A year in crafty review.

We had such a great Christmas. I’m overwhelmed by the service and love shown to our little family this year and especially this Christmas season. I’m sure some of you read my blog so I want to say thank you, a million times thank you!

This year has been a tough one in some respects and very blessed in others, so in some ways I’m sad to see it go but so thankful to get to move on. I thought it would be fun to end the year with a picture of my favorite project from each month this past year.

Those are just my favorites. I can see I need to branch out and do a bit more than just sewing this next year. Where’s the paper? Where’s the spray paint? Where oh where are the pictures? Lots of good things to come this next year, I can feel it deep down. Lots!

On this day way way way back in the 70’s

My favorite person was born. I can say way back since I was born in another decade entirely. He was 2 weeks shy of being in my decade to, but he’s not. So he’s old. In a very cute and grizzly beard, only slightly older way.

He’s out of town right now working so I miss him like crazy and don’t get to see him today but I know he checks my blog (he’s my favorite blog stalker) so Happy Birthday! He always likes to post embarrassing pictures of me on special days so I thought I would return the favor. Unfortunately I’m out of embarrassing picture ammo but I do have this little gem. Proof that artificial trees do have a place in the home. He’s putting broken limbs back on his gargantuan live Christmas “bush” with the drill. If you stand back far enough, and don’t mind the oozing sap, you can’t even see the green zip ties ;). Love you and see you tomorrow!

In crafty news the Christmas dresses were finished on time but not without my fair share of tears and chocolate. This is the best shot Cody could get of them all, thank goodness dad is home on the weekends because I was in the bathroom freaking out at this point lol! Don’t pay any attention to my homemade priority box child gate on the stairs… I told you not to look!

And this is what I’ve been up to since I finished the dresses. Goldilocks and the Three Bears peg people and their little Tudor cottage. I can’t even say the word “Tudor” without snickering (yes, I’m a twelve year old boy) but that’s the look I was going for.

I blogged about the peggies and where I got the house idea from here. The kitchen is a little sparse in the appliance and chair department so I still have a few things to finish. I’m sure I’ll be doing that on Christmas Eve.

Only 2 beds. Goldilocks must have already been over and broken one. Uh yeah. That’s what Kaci is going to hear anyway ;).

The 3 is symbolic. It’s for the three bears who live there and also because Kaci is three. She associates the number 3 with being hers. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it has a 3 on it- it belongs to Kaci. She tells me “me three” instead of “me too” all the time. Love that girl.

And a little bag to carry all the bits in. I still have 5 p.j. shirts and some shopping to do so I probably won’t be on again until after Christmas.

Have a Merry Christmas full of Christmas bushes, family, friends, and eggnog!

Just thought I would update the ol' blog and added my ornament tutorial to this post, and because every post should have a picture here’s my favorite funny this week.

I’m plugging away at Christmas stuff and still need to start and finish 2 dresses by tomorrow so off I go.  Have a great weekend!

No Sew $2 Elf Costume

Ashlyn is going to be an elf in a play tomorrow and needs to dress like one. I’m fresh out of elf costumes. I don’t have a single stitch of solid red fabric left and my time is absolutely zero, not to mention I don’t want to invest precious Christmas making time on something that’s going to be worn for 10 minutes, so what’s an elf mom to do? Hit the dollar store and hope for a miracle.

I was hoping to find a table cloth or blanket to cut into a vest or something but nothing existed. I ran across an elf hat- score! With the hat in hand I was meandering around thinking there had to be something I could use when I saw it- a giant green and red stocking. Perfect! So for $2 and 5 minutes of time we have a girl elf jumper and hat.

Here’s how to make one should you ever need to-

Go to the dollar store (tree) and pick up a jumbo stocking and hat. Grab a tank top out of your summer clothes bin for a pattern.

