How To Make An Infinity Scarf

I have been wanting an infinity scarf sooooo long for myself and have probably bookmarked a dozen. I so need to make me one, but I thought first it would be cute to make my sweet Lucy one, and she does look pretty cute :) I made this one from an old shirt that I just don't wear any more.

First get a shirt that you don't wear anymore, I wanted to find some with a pattern or that had a good textured knit look.

Cute where you can get the biggest and longest continuing strip, cause the bigger and longer the strip.. the fluffy/more gathered your scarf will turn out.

Cute your fabric down one seam so it wont be attached, but in a flat strip like so.

Now just fold it hot dog style with the pattern facing inward and sew. Once that was done you can turn the fabric facing outward and sew the ends together. Now you should have a completed infinity scarf!

If you find your strip isn't long enough, feel free to get areas of fabric from other parts of the shirt, cause this scarf is bunchy so you wont really be able to see all the seams/mistakes :) Gatta love that :)

Block Letters

I am so proud of myself!!!! I have been wanting to make a family plaque, sign, or letter blocks for years and I finally did it. (thanks to my sister-in-law) But I did them finally, they are awesome and they are easy!

All you need is...

Wood blocks

Paint

Scrapbooking Paper

Mod Podge

Brush

1. You need to get some wood blocks, by either buying them pre-cut or going to Home Depot and buying some lumber and having them cut it for you. I didn't measure them, I just had them cut my eyeballing it. I wanted my letters to look varied and unorganized.

2. Once they are cut you will need to sand them to get them smooth so the mod podge/paint/ and scrapbooking paper will lay flat. Plus I like the look for the soften edges.

3.Paint your block the color you want.

4. While you are letting your paint dry start cutting out the paper for the blocks background. You can either cut them nice and sharp to give a clean cut look. Or round the edges with a punch to give a cutie look (which is what I did). Or rip the edges/sand them to give a vintage rough look. DO NOT GLUE YET.

5. Cut out your letters, I used a Cricut to cut my letters out, but you c

ould use stencils or your printers and cut them out my hand.

6. Now you should have painted blocks, scrapbooking paper background cut out, and letters. Take your Mod Podge and brush Mod Podge on the back of the papers and stick it to the blocks, let them dry. If your paper starts to pucker and bunch just keep pushing the air bubbles out. Don't worry, it will dry nicer than it looks

7. Now that your blocks and paper are dry you can mod podge the letters. You will want to add Mod Podge to the back of the letters to glue them down AND brush Mod Podge all over the front of the block. Again, things might start to pucker, but just flatten it all down again and it will dry nicer.

Once all is dry (which it drys fast) you will have some awesomely beautiful name block. But be warned... Mod Podge is highly addictive and now all I can do is look through my apartment and see what else I can Mod Podge.

Fabric Tray Decoration

Well, we resently moved into our new place and are loving it, especially since it has given me a chance to put my crafting and decorating to good use. All my projects are starting to pay off :) But the only problem now is that I can't stop... I'm finding empty spot all through out my house and until I get them filled, it is going to drive me crazy.

My main focus right now is the bathroom, Im trying to find those last little nick-nacks to fill in the cracks and thankfully to Lemon Tree Creation, I think I finally found what I was looking for.

They have a simple tutorial to make a beautiful Fabric Tray perfect for end tables or bathrooms. All you need is...

A tray (you can get all sorts from Michael's)
Cardboard
Fabric
Hot Glue

1. Clean up your tray the way you want it... paint it, saint it, use Old English to fill in stains... whatever you want.
2. Now cut your card board to the same measurements as the bottom of your tray.
3. Cut enough fabric to wrap around the card board. Use your hot glue gun to secure it in place. Now glue the card board/fabric on the the bottom. Finished :)

If you want a better step by step, with pictures, hop over to Lemon Tree Creations and read their Fabric Tray Tutorial.

Time Out Mat

Ahhh the lovely sounds of tantrums and whiny... what parent doesn't love to hear their child scream "Nooooo". But, surprisingly, there are a few of us parents who don't enjoy the blubbering sobs and fits that some parents do... and for us there is a magical, wonderful place called Time Out.
Time out can be a hard thing to get your child to agree to though.... shocker, I know.... who would have though that getting your child to sit quietly in one spot for a few minuets would be hard? :) But if you are starting with time outs or have a child that fights the time outs or you just love time out and want a better way to have them; I would suggest making your self a time out mat.

I got the idea from Lucy's development specialist a while ago (Lucy was behind when she was a year and our state provided a personal therapist to come over and make sure she was on track and that it wasn't something more serious) But she suggested that when we use time outs, that there be a designated area... that kids will be able to relate to time out betters and will then know their boundaries and the seriousness of the time out.

