Mermaid Tail Blankets

I've been able to squeeze a little more sewing in lately, and here's what I've been up to:

Fleece Mermaid Tail Blankets!  They are so much fun to make.  I've been shopping sales since fleece can be pricey.  My favorite is when JoAnn's has extra-wide fleece on 50% off, you get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  Better yet if you have an additional coupon to top it all off.

The dark green mermaid tail blanket pictured above is an adult size, and the others are smaller.  I've been experimenting with patterned fleece too, which I think is a fun twist.

I've been crocheting a bit too, but will probably switch over to making jewelry again soon.  Need to stock up on necklaces to sell at our booth.

DIY burlap ruffled tree skirt

Slightly off season, but I was going through some old photos and remembered I never posted about our new tree skirt!  I have been wanting to make a ruffled burlap skirt for some time now... and my lovely dogs gave me a reason to go ahead and do so after they chewed a hole in our other tree skirt.

Bummer about the old skirt, but I may make some adjustments to it so it's good as new (they chewed the edges and last time I sewed it up it had a couple "scallops" to it)

Anyways, I started by cutting the largest circle I could with a base layer of white cotton fabric.

DIY tree skirt

Then I cut my burlap into long strips (I believe I had 2-2.5 yards of burlap)  I was SO excited about the burlap, because it had some metallic gold colored threads mixed in with it.

DIY tree skirt

Then I pinned the strips of burlap onto the cotton fabric and sewed each row on to form the ruffled look.  Of course the cat had to "help".  (he had to leave the room when I was using pins)

DIY tree skirt

I used the selvage edge of the burlap for the outer most layer of ruffles and thought it added a cute, slightly different border.

Burlap ruffled tree skirt

After repeating row, after row, after row of placing burlap and stitching it on, the tree skirt was complete!  I really like how it turned out (and the animals do too... they love to lay on it).  If I were to make another one, I would make it larger, by stitching panels of cotton together for the base layer rather than just using the size of the fabric from the bolt.

Also, due to the nature of burlap, it does fray a lot, and with 3 animals that love to roll around under the tree, I don't think this tree skirt will last very long...  I'll probably make a more durable skirt to rotate with this one in the future.

Baby Sushi bodysuit!

When I saw this Sushi Baby Costume  on Martha Stewart's website, which was made by Carolynn Caffelle I could not resist making one for my niece/nephew-to be for Christmas a couple years ago.

 

 

 

There are templates to make either tuna or shrimp (<-- the one I chose).

 

It was a lot of fun to make, and got quite a few smiles when it was done :)

 

My brother & sister-in-law took some adorable pictures of my niece wearing this, where they had chopsticks in the forefront of the picture and it looked like they were "picking up the sushi" hahaha.

 



crocheted market bag

Now I'm ready for the beach or the market, with this simple crocheted market bag!

 

 

I single crocheted the base of the bag, into a circle, double crocheted the height of the bag, and single crocheted the handle.

 

Back to class tomorrow!  I can't believe how fast winter break went... Hopefully I'll get a chance to share some of the crafting & sewing projects I did over break with you soon :)

DIY beaded necklace!

I was so excited when House of Gems contacted me about an amazing opportunity, in which they provided me with all the supplies I needed to make a DIY jewelry project! 

 

There were so many gorgeous beads to choose from, but I particularly loved the Iolite gemstone beads. 

 

DIY Iolite gemstone necklace

(For a list of supplies please scroll to the bottom of this post)

 

 1) Cut 14" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order:

teardrop, *roundelle, round, roundelle, teardrop* (repeat order of beads between the *s until the strand is 9.5" long.

 

 

 

2) Cut 12.5" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order: 

*round, 2 roundelle*, repeat 6 times. 

Add a Sterling silver satin oval bead

then add Iolite beads:*2 roundelle, round*, repeat 3 times

then 1 roundelle bead

Add another Sterling silver satin oval bead

then Iolite beads: *2 roundelle, round* repeat 6 times

(total length of stringed beads is approximately 8 inches)



 3) Cut 12" of beading wire & string Iolite beads in this order:

*teardrop, round, teardrop, Sterling silver round stardust spacer* repeat 7 times

finish strand with Iolite beads: teardrop, round, teardrop

(total length of beaded strand is approximately 7")

 

4) Attach ends of beading wire (from steps 1-3) to the Sterling silver connectors, using crimping beads in order listed below.  *The beading wire I chose couldn't be threaded through the beads a 2nd time (to hide the tail of the wire once connected) so using a slightly smaller diameter of beading wire may give a more finished look* (House of Gems has a nice selection of beading wire to choose from!)

