The Woobie Shop

Baby Towel Monster

2011-06-18T21:38:00.001-04:00

I LOVE those little baby towels with hoods on them. What I love even more is a sweet wet babe wrapped up in a towel and smelling like baby wash...ahh...makes me want to bathe my little guy again.

Only problem in our home is that our little bean has grown so much and so quickly that those baby towels don't quite dry him off, wrap him up well or keep him warm, yet I hate to use big adult towels.

So that's where the mini version of the "Towel Monster" comes into our home....

For this project I used a plush full size towel, hand towel, bias tape, heat and bond and scrap fabric......

Step one: Cut your large towel in half, lengthwise and lay the hand towel in the top corner of your half towel. Using the base towel, trim the hand towel into a triangle so it lines up to form the hood of the baby towel.

Step 2: I wanted to add decoration to my hood, so I took some scrap fabric and cut out a letter "L" for my little bean and appliqued it to the "hood" of the towel.

Step 3: Line up the hood and the towel with right sides together, pin hood in place and sew hood on. (I used a serger on this section to keep the towel from fraying, if you don't have a serger you can zig zag stitch it on your sewing machine.)

Step 4: Turn your towel right side out and add bias tape to any raw edge to give it a finished and polished look.

Add a little one and enjoy your bath time!!!

I Spy Baby Quilt in a Day!

2011-06-18T21:19:00.002-04:00

This project is do able in a day if you are committed, start early in the day, not nursing a babe and have no interruptions. If that isn't your case, and you're about as ADD as I am then perhaps this will take you a couple of days....in my case two afternoons during nap time :)

I've seen I Spy Quilts in craft fairs before and spotted one I fell in love with a few years ago at the Atomic Craft Bazaar, before I had my second babe. I had no need for it at the time and wasn't about to spend $90 on a blanket.

Then came along Little Bean and I once again remembered the quilt....so I went in search of one....once again unwilling to pay so much for one and then put the desire out of mind. Until last weekend.

My sister came into town and her and my brother in law took my big boy for the weekend, my hubs was sick in bed and the little bean was asleep all day.....so I went through scraps of fabric in my closet and figured I would go for it. Worst case I threw it all in the trash.

So here's what you need:

One package of craft batting
8"x8" quilting square template, or you can make your own guide for cutting
Large cutting mat
20 assorted pieces of fabric with shapes, colors and patterns
1 yard of fabric for the backing
Rotary cutter
Iron
Sewing machine
A TON of pins
More patience than Job :)

Let's begin.......

First thing I did was lay out the craft batting and use my square guide to determine how many square to cut. I went with 4 across and 5 down. Then I pulled out fabrics and laid them out on the batting.

Then I cut out the 8x8 square and ironed them flat....laid them out on the batting in the order I wanted them sewn....

Now let's start sewing......Take the first two squares in a row, line them up with right sides touching and be sure the raw edges are flush. Sew them together with a 1/2" SA. Then add the third and fourth pieces until you have the entire row sewn together.

Once you have the row sewn you want to take it to the iron and press your seams flush on the wrong side.

Here are un-pressed seams....

Here are pressed seams....

Sew each of the 5 rows across and them lay them out on the batting again....

Now you are going to repeat the same process but you will be sewing the entire rows together. Place row 1 and row 2 together with right sides touching and edges flush, pin in place if necessary and sew. Repeat this for each row until you have all the rows sewn and one big piece of fabric.

Now flip it wrong side up and press all the seams flat again.....

The TOP piece of your quilt is done!!!! Hooray! We're getting there!

Now line up your top piece with the batting on two sides, you are going to have excess on two of the sides. Pin together the top and the batting and cut off the excess batting.

Now take your backing piece of fabric and iron it out. Place the backing of the quilt right side down and then layer your batting on top and then layer your TOP quilt piece right side up. You should see both patterns on your fabric with the batting in the middle.

Here I lined up the batting and TOP piece to two edges of my backing fabric and used a gazillion of pins all over the quilt to pin everything into place. Be careful not to have wrinkles or bubbles in your fabrics. Take your time and do this slowly, it will pay off in the end.

(On quilting sites I read that many people use safety pins...I just used sewing pins and it worked okay.)

Next thing I did was test out the stitches on my machine. Some machines have a free quilting stitch and a quilting foot. Mine isn't that fancy, but I do have this fun swirl stitch so I took a piece of fabric and some batting and made a small sandwich like my big quilt and tested out the stitch....I did it with the white thread showing and then with the bobbin thread showing....I preferred the bobbin thread to show on the main part of my quilt.

So I used my craft ruler and my chalk marker and measured out 2" sections and marked them with chalk onto the backing of my quilt.

Then I used my swirl stitch and stitched down each one of those lines as my guide.

(This step was the most tedious process, and it did poke my fingers with all those pins everywhere. Now I know why safety pins were used instead!)

When the "quilting" was all done....I trimmed off the excess backing piece and I had a 97% complete quilt.....I read about bias tape, but didn't have enough fabric or patience to make my own so I stopped and went to Wal-Mart and bought 2 packages of white Double Fold Bias Tape Quilt Binding.

Then added the binding and did an extra swirl stitch on the binding to make it all blend together.

Add a baby.....

VOILA!!!! I SPY QUILT COMPLETED :)

Linking up on Tuesday:

Heat Transfer Silhouette Onesies

2011-06-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

I am in LOVE with the Silhouette SD machine!!!!! Only problem is I don't have one :/ But my good friend just got one as a gift from her husband and was kind enough to bring it over for me to play with.

I seriously love that there are no cartridges like are necessary with the Cricut. Everything runs through your computer and it the actual machine is super lightweight and compact.

(Only down side is that to transport it you must also carry your computer whereas the Cricut is stand alone.)

SO.... To begin this project I took a plain black one piece romper for my little bean.

Used the Silhouette to cut out "GOT BOOBS?" onto vinyl heat transfer.

(Remember when doing this, you have to mirror your image and weed off the negative vinyl.)

I positioned the vinyl where I wanted it, leaving the clear covering in tact, then used the high heat, no steam setting on my iron to iron it onto the onesie.

Finally, put your own little milk monster into the outfit and Voila! Homemade adorable outfit!

Speaking of feedings, think it's time to get him fed!

Make your own frangrance sachets

2011-05-03T15:18:00.000-04:00

In the world of boys that I live in, smells come with the territory. Especially their closets with shoes and other dirty laundry. Ick.

Even my pre-schooler's closet can grow a funk! So when I saw these little scented balls at Michaels in the clearance bins I snatched them up, knowing I would use them for something.

Then I took a piece of fabric from my scrap bin about 5.5" tall and 12.5" wide and folded it in half, stitched around the edges with a 1/4" SA and left a opening for turning. I turned it right side out and pressed it flat.

Then I poured my fragrance beads into the opening, and carefully stitched around then entire tube with an 1/8" SA to secure the opening and finish it off. Now I have a super cute fragrance pouch to hide in those stinky closets and drawers!

Love this even more.....project cost $.60!!!

A month....

2011-05-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

So it's been a month since my last crafting post....and to be honest it's been that long since I've done anything crafty. I have good reason though.....

Yes, our sweet little boy came to join our family. So now that we're into the swing of things and adjusted to our new normal, I believe the crafting will begin again soon.

Some exciting projects to come!

Repurposing towels

2011-04-03T14:55:00.000-04:00

A while ago I posted about my serger envy....well shortly thereafter temptation got the best of me and I went ahead an bought one. Not a really expensive one, but just a simple starter machine from Wal Mart. Figured if I didn't really love it then I would just box it back up and return it without a problem.

Well after a brutal battle with threading the machine, seriously, it was like an hour and half, and the stupid thing is even color coded, I finally was able to get some things sewn on it and see what it can do.

I'm still new to the serger world, so bear with me as it will take some time. And along with awaiting a new baby in our home some crafty projects are just not going to get done for a while. But here's what has begun....

Baby wipes/washcloths! Super super easy. Some are made of flannel and then I had a couple old baby towels that were stained and didn't look great to use again, but I didn't want to pitch them, so I cut up the good pieces and made the washcloths.

Have a serger and want to make your own. (I suppose you could also do it if you did a zig-zag stitch along the ends of the fabric on a sewing machine as well.)

I cut squares of 8.5" fabric (flannel on one side and cotton on the other)

Laid them together with wrong sides touching each other and ran them through the machine. Finished product was super quick!

Definitely think I am in love with my new gadget!

Homemade baby wipes!

2011-03-29T23:02:00.001-04:00

At one of my baby showers a couple of weeks ago, one of the gals gave me a Domino Sugar container and bottle of water.....no really, that is what it was, kinda.

So of course it peaked my curiosity and I opened it up first, and lo and behold....homemade baby wipes!!!!!

Super cool idea, do you know how many of those are consumed in our home! Well hopefully this will help out some and help with some diaper rash when it comes.

Cut a roll of Bounty paper towels in half and place into a tub. (Don't buy generic.)

Recipe for solution:
1 oz. baby oil
1 oz. baby wash ( any brand)
1 oz. witch hazel
1 3/4 c. water

Mix all ingredients, add to tub, let it absorb and then remove towel inner tube and use within 2 weeks.

Great idea Jesse!

Making Boo Boo Bags

2011-03-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

My little boy is constantly showing me the power of boys and getting into his little scrapes and scuffles. But when he has a boo-boo he hates to put ice on it to make it better because it is too cold.

So I found these "grow" bubbles in the plant decorating section at Michaels, made a little baggie and filled it with the beads. When you run it under water the beads expand and are soft and squishy in the bag which allows me to put it in the fridge to cool without getting frozen. Super easy fix to his boo-boo situation.

Want to make your own....super easy way to do it!

Supplies: Two 3x4 pieces of fabric and water beads

Stitch the fabric with right sides together and leave an opening on one side. Snip corners and turn right side out.

Add 1/2 tsp. of water beads into the bag. Top stitch around the bag to close the seam opening and provide reinforcement. Add to water so beads expand and put in fridge for next boo-boo situation.

Personalized Tumblers

2011-03-18T14:22:00.000-04:00

So if you have followed my projects for a while, you know by now how much I adore all things personalized!!!! When my crafty mama friend Emily showed me her tumbler, I knew I had to make one. While she used acrylic paint to decorate hers I turned to my trusty Cricut and used some vinyl for mine. And with some girls throwing me and my little bean a baby shower, I decided to make some for thank you/appreciation presents for them.

Process and Supplies:

Vinyl sheets for the Cricut (got mine online super cheap)
Double walled tumblers from Wal Mart (These are not dishwasher safe)
Clear paint sealant for acrylic from Michaels (This is dishwasher safe)
Small foam paint brush to apply sealant

I cut out the vinyl with my Cricut in a 4" letter and 2.5" burst shapes using the Lyrical Letters cartridge. Attached the letters to the tumblers and then sealed the outside of the tumblers with the sealant. (Memo: You can't wash the tumblers for 10 days with the sealant because it takes that long for it to permanently seal into the plastic. The actual dry time is about 3 minutes, but it will permanently alter the cup so it can be washed over and over without coming off or spoiling.)

Finished project....Love me some reusable and personalized cups!

Potato Bags and Casserole Covers

2011-03-15T20:46:00.000-04:00

I came across a few tutorials online that I really loved. For some Christmas presents this year I made some potato bags. (Tutorial here.) Love these little suckers, great for taking to work and eating a nice warm potato or when you are in a pinch and don't want to wait around to bake them.