Well, I thought it was a little odd (and hippie-ish), but sure enough, it worked... like a charm. I made a Time Out Mat and soon as we started using it Lucy would not get off the mat and knew she had to stay there and would stay quiet.

All you need for a Time Out Mat is...

2 squares of fabric (large enough for a child to sit on)
4 buttons
Thin batting

You are going to want cut out 2 squares of fabric, mine were about 21 1/2 by 18 inches. Turn the 2 squares of fabric to face each other (pattern side together) and sew 3 of the sides together (you will want to leave 1 side open so you can slide the batting in). Then remeasure the size of your square because you will have lost a little length with sewing the edges... measure how big the squares are now and cut your batting to almost the same measurements. Turn the fabric squares right-side out and slide in your batting through the opening. Now close up that last side, either by hand or by machine.

You now should have one square mat with batting inside. Now you will need to secure the batting in place with the fabric. Take the whole mat and sew a line, about an inch or 2 inches from all 4 edges. This will keep everything nice and in place.


Now for the final step... sew your buttons on. The buttons are just decorative, so sew them on if you wish or find something else that is more to your liking. And now you should have one portable Time Out Mat.

These are really great. Since they are soft and small you can easily throw them in your diaper bag and take them with you places. We take ours to friends' houses and on trips, this has truely been a life saver.

How To Make A Memory Board

Who knew that ribbon and batting could be sooo dang cute. I have been in love with these boards for years, but never could get myself to get one.

Not only are these uber cute... but they were surprisingly easy and fast.... I'm serious. I was asked to teach a group of girls, ages 12-14, a decorating craft that they could use in their bedroom and I taught them this. Theirs was as good as mine.

All you need is...

A board to hold everything (either plywood, cork board, art canvas, any piece of wood really)
Quilt Batting
Fabric
Ribbon
Stapler (normal or staple gun)
Decorations for embellishment: buttons, flowers, jems

First find a board and size that you like. I used a plywood board that I got cut from Lowe's, they had a 4x2 piece for $9 and they cut it in half for free, so I had two nice 2x2 boards. Once you have the size of board that you want, you will want to go to a fabric store and pick out how much fabric and batting you will be needing.

Now you can take your board and lay it down on fabric and batting. Make sure that you lay the fabric face down (pattern on the floor), then batting and then the board. You can use as much batting as you want. I used a medium thickness and double layered it.... I like the look of the fluffier boards. You will want to trim the batting at this point... the batting should almost be the same size as the board, but the fabric needs to be a few inches larger on all sides.

Now that you have everything laid out, pull and tug the fabric to make sure that it is nice and smooth. When you feel that you have everything in place you can begin to staple one of the sides. You can either use a staple gun (that has not too deep staples) or you can use a normal home stapler..... I tried both and actually preferred the home stapler.

Remember to only staple ONE SIDE, and try to keep it even and smooth. Place your staples 2-3 inches apart and not too close to the edge.... you will want to give yourself a little bit of space from the edge so you can correct any mistakes. Once you have a side completed start stapling the opposite side. Now make sure that you don't pull too hard and pull the fabric which might tweak it. Repeat these steps with the top and bottom sides as well. Now you should have a completely secure board.

Now you can start to place your ribbon. Flip the board over and make a large 'X' from corner to corner with two ribbons and staple them firmly in place on the back of the board. These will be the guidelines for the rest of the ribbons. Go ahead and lay as many ribbons as you like down.

When all your ribbon is layed down and placed where you like it start to staple them in place on the front of the board.... where the ribbons crossover and connect. When all the ribbon is stapled down, you can flip the board over and start to staple down loose ends.

Now your board should look almost complete. All that is needed now is to glue some embellishments to hide the staples that are securing the ribbon down. I used buttons to hide the staples, you could also use flowers, jems, or bows. Once dried and finish you should have one beautiful and custom made memory board.

This has been one of my favorite crafts that I have done... I want to do more, but honestly... how many memory boards does a family need? :)

Magazine Holder Craft

My friend Anna Dawn is one of the most amazing crafters I have ever met. She is just one of those people who can look at something and just know how to do it. Or will see something that is being wasted and think, "how can I use that"? Seriously, she has a gift.

