Elle Belle Creative

Show-and-tell

2012-01-18T13:43:00.001-08:00

One of the things I really like about the town we live in is its thriving art community… there are lots of galleries and museums and theaters near by. My most recent find is the Zen Glass Studio. I bought a Groupon for My Doug for his birthday to take a class there to make a wine glass. We made a date night of it and had a great time! It was really amazing to see the different effects you can get from just spinning, mixing, and pressing the molten glass. Check out My Doug’s handiwork:

Wondering where my glass is? I suspected… and was right about… working with glass being a little too free form for me. I am not artistic, I need rules to follow, methods to utilize… yes I know that’s not terribly exciting, but it makes me a decent sewer and a good analyst (my “real” job). But I certainly admire those of you who have that artistic flare! More show-and-tell to come.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mason Jar Pin Cushion Tutorial

2012-01-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

This was one of those projects that I started out thinking I would whip it right up in no time flat, easy peasy. I thought I would post a picture of the finished pin cushion and link to any of the many tutorials there are for mason jar pin cushions (they’re all pretty much the same). Alas after 2 attempts, I kept ending up with too much bulk in the lid so it was too difficult to screw on (although I probably could’ve lived with it if it weren’t a Christmas gift for a friend). So I figured out my own way of doing this little project and now you get a tutorial of your own!

You’ll need:

A mason jar

A scrap of fabric

Hot glue

Batting

Fun stuff to fill the jar with

Just so I don’t loose you below, there are two parts to the mason jar lid… I’m going to refer the piece in the first picture below as the “disc” and the piece in the second picture as the “screw top”.

Step 1 – Using the disc as a template, cut a circle of fabric from your scrap piece that is half an inch bigger all the way around.

Step 2 – Fold the fabric circle in half and then in half again and make little marks at the 4 points of the folds along the outside edge. Mark the same four “sections” with a sharpie on the underside of the top lip of the screw top. When you unfold the fabric, they’ll look like this:

Step 3 – Match up one of the marks on your fabric with one of the marks on your screw top and start there hot gluing the right side of the fabric to the underside of the top lip of the screw top, pleating the fabric as you go so that the 4 marks in the fabric match up with the 4 marks on the lid.

Step 4 – shape the batting into a ball and stuff the fabric until it’s full and puffy

Step 5 – Press the disc part of the lid into the screw top and make sure the fabric is as full and puffy as possible but the disc still lays flat inside the screw top. Once you’re satisfied with the amount of fluffiness, hot glue the disc into the screw top.

Step 6 – Fill the jar with something fun! I picked some fun notions from my stash – bits of ribbon, lace, a jingle bell, a big pom-pom, but if the person you're making it for doesn't already have them, you could include some sewing basics like needles, pins, a seam ripper etc.

If this isn’t 1 of 4,000 handmade Christmas gifts you’re trying to finish up the week of Christmas, and have a little more time, you should definitely make some really adorable decorative pin toppers to go with your pin cushion! Check out this great tutorial a friend of mine did for those on her blog- A girl in Paradise. http://agirlinparadise.blogspot.com/2011/05/decorative-pin-toppers.html

Artwork Mug

2012-01-10T19:26:00.001-08:00

Ok this isn’t exactly “handmade” but it is a creative idea and one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year so I wanted to share. We make a concerted effort to focus more on giving at Christmas than getting, and part of that was to make sure our 6 year old thought of gifts she wanted to get for each of us. We talked about the things Daddy likes; among others, she listed coffee & her art work. She finally decided on a coffee mug for him and was beyond excited when I told her I was pretty sure we would be able to have some of her art work printed on a mug.

I started with the sites I was familiar with, and found some good deals for printing photos on mugs, but since I wanted to use a line drawing she made, was worried that the white of the paper she drew on wouldn’t be the same as the white of the coffee mug and you would see the outline of the “photograph”. So I poked around a little more looking for sites that you can upload graphics to customize your item with, not just photos. There were a few sites, but I settled on Zazzle.com because they have a great little “set whites as transparent” feature where all the white parts of your design will be transparent so the item you’re having it printed on just shows through. It was so easy, I just picked the coffee mug I wanted, scanned Elle’s art work, uploaded it to Zazzle, and set the white as transparent. A few days later, the mug arrived and was perfect in every way! Elle was so excited to give Daddy her gift… maybe even a little more excited than she was about the gifts she received… maybe.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ikea Doll Bed Re-do

2012-01-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

$105.95 vs. $20 + a few supplies * insert hands acting as an imaginary scale weighing the difference *

I considered… for about 1 minute… whether to buy the American Girl doll bed for Elle’s “My American Girl” ($105.95 not including the bedding) for Christmas or re-doing the Ikea doll bed ($20) that the doll fits in. Me and my pocket book are very happy with the outcome!

Before

After

Here’s what you’ll need:

The Ikea doll bed

Sand paper

Primer

spray paint

piece of MDF

Optional “stuff”:

12”x19” piece of 1” thick foam

Half yard soft cuddly fabric

Stuffing/batting/pollyfill (i.e. whatever you want to stuff the pillow with)

Vinyl decal of the dolls name

Scrap fabric for the sheet and quilt

First things first… my 2 year old stepped through the flimsy piece of wood bottom that comes with the bed the first 2 minutes she played with it. So not in the “optional stuff” category for us, was a more substantial piece of wood to replace the bottom of the bed. I brought the broken piece into Home Depot and the helpful staff cut a piece of MDF the exact same size for me.

Next, I sanded all sides of the bed frame. You don’t have to get too crazy on this step, but it does need to be sanded to rough it up a bit so the primer and paint will stick

Paint a thin even coat of primer (I used an oil based primer in a spray can) on all sides of the frame and let dry

Lightly sand any rough or “globby” spots

Spray another thin even coat of primer if you got a little carried away with the step above. Let dry.

Spray paint the entire frame with a thin even coat of the color of your choice and let dry

Repeat the step above if you’re not in love with the results yet

You could call it a day there if you’d like, but I was pretty sure Elle would think Kathryn (the doll) required much more comfortable bed linens than come standard issue with the Ikea bed. So I made a mattress, pillow, sheet, and the beginnings of a quilt Elle and I will sew as her first official sewing project. So here’s where all that “optional stuff” comes in:

I picked up the piece of foam at Jo-Anns and just cut it to 12” x 19” with a pair of scissors.

