No Sew Stocking Garland

A close up...

and a full view...

Yesterday I gave you a sneak peek of what I've been making over the last few days. I was inspired to create this stocking garland by this project featured in a recent special issue of Woman's Day.

As I flipped through the magazine in line at the grocery store, this adorable garland caught my eye. I thought it was made from felt or fleece stockings. I thought it was a sewing project. I didn't have time to read the instructions but I knew I had to make it (and I loved several other ideas I saw in the magazine, too!). So, I tossed it on the conveyor belt along with my other items.

Well...when I finally read the instructions I realized it wasn't a sewing project. The stockings were made from...

baby socks!

I LOVED the idea even more once I realized this would be a special keepsake for my daughter's baby socks! Yes, my daughter is 4 1/2 and I still have socks from when she was an infant. In an effort to simplify, I always bought her the same white socks from Target. So, I have the same socks from 0-36mos. I read the first couple of steps of the tutorial in the magazine and then I let my own creative juices flow...

So, I started with several white socks and a bottle of red fabric dye.

I followed the instructions on the bottle of dye to dye the socks red.

(there's no cooking involved I just used my stock pot because I was afraid of staining a bucket or my white sink!)

When the dying was done, I washed them and dried them and I had beautiful red stockings!

Then I used a whole lot of this:

Some puffy paint, and little bit of this:

to create embellished stockings like this:

To create the snow effect, I used white puffy paint to create a snowman. Then, I sprinkled the Diamond dust on top of the paint and used my heat gun to dry it. It puffed up the paint and sealed the Diamond Dust, creating a look of real snow! I also use Diamond Dust on top of Glossy Accents to create a "sugared" look on fabric and paper flowers.

I had a whole lot of fun embellishing all of these little stockings to create a festive garland.

To create the peppermint swirl candies, I used this cording that I found by the spool at Michaels. I simply curled it and wrapped it tightly to create a circular candy shape. I've got a whole candy them going on this year...I really need to post pics of the tree and another handmade garland!

I embellished the other stockings with paint, felt, buttons and ribbons. Did I mention I had fun??? Then I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch a hole in the upper corner of each stocking and threaded a ribbon through the whole. Next, I hung the stockings from a wide piece of red ribbon and then tied various widths and colors of ribbon to the red ribbon.

The stockings would also work on their own as ornaments. What a wonderful keepsake to give a grandparent as a memento of baby's first Christmas. Or, if you've got a houseful of kiddos you could have them each decorate a few of their socks and keep it as an on-going keepsake that you add to each year. Or, do a collection of stockings for each baby's first Christmas.

However you choose to personalize this project, if you create your own I hope you have fun and be sure to send me a link!

Teacher Gifts!

I saw these crayon monograms last year and as the end of the school year approached, I knew I wanted to make these as year-end gifts for Taylor's preschool teacher. Taylor absolutely LOVES to color and she does a whole lot of coloring at preschool! I think these make adorable classroom decor for a preschool class so they're the perfect gift for preschool teachers. I think they'd be super cute in a play room, too!

For each one, I used a 5x7 shadow box from Michaels, printed the teacher's names on yellow cardstock and then glued the broken crayons to the cardstock. I followed this tutorial. It's a simple, easy and inexpensive gift, that will get you the "ooohs and aaaaahhhhs" that you always hear when you give a handmade gift.

And of course, a handmade gift deserves a handmade card...

I actually made a card! I used to make cards all. the. time. Paper crafting was my first love but since I got my sewing machine a lot of my stamps and card making supplies have been sitting collecting dust. Well, I decided to pull 'em out tonight and I created 2 of these cards, one for each teacher. I've been itching to make some cards lately, and when Taylor saw me playing with stamps she wanted to join in the fun, so I think I'll be planning a card making session with her. Fun! And of course, Taylor signed her name on the card. She's able to write her first and last name, correctly spelled and legible without any prompting. She couldn't do that in September!

I finished off the gifts by wrapping them in a simple red gift bag from the dollar store. I added a little tissue paper and tied the card to the handle with some coordinating ribbon and Ta Dah! That's it.

I hope they like them!

Tissue Paper Decoupaged Picture Frame

Taylor made this picture frame for Daddy's birthday back in September and I'm just now getting around to posting it.

I know I say this about most of my tutorials, but this is a super simple, easy, fun, inexpensive project. My daughter LOVES to play with glue. I have been known to give her a full bottle of white glue and some paper and other bits and have her sit at her table in the craft room, and empty the whole bottle and just play with it however she chooses (keeping it confined to the table, of course). It drives my husband crazy but is one of the best ways to keep her occupied!

Anyway, I knew she would love decoupage with her love of glue! So I decided this was the perfect project to create for Daddy.

