Grandma's Quilt

 

My mom has made a quilt for each one of her grandkids...and Andrew's has finally arrived. I found the tutorial on Jaybirds Quilt Blog. It's called the Radio Way Quilt. Since I sewed Andrew's crib set and matching curtains and changing table cover, my mom used the same fabrics to make his quilt. I love how it turned out! She then handed the completed quilt to a "quilter" to stitch a fun design throughout the quilt...she even sewed his name in it. 

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Emily's Artwork For Dad

 One of the things on Craig's Christmas list this year is an art project from Emily. I wanted it to be something pretty cool that he could easily display on his desk at work. I saw a few examples of this style of art on pinterest and so I thought Emily would have a lot of fun with this.

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DIY Chore Chart

Now that I am staying home full time, the need for these charts quickly presented itself. I'll begin with the chore chart. Honestly, this chart is more for me than it is for Emily. There are so many things that Emily can now do on her own but I kept doing them for her out of habit. I'm simply going through the house grabbing things as I go and constantly picking up...which is doing Emily a disservice. For example, Emily is absolutely capable of taking her dirty dishes to the sink all by herself. She is able to pick up all of her toys when she is done playing with them. She can get dressed and (for the most part) she can brush her teeth all by herself. These are all things that I was doing for her because I just get in that mindset of "do...do...do", I want to clean up, put things away, get her dressed and ready, etc.

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DIY Reindeer Ornaments

This is an oldie...but a goodie!! I made these ornaments with my mom when I was super young, and I had a blast making these with Emily this year.

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DIY Discovery Bottle

I have seen so many tutorials on how to make your own discovery bottles, I seen them in stores (whether in a bottle or in a bean bag)...and so I decided to try to make my own. They looked super easy.

MATERIALS:
~ Empty Plastic Bottle
~White Rice
~Variety of small recognizable objects (buttons, charms, etc)

I found all of my small items at a local craft store. They have a small jar with random buttons that I chose from. I also bought a couple of button sets to use as well. Before I placed the objects in the empty bottle, I put divided them up by similarities and took pictures of each of the sets. Then I put a few items in the bottle, followed by some rice...then a few more items, and little bit more rice. Repeat those easy steps until all of your items in are in the bottle. I left a few inches at the top of the bottle so that there would be plenty of room to shake the rice when searching for the different items. Once it was done, I hot glued the lid onto the bottle so that Emily couldn't open it up in all of her curiosity.

Andrew's Nursery Udpate

Emily's Nursery

When we put Emily’s nursery together, we made the “base” of the nursery very neutral so that we wouldn’t have to make a lot of changes to the room if we had a boy in the future. Emily’s nursery was cute…we painted the walls a soft sage green and then on the wall behind the crib, we painted wide stripes with the same sage green color…only it was a different finish: flat/semi-gloss. In my opinion, it was the perfect subtle touch to the nursery. The furniture was a cherry finish and the crib set was a done with gender-neutral colors: greens, creams, and brown. To add the “girly” touches, we added hints of lavender color through accessories that could easily be changed out if we had a boy in the future.

Enter Andrew…and three years later…I became bored with the nursery and wanted to change a lot more than I needed to. In order to keep Craig happy, I had to make the changes in a budget friendly way…so off to my sewing machine to dust it off. 

I found a couple of great tutorials for making a new crib set as well as a super cute contoured changing pad cover. Here are the links along with pictures of my finished projects. 

This tutorial was very easy to follow for someone who is a "beginner" sewer. I found this on the "SEW4HOME" website, which offers many step-by-step tutorials. I completed my bumpers slightly differently. Instead of sewing each individual bumper, I made one super long tube for the bumpers. As I sewed it, I inserted each bumper, and then sewed the tube more, and then inserted another bumper. Between each bumper, I sewed a seam down the middle of the tube so that it could easily bend around the corners of the crib. I was SUPER happy with the end result. As for the ties...I simple hand stitched satin ribbons between each bumper. It turned out perfectly!!!