From your cuddly fabric, sew a simple case for the foam mattress (I just left one short end open… like a pillowcase… and tucked it under the mattress)

Sew a matching pillow and stuff with your choice of filling

I hemmed a rectangle scrap of fabric and called it a sheet

I cut a bunch of 4” squares to make a matching quilt. Elle is very much looking forward to working on this project with me! I had hoped we would get to it over her Christmas break but didn’t… so that’ll be a post for another day!

For the finishing touch, I applied a vinyl decal Gifted Express made of the doll’s name to the headboard.

We had one happy 6 year old on Christmas morning!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

So I was looking through my top posts for the year and my One Year Old in a Flash party is still by far my most popular post... maybe that should be my goal for 2012... to top that post. In the mean time, here are the other posts you all liked best in 2011:

Lunch bag tutorial

magnetic chalkboard lap desk tutorial

Balloon Wreath

camera strap cover tutorial

Your comments and input make this blog more than what I started it to be 4 years ago... just my little diary of crafty endeavors. You've introduced me to lots of talented people/blogs, inspired me with so many creative projects, and motivated me to continue to find time for the things I get so much fulfillment from. Thank you for being a part of Elle Belle Creative in 2011! Lots more tutorials and crafty/sewing/printable goodness to come in 2012!

Teacher Gifts

2011-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

I always have a hard time deciding what to give my girls' teachers. I want it to be something personal and related to being a teacher in some way, but I'm pretty sure they don't need another

pair of apple shaped earrings.

I went to Elle's class to do snack time on her birthday and noticed that her teacher had a coffee maker in her office. I figured it was pretty safe to assume one may need a cup of coffee or two to handle 18 five & six year olds on a regular basis. So for Christmas I picked up a reusable clear cup & filled it with a small pack of ground coffee, an instant coffee mix (LOVE Starbucks via!), a flavored syrup, & a Starbucks gift card. Gifted Express made the water proof, dishwasher safe, vinyl decal to my specifications and it was super simple to apply to the outside of the cup. This would make a great gift for any ocassion for a teacher or a co-worker or really anyone who loves coffee!

For Liv's teachers, I was really excited when I found this Montessori necklace The Jewelry Chicks make. The metal disc is handstamped with the word Montessori and accented with the pink square beads reminiscent of the pink tower, which is a classic Montessori classroom material.

More handmade gift ideas to come!

Season's Greetings!

2011-12-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

I love getting Christmas cards in the mail! It's so nice to see a hand written piece of mail in the box now and again (not just that hand writing look font those tricky marketers use to get you to open their junk mail!) and it feels good to make the cut among your friends... after all, they did have to add yours to the total number of cards purchased, hunt down a pen and your address, and spend 44 cents on you.

Trinity St Studio made these cards for us this year... I hearted them on Etsy a couple years ago and didn't have the right photo to use until Ashley Yvonne did our family photos recently (at Phillippe Park for those of you that are local... it was such a great location and she was wonderful to work with if you're looking for a photographer!).

To all my bloggy friends, you would make my cut... I'd totally spend 44 cents on you if I had your address! Thank you for reading my ramblings so that I'm not just out here talking to myself. I hope you'll have a fabulous holiday and an even better 2012!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winner

2011-12-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

drum roll please! The winner of the felt chain Christmas countdown is.......

Jamie said...

My favorite tradition is eating cake for breakfast. One year, my oldest daughter asked Santa for cake and he brings it every year since!

Congratulations Jamie, and thanks so much to everyone who shared their traditions with me, and to those of you who follow my blog as well!

Stick around for all the after Christmas posts about the gifts I made (I can't share them ahead of time for fear/hope that a few of the people on my gift list read my blog :))

GIVEAWAY DAY!

2011-12-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas shmishmas! Who cares about that boring old holiday when there's Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day?!?! Ok just kidding, but seriously this ranks up there in my book!

So I get that this giveaway is a little late for what it is, but I really love the idea and wanted to share it with you. It's a felt advent chain countdown to Christmas. Time was a really hard concept for my now 6 year old to grasp and having this visual representation helped it make more sense to her. The links are felt with velcro closures, "Merry Christmas" is embroidered on the last solid red link, and I'll send it to you in this cute storage box so you can keep it safe until next year.

Putting the chain together and removing a link every morning has become a family tradition for us. Want to start a tradition for your family too? Here's how you can win it:

One entry for leaving a comment about one of your family's holiday traditions. It could be any holiday!
For a second entry, if you have a sec to look through my blog or if you like this chain idea well enough to want to see what else I'm up to, follow my blog and leave a second comment to let me know. Existing followers, you get a 2nd entry too!

You have until midnight EST Dec. 16th to enter. I'll pick a winner at random from the comments and email them on Dec. 17th. (if your email address isn't part of your profile, you'll need to leave it in your comment so I can find you if you win). I'll ship the chain to you within a day or receiving your mailing address. Contest open to international residents as well.

Good Luck!

Advent Paper Chain Printable

2011-12-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago, for Thanksgiving, I made paper chains to count down to Christmas... I'm a bit behind this year but it's not too late to use this printable I made. It's super easy to print, cut, and tape/paste the links, decorate your kiddos room and have fun counting down!

Applique Applique Applique

2011-12-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

My poor poor embroidery machine! I feel a little sad that I rarely break out the embroidery arm and hoops... but why go through the hassel when applique can be so cute?! Case in point:

With just a few inexpensive onesies you can create so many fun options. I spent an afternoon with a friend dreaming up designs and whipped all of these up in no time. I think my favorite one is the M onesie, espeically when paired with these adorable baby legs:

Although I also really love using a simple blanket stitch to highlight a fun piece of fabric like I did here with this Japanese scooter print:

It really couldn't be easier once you know a few simple tricks... which I just looked through my blog for, assuming I've told you what they are at some point in the past several years, but I don't see them, so here you have it, an impromptu tutorial

iron double sided fusible interfacing (like this one) to the back of whatever fabric you're using for the applique. Leave the paper on the back of the interfacing for now.
Cut your shape (ties, letters, a piece of the fabric... the possibilities are endless!) out of the fusible interfaced fabric
Iron one sided fusible interfacing to the inside of the onesie where you're going to sew the applique (this is the one I use for baby stuff... it's so soft against their skin)
Peel the paper off the back of the applique and iron it to the front of the onesie
Stitch around the applique. You can use a variety of stitches - satin, zig zag, blanket, or even straight. You'll just want to be sure to keep the majority of your stitch on the applique itself and know that if you don't completely cover the edges of the applique with the stitch (like if you just use a straight stitch) the edges of the design will likely fray a bit.

