Cutest paper on the block{s}

I LOVE these blocks...the young women were doing them in my old ward and my craft buddy and I have been talking about making them for months!

• I bought a 4x4 thing of wood (which isn't a true 4x4...its actually 3 3/4...lame)
• Cut them to be true squares
• Sand all the edges and corners (an electric sander is faster)
• Paint all of them edges and corners brown (or whatever color you prefer)
• Mod-Podge paper with a sponge brush on all sides and there you go! (Less mod-podge is better...then that prevents bubbles on the paper surface
• the letters I traced and cut out and then mod-podged on!
  

Step 3: Details

Like I said before, it's all in the details. Before the actual party I mapped out the backyard into sections and made sure that there was something going on in every party of the yard to maximize the space. Some of the areas we had included: obviously the tables, we also had a cotton candy machine (a great gathering location), a fire pit where I displayed my parents wedding photos, the outdoor kitchen that had water and butter mints along the bar, and a deck with seating on it as well. Here is what I did for the centerpieces. Lots of candles, buckets with sand and tons of sea shells! Totally simple and cheap! The buckets I got for a dollar each and I got the sea shells at the dollar store and the candles my aunt already had! What a deal! The serongs were also a great way to incorporate color and my aunt already had them. It was very elegant and romanic!
The outdoor kitchen area. (That's my husband BBQing the chicken for the party dinner!)
I hung serongs not only to give some more color, but to hide their yard stuff. It was as great way to stick with the theme and to hide things! And to the left is the cotton candy machine.

We borrowed some surf boards from a friend to really give that beach luau feel! It was a fun touch to add!

Perfect Pink Blankie

Evie loves her pink silky blankie from Target. My friend Amber taught me a fun new way to make a baby blanket, so I tried it out using the minkee & flannel backed satin. For the first blanket, there were a few puckers, but I still think it turned out so cute. I made it for my sister's new little girl. It will be such a soft blankie for her. I want to make a big one for me!
All laid out.

All tied up with a tag.

General Directions:
You need 2 squares or rectangles, one bigger than the other with equal distance on either side. I used the dimensions of 27"x 27" for the small square & 45"x 45". That means you should buy a 1 1/4 yd. for the main fabric & 3/4 yd. for the middle.

I then ironed each square in half and then in half again--to find the middles of each side. (Just picture a square divided in half widthwise & lengthwise.) Then match the middle of smaller square to middle of larger square. (Your fabric should be facing right sides together.) Then sew a straight stitch from the middle to the end of the smaller square on both sides. Then repeat on all sides. Leave an small opening on one side to turn the blanket inside out to finish.

Then lay out your blanket so the excess main fabric is laid out equally around the smaller square. Iron to make a nice crease. You will notice you have these flaps of fabric on each corner. You need to iron these corners to make a diagonal crease. It will be one crease but you need to iron in two directions to make this crease. Straight stitch on this crease, for each corner. Trim the excess fabric. Turn inside out.

And iron one more time all the way around the blanket. And to finish, stitch around the smaller square to secure the blanket together, being sure to stitch over the small opening to close it up good. One day I'll have nice tutorials, but these will have to do for now. Sorry!

Arrangement

I love flowers! They are such an inspiration of creation and they, of course, bring a smile to my face. I got these flowers for my birthday...I received them in the usual way....flower.stem.vase. They were so beautiful and I thought it would be fun to enjoy them a little differently. Instead of the usual flower arrangement (in a vase), take a floral foam block and cut it down to 2 1/2 x 2 x 2 1/2. I got it at the dollar store...so you can get them really inexpensive. In the process of making this, I was surprised at how many flowers you need to how small the foam ends of being. I used approximately 35 mini roses. I cut the stem to about an inch away from the flower and stuck them in the foam accordingly. I added the bow on the top to hang in my kitchen! I love how it turned out. The next time you get flowers, try something new like this!

Hair Clips

I saw these cute hair clips on a website for $7.00 for two of them. I thought, I could make them just as cute for way less, and I did! I bought the metal hair clips at Sally Beauty Supply, a pack of 100 for $5.oo and the brads and Michaels 12 for $5.oo. And I already had the ribbon. So each clip came out to about $.50 a piece! I just hot glued the ribbon to the clip. I cut off the metal pieces of the brad and hot glued that to the ribbon on the clip...I'm also going to make more with just ribbon and some with buttons as well...so many possibilities!

Crayon Roll

So I have seen these crayon rolls for a while now, I just haven't had a reason to make one... until now! My little niece is turning two! I think this will be just perfect for her. I used a couple of different patterns, but mostly one from

http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/on-a-roll

I was in a hurry to make and send this off, so you get to see it without crayons. I know, pretty disappointing. But I'm making a few more because this one was so easy! I used a cute bright animal flannel on the back, a lilac flannel for the inside and a terrycloth chenille for the pocket(which I lined before hand. I used a pink grossgrain ribbon across the pocket and a separate pink ribbon for the tie.
And of course, I made a matching card. I love how it ties on the side just like the crayon roll does. I put patches of the animal flannel on the front and the back with a zig-zag stitch. Then stitched the ribbon across the front and back. Threw on some little stickers, stitched an inside to write on and it's done!

