The Beast is Done!

I'm so excited. The quilt I started for my son when I was pregnant is finally finished! It's his early first birthday present. I did block out his name for safety, but you get the gist...his full name is above the birth date.

Since we are moving at the end of the week (yikes!) the hubby wanted something to hold his iPad in the car so that the baby could watch cartoons on the road. Here's what I came up with:

To make this, I just modified the Kindle Fire Cover to fit the iPad, and added a strap with velcro and a strap with a hook. You basically just make the case for the iPad with the corner tabs to hold it. When you lay out your pieces, make a 3.5" strap that will go in the center of one long edge. Also make 2 8" straps, one for the center of each short edge. Place them all, between the two rectangular pieces of fabric (along with your corner pieces) raw edges matched, and sew around. Leave a space for turning on the edge without a strap. Turn right side out and top stitch around the entire thing, skipping the corners where your corner pieces are. Then add a clip/hook to the short strap and velcro to the 2 long straps. That way it hooks onto the mirror!

You can see the strap that goes around the back of the
mirror (velcros in place) and the hook that attaches to the D-ring on the mirror

Side view to see how it sits in relation to the car seat.

The Situation Necessitates...

That I take a break for a while. I'll probably still post tutorials that I find and want to try, or things that I've done, but who knows. I have been promising myself that I would finish my son's birth quilt. I started it when I was about 7 months pregnant, and he's now 11 months old and it's still not *quite* finished. I keep getting distracted by other crafts, and I really want to have it done by the time he's born, he's 6 months old, Christmas, the New Year, his first birthday.

So I need to focus on that. Not to mention, we're moving later this month. Not across the street moving either. It's more like across the country moving. Then we're going to go visit family who haven't seen the baby since he was 5 months old...he'll be 1 by the time we get there. I have no idea when we'll get our household goods (with the military it can sometimes take a month before you get them) or even when we'll get a house.

On top of all of that, I have a dear friend who is having a baby soon, so I need to crank out her baby gift. And I'm hoping to go back to work after the move (if I can find anything).

Once we're all moved in, there is another problem. The closest town to the military installation where we will be living is 45 minutes away, and the closest craft store is an hour away. So I'll have to have a detailed list and a good budget in order to make the trip. That means that, no matter how large my list of crafts that I want to do is, I probably won't be doing as many as I am here.

It makes me sad to say that I have to slow down, but with the baby getting bigger and more active, and our lives changing significantly, it has to happen. I will still be selling what I can on the Etsy site, and I am DETERMINED to keep this blog alive, I just can't keep up the pace that I have had going.

See you all after our lives have settled down a bit, and I will post pictures of the quilt as soon as I have it done...it's been over a year in the making!

Win a Free Silhouette!

Check it out all! There is a Silhouette Cameo Giveaway happening over at Little Miss Momma!

Aviator Cap

I follow this wonderful woman on blogger named Amy over at Nap Time Crafters. She has a ton of great tutorials, mostly for baby, but some for herself as well. She doesn't have all tutorials, though, she also has a pattern shop where you can buy the patterns for some truly great products!

I have purchased both her Aviator Cap and her Newsie Cap, but so far have only made the Aviator Cap because, well, it's winter and the Newsie Cap isn't the warmest hat in the world.

A word of warning...measure, measure, measure! I made one that was supposed to be 19 inches, but it turned out to be 21 inches because apparently my half inch is less than her half inch, and when you're using half inch seam allowances it's important! That's OK though, because Monkey isn't done growing, and while it works this winter (aka it's not falling off his head) it should fit PERFECTLY next winter.

Here's a pic of what hers looks like:

And here's what my finished product looks like. No, the right ear flap is not smaller than the left, it's just how it was laying on the table at the time:

Pinecone Elf on a Shelf

These are Ms Perfect's Martha's elves

I found this tutorial for Pinecone Elves and couldn't resist. We all know that the Elf on a Shelf has gotten incredibly popular (and a super fun activity!), but if you're like me $30 seems like a lot for a doll and a book. So, I thought that these little "Santa's Helpers" would be a great substitute! I made all 3 of mine for less than $10, and now I have 3 elves instead of just one. Plus, you can find Elf on a Shelf ideas all over the internet, so you can still participate in the fun!