Easy right?! Do you like to applique? I'd love to see what you've come up with if you'd care to share in the comments.

DIY Cake Stand

2011-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

At Liv's last birthday I challenged myself to pull together a party with some creative touches for under $100. The big hit of the party was the ice cream sandwich "cake" and roll your own toppings bar. I piled the ice cream sandwiches into a 2 tier cake which of course needed a a cake stand! I was wandering around Home Depot hoping inspiration would hit and found myself in the tile aisle inspecting the fauxe marble tiles. A helpful Home Depot guy came by and asked if he could help... I'm not afraid of being the crazy lady with a wacky DIY idea so I told him what I had in mind, he whipped out a sharpie, wrote "sample" on the back of the tile I picked out, and I walked out with the top of my cake stand for free! Some spray paint, a pillar candle stick I had in my home decor stash, some industrial adhesive, and a papaer and ribbon bunting later I had the perfect and virtually free cake stand!

Camera Strap Cover Tutorial

2011-11-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine just celebrated a birthday. I make her kiddos handmade gifts for all their special days and I know she appreciates it (I can tell by the mile long list she has for me of "future projects to make... you know just in case you can't think of anything") but it's harder to come up with something for an adult. So I was really excited when I had the idea to make a camera strap cover for her fancy shmancy camera!

Here's what you'll need:

2 pieces of fusible fleece cut to 2 1/2" x 24"

2 fabrics cut to 3 1/4" x 25"

ribbon or trim... some sort of embellishment

press all 4 short sides of the fabric 1/4", then fold over and press another 1/4" and sew
Fuse a fleece strip down the center of the wrong sides of each of the fabric strips
Press the long sides of the fabric around the fusible fleece
Make a ruffle with fabric or ribbon or sew some pre-made trim down the center of the right side of one of the strip
With wrong sides together, pin the strips together, tucking the raw edges in, and sew 1/4" from the edge down each long side, leaving the short ends open.

So now I'm thinking about whether anyone on my Christmas list has a fancy shmancy camera... I may be out of luck though, so I'll have to come up with more ideas for handmade gifts for adults. Do you have any suggestions?

Halloween Inspiration

2011-10-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

I got to be a part of a really great Halloween party last year! There were tons of fabulous Halloweeny elements to the party (I posted about them here) my favorite though was this make your own caramel apple bar I designed. The cupcake stand and some little funkins got a coat of black spray paint, some spooky spider webs, and a sweet TomKat Studios printables set were the perfect stage for the sweets. Nothing draws a crowd at a kids party like a crock pot of gooey caramel sauce & candy toppings to roll your apple in!

Bloggy Booot Camp

2011-10-22T05:48:00.001-07:00

After 4 years of blogging (i.e. writing a crafting/sewing/bento/party diary that just so happens to be shared with the world) I decided it was time to figure out exactly what I'm doing and/or should be doing with this whole blogging thing, so I'm in Atlanta today for Bloggy Boot Camp. Here's to a day of motivation, inspiration, and owning the title of "blogger"!

Speaking of, Atlanta isn't owning up to its"hotlanta" title this morning... I parked 2 blocks away and am pretty sure one of my toes has frost bite.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Disney Outfits

2011-10-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Despite my lack of recent blog posts, I've been crafting and sewing away & have lots of stuff to show you! Like, the sweetest princess inspired backpack ever, tons of appliqued boy onesies (you'll see... boy stuff can be cute too!), photo blocks, details about the cake stand I made for Liv's party, and bentos bentos bentos. So much good stuff, I just need to find the time to post it all!

But you'll have to wait for all of that because today I'm posting about the outfits I made for my cuties to wear to Disney. Elle's 6th birthday was last week, so we celebrated by heading to Disney with our good friends whose 5 year old was also celebrating a birthday that week.

sorry for the crappy picture! It's of course the way it should be... you know... a trip to Disney where your camera decides to mess up in a way that it never has and over expose every picture.

I made both of the big girls birthday outfits using this skirt tutorial and simple number appliques I added to the Ts I picked up at Target. Liv's pillowcase dress came together quickly using this tutorial.

Birthday outfits wouldn't be complete without birthday hats though! I've made several birthday hats in the past, but these turned out the best and were the easiest by far. Definitely give this a try the next time you need a special birthday hat. You'll need:

A plain ol' party store party hat

a little bit of fabric

spray adhesive

hot glue

an exacto blade (not pictured)

If you're adding ears to your hat, pick up some stiff glittery black felt

Here's what you do:

unhook the tab on the party hat so you can open it up and lay it flat.
rough cut the fabric about half an inch bigger all around the hat
spray adhesive over the outside of the hat
lay the hat onto the fabric and smooth it out
run a bead of hot glue along the inside edge of the hat, pull the fabric around the edge of the hat and press it into the glue.
repeat until all the raw edges of the fabric are glued down to the inside edge of the hat.

using the exacto blade, cut a slit in the fabric where the slit for the hat tab is
insert the tab into the slit to put the hat back together

Embellish your hat:

If you're making the ears, you'll cut the circle ear shapes out of the glitter felt, draw a generous amount of hot glue along the sides of the hat, and hold the ear in place until the glue dries
you could also glue rick rack around the bottom edge of the hat
make little crepe paper pom-poms or hot glue already made ones to the top

Disney is already the happiest place on earth, but when everyone stops to say happy birthday and tell you how adorable you look... it makes it magical!

Little House

2011-09-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

My Elle loves... I mean really reeeeeally loves... to read! I've had so much fun introducing her to some of my favorite childhood reads like Ramona Quimby, Charolette's Web, and Little House on the Prairie. The latter sparked lots of questions about pioneer life, like how they made things without machines, what it was like to live without a car, and on and on. We were all too happy to indulge her curiousity with a trip to a pioneer festival. It also happened to be the perfect excuse to make adorable pioneer outfits for both my girls.

I made Elle's skirt from some pioneer-ish fabric I picked up on the cheap at Jo-Anne's, an easy white apron, and used this tutorial for the bonnet. I couldn't resist the ruffly cute white bonnet Grandma's Girl made, and had to have it for Liv. Her super simple white dress with little cap sleeves and drawstring neck completed their pioneer transformation.

We had lots of fun at the festival! Elle's favorite parts were selecting angora fur died just the right shades of pink and watching as it was spun on an antique wheel into a lovely yarn to be used for a future project and the highschool xylophone band.

