Pinterest

This site is like crack! If you thought you were addicted to facebook or blogger or etsy, look out!

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests." 

I love love love it! I'm a pinning fiend! You have to request an invite but you can also be invited by members, so feel free to leave your email for me to invite you if you're not already pinning! If you are, leave your name so I can follow you!

the "pillowcase" dress

Surely you've seen pillowcase dresses, they're all the rage among toddler wardrobes these days! The styles range from simple to more elaborate with multiple fabrics and bias tape and what not. So which do I choose for my first attempt? The elaborate one, of course! ;) It took me a few hours to complete, especially with my repeated checking of the tutorial from Little Big Girl Studio (I'm kinda hyper vigilant). But I'm THRILLED with the way it turned out! I only wish it wasn't 11pm when I finished so that I could have Pumpkin try it not right away!!! But that will have to wait until tomorrow after work I guess =(

The best part is I have more of the brown polka dot fabric that I will use to make a necktie onesie for my Junebug =) Yay for matching sibling sets =P

the "simple skirt"

For months now I've been bookmarking tutorials left and right of various projects I want to make. The past few weeks I've now taken to "pinning" things. Finally, tonight, I made some stuff! And I'm so in love =). This simple skirt tutorial was such a breeze. I knocked it out in about an hour- would have been faster had I not been tending to a toddler and newborn and stopping to re-read directions in between!

I've been planning to make this one for a while now so I actually planned in advance and took my daughter (a.k.a. Pumpkin) with to JoAnn's and let her choose the fabric. This make the skirt 100x more exciting, trust me! Here's our finished product:

Pumpkin showing off the fit:

Tried to photograph her wearing it and all I got was a blur from her twirling... she's in love with this skirt!

Etsy

I've been working on quite a bit of merchandise for my Etsy shop which I hope to launch this weekend. I'm crazy excited about it but also sad because I'm not able to devote a whole lot of time at the moment, with school starting soon. I'm excited to get back to my kids (my big kids), but also sad to be leaving my babies home. *sniff*

i-spy bag

Last night I finished my first i-spy bag... and i LOVE it! I took some quick pictures this morning before giving it to my Pumpkin. She loves it =) Definitely be looking for these in my etsy shop soon!

Gs By Me

So with Junebug we (I) decided to take the plunge into cloth diapering. It's kinda scary and overwhelming at first, but I decided a nice way to "dip my toes" into the CDing world would be the hybrid brand gDiapers. They're awesome because you can do cloth inserts and be 100% cloth or you can get the biodegradable inserts, which are flushable, compostable or trashable (where they breakdown, unlock disposable diapers which sit in landfills for years and years and years.....).

I think the best part of CDing is all the fun colors and patterns! Now, gDiapers sells mostly solid colors, but that's almost better because you can spiff them up all you want! This great business I found on Facebook embroiders the gPants with almost anything you can imagine! Awesome! I custom ordered this one to match Junebug's bedding (which I swear is almost done!!!):

So if you're a gDiapering family too you should check out Gs By Me.

Scrap Monster Lovie

As usual I have about 23,687,865,169,876,345 projects started... not so many getting finished! Haha! When you're working on lots of little things, though, you end up with lots of scraps. So, I wanted to make something that was quick and utilized all those little bits of fabric that were piling up (literally). I decided to make a monster "lovie".

This isn't a detailed tutorial, per say. All I really did was gather some fabrics that somewhat coordinated, but really they don't have to. I did try to stick to bold, fun fabrics that would be eye-catching for my son. Honestly you could just lay out your fabrics and start pinning and sewing. Since, I'm a perfectionist and way too high-strung I had to first sketch it out and make a big fuss (maybe this is why I never finish projects?).

Here's the final product:

Adorable in an obnoxious sort of way, isn't he? His body is made from some flannel I got in the remnant bin, and the rest is scraps I had lying around. These guys are a great way to use up those scraps you having lying around that aren't big enough for other projects! Enjoy!

Keep checking back for new about my etsy shop which will feature clothing and accessories for mama and baby!

The latest thing I've made....