 

The strand from step 1 is the longest, and should be connected to the lowest of the 3 connecting loops on both sides

 

The strand from step 2 should be connected to the 2 middle loops, and the strand from step 3 should be connected to the top loops.

 

 

5) Next, cut two 6 inch strands of bulk chain, and attach a split ring to each of the 4 ends of chain

6) Now, attach the split rings on one end of each of the 2 strands of chain to the loop on the connector (opposite of the side where the beads were attached)

7) Finally, attach a Sterling silver spring ring on one of the loose strands of the bulk chain (that has a split ring on it)

 

 

Supplies from House of Gems:

Sterling silver satin oval beads 4x6 mm

Sterling silver 2mm crimp beads

Sterling silver split ring 4mm

Sterling silver connector 2x8mm 3 rows

Sterling silver bulk chain small curb light weight (1.2x1.9mm)

Sterling silver spring ring findings 5mm

Sterling silver round stardust spacer findings 2.5mm

Iolite beads faceted center drilled teardrop 5x8mm

Iolite beads smooth round shape ~3mm

Iolite beads faceted roundelle shape 5mm

Soft touch beading wire - stainless steel nylon coated 30 ft (0.019 inch diameter)

 

 

Thank you House of Gems!

 

 



Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 9 & 10)

In case you missed it:

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 1 & 2)

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 3 & 4)

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 5 & 6)
Sea themed fabric book! (pg 7 & 8)

Here it is, the end of the fabric book!  For pages 9 & 10 the shapes were attached to the pages using iron on adhesive, and the eye details and words were done in puffy paint.


Starfish - page 9
 

sea themed fabric book - starfish

Angel fish - page 10

 



sea themed fabric book - angel fish

 

I stitched 3 buttons on this page to look like bubbles, and to give a different texture.

Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 7 & 8)

In case you missed it:

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 1 & 2)

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 3 & 4)

Sea themed fabric book! (pg 5 & 6)
Sea themed fabric book! (pg 9 & 10)

 

Here are pages 7 & 8!  (next week I will post the final 2 pages, so be sure to come back to check it out!)

 

Page 7 - the Seahorse

 

Sea horse - sea themed fabric book

 

 The scrap fabrics I used on the seahorse were from: this spring jacket, and this pirate costume skirt, and the other fabric is from a pair of pajama pants I made.

 

All of the shapes making up the sea horse were attached to each other and then to the page with iron on adhesive.

 

 

Page 8 - the Stingray

 

stingray - sea themed fabric book

This gray material has gotten a lot of use!  I can't remember how many yards of it I bought but I made this fleece pullover, this fleece jacket and this cat bed.  I still have a lot of scraps from this fabric left, so I imagine you will see it pop up again :)

 

The flannel material used to make the pages was leftover fabric from this cut chenille blanket

 

 

Sea themed Fabric Book! (pg 5 & 6)

Check out pages 1 & 2 of the cloth book, pages 3 & 4 of the cloth book
**update: pages 7 & 8 of the book here, pages 9 & 10 of the book**

 

Page 5 - the Crab

 

fabric texture book - crab

 

Does the red fabric look familiar?  It's a scrap piece from Hubby's Prince William costume from Halloween a couple years ago!

 

 

 Page 6 - the Octopus!

fabric texture book - octopus

Fabric scraps from a dress I made way back when

 

It's so much fun actually getting to use scrap fabric for a project, I love going through and remembering all the projects I've worked on in the past :)

 

Pages 6 & 7 will be posted soon!



Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 3 & 4)

Check out last weeks post to see page 1 & 2 of this fabric texture book! (and pages 5 & 6 of the cloth book!)

