I LOVE making and mailing things in handmade envelopes.  There’s just something about them.  To open up your mailbox and see an envelope that is something other than white, is so much fun.

My niece is a crafting extraordinaire!  She’s been making things left and right this summer and her creativity amazes me.  She received a Cricut for Christmas and has been making several cards.  Right now she’s into making 6″x6″ cards.

She’ll occasionally text me and tell me something to put on her wish list for her birthday or Christmas (so helpful).  Her latest “wish” is an envelope template.  I have two brands of envelope templates in various sizes. If she sticks with making cards this size, there probably is a better choice of a template for her.

I made her one of each size (from the two brands I have) so she could see what better fits her cards. My guess is…it’s going to be the larger envelope, so I decided to make her a handful of them since she doesn’t have an envelope template to use yet.

On four of the envelopes, I experimented with rub-ons to add something extra.  I like how it turned out.  I’m also including (not pictured) labels for each envelope so you can read the address since some of the envelopes are a bit dark  (I use 4 inch oval labels and wrap part of it to the back of the envelope to be a bit more unique).  I use the scrap paper left over to make cards or use in other projects, so I’m mailing the scraps home to her as well in hopes that she’ll find a use for them too.

Look in the mail Abby, you should get them late next week.  Hope you enjoy!

I made Peanut Butter Graham Truffles tonight.  I found the recipe on a weight loss blog that I enjoy reading (of all places, right?).  They are SO good, but very rich!  Easy to make, but messy.  Worth it though.

Photo taken from faithfitnessfun.com

Peanut Butter Graham Truffles

• 1.5 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1.25 cups crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 12 oz dark chocolate

1. Put everything but the chocolate in a mixing bowl and mash it all together with your hands until evenly combined. Refrigerate for one hour.
2. Roll the mix into even sized balls.
3. Melt the dark chocolate and then dip the truffles in the chocolate!
4. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to eat.

Last night I went to a MNI (Mom’s Night In).  It was a craft night (right up my alley).  It’s been a while since I’ve taken a “mom’s night” and Jason was happy to have full-time dad duty for the night.

There were four of us and we made Etched Soap Bottles.  All of the supplies were already purchased for us, so all we had to do was follow the instructions and voila, art for your soap.

We started the night out just chatting and getting to know each other, then started in on our “craft”.  It was so unbelievably simple (kids could do this).  We used stickers to spell out our word of choice and painters tape to create our straight lines (for those that chose to make one like mine). The etching “paste” was already in a pre-made bottle.  We just used a paint sponge applicator and “glopped” (am I making up words?) the etching paste (very thick) in the areas we wanted to be etched.  We let them sit for about 15-20 minutes (5 minutes was all that was needed, but we got to chatting).  Then you rinse the etching paste off in the sink, dry off, and you’re done.  It’s super fast and so simple to do.

We used a tutorial from lil blue boo’s website.  And here’s a picture of our bottles we created (I love that we all chose to do something different).

My mind is now racing on all of the things I could etch.  LOL!  I even went to the scrapbook store today and purchased some Doodlebug Paper Frills (totally went there for something else but then ran into these).  How cute will those designs look etched onto something?  Plus, I can use them in scrapbooking projects too.  They come in all different colors.  I chose teal.

I NEVER use to wash dishes by hand.  My Mom taught me that if it doesn’t go in the dishwasher, then it’s not worth having and I wholeheartedly agree. Of course, then came Brody and his feeding utensils and such. We only have so many and we don’t run our dishwasher daily, so I needed to hand wash his items (which I gladly do).

This bottle will house his dish soap (and he is particular on what I use…don’t get me started).  I’m also imagining that you could use this type of bottle to put bubble bath in and etch the word “bubbles” on it or use regular hand soap, etc…  The possibilities are endless.

If you make one, send me a picture or let me know what you used and what you etched onto it.

I found a cute little bookmark in one of my RSS feeds this last week.  It looked so easy to make, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I’ve never used my sewing machine on paper before, but I was quite impressed.  I love the look of it!  I’m not exactly thrilled with my paper choices or combinations, but honestly just wanted to give it a try.

I wish I would have taken time to put a saying on them.  They do look a bit unfinished.  I guess I could find rub-ons, but it’s not really worth my time. Hmmm.

Can you believe it?  I made something!  I always forget how relaxing and exhilarating it is to sew.  The proud feelings that come with creating something from almost nothing (just throwing some materials together).

I’ve had this project on my “to-do” list for months!  It was so easy to do, didn’t require a ton of materials and turned out so cute.  I didn’t make just one, I made THREE!  I followed a great (very descriptive) tutorial.

