Apron and Tea Towels

A Christmas gift for a friend.

Simplicity Pattern 3670. Not sure I'm totally in love with this pattern
I picked up some tea towels from my craft store and added some fabric to match her apron. Loved this and will be making more in the future.

Christmas Cards

It's been driving me crazy that I don't have a spot for our Christmas cards to be displayed. We recently purchased a dishwasher and the frame below was in the box. A little bit of fabric, a staple gun, and a picture frame hanger turned this simple and free (with the purchase of a dishwasher) wood frame into a Christmas card holder.

Not fancy but definitely functional. I'm a happy girl!

December Daily: 2-5

I have been taking a few pictures here and there and realized I needed to get them into page form or it would never happen. I really am loving digital templates. I can always go back and add "real" stuff onto the pages later.

December 2 & 3:

(I combined the two days because I didn't have a ton of pics and I really didn't want Julia's mouth to take up an entire page.)

December 4th:

December 5th:

Products I used to create these layouts:

Templates by: Creativity by Design and Ali Edwards (Bread and Butter)

Paper: Michelle Martin Papers: Bergen Paper Pack

Embellishments: Katie Pertiet Crystallized Flourishes

Coffee Filter Foof

I saw the Coffee Filter Foof on the website Jones Design Company. If you are not following her blog you should. I love the clean lines/simplicity of her designs. Well back to the Foof. I decided I wanted to try and make one.

I had a little trouble with the hot glue. My coffee filters were not staying on. Looking back at the tutorial pictures I wonder if I didn't cut enough of the tip off.

So instead I used both hot glue and straight pins. Once I started using the pins I had better luck. See the little grey dots?
Julia helped me fold the coffee filters for this project. When she got bored I showed her how to cut out snowflakes from the coffee filters.

I also cheated a little and did not fill the entire styrofoam ball. See below. I used liquid nails to adhere my hook. I'm hoping it will hold up.
She probably still needs a little sculpting but I can't wait to hang it up in Julia's room. I might even make a few more in different sizes. This one took me probably 200 coffee filters and two nap sessions.
Thank you Emily for the tutorial!

December Daily

I'm toying with the idea of creating a December Daily 2010 album. I love Ali Edwards scrapbooking stuff. Since I'm pretty new to digital scrapbooking, her templates are the ones that I am drawn to for their ease of use. She plans on creating a 6x8 this year. The DD templates that I have are 12x12 and were purchased at DesignerDigitals.com. If I print one out for each day it will cost about 75 bucks for the entire album. So I might do some pages the traditional way instead of just all digital pages. And then again, I just might create all digital pages but simply upload them to a CD/DVD and have them as a slide show.

12.01.10: Day 1

A 7Gypsies Giveaway!

Well, I'm not giving anything away but I am entering a giveaway and so can you! Simply visit the blog of 7Gypsies to find out more about it. They are giving away 3 cute sets!!! See, I can win and so can you. Happy Times. :)

Be sure to visit their blog to see the rest of what is in the cute kit.

Below is the stamp set:

Better hurry though, the giveaway is closing soon!

Baby Tag Blanket

My sister-in-law and four of my friends are pregnant. Two of them are having girls and the rest are still have weeks before they find out. Although one said she just might wait for the surprise at the end! So it is time for me to get busy with my machine. First up: a Tag Blanket. And really it is more of a lovey than a blanket. It measure about 9"x9" so it is just the right size for small hands. I have seen these in the stores and have always wanted to make one so here goes!

The finished product

Start by measuring out your squares. Mine were 5"x5". Then simply sew them together. I used a 1/2" seam allowance. If you press your seams it will look prettier.

All pressed!

Cut out a square of fabric for the backside. I chose minky dot. Pink something soft and cuddly. The square should match up to your four square above. In fact, I just laid my four square on top of the minky dot and cut around it. Set it aside.

Time for the ribbon. Pin the looped ribbon to the right side of the four square. Baste stitch your ribbon to your four square. I used about a 1/4" seam allowance for this step. Also, be sure that your loops are facing in just like mine. Very important. It's okay if some of your ribbon hangs off. You can trim it after you have done your baste stitch.

All trimmed up after the baste stitch:

Pin right sides together of your soft fabric and your four square. Be sure that you ribbon loops are inside the pocket. Be sure to leave a space so that you can turn it right side out. Also, your opening should not be near a corner to make it easier. I used a 1/2" seam allowance for this step. Notice my opening below:

Before turning right side out clip your corners. You can find a great tutorial on clipping corners and other sewing basics at Make It and Love It. Ashley has the best tips. In fact, she probably already has a tutorial for a tag blanket.

Here is mine all turned out. Fix your corners. You can use a dowel or other pointed object if you can't get your hand in there. I also laid a light cloth over mine and pressed it again before I stitched my opening closed.

Don't just stitch your opening closed. Go around the entire square to make it look uniform.

I also sewed diagonally across the entire square to help it keeps its form.

Voila!

I have two more cut out and ready to go but I ran out of ribbon. I originally bought enough ribbon to make just one but with a bunch of babies on the way I'll be making more trips to the fabric store. I'm not telling which sweet baby girl is getting this one. It's a secret!