 

 **update: pages 7 & 8 of the book & pages 9 & 10 of the fabric book here**

 

 

Page 3 - Turtle

 

The turtles shell fabric was cut from a scrap of fabric that I made a baby blanket out of for my niece.  The ric-rac is leftover from a quiet book page

 

The turtle was attached to the page with iron on adhesive, and the ric-rac is sewn on. 

fabric texture book - turtle

 

Page 4 - Oyster

This orange & white material was leftover from a tank top type shirt that I made back in college.  The pearl is a layer of pearly white puffy paint, and then a layer of sparkly puffy paint, to give a slightly different texture.

 

The oyster shell & eyes were attached with iron on adhesive.

fabric texture book - oyster

 

Come back next week to see pages 5 & 6!

Burlap & Lace Wreath

I've been wanting to make a burlap wreath for so long!  But always forget about them when I actually get to the store, so it was perfect that I nearly walked into everything I needed for the project as it was set up on a cute display in the center of the aisle :)

 

burlap & lace wreath

 

I wasn't quite sure how to wrap the burlap, but thanks to the internet, found lots of helpful instructions.  I bought a medium sized wire frame for the wreath, and one roll of the burlap which had an overlay of lace attached to it.  I can't remember how long the rolls were... but it turns out I needed 2.  You could easily cut your own strips of burlap instead of using the rolls of it, which I may do in the future.

 

After securing the burlap, I attached a couple silk flowers to the wreath and that was it!  Super quick project, it took about 10-15 minutes to make. 

Last minute pirate Halloween costume!

Other Halloween costume ideas & tutorials: Thing 1 & Thing 2, Royal wedding style William & Kate, DIY petticoat, more pirate or witch costume pieces, (more mix & match pirate costume pieces), & Dorothy & the Lion

----------------------------------------------------------

 

 

This pirate costume is so simple to make and can be done very last minute!

 

I just made a basic skirt (with an elastic waistband), grabbed a tank top from my closet, and cut a sash from some scrap fabric and left the edges raw.  Then, I took a couple long strands of hemp and tied knots (maybe every 10 inches or so) and added beads & fake coins to it, and tied that over the other sash.

Simple & comfortable DIY pirate costume

 

That's all. You can easily pair this with an eye patch or bandana, or other accessories

 

 

Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 1 & 2)

Do you have a bunch of little pieces of fabric from old projects that are too big to throw out, but too little to do much with?  Yeah, that big ol' scrap fabric stash that you know you'd have use for in the future...  Well here's a great scrap busting project!  It's so much fun reminiscing on the projects all your scraps are from too :)

 

I made a sea themed fabric texture book for my sweet little niece, and will be sharing 2 pages at a time for the next couple of weeks, so be sure to stop on by again in the next weeks to check it out!

 

I made the cover from fabric leftover from a cut chenille blanket.  The main pages are also made from leftover fabric from that blanket - all the layers of flannel!  Basically the size of the book was determined by the size of those scraps.  I left the edges raw to add more texture.

 

Fabric texture book

 

I've also been super into making Quiet Book pages, so I have tons of pieces of ric-rac, which I thought would add a little pizazz

Page 1: Whale

 

I cut out the shapes of the whale and used iron on adhesive to attach it to the flannel.  The netting is just sewn on in a few places to secure it.

 

The light blue fabric was from this dress that oops... I never finished!  All the pieces are cut...

Oh and that dark blue fabric sure looks familiar.... from Hubby's Prince William Halloween costume

The blue netting was leftover from fixing up an old butterfly net that had holes in it & also made a tutu with I believe (apparently I'm more behind on blogging than I realized!)

Fabric book - whale page

 

I wrote the words and did accents with puffy paint, thinking the texture would be cool.  But, I'm not so crazy about how the lettering came out & next time would use stencils.

 

 

Page 2 - Jellyfish

 

I used iron on adhesive for the purple part of the jellyfish and the eyes.  I stitched a line at the bottom of the purple fabric for added security that the ribbons would stay in place.

fabric book - jellyfish page

 

The purple fabric was leftover from a pair of pajama pants I made on my travel sewing machine while in college (many years ago)!  One day I'll post about that too... it was kind of funny :) 

 

The ribbon sewn on the bottom of the jelly fish was ribbon used for favors at my wedding!