Set up: Tear bits of tissue paper in desired colors. Pour white glue or Mod Podge into a small container.

Process: Have your child brush glue onto the frame,

then press tissue paper onto the frame, then brush another layer of glue.

Let dry.

It doesn't matter how "messy" it looks, the finished product will look beautiful!

These are on our holiday gift list, too!

Handprint art

First, my apologies for these pics. It's really hard to photograph artwork behind glass, but I wanted you to see the finished product in the frame.

Taylor and I made this gift for my mom for Mother's Day, but I never got around to posting it. With the holidays approaching I thought now would be a good time to share this project with you.

To create this gift, I had Taylor press her hand into a puddle of acrylic paint and then I pressed her hand onto white cardstock. Tip: With little ones, it really helps to have 2 adults help with this. One to hold the child's hand still on the paper, while the other presses down firmly to ensure even coverage. Then lift the child's had straight up off the paper to ensure the image doesn't smear. We repeated that with each color shown. I then cut out each handprint.

Next, I cut the flower pot shape out of brown felt. Then I cut the stems out of grossgrain ribbon and cut the leaf shapes out of green flannel scraps that I had. I machine stitched the ribbons to the 12x12 piece of cardstock. Then I stitched the leaves so that the stitching resembled the veins of a leaf. Next, I added a very small amount of stuffing to the back side of the felt flower pot and stitched it to the cardstock. Finally, I adhered the hand prints to the top of each stem with "pop dots" or 3D foam dots. (people call 'em different things). As a finishing touch I added a distressed piece of cardboard along with the saying "Happy Mother's Day 2009, Love Taylor".

Drawing Pad Portofolio with Crayon holder

Here's another thing to keep Taylor busy on our trip. This project has been on my to-do list ever since I decided I wanted to learn how to sew. To make this project I followed this tutorial. In case you haven't noticed yet, I absolutely LOVE the blog Skip to my Lou. She has really creative projects with clear, easy to follow tutorials. In her original idea, the portfolio holds pencil crayons. I wanted Taylor's portfolio to hold crayons, so I compared this tutorial with her Crayon Roll tutorial and sure enough, the individual slots are the same size so it can hold either pencils or crayons.

I love how it turned out!!!

Edited to add the links because I was too busy multitasking when I wrote this I forgot to add the links!

Super Simple Sticker Book Tutorial

This truly is a super simple project and if you're a friend of mine with a kiddo of sticker loving age, then chances are, you're little one will be getting one of these from me for Christmas!

To make this Super Simple Sticker Book you need:

1 6x6 photo album (I bought mine in 2 pks from Target for $1 - in the dollar aisle - about a yr ago -- I'm sure you can find these at the dollar store)
multiple sheets of 12x12 cardstock (My album had 10 pages so I needed 5 sheets of cardstock)
Another sheet of cardstock to make your die-cut letters or alphabet stickers or pre-cut letters for the title of your book
Mod Podge
Ribbon for embellishment and anything else your heart desires to use as embellishments
Sticker sheets (of course!)

The process is soooo easy!

Cut your 12x12 cardstock into quarters (in case your mathematically challenged, each 12x12 sheet will give you 4 6x6 pieces of cardstock)

Slip a piece of 6x6 cardstock into each page protector in your album.

Cut another piece of cardstock to 3x6 (or maybe a little longer depending on the size of your cover). Use a small paint brush to apply a thin strip of Mod Podge to 3 sides of this piece of cardstock. Stick this piece of cardstock to the inside of the front cover to create a pocket.

Slip sticker sheets into the front pocket. Add your title to the front of your book (adhere your letters with Mod Podge for durability) and tie a ribbon around the spine of the book. Give the book to your favorite child! The child can then stick the stickers to the page protectors and remove them, then restick them, or they can remove the cardstock and stick the stickers to the cardstock. Either way, this is a fun easy gift that will give a sticker loving child, hours of fun!


*I made this book because Taylor and I are taking a 5 hr flight next Saturday to visit Grammie for a week. I've put together a special bag of new toys/activities for her to keep her busy on the plane. So stay tuned because I'll be posting about these goodies all week long!

A Get Well Gift for Myself!

I've been sick all week with a nasty cold. Headache, body aches, nasal congestion, coughing, and hoarseness that seemed like it would never end. Given I'm a hospice social worker, I couldn't exactly see patients as sick as I was. So I was out sick for half the week. Hence the fact I was able to do so much crafting! (I'm still playing catch up in posting all my projects!). As sick as I've been, I'm not one to lay in bed all day, so crafting kept me quiet and didn't take much energy. My dear friend, Jen, made me a rice therapy bag for Christmas. It has been well used. I seemed to have misplaced it though and I finally decided I just needed to make my own, so Friday morning, I sat my achy sick body down at my sewing machine and made the rice bag shown above. Then I popped it in the microwave for 2 minutes and headed to bed for a nap! Later, I made the pocket tissue pack holder using this tutorial.

