July Product Challenge... Pompoms

We have started a new feature where every month we will give our readers a challenge. It may be a theme, product, pattern, etc. July's challenge was the product challenge of Pompoms. Here is a cute burp cloth that one of our readers sent in for the challenge.

Bonnie said,

"Hi:

My name is Bonnie Gonzalez (Puerto Rico). This weekend searching I found your blog and absolutly love it. This will be my first interaction with any blog.

I saw your product challenge and found it interesting "pom poms". I sent you a picture of a burb cloth I made for my daughter few years ago. I made it very simple with a kitty applique. I hope to see it posted in your blog. It will really make my day.

Thank you and will keep on reading.

Bonnie"

Thanks for sending a picture to us of your cute burp cloth!!! If any of our other readers out there have anything with pomspoms that they've made, we would love to see them!!! Just send them to our email at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com or send us a link to your blog.

I made a pillowcase dress for my niece that was trimmed with the pompoms. Love it!!!

Isn't she cute?:) With the extra pompoms, I thought I make a page for my baby T. I love the hot pink pompoms and I don't even think it's too girly for a boy page!!! -Anisa

Pre-school Mini Album

I don't know about this whole year-round school thing. For most kids on most tracks, school started today. My oldest will be in Kindergarten so he starts a week late. So, for the craft blog, I thought I'd post a mini album that I made for his last year of Pre-school. I had been wanting to do a mixed media mini album for awhile and this gave me the perfect opportunity.

I used my Cricut to cut out a template of the shape that I wanted the album to be. Then I simply traced the shape on acrylic, felt, chipboard and cardstock to make my pages.

My front page was acrylic with just a title and a few simple embellishments. Then I did a few pages of different type of products. I used quite a bit of stitching on the pages... and of course my favorite thing right now is gathered ribbon that is stitched on.

It turned out really cute and my little boy loves it!!!

To view the complete album visit our Flickr site.

-Anisa

Two Cute Skirts

I've got a couple of cute skirts for the little girls in your life. Although, you could easily alter either for a mom-size version if you wanted.

The first is a twirly skirt designed by my friend Toni. She said she was happy to share the directions here with all of you. How cute would this look with some calf length leggings and a t-shirt with a big floofy flower pin or hair accessory?! (Yes I like to make up words. And spellings.)

To make this, first take the circumference of your little gal's waist and times it by 2. This will give you the width for the top of the skirt.

Cut 16 triangles out of 4 different fabrics. (I opted to 3-it's not quite as fluffy, but I couldn't find a matching 4th piece )

To figure out your triangles: waist x 2 (40 inches for me). Divide by 16 (number of triangles). This will give you the top measurement of your triangles. (Sophie's was 2.5 inches) The times that by 3 for your bottom width (7.5 here). Confused? It's okay. Keep reading. It'll make sense.

The length is up to you. I wanted my skirt to hang to the knees, so I did 12 inches.

Now that we know the size of our triangle-we're ready to cut! I started by cutting out rectangles 12 inches (my length) by 7.5 (my width).

Next I marked off the top of the triangle at 2.5 and 5.

Cutting from the top markings to each corner will give you your triangle.

Sew your triangles together to make your skirt. (Optional: surging or doing a French seam will give you a nice clean look.)

Round the corners of your skirt so you don't have points on the bottom. Hem as usual. (Toni did a rolled hem on hers.) Now set aside.

Then make your waistband by measuring the new width from the top of skirt. Cut that length by twice the width of your elastic. Be sure to add a little extra to sew waistband to skirt!

Sew the ends of your waistband together to make a tube. Fold in half WRONG sides together. Pin to skirt.

Sew waistband on. Leave an opening to add elastic. Thread elastic through, sew edges together and top stitch to finish off.

This was a fun project and a great way to use some fun fabrics from my stash! Feel free to email questions to twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com

Skirt #2 is from Make It and Love It and featured on U Create. My soon-to-be 2nd grader and her BFF will be wearing these the first day of school. Get the free tutorial here. You could also combine the two skirts and make this one.

