Productive waiting

Finding ways to entertain my kids has been a challenge while I finish gestating. This activity happened spontaneously the other day when they happened to be playing really well together in their room. I pulled out some felt play scenes someone had gifted us with from the dollar store. They were having a blast using them on the rug. So I impulsively went through my fabric stash and found this flannel and sewed a cover for their art easel. Then I went through my flanned and cut out pizza fixins to play with. It was a hit.

Master creatively turned his pizza into a face!

Stuntwoman decided abstract was more her gig!

I think it will be fun to add to ideas for this with shapes, flowers, bugs, more food play. The possiblities are endless. Any other ideas for felt play?

Now if I could just get on with delivering kid number 3, this waiting is driving me bonkers!

Nesting / Sewing

Well I am supposedly 1 week from my due date today and I think this kid has decided to hold it's arms and legs out and hang on for dear life! I am still carrying way too high and no real symptoms of impending labor. Where is my magic crystal ball so I can get some predictions?
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Anyhow I have been busy sewing, which must be my way of nesting because I sure don't feel like cleaning. Never have liked house work, hah! But I found a pattern for making your own pack and play sheet. Click here for the link. It's a really cute site with lots of other great ideas.

So these are the two sheets I made with fabric I happened to already have. You can't really see on the tan one but it's little outlines of a tree branch. This was so easy and simple, if you have a sewing machine you can do this!

The plaid fabric is so soft!

Next I got really adventurous and sewed a cover for my changing pad out of an old terry towel. Mom, you got me these as a wedding present! This is the underside for proof, there is a decorative band from the bottom of the towel. Again this was really easy. And best of all no cost.... I had the supplies on hand. These covers are usually around $10.00. Now I have money to buy the baby a new pair of shoes!!!! Hee hee.

Here is the finished cover in action on the free Jenny Lind changing table I just scored. Woot! See the itty bitty diaper up top? I can't believe how tiny they are compared to my just turned 3 year old giant diapers. Lord, I wish she just get her act together and decide she doesn't want to wear diapers anymore but her will is stronger than mine. Again, I need a crystal ball.

I also decorated number shirts for my girlfriend's kids upcoming birthdays and some for my kids too. I'm considering opening an etsy shop and selling these. Do you think people would buy them?

Lastly I made a baby doll sling for Stuntwoman so she can be like Mommy when the baby is being worn in Momma's sling. Link for this pattern here .

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Happy Monday and Happy Sewing if you try any of this out!

craft i am

So I made a bunch more tissue holders and posted about it on a new craft blog I am starting specifically to feature stuff I make, projects on my radar and hopefully tutorials someday. It's hard to get everything done I want to with 2 little ones. So I don't expect to post often or even get many projects done but I like the idea of having a blog dedicated to all things crafty.




My Barefoot Farm, I keep trying to leave a message to your blog and it isn't accepting. :( Hoping you'll see this and help me figure out why and I can pop over to say Hello. Your homemade pizza dough looks fantastic!

Giveaway!

I had intended to celebrate a blogiversary at my one year mark which was also around the 100th post. But I got busy....and was a slacker! Now I am too impatient to wait for the 150th post, so I will be random and just go for it. I was lucky enough to win a gift certificate awhile back for an etsy shop that carries japanese fabric. So today I combined my love of japanese fabric, sewing, photography, blogging and soon to be giving!

Don't these little piggies put a smile on your face?

How about these adorable coffee cups?

Here is the finished product! A coffee cozy and a purse tissue holder.

So for many it's back to school or homeschooling as my Sister does with 5 hooligans. You can impress your barrista with your new stylin' and eco friendly cozy while getting your java, hot cocoa or tea on!

I'm sure there will be lots of noses needing wiped in the near future! Mostly I just want to put a smile on your face and spread some happiness. So here's the deal just leave me a comment. If you don't have a blog be sure to include your e-mail so I can contact you to send the prize. I will end this Wed. 9/2/09 at noon EDT. That way I can get it in the mail by the end of the week. By the way do you remember your kindergarten teacher's name? Mine was Ms. Schneider!

