Sew Some Magnets

I noticed that my grandkids were drawn to the any magnet that ended up on my fridge. It didn't seem to matter if it was a business card sized promotional magnet or a face one shapes like a puppy. This made me want to make some fun magnets that would surprise and excite them next time they visited grandma's house.

When I sat down in my craft room, I can up with a couple of magnet ideas...

 

First, I grabbed some fabric that had a Dr. Seuss theme. I used the Seuss fabric for the front of the magnet, muslin for the back of the magnet, and a piece of batting in between it. I sandwiched them together and sewed around the design, leaving a small section over to stick the magnets in. I put some glue on the back of the magnets and stuck them to the batting. Once the magnets were in place, I sewed the opening closed.  You can find the more detailed, step-by-step directions I wrote for making these fabric magnets here.

 

 

Not too long after I created these fabric magnets, I thought I would experiment with making some using photos.  The method I used was similar to those above. You can find the directions to make these fabric photo magnets here.

 

 

 

 

These magnets were all so easy to make I hope you have a lot of fun making them. Not only are they great to hang on your own refrigerator, they make wonderful gifts.

Burlap Crafts

Last week, I shared a picture of some fun burlap I found with a chevron design printed on it. Every since then, I have been trying to figure out what to make with it.  I have a few ideas in mind that I hope to tackle next week, in the meantime, I thought I would shares some of the fun burlap crafts I have discovered while I was searching for inspiration.

• Burlap Easter Egg
• Mini Burlap Heart Wreath
• Rustic Burlap Letters
• Ombre Chevron Burlap Bag
• Burlap Wreath
• Burlap Wedding Decorations

Which one do you like best?  What do you think I should make my burlap into?

 

Chevron Burlap

I had great timing with my shopping trip today.  I was hoping to score some colored burlap but this is what I found instead, they said they just got it in stock yesturday:

 

 

Now, what should I make from it?  My first thought went to a tote bag of some sort. It would also be great made into placemats or a table runner.  I just can't decide. What would you make from it?

Blake's Babies

A couple of weeks ago I got to babysit my two granddaughters for a few days. While sweet Tatum was just 2 months old at the time and easy to entertain, little Miss Blake was just a couple months shy of being 2-years-old. I wanted to find something creative we could do together and I think I chose the perfect project!

While I was walking around Jo-Ann fabrics, I came across a Darice Foamies Kids Activity Bucket. She loves her baby dolls so I thought she might like "dressing" these craft foam babies. You can tell by the pictures that she loved putting all of it together and also hugging her babies...

There were some small pieces so I sat close by the entire time she was playing with them. Instead of using craft glue, I used Glue Dots. I started out by showing Blake how they stuck together and then I let her pick out the pieces she wanted to use and point to where she wanted the glue.  I was in charge of putting the glue dot where she pointed. This method worked well.

Once she was done making the babies, we glued magnets to the back and hung them on the fridge.  Everytime she walked by the fridge and noticed them, she would get the biggest smile and say, "Oh! Babies!"

St. Patrick's Day Fun

How far do you go when it comes to celebrating St. patrick's Day? Sadly, I have no Irish blood in me so we never did anything when I was a child. When my kids were little we did do crafts and other fun activities.

If you want to have some creative fun for St. patrick's Day, start out by trying 5 of my favorite crafts.

1. Pot of Gold Craft
2. Leprechaun Hat
3. Shamrock Clip Magnet
4. Leprechaun Kisses Craft and Poem
5. Button Rainbow Craft

If you want to check out even more of my favorite St. Patrick's Day crafts and activities, check out my Pinterest board for this holiday.

From Popcorn to Puppy Food

At this point, I wonder if there is still anyone out there who doesn't know what Pinterest is? Like many others. I am hooked on it. I love using it as a tool for organizing great web sites I find, and I have a variety of boards that are related to crafts. (Follow me on Pinterest if you like.)

One thing I found on Pinterest that I wanted to try right away was this puppy food tin. My husband buys me a big container of popcorn for Christmas evey year and I am running out of things to do with the empty tins. I saw this idea on Pinterested and thought it was perfect!

It was so easy to make and didn't take much time either. Here is what I used:

• Empty Popcorn Tin
• Red Paint
• Paint Brush
• Cricut Expressions Machine
• Cartridge
• Adhesive Backed Vinyl

Start out by making sure your empty popcorn tin is clean and dry. Use your favorite color of paint, I used red, to paint the outside of the tin and the lid. Let the paint dry completely.

