Things I Love

Over the last few days I have not had a ton of opportunity to do any crafting because Eli has been so fussy. It's kind of hard to tend to a fussy 4 month old and have the energy to do any kind of craftiness at night! :( But I think that should change as soon as Eli is doing better since Dan and I got a gym membership! YAY! Dan goes at night (I go in the wee hours of the morning) so I get some quiet time after the kids are in bed. Love it! Today I want to share with you all of the things I have found on some of my favorite blogs. Things I want to make.

Dan and I came up with a Christmas tradition we didn't get to start last year, but fully intend to make/do this year. We're all familiar with the advent calendar. Dan and I want to take that and do something different. Instead of putting little gifts inside, we want to put an idea or a small gift inside for the kids to give to someone else. The idea is to spark giving from the heart and take the focus off of the kids. We want them to put the thought into who they will serve that day. I found this advent calendar that has sparked some ideas on how the daily calendar will look. For those of you who want to do the traditional advent calendar, this is adorable!


It comes from a blog momma I love! Check it, and the rest of her crafts out here.


I LOVE THESE! Definitely making some of these for some of the great knit projects I plan to do this year. Can't you see these on a scarf?




Another blog I adore is Noodlehead. She has encouraged me to step into the world of zippers with her backpack tutorial. Who knew zippers were so easy? And how cute is this? It's made out of a pair of khaki pants!




Caden and I saw this awhile back and will be starting this today as he wants to make it for Alanna. When he saw that another 5 year old made this with the help of his mom, Caden knew he could handle doing it for Alanna's birthday. Alanna adores Mike from Monsters Inc. This blog is great too, by the way. This mom of boys has lots of great ideas for crafts with her boys and for her boys. Check out Craft Phesine.


I LOVE these scavenger hunt cards. They are printed on mini moo cards... the same place I get my business cards printed. GENIUS! How great would these be for a birthday party game and then a favor?




Many of you know that Alanna cut her hair down to the scalp last summer. It has FINALLY grown out enough to get it cut at so it will be fairly even. It's short but SOOO cute. I'll post pics later. But, I found this great headband tutorial that I will definitely be doing for her.


Check this out! I've seen little tents people make to put over card tables. When you have four children, you have to think big, card tables wouldn't cut it. But this? Over a dining table, with a storage bag and all from one set of sheets? I'm in. But I will skip the pvc and velcro and just make it flat on top. Too much work when it comes to assembly and taking it down with those things. So, flat it will be. I love the storage bag from the pillow case!!! BRILLIANCE!!! With as cheap as sheet sets are at Walmart, I can't pass this up!



I'll do another post like this in the future. I have so many other things I could share. But I'll save more for next time.

valentines headband, quilt alphabet, crayon roll

Over the weekend I made a couple of crafts and have been working on a few that I haven't finished yet. I am that person that usually has a ton of different crafts that are sitting around, just waiting to be finished. I guess I just get bored doing the same thing all of the time. They will get finished though!

One of the things I made over the last few days is a valentines headband for Alanna. It was VERY simple and so cute!

Seriously, how cute is this? I simple cut some hearts and circles out of felt with the white ones a tad bigger than the pink and red. I simple sewed a line down the center with a few stitches between the shapes. Very easy.


The quilted letters are so great for working on beginning sounds with Alanna and teaching Abram the alphabet. I just need to make a bag for them to be stored in.


(You can see I am missing a few letters... they are played with often!)


These turned out so well for my first attempt at any kind of quilting. I just might be able to attack a quilt. Maybe.

I also made a crayon roll and have two more that I'm working on for Caden and Abram. They are so great for in the car or when we are out somewhere. Alanna loves hers! I used this tutorial and some scrap fabric.

I need to add a button to this.

Isn't this such a clever idea?

Kid Craft: crayon hearts

Remember when you were a kid and you melted crayon shavings with an iron to make cool pictures? You know... when you got melted crayon all over your moms iron? Ok, maybe that was just me, but you have to know what I'm talking about, right? Well, today, Alanna and I did just that. Not ruining my iron, but melting crayon. We put the crayon shavings (such a great job for little hands) in between to sheets of wax paper. Then we sandwiched that between to sheets of craft paper (this important step will protect your iron) and proceeded to iron. You have to check often to make sure the crayon is melting but you're not burning it either. When it's melted, cut hearts out of it. We just taped them to the window, but I don't like the look. So, tonight I'm going to hang them with string at varying heights.








When I told my friend Beth what I was going to do with the kids today, she thought they might melt in the son. That made me wonder. But, after doing this project, I don't think that will be an issue since it took a bit for a hot iron to melt the crayon. Besides, it's winter in Wisconsin. Nothing melts in February!

Summer skirt

Here is a skirt I sewed over the weekend from, yet again, www.dana-made-it.com. I love her stuff... can you tell? ;) I'm not happy with the fabric choice as it reminds me too much of an apron. So, I'm planning to make another one with a fabric I picked up on sale at Joann's. Seriously... a skirt for just a couple of dollars that looks this cute? I love the money I am saving! I still need to put buttons on for the pockets and iron it, but it's cute none the less.




I love these little pockets! So cute and girly!

Valentines Cards

The last few previous projects were made over the course of the last week or two. This one, the kids and I did today. Alanna needed to bring some valentines to her class at church tonight so we made these really awesome valentines this afternoon. The idea and template were from www.dana-made-it.com

The kids are super excited about them...who wouldn't be?!?!


These are the hearts all cut out (notice Alanna's attempt?:)


Then we wrote on the backs and stapled them together, leaving a hole at the top to insert the M&M's.


The recipients then, tear open the heart to get their treat! So adorable!

The kids and I loved making these. You could add little notes, different kinds of candies, small trinket toys, etc. M&M's is what the tutorial used and since it is my kids fav candy, we stuck with it. Enjoy making these. They're so cute and fun!

Repurpose: Ruffle shirt

I found a sparkly pink womens shirt at the thrift store and cut it apart to make Alanna a cute ruffle shirt. She LOVES it!



These pictures have been horrible as I have been using my powershot. Not a fan! I'll start using my good cameras for these pictures from here on out... so, bare with me.

summer shirt

I've been working on making summer clothes for Alanna to help save some money, but also because I enjoy doing it. Here is a shirt I made with ruffle sleeves. There is a heart at the bottom that I made by cutting the blue shirt, placing a piece of white behind it and sewing it onto the blue fabric. It's really cute. Definitely need to get better pics though.

curtains

I had some fabric in my stash that I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents. There were easily a few yards. I didn't know what I would do with it and it has been lying around for about 2 years. So, I quickly made some curtains for our half bathroom. They're plain and I think I'm going to add something to them. I just don't know what yet. The ugly blinds will be coming down as well. For now, here they are:

they're coming

Updates from the last few days are coming! Bare with me.