Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Seasonal Block Printables

Here are all of the printables requested by my friend Lindsey for her mini Super Saturday going on this weekend.  I am totally bummed because I wanted to go, but am chaperoning for Marching Band instead.  Oh well, I love watching the kids perform!  

I decided to post these just in case anyone else is looking for a simple craft with not much effort.    
Lindsey's idea with these blocks is to put them back to back....
so the Happy Easter and the Happy Spring are on the same blocks, you just turn them around for the next saying.

Here are the basic instructions:
Print the above printable.  If you want to email me or comment below I can email the file to you :0)
Cut the pieces apart.  Cut a 2x4 down to 3" blocks...7 for each set you want to make.  Sand them if they have rough edges, wipe the blocks clean with a slightly damp cloth, and you are ready to paint. 


{Love and Luck go together}
So paint the blocks a coordinating color.
Once paint is dry, apply a healthy amount of modge podge to the front of the blocks and mount one letter printable to the wet glue on each block.  I like to smooth the paper onto the glue with an old gift card or credit card to remove the bubbles.  Let that dry before painting a top coat of modge podge over the top to seal the project.  {letting it dry will decrease your chance for bubbles}

You can sand the edges of the project for an aged look, or just leave it looking freshly painted.  If you are going to sand, you may want to do that before the final coat of modge podge.  

With the Merry Christmas above I wanted the whole thing to fit on one sheet.  I had to make the Merry a thinner block.  For that block you want to cut one 2x2 piece of wood 6" long.  That should be perfect for the "Merry".  Also, there is a blank space to the right of the Merry.  I left that blank so you could wrap some ribbon or string around there and maybe put an ornament charm or something there to spice things up.  

The Christmas and Thanks don't exactly fit evenly back to back.  I was trying to tell her that Happy Halloween would be a perfect reverse for the Christmas, but no one ordered the Halloween blocks.  Maybe I will just make that printable up anyway ;0)

I am thinking we need back to school, happy 4th, and a couple others.  We will have to revisit the block thing later.  Also, I am a huge fan of different sized blocks, but kept these the same size to make things easier on Lindsey and crew.  

You can download all of these printables HERE from Dropbox :0}


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Goodyear Girls Night, Last Time

*sniff*sniff*
It has taken me a while to post these pictures.  Perhaps I figured if I never posted our last Girls Night {at my house anyway} in Goodyear, Arizona, maybe it would be like it wasn't the last.  Whatever the case, I had so much fun.  It was so hard to leave such an awesome bunch of ladies, totally crazy and yet totally having their heads on straight :0)  But I sure loved having one last hurrah.

I brought these witch shoes from South Dakota when we flew into Phoenix to pack up our house.  The great thing about leaving all of our stuff there was I had everything waiting for the party ;0}

p.s. ignore the mammoth disaster that was my half-packed house.  Stir in a little crafting madness and you have a real mess!
Anyway, aren't these shoes adorable!?!  
I found the idea on pinterest, but the original post can be found HERE

After following a string of links, I found a pattern, but when I printed it out it was really small.  Here is the pattern after I tweaked it a bit.  Above it the shoe pattern.

And this is the insert pattern.  You don't really need this pattern if you just use paper that is printed on both sides.  


Just pick out your favorite pattern paper, cut out the first pattern, and fold it on all the crease lines.  After that the shoe just folds together.  I used hot glue to glue my shoe together because I used thick sparkly black paper that just wouldn't stay together with regular glue.  The hot glue also worked great on the thinner papers.

*Attention: We must stop this post for a few embarrassing photos {since it is my last chance to embarrass these guys!}
Cathy, this one ended up blurry, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings and not include it :0)

Stacy, Sara, one last head shot of Mary...

And Ashley!  Ashley announced that night that she had officially hit 100 lbs lost!!!  I couldn't be more excited for her.  In only five months, 100 lbs!!!  Awesome.

I managed to get a shot of Jennifer too!  
Sonia and Amber, you guys are just out of luck.  Sorry.

Christina, no worries.  You left before I pulled my camera out, but I have one I just pulled off my phone!  This is Christina with her adorable purse.  She came over when I was making some...I think it is posted HERE

OK, back to the shoes...  Just about everyone made one.
Once you have the shoe glued together, throw some ribbon or charms on there and fill it with a bag of candy, or like in the pinterest picture, a bag of Halloween or mint Oreos!

So very fashionable.  BTW, if you want more of a square toe you need to cut about 1" up the toe part of the shoe and fold the whole thing up.  

We also made these little magnets for the fridge.  I also found that idea on pinterest.  The link can be found HERE.  
The faces are actually stickers sold by Jolee.

As for a couple other darling things that came out of our craft night...Mary made this bathing set.  She made a towel into a bath apron, then used the scraps to make the bath mitt.  She also made these two oval burp rags out of another towel to match.

The cool thing about this apron is that it is the full towel.  You wrap the towel up around baby to keep them warm.

Mary raided my Goodwill stash and found this dress shirt {no one actually wore this :0)  I bought it for yet another project I didn't get to}.  Glad she was able to use it...actually Mary, I want it back ;0)  I forgot that I really wanted that *tee hee*  This apron was made from a button up shirt.  Just cut up the sides, around the arm, and angle to the back of the neck.

How cute is that?  It looks like a really darling shirt.   

I am going to throw this on there too, just because I made one at the craft night, then ended up giving it away.  That was the real reason why I had to make another the other day.  I had to show you how cute it turned out!  Grey and yellow are swiftly becoming my very favorite color combination.