Well, I am tired of scratching my head and thinking how the crap does she do it?! I sat down today and challenged myself to try and find a use for an empty box we have had sitting upstairs in our family room for 2 weeks now, besides its obvious use of collecting cobwebs. And what I came up with was a simple magazine organizer. All you need is...

scrapbooking paper

cardboard

hot glue gun

paint

sandpaper

First you need to cut out the shapes. The easiest way is to trace a magazine holder that you already own onto the cardboard, but if you don't happen to have one to trace (which would explain why you are making one) then you will need to cut out 5 pieces. The front piece will be 7.5in x 4in. The two side pieces will be 9.5in x 12in. The back spine piece will be 7.5in x 12in. And the bottom piece will be 9.5in x 7.5in.

Now that you have all 5 pieces cut out, take the two side pieces and get ready to trim them. Place the side pieces down and on the left 12in side mark about 4in up from the bottom and on the 9.5in top about 2.5in from the end of the right side. You will now connect those two marks with a diagonal line. You can now cut them out to have them look almost like a right triangle. This is a great time to use your 5 cardboard pieces to help you trace and cut out your scrapbook pieces.

With all your pieces cut out you can now start sanding all the cardboard edges to help give them a softer and rounded look. When they are to your satisfaction you can now start hot gluing the pieces together with your glue gun. Try really hard to not use too much. Using an old pencil to help clean up extra glue spilling from the sides really helps. When it is glued together you can paint the inside and the open edges.

Your structure should be built now and it is time to attach the scapbooking paper. Make sure that your paper and cardboard match up really well and you have glued the edges down smoothly. Again, try not to use too much glue, but smooth it out if you can. When all is glued and attached feel free to run sandpaper on some of the edges again if you are needing to sand off some hardened glue or scrapbooking corners.

You can use any cardboard box to make these. The first one I did, I used a hardy cardboard box, but my second one I used a Costco cereal box and even that lighter cardboard did great. The tutorial used for this magazine holder is a fairly large one. You can easily shrink it down to a slimmer or smaller size. I made a CD holder for my husband's desk with an old cereal box and it turned out great.

These were really easy to make and I pump out two this afternoon pretty fast. Not only is it a easy craft, but it is a great way to spruce up an office and to also recycle some materials. Cereal boxes are great for some slimmer ones.

Toy Bag Tutorial

Oh it feels so good to be back blogging again, it's bloggerific! So I am going to ease back into the blogging world with a nice easy craft, plus hopefully posting something that is simple will tempt you non-crafters out there to finally jump in on this.
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I made these cute bags to help with Lucy's toys from over flowing and taking over the house. I swear, I think they were plotting against me and on the move! I finally sat down and start pouring a few out to help keep blocks, books, puzzles, and animals in their place. I even made a few to help keep her laundry separated. They are really easy and need a minimal amount of sewing, cutting, and time. All you need is...

1 foot of fabric

1 yard of string or ribbon

Take your foot of fabric, fold it in half and trim it so it will be 11 inches wide and 18 inches tall. Measure 3 inches from the top and mark it on the right side of the fabric, THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE FOLDED SIDE! Cut at that 3 inch mark a little less than 1/2 an inch into the fabric.

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Unfold the fabric so it is now 22 inches wide and the back of the pattern is facing up towards you. You should have two little cuts on both sides of the fabric. Now go ahead and fold the 3 inch slits inward and pin them, do this on both sides. Sew these flaps down, when you are done it should look like the top three inches are thinner.

You can now fold the top down about 2 inches down. You can now place the string in the flap and sew it shut. You will want to make sure that the line you sew will line up with the edge of the 22 inch wide part of the fabric. Now fold the fabric so it is back to being 11 inches wide and have the back side of the fabric facing out, which means that the patterns should be inside and facing each other. Pin the edges together. Start to sew the fabric together, when you start sewing make sure that the line you are sewing also lines up with the top folded edge, so this should be about a 1/2 inch seam on the side and also do a 1/2 inch seam on the bottom. Once done, go ahead and turn the bag right-side out. Go ahead and tie the strings together which will be the final step for this wonderful bag.

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These are cute bags to make and really cheap, you can pump out 3 bags with 1 yard of fabric. So go ahead and make some, I would even love to see some of the bags you make and what you add to them. Happy sewing!

Fabric Diaper Case

I am probably not the most organized person... well, probably more like I can't even keep the word organized in order. Because of this fault I find myself a sucker for organizers, holders, pouches, and such.

Ever since I have seen those super cute diaper & wipe cases, I have been in love... no...wait... in LUST! But I just can't get myself to spend $12 on something that will hold diapers. I like to organize, but I am still cheap. So instead, I decided to make one.