Give and Receive!

For all you sewing crafty types who would like to participate in a sewing/fabric swap head over to My Mama Made It and enter. There is a US or an International option. Personally I'm thinking of cute vintage fabric or kawaii... sighing dreamily. Heck I have way too much of my own fabric but this sounds like such a fun idea and I just love getting fun stuff in the mail. It's way better than junk mail or bills! And the best part about this giveaway is that everyone wins by participating. Deadline is the 24th. I just happened to stumble into this...I was looking on another crafty blog and she had a linky. Wowee her sewing refashions are amazing, I'll be going back to get more ideas!

Refashion

It rained really hard here this evening... but we got a lovely rainbow afterwards!

I still intend to post about more of Nova Scotia, maybe tomorrow....
But last night I found some energy to sew and decided to try my hand at refashioning some boring tops from old navy that I've had for four years. Guess I am more in the mood to write about this today so here goes.

So here you see the tools I used my cutting mat, ruler and my rotary cutter. All I did was use another top with 3/4 length sleeves as a guide. I left a little more length for my seam though.

I don't own a serger and wasn't sure about stitching on the knit so I made a zig zag stitch to keep the fabric from fraying then folded over and pinned down and started stitching.

I put two rows of seams to give it a more polished finish. I have three shirts like this and started with the brown it was my least favorite color and would have been the guinea pig but alas no brown thread. So black it was. I probably really need a serger but overall the end result ain't too shabby for zero loonies, Eh? I am considering actually redoing the side seam to make it more tapered or adding a ruffle at the sleeve base with the leftover fabric. But was kinda thrilled at the prospect of being able to modify clothing and for now am just sharing how it went!

Yikes disregard the clutter and the model without make-up on! And Mom, if you made it all the way through this post there is a new video on the video bar, Hugs and Grins!

Scenic Nova Scotia

Just taking a breather from packing suitcases to say we are headed to Nova Scotia for the next week. Keep your fingers crossed we can manage our 4:30 wake-up call. Thanks Air Canada for screwing up our flight time! Oh well, we get there that much quicker to enjoy it all.

The other night I finished a project to take as a boredom buster for the airport and our travels. Thought I'd show it since it was fun and easy to do. I used a lid and traced circles from felt and matching fabric then sewed them up and trimmed with pinking shears for a fun finished look. The idea is to have it be a matching game.

When I showed my completed work to Hubby he guessed they were coasters! Well I guess if we loose some or get bored of them then that will be their purpose in their next life!

One more shot showing the fabric and felt side together.

On our Sault Ste. Marie to Michigan to Ohio trip I made these clothespin dolls and they were a hit with little hands. My son kept saying "Take me to your leader" with the robot one!

While we were in Ohio Auntie JB gifted us with these adorable finger puppets and let me tell you they are the bomb diggity! They have come in handy at a doctor and a dermatology appointment and several grocery shopping trips as well as our trip to Buffalo, NY.

I also love the dollar store for some good travel finds like these little miniature animals. We have some other stuff like stickers and I print off tracing and coloring sheets for them as well. Next time we travel I hope to make some crayon rolls as those would come in handy. I'd love to hear what travel activities your kids like!

Quick project

One of my dearest friends just moved from Austin to Chicago. Sniff, sniff! But lucky for all her folks are in Buffalo which is 2 hours from Toronto. They are visiting for the next week or so and we have plans to go to Buffalo for a visit this weekend. I made some number shirts for her kids upcoming birthdays this September and next June to take to them.

There are a ton of tutorials on how to do this so I won't bore you with too many details. But even if you don't sew you can make this. You need heat and bond from the fabric store.

