Blackboard Sticks and Clips

After months of resisting the urge to buy one of everything I finally succumbed to the pressure of Pick Your Plum.  This was a deal that I knew I would use so I bought a bunch.  I can't wait to make them into something cute and use them to label food at birthday parties, baby showers, etc.  Maybe I'll just use them on a Tuesday just because they're so cute.  You just never know at our house.  Thank you Pick Your Plum! Thank you for having so many tempting things on your site.  

What would you do with so many cute labels?  I'd love to hear your ideas.  

Baby Headbands

Nearly a year ago I found a sale online at The Ribbon Retreat (my favorite place to buy ribbon!) and ordered a bunch of ribbon, clips, flowers, and headbands.  I made a few hair bows and then I didn't do much else with my stash.  Most everyone I knew was having boy babies, so I didn't pursue my baby girl crafts.  

I figured I'd at least make a few things to have on hand so I whipped up a few headbands today while my boys had a friend over to distract play with them.  I think it took me longer to gather my supplies from all corners of the house than to actually make the clips.  

The headbands I bought are nylon headbands that are sewn with a little pocket so you can clip on whatever flower or bow you want.  I love the versatility of that.  You can get elastic or crochet headbands as well.  I'd like to make some of each type, eventually, to have on hand as baby gifts (if anyone decides to have a girl, that is).  Or maybe someday, I'll have my own baby girl and I'll need a headband for every occasion.  

See...it's two separate pieces.  

To get started I use a double pronged clip.  There are other types of clips, but I like this type the best.  Take my advice with a grain of salt, however.  Remember, I'm a mother of boys.  Use whatever type you like.  

Then I wrap the clip in ribbon.  First, heat seal the ends of the ribbon with a lighter.  Then start on the bottom of the clip and glue the ribbon down and along the hinge part (check out the next photo) and then along on the top of the clip and wrap it around to the bottom side of the top clip.  Don't wrap the bottom clip.  You'll want that part to clip onto hair or onto a headband. 

All that's left is to glue your flower on.  Easy as that!  

Now clip that flower onto your headband and find a baby to try it on.  Or perhaps just save them for baby gifts.  Whatever is more convenient.  

No Sew T-Shirt Scarf With a Fabric Flower

If ever you look on Pinterest you are bound to see a million different blogs with the same tutorial for a t-shirt scarf.  You'll also find a million different tutorials for fabric flowers.  I couldn't help but give into curiosity and I finally made a scarf and added a little flower while I was at it.  

Would you like to make one of your own?  Here is how I made mine.  

To get started you'll need: 
an XL or larger t-shirt (I find 100% cotton works best)
Scissors (fabric scissors if you have them)
9" (or thereabouts) plate or something circular to trace
fabric glue (I used Aleene's Flexible, Stretchable Fabric Glue).  

I followed a simple tutorial from Christy's Cuties to make my scarf.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the process to make it easier to understand, but Christy's Cuties has great pictures for you to follow if you need.  

First I cut my shirt up the side seams so the front and back were separate pieces.  I was using a V neck shirt (not ideal) and I didn't get as many circles from the front as I did from the back. I traced a paper plate on my shirt being careful to maximize how many circles I could cut.  I wasn't exact about it and that is saying a lot for me.  I've noticed with crafting I need to give up being so exact with everything.  It's okay to let loose on this project a little.  It's very forgiving.  I only had an 8 1/2" plate to trace (*gasp*) and I was able to get 6 circles from my shirt.  

Next I cut each circle into spirals.  I just eyeballed it and I made sure to not cut each spiral the same because I wanted different lengths and widths of pieces (I varied my strips between 1"-2").  I like the dimension it gave my scarf.  If you make your strips skinnier they will be longer and if you make them fatter they will be shorter.  I gave a quick tug on my strips so they'd curl up a bit.

After I had all of my spirals made I draped them over my shoulders like a scarf and tied a short piece of t-shirt around to join everything together.  Just make sure you can easily get the scarf over your head to put it on and take it off.  

As a side note, because of the type of shirt I used I was only able to get 6 circles from my t-shirt.  I wished I could have had one or two more circles, but it wasn't the end of the world.  If you can find a shirt that will allow 8 circles your scarf will turn out more full than mine (and I'll be jealous).  