Measure and cut out two squares from paper, one measureing 10 x 7.5 and the other 14 x 7.5. The smaller square will be the pattern for the front of the case and the 14 x 7.5 will be the back/tab. After this you can cut from the fabric now. Cut 2 pieces of fabric with the 10 x 7.5 square, one outter layer and one inner layer. Also cut 2 pieces of fabric with the 14 x 7.5 square, one inner and one outter.

Take your two pieces of 10 x 7.5 squares and place them face side up together. Sew the pieces together, but leave a small opening on one side (near the bottom) so you can turn the piece right side out again.

For the 14 x 7.5 squares, pin them face side up together. Take a dinner plate to use the round edge to trace a nice round smooth end. Now go ahead and sew the pieces together and on the round end you traced.... again, make sure to keep a little bit unsewn (near the bottom) so you can turn it right side out.

Now that you have both pieces sewn and turned correctly out, take the two pieces and place them again right side up together and sew the pieces. Once down, turn correct side out. Go ahead and sew your button on.

Impressed? Now you have one prettty hip AND cheap diaper and wipe case. I have posted pictures, but they aren't showing exactly what I said to do because I made these instructions up as I went. So I figured out what worked and what didn't. So, follow the instructions and take the pictures as loosly based guidelines :)

Nintendo Cake

In our family we have the tradition of making shape cakes for people's birthdays. So when my husband's birthday was approaching I got all excited to ask him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. His face got all excited and then serious as he thought about what he wanted. He then blurted out, "I want a Mario cake!". I stood there waiting for more of an explanation. Then he says, "I want some kind of Nintendo Mario brothers cake.... like... Luigi... or Mario... ohoh! I know... I want one of the mushrooms from Mario. You know the ones that make you big or give you an extra life." For any of you who don't know what he is talking about... Mario Brothers is an old school video game when Nintendo first came out... my husband STILL likes to play it. :)

Well, I was excited. My first challenging shape cake. I had no idea where to start, so I basically just decided to jump in. But I have to admit that I was pretty darn happy with how it turned out. So, here is how you can make a Mario Brothers cake, but you can really use these ideas to make whatever shape cake you would like.

First I figured out what shape pan I should be using to give me the best area to work with. I decided to use two circle pans for the bubble mushroom top and a 9x13 pan for the stump (I did a double layered cake, which is why I used so much. If you are doing a single layer 2 circle pans or one 9x13 pan will be fine). While they were baking I took a piece of computer paper and started to sketch out the image of the Mario mushroom, trying to keep it to the size that would fit on the cake.

When the cake is done and cooled, take your image and see if it will fit well on it. Don't worry if the image is too big or too small, simply sketch over it and re-size it. Cut the image out when you have the new correct size and lay it on the cake. With the image on the cake, take a knife and cut around the image.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, go ahead and place them in the freezer to get them a bit frozen. Getting them frozen will make it easier to frost them with out ripping the cake up and getting crumbs in the icing. Once they are a little frozen, put a nice thin layer of frosting around them and place them back in the freezer. When that frosting is frozen a little, finish frosting them completely. Now you can finish decorating the cake.

The mushrooms come in mainly solid red and medium green, but also blue in the newer games. Remember to leave the spots on the mushroom white and color the rest of the top in with the color you chose. I made the mistake of messing that up. I accidentally colored the spots and left the top white. So, hopefully I won't make that mistake again.

So, if you have a child into video games this might be a fun idea for a birthday cake. What I also wanted to do was make really cute matching cupcakes. How cute would THAT have been!? But if you aren't wanting a Mario cake then this idea really is usable for many other shape cakes... sooooo HAPPY BAKING!

Butterfly Onesie Tutorial

I love jazzing up little outfits for Lucy. Its always nice to be able to add something to a shirt besides a stain. I did this adorable button butterfly on a onesie, but plan on adding it to also to a t-shirt that she can wear when she is older. So, if you are looking to spice up something from sour to sweet, then here you go. All you need is...

Fabric (2 patterns)
Heat n' Bond (you can get this at a fabric store, usually held behind the counter)
Embroidery Thread
Embroidery hoop (this is recommended but not required)
4 Buttons
Onesie

1. Find a butterfly shape that you like by either drawing it yourself or finding an image you like. You don't need the details of it, just the shape/outline. Once you have the shape/size you like, cut it out and put it aside.

2. Take your fabric and the Heat N' Bond and cut out squares of fabric that will hold the butterfly. Make sure you have two squares of fabric and two squares of the Heat N' Bond. Now iron each fabric square to one Heat N' Bond square. Follow the Heat N' Bond instructions and make sure that you bond squares isn't bigger than your fabric, because when you iron the two together, if it is over lapping, you will get the glue stuck on your iron... so be careful :)

3. Take your butterfly image and use it as a pattern to cut out what you need from the fabric/bonding squares. I used one pattern for the top wings and the other fabric pattern for the bottom wings. When you have your two wings cuts out lay them out on your onesie where you want them to go. When you have it the way you like it, go ahead and iron the butterfly to the onesie. Remember to follow the Heat N' Bond instructions also.