Fold your stocking and tank top in half length wise. Put your tank top with the folded outside edge on the folded outside edge of the stocking and cut around the outside of your tank, cut some extra length at the straps- about an extra 2” long or so. If the tank doesn’t exactly fit on the stocking (too big, too small) just cut around it anyway until you cut through to the edges of the stocking, you just want a neckline and armpit holes.

I just grabbed some sticky back velcro from my stash and added it to the straps. Done and done. No need to hem it, it’s felt! I would say this fits a little girls size 7 and under.

My mom made me post this, I wasn’t going to but she said I should and one should always listen to one’s mother so there you go. She didn’t tell me to add the lame drawings. I did that part myself ;).

Have a great Wednesday!

Christmas in a Nutshell

Is there anything more cute or more meaningful than a 1” baby in a walnut shell?

Just thought I would share my very favorite ornament idea. We made 30 of these tiny reminders with the little ones at church yesterday, it’s a great craft to do with kids. And a good refresher on how to swaddle a baby for the adults ;).

It’s pretty self explanatory but here are the supplies I used- wire star garland from the $1 store, a walnut shell half, recycled craft paper shreds, a wooden bead (mine was clay because wooden beads don’t exist in this county), a teeny bit of stuffing for the body, and a square of white flannel. We used glue dots to make the little babies with the kids but hot glue is your friend if you’re making them at home.

I can’t believe Christmas is 11 days away… must sew… and paint… and cut… and drink hot chocolate and eat peppermint kisses by the bagfuls. Have a great Monday!

More tortured book pages…

Today is my ornament day, Yay!! I had so much fun and it actually came out the way I sketched it, well better than my sketch. Please visit Kristin’s blog and while you're there peruse all the ornaments and leave them some love!

Remember those tissue paper ornaments you used to make in Kindergarten where you cut squares of tissue paper and dip the end in elmers glue, dying your fingers red and green for the next year? We’re going to do a grown up version today, minus the elmers and tissue.

You’ll need-

1. Hot glue gun
2. Yucky old plastic ornament with bite marks on it.
3. Paint brush with a thicker handle.
4. 2 sheets of thin scrapbook paper or about 7 book pages cut into 1” squares. You could also use wrapping paper… whatever you have that’s thin.
5. Glitter and paint in the same color
6. Piece of cardboard, an old shirt box works great.
7. Strip of paper 3/4” wide x 8 1/2” long with your favorite phrase or name printed in the center.

For the book page ornament I cut the squares 1 1/2” and inked the edges with brown ink. The blue and book page ornaments started with the same size ball, just bigger/smaller paper cuts to get the different sizes.

So let’s get cracking-

1. Take a square of paper and wad it around the end of your paint brush. Add a dab of hot glue to the flat end and put it on the very bottom of your ornament.

2. Keep placing your little paper wads in a circle around your first piece, filling in bald spots as you go. I like to put them really close together. Keep going until your entire ornament is filled up. It takes a while so put on Princess Bride and settle in.

3. Once your ornament is filled up and you’re happy with it, it’s time to destroy one side. Find the front of your ornament and smash it flat a little, rip out one of your wads if you need to, we just want a flat spot to glue the embellishment.

4. Cut out a shape from your cardboard and paint it. Once the paint is dry smear on a little elmers (I lied, I did use it) and sprinkle with glitter. Cut little bird beak triangles from the ends of your paper strip and fold the tails in towards the center. Fold the tails to the outside again to make your little banner.

5. Using hot glue, glue your banner to your shape by just the tail pieces. It makes the banner pop out that way. Glue your shape to the flat side of your ornament and viola`. You are done and it was so easy! I’m planning on making these with the names of my kids on them to hang with their stockings.

If you have a minute, don’t forget to show me all your awesome ornaments!

Hands on kid craft

I wanted to pop in and show you the gift we made in Primary for the teachers for Christmas. Hand print aprons! I got the idea from Hilary (private blog) who made them for school but it worked great for church to.