Then for a recent wedding I went to, I decided to pair up a potato bag with a casserole cover. My girlfriend made me one a year ago for a birthday present and I've loved it and used it a ton. (Tutorial here.)

Definitely a great gift set idea and super great gift for a new wife starting out her kitchen.

Nursery renovation

2011-03-08T20:48:00.000-05:00

So remember that elephant fabric I bought to use....well I was really scared to use it. You know that feeling when you get fabric you love and don't know what to use it for? Afraid to cut it and screw up the material? Well maybe you don't get that, but I do.

I finally decided to make a toy basket for my little bean. I used the green elephants for the basket, and then I made a curtain with the brown fabric. I tried to take a picture of the curtain, but I couldn't get a good shot. With the scrap fabric I had from the curtain, I used a the elephants to put onto some baskets my girlfriend gave me that she got from the dollar store. Just a nice little way to add more color and elephants to the room.

Yeah, we've already filled the basket with toys and baby items :)

Think the brown adds a nice little touch.

Randomness

2011-03-03T22:24:00.000-05:00

I have SERGER envy....all of a sudden I desperately want to buy a serger machine to work on tons of projects. Let's see how long I can hold out!

There are at least 3 or 4 projects on my table that are finished and waiting for photos so I can post them. I really need to get to that, but to be honest, I don't want to get out of bed enough to go do it now....darn pregnancy.

I have been crafting...sorry crafty followers, I can't post it all yet since it is mostly nursery decorations. But pictures will come soon.

Will go to sleep now, hopefully I will feel well enough this weekend to do some crafty things for you!

For the mama's with diaper babies...

2011-02-27T19:31:00.000-05:00

So I have three codes for Amazon that will allow you to take 20% off of diapers if you order online....and since my little bean isn't here yet and I don't know which brand of diapers he will use I don't want these to go to waste. Two of them expire tomorrow, one expires in March on the 31st. I put the expiration date next to the code.

You can only use one per purchase, so only take what you need. Codes can only be used one time as well.

First come, first served....only thing I ask is that you become a follower of the blog and leave a comment letting other moms know which codes are already gone.

1- YTDR-ECJG65-2WPGJ3 (2/28/11)

2- YJDS-FKLCMB-P3WL6A (2/28/11)

3- YJJZ-JW7K7Z-LRW3Y9 (3/31/11)

I Spy Tube & Giveaway!

2011-02-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

I've seen little "I Spy" baggies everywhere. And while they are simple enough to make, I wanted something even simpler....and something that I could do with my little man and didn't require any sewing.

When my husband got me these little watches for Valentine's Day and I saw the nifty tubes I had left over...mind went into thinking how I could use them....I Spy tubes!!!!

So I took the sticker off the tube, (used a little Goo Gone to get the glue off) and bought some tiny craft beads at the store.

Had my little guy pick 10 different little buttons and beads like a fish, heart, starfish, etc. and put them in the tube.

Add tiny beads to the tube.... be careful, this could get messy! We did it slowly and mommy helped out immensely.

Then I used crazy glue to glue the cap into place on the tube so nothing can come out and becoming a choking hazard. Then off to go play and find all the little goodies in the tube!

Want your own "I SPY" tube????? Enter to win the giveaway by doing the following 3 things:

1- Become a follower of the blog. (Click FOLLOW over on the left hand side.)

2- Leave a comment on this post and let me know if you want an I Spy tube for a boy or girl in case you win.

3- Become a fan of The Woobie Shop's FB page.

These make a great toy to take along to a restaurant, in the car, something for church, or a treat for a present.

Winner will be chosen on Feb 24th after 12 noon.

Valentine Swap Help....

2011-02-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

A girlfriend from church decided to do a Valentine Swap. Several of us signed up and we were sent someone's name to be their secret Cupid. The challenge is we have to either create or purchase an inexpensive item and use the word LOVE as our inspiration.

So blogger friends....I need items that start with the letters L-O-V-E.

Ideas????? Share in the comment section below. Much appreciated!!!!

Decorating Soap

2011-01-29T19:23:00.000-05:00

When I made the hooded kid towels, I also added some handmade soap bags. (I just forgot to post the directions. Oops.)

So if you need a super simple project, and I mean simple and quick, for gifts favors, or just to add some fun to your bath time, here's how you can make soap at home.

I purchased a glycerin block at Michael for $10 (but used a coupon!) and some small plastic lollipop bags. Then found some fish decorations at my local party store. (They were really sandwich picks, but I broke off the pick part.)

I cut up the glycerin into the squares.

I took a microwaveable cup/bowl with a spout and put in about 3.5-4 squares and microwaved it for about 20-35 seconds. (You might have to test this out with your microwave to see how long it takes to melt without bubbling.)

Once it was melted, I took a plastic funnel and put the funnel inside the baggie poured in the melted soap. (I recommend doing this over the kitchen sink. I did drop it once and at least if you do you can just wash it down the drain rather than have it all over your counter.)

Once the soap is in the bag, I took my fish and added one to the bag. I had to kind of coax it into place and hold the bag for a bit the way I wanted the fish to float into it.

Then just let the soap harden, I put mine in the fridge for a while.

Add to a towel, or give as little gifts. Super easy. I think I might be making some more with hearts in them!

Zippered Wet Bag & Diaper Tote Tutorial

2011-01-26T22:07:00.000-05:00

I love the SUPERSTORE Joann Fabric Stores. So much fun to see the racks and racks of fabrics and sometimes score some adorable fabrics in store that I would normally have to buy online :)

Such was the case with this project. I knew I wanted something a little different from my last diaper case sack, and something close to a wet bag. So I made a zippered diaper bag/wet bag out of this super cute 2D Zoo print fabric.

I love that the inside of the bag is made with PUL (used in reuseable diapers so it is waterproof and easily wipes down and washes out) there's a zipper closure and a hand strap on it.

The finished bag measures 8"x10" and the bag has no exposed seams inside of it.

I cut two pieces of fabric and two pieces of PUL to be 9"x11" and I cut one piece of fabric to be 9"x10" for the pocket. I used a 9" zipper and had a 1/2" seam allowance.

I folded over the top of short edge of the pocket piece down 1/2" and ironed it and repeated so that there was no exposed seam at the top and stitched across the top. Then I laid the pocket (face up) on top of one of the other top fabric pieces and did a baste stitch around the sides and bottom to hold it in place using an 1/8" seam allowance.

Now my confession.....I HATE ZIPPERS!!!! I hate them with a passion, mostly because they scare me and I don't really know how to sew them well. So I followed Ashley's directions on her zippered bags for the making of the zippered portion and getting the lining in place. (Awesome tutorial!)

Once I got this far, I went ahead and cut a piece of fabric to be 1.5"x6", folded it in half lengthwise, stitched the long edge and turned it out. Then I ironed it, folded it in half and stitched it into place against one of the fabric pieces so that the strap was face up against the right side of the outer fabric.

Then I went back to Ashley's directions and sewed the outer pieces and lining together with right sides touching and sewing along all sides with a 2" opening in the lining. Trim edges, clip corners, turn out and stitch the opening in the lining and pull through.

There you have the zippered wet bag that doubles as a diaper tote on the go! I used some of the remnant fabric to make a burp cloth that will go with part of the gift set as I'm using this for an upcoming baby shower present.

Also love that the pocket holds one of the travel wipes cases with plenty of space in the bag for diapers and a change of clothes.

If you want it slightly smaller (which I might try next time I make one, just to compare) then you can use a 7" zipper and cut the fabric to be 8"x10" and adjust pocket likewise.

Ribbon Rings Giveaway Winner :)

2011-01-26T21:38:00.000-05:00

Well ladies, the winner is up for the Ribbon Rings giveaway!!!!!!!

Drum roll please for the lucky lady who will be the new owner of an adorable ring....

JILLIAN!!!! (thanks to random.org for making the choice.)

If you didn't win a ring, worry not, you can come by the First United Methodist Church here in Port Charlotte this Friday and Saturday for their craft fair and see the talented Ms. Ashley show off her ring creations and purchase one of your own.

Or, you can take her up on her offer and host a HOUSE PARTY and earn free ring credits with purchases from other people!!!!

Making a Hooded Towel

2011-01-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

Making your own hooded towel monster:

To create the towel hood:

I bought one hand towel and cut the hand towel in half width wise. (The top of the towel is where the edge is raw from being cut.)

I used some Heat N Bond to attach the ribbon across the width of the towel where I wanted it and added a monogram initial on the top with my machine. I went over top of the ribbon with my sewing machine and stitched it into place. (Not that Heat N Bond isn't great, but for multiple washing and usage, I like to sew everything in place.)

Then I folded the towel so that the right side of the towel (with all the decorations) were touching and did a straight stitch down the raw edge and then went back and did a ziz-zag stitch on the edge to help prevent fraying.

(Sewn edge is here on the right side.)

To Complete the Towel Monster:
I laid out the body towel length wise and opened up my hooded piece so that it would be centered on the body towel. I laid the hood on top of the body towel so the two seamed edges would lay on top of each other and pinned them in place. (Refer to photo.) Then I stitched on top of them with a straight stitch to secure it in place and a zig-zag stitch for more security and decoration.

Now just add your own little monster and enjoy!

Ribbon Rings Giveaway!

2011-01-15T21:35:00.001-05:00

Well fans....another giveaway is up and going!

So if you missed winning the last one, or just want to enjoy getting another goodie then keep reading.

Ashley of Ribbon Rings creates these adorable hand crafted rings decorated and fashioned with ribbon and embellishments on adjustable ring bases. So no matter your style, size or preference Ribbon Rings has something for you.

And at an incredible price of $5 a ring, they are super affordable for everyone's budget!

To help her start off her business she is offering one of The Woobie Shop's lucky readers their very own choice of one of her rings.

So check out some of her samples below.....and read the details of the giveaway:

Make sure you are a follower here on The Woobie Shop blog....
Head over to Ribbon Ring's FB page and become one of her fans. (More rings samples are shown there and she updates all her new inventory.)
Leave a comment here below on this post and tell me which ring you would like to win, or how you would like Ashley to customize one for you!

Right now she's also offering a special promotion.....$5 per ring or 5 rings for $20. So if you just can't wait to see if you win one of the rings, or need to get some presents for anyone, send her a message on FB and order yourself some rings.

Hurry up and leave a comment, this giveaway closes on Jan 26th!!!

Towel Giveaway winner

2011-01-15T16:01:00.000-05:00

Giveaway closed today! Using the Random Generator (I had hoped to get my kid to draw a winner, but alas I am sick in bed, so back to a website.) the lucky winner is Casie!

If you didn't win the towel giveaway, stay tuned this upcoming week. Another cute vendor is lined up for some a jewelry giveaway! Posting on that coming up soon.

Ekkk! Elephants have arrived....

2011-01-08T14:55:00.001-05:00

With less than 100 days until my new little boy makes his arrival, my house is slowly but surely becoming a house filled with small new elephant accessories.

Yup, I'm redoing our guest room into a nursery for our little bean and decided on using a green and brown color scheme and elephants as the motif.

Some fabric I ordered over the Christmas holiday showed up. I love Fabric.com! Always a great selection to choose from and always great service!

I can't wait to turn these fabrics into fun baskets and accessories for his room!

Let the fun begin! Giveaways are here!

2011-01-05T19:49:00.000-05:00

Well with a new year, I wanted to try some new fun....what can be more fun than a free giveaway!

During the holiday break I made several of these kid towels for presents. They were fun to make, simple and let's just say, the one that stayed in our house has become a hit!

I know this is only the back view, tried to get a photo of him with the hood over his face, but he was too quick and enjoyed running away from me with his "towel monster" on.