4. Now you have one butterfly completely attached to your onesie. Place your embroidery hoop inside the onesie, around the butterfly, make sure it is nice and snug. Now you can start to stitch with the embroidery thread. I did a simple up & down stitch around just the edge of the wings. I also used two different colors, one for the top wings and another for the bottom.
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5. When the embroidery is done, you can now sew on the buttons. You will need two for the body and two for the antennas. Sew the body buttons on first and then the antenna buttons last, save them for last because it will help you to be able to see where they should go better. When the antennas buttons are sewn on, go ahead and stitch a line that will link the antennas buttons to the butterfly's body.
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Now you have one dang cute onesie that will make your baby the bell of the ball. I am also probably going to add one to a simple jacket of her's, so she can have a matching outfit. If you are looking for some more patterns for boy or a girl, then check out my sheep onesie.

P.S. I was thinking about hosting a contest with these embellishments. Having people make some of their own and then sending me a photo and I would post every ones on my blog and letting you all pick the winner. If I did this would people be interested, because I would want at least 6- 8 people to enter, but the MORE the MERRIER :)

Crafts Projects and Tutorials

I always have more on my plate than I can handle. I am always wanting to start something new, learn a new hobbies, or start some crazy idea I have. I have gone from learning to scrapbook, to knitting, sewing, baking, quilting, decorating, to wanting to make jewelry... that is all in a few months. But some I have really stuck with more and others, well, I learned and got too excited for the next project... so I moved on. So, here is a list of crafts I am wanting and hoping to do here soon.

Homemade Apron

This is from the Martha Stewart website and has a tutorial, written instructions, and even other readers reviews of the craft. But does that just scream, "Oooober cute!"?

Shopping Bag

These are the cutest shopping bags that I have ever seen... heck... I would use it for an everyday purse! So whether you are looking to make a fashion statement or an environmental statement, then you might want to check out these bags.

Diaper Case

I have been dying to buy or make one of these. I saw one in a magazine ad and ever since I have been looking for some tutorials. Besides just being cute they are also convenient. Keep diapers and baby wipes close and all together.... honestly, what mom isn't look for things to make their lives a little easier?

Growth Chart

Looking for a cute growth chart? Here is one that would look good out of the kid's bedrooms and if you are looking for one that is more suited for a kid's room, then in a couple simple changes it could be done. I am going to try to change this one into a more tropical theme chart for my daughter's room... maybe a palm tree or a flamingo.

Silhouette Frame

This is a beautiful one of a kind home treasure. Simply take a favorite photo of a child, use it to cut out fabric and make a heart melting work of art. What a wonderful gift for grandparents or even a cute nursery decoration.

Reusable Sandwich Bag

Yep... that is right. A reusable sandwich bag! A cute project that will always spruce up hubbies or the kids' lunch bags. Plus, save some good money on zippy bags.

Crayon Case

This one seems a little more complicated and a little more work than you would have to do, but it could be made easier by not sewing on the trim. I think this craft is creative and a great way to keep crayons in your bag for trips and maybe the crayons wont break as afteb in the soft fabric.
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Sock and Glove Animals

These are some cute and fun stuffed animals that you can make from left over sock or gloves that are just laying around the house. There is a book called, "Sock and Glove" by Miyako Kanamori and it is just wonderfully cute! I just bought a copy of it and am excited to get started, but recently she was on Martha Stewart and they posted step by step instructions to make a dog and bunny.

Framed Collage

This is a very simple and interesting craft. By taking a scrapbook punch and using it with different paper, you can have your self a fun work of art. Easy to make for child's room, office, or fun kitchen decor.

Fun Toy Bag

I always have toys laying around and I only have 1 kid... so I don't know about you other moms... but I need a place to put them. Here is a cute, homemade toy bag that has endless possibilities.

Nursery Collage

Okay, I just can't get enough of this. Check out this LOVELY tree collage that I am just dying to make. If you don't think this is cute...well then, I just don't know what to do with you :)

Hydrangea Tray

What a gorgeous breakfast tray that is really one of a kind. This is a functioning tray or a beautiful decoration or even a nice gift.

So hopefully there is something here that will tickle your fancy and if it doesn't, at least I have a small list of things that I need to complete and do. I probably wont be doing any at least until hubby's payday :) Soooo, hurry up Friday!