protect the picture - so I just laminated my photo to make it a bit more durable and firm.

Hello Kitty Headband

My niece was Hello Kitty for Halloween, so I told my sister that I would make some Hello Kitty ears for her.  I tested it out and made a set for my daughter first.  She loved them.  But my niece is 8 years old, so I needed to make it a little bit bigger. 

I don't have a pattern or tutorial for this...I just made it up as I went along.

I drew the shape of the ear I wanted and then traced it onto the fleece, cut out a longer bottom and glued them together with the headband sandwiched in between the layers and then trimmed the extra fleece from the back side of the ear.

The bow is just a sewn rectangle of satin stuffed and then wrapped with a strip of satin to make it a bow (I put a penny in the strip of satin to give it the rounded look on the front...then glued it to the headband.

Halloween Costumes

So I meant to post these before Halloween...or at least closer to it than today.  But if you want a couple ideas for next year...

A Green Plastic Army Man

My husband made the bazooka out of pvc, wood, a cup and a bracelet.  We found the idea for the costume here.  And then we added our own touch of the bazooka. 

Then we found clothes at the thrift store and the helmet/vest at Wal-mart in the costume section.  His was pretty easy to make, just took 4 cans of spraypaint and a lot of drying time.  I tried different options to hide his face and make him seem more like a plastic featureless toy.  But the one that worked the best was nothing.  He didn't like the mask like in the tutorial.  And he kept rubbing off the face paint.

One Pretty Peacock

 I originally saw the idea here.  But she only did the skirt in the back to seem more life-like.  But I wanted the full and fluffy tutu look.  And I changed up the colors for the feathers a bit.  My mom made the leotard from a Butterick 5545 pattern. And then I measured and cut a ton of tulle for the tutu.

Monogram Tote Bag

I loved this project the instant I pinned it on Pinterest.  I made some, and then we had family in town, so we stocked up on bags and supplies for 9 people (including 2 middle schoolers who did their own bags and turned out great) and gathered around my craft table and all made these a few weeks ago.

Here are a couple good tutorials - here and here (this one gave me the courage to try colors)

Here's where I found some of the supplies for the adult bag:
Totes - 13.25"x13.25" (single @ Michael's) or a 3-pack at Wal-Mart or Michaels (it's cheaper at Wal-Mart, but if you have a coupon, it's cheaper at Michael's).  JoAnns has some, but I didn't like the shapes/sizes and most all have colors on them.
Doily - 10" - the design I liked was at Michael's.  They have some at JoAnns, but I didn't like the design as much

Then there's fabric paint, freezer paper, a brush and spray adhesive, but those should all be easier to find.  My spray adhesive is permanent and temporary - to make it temporary, you have to spray the doily and let it sit for 3-5 minutes before adhering it to the bag.

I found smaller bags at Michael's (only found one random pack floating around on the wrong shelf and couldn't find a spot for them, so I'm not sure if every store has them).  Anyway, this size is perfect for toddlers.  We were going to the birthday party for a 4 year old and after making the bag with her initial, I used it as the gift bag and wrapped the rest of her present in it.

Insulated Casserole Carrier & Etched Dish

My cousin got married earlier this month, so for her bridal shower, I made a casserole carrier.  I used a contrasting fabric as the lengthwise wrap to add some fun detail.

I also etched the Pyrex dish with her new last name.  That way she'll always know which dish is her's at a potluck.

A few tips -
**I used the tutorial from here, but made the alterations from here (rounded corners and belting instead of straps)
**My Pyrex dish was longer but narrower than the dish used in the tutorial, so if you make one of these, make sure to measure your dish and adjust the dimensions (with seam allowances and overlapping for the velcro).
**frustratingly, the new Pyrex is longer than my Pyrex - they made the handles/lid different, so when I make one for myself, I'll need to start over and measure again :(

I'm happy with how this turned out, but it was so frustrating to make - mostly because I had to figure out my own dimensions.  The first go-round, one of my pieces wasn't long enough to velcro closed - not sure how that happened since I measured and gave extra room, so I had to get out the seam riper and cut out more fabric on one piece.  Glad I started this project a couple weeks early cause it went in my "sewing time-out" for a week (i put it away for a while where I can't see it if I'm really mad/frustrated with it.  Then after a while, I'm refreshed and ready to start over). 