So to pass along the fun to my followers I am offering a free personalized towel in green (with your choice of pink or brown accents) and a handmade kid soap set to the winner of this giveaway.

Here's how you can enter- you must complete all three requirements.

Become a follower of the blog.
Become a fan on The Woobie Shop Facebook page.
Leave a comment on this blog posting with your preference of color accent and the initial you would like embroidered on your towel if you win.

There are great not only if you have small children, but make for great presents too, so don't shy away from participating just because you don't have a small child.

Giveaway ends on Jan. 15th at 12 noon. Winner will be drawn at random and contacted for a shipping address.

Don't worry, if you don't win this giveaway, there will be more....and I'll be posting a tutorial and some links on how to make the towel and soap yourself after the giveaway closes.

Christmas catch up and new year planning

2010-12-27T23:38:00.000-05:00

I'm hoping you all had a lovely Christmas. That your Santa was good to you and you made many memories with your loved ones. We had a great time in our home. So great that Christmas night my dear hubby and I both came down with a bit of a cold.....but thanks to my in laws and my sister we were able to get much needed rest the day after and are ready to plan for the new year.

Crazy for me to think another year is already starting!!!! Anyone else find it crazy too? Perhaps you are ready for it to come, in some ways I am surely am.

Well, as the year comes forward....I do want you know I have some fun plans in store for the blog, including some fun links, tutorials, and some fun giveaways!!!!

So, if you aren't already a follower of the blog, click on the sidebar, become a follower and keep in the loop! You might just find you enjoy following with me on the ride for 2011 :)

Reindeer Food

2010-12-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

My son came home from school last week with a little bag of dust.....when I inquired about it I learned it was Reindeer Food.

LOVE IT!!!!

So today, just to make sure we had enough to lead the reindeer to our house we made some more, and this time, my little man insisted we add blue glitter so Santa will be sure to know which house is his.

The first batch was for all the reindeer, this special mix is just for Rudolph, in case you were wondering :)

Step 1.....discover what reindeer need to eat....oatmeal, cinnamon, glitter, (you can add brown sugar but it's not necessary.)

Step 2: add oatmeal to a baggie, be sure to do it over a pan or sink....little hands can make a big mess!

Step 3- Add glitter so the reindeer can see it in the dark....our favorite color in this house is blue!

Step 4- Add a lot of cinnamon to make sure it smells good and is sweet.....

Step 5- have mommy close up the bag and shake it really well so everything mixes nicely.

Now make sure you sprinkle it on your yard before bedtime tomorrow night so the reindeer know to stop at your house and let Santa deliver the presents!

Gift Card Cozy

2010-12-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

This post tutorial is holiday themed, but can seriously be done all year long for any gift card giving.....

My sister in law and brother in law wanted gift cards this year for our Santa gift swap. While we like getting people what they ask for, I hate just sticking a gift card in a card or bag because they seem so cold that way....so I raided my scrap stash and made a few gift card cozies. Nothing fancy, just a way to wrap the card up a little without spending more cash and adding a personal touch.

If you want to make some of your own here's my method of madness.....

Took a scrap of fabric that was 6" wide by 8" long and folded it in half lengthwise with right sides facing together then added a lightweight interfacing to both sides.

I stitched along two sides leaving an opening on one end....turned it right side out and folded in the open edge.

I did a zig-zag stitch along the top and folded the tube as shown so it is not quite in half. You can just stitch the side seams closed with a zig-zag/straight stitch or if you wanted to add a decoration on it this would be the time....

I took a strip of ribbon and folded creases in it as I ran it through the sewing machine, then just lay it on top of where you want it, stitch it into place and sew up your side seams.

Add a gift card and you're all done! Happy gift giving!

Holiday Card Holder

2010-12-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

I have received a lot of picture Christmas cards this year, and my poor fridge can't hold them all, so they took residence on my bar top.

Here was my before.....

So after seeing this post on a blog...I decided to do something. I don't have a piano or a fireplace mantel in my home, but with the help of 3M wall hooks and my barren front wall I can now see them displayed.

I did under estimate how many cards I had and would fit, so I had to add some ribbon to the top of my banner to finish posting them up.

Here's how I did mine.....

Took some holiday scrapbook paper, craft glue and wood clothespins. Cut out strips of paper and glued them to the clothespins then let them dry. I then used an Exacto-knife to trim off the excess and added a small jeweled dot onto the top for decoration. Then I posted the wall hooks on the wall. Knotted the ribbon on each side and hung up my cards.

No more clutter on the counter and I get to see the faces and lives of the people I love as I walk past that part of my house every day!

Teacher gift idea

2010-12-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

I know this post is a little late for giving to a teacher this holiday season, but thought I would post it anyways. Always something you can make in advance and give during Teacher Appreciation Week. Or use the gift idea for someone else this holiday season.

I took a plain front small notebook (mine was cardboard, not plastic) and applied some craft glue to the front of the notebook. Then I added the scrapbook paper to the front and trimmed around the edges to clean it up. Using my Cricut, I cut out the letters for my son's teacher and glued them to the front.

Pair it with a nice pen and it makes a cute little set. Also made some of these for birthday presents for friends.

Who doesn't love a personalized present?

Personalized snack bags

2010-12-21T21:02:00.000-05:00

I got a new embroidery card for my sewing machine a while ago, but with the crazy schedule and the exhaustion that comes with pregnancy and chasing after my three year old, I haven't had a lot of time to devote to learning the in's and out's of how it works and all the quirks.

Now with my Christmas vacation, I have been enjoying some crafting time and learning how to use it. So when a friend wanted some snack bags made for her 3 little girls I had another excuse to use it. Especially since she wanted all three bags the same but with their initial on it to let each girl know which one was hers.

The picture makes the letter look darker than the polka dots, but the thread color is brown, just looks really dark with it all together.

I do think it adds a nice little touch....but my girlfriend got super lucky with these, as I do think I will charge more for the added touch as it eats up a lot of thread and more time than before. But still way cute!

Do think there will be some happy girls eating snacks and looking adorable!

Bowling Boys

2010-12-21T20:49:00.000-05:00

If you aren't a subscriber to Family Fun magazine and you have small children in your home, you should definitely look into a subscription. It's such a fantastic magazine with a lot of fun projects, ideas, cooking tips and such.

That's where I discovered the Bowling Boys idea.

I made these little guys for my son, and while they were intended to be a Christmas stocking stuffer...he got them a little early because once I finished making them he saw them and loved them.

I picked up the wood pieces at my local Michaels and used left over ribbon from my stash with some craft glue and a Sharpie. The best bouncy ball was from my Old Navy store in the jumbo $.25 trap they have. Super easy to whip up and a cute little addition this holiday season!

JOY Jars

2010-12-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

I always tend to have a last minute Christmas present that I need to make or get and am clean out of ideas. Anyone else? I love to give handmade gifts but sometimes I run short of ideas.

So last week when I went to my mommy group Christmas gift exchange I loved this idea and totally went home to make some of my own! Many thanks to Melissa for this great present!!!!

These little jars certainly brought some joy to my day and week as I made them for friends and family.

Psst.....If any of you see this in your Christmas present bag you'll know where my inspiration came from.

Take some glass jars and decorative rocks and fill your jars a couple inches deep.

Then using a Cricut and some scrapbook paper...I used scraps from previous projects, make a background 3x5 card and round the edges and cut out your letters for JOY.....

You can also do different holiday cards so you just have to change out the cards from one holiday to the next.... Hearts for Valentines Day, 3 ring clovers for St. Patrick's Day, MOM for Mother's Day, EGG for Easter, DAD for Father's Day, USA for Fourth of July, BOO for Halloween, or just put 3 pictures on paper to keep in the jars while you wait between the seasons.

I love these holiday settings because they can become functional all year without having to redo much in your home.

Making crayon fun!

2010-12-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

For some of my Christmas presents I made my nieces an art smock and wanted to add something else with a personal/crafty touch. Rather than buy new crayons, I raided my crayon stash at work (I'm a full time teacher, so there were plenty of broken crayons in my classroom.) and had the kids peel off the paper for me. I took some silicone ice cube/baking trays from the local dollar store (and some borrowed from a friend) and made my own homemade crayons!

Note: This project did get a bit messy with crayon bits all over my kitchen floor and under my nails, so be prepared to clean up.

I baked mine for about 25 minutes about 200 degrees.

1- Peel crayons, break into small pieces and sort into colors. Or you can mix up the colors if you like.

2- Employ small children to help you break them- oh, so much fun!- and then sort them. Talk about a learning game.....productive and entertaining for mom and kids!


3- Lay out your trays on top of a cookie sheet or flat baking surface so it easier to remove.

4- Let your crayons cool in the pans and harden. then carefully pop them out.


5- Sort them out into little plastic baggies and you've got a great little gift!

Fireman tee shirt

2010-12-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

My little man loves firetrucks, firefighters and all such things....so I redid a plain red shirt and decorated it just for my little fireman want to be.

I found the tee on clearance at Target, but little man isn't a fan of plain shirts. It had a pocket on the front of it, which I removed with my seam ripper. I used some June Taylor transfer paper and ran it through the printer with this little decoration then cut it out and ironed it on top of where the pocket had been. Big hit with my boy!

Now if only my warm Florida weather would return so he could wear it!

Wubbzy Art smock

2010-12-11T22:08:00.000-05:00

I've got a sweet little girl that is a dear friend of ours up in the cold region of Minnesota. So I wanted to make sure to send her a Christmas gift she could use in the nice heated indoors. Being that I know her and her mama are both crafty ladies I decided on making her an art smock, chalk mat and then a little zippered tote with art supplies to use. And yes, there is a lot of Wow, Wow Wubbzy fabric involved in this gift set!

Here's another art smock I used for a previous birthday present....I see a few more being made before the Christmas holiday!

Pillowcase Dress Duo

2010-12-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

I've made a little girl dress in the past, but this past weekend I worked on a matching set of dresses for some adorable cuties and their Christmas outfits.

Maybe because it's Florida, but we're not always in full Christmas attire this time of year, so the mama went for a fun flirty pattern they could use year round with our weather. Love the versatility of these little dresses.

I also enjoyed the flowers that I added to the dresses, felt like a nice little touch.

Fabric Baskets!!!!

2010-11-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

LOVE these little baskets! After scouring all over Etsy and planning on buying one from a shop, I scored an awesome pattern from Nestings. After searching through some fabric and a quick late night trip to Wal Mart for some craft fuse here are a few samples I have of the little fabric baskets.

These Cars ones below are going to be for my little man at Christmas time. I have a few sets of Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars that I've already purchased for him and I'm going to toss them in here with tissue paper for under the tree.

This little one was my sample with handles. Still not sure which way I like it better. The basket is a little small for the handles, so I am afraid it looks a little funny. But at the same time, I might use it as a gift holder for small toys or treats, in which case little kids might enjoy the handles.

I have already started planning the big baskets and will post photos of those once I get them made.

Let me know what you think about the baskets....and handles or no handles.... :)

It's here...long over due

2010-11-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

So after a huge, terrible, frustrating, infuriating ordeal with my local sewing store (from which I did purchase my sewing machine a couple years ago) I finally was able to track down an embroidery card that is compatible with my machine so I can add names, monograms, and personalized touches to my projects!!!! YEAH!