 

As for the crib skirt, I didn't have a tutorial to follow, but I did have a couple of pictures that I wanted to model my skirt after.  This was the "look" that I was going for (minus the ruffles...after all it is for a boy's room). So, with my mother's help, we put the crib skirt together and I couldn't have been happier with the end result. We used a super big bowl to make the rounded edges in the front. Then I used a pre-made biased tape for the edges around the front, sides and back. As for the peek-a-boo portion, I used a small rope with the brown polk-a-dot fabric (the same that I used for the top of the bumpers) on the bottom.

Now, as for the window in the nursery. For Emily's room we had a short valence and baby-proof blinds to block the light out. Unfortunately, due to the position of the window...when the sun would set the light would pierce through the perimeter of the window and landed directly in the crib. Craig's solution to this problem...pin up a black bed sheet. It was so ugly, but as long as it was functional, Craig didn't care.
Fixing this problem was on the top of my to-do list for updating the nursery. I saw this picture on Pinterest, however it wasn't a tutorial. I liked how the window matched the style of the window in the nursery: tall and thin. I also liked how it gathered on one side of the window in order to let some light in.

Those were the major updates to Andrew's nursery. You can see that we switched out Emily's butterfly's above the crib for letters of the alphabet. Once we finish with the decorations, I'll post pictures of the completed nursery. I can't wait for it to come together.

DIY Button Monogram

I found a ton of “pins” on pinterest with these beautiful buttoned monograms and I knew that I wanted to do one for Emily’s room. I followed this link to a great tutorial, Element Monogram Tutorial by Jen Jockisch

Materials Used:

~Printer
~Frame
~Cardboard
~Fabric
~Spray Adhesive
~Scissors
~Hot Glue
~Buttons

I scrolled through all of the fonts on my computer and found the “E” that I liked the best. I used “word art” so that I could make it super large and bold enough to be able to fit a bunch of buttons inside.

For the frame portion, I cut out a piece of cardboard that would fit perfectly into the frame. I then used the spray adhesive to evenly glue my fabric piece directly to the cardboard and then over all of the edges to wrap around to the back. Then I placed it into the frame and closed the back of the frame just as I would if I placed a picture inside.

I took the piece of paper that I printed the “E” on, cut out the “E” in such a way that it kept the paper in one piece and simply had a hollowed out “E” in the center. By doing it this way, I could tape the paper in place, on top of the fabric, and begin placing the buttons inside of the “E”.

I started with the larger sized buttons first so that I could evenly disperse them throughout, followed by the medium sized buttons to fill in the majority of the “E”, and then ended by placing the tiniest buttons to fill in the left over holes.

Once everything had found it’s place, I started gluing it all down, one button at a time. 

When I glued the very last button, I removed the paper (some of the paper did get glue on it, so I used tweezers to pull of the paper out from the glue under the buttons)…and I just LOVED the finished product. It turned out so much better than I imagined, and it was so much fun to do!!

The Big GENDER REVEAL

The day has finally arrived! We had our 20 week ultrasound today, and due to my lack of patience, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for very long from my family…so we HAD to have our “gender reveal” party the same day.

When we found out the gender of our first baby, we went to both of our parents homes and brought in a HUGE gift bag that had a balloon inside that announced the gender, “It’s A Girl”. Then we showed them the ultrasound pictures…my dad needed some more convincing then a simple balloon. (He has ALWAYS asked for a grand daughter…and didn’t want to get too excited about it).

Back to the present day announcement…now that pinterest is available, it is loaded with so many ideas for any and all occasions. I came across this "gender reveal pin" and I knew this is what I wanted to do with our family

 I found a tutorial on youtube that showed an easy way to get the frosting/cream inside the cupcake. I used a corer/peeler to cut out a small hole in the center of each cupcake and then I saved the little plug to place back on top of the cupcake after filling each of them…and then finally placed the frosting on…and *PRESTO* they are ready to reveal the gender of our newest addition. (I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find the link to the same tutorial that I used or I would attach a link)

So, we invited both sides of the family over to our house that evening. We were so excited to see everyone’s reaction when they bit down into their cupcakes. I had my camera ready…and…my when we counted to three my mom TOTALLY cheated and instead of biting into the cupcake she just tore it open and yelled out in excitement!! It was a lot of fun to see everyone’s expressions as they found the center of their cupcakes. Take a look: 

More DIY Headbands

WOW...these last few weeks have been crazy busy, and CRAZY overwhelming. I'll fill you in about all of that later. In the meantime, there were a couple of days that I was able to accomplish more DIY headbands during Emily's beloved nap-time!!