Winner winner chicken dinner

2011-09-20T19:00:00.001-07:00

Ok I don't have anything to post about a chicken dinner, but that would be great right?! I'm totally gonna do that next time... have a post for you with a chicken dinner recipe when I announce the winner of a blog giveaway. Ok ok enough silliness let's get to it. The winner of the My Memories digital scrapbooking software, by random drawing is:

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 13
Result: 11
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Traci that's you! Thanks for entering, I'll contact you via email with the details.

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway!

2011-09-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before, ages ago, that in my life before sewing & children & bentos & printables & parties my creative outlet was scrapbooking. The 14 scrapbooks I've created cronical my highschool days, my early relationship with my now husband, and our girls' first years. They are among my most prized posessions; I wouldn't trade them for the world. BUT truth be told, I don't get as much enjoyment out of scrapbooking as I do my other creative endevours. In fact, I had given it up all together. I think scrapbooking didn't hold my attention because I like structure, following directions, and innovation, mixed in with just a bit of creativity and a teeny tiny dose artistic flair... scrapbooking requries a good healthy dose of artistic flair... a little too much for my liking.

My Memories has changed all that. I am now free to rejoin the world of scrapbooking and you are too... especially if you're like me and are creative but not necessarily artistic (it's a fine line but it does exist!). My Memories Suite really couldn't be easier to use. This digital scrapbooking software comes with album designs already loaded into it, you just insert your pictures, and waalaa:

Really! Ok, so that's the "I did virtually no work on my own, I barely understand how the software works, I just want it to be quick and done" way of using My Memories Suite. But there is so much more to this software if you want to take it to the next level! You can bring in your own images that you've collected from the internet or clip art or scan yourself to use as embellishments and backgrounds (which means you don't have to buy expensive digital kits), there's photo editing built right into the software, so you can make a picture black & white, give it an effect, and remove red eye right there as you build your album, and when you're done you can save your album as a jpg, email it, and/or have it printed wherever you'd like.

I'm really excited about using My Memories Suite (more pages are sure to pop up here on my blog as I make my way through our family photos) but I'm equally as excited that I get to give away My Memories Suite to one of my readers! Yep, the $40 My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software AND $10 to use in the My Memories shop (you can buy digital scrapbook elements and printing services) to one lucky reader!

I'm going to give you lots of chances to win. Do any (or all!) of the following and leave a separate comment here on this post for each. 1 week from today I'll pick the winning comment by random drawing. Here's how to enter:

Follow my blog via email or Google Reader (link in the margin to the right)
Follow my blog via Facebook (link in the margin to the right)
Check out the digital paper packs at My Memories and leave a comment here telling me which is your favorite
Follow the My Memories blog

Good luck! Oh, and if you're not familiar with digital scrapbooking software you can watch some tutorials on My Memories Suite and catch the digital scrapbooking bug!

Zipper Pulls & Your Way Wednesday

2011-08-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

I should preface this with the fact that calling these "zipper pulls" is a little misleading. You really shouldn't be actually pulling zippers with these... They're more like zipper decorations. However, it wouldn't take much modification to make these durable enough to withstand kid abuse. Now that that's out of the way... check out the back-to-school project Elle and I made:

We started with cute "already ready for crafting with" bottle cap tops in a fun pink that we picked up at Michael's (They even had holes pre-drilled in them). You'll also need white glue, jump rings & lobster clasps, clear casting epoxy, and an assortment of papers and embellishments. A circle punch and some play dough is also helpful, but optional.

First punch and glue circles of scrapbook paper into the bottom of your caps. Next, paint a couple thin layers of glue on the top of the paper to seal it and prevent the epoxy from soaking the paper.

Follow the instructions that come with the epoxy and pour it into the caps. This is where the play dough comes in... the holes in the caps were pretty big which made for a huge mess when I poured the epoxy. About half way through I decided to try smooshing the caps down into a ball of play dough which kept them level while the epoxy dried but also plugged the holes. I'll admit though that idea didn't come to me until some epoxy had already seeped out of the caps I was working on, so I have as yet to test my play dough smooshing theory completely. If you don't have play dough, just only fill the caps to the bottom of the holes.

Once your epoxy is completely dry, attach a jump ring and lobster clasp so your favorite off to school kiddo can clip it to their back pack or lunchbox or hoodie whatever strikes their fancy.

One last bit of warning... The pull is only as strong as the jump ring you used to attach it with, so you may want to try an alternative to the jump ring... I considered a hair elastic, ribbon, jelly bracelet, or key ring.

It's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-08-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

Did you see this adorable dress The Little Giggler linked up last week? This is the perfect way to do "branded/character" clothes... handmade from a super sweet pattern and paired with a fun print! The wonky dots are just so right for the whimsical Dr. Suess!

Now it's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

HELLO my name is

2011-08-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Standing at the front door, pigtails pulled tight, brand new tennis shoes, and that “anxious about the first day of school” look is a photo op that just can’t be missed! Our oldest starts kindergarten this year and her little sister will be in tow for half days in the toddler program. Elle wore a shirt with her name on it for her first day of preschool last year and I thought I’d continue that tradition, so I spent a couple days considering various appliqué and embroidery designs for the shirts. When this idea came to me, I laughed out loud at the thought of how stinkin’ cute the two of them would be standing hand-in-hand wearing these T-shirts I made for them.

I’ve never done iron-ons before & was surprised at how easy it is! I picked up a pack of the iron-on paper you can run through your ink-jet printer (I got the one designed for dark fabrics so that it would look like an actual sticker on the shirt) at Jo-Anns, designed the “Hello my name is” label in Illustrator, and then just followed the instructions for printing and ironing it on to the Ts.

Think my girls will let me get away with antics like this every year for the first day of school?

Your Way Wednesday

2011-08-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

Crepe Paper Dessert Table

2011-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

So what's a girl to do when she has a dessert table to design and needs a background that will make a statement but she set a limit of $100 for the party?! Crepe paper of course!

Here's how easy it is. You just need 2 pieces of trim (they'll even cut it for you at Home Depot if you wonder around looking especially desperate in the trim aisle). I used a 4 ft table for the icecream sandwich bar, so I had them cut two pieces of trim - a 6 ft piece and a 4 ft piece. Once you cram the pieces of trim into your husband's Sonata and make it home, you'll tape lengths of crepe paper side-by-side in an orderly fashion all along the trim.

