attempt at making jewelry

I am a self diagnosed craftaholic. (My husband definitely concurs with the diagnosis, although, he must be okay with it because he's never enrolled me in a recovery class. *lol*) I've tried my hand at just about everything. I love a challenge. Sewing, quilting, and papercrafting are my favs, but there is other stuff I can pull off too.

This weekend I tried my hand at jewelry making. Nothing too fancy, and I had to work with tools not necessarily designed for said project, but not a total disaster either. My friend's adorable daughter was baptized on Saturday, so this is the little keepsake bracelet I came up with...It is far from perfect, but it made for one happy little eight year old girl! I found the little photo frame charms at my local craft store, along with the other findings. I had fun making this bracelet, because of who it was for, but I'm not sure I am sold on making my own jewelry from here on out yet. I might leave that for my talented friends and sister-in-laws who actually know what they are doing!

Here is to trying something new! What have you challenged yourself to try new lately? I'd love to know.

Carseat Tent

So, if you live in the West (specifically Utah or Idaho) you can't make a trip out to the store without seeing one of these, but here in the East, it's still a novel idea!I had to fly by the seat of my pants and make up my own pattern...but now seeing it on the car seat, I'd say it was a success! I imagine one of these would be Super nice to have. (I didn't have one when my babe was still small enough to fit in a infant carseat, but I can guess!) More than anything, it will be great for shielding baby from unwanted weather elements, and all those sweet meaning people at church who want to touch and love on your baby. ;)I made this one of a good friend of mine who just had baby boy #3! She's excited to give it a test run.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial, I'd be happy to make one, but I'm guessing most of you have already made one yourself and this is old news! Let me know one way or another.

matching fancy headband

So, in an effort to make a matching headband to the dress from the last post, this is what I came up with...
It's a little big, but that's the style now, right?The pink in the flower is the same material as the pink on the dress, and I added pearls to compliment the pearls sewn onto the dress.
I hope she likes it. If nothing else, it was fun to make something so fru-fru!

dress up do!

A good friend of mine asked if we could sass up this white dress a bit for her eight year old daughter...She wasn't in love with these roses in front (they do stick out quite a bit) and she also wanted to add some color 'pop' to the dress.
A little collaboration and some of my sewing skilz, here's the finished product...Fun, cute, and sassy. Just like Abigail!

(Okay, so really my seamstress skilz are not super sharp, I consider myself a quilter and sewer, not a seamstress. I am trying new things though, and I am always up for a challenge. I was honored to be asked to help out with the dress. I'm trying to take every opportunity I can to better my skills.)

The 'Perfect Hooded Towel' Tutorial

Items needed:
Bath Towel
Hand Towel
Coordinating Ribbon
Thread
Sewing Machine
Pins
Rotary Cutter/Ruler or Scissors

Step 1: Cut the hand towel in half. (1/2 of the hand towel will become your hood. Set the other 1/2 aside for another towel or project.)
Step 2: Using one side of the hand towel you cut - Place the WRONG side of the towel on your work surface and fold the finished edge back about 1/2" to 1" wider than your ribbon. (this will become the decorative border for your hooded towel.) Pin the ribbon in place and sew a straight stitch down both sides of the ribbon.
Step 3: Fold the towel in half so that the ribbon folded in half matches up. Sew the raw edge to itself using a 3/8" seam allowance. Zig zag or serge edge to avoid fray.
Step 4: With the WRONG side of your large bath towel facing you, mark the center of one long edge with a pin.
Step 5: Match the center point of your large bath towel with the seam of the hood you just sewed (which is the center of the hood) RIGHT sides together and pin.Hint: Place your pins on the hood side, rather than the large towel side...so exactly OPPOSITE of what the picture shows. I had to move mine! ;)

Step 6: If there is anything at all tricky about this towel, this next step would be it, but its really not bad. - Make a pleat in your hood like I've shown in the photo, about an inch long. PIN in place.
Repeat the previous step and make one more pleat.
This is how it should look from the top -
Step 7: Repeat step 6 and make two identical pleats on the left side of the hood. Pin in place.
Step 8: Sew the hood to the towel about 1/4" from the edge. Remove pins and patyourself on the back! You just make the 'Perfect Hooded Towel!'

Hooded towels make for great baby gifts. The color/ribbon combinations are endless. I have one for each of my boys and use them all the time. Hopefully you can now enjoy making some of your own!

Off to School!

It's hard to believe. We've waited for this day since he was a baby, and yet it seems to have come way too fast. My oldest, Kyle, starts Kindergarten on Monday. He is SO excited he can hardly stand it, and I am excited for him. This is one of those big steps in growing up!

The school requested each child to bring a towel with their name on it for 'rest time'. I couldn't just send him in with a towel that had his name written on it with a sharpie, so in true craftaholic fashion...Kyle got to choose the towel color, which I totally think is fun, and then I just free-handed the letters on some wonder-under and appliqued the fabric letters to the towel. For security, I blanket stitched around each letter. He likes it, and I got to 'craftify' it...its a win win!Wish me luck, Monday could be a little rough around here!

fun fabrics

Aren't these fabrics so much fun to look at? I got to go shopping (without the littles - thanks Mom!) at my favorite shop here in Utah, The Material Girls Quilting. There is so much there to dream about and lust over. These nine delightful prints are what I walked away with this time around. My plan is to use them in a baby quilt for a friend of mine. I can't wait to get home and start 'playing' with my purchases!!