 

**Pages 3 & 4 of this cloth book**
**Pages 5 & 6 of this cloth book**
**Pages 7 & 8 of the book here**
**Pages 9 & 10 of the fabric book **

Doily garland!

Last winter, I helped make decorations for my friends baby shower :)  Her nursery colors were blue & orange, and let me tell you, I found it pretty tricky to get orange decorations at the store.  So, I bought some white paper doilies and some orange Rit dye and made my own.  I poured enough of the dye in the bottom of my pot (that I use only for craft projects) and added water to it, so it was probably about a 50:50 solution.

 

Mixed that all together, then added each doily individually into the mixture, making sure they were covered with the dye on both sides, and were not touching each other.  (I could dye about 3 at a time in my container) 

 

GLOVES came in handy :)  Though I do believe I still had an orange finger in the end.

 

Each doily was probably only in the dye about 5-10 seconds, then I took them out and set them on a stack of old rags so they could air dry.

 

Once they were dry, I cut a long piece of kite string and strung the doilies onto it.  After the spacing looked OK, I added scotch tape to the back of the doily (over the string) to keep it all in place.

 

DIY Orange doily garland!

 

It was so much fun to make :)

 

Didn't get a picture of them hanging on the wall though, oh well.

cloth towel "wet bin"

Hubby & I have been using cloth "paper towels" lately and cloth napkins.  To avoid having to run to the laundry bin after each meal, we now have a wet bin under our kitchen sink.  I empty this out whenever I do laundry, or if it gets full.

 

I used a plastic coffee container, and Mod Podge to add a strip of fabric for a little more decorative look, and also to easily identify the bin.

Simple, inexpensive DIY key rack

10% off in my ETSY store for a limited time!  Coupon code:  HappyFall

 

We've needed a key rack for a LONG time now.  I just wanted something very simple and plain but never found what I was looking for in the stores (at least not for a reasonable price).

 

After losing my keys for the 1000th time the other day, it was time to head to the hardware store!

 

 

We bought an unfinished strip of wood (it was 2" wide 36" long and 1" thick?) they had several dimensions to choose from.

 

DIY Key Rack in 7 steps:

1) Cut wood to desired length (ours is hanging below an 8X10 picture frame... so we made it the same width of the base of the frame)

 

2) Decide how many hooks you need, and mark their spacing on the wood

 

3) Drill holes (smaller than the screw on the hooks) where you marked your hook locations

 

4)  Sand the edges of the wood

 

5)  Stain the wood & let thoroughly dry

 

6) Add wall mounts (I just drilled 2 holes at an angle in the back of the wood)

 

7) Add hooks on front & hang on the wall!

 

 

The hardest part??  FINDING my keys... to put on the rack :)  hahaha.  Haven't lost them since though!

 

 

SIDE NOTE:  Price out the hooks when bought individually, or in a variety pack!  We saved about $6-8 by getting a variety pack of hooks (we did end up making a couple of key racks) rather than buying the hooks in smaller packs.  Now we have extra too for future projects!  

Also, we used squared off hooks rather than the classic rounded hook for a slightly different look.

Wood beaded shirt

You know those shirts with the large wooden beads on the neckline?  I thought they were pretty cute, and bought one awhile back.  BUT, of course it was a hand wash only.  With my particular shirt the only reason it needed special care was because of the beads (not the fabric).

I didn't want to hand wash that shirt, so here was my solution:

 

I removed the beads  (and the entire strap) from the fabric and used a hot glue gun to attach little snaps to each bead (and sewed the other side of the snaps to their associated spot on the shirt)

 

This way the wood beads could be removed so the shirt could be washed, and then snapped back in place when the laundering was done.

 

It worked well for me for quite awhile... but then I forgot the shirt was in the laundry...   Basically it went through the laundry with the beads still attached, and now I see why the shirt was hand wash only!

 

Well, the straps broke, and little beads were all over the washer and dryer... OOPS!

 

But, in the past, when I remembered to remove the string of beads ahead of time, all was well :)

Mölkky lawn game

A couple of weeks ago, my Dad and I made a Mölkky game. 