And now, the pouch...

I love slings (pouches). I have used them, do use them and will use them long in the future. They are great for when you have a little tiny newborn that likes to sleep, or a little baby that likes to snuggle but look out at the world while you do things, and now with a pre-toddler that you need to take with you places and know where they are at. It makes carrying them a breeze. Takes all the weight off and doesn't even hurt your shoulders. The one on the top is made just out of a cotton. Then as you can see I've also made them out of stretch denim, stretch cotton, home decorator's fabric(canvas), fleece, t-shirt, and lycra. I really like all of them. It just depends what fit you like best. For a newborn, it's better to use a stretchier softer fabric so they can snuggle closer. As they get older, it matters less and less what fabric you use, but something with a stretch width wise is what will work best.
So if you think a sling might be for you, here's how you make them.

Measure loosely from edge of shoulder to edge of inside hip bone. This is the number, example I am a 24.

Cut a piece of fabric 22" by 2 yards.

Fold fabric in half, lengthwise, then fold up so all four open corners are to the right.

Measure the top edge of the sling. This should be 1/2" longer than the shoulder to hip measurement.

Now measure the bottom edge. Add 3" to the previous measurement.

Now cut a half smile from the bottom mark to the top mark.

Unfold fabric widthwise and sew the 2 ends together along curve you just cut.

Now turn pouch inside out and encase the seam you just made. Be sure all excess fabric from the 1st seam is encased in the new seam.

Next sew, encased seam down (this is called a french seam).

Now that french seam is done, you will sew the raw top and bottom edges of the sling. Simply make a 1/4" hem on each side. Be careful when you get to the part where you french seam is, you may have to adjust your machine for the thickness of 3 layers of fabric.

**Sometimes I have to really stretch and make it fit when I sew the raw top and bottom edges. Depending on what fabric you use, it doesn't always match up that great.

*** Also if you want to add a pocket to the front so you can carry keys, binkies, money, whatever--so that you are really "hands-free" here's how. Just cut a square of whatever size, hem the sides and then sew it on . Put it towards either the top middle of the bottom middle, so that when you use your sling it will be facing in the right direction. I like to put mine over the french seam so the pocket is right in the middle of the sling.

****ALSO, you can add cording to the edges of the sling so that there is padding for the baby's legs and neck. If you do this, just measure a length of cording that you want. Instead of doing a 1/4" seam on the raw edges, do about an 1". Then cut a slit in the seam, and slide the cording in, encasing it, until the middle of the casing is in the middle of the french seam. Then just do the same on the top if you want. (I just do the bottoms of mine.)

Again, if any of you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Nursing Cover

I had a baby shower this weekend to go to, so I decided to make her a nursing cover and a sling (pouch) but I'll show that later on. This is the nursing cover, a.k.a. "the hooter hider." It is so simple to make and is just a life-saver sometimes.

This is just two pieces of material 25" x 33", a 12" piece of plastic boning, a 6" x 6" pocket and then 20" strap for neck. You sew the pocket on to back side.

Make the casing for the strip, turn it inside out and sew it on to the right side of the front fabric piece.

Then sew the two big pieces right sides together, make sure the strap edges are in the middle and not stuck in the edge somewhere. Sew the bottom three edges, leaving a space to pull it all all through in.

Then with the top edges, fold them over about a 1". Slide the boning through the hole. Find the exact middle. And then stitch the edges of the boning in place & stitch along the very edge of the boning all long the top to secure it in place.

Turn it inside out through the hole. Then top stitch all around the cover and Voila... you're done! I know... the directions are probably confusing. I didn't take pictures as I made it... and I should have. If any of you have any questions, just ask... I'll try to explain better. But really it didn't take me more than an hour to make.

Here is the front of the cover. Remember, you can do the neck strap different ways. You can just tie it together, use velcro, use D-rings... whatever you come up with. This is just the easiest for me. You just slip it on and off.


Here is the back of the cover, I made it out of corduroy.


Here is the little pocket I put in the inside of the cover. You can put a cloth for wiping the baby's face, spills, put binkies, keys, toys, whatever you need to here. A lot of people make this pocket out of terry cloth, so it is a towel in itself. I just wanted to match the pocket with the front... so I didn't do that.


And of course, here is the matching card. I covered it completely in fabric and stitched around the edges. (I used a manila folder for my base.) Then I added a rub on, "Love at first sight" --pretty applicable for having a baby, right? Then a final bow stitched for for the finishing touch.