I plan on using mine to hold gift cards.  It’s not like I have many, but it’s a great way to have them all in one place so I can see what I have and can find them easily.  Forgive my dirty ironing board cover.

We don’t usually give Mother’s Day gifts to the Mom’s because quite frankly, they have everything they need and don’t need trinkets to collect dust. My Mom prefers the personal touch (something that took time, something that I created).  She’s quite happy with a card, knowing that I took time to go to the store and pick out that one-of-a-kind perfect card for her.  I’m not sure about Jason’s Mom, but I will say that she’s a hard one to buy for (and you can only give so many Michael’s gift cards, which are truly an impersonal gift after the um-teen time).

This year, I decided to make the Mom’s a fabric bookmark and put it in their card.  Something simple, something I created and put thought and time into, and something they can use (both Mom’s are avid readers).  I made a couple of extras (one for my sister, one for me, and a couple of extras just to use up the charms).

I found two tutorials online (here and here) and just used them for reference.  I basically cut my bookmarks to whatever size I wanted and did my own thing (I’m a rebel, I know).  I stole the ribbon idea and the charm idea from these two blogs.

And if you’re wondering which one I kept for myself, I kept the one that has the charm that says, “miracle”.  I figured it was appropriate since Brody is a “miracle” to Jason and I.

It’s done! IT’S DONE!

I can’t tell you how great it is to have that sense of completion. I love this quilt and love the meaning of it (all of the memories from Brody’s first year of life). I love that it will be a treasure forever!

After putting the quilt together, it dawned on me that I didn’t include the shirt I had made for him for his 1st birthday. Duh! It would have been the perfect finish to this quilt. So, I did the next best thing. Since this shirt wouldn’t be worn again, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to cut it up, so I cut out his name that was on the front of the shirt and just stitched it on to the bottom of the back of the quilt. Done! Memory added. I then took the sleeves from this same shirt and used them to stitch on to a t-shirt to make it long sleeves (sorry, I don’t have a picture of it and it’s in the laundry now). Turned out great! Perfect use of the scraps!

I also added on my three14creations label to his quilt. I took a close up picture of it, but it’s a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

Here’s a more detailed view of the front of the quilt with a few stories to the onesies (in case anyone is interested).

Thanks for your patience. I have no clue why this took me so long to complete. Sheesh! What a treasure now!

I started working on it again today. I used the sewing machine to sew one half of the binding on (the rest will be by hand). Brody had to assist me and was quite funny. I captured a few photos and a video of him playing with my binding. He was having so much fun!

At the end, I had to use my iron and took the cover off of my wall iron. He immediately grabbed it, drug it around for a while, then popped a squat in it with his frog. And look at one of the photos of Brody “marching” through the binding (it’s a blur, but still funny).

Zen what?  Exactly!  I wondered the same thing.  In a word, it’s a doodle. A structured, contained doodle.

I just heard the term “Zentangle” for the first time a week ago.  I immediately was interested in finding out more, so looked it up online.  I joined a swap (more about this swap place in another post).  What better way to try this Zentangle thing out than to join a swap and be forced to create not one, but two for my swap partner.  Thankfully everyone involved in this swap are new to Zentangles, so I’m guessing no one is going to judge me too harshly.

I have to say that I had so much fun creating my Zentangle pieces.  It was quite relaxing and to now sit back and look at my mini pieces of art, I feel very proud of my creations.  I will state that one of my pieces has a “C” in it because my swap partners name is Celine.

Here are my two creations.  My very first Zentangles…

To read more about Zentangles, go here and here.

So…

One of my sewing projects I wanted to work on was this simple little handbag.  I had the thought that I would use it for toting around Brody’s restaurant items when we go out (bib, utensils, snacks, etc…).  Only one problem, it’s not deep enough to hold everything.  Oh well, still cute and I may be able to put some small books or toys in it or something.

I made the template myself (following the design look of what was in the tutorial).  It turned out just as I had hoped, but I guess I should have thought through the depth that I was truly wanting before starting.  Oh well.

I used the fabric that I had on hand for Brody’s quilt that came in the wrong color along with some extra “car” fabric that I didn’t use from his quilt.  I lined the inside with the car fabric and also made two buttons using the cars.  So cute!  I even added a pocket inside.

And, just in case you were wondering, it is NOT a “one-hour bag”.  Maybe if you have your template made, traced on all of your pieces of fabric and all of the fabric cut out and ready to start sewing. 

Without further adieu…

My handmade handbag