Is there a support group for skirt addicts? I am LOVING this!

Filling in the Blanks

One thing the 3 of us here have in common is a shared passion for scrapbooking. I'm not great at getting the journaling done on every page, but I love that I can have it as a source to give more depth to the pictures. There are little things that don't always make the pages of the family album, though, especially for me being the mom. I hardly ever get out from behind the camera, and subsequently the focus remains largely on my kids. Blogging has helped me some. I get quick funny little things or thoughts written, share a favorite recipe etc. But, I want more. My kids will want more. If not them, then probably their kids. I found some great helps from Creating Keepsakes personality-Becky Higgins. She's got some great "fill in the blank" pages on her website for both teens and adults. (Click here.) It's a great way to round out the family history portions of scrapbooking. I also snuck some pictures of these layouts my cousin did of our Grandma M. and some of her most popular recipes. Another fun addition to a family book! (Thanks Marlene!)

Skirting the issue...

My current craft love right now is skirts. I've made some for myself and have some in the works for my girls. First up is the "Nancy dress." It reminds me of the "units" that were popular in the 80s/90s but so cute and comfy. This dress can be worn as a shirt, dress, skirt, add straps to make a tank, use if for a swim cover up....I could go on. You can find the pattern here for free. It only takes 1 yard of knit fabric to make and makes up in probably an hour or less. Can we say instant craft-gratification?

(To see what the dress/skirt looks like modeled-check outthe pattern link above.

Watch for more fun skirts and other surprises this week!

Can't NOT scrapbook

A week of crafting would not be complete without the chance to scrapbook.... if I have a break from the kids, I can't NOT scrapbook. So, I thought I'd post a few of my layouts that I did. I wish I would have been able to get a lot more done, but I had a little helper that kept me from doing everything that I wanted to do!!!

Do you want to come and craft with me???

Do you live in the Salt Lake Valley, if so, I have decided to start doing craft workshops in my home. Each month I will be creating a different craft project. I will cut out the wood and have all of the supplies and you can come to my home and create your craft!. Doesn't that sound fun? I don't know about you, but I have been seeing a lot of bees around this summer and I thought this little guy was darling! He looks so cute on his little yard stick in my front yard. Or, if you'd like, I could cut him out a little smaller (without the sign) and you could put wire through him and hang him on your front door or a wall. If you would like to join me, here is the info....

Cost: Bee Yard Stake $18

Smaller hanging version $15

Dates: Tues. July 21st 6-9 pm

Wed. July 22nd 6-9 pm

Thurs. July 30th 6-9 pm

Sat. Aug. 1st 10 am- noon

Remember, all you need to do is show up with your smiling face and fun conversation (and your money) and I will have all of the supplies there ready for you. Please email me at ryanisa@earthlink.net if you are interested in attending.

I had a DUH moment today!

I have a couple of lamps in my house with plain white lamp shades.... BORING!!! I have been wanting to jazz them up for awhile but I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do... until I saw this lamp in Pottery Barn Kids. How cute to have gathered ribbon or fabric on a lamp shade. So, I thought that I would literally have to sew the ribbon ONTO the lamp shade. Well, that's just not going to work (I tried it and it just doesn't work). So, I thought I would staple it on. The lamp turned out super cute, but that was the most frustrating craft I have done in a long time. Sometimes the stapler would work but most of the time I would end up poking holes in the lamp shade and putting the staple in manually.... don't try this at home.

So, I just gave up. I figured I put the other lamp shades aside and come up with some other idea some other time. I was done with the frustration. Then I was wandering down the lamp aisle at Hobby Lobby and I saw the same cute pink lamps. After I looked closely at them I realized.... DUH... they were sewn to gather the fabric, but it was glued on the lamp... DUH!!! So, I busily got to work sewing strips of fabric down the middle and gathering them. Then I used my trusty hot glue gun and glued them on my lamp shade. So cute, so easy, I am so blonde sometimes, but I'm not blonde. And look how cute my guest bedroom is!!!