I think it would be a great little gift pack to package a rice bag, pocket tissue holder, a mug, tea bags and cough drops into a gift bag and give to a friend who's feeling under the weather. You could also add a cozy blanket and a can of Chicken Soup, or even some dry soup mix made from scratch...what a nice little comfort pack!

Oh, and these little things were definitely comforting to me, I finally feel human again!

What makes you feel better when you're feeling under the weather?

Hooded Bath Towel

I came across these oh-so-adorable and 0h-so-girly towels at HomeGoods the other day (you know how much I love that store!). As soon as I saw them, I knew they were the perfect towels to use for the hooded towel I've been wanting to make for Taylor. She's got a serious infatuation with all things polka-dot right now. So I scooped 'em up, brought 'em home, followed this tutorial, and Taylor had a handmade hooded towel in no time! It was such a quick and easy project!

Tip: I highly recommend you use a walking foot aka even feed foot, if you choose to use plush, thick towels for this project. At one point I was sewing through 5 layers of the towel and it would have been quite a challenge (if not impossible) to sew through that thickness of fabric without a walking foot.

The best part of finishing this project is no more tears and shivers when my girl gets out of the tub! She's bundled all nice and cozy and loves her new "jacket".

Another Tip: This would be a great gift for a summer birthday. Wrap it in a beach bag with some beach toys and you've got a simple, inexpensive and FUN gift!

Handprint Plaque

This is what Taylor and I made Daddy and Grandpa for Father's Day (distant Grandpas, don't worry you'll get one, too!). We made the clay and then simply pressed Taylor's hand in it to get the impression. This clay is really cool! You can store it in an airtight container and keep it as soft clay or make sculptures with it and let it air dry and it will harden. Very inexpensive gift idea. And...Grandpa said the magic words that a handmade gift is the best kind of gift!

I got the recipe from Preschool Art, but there is a very similar recipe here.

Canvas Flowers - A Mini Tutorial

I was inspired by this post by my friend Jen, and wanted to create a flower bouquet for my craft room (as though I need one more thing in my craft room, but that's another post for another day!). I started by cutting felt flowers but quickly decided I wasn't achieving the look I was going for. I decided canvas was the perfect medium. So here's how I made these:

Materials:

• Cricut and George & Basic Shapes Cartridge (optional)
• a piece of raw canvas - I used a piece about 12x12 (also known as duck cloth - available from a fabric store)
• acrylic paint in your choice of colors
• coordinating buttons
• embroidery needle and embroidery thread
• wooden skewers
• floral moss (from the dollar store)
• a flower pot, vase or other container to hold the bouquet
• floral foam (also from the dollar store)
  

- I used my Cricut and my George and Basic Shapes cartridge to cut flower shapes out of cardstock in various sizes and 2 different styles of flowers. I used 1.5" and 2" flowers. The cardstock flowers became my template. If you don't have a Cricut, you can use a stencil or cut flower shapes freehand.

- I then set the template on raw canvas (also known as duck cloth) and cut out the flower shapes. You could trace them to make it easier.

- Once I had all my flowers cut (I used three flowers per stem), I arranged them in a way that was pleasing to me. Graduated sizes, and different styles and laid them in rows on cardboard. I wish I had taken a pic! Basically, I have 5 stems, so I had 5 flowers laid out and then 2 other flowers below them so that I wouldn't end up with one stem that had all pink flowers, does that make sense?

- I also cut out small leaves from the canvas (I just did this freehand but, again, you could cut a template and trace it if you find that easier).

- Then I used acryclic paint in my chosen color palette and started painting! In addition to the pink, purple, green and turquoise, I also used white to get varying shades of color on each flower. Be warned...this part is seriously addictive!

- Then I added a bit of glitter by simply smearing some glitter glue on the flowers and leaves.

- I then sewed buttons to the center of the flowers. (Getting the needle through the 3 layers of painted canvas took some effort!)

- To make the stems, I painted wooden skewers green and hot glued some pieces of green wire to the leaves. I then wrapped the wire around the skewer to attach the leaves.

- I filled the pot with floral foam from the dollar store (way cheaper than the craft store), stuck the stems into the foam, and topped it off with the moss...

I think this project is a great gift idea! I made them in just a few hours, and I could make more in less time, now that I know the process. Also, it's such a versatile project because it can be customized to match any decor or color scheme, you can use other fabrics, and any container!

Tip: The flowers alone can be used as embellishments for scrapbook pages and other projects!

