{6/52} Fabric birthday gift bag

Another cold winter day here, and it's been a day full of laundry, dishes, and sorting through the piles that accumulate all over the house. I was ready for a little break, so I decided to sew up a drawstring bag to "wrap" a gift for a birthday party that Lachlan is going to tomorrow. The invitation is "Monster High" themed, and although I'm not a fan of that show, I thought this little fashion sketchbook would be a fun gift with a box of new colored pencils.

I used a tutorial from See Kate Sew to make the drawstring bag. I have used the tutorial several times, and I love it because the bag is simple to sew, but seems a bit fancy because of the enclosed seams and drawstring. I eyeballed the measurements to make it plenty big to carry another sketchbook or collection of toys. I hope she likes the fun octopus fabric by Cotton and Steel!

{5/52} Valentine craftiness

The first couple weeks of February were full of pinks and reds and hearts as we prepared for Valentine's Day. I found a fun maze Valentine on Pinterest that both Lachlan and Kenley approved for their classmate valentines, so I ordered a bag of heart shaped mazes (I couldn't find a link for the hearts, but look they have Easter ones! :), and printed up a quick card, and we were good to go - quick and easy!

I always make valentines for my preschool class, so I had fun putting together this quiver of  Valentine arrows with pencils, felt, washi tape and hot glue!

I also made heart-shaped sun catchers with my preschoolers, and later Lachlan's 1st grade class during their Valentine party. They took a little prep work, because I cut the tissue paper into small pieces, cut the contact paper into pieces, and cut the cardstock heart shapes beforehand, but it was a quick and easy activity, and they look so pretty and colorful in the window, especially with the backdrop of grey winter days. 

Finally, I had to share a couple of the many love notes I got from Lachlan on Valentine's Day. He worked for two weeks on making me notes so that I would have "The Best Valentines Day EVER" - and it was definitely one of my favorites!

(4/52) January Project Life

Well, I did great with my digital Project Life for the first half of 2014, but then fell behind and never caught up. (Still holding out hope that I will whip those pages up and get the books printed this year!)

I'm determined to continue to document the details and memories of our daily life this year, but I want to make sure I have a doable strategy. Today I spent part of our snow day (yay!) organizing photos from my phone into the Collect photo app and adding short captions. Then I imported the Collect cards into the Project Life app, and used the new Project52 card kit. I'm happy with how they came out, and it was SO quick!

I'm not sure yet if I will have a 2 page spread for each week. I'd still like to include journaling cards for longer stories,  and notes about the stuff we are reading/loving/listening to, etc. Also, I don't want to abandon taking and printing photos from my big camera! I think I will keep these pages consistent in this style, and then vary what I include on the facing pages.

You can keep up with my Project Life pages on Flickr. Thanks!

{3/52} Pillows for Wendy

My good friend Wendy recently moved into a new (old) house with her family, and has been decorating each room to fit their adorable eclectic style. She found a vintage bark cloth curtain at a local shop and asked me if I would use it to make pillows for her couch and loveseat.

We both loved the "paint-by-numbers" look of the fabric, and I decided to sew red piping into the edges to make the bright colors pop. There was only enough fabric for the front of the pillows, so I used a new soft green upholstry fabric for the back.

I had never sewed a bolster pillow before, so I looked for a tutorial and ended up using this one from PrettyPrudent.com (link isn't working now but will hopefully be fixed soon).

I think they turned out great, and look especially nice with the new paint color on the walls!

{2/52} Sleeping Mats

 
Earlier this week, I needed to stop at JoAnns to pick up a few things. As we pulled in, Kenley said, "I wish this store would have Elsa fabric..." and I said, "Guess what, I'm SURE they have Elsa fabric!". Sure enough, there's a whole Frozen section set up. So we picked up a yard of fleece and she asked me to make a sleeping bag for her stuffed dog, Luna (who received her own Elsa dress and pjs for Christmas - ha!).

After I made the sleeping bag for the stuffed dog, I realized that I could buy Frozen fabric to make a sleeping mat for Kenley, too. I've been meaning to make one for her rest time at preschool, and who can go wrong with Snow Queen fabric and cozy fleece?

 
I planned to spend a couple hours on Saturday whipping it up - but then I added homemade piping... decided to patchwork the fleece blanket... added a few decorative stitches and binding on the blanket... and one whole Saturday later, the sleeping mat was complete!

 
Don't ask me the details of how I made it - I pretty much winged it as I went along. But if you're looking to make one, I have sewn one based on this tutorial by Prudent Baby before, and recommend it. The Snow Queen fabric from JoAnns is heavier weight and also wider than the usual cottons (also much more expensive, thank goodness for sales!) but I think that worked out perfectly for a durable napping mat.

happy customer testing out her sleeping mat (with bluish mouth - still trying to kick the popsicle habit post-tonsillectomy)

{1/52} Lachlan's new scarf

Here's my first creation of the new year! Lachlan requested a scarf a few weeks ago. He wanted it to be "half green and half blue" to match his new winter coat. Well, I know it won't be long before clothing items made by mom aren't in fashion anymore, so I jumped at the chance to make him a scarf. I found soft cotton yarn at Home Ec Workshop and finished it on his first day back to school. That proud smile when I asked him to model his new scarf for a photo makes me so very happy!

 Here is the pattern I used. I actually used the adult width for Lachlan, just eyeballed the final length on him (it ended up being 36"), and left off the fringe.

Waving hello!

 

Only a year since my last blog post? ;) Well, I'm resurrecting the blog for a 2015 project that goes back to the reason I started my blog  - documenting and sharing my creations. The collage above features some of the items I made in 2014 - most of which were given away. I miss having a place to keep the details for each project, and maybe a few of you miss hearing about them? Regardless, this year, I'll be sharing {52 things I made} (inspired by a blog I follow called Green Valley Crafts). Each week, I'll pop in to share a photo and details of something I created. It might be a long-term project, like a quilt, or a quick birthday card made for a friend. I'm looking forward to the process, and the motivation to make time for creativity even in the busy weeks. Thanks for following along!