After sewing some projects together today, I went ahead and set everything up to transfer my machine from sewing into embroidery station and give this thing a go. I get it all ready and lo and behold my embroidery hoop for the machine is m.i.a.! Seriously, after all this time, I can't find the hoop! I know I have it somewhere, but it's not in any of the places it should be :(

So frustrating. Oh well, I suppose it will just be something I have to go purchase tomorrow. Grrr. to the local sewing store. Grrr... to me misplacing my hoop.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T22:37:00.000-04:00

Well I couldn't resist the holiday shirt opportunity and since I've gotten past the yucky part of pregnancy, I thought I would come back to life with my sewing machine, so I made MJD a little shirt for our visit to the Pumpkin Festival yesterday.

Not exactly a super fantastic picture of the shirt, but one of the best I had. It does read "BOO" on it and the little man was the one who picked out the fabric for it.

Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween!

Spicing things up

2010-10-25T21:26:00.002-04:00

So there's a new banner on the blog, and on the store. Wanted to spice things up a bit and have a little change. What do you think?

Been a while....more than a while....

2010-10-25T21:22:00.000-04:00

So I finally got back to blogging. Don't take it personally, my family blog has been bleak too. So here's why. I was suffering through the first trimester of my second pregnancy!!!

Yes, this crafty mama is expecting her next one to the crew!!! Maybe it's because last time I was pregnant I didn't have a crazy man toddler to chase after so perhaps that is part of the reason I felt better. But this baby has been kicking my butt, plus the fact that I found out I was pregnant right when I went back to work and the busyness of work plus pregnancy was not too easy.

Nevertheless......the rough patch is over! Praise God. I finally am starting to feel a little more normal. And I am contemplating returning to my sewing machine and crafting. Yes, my poor machine has been lonely the last couple months.

Be on the lookout....Holiday projects are on the way!

Chalk Mat Fun

2010-08-08T08:38:00.000-04:00

I have had a batch of chalk cloth in my cabinet for months!!!!! I have had an idea in my head for as long too, but have been too nervous to actually commit to cutting and sewing up the chalk cloth, in case I did something and screwed up the fabric.

But after searching different chalk cloth items, inserting a strong needle into my machine, and bringing out my awesome pinking shears, here's the final product...........

On the go chalk mat!

Here's how I made mine :) Adapt as you see fit.

1- Cut 2 pieces of fabric & interfacing to be 13.5" wide and 10" long. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabrics.

2- Cut 1 piece of chalk cloth to be 11" wide and 8.5" long. Use pinking shears and trim around each edge to make the zig zag pattern.

3- Take the chalk cloth and pin it to the right side of one piece of fabric. Be careful, because the chalk cloth will leave the pin hole marks. (See step 4 before stitching!)

4- Before you stitch all the way around the chalk cloth, you will need to take a 2" piece of elastic (3/4 width) and fold it in half, then tuck it into the left side of the chalk cloth (between the chalk cloth and fabric), about half way between the top and bottom to hold the piece of chalk in the mat. I used a 1/4 seam allowance for my stitching.

5- Now take the two pieces of fabric and place them right sides together and pin in place. Take a large elastic band and slide it between the fabric so that only a little bit of the edge is visible. Stitch along the edges, leaving about a 4" opening in the top. Use a 1/2 SA.

6- Snip corners when finished sewing, turn right side out, tuck in the exposed opening and iron flat. Then top stitch around the length of the mat to hide the opening as well as secure the elastic band in place for frequent use. (Iron only on the side of fabric that does not have chalk cloth on it!)

Decorate with a special note, add a piece of chalk, roll it up and give to someone sweet to play with!

I see a lot of these being made in my future for Christmas stocking stuffers!!!!! Might even make these for my next craft fair.

By the way, I bought the chalk cloth from The Fabric Farm and you can pick up a chalk marker on Etsy by searching "Chalk Pen" in supplies.

I purchased 1/2 yard of chalk fabric and it made 8 chalk mats.

Budget Book

2010-08-01T00:13:00.000-04:00

I've got a coupon organizer, got my coupon sites I visit all the time, got my shopping list and notebook, and now we've moved into the "cash only" system. (No worries, we don't actually have a lot of cash, this is just to keep me focused on my grocery priority and to avoid Target as much. So you won't be able to steal a lot of money from me if you take my envelopes.)

Well, of course, I wanted one of these nifty little budget books for our cash so I didn't actually have to use plain white envelopes. Blah! But since I shouldn't be spending any $$$ on one, I found a plastic one in my stash of stuff, and did some serious Googling to find someone online who would show me how they are decorated with fabric. Hence how I came upon the tutorial.

Here's my finished product! (Don't look too closely, it's my first and the stitching isn't too terribly straight. Thank God for brown on brown!)

This little goober was not as easy as it seemed. I've been wanting to figure this one out for a while, but never had the initiative. Figured it was glued on or something. Never dawned on me that the fabric really was stitched on. Thank heavens I had a heavy duty needle, a lot of desire, and an willing to forgive the crooked stitching. Another plus to the project.... the portfolio was only $1 and the fabric was in my scrap stack.

Some other cool links for making coupon organizers, clutches, etc.

Traveling with a Toddler Part 3: Car Track

2010-07-30T21:49:00.001-04:00

I know these blog posts on the subject are a little spaced out, bear with me. Today's toy for traveling and/or use in restaurants is perfect for any little boy (or girl) who loves those little race cars!

Take and Travel Car Garage and Track:

For this project I don't have the step by step photos, but the directions are pretty simple. I modified it from Creation Corner's carrier to make it more friendly for my little man and our needs.

This project requires- 3/8 yard for the front and back (2 pieces of 14.25"x11")
                                 - 1/8 yard for the pocket (8"x11" then folded to make it 4"x11")
                                 - 1 piece of interfacing 14.25"x11" fused to the back of one of the body pieces
                                 - 1 piece of black felt cut to make an oval race track about 9" wide
                                 - 1 elastic band
                                 - 3 small Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars

Cut your pocket fabric.

Cut your body front and back pieces. Fuse the interfacing to one piece on the wrong side of the fabric.
Take that piece of fabric with interfacing on it and pin the pocket to the bottom edge of the fabric.
Using a chalk pen, measure .5" and draw a line, then over 3.5" draw a line, over 3.5" draw a line, over 3.5" draw a line, then it should be .5" to the edge.
Using the 3.5" lines as a guide, stitch a straight seam on the chalk lines to make 3 individual pockets for the little race cars.
Take the felt race track and pin it to the top of the fabric then using black thread stitch around the outer and inner sides of the track to keep it in place.
Put both body pieces of fabric with right sides together and pin in place, insert an elastic band between the fabrics where the pocket is so that the band is hidden and only a little bit of edge is sticking out, pin it in place
Use 1/4" SA and stitch all around the edges leaving an opening about 2-3" for turning.
Snip your corners, turn right side out, press with hot iron to remove wrinkles, top stitch around perimeter to close up opening and reinforce everything.
Fill with small cars and give to a little one to enjoy!

Making your flip flops!!!

2010-07-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

I finally wore my BLING flip flops to our morning mommy play date at the mall today. The ladies loved them!!! So here's how to make your own!!!

Supplies:

1 pair of plastic flip flops. Picked mine up cheap at Old Navy.
Black thread and needle
2 Jeweled buckles. I ordered mine from Etsy, but a friend finally found some in Michaels (if you find them and buy them there, be sure to use of their 40% coupons.)
2 pieces of 1" wide ribbon cut to be 12" long
Scissors
Lighter

Step 1: Slide a long piece of thread into your needle and tie a knot at the end, then at the top of your flip flop use the end of the thread to go around the thong of the flip flop and make a knot. Then place your buckle on top of the show so the bar of the buckle is in the middle of the thong.

(You can see in the picture I am holding up the edge of where I tied a knot.)

Step 2: Using the needle and thread you want to wind it up and down through the thong and the buckle so that the thread goes above and under the bar of the buckle and secures the buckle to the middle of the thong part.

(I know these photos aren't great... it's hard to get pictures of black thread on black shoes.) Make sure your buckle is securely fastened to the plastic part of the shoe.

Step 3: Cut the needle off of the thread and use the free edge of the thread to go back up to the slack of the knot you made in step 1 and tie the two ends together to make it knot tightly. Snip the loose ends and go to your ribbon.

Step 4: Take one piece of ribbon and create a flat bow by folding the ribbon in the middle, then taking that middle part and folding it down. You can see the fold at the top will be the center of the ribbon bow. Take your needle and thread again and sew the back section together to hold the bow in place. You don't want to sew the top piece of the ribbon down otherwise you will see the stitches through the buckle. Repeat this for both ribbon pieces.

Step 5: You now slide the ribbon under and through the buckle that is attached to the shoe.

Once the ribbon is in place and you're happy with it, cut the edges down to where you like them. I cut them at an angle. Take a lighter and careful sear the edges of the ribbon so they don't fray. Be careful not to burn your shoes!!!!

Now paint your toes a pretty color, and adorn your feet with lovely flip flops for the summer festivities!!!!

You can also interchange the ribbons to match outfits by sliding these out and slipping in new ones :) Talk about versatility!!!

LOVE THEM!!!!!

DIY: Making a Nursing Cover

2010-07-21T22:15:00.000-04:00

I love this fabric!!!!! Alyson was in need of a new nursing cover and I needed to get pictures for this tutorial. So here's the adorable nursing wrap....and directions for you to make your own or one for a friend.

These make a great baby shower present for a new mom, add a box of nursing pads and you're set!

Supplies you will need:
1 yard of cotton fabric in the print of your choice.
18" of boning
2 D rings
Turning stick
ruler, rotary cutter and self-healing mat
sewing machine, matching thread and iron
Terry cloth fabric -optional, see SIDE NOTE

Let's get started....

1- Iron out any wrinkles in the fabric and cut your fabric to be 36" long and 24" high.

2- Then use your ruler and mark the bottom and sides of the fabric up 3/4" and draw a line.

3- Fold the raw edge of the fabric up to the line you marked and use the hot iron to press the fold.

After you have folded it once, fold the edge one more time so no raw edges are exposed and use the iron to press. Then pin the edges with straight pins.

3- Using your matching thread, stitch along the RIGHT side of the fabric with a 3/4" seam allowance so that the fold is sewn into place.

Side note: If you wanted to put an inside pocket into the cover, this is where you would do it. Cut a piece of terry cloth into a triangle and slide it into the corner edges before pinning everything into place so that the top point of the terry cloth tucks into the corner of the two sides. When you stitch the side edges it will sew into place the terry cloth fabric and create a pocket. You can also stitch a line down the middle of the pocket -sew on the RIGHT side of the fabric- and you will have a pocket for nursing pads, as well as a corner of absorbent fabric to use to wipe up baby.

4- Put aside the body of the cover for a while. Cut a piece of fabric 36" long and 2" wide.

5- Fold the fabric in half lengthwise and use a 1/4" SA and stitch along the open edge so you make a tunnel.

6- Turn the fabric right side out with your turning stick, then press the fabric.

7- Not cut a piece of fabric 2" wide and 6" long. Fold it in half width wise then use a 1/4" SA and stitch along both side edges.

8- Turn the fabric right side out and press. Then take the D rings and slide them into the fabric, fold the fabric over and stitch along the fabric to lock the rings in place. Also, stitch along the bottom of the fabric so it doesn't fray.

9- Take the body piece of the cover and along the raw edge at the top repeat step 2 (fold over the raw edge to the line 3/4" from the top) then instead of just folding it over again, measure from the folded side 1.25" and mark a line. Fold to this line and press.

10- Now insert the boning so that the fabric will bow out from itself. Simply slide the boning into the folded casing you just made, about center of the fabric.