It took us 2 Sundays and a bunch of help since we kicked out the teachers and other leaders so it would be a surprise. We did 13 total including 4 that had every primary child’s print of some sort, but it wasn’t too bad. I would have blogged it sooner but a few teachers read my blog so I had to keep it on the down low until they got them this week.

All I did was buy a white apron from Joann’s, printed “We Love Sister Whateveryournameis, your 2009 Primary Class” on iron on, and stitched on a fabric heart. We used foam brushes to paint the watered down paint on the little hands before pressing and wrote the name under the hand print using a super fine tip sharpie.

I think these make a great gift that will be fun to have when those cute little souls turn into martyrs to acne 10 years from now. Cody is working out of town, possibly for the next 5 weeks (home on the weekends) so I’m off to start another project that should last into the wee hours. Bring on the thrashed house and cereal for dinner ;).

I don’t have much time these days, now that I’m Santa’s tallest pudgiest elf and I have a bunch of crafty things I volunteered to do.  I always volunteer before I write my to do lists then kick myself afterwards. Ack!!  I’m taking a break for a second to show off the dress I made for Kennedy.  No pattern, just measurements and random armpit hole cutting.  

That’s another check off my Christmas to do list.  If anyone wants the tutorial for this dress or Ashlyn’s apron tunic thingy just let me know and I’ll see what I can do after Christmas. 

Critter Condos

In the Baxter household we have welcomed just about every kind of animal. The time always comes when we see these same animals find new homes for one reason or another or expire. Expiration of an animal is hard for little kids. Mostly hard because mom doesn’t want to replace said animal. Once it’s gone… it’s gone.

My kids loved Jeremy’s hamster Thunder. Thunder lived much longer than her life expectancy and finally bit the sawdust a few years ago. The girls have always wanted a hamster of their own and after the Thunder experience and having a hamster in our heating ducts three times- no thank you. She’s gone, never to be replaced.

I want to personally hug the Cepia company. I want to give them big sloppy kisses for making Zhu Zhu pets and saving me a little guilt. I want to slap them for not making enough and making them and their accessories so darn hard to find.

I got my grubby little hands on all 4 pets for Christmas (I have the best aunts ever!) but I refuse to go insane looking for the other bits and pieces, so I made my own. I started some peg people houses for Christmas last year but never finished them, I didn’t like the way the people fit in the house. They just so happened to fit the one zhu zhu I opened perfectly so I finished them up last night. I made them little sleeping bags to keep them cozy in their little cottages (I am not paying $20 for 4 hamster sleeping bags!).

If I finish my other projects I might add a door to the front and make some food dishes or something else but for now I’m calling it done. I need to figure out what to make for Jeremy’s zhu zhu since he’s a bit old for a house but the girls are finished! 5 gifts down… 13 to go.

Edited to add- Here's the link to the tutorial I used to make the houses. I used the measurements in the tutorial and they fit great. Happy hamster house making!

Edited to add again- If you would like to make the sleeping bags without breaking into your hamsters here are the measurements. I cut 2 rectangles 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and used a 1/4" seam. My finished bags where 5 1/4" tall and 4 1/4" wide. The bags are a little tall but I made them that way on purpose so it could have a cute cuff. My hamster model is "Chunk" and is the biggest one so these measurements will fit them all. Hope that helps!

12 Days of Handmade Ornaments

I did absolutely no crafting/sewing/scrapbooking last night and instead watched Celtic Woman on PBS.  I was too lazy to get my stuff out to make anything and I was too tired to turn the channel.  I’m not proud of that, especially because it’s not the first time I’ve watched it in a lazy stupor. 

I need to jump up and get something done.  I need to kick start my crafty system.  I need to dig out my gift/Christmas making stuff and get busy.  I think I’m not alone so I wanted to point you guys in a fun direction. 