If you're lucky enough to have a giant framed print hanging precisely where you want the crepe paper wall, you'll just use the hooks that you hung the print from to hold the pieces of trim. If you're not quite so lucky, you'll need to use 3M tape to attach the trim to the wall.

Then it's just a matter of twist twist twist tape, the next piece just tape, then twist twist twist tape, just tape etc. on and on until you have this:

Next I covered the table with a plastic tablecloth and strung a piece of clear packing tape between the bottom of the front two table legs sticky side out. Repeat the lengths of crepe paper taped side-by-side application on the 2nd piece of trim and attach it to the front of the table with 3M tape. Then twist twist stick to the packing tape, next piece just stick to the packing tape, twist twist stick, just stick etc. etc. etc.

What do you think?

Your Way Wednesday

2011-08-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

It's been entirely too long since I featured my favorite links from the weekly Your Way Wednesday posts I do. So, here you have it, my faves and this week's Your Way Wednesday link party. Don't forget to check out my Link Parties I <3 link on the right margin. If you host a link party please add it to the page, I'll link up!

1. This "notebook paper" canvas is such a great idea for college students!

2. I, like everyone else, have a thing for chevron lately! This frame and super cute printable are perfect!

3. Did I mention my thing for chevrons? Check out this amazing zig zag quilt!

4. You just can't have too many kid size tote bags!

5. So love the fabric and fun ruffle detail of this peasant dress!

6. This routine clock is seriously genius for the little kid crowd!

7. Take advantage of the last couple weeks of summer to do these great ideas for summer time fun with your kiddos!

8. Okay okay this is my idea... yes that's sort of cheating, but I needed an even number for this lovely collage. Did you check out the toddler lapdesks I made from dollar store finds?

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

Balloon Wreath

2011-08-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

If you like party blogs even half as much as I do you've seen the balloon wreath. Here's the thing, I hadn't bothered to read an actual tutorial on how to make it until after I bought the stuff I thought I needed to make it and was half way through the project. Apparently I'm some sort of strange crafting outsider because I just assumed it was made a completely different way than I later found out everyone is making it. So, if you want to be weird like me, you can make it my way with a wire wreath form & a few bags of balloons:

Yeah, so that's it... just tie the balloons onto the wreath form... the end. The only interesting things worth even mentioning are that I followed the same pattern (red, yellow, blue, repeat) and I skipped one of the wire rows that was close to the others... which I decided on just because the wreath was full enough without it and it was getting hard to tie the balloons on when they were too close to the other knots.

Oh and of course I should mention the adorable custom birthday hat cutie in the center... my Little Liv! I'll turn your birthday girl or boy into a party decoration too, check out the listing in my shop here.

Simple Celebration - for under $100!

2011-08-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

I love planning elaborate celebrations centered around unique themes and pouring over every tiny detail. But for Liv's 2nd birthday I decided to go a different direction and see what I could pull off with relatively minimal planning, keeping it simple, and under $100. Yep, that's right... I did it all for just $94.66 to be exact!

I started with a primary color pallet and committed to traditional birthday party fair like balloons, curling ribbon, party hats, bunting, and crepe paper streamers.

I designed the party invitation to be post card size, so I saved on postage, envelopes, and printing.

Guests were greeted at the front door with a balloon wreath and the birthday cutie's face. I thought this iteration of the custom cupcake picks I sell in my shop was so fun, I'm selling it in my Etsy shop now!

The highlight of the party was the ice cream sandwich bar! I set the stage with precisely hung crepe paper streamers on the wall and front of the table. Eight boxes of ice cream sandwiches I got on BOGO at my Publix were more than enough to make the two layer "cake" I stacked on the cake stand I made myself (have you ever purchased a birthday cake to feed 20+ for $19.56?!). A DIY "2" cake topper finished it off perfectly!

Also on the table were four plates of toppings to roll the ice cream sandwiches in. We had mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, multicolor sprinkles, and coconut flakes.

Last but not least, were the milk shots rimmed with chocolate syrup and multicolor nonpareills. All the details and "how to" for the backdrop, cake stand, and cake topper coming soon!

Party hats are an easy project to make that really personalize the party. I made these from scrapbook paper, rick rack, and crepe paper pom-poms. The birthday girl got a special glittery 2 on hers of course! I also decorated a little stool for the birthday girl to sit on to open presents.

Even though this party was a really traditional birthday theme, I always like to incorporate little touches that make the party unique to the guest of honor, this Birthday Girl photo stand showcasing pictures throughout the year did just that.

So there you have it... a simple celebration that was creative, fun, and didn't break the bank!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-08-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

Gardening Apron Tutorial

2011-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

I made tons... ok not tons, just 15... of these gardening aprons for the party guests at Elle's U-Pick party. They were a hit with the kiddos and they looked so stinkin' cute wearing them as they wandered around the u-pick farm. I made a tutorial for you to make some for a little gardener you know.

Start with two rectangles of fabric: the background fabric should be cut to 12"x8" and the main/pocket fabric piece should be 12"x11"

Press the pocket fabric in half long ways, wrong sides together and pin on top of the background fabric, lining up three raw edges.

Fold the apron in half and round the bottom corners (I used a cup as a guide)

Sew two rows from the top edge of the pocket to the raw edge to create three pockets.

Cut a piece of binding 28" long.

Sew the binding around the apron, encasing three sidges of the apron, not including the top raw edge of the background fabric.

Cut a piece of binding 50" long.

Center the binding on the apron, and pin, encasing the top raw edge of the background fabric.

Sew the binding to itself and then to the top of the apron then to itself again to make the ties for the apron and finish the top of it.

Knot the end of each tie.

I attached little name tags to the aprons with mini clothes pins and hung them on clothes lines strung across one end of the tent at the party. The kids loved finding their apron hanging up for them!

My New Google and QRCode MiniCards!

2011-07-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

So excited about the Moo mini cards I designed for myself! The front of the card has the Google search bar with my business name. If you look for me using Google, the search results are the links to all my sites... love that someone could find them all without me having to list each one on the card!

and on the other side, my QR code and email address:

So I'm sure you've seen QR codes all over the place, but just in case you've managed to escape the smart phone addiction and are wondering what the heck they are, I thought I'd share. Just download a QRcode reader app to your smart phone or iPad, I use the At&t Code Scanner.

When you see a QRcode... you guessed it... scan it! It will take you to a web page.

Easy & fun... right?!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-07-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

Ridiculously BIG but totally do-able goals!