One of my favorite blogs that I follow: LITTLE MISS MAMA, is having a headband challenge HERE. So I thought I had better get my butt in gear and show you the rest of the headbands that I have created from other tutorials that I have found.

The first one I was so excited to make because I loved the picture from the tutorial that I found. You can find the tutorial HERE from Lee La La.

In playing with my hair...I think that, for me and my hairstyle, it is a lot cuter when my hair is pulled back. I like that this can be dressed up or down and look SUPER cute!! This was SO easy to make. I followed the tutorial exactly and had no problems or struggles.



The next headband I made...I think that I need to change it up a bit. It definitely has the potential to be SUPER cute, but since I am "new" at the whole headband wearing look, it is too big of a statement for me to make. So, the only change that I would make is to use a smaller width of lace and maybe even a smaller diameter for the accessory as a whole.
You can find the tutorial HERE from Little Miss Mama

The next headband was actually fun to make. It uses satin fabric, and the only satin I had was 1 1/2in wide ribbon. So, if I were to make this again, I would actually go and buy some satin so that I could have more liberty at choosing the size of the circles that I could cut. I like this a lot, but I would also like to see how slightly larger circles would turn out.
You can find the tutorial HERE from (again) Joy Is At Home

Because my satin circles were smaller than desired, I ended up making three flowers and then hot gluing them together to create a little more presence. I didn't actually glue them to the headband, I just slipped in a hair clip so that I could have the option of attaching it to a decorative headband that I recently purchased from JoAnns or I could clip it to a more subtle hairband, or I could just clip it right on to my hair.

DIY Headbands

I have come to cherish Emily's nap times!!! My daily routine has consisted of making sure to do my chores in the morning, then spending "play" time with Emily, and finally, when she goes down for a nap....it's MY time!!! For some reason I have had this craving to make hair accessories lately, either for me or for Emily...or even for friends as gifts.  I have been looking at a bunch of different blog tutorials and I found a handful that I wanted to make. To get started, I had all of the tutorials open in different tabs on my laptop and I made a list of all of the materials that I needed to get...and then it was off to the store.

Saturday, during Emily's nap time, I was able to bust out a couple different accessories. I already can't wait to make more, but this week is going to be super busy for me, so hopefully I can find a day or two this week to make more.

This was my first headband. You can find the tutorial HERE from Little Miss Mama. It is SUPER easy, and CRAZY cute. It's one of those things where you say, "Why didn't I think about that??"

 

Here is the one I made. It actually rook two tries to make this. As easy as this should have been, I didn't take into consideration that the headband needs to stretch when you place it on your head...so when I finished my "first" headband, I went to the mirror and attempted to place the headband on my head...and then...BING!!! POW!!! Just like that hilarious commercial where the buttons fly off of the pants of people eating fast food, a couple of my buttons that were on the very top of the headband flew off with such power. It was pretty funny!! For the fix, I just popped the rest of the buttons off and started all over. For my second attempt I ended up finding a box that I could stretch the headband across so that when I glued the buttons on they would be in the perfect position...and IT WORKED!!! I love this headband!

The second hair accessory I made turned out a lot better than I thought it would...only because I didn't trust that I had the patience or enough talent. The tutorial that I used can be found HERE from Snips & Spice

This one took a little bit of patience, on my part, only because I am such a perfectionist and a cheap wad...I was so afraid of messing up and not being able to reuse the zipper. The tutorial I used was really good because it had a ton of pictures for each step of the process. It took a little while getting used to making the corners of the triangle, but I got the hang of it. The length of the zipper I used for this was only 17 inches long. I ended up hot gluing a small piece of the leftover zipper fabric on the back to make a little tunnel-like thing that I could attach my bobby pin, or a clip, to to put it in my hair.

