Birthday and January Banner

A couple of months ago, I made these cute banners. Well, I need to keep making one for each month. So, here are the last two that I made. The "Celebrate" one is mostly for birthdays. I didn't get it made in time for my hubby's b-day in December, but it was finished for my little boy's birthday in January. My favorite so far is the January banner. I had some fun die cut felt that I was able to use and I did a lot of stitching! I love the colors... red, turquoise and gold... and I love the stitching. A couple of close ups... I've got my paper for February... now let's see if I can some up with something creative to do with it! --Anisa

A girl for a week

My baby nephew was born on Dec. 23rd with an infection. So, he's been in Primary Children's hospital. We got to baby sit my niece while his mom and dad were in the hospital with him. Aside from the emotions of a girl, I had fun having a girl for a week!

I love cute hair flowers, but I never get the chance to make them because I have 3 boys. So, I got the chance to make a few!

I tried a few different techniques. All of these flowers were made by simply taking a strip of fabric about 2" wide by 18" long. I started by tieing a knot at the end... the not becomes the center of the flower. Then, you kind of just fold and twist while you hot glue. I'm sure there is some awesome blog out there with a tutorial on these flowers... I was too lazy to try to figure out how to take pictures while my hands were making the flowers. This pink flower was made by taking the same strip of fabric. Instead of twisting and hot gluing, I folded it in half the long way. Then I simply took a needle and thread and sewed along the non-folded edge. I gathered as a sewed. Then I sewed a button in the middle. This flower was made by taking a piece of fabric about 1.5" wide x 18" long. I simply tore the fabric to give it the shappy chic look. I then used a needle and thread to do a gathering stitch along the edge. I repeated with a piece of fabric 1" x 18" and then sewed the smaller one on top of the larger one. And sewed a button in the middle. I think they turned out pretty cute and it was fun to make some flowers out of fabric.... Next up... singed flowers.

Some of these flowers were made specifically to take pictures of this cute little girl....

I had fun trying out some photo techniques and fun editing in Iphoto and Photoshop elements. Now, I can't wait to go meet my new little nephew!!!

A few homemade Christmas gifts

In my family, we rotate who we give Christmas gifts to. When I asked my brother and sister-in-law what they wanted, they told me a gift card to Walmart. How boring! But, I know better than to give my brother anything other than what he asked for. However, I just couldn't give them a gift card without giving them some cute hand made gifts to go with it. They have a little girl who is 3 1/2. So, I thought I would make a cute hair clip for her.But, they were expecting a baby boy (he was born Dec. 23rd). I couldn't figure out what to make him. I debated on burp cloths and bibs.... but I finally decided on a binky holder. I just put a simple brad on the end to hide the clip... and I love it when I can purchase something for a gift for someone and have a bunch of fun stuff left over for me! One of the fun parts of giving gifts is the packaging. One of the things that makes it cute is when you use something from the gift to decorate the packaging... I used the ribbon from the binky clip and a scrap of fabric from the hair clip to tie the cellophane bags. It adds a fun touch to the gifts. Our little nephew has been in Primary Children's hospital with an infection and we haven't even been able to meet him yet! He is improving a ton but won't be out until the round of antibiotics is over (in another week). I can't wait to meet him! In the meantime, we are baby sitting my niece... I have been making more hair flowers and have plans to make a few more.... I don't get the chance to make girly stuff all that often!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

-Anisa

Black Apple Doll Party... so much fun!!!

So, I wanted to post the pics of the girls and their dolls. This turned out to be so much fun.

They are so great because they each have their own characteristics. The girls picked their fabric, felt hair color and all of their embellishments. They even painted their own faces on. It took us almost 2.5 hours to complete the dolls. I did all of the sewing, but the girls did the rest. They cut out the fabric, stuffed, drew on faces, etc. They all loved their dolls and had tons of fun chatting while they worked!!! -Anisa

Black Apple Doll Party!!!

Now that the Seedlings Craft Boutique is over, I can start working on my own crafts:) Not quite. Maybe next week.

So, I had a friend ask me if I would teach her daughter and 3 of her friends how to make Black Apple Dolls for her daughter's birthday party. How fun is that. This little girl is turning 11 and it was her idea to do this for her birthday. My husband said that I'm the clown at the birthday:) Anyway, I am going to bring my stash of supplies and teach/help these 4 little girls make Black Apple Dolls. I hope all goes well... these little dolls can be kind of tricky. I made a couple of new dolls to just refresh my memory of how they are made. Loving them!!!