Pin everything into place and stitch along the RIGHT side of the fabric. This is a little tricky because the boning is in place and can be hard to sew through, so TAKE YOUR TIME sewing this last side of the fabric.

11- Once the boning is into place securely, take the D ring attachment you made in step 8 and pin it on the right side of the cover directly next to the right edge of boning. (Place it here to keep the boning from moving around and because it's in a good location for the mother to be able to adjust the length from.) Sew a box and then an "X" mark through the middle so that you help make sure it is securely in place. Remember that this is going to get tugged and pulled on and you want it secure.

Take the strap you made in step 6 and pin it in place to the left of the boning and sew into place the way you did the D ring attachment.

12- Iron out the body of the fabric and attach the strap through the D rings.

If you are as silly as I am and don't know how to do the D rings the first time, keep going.

1- Slide the strap from the top down through the bottom of the D rings, keeping them both together.

2- Separate the 2 rings and pull the bottom of the strap between the 2 rings.

Making a nursing cover

2010-07-16T17:02:00.000-04:00

I met a lovely young lady at the fountains this morning with my little guy. While one of my girlfriends was nursing she inquired as to the nursing wrap. I gave her my card and told her about the blog thinking I had posted directions on how to make a nursing cover when I posted other tutorials, and sure enough as I looked in the archives, the pictures of the nursing cover made it up in posts about baby gifts, but never the directions. :(

So if you're the lovely young mama from the fountains this morning, I will get directions up within the next week so your friend from church can put one together for you. I have to get some fabric and make one this week for a friend anyways. Or if you're another mama or sewer just looking for directions, the tutorial will be up a.s.a.p.

In the meantime, if you want to make a nursing wrap and need to know what supplies you need to buy here they are:

1 yard of a cotton fabric print of your choice
2 medium "D rings"
1/4" yard of terry cloth (if you would like a pocket inside the cover)

Traveling with a Toddler Part 2: Coloring on the Go

2010-07-13T23:08:00.001-04:00

So after showing off the Dino Land Travel Mat, I thought I would keep going with "Traveling with a Toddler" series. For today we have the FOLD & GO ART WALLET.

This art kit is great to use while in restaurants or even waiting rooms.

Disclaimer: If you want to make one of these for your own personal enjoyment, or that of your little one, or for gifts, go ahead. If you are making these for resale, please be kind enough to give credit of the design to The Woobie Shop and to buy the pattern for commercial resale. ~ Thanks.

Here's how to make one of your own:

1- Cut two pieces of fabric (7" x 11.5") to be your base layers.

Then cut two pieces of interfacing (7"x11"). One piece is fusible fleece, the other piece is a light weight interfacing. Fuse both pieces of interfacing to the wrong sides of the base fabric.

2- Cut out a piece of coordinating fabric (7" x 8") to be your pocket for crayons. Fold the fabric in half to become 7" x 4" and line it up so the folded edge is at the top of the pocket and all raw edges are touching. Use the piece of base fabric which has the lightweight interfacing on it.

3- Use a chalk pen and measure from the left edge .5" and mark a line, then measure 2.5" mark a line, repeat 2.5", and then repeat again.

4- Pin the fabrics together and sew along the chalk lines to make the pockets.

5- Take a piece of coordinating fabric (5.25" x 8.5") and fold it in half so it becomes 5.25" x 4.25". Stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance along both side seams, snip the corners (see picture below), turn it out and press.

6- Place the paper pocket about 3/4" away from the right side raw edge, pin it where you want it and then stitch up both side edges to secure it in place.

7- Take the other piece of fabric (with the fusible fleece fused to it) and place it right side up. About 1.5" from the right side sew into place the large button for closure.

8- Now lay the fabrics together with right sides touching. You want the button on the front piece to be touching the crayon pockets of the other piece. Pin the fabrics together and insert an elastic band between the fabrics opposite of the button with a little piece of the elastic sticking out.

9- Sew along all the sides with a 1/2" seam allowance and leave about a 2" opening so you can turn it out. Snip your corner edges, turn out the fabric, press with a hot iron to get out the wrinkles and fold over the opening.

10- Top-stitch around the entire perimeter of the art wallet with a 1/4" seam allowance to secure the opening you had and give it a finished look.

11- I used mini colored pencils instead of crayons, but you can fill yours with crayons, mini-twistable crayons, or mini-markers for the writing utensils. I also bought mini-notepads at Wal-Mart in a packet of 3 or 4.

Enjoy! We sure do!

Birthday Teaser

2010-07-13T22:20:00.000-04:00

So I've been making some really cute, easy to pack with when you have to move away from me, gifts for MJD's homeboy Cayman's upcoming birthday. But since his mama is a snoop and looking at the blog to see if I'll post pictures of the gifts, I've been limited in my postings.

In an effort to appease and tease her curiosity, I figured I'd blog about his gift bag :)

I used these super cute bags in the past for girl gift bags, but didn't want to do the same thing for K-man. Since he's having a racing themed party, I decided to applique a car on the bag like I did with one of MJD's shirts last winter.

So here you go Alyson, a peek at the bag.... but not the goodies inside :)

Craft Fair Finds

2010-07-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

Our local cultural center had their "Christmas in July" craft fair this past weekend. Last year I worked the fair with my girlfriend Casie of "Oh, Baby! by Casie" so I never got much time to peruse and shop for myself.

This year since I didn't work the fair, I walked through it with a friend and got to check out some of the booths. A couple of the finds we got were quite fun. One in particular was used this morning for MJD's frozen yogurt after breakfast treat. A freeze pop holder from Jelly Bean Designs.

Isn't that a great use of felt! I was honestly a little skeptical to begin with if little man would use it or like it. He loved it! No sticky fingers, and no yelling cause it was too cold. So if MJD loves it, I know other kids will too!

Want some of your own? Check out Savannah's shop, Jelly Bean Designs. I see some of these cute treat holders making their way into Christmas stockings this year :)

Pillowcase Dress

2010-07-11T14:29:00.000-04:00

I love these little dress. I see them all over Etsy, and without a little girl of my own, I've never had reason to make one, until now! No, not for myself, a friend at church asked for one when I asked what her little girl would like for her first birthday :)

To be honest, I was actually quite nervous after making the dress. When you do an item for the first time, there is always so much room for improvement, but this time it had to be good. Then choice selection on fabric always comes into play, is the fabric too busy, is the pattern girlie enough, on and on. But in the end, not bad for my first time around. After receiving confirmation for a mutual friend that the pattern would suit for the little girl, I feel much better.

I see more pillowcase dress making in the future.....

Traveling with a Toddler Part 1- Dino Travel Mat

2010-07-09T17:17:00.001-04:00

Last weekend we went on vacation with my in laws for a few days. In preparation for the 3 hour car drive and then restaurant visits, confinement in a hotel, and just the need for new entertainment on the go, I made up this Dino Travel Land.

I got the idea from another blog I had checked out. She had more of a dino mat that would be kept at home and used in a play room, and I wanted something more versatile. When I saw the dino fabric at Wal-Mart I picked up a piece to use for my appliques.

I rummaged through some fabric I already had in my stash... I took some brown cotton and a striped flannel piece which I've had forever to be my front and back. Cut them in 12x12 squares and applied some interfacing to both pieces to add some stability.

While making it, I wanted to do something to it that would make it portable and easy to carry along with us, so I decided to add a button to the flannel side and then use a ribbon and button hole to go across and fold it into fourths in order to close....

In the above picture, the button is on the left side and the ribbon is on the right.

Then I took the dinosaur fabric and cut out the dinos I wanted and placed everything onto the brown background, pinned it in place and applied stabilizer behind the fabric so I could use a tight zig-zag stitch and sew them into place to make sure they last long term. (Like you would when you applique something.)

After everything was in place, I laid the two pieces of fabric together with right sides facing each other, sewed along all four sides, leaving about a 2" opening, snipped my corner edges and then did a top stitch along the entire perimeter to close up my opening and reinforce everything.

I added some small dinosaurs we had bought for my son at the toy store and let him get started at his own creative playtime.

I did make up a zippered pouch (not pictured here) to hold the folded play mat and dinosaurs while we're on the go.

Cow Appreciation Day

2010-07-09T15:23:00.000-04:00

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A. Since we're friends of the manager at our mall's CFA, and because it allowed us free food, we dressed up like cow's and herded our way to the mall today to get some yummy chicken.

Here's my little man sporting his cow shirt before we left the house :)

Covering a Wipes Case

2010-07-08T15:36:00.000-04:00

I had made one of these ages ago and they were too much work to do on a continuous basis, but for Baby Bennett, I had a case laying around and some fabric that matched his blanket to finish using, so I went ahead and made one.

Here's the low down on how to do it, should you want your own.

1- Start with a plastic wipes case. I used Huggies, because we're a Huggies family, and the fact that is all I had in my house now that we're out of diapers and using wipes. Any brand will do, you can pick one up for about $1.27 in the travel section bins at your local Wal-Mart or Target.

2- Measure the top of your case, each of the brands and styles are a little different. Then cut 2 pieces of felt about 1/2" shorter than your case top and bottom. Then cut your fabric about .75"-1" larger than the felt.

3- Lay the felt to the WRONG side of the fabric. Place it about center with the fabric. Now you're going to have to hold the felt and the fabric together and place it on top of the case so the RIGHT side of the fabric is facing up. Make sure you have enough fabric to go around all the edges of the case.

4- Hold the fabric steady, and pull it up so you can hot glue the felt to the top of the case. Once the felt is glued on, carefully apply a thin layer of glue to the side edges of the case and then fold over the fabric onto the glue. Do this to the top and bottom of the case.

Yes, you are going to have crazy raw edges, everywhere, I did say this project took time.

5- Now here is where I stopped to add my decoration. If you don't want to add anything just skip this and go on. I took a piece of ric rac the length of my fabric and sewed on some coordinating buttons to the top. Then I hot glued it along the top of the case on top of the fabric. (You can just do a thick ribbon, the ric rac alone, or just glue buttons, whatever you want, get creative.)

6- Here comes the time consuming, tricky part. With a very sharp, small set of scissors (I used my rag quilting scissors) you are going to trim off all the excess fabric around the edges of the case.

Yes, it won't be perfect, but we're going to glue ribbon around it to hide it, so don't worry, just be careful not to cut too much.

7- After cutting off the excess, you are going to use hot glue and ribbon to go around the raw edges. Start in the back or on the side where it won't be to noticeable, and start in the same place for both the top and bottom pieces.

Glue around the entire 4 sides and finish by cutting the ribbon, searing the end and gluing it on top of your starting point.

8- Check all the sides for any loose threads or fabric that may have been missed, brush off any debris, make sure you never glued the case shut (yes, that has happened to me, hence why I'm warning you) and then fill it with baby wipes.

Add a cute Diaper Case and you've got a great present!

Making a small baby blanket

2010-07-08T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've seen blankets like these all over the Internet on sites like Etsy and in posh boutique baby stores. So for a friend of mine who was hosting her sister-in-law's baby shower, I decided to add one to the gift set.

Here's my step by step process on how I did it. Granted by the time you buy the material and do it yourself, you might as well have bought one, but I love having a handmade present at showers.

1- I cut two pieces of fabric in 12.5" squares. (I used my big quilting acrylic square as my template. The fabrics are satin and dotted minky.)

2- I cut 8 striped ribbons and 8 solid colored ribbons into about 4.5" lengths. You could do all different colors and different ribbons, but I like things pretty coordinating.