 

Go check out Kristin of wRIte iT DowN.  For today and the next 11 days she’s featuring a different blogger making a different ornament each day, with the tutorials I might add.  How awesome is that?  Very.  The bloggers participating are some very talented crafters (whom I stalk just a little bit) and I can’t wait to see what they come up with!  Today’s is a fun one with scrapbooking paper, perfect for those of us with a bit of a stash- ahem, from Dani of Craft Rookie.  As soon as I can get my hiney in gear I’m even going to do a feature so go check it out and keep your eyes peeled ;).

The walking dead

We’re back and I am exhausted! Food was consumed by the shovel full and family togetherness was achieved so all in all it was a great time.  I managed to stay awake to shop for 26 hours for the first (and last) time in my life. I got 4 hours of sleep in 2 days. How do rock stars do it?  I’m sure they’re hopped up on more than pumpkin pie and stove top but that’s beside the point ;).  I’m too old and moldy for the new door busters starting at midnight and going on through the mid morning.  What kind of torture to the black friday-aholic is that?

I was so tired and off my game I didn’t snap a single picture.  I was so discombobulated I only purchased things at 1 store for a whopping total of less than $14 spent all weekend.  I didn’t step into a fabric store of any kind and I’m pretty sure I was sleep watching New Moon when we went to the matinee Friday.  Sad, very very sad.

I know how exciting Thanksgiving recaps are so I’ll cut this short.  I have nothing fun to show off today and no embarrassing pictures of my family to share but I will be crafting my fingers to nubbins later tonight and should have something flipping fantastic to share tomorrow.  I should take a nap first though so my craft doesn’t turn out flopping fantastic like my sweater stocking and bubble skirt.  They’re bad, very very bad.

Let the Christmas crafting continue and have a happy Monday!

Little monsters!

I love my sewing machine. I feel the same way about my sewing machine as a teenage boy feels about his first car. It’s not the most expensive model (by a long shot) but at the time I got it, it was a big deal to me. It broke down only one time in the last 8 years and that’s because I never oiled it and it needed a lube job- easy fix. I’ve loved it, I’ve abused it, and I’ve epoxied the crud out of it after knocking the stinking thread holder off a million times and it’s still kicking. We’ve bonded, Singer and I, and I get a little protective of my machine. Especially when the littles are eyeballing it and it’s major sewing season. I know what they can do, I know what I did to my mom’s machine, so it’s a lose a limb if you touch it kind of thing for now.

Well earlier this week I broke the thread spool holder thingy off again so that meant more epoxy and an over night break for the poor thing. I was in the middle of a project so I fixed it up and was planning on pulling it out first thing to start back up again in the morning. When the epoxy was dry I found this-

Some little gremlin twisted the threads around the presser foot and then practiced tying their knots in the back. Oh lovely, but I cut the threads and was back in business. Or so I thought until I noticed that I missed one crucial little problem as the result of the knot tying-

It bent my needle so when I went to sew it caught in the presser foot funny and the middle section came flying at my retinas. For one split second I saw it coming and thought “this is probably going to hurt” as I just sat there. Luckily I’m a bit too tall for eye poking and it jabbed the side of my nose instead. I’m lucky I’m not blind.

The kids probably wish the needle did succeed in ruining my vision so I wouldn’t be able to see the perp who messed with my machine! I had no time to look for the little criminals (and I feared for their safety should I find them) so I just changed the needle, found my pliers to remove what was left of the old one from my foot, and chanted “You love her, you love her, you love her, you love her” Mater style until this was finished-

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I made one of the suspects model for me even though she didn’t want to because “Mommm…. it’s not pink- yuck!” to which I replied “That’s alright sweet pea, it’s not for you”. Not now anyway.

You love her, you love her, you love her, you love her.

And the truth is I do. I even love that she doesn’t like the orange so I can give it to Ashlyn and have an excuse to make another… as if I needed an excuse ;).