Chore Sticks

I found these cute chore sticks.  You print out the files from her blog, cut and glue them to jumbo craft sticks.  I made these with some friends, so that helps to have people to talk to while cutting, and cutting, and cutting.  I found the clear jar at Wal-Mart in the kitchen area.  Then I just made a label out of vinyl.

I didn't end up wanting/needing all the chores, so I would suggest that you print out the files (I didn't want to cut and glue the blank ones for the back of the sticks, so I didn't print those pages) and mark off to the side which ones you want and count them up.  That will let you know how many craft sticks to buy.  For example, the files have chores for 3 different bathrooms (master, guest, and kids).  I only have 2 bathrooms in my house, so we didn't need the 3rd set. 

My kids are 2 and 4, so they can't do the majority of these.  But to get them excited, I have them each pick a stick or two and either I do it alone, or they help me - depending on the task.  Or I say "it says to clean up your room" when it really said to "wash windows" so that I can have them clean or keep busy...they can't read yet, so I can get away with a little fib for now.   :)  For some reason, they are happy about cleaning their rooms if the chore stick told them to.

Latitude/Longitude Door Mat

After I saw this post at The Crafting Chicks for a personalized door mat, it was the perfect idea for a father's day present for my Dad and my Father-in-law.  I found the mats at Ikea (like she said in the tutorial for $10)

The door mats I made don't actually have a blurry smudge in them - I blurred out part of the longitude since it's technically an address and didn't want to risk sending any crazy stalkers to my parents or in-law's houses. :)

I cut out the words/numbers on cardstock using my Cricut and then pinned it down.  I went a little "pin crazy" but I didn't want to risk my paint leaking.  I also tried using a sponge brush, but that was horrible and not easy, so mid-way through my first door mat, I switched to a stencil brush (the circle/bristle kind that you just dab) instead of squishing it around.  It used way less paint and it was way easier and got a clean line. 

I'm so happy with how they turned out.

Sprucing up a mirror

Oops!  It's been a month since I posted.  Sorry :)

My sister's family moved recently, and my 12 year-old niece has her own room now.  So for her birthday I decided to get her an "over-the-door" mirror to add to her new "growing up" room.  I got the mirror at Target.

But the mirrors at the store are just so boring.  So what does a Cricut owner do?  She adds vinyl to it of course.  I just added a monogram with dot border to the top.  I also cut out a bunch of circles in a couple different colors, but didn't stick them on.  I gave her the sheet of dots so that she could decorate it more if she wanted.  I also tied a bow on top (that would stay on once the packaging was removed).

Definately more cute and girly - and more personal too!

Growth Chart Board

I've always wanted to make a growth chart, but hadn't found a style I was sure I wanted to make until a friend of mine asked me to cut the vinyl for her to make a growth chart.  So that was easy to just cut a second set for myself.  We were going off the idea seen online in several places where we use a 1"x8" that is 6' long and stain it or paint it and apply vinyl numbers and lines to mark the inches.

All the boards I've seen online just show the board before the kid's heights are marked on the board, so I kinda had to figure that part out by trial and error to get what I liked best.  I decided to make a line at the height and then add my kid's name and age. 

I've decided to mark my kids on their birthday (give or take a few days) so that I can have each mark a year apart.  I've always written down my children's height, weight, and other stats from all their annual doctor appointments, so I was able to go back to their birth weight that way even though I hadn't been measuring them and marking it down myself each year. 

I also hung a picture of each of my kids next to the chart...that I'll change out as they grow.

The challenge I had was how to hang it up...if I hung it up with the standard picture hangers you can attach, my kids would just bump it or tug on it and it would fall down.  Not safe...so I actually decided to hang it up on the wall that is next to the refrigerator.  Our fridge sidles up to a wall, so on the opposite side of that wall, we just screwed the board to the wall from the back.  We pulled the fridge out, attached 3 screws through the wall (top, middle, and bottom) to the back of the board.  Since that side of the wall is hidden by the fridge, I wasn't worried too much that the screw would be visible and just slid the fridge back in.

The only thing I didn't like about how this turned out was that every knot is more noticeable when you stain the wood. 

Bean Bag Toss Board

We made this last year, but for some reason, I didn't get around to painting it until a couple weeks ago.  I found this tutorial for making the board - with fold in legs so that it stores nice and compact in the garage.  Technically, all I did was find the tutorial and paint it.  My husband did all the cutting, sanding and assembling; but that's not important :)

With the nice weather we've been having, we just keep this on the back patio and the kids are having a great time playing with this.