3- I took the minky and laid it right side up, then folded the ribbon in half and pinned it onto the RIGHT side of the minky with the raw edges pointing out toward the raw edges of the fabric. (Here you could do funky things with the ribbons or fabric pieces if you wanted to use fabric. I've seen people twist the ribbons, use thin and thick lengths of ribbons, some people don't even fold them, they sear one edge of the ribbon and then just have the ribbon like little flops off the end of the baby blanket.)
After they were pinned in place, I used a 1/4" seam allowance and stitched them down.

4- I pulled out all the pins and then took my solid colored satin fabric and placed it RIGHT side facing down. (The shiny side of the satin is the RIGHT side.) I pinned everything in place and made sure none of my ribbon pieces would be sewn together or anything like that.

5- Then I used a 1/2" seam allowance and sewed along all 4 edges of the material, leaving a 2-3" opening so I could turn it out. After it was all sewed, I snipped the corner edges so everything would poke out nicely.

6- I turned the fabrics right side out, poked the corners with a pointed end and pressed the fabric lightly to get out any wrinkles. I turned in the edges of fabric where the opening was left exposed, press it to get a nice crease line, then used coordinating thread to do a 1/4" seam allowance top-stitch around the edge of the fabric.

Some other ideas for the blankets..... if you have an embroidery machine you can embroider a design or name or initials onto once piece of fabric before sewing it together, add teething links to the blanket and the baby can play with the links on the blanket, applique a design or initial onto the fabric before sewing.

Of course, after taking all the time and effort into figuring out how to make one of these, I walked into Wal-Mart and they had a section above their Fat Quarters with some pattern booklets, and I picked up their Quick Cuts children pamphlet to behold they had all these step by step directions with some sketches on their pattern for $1. It sure would have saved me some time if I had that to begin with.

Happy 4th

2010-07-08T14:33:00.000-04:00

I know it's a little late, but I hope your families enjoyed a wonderful holiday. We had a great time with my in-laws at Disney Vacation Club. Fireworks were great! Here's a shot of my cutie pie with his fire-cracker tee shirt being all festive for the event.

By the way, I picked up an adorable 4th of July tee for next year on clearance, so I don't think I'll be re-using it again. Oh but he looks so cute in it this year :)

BIG, beautiful, baby hat

2010-07-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

If you're around little kids as much as I am, especially babies and baby girls, then you've seen those HUGE flower hat or headbands that all the little girls have been wearing?!?!?

They sure are adorable, but who wants to pay and arm and a leg for accessories when you have to pay for diapers! So here's our solution to the problem. Thanks to my friend Alyson, and her beauty Charis for giving me a reason to make this!

First Alyson picked out a flower she liked at Wal-Mart and I was able to find the crocheted stretchy hat at the flea market for $1!

Put the hat to the side till the end, and take the center piece of the flower out. You will have to pull the stem of the flower off and the center piece that holds it together. You will now have all the fabric layer pieces of the flower free. Keep them in order and hold the center.

Using a needle and thread, simply hand sew the pieces together in the middle so that they stay together.

Now take a flat back rhinestone, I picked up a package of 20 at Michaels for $2.99 and hot glue the back of the rhinestone into the middle of the flower to hide where you did your sewing and to give it some bling.

Now to do the back clip attachment. You will need a small alligator clips. These can be bought at Sally's Beauty Supply for about $2 a dozen, or at Wal-Mart/Target if you're lucky. Take a small square of felt and place it between the alligator clip and then apply the glue to the top (that's the side where the clip hinge angles up) of the alligator clip. The face it down onto the back side of the flower and hold in place.

The picture above is what the back of the flower should look like when finished.

Now take the flower attached with the alligator clip and slide the flat side of the clip into the grooves of the hat.

Since your flower is attached with a clip rather than sewn onto the hat you can interchange flowers on one hat, or use the same flower on a headband or different colored headbands and hats as well.

Add to a cute baby and you've got a beautiful match!

Paint Can Party Bag

2010-06-30T23:21:00.001-04:00

I LOVE THIS PROJECT!

A dear friend of mine from college has a beautiful little girl about a year younger than my little guy. Their birthday's fall around each others, and I love making things for her :) While the birthday is still a ways away, I just couldn't wait to make this and since I have the free time now, I figured I would get started :)

I took a clean gallon paint can (bought for under $5 at Home Depot) and covered it with some fun scrapbook paper and then used the Cricut to cut out a letter, some shapes and the phrase "sweet girl." I divided the can in half using the handle as my guides.

For the paper I cut:

2 - 9 1/2" x 7 3/8",

2 - 1"x1"

2 - .8" x 5.5"

After the paper was cut, I glued on the decorations. Starting with the largest pieces I used Beacon's 3 in 1 glue (which you can pick up at Michaels) to glue the main body pieces onto the paint can. After they dried completely I glued the long slender pieces and then finally my small square pieces. I made sure that there were no bubbles anywhere and that the paper lay flush against the can.

To do the top of the can I measured the diameter of my top and then just used the Cricut to cut a circle out of the scrapbook paper in that diameter size.

To be safe, I let the can sit overnight, just to make sure I did things correctly and that the glue would settle well and the paper would hold. Then I went through my scrap bin and pulled some scrap fabric that would be fun and funky as well as some ribbon pieces. I used pinking shears to cut some strips out and then just knotted them along the handle of the can.

Now I have a super cute "gift bag" for my little sweetie's birthday present. I'm going to fill it with art supplies and different crafty things she can learn to use over the next year. Plus she can use the can to store her toys or goodies :)

Running Idea Log

2010-06-30T22:58:00.000-04:00

MJD is sitting in my bed watching some Mighty Machines. I don't normally allow a lot of t.v. during the day, but as he only napped 45 minutes today, we're using this as quiet time. Since he won't let me sleep, I figured I would surf the net for more crafty ideas and patterns..... What I found is too much! So here's a list of all the projects I want to do and where I found them from.

Rounded Flower Petals

Flowered Headband

Racetrack Carrier

Handbag Pen Pouch

How to do French Seams

Dinosaur Play Mat

Sewing Supply Case

Easy Lunch Tote

Small Lined Purse

Perfect Box Pouch

Crib Guard Rail

Sewing a Ladder Stitch

Sew a Baseball Stitch

Flower Yo-Yo

Fabric Mail Sorter

Recipe Card Holder

Felted Needle Book

Business Card Holder

Reversible Headband

Sewing Bag

Fabric Bag Basket

Checkbook Cover

Shopping Bag

Storage Baskets

Car Trash Bags

Fabric Stitched Notecards

Pencil Bag

Owl Ornament

Quilted Wallet

Frayed Flower Pin

Making Fabric Labels

Using a Yo-Yo Maker

Drawstring Bag Pattern

Flip Flop update

2010-06-29T09:43:00.000-04:00

I know I said earlier I wanted to get a tutorial up on the flip flops for the summer. I had a bit of an issue finding the rhinestone buckles. I thought I had seen them in my local craft stores, but alas I had not. So after much fuss, I finally ordered some off of Etsy. They have shipped and as soon as they arrive I will get the tutorial up for everyone :) If you are wanting to get buckles for yourself you can also order some from The Buckle Boutique.

Shower Re-organization

2010-06-27T22:52:00.000-04:00

Due to an obedience issue with my little man and the loss of some bath toys, I decided to finally re-do shower toys and organization in the bathroom. We had been using a small laundry basket in the shower to house all the toys. Downside to this is that water settles in the bottom of the basket and gets icky. :(

After the incident last week which resulted the with the loss of toys, I decided to change everything in the shower so little man didn't freak out the next day with no bath toys, so I saw this idea on another blog and decided to improvise.

I purchased some cheap laundry bags (3 in the bag) and a package of suction cups at the Dollar Tree.

I cut about 11" of ribbon from some of my ribbon stash at home and seared the edges to prevent fraying. Then I sewed it under and above the zipper of the bag.
I took two thin strips of green ribbon, seared those ends, and then sewed it to the top corners.

And VOILA.... this is what we got for the morning..... a new little shower organizer with some foam bath toys and army men...

No more slimy toys in the basket, toys can drip dry and for the $2.14 it cost me in supplies at the store, I can make 3 sets of these to use as presents or small gift additions.

I do like that I kept the zipper on this version rather than the original idea because we do tend to travel to visit family, and this way I can just grab his bath bag when it is dry and put it in his suitcase.

(By the way, the foam package that I used for the toys was $5 at Toys R Us, and it had more than 20 pieces, so I am going to parcel some out in the other 2 little bags I am making for friends.)

Firecracker Tee

2010-06-27T07:11:00.000-04:00

I've seen tons of 4th of July shirts at stores like Old Navy each year, but they always have the year on it and then you can't really pass it down through kids, or I don't know it's never been something that's caught my attention enough to buy it.

This year, LMM is definitely big enough to enjoy the holiday festivities, so I want to make sure he's appropriately outfitted. Plus we'll be going on vacation for a few days with my in-laws. So after perusing the Internet and different holiday shirts, I saw a firecracker on a tee shirt and thought, "I could totally make that!"

So here we go:

I started out with a white Granimals tee from Wal-Mart. (Even luckier for me, I got the last 3T white shirt on clearance :)
Picked up 6" of red star fabric in the fabric aisle while there. I cut out a 2" wide by 8" long strip and rounded the edges freehand. Fused some Heat 'N Bond to the wrong side of the fabric and then fused everything to the white tee.

Next I cut out a star shaped piece of blue fabric with dots on it that came out of my scrap bin. (I went on the computer and actually printed a star picture so I had a template to cut the fabric from. I didn't want my points all off.) Once again I fused the Heat 'N Bond to the fabric, then everything was fused to the shirt a couple inches from the top of the firecracker body.

After everything was placed where I wanted it, I ironed it down to keep it in place. Then I pinned some lightweight stabilizer to the back of the shirt and used my ziz-zag stitch setting on my sewing machine (at .5 length and 3.5 width) with a matching red thread to do a tight ziz-zag stitch all around the body of the firecracker and star.
Once I finished with that, I used a disappearing ink fabric pen to draw lines between the star points and I did a ziz-zag stitch on top of the lines.

After all the stitching was done, I snipped all the threads, removed the stabilizer from the back and ironed the shirt out.

Now all we have to do is wait for the 4th and party in style!

Cost of the project (including materials I already had in supply) about $4

Boutique style burp cloths

2010-06-24T21:43:00.000-04:00

You know those good ole Gerber cloth diapers that are super absorbent just not super cute??? My girlfriend picked up a package of them on sale not too long ago at Wal-Mart and some cute fat quarter fabric to decorate them with.

So here's how I got them from simple burp rags to super sweet burp cloths for sweet little Charis

Iron out the burp cloth, silly I know, but it makes a big difference when sewing.

Cut your fabric strips to be 4.5" long by about 16" long.

Fold under the edges so that you have it in the size you want for the middle of the burp cloth. I did about 1/4" on the long sides and about 1" on the short sides. Be sure to press your folds well.
Cut out Heat 'N Bond fabric adhesive and fuse it to the wrong side of your decorative fabric, peel back the paper layer then fuse it to the burp cloth in the thicker middle strip of the fabric. (This step is not essential if you don't want it to be, but I recommend it to make sure your fabric stays where it should be while sewing.)

Use coordinating thread and sew the fabric into the burp cloth with about a 1/8" seam allowance so your stitch is as close as you can get to the edge of the fabric.

Now enjoy burping your baby in style!

Summer Sandals

2010-06-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

I live in Florida, so flip flops are a year round staple. I must own a least a dozen and in all sorts of colors. But black is certainly my most used and I'm constantly buying them on sale at Old Navy.

