My Sewing To Do List for 2012

Thanks to Pinterest I have a huge list of projects i want to complete!  Several are for myself to dress up my craft room a bit. Here is what I am going to be working on...

-Curtains for under my desks, I need to hide all the supplies i have stored under there and add more color to the room.
- a sewing machine cover
- an ironing board cover (to match the sewing machine cover)
- curtains for the window
- just found these cute terry cloth (AKA Towel) shower curtains today!

The CopyCat Bag... Thank you Pinterest!

For my birthday this year, my hubby took me to JoAnn's and let me pick out whatever I wanted. Since I was neck deep in Christmas projects I was grateful for the break and decided to spend the afternoon making myself a little something!  I found this purse on Pinterest and I fell in LOVE.  So much so that I even snagged the same fabric used in the tutorial to make my own. 

While there is quite a bit of cutting, this was a pretty easy tutorial to follow and within a few hours I had a new purse!  I added some pockets to the interior of the purse to hold chapstick and such. In retrospect I would have also put in a snap to close the bag. When I made this same bag for my sister in law for Christmas i put a snap on hers. 

This purse has gotten quite a few compliments and it is roomy enough to be a perfect mommy bag!  

(just tried to link back to the blog post where the tutorial was given and the page it no longer being found.)

Christmas Gifts

Christmas has come and gone. All the gifts were completed (by the 22nd, I might add!)  Final count of projects:

13 hostess aprons

2 full aprons

9 BBQ aprons

12 Lego bags

3 robes

5 PJ bottoms

1 purse

 Here is my nephew's lego bag. I LOVE how this one turned out. The shark fabric is just adorable. These are great for all children but since I have A LOT of boys to make gifts for these were perfect. Basically this is a huge circle with drawstrings in it and when playtime is over you can just pull the drawstrings and put the pouch away.

Here is some of the assortment of aprons I made. Hostess aprons were a hit among the family.  Since most of my crafting is done at night I don't have very great pictures. These were pretty simple overall and the coordinating fabrics make them just adorable.

My boys just love their robes and have been wearing them around the house. I must say they look just adorable in them.

SEW much to do!

Christmas is a mere 89 days until Christmas and I still have not really even begun to make Christmas gifts. I have known what I was making since LAST Christmas and yet, NOTHING! I have 6 sisters, 4 brother in laws, 2 sets of parents, a hubby, 4 kids, and my close friends and their kids to make gifts for. So I have begun having craft nights several times a month. I have enjoyed these since I have been inviting friends to come create with me. Nothing better than working with friends. Last Friday I got ONE present completed and that pushed me to get 3 more started. I am on my way!

Adorable Apron

I am making aprons for Christmas presents so I have been on the lookout for online tutorials. When I found this tutorial I fell in love!  This is the cutest apron with such attention to detail. So one day during the boys naps I decided to test it out. I have LOTS of these to make so I wanted to see it if was possible to use this pattern.

Before the boys woke up from naps, I was done with the apron! It was that simple. Definitely going to be making these as gifts. Since making this one, I have gotten 1 more completed and 3 more are about 1/3 of the way done. Yeah!

Hero Snacks - Father's Day Gift

If I have learned anything over the past few years it is that when you make gifts for guys, snacks are always a hit! Every time I have to make something for a guy, I struggle to find an idea I feel they will truly enjoy. So when I saw this Hero snack kit on a blog, I instantly knew this would be perfect!

I took a taco box from Del Taco (that is used to house their 6 taco and 6 burrito deal) and covered it in paper. It has become a habit for me to save items that I can use for packaging or a cute craft. When I saw the Del Taco boxes I knew they were perfect for something! 

I then printed off the labels on cardstock, cut them out and then adhered them to the various packages of snacks with either glue dots or staples. I got snacks that I knew each guy would like (for example: Bryan's  vitamin pellets were sunflower seeds but I used honey roasted peanuts for my dad and father in law). 

Here is my sweetie on Father's Day afternoon enjoying his "hero juice"! 

Summer Activity Jar

Here is the finished product! Our Summer Activity Fun Jar is complete and full of fun ideas to entertain my little men all summer. Cards are color coded - blue is for easy to complete activities, green activities are outside fun, and orange are trips that involve money or a bit of notice (like a SeaWorld trip).

The boys are enjoying choosing a card each day and seeing what they get to do! My oldest is dying to pull the "silly string war" card. It will happen soon enough but for now we are enjoying doing things together.

Download the Summer Activity Fun Cards.