We’re leaving tomorrow so I can go mess with my mom’s machine. I’ll be back Monday stuffed and 10 pounds heavier so until then-

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Taking a Calgon moment with a terrible book

Nothing makes a girl feel better when she’s down than to curl up with a terrible book, an ink pad, and a glue gun and craft this-

I love taking a break from day to day stuff and getting immersed in a book. What? That’s not what you do with your books? Don’t worry, no good books were harmed in the making of this wreath. After I came across my 6th bad word after only a few chapters I knew I was doing the world a favor. By the way- don’t read my wreath! I found the tutorial from Living with Lindsay and already had a book that I needed the cover for but not the pages, perfect.

As you can see I’m taking a break from thinking up my own stuff to make and using other tutorial that have been in my things to make folder for a while. Another project I finished this week was this little wall thingy that I hung above my computer.

A little reminder. Sometimes I need reminded, even after they pull on my legs and yell mom for the 1000th time. The saying and wall art idea I copied from Home Sweet Hideaway. The T*I*M*E letters are a tutorial from Happy Together. I made mine smaller in a different font. They are so fun to make, really quick and easy. I’m all about easy this week, and ice cream ;).

I’ve compiled my Christmas lists, tallied up how many gifts I need to start making, and found a million projects that have nothing to do with anything that I want to do instead. I think I’m going to start stockings today… or maybe pajamas. I just realized my pajama pants, the pair I’m wearing right now, have a gigantic hole in the most unflattering spots ever so probably the pajamas first ;).

My scrunchy gathered scarf

I’m not a scarf wearer, I think they look great but it kind of freaks me out to have a large wad of fabric tied around my neck- weird huh. As soon as I saw this tutorial for a scrunchy gathered scarf I got over it and made myself one. The tutorial is great and her scarf looks awesome. I love mine and it was so easy to make. Took me 20 minutes tops start to finish. My model tried to take mine so I have a feeling I’m going to be making a bunch more.

The red striped knit is from my stash and it’s 68” wide. The tutorial calls for a 72” cut so I was 4” shy by using it width wise but mine wasn’t quite so gathered so it didn’t matter to me at all and saved a bunch of fabric in the long run. I only had to use a 10” cut off the end instead of a 2 yard cut off the side. My fabric was only $1.50 a yard so my scarf cost me less than $.40- Sweet! Now I have the other 1 3/4 yards to make something else.

I also learned you can use stretchy bead cord in place of elastic thread in an emergency. I can’t find my elastic thread and I’m not going to town anytime soon so I pulled out my jewelry supplies and wound this stuff in the bobbin instead just to see if it would work. It worked just fine, it’s not quite as bunchy as I would like so I would use elastic thread next time but in a lazy pinch it does work. I’m afraid it won’t hold up in the dryer though but I’m okay with that since it’s for me. Nice to know us lazy girls with hoards of other supplies have options ;).

Thanks Jennifer for an awesome and easy tut!

Technical Difficulties

If you've come to my blog this afternoon and wondered what was up with my background, me to! Someone fantastic decided I needed a makeover apparently and deleted my background.

I'm working on it now and should have it back up and running shortly, looking prettier than ever. I'm html challenged so if anyone knows a great tutorial for putting up your own background and wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction- that would be most appreciated!

Q&A

I’ve had quite a few questions that I couldn’t reply to or think the answer would help more than just one person so I’m going to do a little question and answer post today. It’s no secret I’m long winded when I’m explaining things so I broke it down into sections. Yes, I’m that nice ;).

*Tattered Roses*

Q- Heidi said... I'm here via One Pretty Thing. Thanks so much for a great tutorial with good clear photographs! I've been wanting to learn to make these and your fab instructions made me get up and try it right away. I even bought some more remnants at the fabric store to make more flowers--now I just have to figure out a use for them all!
I'm surprised at how 'tall' mine are--meaning if you set them flat on a table they seem to stick up quite a bit. I thought they would be flatter somehow, since all the photos I've seen of them are straight on so it's hard to tell their height. Are yours tall too, or am I doing something wrong?