So when my friend walked in the house with these on this morning, I was drooling over her shoes, how cute are these??!!

I have to go to Michaels today so I'll pick up the rhinestones to make these for myself and then I'll post a tutorial later. These are a must have summer project!

Make your own diaper cake

2010-06-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

I was first introduced to diaper cakes at my baby shower, they were the table centerpieces. While they made an adorable decoration, they were also incredibly useful as I went through the first months as a new mom.

Now when I have baby showers to organize or go to, I'm always sure to find out if someone is making a diaper cake, and if not, I try to bring one. Here are a couple of photos from some made not too long a go for a couple I work with.

This first one shows that there are rubber bands holding everything together under the ribbon, I pulled the ribbon down for the photo.

The accessories are all bath themed for this one. The next photo has the ribbon in place and had toys and diapering accessories.

To make these two cakes, I bought one box of size 3 Target brand diapers (the generic ones allowed me to have the colored dots and no cartoon characters to try and hide,) wipes, bath items, diaper cream, a toy and a large package of rubber bands.

I rubber banded about 6-7 diapers and then put them inside of a large rubber band for the base. I rolled more diapers without a rubber band and secured them inside the large rubber band set so I wouldn't have to be hiding rubber bands everywhere. Once I had the base the size I wanted, I went ahead and did the same thing for the other two layers, rolling diapers and sticking them into the rubber band area.

When my layers were the size I wanted them, I used 3/4" to 1" ribbon and wrapped it around the rubber band holding everything together so the rubber band was hidden from view, plus the ribbon adds a nice finishing effect. You can tape the ribbon with clear tape, I used a pin needle to pin it in place.

Cost of the project: under $30 for 2 diaper cakes, not bad, especially if you know you have 2 baby showers coming up!

How to Make a Fabric Name Banner

2010-06-23T12:59:00.001-04:00

I posted a photo of the name banner before, but this week I had the time to make two of them! Shocking huh?! Actually I did it while MJD was crafting at his table or sleeping.

So here's the low down on how to make one: 

Buy 4 different 1/4 yard of ribbon (in the picture I'm posting I used only 2 fabrics b/c of the color scheme she wanted, so mine is a little smaller than normal.)
Use pinking scissors to cut the fabric into about 1" strips. Here's a picture:

Use a long piece of ribbon to hold everything on and tie the fabric strips onto the ribbon with a simple knot. (Yes, it will look like it's flying everywhere, that's okay.)
Cut out a shape background from card stock so it's a little sturdy. I used a Cricut machine, if you don't have one you can just hand cut the paper with some template.
Then cut out a smaller shape to layer on top of the large background. I alternated my color pattern, you can do whatever you want.
Then cut out your letters for the name you want to use, or saying. Glue them all together and punch a small hole in the top of each backing. Use a piece of ribbon to attach the letter to the banner and you're done!
Hang it on a nursery or bedroom wall or door.

Some other ideas on how to use these:

Instead of a name use holiday words and holiday fabric to decorate your home for the seasons such as Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas
Make for a baby shower.
Use for a birthday party either with a name or HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Give as a holiday gift with words such as NOEL, FAITH, JOY, etc.

New present idea

2010-06-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

So this past year for all my girlfriend's birthdays, I made them the Carry All Padfolios. We don't really exchange presents or anything like that, but I LOVE BIRTHDAYS and just can't help myself. Plus with all my fabric I don't really feel like it costs me much other than time. Anyways, now that I've been through a round of birthdays, I needed a new idea for this coming year.

While on vacation I stopped at a store from Italy called Portico. They have a huge collection of all sorts of house things and gift ideas, that is also where I bought some little girl presents. I picked up these sparkly pens there.

Wanting to add something to the mix, I also bought a ton of little notebooks (that fit perfectly into the padfolio) and just decorated them to be personalized for each lovely lady.

If you happen to be one of the lovely ladies with a birthday coming up and you're reading this blog and already have a padfolio birthday present from me, do me a favor and act surprised when you get one of these this year :) Thanks!

Name Book

2010-06-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

I was looking around the house at some of the awesome crafty projects I've either done or had made for me, and I just wanted to share this awesome name book. A very dear friend of mine, Wendy, who is one of the best scrapbook crafters I have ever met, made this for MJD's first birthday! I just love passing by it every day and thinking about her and him at the same time. Such a special gift.

You can buy similar "name books" online which say "LOVE", "FAITH", etc. But to make one personalized you need the following:

Assortment of scrapbooking paper
White poster board paper
Foam board
Stickers, accessories, stamps, pictures, etc. to decorate it with
3 Binder rings
Adhesive glue in spray
Cutting mat and X-acto knife
Printed letter fonts that you want to use as your template
Hole puncher

The idea is to take your poster paper and trace out the letters for the name, all but the last letter. Start with the first letter, in this case the M. Cut it out, then lay it on top of the next piece of poster paper and then trace out the next letter, "A" over to the right so they stack in a horizontal manner. Do all the letters except the last one. The last one you need to do with foam board, which is a little harder because of the depth of the foam, but the foam is what holds the book standing upright.

Once everything is cut out and you like the layout, then spray the poster/foam board with the spray on glue and lay your scrapbook paper on top. Be sure there are no air bubbles and smooth everything out. Then use the knife and cut off all the excess. This is best done if you flip it over and see your edges from the poster board.

Stack all your letters together and get everything lined up nicely, then punch 3 holes though all the pages at the same time and connect with binder rings.

Finally, decorate with embellishments!

Fruit Buddy

2010-06-22T14:09:00.000-04:00

I know this is more of a crafty blog than a mommy blog, but my little guy and I discovered these at Publix the other day. While he's a great fruit and veggie kind of guy, I can never resist offering him healthy snacks during the day. Seems like we tend to go through a lot of fruit snacks, which I am trying to get away from.

So here's his favorite new things, Buddy Fruits, although MJD calls them "fruit buds"

They were $1 each, which seemed like a little much, but he LOVES them, and I'd rather pay to keep him healthy than pay to make him healthy when he's sick.

My Machine

2010-06-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

While on vaca, I brought a few sewing projects. I was very quickly disappointed when I realized I've been spoiled by my wonderful sewing machine. My mom's simply didn't stand a chance against what I've been used to and I wasn't able to enjoy sewing, therefore got nothing done.

So, I thought I would show off my lovely beauty. Oh how I had missed you. I will not take you for granted.

If you're in the market for a new machine, I do have to say I love my Husquvarna machine! It's a rather simple embroidery machine and I can't say I use all those features, but man oh man, do I love her sewing capabilities. I don't know if I could ever invest in another brand after working on these beautiful machines.

Puff Paint and Ribbon

2010-06-17T23:34:00.000-04:00

I am totally one of those moms who always said I would never buy a travel DVD player for my car so my kids could watch t.v. while we traveled.

Well, life happened, I had a kid, and yup, I bought a DVD player for the car. And worse still, I bought one for each of our cars.

Now don't get me wrong, we don't watch it much, but on longer car trips, or when little man is over tired and won't sleep, I definitely resort to using my DVD player.

Having a DVD player for a car means we have to tote around some of our favorite DVDs. So, last summer, I stole this idea from a girlfriend of mine. Actually, she's so awesome, I just bought the case on clearance for $2 and she did the rest for me.

You can totally pick up a travel case at your local Dollar Tree and some colorful paint at Wal Mart or Michaels for $1.

Cute presents

2010-06-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

I am always on the look out for cute birthday present ideas that I can make and then add things to at a low cost. Last Christmas there were tons of leftover fabric totes at Michaels for $.48 so I bought up a few. They've been sitting in my workspace for quite a while with no purpose. Until now!

I found this adorable paisley pattern at Joanns a few weeks ago and had some little scraps leftover from a padfolio I made, so I used the scraps and the totes to make personalized little bags for some little ladies.

To put some accessories in the totes, I found these adorable little gifts while on vacation at this super cool store called Portico. Really cute gifts imported all the way from Italy.

Back in the groove

2010-06-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

We're home from vacation! It was wonderful, but I'm also glad to be home. So a couple of new posts about some things to get back in the groove.

For Valentine's Day my hubby bought me a Kindle. (I love it, if you're wondering!) At the time I was so uncertain about a case and I didn't want to spend the money on accessories rather than books, so I made a sleeve with some interfacing and a couple cute patterns.

If anyone else is an avid reader as well as a crafter, the Kindle is awesome and you can easily accessorize it yourself.

M.I.A.

2010-06-04T10:42:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, I've been away for a bit. We are currently in a tropical paradise, a.k.a Nana's house near the beach. I've enjoyed days of rest, good Spanish food and a full time Nana and Papa to take care of the little man.

Part of my dream vacation time is to have a lot of crafting done. Believe it or not, I did bring things to craft with, but Nana's sewing machine leaves much to be desired, therefore I am waiting to get home to do the projects.

So for the next 10 days I will be M.I.A. If you come across any cool craft blogs that you want to share, leave the link in the comment section. I'm going to spend some time this summer re-vamping the blog and adding links and such.

Happy June!

Ribbon, string, and a Cricut

2010-05-26T16:15:00.002-04:00

Aren't these adorable. This was made by a friend for a baby shower we had recently. I love it. I have all the materials to make one, just sitting in my cabinet. Maybe I'll get to it some time this summer. We'll see.

Miss Annabella

2010-05-26T16:14:00.000-04:00

This is Annabella. She's the newest addition to my friend's family and she's as sweet as can be. I would have loved if she had slept through some photos, but no such luck. She was wide awake for all of them.

Weston's Shirt

2010-05-26T16:12:00.002-04:00

Little Man Weston turned one and his mama had wanted a birthday shirt with a 1 on it. Then there was a family death, and the party was canceled. But Weston still needed a shirt, so instead of the 1, I put a W on it. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Kara's newborn hats

2010-05-19T22:12:00.000-04:00

My friend Kara, who is one of the sweetest ladies in the world, started crocheting recently. I love it! Not only is it a crafty hobby, but she makes these most adorable newborn hats.

Being that I don't have a little girl, and my husband and son would throw a fit if I tried to put one on little man :) I don't get a chance to enjoy some of the little girl dainty things.

When two families at work announced baby girls, I couldn't help but ask Kara to make me some hats. I'm in love! They are the most adorable little hats, can't wait to see some beautiful baby girls wear them.

Mission Accomplished!

2010-05-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

Sewing night was canceled last night and I went to be when my 2 year old did. But tonight I was able to get a lot of what was pertinent accomplished. Besides running to the store to get my hubby some water and medicine for another bout with kidney stones, I finished 3 Woobie blankets, finished assembling the 2 hats my girfriend crocheted for some gifts, made a padfolio for a birthday present and filled it with a matching pen and some bookmarks, and made a flower hair accessory (not pictured.)

So now I'm off to bed, there is more sewing to be done in the next few days!

Sewing buddy starts her own blog!

2010-05-19T19:35:00.000-04:00

My super sweet sewing buddy Amanda started her own blog last night!!!! So excited for her, not only is new to venturing into the sewing world, she is adding blogging to many talents. Check her out HERE for some cute posts on her life, loves and adventures.

Delayed

2010-05-18T07:45:00.000-04:00

The last posting was a while ago....sorry. There has been some illness, unforeseen visits to the E.R., exhaustion, chaos, and busyness in my world lately.

But things are going to take a break tonight for our ladies sewing night. Not sure who will finally make it but there is sewing to be had tonight.

Here's my list that needs to be accomplished, preferrably tonight!