2011-07-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

In my life outside of Elle Belle Creative, I'm a Business Analyst. I'm going through a really huge transition there and Analyst Stacey needed to define her career goals so that she could put things in perspective and stay focused on what's really important to her, and Creative Stacey wanted it to be pretty so she would actually enjoy looking at it occasionally. So here you have it, a smash up of Analyst Stacey & Creative Stacey:

This picture is just to show you how you could do it... with the printable in an 8x10 picture frame and writing your goals in with a Crayola window marker or dry erase marker. If I were going to post my goals like this on the regular, I would've picked a frame that looked better with the printable (an ornate bright pink frame would be perfect!). But, since Analyst Stacey's goals aren't nearly as fun or concise as these, I just went with goals typed in, and printed off (in color at least!) tucked into the corner of our bedroom mirror approach.

Are you focusing on your goals? I made this printable for you, if you need a little nudge. Download your copy here.

U-Pick Outfits and Your Way Wednesday

2011-07-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

I had lots of fun with the outfits we wore for Elle's U-Pick party!

My Doug wore (and got lots of compliments on) an "eat your broccoli" organic cotton T-shirt made by the Lady in Blue Shop. For the rest of us, I couldn't resist the adorable Michael Miller fabric, gnoming around and picked up a yard from Pinked Fabrics on Etsy. I made Liv's reversible kimono dress using a pattern I bought from Mani-Mina. It was a fun project, the dress is so flexible, easy to wear, and able to be customized. I'll definitely make more!

Elle wore a gardening apron just like the ones I made for all the kiddos (tutorial on that to come!) over a jean skirt, and I embellished a tank top to match. I would give you a tutorial for the tank except that I totally just wung... or winged... or however you say I have no idea how I made it, it just kinda came together, but not as perfectly as I would've liked and I really dislike not having a method to my sewing madness... so there will be no tutorial... k?

I've been looking for an excuse to make myself the Deep Pockets apron from the A is for Apron book, and this was it! I also wore a gnome scrabble tile necklace Pendentlicious made. Gnomes up the cute factor by at least 50% on any project!

Can you believe I got all of that done with just a yard of adorable fabric?!

Time for Your Way Wednesday

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

The Pinterest Bandwagon

2011-07-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

I interrupt the regularly scheduled U-Pick party posts to bring you this post in which I tell you I am so on the Pinterest bandwagon! If you're not familiar, just Google it and read all the buzz. You can follow me if you like, and see what things are peaking my interest these days... also get a glimpse of the inspiration for the party concepts I'm contemplating (lucky you, I usually keep those to myself until after the party!).

Next up, details about the outfits we wore for the U-Pick party!

Vintage Label Can Centerpieces

2011-07-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback on the U-Pick party. It's always so fun when other people appreciate your vision and are inspired by it! Speaking of... this isn't the reason for this post, but a good time to mention that Baby Lifestyles contacted me to tell me that one of their readers was inspired by the One Year Old in a Flash party I planned for my Liv last year. Check out Jess' take on it on the Baby Lifestyles blog here. If you've done any of the projects I've posted on my blog, I would LOVE to hear from you!

Now back to my regularly scheduled post, the first of many about some the details of the U-Pick party. Today I have a free printable for you and an easy project that makes for really sweet centerpieces, cans with vintage labels.

I took some pictures of vintage can labels, resized them to fit standard cans of tomato soup (print some for yourself here), used the soup, cleaned the cans, and glued the labels on with hot glue. I was originally planning on filling them with baby's breath, but one afternoon as we were walking around the U-Pick farm I noticed a tree on the neighbors property with Queen Anne's Lace growing on it, so we picked some the morning of the party and waa laa a really inexpensive, pretty, and easy to make centerpiece!

Fruit Dip Favors

2011-06-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

I made Elle's Famous Fruit Dip favors for the parents at the U-Pick party. Read all the details on the Catch My Party blog & print the recipe I formatted to include in a mason jar lid here.

U-Pick Party

2011-06-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

This Spring we discovered a local hydroponic u-pick farm, First Fruits. The farm is just a few neighborhoods over from ours, right in the middle of the most densely populated county in Florida. We couldn't believe our luck and took advantage by picking produce there nearly every weekend! My Elle talked endlessly about how much fun picking was and how she thought that her friends would like it too. I knew it would be a great experience for the kiddos, something the parents could get excited about too, and would be an opportunity for us to support locally grown food, which we've always been advocates of. So of course a birthday party came to mind, but my Elle turns 6 in October when the farm is closed... so celebrating the end of the school year was as much of an excuse as we needed!

I wanted an organic/natural feel for the party and the invites rethink ink made for me with hand drawn illustrations, craft paper envelopes, and seed catalog liners set the tone perfectly!

Since we would be in the Florida sun for the entire party, I decided to host it in the morning, which made for a little cooler day and a kid friendly breakfast menu. The decor for the kid's sit down breakfast was my favorite part of the party! I set up two 6' kids tables under a tent, over turned plant pots as stools in alternating green & yellow, a vintage seed packet banner strung along one long side of the tent, & a gathered burlap and lace garland along the other (tutorials on each of those to come!). One short side of the tent was closed off by a "wall" of kid sized gardening aprons I made for each of our guests, hung on twine clotheslines with little name tags attached with the cutest miniature clothespins.

The tables were covered in burlap, with a row of vintage doilies down the center (I bought the doilies from Our Attic on Etsy and realized when I received the package in the mail that they're local!). I picked up the green and yellow square plates and the watering cans we used as water pitchers at Ikea. I found the glass jars with the metal latch lids for apple sauce at Goodwill, along with the silverware spoons I used at each place setting, and the parfait glasses I filled with whipped cream.

Also on the tables were vegetable cans re-labeled with vintage can labels and filled with pretty white flowers I ~~stole~~ picked from a tree on the property next to the farm, a burlap lined basket I found at Home Goods, and old fashioned wooden berry baskets I bought from Sugar Camp Cottage on Etsy.

Each place setting consisted of: a place mat that was really just pretty yellow ticking I found at Jay's Fabrics and cut with pinking sheers. The square Ikea plates. A real spoon (not to be confused with a plastic party ware spoon). A canning jar with a bit of twine & a green stripe paper straw from Isa Kay Boutique. A scallop edge napkin I bought at an online party retailer. A galvanized berry bucket I picked up at the dollar bin in Target, personalized with the custom vinyl decals Lime Tree Gifts made me, and lined with green gingham fabric I cut with pinking sheers. And last but not least, the adorable Martha Stewart project - chocolate pudding, Oreo "dirt", mint leaf "plants"... I love me some Martha! I added a wood spoon/plant stake I stamped with "yummy"

The menu consisted of blueberry (picked from the farm of course!) muffins, apple sauce, fresh berries and whipped cream, and pudding "plants". I did a separate table for the parents with bagels, coffee, OJ, and fresh berries. My favorite project for the party has got to be the coffee sleeves I made "Keep Calm and Buy Local"!

