Yay for health, nursing capes, crafting, and SPRING!

Wud up peeps?

Ok, sorry. Not sure why that is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this picture of my daughter. After a week of runny nose and fever bouncing around, all thanks for her first ever ear infection, my girl is back to "normal(ish)". Pheshooo, now if I could just regain my energy...

I've managed to do some sewing and crafting recently. I finished one Sunshine Baby Nursing Cape order and am working on a second. Wahoo for shameless plug there!
Can I just say I STILL love this fabric, and it is one of my most popular.

In case you were wondering, those are fresh clippings from my Magnolia tree. Yes, I have a Magnolia tree! I can't tell you how excited I was to see those blooms. The tree was blooming just before we moved into our house last year, so I really missed getting the full effect. Here there are again, just because they are so BEAUtiful!


I am ALMOST done with my wreath, just need to attach the flowers/rosettes and then take a few pics to submit it to the ruffle contest, yikes! Wish me luck (or at least that I don't get laughed out by all the REALLY talented people)!

More ruffles!

This time I am working on a wreath for our front door. I've been wanting something that was neutral that I could just add something to for each season. I came up with a fun idea and it is coming together just the way I wanted!



It is kind of hard to see, but I definitely burned a nice hunk of skin off my hand with the glue gun. I tell you, that thing and I have quite the love/hate relationship.

I need to cute/ruffle one more strip and then I should be done with the body of the wreath. Just need to decide how I want to hang it and then add my "seasonal" item. I had a fun idea for Easter, but I'm not sure I'll have enough time to make it worth it.

one thing at a time...

Am I the only one who has a hard time focusing on one project at a time? It is hard enough not to start the next project stewing around in my brain, let alone keep myself from spending WAY too much time obsessing over it.

I did say bold...

I finished my bib/ruffle necklace! I'm pretty excited about it! It definitely makes a statement, my "neck skirt" as my hubby calls it. I tried to get some pics myself today, but they didn't come out great. I'll need to enlist some help to get pics good enough to enter the Ruffle Your Stuff contest.

I googled bib/ruffle necklaces just to prove to my hubby that I'm not crazy, and found these that I thought were so unique an beautiful.

Here is my new necklace!

if you don't want to know the answer...

Don't ask your hubby. lol Ok, I've found that there is no quicker way to throw water on my crafty fire than to ask my hubby what he thinks about my new project. It's not that he is not supportive, he really tries, but if it is a little "out there" he just thinks it is weird and doesn't know what to say.

I should know better, but...Tonight I trotted upstairs with my partially finished new necklace on and asked him what he thought. After a few seconds of watching his brain work in overdrive, he came up with, "it looks like a skirt...on your neck". I stared at him and then busted out laughing. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to wear it without snickering a little and thinking of his eyes trying to hide his panic.

Once again, I'm trying to boost up my wardrobe with accessories. I'm still stuck on the jersey necklaces, and wanted to try my hand at a ruffle version, something kind of bold. I love these here...

Lacey ruffle necklace by Disney at Ruffles and Stuff

Ruffle necklaces at Tater Tots and Jello

Here is a sneak peak at what I'm working with.
I really do love the ruffles, and I just happened to have a ribbon the same exact color for the necklace. Sorry for the poor pic quality, I took this quickly inside tonight. Once it is done I'll take better ones out doors. I LOVE the color of this fabric, pale blue with a hint of green.


I glued this applique on felt to stabilize it, once it dries I'll add it to the necklace. I did say bold...


Once I finish it I will finally have something to submit to Disney's Ruffle Your Stuff contest!

we wore our green

I managed to get my first side panel shir done for today. I totally guessed at how much fabric to add to the sides and wound up over estimating. So I used some little scraps to create a little "x" in the back to cinch it in some.

Sorry, that is as good as my pics got today. Only so much you can do to photograph yourself.


I LOVE this little headband I made. I used the inside seams that I cut out of my shirt, braided them (I did NOT pull them as I braided), stitched the ends and added another piece to each side so I could tie it to the size I want. I seriously don't throw any scraps away. lol


I made some quick and dirty leg warmers for Jocie out of these cutie little leprechaun socks I got last year. They didn't look great with the rest of the outfit, but still cute.


We definitely got some looks wearing our green out today. (=

don't forget...