4 Woobie blankets for gifts
2 nursing wraps
1 pad-folio birthday gift
2 shirts (lil/big bro)
1 birthday 1 year old shirt
1 small snack bag
Glue 2 flowers to baby hats

Think it can get done? I sure hope so! Post pictures later :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T19:40:00.000-04:00

To all my blogger mama's Happy Mother's Day! I hope you enjoyed a wonderful day with your loved ones. My weekend was spectacular and my hubby did a great job.

In the midst of such a great weekend, I did want to share something from another blogger that had advertised for The Woobie Shop in the past. I just received an email from Debby of Supah Mommy that one of the bloggers she knows has a 16 month old princess recently diagnosed with a terrible form of cancer.

Monkey's story can be read here at Momma's Pixie Dreams. I know there are a lot of families out here in the blog o sphere struggling and going through one crisis or another. There may not be much you can do financially or otherwise, but for those out there with faith, your prayers would be appreciated.

I know today on this Mother's Day my little man is healthy, but I don't know what God's plan for the future holds, so today I am grateful and will do what I can for another mother out there in pain. You never know when it might be you.

Snack Bag Prototype

2010-05-05T22:27:00.000-04:00

I've had a request from my sweet Emily. Weston, well perhaps his mama, is in need of a snack bag that will go over the bar of the shopping cart while in the grocery store so he can much on his snacks and she can keep an eye on it.

So now I'm working on a new prototype for a snack bag. I want to go jump at my sewing machine and start working, but I've been there done that and this is going to take a little planning; otherwise I will undoubtedly screw it up, especially with as tired as I have been lately.

I'm thinking and planning. There's an idea forming.... hopefully it doesn't get screwed up. If you're a crafty mama and have any ideas to help make it perfect, shoot them my way and leave a comment!

Flower fanatic

2010-05-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

I need to step away from the flowers! Since posting the link to the fabric flower pattern I have had a lot of fun making flower headbands.

The first one for my baby shower gift turned out adorable, then I figured since I had an entire pack of headbands I might as well make flowers for all of them.

Okay, baby shower gifts are all set for headbands. Now to refrain from buying more!

Blogger Friends

2010-04-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

WhooHoo! 20 followers tonight! I know it's not a big deal in the blog-o-sphere, but for lil ole me it sure is! I'm pooped tonight :( No creative projects pictured or posted tonight, but some are in the works and soon to come.

Still have a lot of baby shower items to make, plus a couple orders for girls at church. Tomorrow will be a busy day. That and I'm beat from a rough week at school.

If you don't know, I teach full time middle school students as my day job. The Woobie Shop is my stress relief. So I don't get to enjoy all the fun of my fun being work, but I do love kids. As the year gets ready for a close, the natives become more restless making the teachers more weary.

Have no fear my friendly blog followers, crafty projects coming soon!!!!

Brother Shirts

2010-04-27T23:30:00.000-04:00

I have two adorable little boys in CT that I love dearly. OAC and MJD were born within 2 weeks of each other and it was terribly sad when our friends had to move away. Now that they have 2 boys in their family, I couldn't resist making them these shirts.

Especially since they will be perfect for the summer and soon able to wear them. I love them! (The shirts, and the boys.) Can't wait to see them on the boys and not just on a hanger. I'll be sure to have mom take a picture of the boys in them :)

Oh, and this was a project I was finally able to get done tonight with my sewing buddies. It's been sitting on my table for weeks but with the baby shower burst it got pushed lower on the to do list.

Sewing buddies

2010-04-27T23:22:00.000-04:00

I find that I love sewing and chatting. Not always do I get all of my projects done, but a there are a few of us from church that enjoy sewing, so we've started meeting and bringing a project, working and chatting. Tonight was sewing night. I had a blast with two lovely ladies. I meant to take a picture of my sweet friend Amanda, but with all the chatting, I forgot. So here's Tracy and her adorable bag that she finished tonight.

What a good guy

2010-04-27T23:19:00.000-04:00

So here's proof that real men can craft! Well, I'm not sure it was really crafting so much as the fact it was getting late, I was still working on tee shirts and cutting out applique letters and my hubby wanted me to get to bed. So he gracious said yes when I asked him to trace out letters and cut them out of Heat n Bond.

Such a great guy!

New pattern posted

2010-04-26T21:16:00.000-04:00

Whoo hooo! After much time and work to make sure I got it right, the pattern for the Carry All Pad-folio is up in the shop. So much fun to make patterns. It is quite fun to figure it out, put it on paper and get it all set for others to enjoy making.

Card Party

2010-04-20T22:47:00.000-04:00

There's a lady at church who hosts a card party 4 times a year. I went for the first time a few months ago and had a blast. I'm not a card maker, I leave that to Hallmark.

I love making presents and I love shopping for presents, especially if I can get a great sale! But the cards always evade me. I hate spending $3.99 on a card when I could put that money towards more present. And I don't like the $.99 cards because they feel so blah for the excitement of a present.

So the happy medium is making cute cards. Well after my first go around at it I was much more efficient and excited about this party. I carpooled with a friend and we knew we were on a time crunch as our hubbies were at her house with all the kids. So after dinner of yummy homemade pizza, we got to work on cards and I was able to get 10 done!

Not all are shown because I've already used 3! I've got to get myself to make some more soon on my own as these are sure to go quickly.

Baby showers galore

2010-04-20T21:17:00.000-04:00

I seriously have 5 baby showers in the span of 2 weeks! Sheesh! Well on my budget and averaging about $30 a shower gift, that would make it $150!!!! So time to craft.

I've been sewing and crafting like crazy. To be honest I'm getting tired out, but then I think about how much I'm saving, and how cute some of these things are turning out to be. I wish I could just go and buy a jumper, bouncer, etc. for each mom, but that's just not happening right now, so here's what I've ended up with.

A baby basket of some cute and necessary baby items to get through the first year. The sample basket is Lily's gift.

It includes:

Snacks and snack bag to match the onesie
Personalized onesie with baby's initial (or a decoration if I don't know the baby's name)
Sippy cup and a sippy cup strap
Boo-Boo bag which is doubling as a pacifier case with a pacifier and pacifier leash
Diaper and wipes clutch with a wipes case inside
Nursing cover
Laundry basket
Baby headband (for the girls only)

So what do you think? Is it enough? How do you as a mom feel about getting personalized/hand made gifts at a baby shower? Leave a comment and let me know how I could improve the shower gift basket!

Here's a pic of each item separately

Flower Project Complete!

2010-04-20T21:08:00.002-04:00

Here's the photo of the flower head band I made with the pattern I blogged about the other night. Pretty cute huh?

Flower Project

2010-04-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

Flowers are the new big thing.

I've loved seeing them all over the place. Being the mom of a very manly little boy, there isn't a lot of room in my life for flowers, lace and all things girlie. However, that is what baby showers are for!

Several gals at church are having baby girls in the coming months and I've been booked with baby showers over the next few weeks. So I went in search of flower crafts to make for shower gifts.

I found this awesome flower tutorial over at Pink Paper Peppermints and I'm going to make some beautiful little flower headbands.

Will post pics soon!

Regretsy

2010-04-18T08:07:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge Etsy fan, made obvious by my Etsy store. I work there, shop there, socialize on the forums there, etc. So when I kept seeing the Regretsy icons on the FB side bars, I had to give in and check it out. I know this site isn't new, but if you're in for a good laugh and some interesting items check it out. A girlfriend of mine, Casie, told me about Regretsy a while ago, but to be honest, I never took the time to check it out. It sure is interesting, and a little weird, which is what I believe they're going for. As their motto states, "Where DIY meets WTF."

Sunday couponing!

2010-04-18T07:59:00.000-04:00

It's Sunday! That means it's coupon day.

I've recently become a coupon fan and have run full speed ahead into the world of coupons. So on my way to church in the morning, I stop and pick up the Sunday paper, (I check to make sure the coupons are in there, yes, someone has stolen my coupons before!) and then during Little Man's nap time I read through all the ad, match my coupons and make a plan of attack.

Call me crazy but there's something about the thrill of buying cart full of food and pay $60 or less at Publix that I love!

Well with all that being said, I blogged about my new coupon organization system on my personal blog, but I never wrote about it here. After getting comments about it there, I thought I would do the same here.

I was so overwhelmed with all the little coupons I had printed out so I bought a 13 pocket folder at Target used my lovely label maker to tab each section. I organized it in the same order as I walk through the store so it's easy to find my last minute coupons in the store.

Do you coupon? How do you organize all the random little coupons you get?

DIY Flower Pins

2010-04-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

I showed you in an earlier post those super cute flowers for your hair. Well, here you have it, a PDF Pattern for the flowers. I've gotten my dear friend Emily to show me how she makes those super cute hair pins. We turned them into flower pins for purses and bags, but the same process is done to make them into hair pins. Hope you enjoy.

The Ivy Twines

2010-04-12T22:29:00.000-04:00

The Woobie Shop store is featured in a blog review/giveaway from some really cool gals at The Ivy Twines. Check out the article and check out the awesome way to get free shipping! Just read the review and then become of fan of the Woobie Shop blog!

Getting ready for a blog review

2010-03-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

I've got a blog review going on in April and so while I'm home on spring break I'm using some of the time to get to those 70+ snack bags that need to be finished. (Remember, I blogged about those months ago!) Well some of them are done, others are still waiting, but I've gotten most of the duo sets up in the shop and ready for people to check out. Keep watching for more info on the blog giveaway. You might just win!

Cool new scissors

2010-03-23T18:45:00.000-04:00

I picked these scissors up at Joann’s when they have 50% off all scissors. They are indeed some handy little things. I love them for making the rag quilt and they have come in handy for some other project where I’ve got to get into some corner or some small piece of fabric and snip something. If you haven’t added these to your sewing stash, I recommend checking them out during the next scissor sale!

Rag Quilt

2010-03-21T22:41:00.001-04:00

I purchased a Rag Quilt on Etsy a few months ago for a baby shower present. I loved the little lovey so after some research and investigating rag quilts, I gave it a go and decided to make one myself. Here's how it turned out.

Pattern Organization

2010-03-21T22:38:00.003-04:00

Okay so now that I have become hooked on patterns I’ve run into a little bit of a dilemma. When you buy a pattern it isn’t just for one item, you get 5 or so projects. Once you cut all those flimsy pieces out they never fit back in the paper holder they come in. GRRR!

Plus, if you want to just work on one project you have to sift through all those other pieces for the ones you need. So I had to organize my patterns! Welcome to the picture my handy Ziploc bags.

So, here’s what I did:

I cut out all the pieces for each different project. I separated the pieces by project and then folded them so that they would fit into a quart size freezer bag.

On the front of the bag I labeled it with the pattern brand and number, and then with my Sharpie I write which pattern pieces are inside the bag.

(This part was a little bit of work, but so worth it!) You know those huge papers with the directions? I took those papers and folded them in half them placed them on the copier machine, shrunk it down to 65-75% and made a copy of everything. I cut out the directions for each project and placed them inside the bag with the pieces.

My final step was using the original pattern package. I photocopied the back side of the package for each bag I had and highlighted which project that bag housed as well what supplies I would need. I even cut out the picture from the front of the pattern package and slide that in the bag so I can see what the final outcome should be.

Okay, I know this seems like a lot of work, and yes I am crazy enough to do it, but it has really paid off. Now when I run to the fabric store to get things for a project all I do is grab my little plastic baggie and I have everything I need.

Bag Contents:

· Pattern pieces cut out

· Photocopy of directions

· Photocopy of supply list from back of package