...is SO cute! Have a look:

hee hee... my lil' Junebug was born 6/2/11 at 5.24am weighing 6lbs 6oz and measuring 19 in long. he's been keeping me busy the last month, but I've still gotten some projects in and I've even taken on the task of opening at Etsy shop! Delight! I'll be sewing all this month to build a "stock" and then open August 1st! =)

More Flannel Blankets

I've made two of these for Junebug since they're  so easy, and quite frankly kind of essential. Well, now that Junebug has arrived and has been monopolizing much of this Mama's time I needed to ensure that my Pumpkin wasn't feeling left out or pushed aside. So, one afternoon Gammie came over to sit with Junebug while he napped and Mama and Pumpkin went to the "fabric store" (a.k.a. JoAnn's).

My Pumpkin got to pick out her fabrics and we spent some time together. ♥ That night I made Pumpkin her very own blankie that she now sleeps with every night =)

 

Father's Day Craft

Here's a project for father's day. I've often seen it done with "DAD" but Pumpkin & Junebug call hubby "Papa" so we did ours slightly different. I also usually see this done with those wooden letters you can pick up just about anywhere, but to be honest, I forgot to buy them and was too lazy to go back to the store. So I decided to make them out of fabric, and then they'd be a toy for later anyways.

To make the fabric letters, simply choose your favorite font in Word or some other word processing program. The best fonts for a project like this would be something thick, to accommodate stuffing. You, of course, could hand draw the letters too but if you're OCD like me, that just wouldn't work.

Type the letters you need and blow them up until they're as large as possible (one letter per page). It also helps to make the margins as narrow as possible. Print and cut out your letters. Trace each letter twice, once the right way and once backwards. Cut out your letters.

Pin your fabric letters together, right side OUT. Top stitch all around the edge, leaving a small gap for stuffing. Fill with batting. Stitch closed.

The edges will fray but it's part of "the look" ;)

Take pictures with the letters to create a montage like above, or make the whole alphabet to teach letters, or maybe just enough letters to spell out your child's name. The possibilities are endless! =)

Taggie blankie

I made this last night.... soooo easy! I even knocked out another one today. These just might be my new "go to" gift for friends with new bebes! I skimmed a tutorial in one of my sewing books before knocking it out freestyle on the fly. It's really pretty simple. I'll type up a tutorial shortly =)

Baby Blankets

My latest completed project is a flannel baby blanket using abmatic's tutorial found here. Super simple to make and so soft and nice =)

Magic Cape!

I haven't posted much because life has been hectic and I've been working on one massive project- Junebug's bedding. I want to wait to post any pictures until the entire set is done and so far I'm mostly done with the first crib sheet and I've started the second crib sheet, the bumpers and the mobile. LOL I've "started" a lot!

Anyways, if you're an avid crafter/sewer you probably knew about JoAnns big sale last week. Well I bought a BUNCH of stuff (thank goodness for tax returns!). This weekend I was just itching to make something. And not a huge project to start that would just add to my pile of "stuff", but something I could knock out in the afternoon and be proud of =P So yesterday morning I was online looking through my favorite blogs for a cutesy, quick project that I could make for my Pumpkin. As I was looking, she interrupted to ask me to tuck her baby's blanket into her shirt to make a cape. (lightbulb!) So, then I quickly searched for a pattern and decided I was ready to head to JoAnns!

I found Treasures for Tots's Superhero or Knight's Cape Tutorial and thought it was great- not too simple and boring but not to detailed either. I did decide to step it up and make it reversible.... because I wanted to be cool like that, haha!

So I didn't take too many pictures, because I knew I'd be giving a linkback to Angie's tutorial, but it turns out making it reversible adds a bit of work to the steps, so I kind of wish I had taken more pics, but it's too late now! Here's what I do have:

After printing and assembling the pattern from Treasures for Tots, I cut it out of both of my fabrics (remember I made it reversible, so I needed two):

With the RIGHT sides facing together, sew along the edges:

Where the cape has curves, clip a few notches so that when you turn it right side out it will lay flat:

After turning it right side out, iron the edges for a nice, flat look:

I purposely chose a solid color for one side, so that I could put my Pumpkin's first initial on that side (using the scrap fabric from the other side, of course):
[to keep it simple I just used Wunder Under and ironed the "A" on, I didn't even bother sewing it]

Iron in place:

Now comes the part I didn't think through 100% as I made the changes in my head... I knew I'd need extra fabric of the one piece to make a casing for the ribbon but the curve threw me off. I had just cut an extra inch thinking I could just fold it down. But if you try to fold this down it didn't work..... Hence, the scissors! I trimmed the two corners, so that the white material was straight across the top.