-Anisa

A Button for Punishment

I am a complete novice at jewelery making which leaves me wondering why I keep coming back to it. It's right up there with counted cross-stitch when it comes to fine motor-skill annoyance and crafts from which I get derive no pleasure.

However, I was walking through Joann's fabric store and saw some lovely over-sized buttons and immediately thought of a friend of mine whose birthday is coming up very soon. I thought that she'd really like to be able to wear those cool buttons and my only answer was jewelry.

The buttons were already 50% off so they made a really inexpensive focal point for, say, a necklace. I purchased two and some beads and began to work on them. I started with the prettiest, an ivory-colored button with a flower carved into it. I used silver wire in lieu of thread in the button holes. It was kind of sticking out the back too much so I thought it would help to lightly hammer the wire down.

The button shattered. (I tried to replace the button yesterday, but there were several blank spots in the ivory button racks so think that's a sign that she only needs one necklace from me)

I moved on to the next button and through much trial, error and advice came up with this. I applied a circle of felt with hot glue to the back of the button to cover the wire and keep it comfortable to wear. Despite being completely frustrated with the task, I'm quite happy with the result and hope that my friend likes it as well.

-C

March Snow Showers bring Fabric Flowers

It snowed this weekend. But I was in the mood for flowers. So, I used Cami's Sizzix and some super cool wool fabric that I got from my mom's stash and I made some fabric flowers. I met a girl in my neighborhood a few months ago that was wearing a fabric flower similar to these. I asked her how she made them and she kind of explained it to me. So, I thought I would do my version and see how it turned out.

For these flowers you will need 6 flowers. We cheated and cut the flowers out on the Sizzix with a flower die. You could trace and hand cut the flowers if you want. I am using different colors in my sample flower so that you can see the layering easier. Step 1: Take your first two flowers and off set them. Using a needle and thread, just pull the need through from the back. Step 2: Fold the other 4 flowers in half (I ironed mine for the picture, but don't do that. You want them to fluff up). Step 3: Layer the flowers like you would fold closed the top of a box... turning a quarter turn for every flower. Step 4: Put your layered flowers on top of your other two flowers and pull that needle through the flowers again. Sew a couple of stitches through to make sure you get every layer. Step 5: With that threaded needle still in your flower, sew a button in the middle.

Now, my multi-colored flower is a little wonky... but kind of cute. But let me show you some of my cuter flowers. Gotta love my mom's stash of fabric!!! -Anisa

Lucky You!

This shamrock pillow is a cheeky way to let your husband know that he might not want to wear green on St. Patrick's Day this year... To make your own draw a heart. It can be any size, but it should be broad with a shallow middle dip. Here's mine with my hand to show scale.

Take your heart and rotate it as you trace it as each of the leaves (you can do three or four). I used a disappearing fabric pen. Then I cut it out with a rotary cutter.

Here is the whole cut out. You can kind of see the traced lines here. This green felt was left over from a Christmas craft and was purchased in a package I got at Roberts Craft. The wrinkles steamed out easily.

Next I stamped my message (as I am probably the only crafter who has not yet used freezer paper) with white acrylic paint.

Next I added a little decorative flourish with white embroidery floss. I used one of my favorite stitched called the split stitch.

To balance out the flourish, I added a red heart button. You could add a leprechaun-themed charm or gold buttons here instead.

To finish off the pillow, I pinned wrong sides together and used a zig stitch around the edge. Stuff this pillow lightly or it looks all warped and you lose the shamrock shape. I had to work a bit to get the stuffing to look just right. I closed it with the zig stitch when I was done.

From start to finish, this easy project took me just under two hours. If you have any other fun ideas for a good phrase for this pillow, leave it in the comments. -C

Wearing Art

My little girl has been drawing this simple flower and variations of such since she was four.

I found them immediately appealing and so cute. I encourage all my children to draw a lot and this is the first image I feel like she invented as part of her budding signature drawing style. To me it's very cool and I thought she'd really like it if I embroidered her 'pinwheel flowers' onto a shirt for her. She most definitely does!

I couldn't resist doing one for myself.

I tried to keep the look in line with a child's crayon drawing.