Sweet Girl turns 2

Zachary is friends with a sweet little girl named Macy who just turned 2! Her mama has a small addiction love for pillowcase dresses so I knew the perfect gift for her. I found adorable bright colored fabric that matched Macy's bright and sassy personality and off I went. This was whipped up while all my little guys were napping one afternoon! Can't wait to see her in it!

Thinking WAY ahead

I saw these adorable stuffed sea turtles and knew my nephew (well, his mama!) would love them. Might just have to make him one or two of these for his 1st birthday. He is only a week older than my youngest so I have quite a while to get them made.

We all know, I am a planner :)

Summer Fun

My boys are already wanting to constantly be entertained now that summer is here.  Without activities to break up the day, they very quickly get bored (despite the hundreds of toys, games, and books in our house!).

I saw this idea for a summer activity board and a few others on various blogs that were quite similiar. It sounded like the solution I needed to keep my little men happy and to save my sanity over the summer. I am currently in the process of making my own version. I just finished making the cards on my laptop after brainstorming a list of activities with the boys and my hubby. Now to decorate the huge pickle jar we just polished off and start using it!

Marshmallow Guns seem like a great way to entertain my rambunctious little men. I think daddy will be making a trip to the Lowe's soon for the supplies!

A Sweet & Sexy Shower

 My sister-in-law Kim recently asked me to help her with her best friend, Amanda's personal shower. She did a great job with all the planning and just needed a bit of help with the tags and such. I was thrilled to get to help with Amanda's special day!  We played the game where each guest brings a pair of panties that describes their personality. Upon arriving each person put the panties they brought in the vase and then we strung them up like a banner and had Amanda guess who they were from. 

Below are just some of the shots of the things we made. It was a success and lots of people commented on how cute everything was. Kim did a great job and I was happy to be able to help her.

 Water bottle wraps

Tags for the wine to go with the theme:

white was sweet, red was sexy and the blush was blush 

(it is a lingerie shower after all!) 

Tags for the glasses with each of the ladies names printed on them 

Special glass for the guest of honor! 

The yummy sweets table

(I once again forgot to take a picture once we had ALL the food set out) 

Sweet and Sexy banner

"His Banner over me is LOVE..." Song of Solomon 2:4

I love to craft and I love it even more when I get to create things for others. So when I saw this post for a blessing banner, God placed someone special on my heart immediately. You see my sister-in-law and her husband have been praying for a child for quite a while now. God for whatever reason has not allowed that to happen... YET!  Well, after seeking medical help they are going forward with IVF this month!  Our whole family has been praying that they would be blessed with a baby. I don't know any couple that would be better parents!  

When they do get blessed with a little one, Angie said she would decorate the nursery in brown and pink or brown, blue, and green.  With that information, I was off to the fabric store in search of fabric for her very own blessing banner. As some of you may know, IVF (invetro fertilization) is not an easy process and it involves hormone shots. This was quite scary for Angie and Tim. I wanted to get the banner made before she started her shots so she would have something positive and encouraging to focus on. 

 

Once I picked out the fabric, I cut out rectangles in each of the patterns as well as smaller white rectangles. This is where our family would all write our words of encouragement, Bible verses, etc for Angie and Tim.  Once all the cutting was done, the rest came together pretty quickly (sorry, but I am HORRIBLE at remembering to take pictures of each step as I work!).  I sewed on the top flaps of coordinating fabrics, then the banner was sewn onto a wide ribbon. To finish it off I tied a few different size and colors of ribbon in between the panels. 

Here is one side of the finished banner before the family wrote on it. There were 8 panels for writing and then the center was a panel with a pink heart on it. As I was pinning the banner together, God placed the verse, "His banner over me is LOVE..." on my heart. That is the perfect verse for this project. It was a project to show people that we love very much that we are here for them and behind them in all they are going through. 

If I only had a girl!

...she would LIVE in pillowcase dresses!  Now, I really do love being a mommy to my 4 adorable and energetic boys. They are loving, helpful, super sweet, and stinkin' cute!  While I would love a daughter, I wouldn't trade my boys for anything. 

But, when I come across adorable crafting projects for little girls I can't help but dream about how a little girl of my own would look sporting a huge hairbow or a homemade skirt I made for her. I have always been a fan of pillowcase dresses. Several friends of mine have precious little girls that model them often. So one day, while wandering around JoAnn's in search of inspiration, I decided I would make a pillowcase dress for my sweet friend Tracey's daughter, Emma who was turning 3. I found an adorable fabric, grabbed some coordinating ribbon and I was ready to sew!  