I googled the game regulations to know what dimensions to cut the pieces.  The lengths were all accurate, but I couldn't find a dowel with a large enough diameter, so I ended up using a 2" dowel instead (this seems to be a common problem).

Martha Stewart has a nice tutorial for making the game.  The measurements we used were slightly different than hers, and instead of painting the numbers on the dowels, I used a wood burner.

Cutting the pieces

 Sanding the pieces

Here's the complete set!

Before I could even wonder how I'd store or carry this game... my Mom pulled a zippered cloth bag from her collection and the game fits great in it.

Beware, this game is VERY addicting!

DIY canvas wall art

Don't forget to enter the MyMemories Suite digital scrap booking software GIVEAWAY by Tuesday June 19th 11:59pm central time!

After painting tons of walls and shuffling decor in our house lately, it was time for some new wall art.  I didn't want anything fancy and didn't want to spend much.  So, hubby hesitantly went along with my idea to paint something for the wall.

I was totally into the idea of a bold color with a silhouette of something, and since we were in the middle of taking SCUBA classes at the time I had sharks on my mind.  Here's what came of my super inexpensive DIY canvas art project.

To be honest, I loved the look when I finished painting it... but after its been on the wall for awhile I'm thinking about painting something else :)  Decisions, decisions, lol.


Here's how I transferred my design onto the canvas:

1) Paint the background color on the canvas (on all 3)

 2)  Draw your image on paper (Since my middle canvas was placed vertical and the outer 2 were smaller, and horizontal, I taped computer paper together in that fashion)

3) Cut out your design and determine which parts of it will be on each canvas

4) Trace it on the canvas (I used a pencil) and paint the inside of the image black (take care to make sure that the image lines up from canvas to canvas)

After hanging this on the wall the image didn't line up just right between pieces.  Instead of pounding more nails in the wall, I just got out the black paint and made some adjustments :)

I actually enlarged the drawing I made when transferring it to the canvas, so it looks a little different than the original paper cutout.

FIX those old flip flops!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway that I'm hosting from PrintRunner.com!  Click HERE to enter by May 25th, 2012 at 11:59pm central time for your chance to win.

How to FIX those old Flip flops!

One of my favorite pairs of flip flops broke...

Since they were so comfortable, I knew I had to fix them.

First, I cut off the old straps from both flip flops.

Now the possibilities are endless from here... I chose to sew new straps out of fabric.

I cut 3 layers of fabric for my straps: A patterned outer fabric, an inner layer of batting, and an under layer of fabric.

I sandwiched the layers and sewed them into a "wishbone" like shape (see below).  I based this roughly off of the old straps.

I used a zig-zag stitch and left the edges looking pretty raw (on purpose) but if you want a crisper look, you could easily turn the edges of fabric under or something.

(Patterned top of strap)

(Underside of strap, yup some parts of this side are extra messy looking, but you can't see them when it's done)

Repeat the process for the other flip flop

Then, put the new fabric straps on the old flip flop.  I brainstormed a few ways to do this... with items I had already sitting around.  I ended up attaching snaps that fit right inside the holes that the old straps were in, but don't slip through them.

Here's the final product!!

DIY pom pom luggage id

We're heading on a trip soon, and I have been procrastinating on packing, big time.  I haven't put much inside the bag, but I have been making pom poms to identify my luggage from the outside!   (the muted toned yarn I have on the suitcase handles needed an upgrade)

Here's a simple DIY tutorial for making luggage pom poms

Supplies:  scissors, thin ribbon, fabric (I used stretchy scraps from a swimsuit I made in the past)



1) Cut long strips of fabric (about 1/2" wide)

2)  Decide how long you want the pom pom strings to be on one side.  Double that width.  Find something of that width to wrap your long strips of fabric around, over and over (see below)

3) Tie a ribbon tightly into a knot around the center of your fabric bundle (in my pic above, the knot went between my ring and middle fingers.  *Leave a long tail of the ribbon so it can later be attached to your bag*

4) Cut the loops (see below)

5) For extra security that the strips of fabric won't loosen and fall out, take 1 strand from each side of the ribbon knot and tie them together.  *Repeat* with all strands, this secures the ball, and fluffs it out better.