After everyone ate breakfast, Shelly, First Fruits' owner extraordinaire (along with her darling husband Jeff & super sweet and especially helpful children), told all the kiddos what was growing on the farm that day and what to look for when they were picking. Elle gave each of her friends the aprons she had chosen for them, a pair of kiddie scissors, and they all set out into the farm with their berry buckets to pick.

While everyone was picking, I cleared the table and re-set it for strawberry shortcake making. When the kids came back in from picking, they found 4 strawberries, a strawberry huller (I found those good ol' fashion metal squeezy ones at Montessory Services), and a bowl with a slice of pound cake at their place setting. They hulled the strawberries, cut them with a strawberry slicer I borrowed from a friend, and topped it with whipped cream.

While the kiddos were making their strawberry shortcake I bagged the produce they had picked in Ziploc bags, and tied it with the gingham liners before sticking it back in their personalized bucket. They each went home with their bucket of pickin's, a strawberry huller, their gardening apron, and an envelope of these adorable paper craft gnomes (a boy gnome for the boys and a girl gnome for the girls) to make at home.

can you even get over how stinkin' cute these are?! I was literally... I'm serious about this... jumping for joy when I found this set in the Fantastic Toys shop! My very patient and precise husband cut, folded, and glued these for the party so everyone could see just how adorable they are... yes I am that lucky... a good Daddy a sweet husband and he can craft too!

At this age, the parents are just as much part of the party as the kids though and I didn't want to leave them out, so I sent them home with a quilted mason jar of fruit dip, topped with handmade labels with little felt strawberries that Mud & Twig made, and a wooden spoon stamped with "thanks" tied on with twine.

It was such a fun day and I owe a great big giant thanks to lots and lots of people! I linked to a bunch of them above, please please take some time to check out these wonderful vendors! I put tons of effort into hunting down. And also my amazing photographer, Dawn of Elemental Image... I'll never stop talking about how worth every penny it is to have someone capture the special moments of the party and all your hard work! Having Dawn there let's me focus on being a good hostess and having a great time with my family, which despite how wrapped up in the details I get, is actually the point of the party! I also know just how valuable having someone to bounce ideas off during the planning process is... my good friend Karie never acted like my incessant questions about the most minute details were ridiculous (despite what she may have been thinking ;)), was a huge help the morning of the party setting everything up (along with my Aunt & Shelly's daughter, Kelly), and did so much to help make that day run smoothly. Thank you all for being patient with me, making my vision a reality, and not calling me out on being the party equivalent of a Bridezilla!!

My Elle's first year of "real school" was such a great experience and a fun milestone, I'm so glad we took the time to celebrate it!

Roadtrip Project #6 - Car Caddy/Organizer

2011-06-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is the 6th and final project to wrap up my roadtrip project series (who knew it was gonna be a series?! Not me! My 2 little ones inspire me and sometimes it's nice to just go with it!). I made this car caddy/organizer hanging thingie to store all the roadtrip goodies in. It was a fun project, I especially like the box pleats and working with decor weight fabric. It has a nylon strap to hang it around the head rest, and elastic holds it snug at the bottom.

I was really happy with how it turned out, but dissapointed when it was time to actually use it. The box pleats made the pockets too "opened" so they didn't want to hold things in nice and tight, and the pockets were kind of shallow for most of the things I wanted to store in them. It would probably work better if used on the front of the passanger seat to hold things when no one was sitting there, but that's kinda sad over all... that no one would be sitting in your passenger seat... so much so that you would put something in the seat that would be a pain to move out of the way if you did happen to bring a co-worker to lunch or say actually go on a date with your favorite person... just sayin'.

P.S.
Do you see the little wooden sewing block in the bottom pocket? At one point in the trip I looked back and saw Liv "sewing" the blue cord in and out of the holes in her little wooden block and Elle working on her cross-stitch. It was so sweet... A sewing Mommy's dream come true :)

Roadtrip Project #5 & Your Way Wednesday

2011-06-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

The roadtrip project I have for you today is a simple but fun little project, pipe cleaner art! I picked up a bag of neon colored pipe cleaners and made a page of instructions (download a copy of the instructions by clicking on the link) on how to construct stick people, a pair of glasses, and a flower ring. The pipe cleaners ended up all over the car, but it was worth it because this easy little roadtrip project kept our 5 year old busy the longest!

It's time for Your Way Wednesday:

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-06-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Before I kick off this week's Your Way Wednesday, I wanted to point out a new button in my side bar, "Link Parties I <3" My list of favorite link parties was growing and growing, so I put them all in one spot so you can easily find and check them out. And the best part is that I made the list of link parties a link party! So if you host a link party on your blog, you can link it up on my parties page. Happy linking!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Roadtrip Project #4 - Photo I Spy Bag

2011-06-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

One of my very first Etsy purchases was an I Spy bag for Elle when she was a toddler. I'm sure you've seen these all over the handmade world... but have you ever seen one with photos?!

I love this idea for so many reasons! It's a lot of fun to watch everyone's reaction as faces, including their own, pop up through the window. It's also a great way to introduce your little one to family and friends that they don't get to see on a regular basis. And maybe my favorite; is that this little bag is like a tiny time capsule of everyone who is part of our family and what they look like at this precise moment in time!

Here’s how you can make one for your cutie!

You’ll need:
two 9” squares of fleece
one 5” square of clear vinyl
polly pellets (I got these at JoAnns)
photos
Laminate (I had a copy center do the lamination)

Make the bag by sewing the clear vinyl square onto the back center of one of the squares of fleece. Sewing over vinyl can be sticky; I put a piece of tissue paper under the foot. Cut the fleece away from the center of the vinyl. I cut it into an “X” and then used pinking shears to trim close to the stitches. Sew the fleece squares to each other right sides together, leave an opening to turn through.

Make the photos by stealing your friends and family’s photos off of FaceBook. In Picasa, crop the photos down to just be their faces. Using the grid option, create a collage out of all the pictures. Adjust the size of the photos by using the grid spacing slider bar. I wanted my photos to be double sided, so I printed two copies of the collage. Cut out each photo and adhere it to the matching photo back-to-back. Laminate the photos.