Then I folded it down, and ironed it:

I also pinned it in place until I sewed the casing shut:

I just used a simple coordinating ribbon for the tie:

Thread the ribbon through:

Here's one side:

And the other:

I can't wait for my Pumpkin to get up from her 'quiet time' so she can try it on!!! Share your pictures if you decide to make one =)

*EDIT* My Pumpkin wearing it (she LOVES it):

More Onesies

I haven't had time to post because I haven't had time to craft! *sad face* However we're on spring break now so instead of lesson planning I spent my Sunday afternoon working on some more onesies... Here's the whale one I made for my Junebug, an airplane one is in the works next =)

life

has taken over again! *sigh* I haven't gotten a chance to do anything fun or crafty lately, but I have been buying fabric to make my baby boy's bedding. Hoping to get started on that soon, which will, of course, involve pictures =)

Rocka Buy Gear

Gotta love the bargain sites!!!

About:
"RockaBuyGear.com is a venue where moms everywhere can buy and sell their used baby gear. Why bother with collecting and storing all of your unneeded baby gear for a seasonal garage sale that takes up an entire weekend and involves a lot of hard work, when you can easily post any baby-related items, such as clothes, toys, books, DVDs, furniture, strollers and more, at ANY time of the year, day or night, and it's all for FREE! 

RockaBuyGear.com is different from other websites where you can list items for sale: It has an easy four-step posting process that is specifically designed for moms who don't have time to deal with complicated websites due to their busy schedules. Items are posted with a fixed price so you won't have to deal with any time-wasting auctions. All you have to do is post your baby-gear item on our site - and wait! Once your item sells, RockaBuyGear.com will email and text you to let you know. The money will be deposited directly into your personal Paypal account "

Do you coupon?

So while searching for images to make the front of my coupon binder cute I found this old blog. She hasn't updated in a year and a half, but I'm so glad I found her anyway!

Her last entry was about donating expired manufacturer coupons to military bases overseas [since they still accept them]. As the wife of a no-longer-active-duty Marine, I LOVE this idea! So, if you're a couponer who sometimes has expired manufacturer coupons please visit http://www.ocpnet.org and sign up to "adopt" a base! I did =)

Congratulations Jamie!!!

I also wanted to give a HUGE congratulations to Jamie of Momma's Playground on the birth of her beautiful little girl, Ashlynn =))))

Cutest Baby Booties Ever!

Somebody posted a link to this tutorial in the Pregnancy group on Cafemom, and OMG aren't they SO STINKIN' CUTE! I suddenly wish I was having another girl, lol. I've got to find someone to gift these to, they're just too cute not to make!

You can find the tutorial from I Design here.

Sick... Again?!

I'm sick. Again. So not pleased about this! It's the second time in less than a month, and since I'm baking a bin in my oven I can't even take anything to knock out this cold/cough!!! I've got a list of sewing projects just calling my name from all the tutorials I've bookmarked and fabrics I've picked up... And there they sit =( *sigh*


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Well, that's a bummer

The discount site I posted about recently [Green Baby Bargains], closed down! Man, and I had just found it! =(

Homemade cleaners

So one of my latest projects is working on a Home Management Binder. I've gotten a lot of great resources from my Susie Homemaker group on Cafemom. Part of that binder is going to be recipes for homemade cleaners. This will both save money and be more organic! Double yay =) So I compiled a bunch of the recipes from this group to create one document for me to print and put in my new Home Management Binder. I do NOT claim ownership of any of these, I simply found, copy & pasted them into a document which I formatted to my liking. I made it a PDF for easy sharing amongst my readers. Enjoy!

Download homemade cleaner recipes here.