One thing different we did - I felt like the board was too big for just one hole, so we cut 3 different sized holes.  And then I painted it blue with orange stripes for some fun detail.

Comfy Jammies

I found a tutorial on MADE for some pajama pants for toddlers.  And lucky me, her pattern happens to be a 2T/3T which is just the size I needed.

They sewed together really easy and turned out equally adorable on my little girl.  For the next one, I'll probably play with the pattern a bit since she's still in diapers and needs a little extra room in the toosh.

I had polka dotted twill tape, so the tie on the jammies made a cute detail.

Owl container

My nephew had a birthday last month and his momma loves owls, so when I found this owl made out of an oatmeal conatiner, I figured that was an awesome way to wrap the present.  Everything I gave as a present fit in there perfectly!

My oatmeal container was a lot bigger than the small one used in the tutorial, so I had to adjust the measurements for my container...easy to do if you just measure and mark on the container where you want the sections to go.

My only trouble was keeping the paper glued to the container at the top when I folded it down to make the top of the head...I just had to add tape along to top edges to keep it attached.

The yellow part of the eyes I made from yellow satin that I cut in circles and seared with a lighter - carefully- to make it curl up.

Last Minute Father's Day questionnaire

I saw this idea months ago and pinned it for safe keeping :)

It was fun to ask my 4 year old the questions and get his answers.  My favorite was when I asked "what color is Daddy's hair?" and he said "just like mine...see, mom" and he was pulling on his hair to show me his hair.  They don't have the same color hair at all, so I'm guessing he was trying to tell me that they have the same hair cut.  Or that they both have hair...not sure.

I just printed it out on cute scrapbook paper and dug through my boxes in the garage for a frame I wasn't using at the moment - and now we have something cute my husband can put on his desk at work!

**I found the top hat, mustache, and bow tie images by doing a "mustache clip art" search on Google. and then combined them in photoshop.

Nautical Pillow

I'm in the process of switching my son's room to a Nautical theme.  Here's a cover I made for a throw pillow to go on his bed.

I like to make the envelope style of covers so that I can change them out when my decorating mood changes.  I've been using this tutorial for a few years.

I did do a few things to add detail:
     * I added piping around the edges - sewn onto the pillow front, then clipped the corners of the piping while sewing so that it would curve better...then sewed on the back pieces
     * I added a vertical stripe and an anchor applique by freezer paper stenciling it onto the fabric

I found this sailboat home dec fabric when I was in Portland a couple weeks ago at Fabric Depot.  It's a good thing I don't live in Portland - our fridge would be empty in order to buy all the cute fabric there.

Knit Racerback Dress

I made this Racerback Dress the day after I saw the post at Crafter Hours.  The tutorial was really easy to follow and I love that the pattern goes from 12month all the way up to size 7-8, so I can keep making this dress for a few more years.  It's a nice and light weight "summer" dress.  It looks adorable on her - she is pulling it behind her a bit in the picture, but there is a little more flare to the bottom of the dress than this picture shows.

Here's the back (my favorite part) - I used a different fabric for the small piece at the top of the back.  I wanted to add some more detail since the fabric of the dress is plain and a bit boring.  Thus the hot pink binding at the neck and arms.

I made this out of an old t-shirt of mine, so that was nice to not have to hem the dress (one less step is always nice).  I also applique'd a heart onto the front to add some more detail.

Felt dolls

I found this link on pinterest a couple weeks ago and knew it would be my next attempt at finding something to keep my 2 year old daughter quiet and calm during church.  But sadly, there were no patterns or a tutorial :(  But that didn't stop me.  I sat down and drew a similar shape of the doll and dress on my own referencing the pictures. 

I did do a couple things different.  I couldn't figure out how she did the eyes, so I just painted them on with fabric paint.  And I didn't do the cheeks.  Also, I made a swimsuit on the doll instead of underwear since my daughter is excited about swimming lately. 

I do wish that felt came in some better colors.  There isn't a good "blonde" or "strawberry blonde" in the cheap felt, so I let my daughter choose the color of hair for the dolls.  She chose bright pink and brown.  I was a little worried about the pink, but that one is my favorite now.  I won't be trying to make a "ball gown" again - it was hard to try and gather and hem the small piece of satin.

There are still a few more dresses I want to make, but my next step is to try and figure out how she did the house.  I may just try to cover a binder in fabric/felt and use that to carry them in.