A Crayon Roll and a Gift Bag Tutorial

My daughter got her first "official" invitation to a birthday party for a girl in her preschool class. The girl is turning 3 and her mom told her she could pick 2 friends from preschool to invite to her party. My little monkey was so happy to get the invitation! I don't know the family at all and wasn't sure what to give as a gift. I decided on a crayon roll (filled with crayons, of course!) and a coloring book with a gift bag that doubles as a tote bag to carry the crayon roll and a coloring book.

I'm SO happy with how this simple project turned out. The crayon roll was super easy and I followed this tutorial.



I'm totally a beginner sewer and I made the gift bag without a tutorial or pattern. So, if I can do this, so can YOU!

Here's how to make the gift bag/tote bag:
Supplies:

(2) pieces 13.5" x 10.5" exterior fabric (these will be your front and back panels)
(2) pieces 13.5" x 10.5" interior fabric (this will be the lining for your front and back panels)
(2) pieces 13.5" x 5" exterior fabric (these will be the side panels)
(2) pieces 13.5" x 5" interior fabric (these will be the lining for your side panels)
(1) piece 10.5" x 5" exterior fabric (this will be the bottom of the bag)
(1) piece 10.5" x 5" interior fabric (this will be the liner for the bottom of the bag)
(2) pieces of interior fabric 16"x 3" (these will be the handles)
(1) piece of plastic canvas, heavy weight fusible interfacing/fabric stabilizer or foam board or heavy cardboard measuring 10.5" x 4" (this will be for the bottom of the bag and allow the bag to stand upright) - note, if you want the bag to be washable, keep that in mind when choosing the stabilizer - cardboard wouldn't hold up in the washing machine :)
Embellishment for the front of the bag if you want one.

Sewing machine and all the typical sewing supplies including coordinating thread and pinking shears.

NOTE: If you choose to make your bag out of felt like I did, I think an even feed foot (aka a "walking foot"), is essential. I have an even feed foot, but have never used it before. I started this project with my all purpose presser foot and I only stitched a few inches before my machine jammed and caused me over half an hour of frustration trying to unjam it, rip out my stitches and insert the even feed foot. So, save yourself the frustration and use the even feed foot to start with!

Step 1: Once you have all your pieces cut, match each interior piece with the exterior piece. For example match the interior front panel with the exterior front panel and then do the same with the remaining back panels.
Step 2: Pin the matched pieces wrong sides together (their is no turning the fabric inside out when this project is finished)
Step 3: Pin the two side panels to the outer, long edge of the back panel. See the photo below:

Step 4: 1/2 inch from the edge, sew each side panel to the back panel along the long side using a straight stitch. Backstitch to secure the start and finish of your seam. I'm sorry I got so engrossed in the project, I forgot to continue taking photos of the process so unfortately the visuals stop here. :(
Step 5: If you want to sew an embellishment on the front panel, do that now. I used a glue gun to attach my flower when the bag was finished, but some embroiderery or an applique would be nice.
Step 6: Pin the front panel to the side panels along the long edge of each piece - matching up the interior fabric.
Step 7: 1/2" from the edge, sew each side panel to the back panel along the long side using a straight stitch. Backstitch to secure the start and finish of your seam. (You should now have a bottomless bag)
Step 8: Take your plastic canvas (or whatever you've chosen as a stabilizer for the bottom of the bag) and center it in between the bottom pieces of your bag. Pin around all the edges to keep it secure.
Step 9: Sew the bottom that you just pinned together, to the bottom edges of the bag. Of course you decide what's the bottom and what's the top :). Use a 1/2 " seam just as you did on the other edges.
Step 10: Fold each of your handle pieces in half lengthwise. Press them to create a crease. (I used Ecospun felt and I placed a sheet over the felt before pressing it because I wasn't sure how it would hold up to the heat of the iron. This worked out well).
Step 11: Sew a 1/4" seam along the open side of each handle.
Step 12: Decide how far into the bag you want your handles. I placed mine about 1/2" in. Place the handle between the interior and exterior fabric. I pinned back the exterior fabric to ensure I would accidentally stitch it.
Step 13: Sew the end of the handles to the interior panel, leaving approx. 4 -5 inches between the ends. I backstitched several times to ensure the handles were securely attached.
Step 14: Sew a 1/2" seam all along the top of the bag.
Step 15: Pink all of the edges of the bag using pinking shears. (Be sure not to cut your handles in the process!)
Step 16: Add any embellishments to the outside of the bag using a glue gun.

And, ta dah...you've got yourself a snazzy, handmade, pretty and practical gift bag that doubles as a tote bag!

If you make one of these yourself, be sure to let me know! I'll definitely be making at least one more bag and crayon roll because now my little monkey wants one for herself!