I used a Cricut machine and cartridge to cut out the letters and the puppy, but you can use a stencil instead, of draw them out freehand if you like. I cut out my designs on adhesive backed vinyl so all I had to do was peel the paper backing off and stick it where I wanted it.

Christmas Stockings

This past week I was at quilt retreat...  I usually get at least 3 or 4 quilts made during my week long stay plus a couple of other projects, but this time around I didn't feel like I accomplished much. The projects pictured here are the main reason why:

I actually made 6 of these a couple years ago and I needed to make for this Christmas since there are 4 1/2 new members of our family this year.

This project was so time consuming because I ended up cutting, sewing, and quilting 1445 2-inch pieces of fabric! It was truly a labor of love.

Baby Quilt Patterns

One of my favorite sewing related blogs is the Moda Bake Shop, so when I was searching for ideas for a quilt to make as a baby shower gift for Blake (my granddaughter), I checked there first and fell in love with this Bricks in Bloom QUilt. I fashioned Blake's quilt with that one in mind, what do you think?

So, now I am on a quest for another baby quilt to make for Mason's baby shower (my grandson who is due in November). I want to include Mason's name on his quilt like I did with Blake's. I also know I want to use greens, blues, and browns, but other than that I had no clue.

At first, I was overwhelmed thinking about all of the possibilities, but then I remembered the Moda Bake Shop! I found several there I am now trying to choose between, plus I am still looking around:

• Snuggly Squares
• Snuggly Squares II
• Pure Baby Boy
• Whimsy Square

Like I said, I am still looking a little around for more quilt pattern ideas. If you know of one, please share it! I am also in search of fabric. Blake's quilt was made mostly with fabric from the Chirp Line by Katie Hennagir and I am hoping to find a fun fabric line that features blues, greens, and browns.

Maybe next time, I will share the fun and easy stroller quilt I designed and made for Blake...

Headbands!

When I found out that I was having a girl, I had too much fun searching all of the fun accessories that Etsy shops had to offer baby girls!  Once I realized that I would become poor if I bought everything that I wanted to buy, I decided that I could probably make the headbands myself.  Since then, I have been having way too much fun experimenting with different styles!  I am going to work on making headbands with bows very soon, but for now, I have the flower headbands!  

Here are some of my favorite styles!

"Blake" headbands (named after our daughter, of course):

"Olivia" Headbands:

"Monroe" Rolled Flower Headbands:

All of these headbands can be found on our Etsy site.  Happy shopping!

Tutus!

Before we found out that we were having a little girl, my hubby and I were convinced that we were having a boy!  We had purchased (and got as gifts) several sports outfits for our favorite Minnesota teams (particularly the MN Twins and Vikings).  Once we found out that we were having a little girl, I decided that I needed to learn to make girly accessories for her outfits.  If I didn't make them, I was going to go broke on etsy!  Anyway, the first thing that I wanted to learn to make were tutus!

I have been having so much fun making these tutus!  Mom and I are still working out the details on starting our own etsy store, but this is something that I would like to make.  If you are interested in any custom-made tutus, please let us know!  I am partial to the solid color tutus, but have made some fun two-tone tutus as well.

What do you think?   

Black and purple glittery tutu

Pink and green tutu

Brown tutu to go with our daughter's camo sleeper (can you tell daddy's a big hunter??!)

Red tutu to go with one of her MN Twin's onesies :)

Vikings sleeper with a yellow tutu :)

Creative Uses for Embroidery Hoops

A couple of weeks ago I went to Katie's House (about 150 miles away) to help her with some finishing touches for the Dr. Seuss themed nursery. Among other things we used 7-inch embroidery hoops to add some creative flair!

We printed out Blake's name using a font named Pea Noodle Parlor. We traced the letters onto fusible web...  Then, we started over because I had forgotten that the letters have to be traced backwards onto the fusible web!


We ironed the letters onto fabric, cut out each letter, and then ironed it onto the black and white Dr. Seuss fabric. We then cut the fabric a bit bigger than the 7-inch embroidery hoops. Then you simply stretch the fabric in each embroidery hoop. (You can find more detailed directions here.)


What do you think of it? We may consider making customized embroidery hoop wall art if anyone is interested!