Next I made a little fabric flower out of leftover t-shirt scraps and glued it onto the piece I used to tie everything together.  I got my inspiration for the fabric flower at The Renegade Seamstress.  I mostly followed the directions, but I added a second layer.   Once again, I really should have taken pictures.  

You can make your flower any size you want to.  I just eyeballed a circle (wow!  I am really loosening up these days!) and it came out to be about 1 3/4" in diameter.  I used 15 circles for my flower.  I glued 2 circles together to be the base.  In hindsight, I think a piece of felt may have been a better choice, but this worked pretty well, too.  I used 6 circles for the bottom layer of petals and 6 more circles for the top layer and 1 circle for the middle.  

To make a petal, fold one circle in half and then fold it in thirds to make a cone shape petal.  A dot of glue will hold the petals together.  Then glue the tip in the center of your base and repeat until you have 6 petals on the bottom layer.  Then glue 6 more petals on top of the bottom layer making sure to stagger the petals to fill in gaps.  

Instead of a button I just made another petal and glued it in the middle.  

Once your flower is made and a little bit dried you can glue it onto your scarf if you'd like or you could attach it to a clip so the flower is removable from your scarf.  These flowers would also be cute as a hair clip or on a headband.  

There is certainly room to be creative with this project.  You could use more than one color of shirt to give it even more dimension.  You can make it full or skinny; long or short.  You can make many different sizes and types of flowers to attach or not attach a flower at all.  Just do what you like and enjoy your free, new scarf!  This is a great beginner project and a good one for kids to get in on the fun.  Plus, this project came together in 30 minutes and that was with interruptions from the little person that lives in my house.  

I hope you enjoy your scarf as much as I have enjoyed mine.  
Happy Crafting!

Sewing Class

In December 2011 I signed up for an online sewing class.  It was the BEST decision I have made in regards to crafting.  Because of that class I have been able to accomplish more than I ever thought possible.  They taught me to think in different ways.  I am still working my way through all of the lessons and I'm sure there is A LOT more to learn.  If ever you want to learn to sew I highly recommend looking into this class.

Here are a few of the projects I have made because of this class.

My very first sewing lesson...a drawstring bag.  It's about as simple as it gets and I was SO happy it worked out so easily the first try!

I made a Happy Birthday banner.  This was so much more difficult than it seemed it should be.  It turns out sewing circles and curves isn't so easy.  I still loved the way it turned out and have used it at every birthday in the family since I made it.

This next project was so fun to make.  I had completed several lessons by this point, plus I had taken on some other projects (like capes) and it just didn't seem so hard.  Plus I was sewing straight lines.  What a relief.  I made a little supplies roll up for my sewing supplies.  It is so handy.  I want to make another one for the kids' markers and colored pencils.  How handy would that be?

I really recommend this sewing class at Home Ec Online.  You go at your pace and there is no time limit.  You can repeat projects as you'd like.  The only bummer is you can't ask questions; however, there are FAQ's that have already been answered.  It's a great place to start if you'd like to learn sewing.

My Dream Crafting Space

Currently we are living in a teeny, tiny, shoebox sized one bedroom basement apartment.  It was only supposed to be for a few months while we found another place to live, but here we are over a year later.  We have dedicated the living room as a 2nd bedroom to give ourselves a little sanity.  So, I suppose we live in a two bedroom apartment with no living room.  Space is in very short supply around here.  I don't have an extra bedroom or a basement to convert into my dream crafting space.  Truth be told, I didn't even own one crafty thing when we moved into this apartment.  (Ok, maybe that is a little exaggerated.)  I didn't start sewing or the majority of my crafting until after we moved in here.   So it wasn't a major concern when we moved in.

Currently I sew and craft at the kitchen table.  It is annoying.  Every meal time (and with 2 small boys it's every hour on the hour) I have to pack up all of my supplies.  And after meal time I have to scrub down the kitchen because I have 2 small boys that can't seem to find their mouths when they eat.  It's a chore and sucks the fun out of sewing.

Around Christmas time I realized that once we took the tree down it would unveil an empty corner.  An empty corner right next to a window and a nearly empty closet.  The wheels began turning and I talked it over with the husband and we soon found ourselves at IKEA dreaming up plans for my very own crafting space.

Unfortunately a few weeks later and here is what the corner still looks like.

I suppose we still have a lot of work to do.