A couple of suggestions:

• If you don't want to buy the acrylic paint (or you don't have any) for the cheeks, use pink eye shadow. I used a small eye shadow brush, wet it down a little, and dipped it in the eye shadow. Then I just dabbed it on! I felt like I had more control over it, plus, since I have a whole eye shadow palate, I had a lot of shades of pink to choose from
• When you get everything cut and sewn as you want it, use your hot glue gun to secure them in place. That way you don't risk them falling off at inopportune moments!
• Skip the bell/bead/ball on the hat. I didn't really care for it, and it's an unnecessary expense unless you already have them around the house. 

Enjoy!

These are mine, complete with the "village" I put out every year

Christmas Card Garland Tutorial

I've seen several versions of the Christmas Card Garland online, but all of them seem so specific. I wanted something that gave a little more freedom with how it's constructed, while still looking beautiful. So here's my version, hopefully you all like it!
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Christmas Card Garland

Supplies

• Wide ribbon...you can use wired or unwired, festive or plain. I would suggest 2-3" ribbon, just for stability and to get a real feel for the "backbone" of your project.
• Thin ribbon-I use this to make the "hangers" along the ribbon and at both ends
• Wood Clothespins. I got a pack of 24 from AC Moore for just under $3
• Scrapbook Paper...make this as plain or fancy as you want. You can use holiday themed or whatever suits you. (Optional, you can skip this step if you just want plain painted clothespins)
• Paint...Whatever you think is going to work best to paint the clothespins, in colors that you like and that go with the feel of your project
• Mod Podge-I used the gloss
• Foam Brush
• Small Paint Brush(es)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Pen/Pencil
• Waxed Paper (to make clean up easier)
• Embellishments that will fit on your clothespin (optional)

Construction

Step 1: Lay down a piece of waxed paper that is big enough to fit all of your clothespins. Paint your clothespins in your selected colors. You need to make sure to paint one "face" (the flat side), the small ends, and the two sides where the pieces of the clothespins come together. Whatever you feel will show. You only need to paint one "face" because the other one will be covered with scrapbook paper (or not, if you choose to skip that step). Make sure to do enough coats to achieve the color you want (I used 2 coats). If you are not using the scrapbook paper, skip to step 4.

Step 2: When your clothespins have dried, lay the "face" of one on the wrong side of the scrapbook paper. Trace around the edge of the clothespin, getting as close as possible. Cut out your piece of paper. Repeat for all clothespins.

Trace Around Clothes Pin

Step 3: Mod Podge your scrapbook paper pieces onto the unpainted face of the clothespins. Using the foam brush, put a layer of mod podge on both the clothespin and the wrong side of the paper. Place the paper on the clothespin, mod podged sides together, and line up edges. Make sure to press down the paper well and keep rubbing it so that bubbles don't form. When you are sure that the paper is on there to your liking, use the foam brush to put a layer of mod podge over top of the paper...it will dry clear.

Step 4: After Mod Podge has dried (I would give it overnight, it can stay a bit tacky for a while)Hot glue your embellishments to your clothespins (on top of the scrapbook paper, if you used it). I chose to use "jewels" for my embellishment, just to give it more bling. I have seen buttons, felt bows, little Christmas Trees, berries, etc. used. Just go with what feels right to you...even if that's not putting anything on there!

Step 5: Cut your wide ribbon to the length you need. I chose to make mine about 2 1/2 yards long, so that it would hang where I wanted and still have a bit of "swag."

Step 6: Cut lengths of your thin ribbon 4" long, as many as you need to achieve the swag you want. I didn't want my swag to be too long, so I cut 4 lengths. Hot glue the thin ribbon to the back of the wide ribbon at evenly spaced intervals. On the ends, make sure to fold the end of the thick ribbon back over the thin, so that raw edges don't show.

Step 7: Hot glue the BACK of each clothespin to the FRONT of the thick ribbon. Space them however you like. I tried to be as even as possible, because I'm a little OCD that way.

YOU'RE DONE! I used command hooks to hang my garland from the counter that divides my living room from my kitchen. I love these because they are barely noticable, and come off clean. 

Enjoy!

Stylized Ear Warmer

So, I found this great ear warmer tutorial over on Pinterest. One version of the finished product looks like this:

I love this. It's easy, it's fast, and it's a great gift!

Here's what my finished product looks like:

I liked the look of one big flower on there. Of course, the picture isn't the best because it's not in natural light, but you get the general idea.

If you're interested in it, here is the link to the original tutorial over at Delia Creates. (OK, it's a link to her simplified tutorial, but she also links to the first tutorial on there if you're interested.)

I made this one as a gift, but I liked it so much I just may make one for myself as well!