Well, thanks ladies for one last blast!!!!
Gonna miss you all
XOXO


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Hat's Off to Mini Hats!

For the life of me I can't remember what these mini hats are actually called, so we will just call them mini hats.

  Madison said something about us making a mini marching band hat and I decided to run with the idea. She wanted something to wear to school on the days that they performed like football players and cheerleaders do.  This hat might be a little over the top for some kids, but my Madison is a little crazy :0)  Gotta love her!

I made this hat out of two pieces of felt.  The sparkly blue felt was purchased at Hobby Lobby and the black at Micheals {I am in both often ;0}
I worked on the hat over a couple of days, whenever I was sitting waiting for kids.  I think I spent an afternoon stitching at the mall while Emmalee played at the playplace too.  Anyway, I guess I can proudly say I stitched the WHOLE THING by hand!  I wouldn't recommend it, but it worked.  I stuffed the hat with stuffing and stitched the bottom on.

Some days later, back at home I hot glued the sparkly ribbon just above the brim and the accent shape to the front.  


I glued a strip of the sparkly black to the back of the hat to finish hiding my crazy stitches, then threw some feathers in the top for the plume


In order to get the feathers in I cut a small hole with scissors, arranged the feathers and netting where I wanted them, then ran a thin line of hot glue around the base of the feathers to hold them in place.

Goofy picture, I know, but Emmalee just had to try the hat on.  It was so cute, I think I am going to have to make another one! 

Remember when I mentioned the trip to the mall?  Well I think that was one of the only moments I have had in weeks when Emmalee left me alone for a moment.  It was so fabulous, I finished the marching band hat, then used the scraps to make this hat too!  {that is why my witch hat is blue}

Anyway, stitched a few more things on there, added a poofy collection of ribbons and a dangly spider out of the top, and shaZaMMm! 

Tiny witch hat.  

I should probably tell you that I put the marching band hat on a clip and it was awful!  It wobbled around and was crazy.  Not sure how to fix that issue, I cut off the clip and glued the hat to a headband.  The witch hat is also glued to a headband.  Lucky for me, I had a stash in my ribbon box from some shopping trip to SAS fabrics in Phoenix.  Can you imagine it, headbands for $.25 each!  They are fabulous too.  Wide and snug enough to stay in place, but not too snug to hurt your head.   Man am I going to miss that place!
If I get the chance in the next couple days I will get the patterns printed up.

These two hats turned out so well, I really can't wait to make more.

Mail Order Quilting Bee {continued}

I have two more finished quilt squares here to show you!
This one belongs to my cousin Heidi.  For you new blog viewers out there, my amazing cousin Candice started a Quilting Bee by mail.  Crazy, huh?  12 people signed up.  When it was my turn, I picked out a quilt, divided the topper into 12 parts, then went out to buy my fabrics.  All the supplies were divide between the 12 people, mailed out with instructions and a return envelope.  Everyone has that month to sew it together and get it back to the sender.  
That means that once a month, I get a fabulous little surprise project delivered right to my mailbox!  The only problem is, I want to make one quilt of each style for me.

I so loved Heidi's square.  It was a little involved, but it was totally cute.  She sent a pile of hexagon paper pieces.  We were to cut them out, folded fabric over the shapes, then pin and iron the fabric in place.  Next, we layered the hexagons in any random order, pin them down and sew them in place.  

Here is the square I came up with.  No rhyme or reason to it, but I seriously LOVE this idea.  This is just another quilt that I have to add to my own list. 

Next, check this baby out!  Tamara was a total doll and pieced the 4-patches and the strip pieces together already so we had this block half-way done when it came.  It was super easy and fast to finish.  No one has an excuse for being late with this block!  I love this pattern too.  I am thinking I would love it in red and white.  There was some movie I watched years ago that had a red and white quilt like this.  I don't remember the movie, but I will never forget the quilt.  

I have to say, as much as I miss my Arizona friends, family really, I am so super excited for winter!!!  I went through a mini quilting depression when I first moved to AZ.  I love to make stuff, but usually have a need that spurs the project.  With no need for quilts, they fell to the bottom of my to-do list.  Now that we will be sub-zero soon, I guess I better get back on the band wagon ;0)

I just peek outside every once in a while hoping to see snowflakes fall!  Eeek!  I can't wait!!!


Friday, September 21, 2012

Spooky Little Pennant

Check out my spooky little pennant banner!  Don't you love it!?!  Disregard the messy bed.  I figured I should snap some pictures before the room got any messier.  

Yesterday I got to go over to a friend's house for a little craft therapy and happened to bring the materials for the banner along.  When I got home {to the hotel} I couldn't find anywhere to hang it up.  That was when I noticed the bed!  It is adorable hung up there.  We might just have to make one for the bed when we move in next month!

I know, What a craft NERD, right?
I cut the pennants about 6" wide and 7" tall.  I used scalloped scissors to cut the triangles out, then sewed a zigzag stitch around the edges to keep the front and back fabric pieces together.  Here is my little Spidy.  For the Spider web, I sewed an X in the burlap, then sewed lines in between the X's lines making 8 spiderweb strands.  Next I sewed the intersecting swoops.  My spider was a cute little button purchase years ago at Joanns.  I just hot glued him on there.


Seriously.  I love having this banner up so much, I am going to have to make some more!

I am certain by now that the maids think I am off my rocker INSANE ;0)


Novelty Print Quilt Pattern

I have had a hard time finding good quilt patterns for novelty prints the past couple times I purchased them.  I made up this pattern so tha...