Finally, something I made.  It’s about time, right?

It felt so good to use my sewing machine again.  I have missed it.  I always feel so creative, at peace, and having fun when I’m creating something.  I just love it (wish I had more time to do things).

My friend just had her little boy (Noah) and we’re taking dinner over to her and her family tonight.  She and her husband are huge Beatles fans, so I found a cute Beatles onesie on Etsy (and after getting it, I think I could have done a better job…the image is blurry and I am quite disappointed over that).  I had planned to make her a couple of burp cloths using the two brown minky fabrics I have on hand (diamonds and dots).  Then yesterday, I came across a tutorial on how to make a swaddle blanket for a baby.  I just had to try it out, so I did.  Perfect timing and it made my gift complete (frog not included).

The tutorial is very descriptive and easy to follow.  It’s so simple, but just takes a short bit of time to make the cuts and sew it all together.  I’ll be curious to see how it works with an actual baby in it.  I only wish I had found this tutorial before Brody was born.  We swaddled him in receiving blankets for just over a month.  This would have worked so much better (it would have stayed on him better without falling off).

So, there you have it…a creation I made (finally).  Hopefully you won’t have to wait that long again before I show off something else I’ve created.  Click on the image below to see how it works.

I have so many things lined up to create in my office (one being those toilet paper rolls and the bleach pen). :)  Anyway, here are two quick things I made this past weekend.

Here is a headband holder for little girls headbands (too small around for adult sized headbands to stay on, so mine were having a hard time staying in place for the picture).  Headbands can store around the tin and if you take the lid off, you can put bows, barrettes, and hair ties inside.

I made this for my friends daughter who was looking for a way to store headbands.  I used one of Brody’s cereal canisters, although the tutorial I followed used an empty oatmeal canister.  I used what I had on hand, but an oatmeal canister would certainly allow for more storage inside and headbands outside.

The next thing I made were flowers out of napkins.  I had so much fun with this one.  I want to make so many more, but have no clue where I’d hang them or display them.  They’re SO easy to make and the tutorial I used had wonderful step-by-step directions.

I ended up making a few more after I took this picture, but you get the idea.  If you see colored napkins at the dollar store, pick some up and try this tutorial out.  So fun and so cute.  I keep thinking that if we have a little girl one day, I’m using these flowers to decorate her room.

For the past five weeks, I’ve been involved in a Mommy’s Secret Sister exchange. It’s been so much fun! I love this group of women, but hadn’t had the chance to meet a lot of them yet, so this was a great way to meet people.

Last night we ended our five weeks with a “reveal” night. Dinner was provided. We handed out our week 5 gift and then also had to give a thank you gift to the Secret Sister who had us (very unique twist on this). I can’t wait for next year to come. I had so much fun buying for my Secret Sister and receiving from my Secret Sister (always finding fun surprises in my mailbox or on my front porch).

As my thank you gift for the person who had me all five weeks, I gave her a gift certificate for a pedicure and made her a recipe album that stores 40 recipes. She said she enjoyed cooking and scrapbooking, so I thought I’d scrapbook her a place to keep recipes. It was fun to “create” again. Now I just need to get to my toilet paper rolls which are adding up in front of my eyes. LOL!

Enjoy the pics!

I had a bit of free time during one of Brody’s naps and went through all of my scrap paper trying to find coordinating papers. I created a few cards (just testing the waters).  I’m not too thrilled with them, but not completely disappointed either.

Just thought I’d display them since I hadn’t put anything creative on my blog lately (still need to get to the toilet paper rolls (I keep adding to my pile) and the bleach pen).

Last night I went to a “Mom’s craft night”.  Our craft…freezer paper stenciling.

I’ve seen so many people blogging about freezer paper stenciling.  It looks so simple (and it is).  I had so much fun looking online through stencils and picking out things I wanted to stencil on onesies for Brody.

In case you’re interested, I found some of my stencils from the Microsoft Clip Art collection and some from a stencil website.  I also found two great tutorials!  One with a video and one without, but both with step-by-step instructions.

The hardest part is cutting out the stencil (takes the longest too).  The freezer paper works like a charm with no seepage.  Try it out.  You’ll be addicted!

Ubuntu Logo

Baby Tux (can't remember his name)

A mouse

A frog

An owl

I recently found some cheap paper sets for coffee and birthdays.  I haven’t had a chance to do anything with the birthday paper pack yet, but made some cards and envelopes out of the coffee paper pack.

I thought they turned out pretty cute for the little time that went into making them.  The paper is a bit too thick though, so the folds on the envelope look as if they were ’sandpapered’.  Not the best thing to happen as it appears that the envelopes are about ready to fall apart (although they’re not). The paper is double sided, so the envelopes look like they have a liner in them (colored on the inside).

Just thought I’d share my latest creation with you.  More to come (when I get more time at my project table).

I’ve seen cute fabric soft blocks for babies and thought I’d try to make one over the weekend.  It was very quick to put together and I added some brown ribbon “tags” to grab on to.  I printed out a “b” (not large enough…wish I would have rethought that) and then traced it on some fabric, cut it out, and sewed it on (horrible sewing job).  Anyway, thought I’d show you all (should have gotten a picture of Brody with it).

On my birthday, I had someone place an order from my Etsy store for a recipe fabric holder and 12 recipe cards.  This Etsy listing had been sitting in my store for probably a year.  I hesitated even re-listing it, but when I did, it was snatched up.  Yea!

This same person just emailed me a couple of days ago requesting another one to give as a gift.  I sent her a picture of my fabric that I have on hand for her to choose from.  I just created it today and it’s getting shipped tomorrow.  I was creating the recipe cards on my computer when I turned around to my project table to see Oscar sitting in my chair (I just had to get a picture - see below).

I just placed an order for some more supplies and hope to get cracking on being creative in the next couple of weeks (once things come in).  I need to restock my Etsy store.  Stay tuned for more updates on my creations.

I made three fabric journals this past week.  It was so fun to get out the sewing machine again.  I have a custom order for a recipe card holder (fabric) and recipe cards that I’ll be working on this weekend.

I hope to take time to make some more fabric journals to list in my Etsy store.  The three ring binder kind.  Two of the journals I made this past week have already gone to their home.  The third journal (the quilted one) is being donated for a raffle to March For Babies.

I’ll post pics of new creations as I make them.

So….I just found out that Danielle from The Conservatory Girl has a giveaway.  Kathy, from Creative Home Expressions is hosting the giveaway on her blog.   Check it out here.

Each person has up to three chances to enter.  This giveaway runs through Thursday, March 4th at 8pm, so be sure to head on over there for your chance to win something from Danielle’s Etsy Shop.