 After a quick search on Google for a tutorial, I whipped up a pillowcase dress in no time (well, almost no time. I had to stop at one point and wait until I went to JoAnn's again the next day for some bias tape). These dresses are SUPER easy to make. And of course I had to make hairbows to go with it!  Since Emma was having a sweets themed birthday party, she needed candy hairbows!

I would make one of these for every occasion...

if I only had a girl!

Mother's Day Gifts 2011

It was that time of year again. Time to create presents for the mom's in my life. This year TWO of my sister in laws were mommies so I made these frames for them. 

I didn't take pictures of the presents I made for my mom and my mother in law. They actually aren't fully finished yet for a couple of reasons. 1. Bryan needs to drill holes in the frames and 2. they are just adding on to the picture frames of all their grandkids from this post. My mom had one new grandson born this past year and my mother in law gained 2 new grandsons. Needless to say, they needed more frames added to their gift from last year :)

Sweets Themed Baby Shower

My sweet sister-in-law, Kim is expecting her first baby mid-March. She LOVES candy and so when deciding on a theme for her baby shower, a candy theme immediately caught her eye!  It was so much fun planning the invites, candy bar, centerpieces, and wall decorations! 

 Candy Bar - all Kim's favorite kinds of candies in various glass containers.

Guests took home bags of their own candy mix!  It was a hit!

 Centerpieces - Diaper cake, paper plate lollipops, and washcloth lollipops

 Favors - a little lollipop with tags we made

 LOVE the Dum Dum topiary! 

It was super simple to make and looked adorable!

Basket for books for Josiah

Nice jar for raffle tickets for those that brought diapers and wipes

Valentine Chair Bags

 I saw these bags on this blog and I knew immediately I had to make them for the boys!  Such a cute way to remind them how much I love them during the month of February. They really weren't too hard to make and the boys loved waking up each morning to a little treat inside!  

I had lots of leftover felt so I made a few "girlie" versions of the bag with ruffles for some friends. I sold them for $20 each. One of my friends came over and told me they sell these at Pottery Barn for WAY more than that!  Might have to make more of these for next year. Mama could get lots of craft supplies with just a few orders!

Coloring Book Bag and Crayon Roll

For my nephew's 4th birthday I made him a coloring book tote bag and a crayon roll. These are great things to take with you anywhere and keep a child entertained! 

Inside view of the bag (with pocket to hold crayon roll). 

 Crayon Roll

My Crafting To Do List...

I have already been busy searching for fabrics for next year's Christmas gifts (hey, I am going to be a mom of 4 children ages 6 and under come March and Christmas comes VERY quickly!) I figure if I make things little by little I can be stress free come November (here's to wishful thinking! LOL).

So far on my list of things I need / want to make:
coloring book tote bag - for my nephew's bday in January (crayon roll is already made)
Valentine chair bags for all 4 boys
burp rags for my SIL
a book sling for Zachary and Ethan's room (made from the 2 valances I don't need)
baskets (again, out of a valance that goes with the boys new bedding)
nursing cover for myself :)


Next Christmas gifts:
Lego sacks for 9 boys and 4 girls (their's will be Barbie sacks)
BBQ aprons for my BILs
aprons for my sister, mom,  MIL and SILs (and Bryan too)

Better get busy!

Mama's Got a Brand New...

SEWING MACHINE!!!

For a couple of years now, I have wanted a sewing machine for Christmas but other crafting gifts has preempted it - my Cricut, my Gypsy.  Since our family is about to grow to 6, we are in need of a large vehicle so I figured Christmas wasn't going to be a big deal this year.  Boy was I wrong!

My hubby surprised me with a fabulous sewing machine!  The 26th of December that puppy was out of the box and I was reading the instruction manual.  After quickly figuring out how to thread the bobbins and the machine, I was off.  I had some fabric scraps on hand and I set about finding patterns I could download.

I soon got to sneak away to JoAnn's for some fabric and I found some amazing things!  I found fabric to make the boys tote bags for their Awana books, fabric on clearance for purses and for next year's Christmas gifts (Lego sacks) and the like!

I have had the machine a little over a week and have already made the following:
3 purse type bags for "my" girls (my BFF's daughters)
2 tote bags for the boys' Awana materials
2 Buttercup bags
a crayon roll
a nursing cover

Christmas Crafting

So I made all the gifts we gave away for Christmas, however, I didn't take pictures of ANY of them :(  So horrible!  I guess I need to get back into blogging so I am in the habit of taking pictures of my creations.