I just used three-ply embroidery floss and a back stitch. Here's a brief explanation of how a back stitch is created:

To start this stitch bring the thread up from the back of the fabric on the line that you want to create. Make a small backward stitch through the fabric. Bring the needle through the fabric a little in front of the first stitch and still on the line. Pull the thread through the fabric. Make the second stitch backward, bringing the needle out a little in front of the second stitch and still on the line. Repeat this movement and continue sewing in such a manner along the line. (I got this explanation here)

--C

Kid Gifts

Continuing with our theme of Countdown with Crafts, I thought I'd let you know of a great sale at Michael's craft store this week. 1/2 of the front page of their ad was great gifts for kids. My kids love craft kits so I plan on heading over there this week to get them something for their stocking. They also have kids stocking stuffers for $1 and up.

I wanted to show you what I did as a gift for my kids that was super easy and super cheap. I bought these adorable striped hats for my kids at the $1 store... Dollar Tree. I then raided my stash of many felt colors and cut out stars for my sons and their friends....

... and flowers with layered circles in the middle for our little friends that are girls. I used the Sizzix to cut my felt shapes, but you could easily hand cut them with a pattern as well. They girls hat also has a layer of mesh. They are held together with the button in the middle that is sewn on. I used a dab of fabric glue to secure the ends of the flower and stars to the hat. My boys love them and they fight over who gets the blue one... I made them in several colors!

Texturize your Fabric

In continuing with our Countdown to Crafts, I would like to talk about local Quilt Shops/Fabric Stores... not your national chains. I tend to like the fun designer stuff. For instance, this Thanksgiving Table Runner is made from the Pumpkins Gone Wild line by Moda. I can not find this fabric at any of my chain stores. I purchased this fabric last year at Pine Needles in Gardner Village. The local Quilt Stores don't have a 40% off coupon like many of the chains. However, what I have discovered is that many of them having mailing or emailing lists. Get on Those!!! That is where they will advertise their sales and often times email out coupons. Now, let's talk about texturizing your fabric. Fabric is fun... especially all of the bright cotton prints, but they don't have a lot of texture to them. I bought this fabric to make a table runner. I didn't want to quilt it because it was going to be on my table, but I wanted to give it a little texture and make it a little more fun. So, the first thing I did was to put it together using ric rac as the trim. Then I did a little hand stitching with embroidery floss down the pumpkins that had a stripe pattern. On the pumpkins with dots and flowers, I sewed buttons. Then on one of the leaves, I cut out a piece of felt to put over the leaf that was printed on the fabric and machine sewed on that. It was really fun to add texture to the fabric this way. You could do this with almost any print... what doesn't have dots, flowers or stripes?

If you would like to purchase a table runner like this, check out my etsy shop here.

-Anisa

Product Challenge: Buckets

Our product challenge this month was buckets! (I can't lie to you, I was super excited because I already had a project done with buckets that I hadn't posted yet). So all I had to do was take a picture. Do you love the dollar section at Target as much as I do? Well, they often have buckets. So, awhile back I bought several buckets at Target to keep my ribbon in. I made a template out of paper for the bucket, then used my scraps of scrapbook paper and covered the buckets with every color of the rainbow... and then some! I then tied little scraps of ribbon on the handle of each bucket. This helped organize my obsession with ribbon (well, at least the smaller pieces. I have the full rolls of ribbon just in a cupboard... I really like ribbon). Hey, let me know if you want to see pics of my whole craft room sometime and I'll try to clean it up to make a post!!! Just leave me a comment.

So, the ribbon ones are totally cute, but you can't forget my favorite bucket of all..... my thread bucket. I love this thing. I keep it next to my sewing machine so when I clip off the thread I have a quick place to throw it!!! -Anisa:)

My bucket project ended up not being a craft but an organizational project. I had been reading Pretty Organized Palace's blog and one post in particular caught my attention. She was sharing some fun ways to cozy up the home for fall and winter. With my inspiration starting there, I headed to my local Hobby Lobby and purchased this large bucket/basket. At home I filled it with all my yummy yarn for crocheting (and one day hopefully knitting) and placed it by the fireplace. I love how it makes my family room just that much more comfy cozy with the bonus I have yarn storage in plain sight.

-Ang

Check out these darling buckets that one of our readers... Shellie... sent into us. Super cute storage. Here's what she says about them,

"Here is what I have been doing with buckets. I only have 3 done. I still want a ribbon one and thread etc… I just bought some for a couple of dollars and spray painted them, cut out vinyl on my Cricut for the letter."

Way to go Shellie!