I know my little craft corner in my bedroom isn't my dream space.  And it will be small, but I hope that I can make it function.  Afterall...we may be here another year at this point.  I better make the best of what I have.  And right now, nearly anything is better than the kitchen table!

Have you been dreaming of having your own craft space?  Do you already have your dream craft space?  I'd love to know what your dream craft space would look like (or maybe you're lucky and it already exists?).  Leave a comment on the blog or FaceBook and let me know!

Also, follow me on Pinterest if you'd like to see what inspires me, makes me hungry, or things I find useful.

Happy Crafting!

FREE Fabric and More

My heart is full from the generosity of my kind friends.  On January 3, 2013 I put out a plea on FaceBook that read:  "If any locals have ANY clothes/sheets/curtains (anything fabric) that are headed to the trash I'd love to take them! I have been having fun repurposing old clothes into fun crafts."

I got many replies from friends in Denver and even Colorado Springs and last week I drove just over 200 miles collecting donations.

Here is what I've collected so far!  Seriously....My heart is singing with happiness!!

I'm still sorting through everything, but I have started on a small project from some of my donations.

See the clear tote with the red lid??  Well, my friends, that is full of awesomeness!  In that tote I found so many sewing supplies.  There were zippers, buttons, snaps, sequins, elastic, thread, ric rac, quilt binding, bias tape, piping, various trims, etc.  Plus there were a bunch of patterns.  Even some vintage patterns.  I think I squealed like a little girl when I saw some vintage things in there.  My kids thought their mom had lost her marbles.

I also got so excited when I happened upon some patterns like this one.

I'm not sure if that address means anything to you, but that's the same zipcode as my parent's house.  The house my mom grew up in.  I immediately looked up where this address is and it's pretty close to their house.  I thought that was pretty neat.  But I'm sure I'm the only one that would get excited by such nonsense.  So, now I need to call my mom and ask if she ever knew this family.  Or maybe my Grandmother knew them.  However, even though it's only a few miles from my parent's house, I can guarantee it is a different ward and possibly even a different stake from them.  So maybe there was no chance of them meeting.

Also amongst the supplies I found a zipper from 1953.

There are so many more treasures amongst these donations and I could not be more grateful for the generosity!  I got some GREAT fabric out of this, plus boxes and boxes of denim that I can cut up for various projects.  I'm a blessed girl!  Thank you, kind friends, for helping support my hoarding problem  sewing hobby!  The inspiration keeps flowing and my brain is constantly thinking of projects I can take on.

I, most certainly, will always accept more donations.  So, if you are in the Denver (ish) area and are looking to get rid of some clothes, curtains, sheets, etc...I will certainly take them off your hands.  Send me an email and we'll set up a time for me to come pick it up!

Hopefully soon I'll have pictures of projects I've made with my new stash.

Until then, happy crafting!!

Superhero Capes

The first thing I wanted to sew was a superhero cape for my boys.  I set out to do just that.  I searched the web high and low and found the perfect tutorial.  And this is when I learned that while tutorials are great and wonderful, it's ok to think outside the box and do it your own way.  However, don't be surprised when it doesn't look the same.  lol  There is a good chance if you stray from the directions you probably won't end up with the exact same cape.  I was SO proud of my cape when I made it.  I was showing it off and couldn't be happier.  But as I made another one it got better.  And I made a few more and realized my first attempt was an embarrassment.  But this is how I learn.  Trial and error.

 My very first cape.  It's reversible yet I made it Superman on both sides.  It was a learning moment. :)

The first row of pictures are my second and 3rd capes.  They are reversible.  Each cape has a Superman logo and then one cape has a star and one a J.
The second row of capes are for my friend's girls.  Each had a princess crown on one side and a S on the other.

This is a picture of a Batman/Captain America (ish...not the full logo) cape I made for my friend's grandson.  I didn't ever get a picture of the final product, but you get the idea here.

 And FINALLY after begging my son for a month he let me make him a new cape.  Batman and Superman.  

It is really hard to tell in the pictures, but there is a pretty drastic difference in the first to last cape.  But the kids LOVE them!!  They are played with nearly daily.  They are easy to wash and still look great months later.  Even if this was the only thing I ever made, I think it was worth it to learn to sew.  I find great joy in making little kids happy with a superhero cape!