I have A LOT more tutorials that I will be working on the next few weeks, and I will continue to share with you how they turn out. The headband that I'm in the middle of working on now can be found HERE at Joy Is At Home. The only reason I'm not finished with it is because Emily woke up from her nap :)

I should find some time by the end of the week! Can't wait to show you!

Birthday Ties For The Gentlemen Guests!

Yes...if I'm going to make something for all of the girls to wear at the party, I certainly don't want the boys to feel left out. I had two ideas: Ties or Crowns. Craig immediately vetoed the crown idea (even though I still like it and I think it fits the tu-tu theme really well). Craig liked the formality of the ties for the tu-tu party a lot better...so ties it is!!

Materials

• Fabric
• Fusing Material
• Felt (by the yard)
• Iron
• Tie Pattern
• Pen
• Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun
• Hair Clips (Sally's Beauty Supply) 

This is super basic, and easy to make. I let Craig pick out the fabric for the ties, and then we purchased matching felt to fuse to the back of the fabric so that it helped to keep the tie flat and stiff.

After fusing the fabrics together, I placed the pattern piece on top and traced as many ties as I could.

Then, go ahead and cut out the ties

Now for the back of the tie. I didn't want to glue my hair clips directly to the tie because I thought it would kind of be a waste. I can recognize that no one is going to really keep these ties and reuse them the following Sunday at church. So, to save my clips I decided to cut small strips of felt approximately 1 inch long by 1/2 and inch wide. Then I placed a dot of hot glue on both ends of the strip and placed it on the back of the tie near the top. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this, but you can hopefully visualize from the picture below. The idea of the strip of felt is that I can put one part of the hair clip behind the strip.

Here is the final product. So, when the gentlemen arrive, they just pop on the tie and are ready for the tu-tu party...all dressed up!!!

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Tulle Flower Tutorial

As you know, Emily's 2nd Birthday has a TU-TU theme, so I am trying to do as much decorating as I possibly can with tulle. For her 1st birthday, it was so much fun having the guests be involved in the theme by wearing antennae headbands...so I wanted to come up with a way to involve the guests for our upcoming tu-tu party.

Without embarrassing everyone and having them all wear tu-tu's, I thought I could make some sort of a hair accessory for the girls...and then Craig and I thought it would be fun to have the guys wear a fun exaggerated tie.

I found a video on how to make these flowers here: Tulle Flower Video

The video does a great job of showing you how to make these. I'll show you my step by step pictures and show you just how easy it really is:

TULLE FLOWER TUTORIAL

 MATERIALS:

• Tulle
• Scissors
• Embellished Brads
• Tea Light Candle
• Glass
• Tweezers

1.  Cut your tulle into circles the size of your choice. I just grabbed a cup from my cupboard and used it as a template. I didn't want them to be too big because little girls would be wearing them...but not that I think of it, it would have been SUPER cute to have over-sized hair accessories. Don't forget, the size of the flower will be much smaller than the circle you make

2.   Take one circle, at a time, and pinch it in the center.

3.   I piled about four circles together and held the centers with my tweezers.

4.   Place the tulle circles over the flame...NOT IN THE FLAME!!! The heat inside the votive holder is enough to melt the edges of the tulle circles. Continually rotate/move your tulle circles around so that you get an all-over melting effect.

5.   Take the pinched circles and open them up.

6.  Place the circles, from smallest to largest, onto your brad. I placed six circles on each flower. I wouldn't do any less than that because it didn't seem to have enough presence.

7.   Close the brad to lock the tulle in place.

8. I used hot glue to connect the flower to the hair clip. I just placed a strip of the hot glue on the metal of the brad. Then, before I placed the hair clip in the glue, I pinched the clip to open it up because I didn't want it to be glued closed. A lot of times, people use felt on the back of hair accessories to attach them to clips or headbands, but I thought that a felt back would look to heavy on the flower. The hot glue worked really well.

And there you have it!!! Easy, fun, and totally cute!!!