1. Just enlarge your font of a number, shape, or letter to correct size with your computer and print off your pattern.

2. Next cut out the pattern and reverse it.

3. Trace it onto your heat and bond, make sure you refer to the directions on how to use the product.

4. Then you iron your fabric to your newly traced design onto the heat and bond.

5. Now cut out your design and follow the directions to iron onto the shirt.

I did a simple running stitch to hold the fabric in place. You can get really fancy with your applique stitches but I didn't want to use a lot of thread.

If you don't sew you can still make a quick shirt for a party for the birthday kiddo. But over time and washing the heat and bond glue will loosen. Still it is an inexpensive way to make a cute and personalized gift. You can jazz up onesies for new babies or add to a plain canvas tote, a tea towel, or a banner. Lots of possibilities with projects. One more suggestion is I prewashed the shirts and fabric to avoid shrinking or bunching. You could cover up stains on kids clothes with this technique as well!

I will definately be making more of these as this was a fast and simple project. I love the fabric I used and think my kids and all their friends need a dozen each!!! (Sorry this is a really wordy post... if anyone wants me to take pictures of the process I'd be hapy to do so.)

How I just spent the last 45 minutes

My daughter has a little people princess dance and twirl castle that she got for her second birthday. It came with a tiny wand for the little people princess figure. She carries this all over the house and says "my wand". I knew she would really get a kick out of a wand her size so I whipped one up during part of her nap time today.

Finished just in time to present to the "awake" beauty.

Love that nap time hair do!

Checking out the button in the center.

I think she likes it.

Giving it a kiss!

She then started saying "Poof" and imitating Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. Now I will have to make a wand for brother. Maybe a blue star with a lightening bolt on it.

Button bracelet

I should be doing housework, but it will still be there....when I get around to it. I need to be working on a continuing education live stream video course for my professional liscense but am too tired to keep my eyes and thoughts on it for an hour tonight. I ate spoonful of peanut butter and a handful of raw veggies for supper. Hubby working late at a business supper meeting so put a 2 year old and 4 year old to bed as quick as I could despite the protests for Daddy and the regular bedtime routine. Finally some "ME" time and too tired but wanted to post this project I forged ahead with today. A couple days ago on One Pretty Thing I saw this button bracelet project from a site called lillyella. I just got some vintage buttons and the fabulous tin my Mom used to keep them in on my visit to Ohio along with some fabric and other fun sewing notions. As soon as I saw this project I knew I wanted to make one and some as gifts. So here is my first attempt.


The large black button was my first inspiration and I went with a black, white and yellow color scheme. The button on the far left I made with fabric and an old button Mom gave me that was a do it yourself button. I am loving making my own buttons this way and have a few more left and will be buying more. This one is special since it is vintage!

Another shot from a different angle.

One more attempt to show the final outcome. Don't be hatin' cause the shirt doesn't match! I was too excited and wanted to take a pic right away of the finished project. For the record do not ask me how long it took to make this with two toddlers who kept insisting on things like juice and go pee pee in the potty and kisses for boo boos and on and on and on.......

Project

It is hard to find time to work on projects but I worked on this late Friday evening and early Saturday morning. I am pleased with the results. A girlfriend in Austin is expecting a little girl. So I made her a banner for the nursery. I scrunched it together for the photo.

I also made some burp rags by covering a pre-fold cloth diaper with some cute fabric. Really love this monkey fabric it is fun and whimsical and just plain makes me smile!

Sock monkey close up!

Japanese Fabric

So my lovely fabric arrived from Japan. If you don't know about how this came to be see here .
I ended up requesting in lieu of Mother's Day gift intended for spa time and opted for some more fabric from this lovely etsy site!

This is one of my favorites and I hope to applique with it some.

Whee!

Love these green apples!

These are cute too!

Another one of my favorites!

So as you can see I have a growing collection of fabric and no time to sew with little ones who keep me busy from sun up to sun down. But I have plans and hopes and schemes! My husband sighed last night and said "I work to support your fabric habit". I had bought a lovely flannel apple print that reminded me of the green apple print above. In my defense it was a good price at $2.00/metre and I only got a metre!