A- Wrong? Never! Unless you aren’t making any… that’s wrong. As far as thickness is concerned I noticed with mine the thicker the fabric, both the weight and the width you cut it, the taller the flower. Here’s a side view of mine so you can see how tall mine are-

Some of mine are more flat and spread out- like the satin and some are taller than my rotary cutter (nearest thing I had to compare) and more compact like the knit orange number.

Here’s a question I answered in the comments but I think it’s worth mentioning here-

Q- j.g.photography said... Hi! I've been following for a little while, and when I saw those roses, I HAD to make them right away. I got straight up from my laptop, and made one. A question though, which way do you twist the fabric? I mean, to you twist it in towards the middle, or outward? Not sure if that makes sense) or do you just do it both ways? Mine doesn't look half as cute as yours. I might have bit off more than I could chew...
Thanks for your great tutorial though!

A- Bridget said... Hi Jessica, I'm so glad you tried them! When I twist them I do twist both outward and inward. I also hold the tail higher on the rose in some spots to cover up some of the twists in the middle so it doesn't look so much like a cinnamon roll. It covers up some of the twist I just made but it looks more natural that way.
I'm not picky about keeping the twisting neat either, in fact I try to let it fold over itself and bunch up a bit so it looks a little more random. Hope that helps and if not just let me know and I can take a picture and add it to the tut.
Happy rose making!

Q- may said... I love that necklace! Can you tell me how you attach everything.

A- I’m not a professional jeweler so real jewelry makers are going to cry after reading this. I cut a square of flannel (yes… I’m ashamed… flannel) and set my roses in a U shape on top. I hot glued them to the flannel after I had them where I wanted them then I cut the rest of the flannel away around the back of the roses that wasn’t glued down. My flowers are sitting next to each other but it’s really the flannel backing holding them all together. Then I took an exacto knife and cut tiny pin holes in the outside fabric of the roses on the ends and threaded a jump ring through the hole. Added some chain to the jump ring and viola`. Here’s my embarrassing picture of the back.

To put the little one on the metal ring I used that E 6000 stuff and did a fancy MacGyver trick with a bread twist tie to secure it while it dried. It worked really well, stinks like all get out but works.

If I were going to put the roses directly on clothing I would recommend hand sewing them in place. I’m going to try to hot glue some of mine to a shirt later and run it through the wash because I love a good drama.

*Miss Locks- Peg People*

Q- Stacey said...What a fabulous idea! I'm in love with your peg peeps. Any plans to share where you got your house from or are you making it?

A- I bought my yet unseen house from Michaels in the unfinished wood section about a year ago. I think they still have them but since I live 3 hours from Michaels don’t take my word for it. It’s the c.d. tower that looks like a doll house. I got my idea from here (she includes a written tut) and think I paid around $5 for it but I probably used a coupon to get that price. Details are fuzzy after a year but I’ll post pictures of my finished project… if I ever finish it ;).

Q- Mama Bear said... hi, this is the first time i've seen your blog. love this post on your bear family! i was wondering where you bought the wood pegs? i've seen the wood doll pins, but i've never seen the kind you used. i'd love to make something like this for my girls for christmas! thanks!!!

A- I bought mine from the tiny little hobby store we have in town (no normal stores here) but they are an unfinished 3 pack of wood boy/game pieces by Lara’s Crafts- and the girl version (the ones with a “skirt” look) are from Joanns. I also recommend searching “peg people” in the supplies section on Etsy if you’re looking to buy online. There are some stinking cute painted versions on etsy as well if you don’t want them in the buff.

If you asked a question and I haven’t answered you I apologize and plead the “it’s really late and I’m out of chocolate card” so feel free to leave a comment in this post and I’ll answer. Cross my heart and hope to lose my hot glue gun. I might even do Q&A- Part Deux, complete with more embarrassing flannel shots if need be. Have a fantastic Sunday/I think it’s Monday now!