To wear your green tomorrow! I know it is silly, but every year I get a little giddy about getting decked out in green for St. Patrick's Day. I made a few fun things for Jocie and I to wear. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy the beautiful outdoors tomorrow and get some good pictures to share.

new look

Yay! My blog has a new look! Much better than the last. Hopefully I'll keep figuring out what I'm doing.

I have a few new projects to share with you. If I could just get some pictures taken of them...

if there was an ugly blog award

It would go to me. Seriously, I don't think I've seen an uglier one. lol I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to these type things. I just pick one of the stock backgrounds/layouts and call it done. Help me out here. I need a cute background and header. How in the world do I do things like post other people's buttons, or create one of my own. How do I post things, like a link to Sunshine Baby Site? Ugh, I'm so clueless.

Help me de-uglify my blog!

cheap, no-sew headband

I saw this tutorial, a headband from the hemline of a shirt and a piece of elastic! Frickin' awesome! This is just the kind of thing I needed right now. I've been trying to had a little fun to my wardrobe. Far too often I feel dowdy, slapped together. Anyhoo, I thought I'd get "brave" and try headbands, lol. I have a LOT of hair and I never feel like headbands look right on me. But, I figured a free project was worth finding out.

I took it one step further (cheaper), I cut my hem long enough so that it would reach at least behind each ear and then threaded a piece of elastic all the way through the hem, and then tied it in a knot so that it would fit my head. Ok, this is a little embarrassing, but do you want to know how, um, frugal I am? I keep those little elastic threads that they use to keep shoes paired when you buy them. I had one piece that was long enough for a headband, and for the second one I just tied two elastic pieces together to make them long enough.


sorry for the crappy, dark pic


I also made a few pins that could be worn on the headbands, on a top, purse...whatever. (=
Recognize these?


I think I decided this one was too big for the headband, but it is a cute pin with 3 rosettes.

Sewing tips and basics

I've learned a lot about sewing in the last year, just by reading other people's blogs. I'm just amazed at all of the information on the internet and those who freely share their skills. Two of the blogs that I frequent have sections that address many of the questions including, bobbins and threads, straight stitches, ruffles, fabric and grains. I just thought I would share them with you in case you are interested.

Ashley at Make it and Love it is one of the first craft blogs I started reading. She has a number of sewing tips posts that are very helpful.

Disney at Ruffles and Stuff is definitely one of my favs!. She just started a section on her log called Sew Basic! and is continuing to add to it.

I've always enjoyed sewing, but it has really blossomed this year, partly because I now have a space devoted to my sewing crap, eh, stuff, but I think the discovery of so many inspiring crafters online pushes me to create.

toddler friendly jewelry

Does anyone else feel like they lost some style when you had kids? I pretty much gave up wearing jewelry and haven't been brave enough to start wearing it again. I've been wanting to try and make some jewelry that is a little more "toddler friendly". Has anyone else seen those jersey/t-shirt necklaces? SO cute! I thought I'd try my hand at one of these first. If you are looking for a tutorial, there is some great info here.

This is what I came up with. I used 2 plastic rings and covered them with satin ribbon, and then cut up one of my hubby's old charcoal gray t-shirts.

I'm not in love with it, but I think it is cute.



Sure enough Jocie managed to pull one of the strands off today, I think I'll have to go back and stitch it together.

The Truck to Go!

Wahoo! Are you ready for this? The "Truck to Go", ready for a little guy who has a LONG flight ahead of him. My friend has a long flight and asked me to make something to help keep her little boy entertained. I hope he loves it. I promised one for my nephew as well, so maybe I'll get my act together and do a tutorial with that one. I decided against velcro after experience with the felt Mr. Potato Head, I found that it snagged everything and drove me crazy. Felt should stick to itself, right?

Handles for portability


A great little pocket to hold all of the pieces.


Open it on up to see the truck shape. I decided to use glue for the truck shape (one I hadn't used before) and you can see it in a few spots. )= Although, I do think it looks better in person.


all of the fun pieces


Several different hauling options:
ladder/lumber
boulders
sand


Hauling...

A ladder (or cinder blocks as my hubby thought), and lumber


Boulders


Sand


linked up

can never have too many ruffles...

Wahoo! Today, Disney at Ruffles and Stuff announced that she is launching a new contest, Ruffle Your Stuff! It goes through April 2. How exciting! My wheels have definitely been spinning. I have an idea right now of what I want to do, and I THINK it is a pretty original idea. Oh man, I so don't need another project right now. lol