Finish the bag by turning it right side out, filling it half full with poly pellets, and tossing in the laminated photos. Sew the opening shut.

I’m looking forward to seeing Liv’s face as she discovers Mommy, Daddy, & Sissy in her I spy bag. Hopefully on the trip home she’ll recognize more of the family that she doesn’t get to see as often.

Roadtrip Project #3 - Magnetic Paper Dolls

2011-06-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

There was a method to my madness in making the magnetic chalkboard lap desk and this was it, magnetic paper dolls!

How seriously cute are they?! Can you even stand it??? I can't! I bought this adorable set from Ms Katie's Art Studio. She has lots of sets to choose from. I picked the PDF file that is made to be colored in. I printed it off on regular copy paper, rough cut them, stuck them to these adhesive backed thin magnet sheets, and cut them out.

All the outfits are ready to be colored and played with. I wanted the doll to be a little more durable though, so I colored her with pencils & covered it with a piece of packing tape before sticking to the magnet. I can't wait to show my Elle, this should be good for at least an hour of play!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-06-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Roadtrip Project #2.1 Dollar Store Lap Desk

2011-06-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Okay so if automobile primer, chalkboard spray paint, industrial adhesive, and a couple hours of coat after coat of paint seem like a little too much effort for a kids lap desk a) you're probably right and b) I have a cheaper and way easier alternative to my magnetic chalkboard lap desk for you!

The only thing that will make my 1 year old actually keep a lap desk on her lap for any amount of time is seeing her sister with one. While I was picking up the cookie sheet at the Dollar Tree I saw these little plastic trays and matching placemats. I made this version of the lap desk in less than an hour and $5.50 in materials. Here how you do it.

All you need is a little tray, a placemat, a large and small bag of beans, hot glue, foam core, and super glue.

Follow the instructions for making the pillow (you can find them in my last post, here) and super glue it to the under side of the tray. That's it!

Roadtrip Project #2 - Magnetic Chalkboard Lap-desk

2011-06-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

A lap-desk is pretty much an essential for kids on a road trip. I considered buying one, but decided I could design one with more features than what I could find already made... and for less money. I really couldn’t be happier with my version! It’s just right for a kid sized lap, the lip keeps pencils and crayons and whatever other little bits from rolling onto the floor, it’s magnetic (more on why that’s important in a future post!), the “pillow” is comfy and squishy enough to create a level table top, and the surface is chalkboard. Want to make one for your kiddo? You’re in luck, I put together a tutorial for you, with a video even!

You’re gonna need:

A small cookie sheet. It should be a cheap one… I got mine at Dollar Tree. Your life will be much easier if it’s not coated in anything.

Fabric a little bigger than your cookie sheet

Dried beans

Latex primer made specifically for metal – The guy I talked to at Home Depot recommended the automobile primer, so that’s what I used.

Sanding block

Chalkboard spray paint

Industrial strength glue

Foam core, matt board, or some other stiff but cuttable material

hotglue

Prepare your cookie sheet

This seems like a lot of steps, but if you don’t do them all the paint will chip/flake off (trust me on this one!).

wash the cookie sheet with hot soapy water

sand the entire surface (top, bottom, & sides) with a sanding block

wash it again and dry it completely

paint the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom with the metal primer & let dry

lightly sand the entire surfacespray the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom with chalkboard paint & let dry (I had some metal paint in black on hand from another project, so I used it instead of the chalkboard paint... a.k.a. a crafting staple for me... on the bottom of the tray)

lightly sand the entire surface

spray a second even coat of the chalkboard paint on the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom & let dry

spray one last thin coat of chalkboard paint on the top

Create the “pillow”

Cut a piece of your fabric 4” bigger than the bottom of your cookie sheet. My cookie sheet is 9x13, I added 4” to each measurement & cut a 13x17 rectangle of fabric.

Cut a 2.5” square out of each corner of the rectangle.

Match the right sides of each corner and sew to create the bottom and sides of a box shape. I made a little video for you of that piece:

Press the raw edges down a half inch

Measure the opening “top” part of your box from corner to corner and cut your foam core/matt board to that measurement. I had a plastic placemat on hand that had seen better days, so I recycled it for this step of the project.

Hot glue the half inch edge you pressed all around the board, leaving an opening in one of the long sides.

Fill the pillow (now with the hard top of the “box” hot glued on) with dry beans. I like beans best because they make the pillow conform to your lap which is key to getting a level surface.

Hot glue the opening you filled the pillow through closed.

Attach the pillow to the top

Depending on what material you used for the top of the pillow, choose an industrial strength glue to adhere it to the under side of the cookie sheet. Gorilla glue and E6000 are good options for lots of materials.

so the chalk "markers" didn't work so well... I almost had a panic attack when I couldn't erase them... I suggest sticking with plain ol' chalk!

Check back to see more of the projects I have planned for our road trip this summer!

Road Trip project 1 - Beginning Cross-stitch Kit

2011-05-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

Are you going on a roadtrip this summer? We are! 10+ hours in the car with a 5 year old and an almost 2 year old = this Mommy needs to get creative! A close friend of mine was a Montessori teacher, so I knew she would have some great ideas for little projects my 5 year old could tackle. As soon as she mentioned cross-stitch my wheels started turning! I loved cross-stitching when I was younger and am so excited to introduce it to Elle!

The kit includes a piece of gingham fabric stretched on a little embroidery hoop, some embroidery floss on plastic cards stored on a metal ring, a needle on a scrap of felt, a needle threader & thread cutter, and a matchbox I covered with some fun sparkly scrapbook paper to keep the little bits in (I was hoping the matchbox is cute enough to inspire her to keep track of the needle so it doesn't end up floating around my car... wish us luck!).

For starters she'll use the boxes in the gingham print as a guide to make her "X"s... who knows, if she likes it maybe we'll come home with a masterpiece :)

So I mentioned I liked cross-stitch when I was younger... ready for a blast from the past? I cross-stitched the corners of a baby blanket when I was in highschool for my "some day baby". Who does that?!?! Maybe only me... but none the less, I thought I'd share:

Time for Your Way Wednesday:

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Bentos!

2011-05-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted pictures of the bentos I’ve been making for Elle in quite a while, so I have a bunch for you!

Liv will be starting at the Montessori school Elle goes to next year and I’m feeling a little nervous about making 2 bentos every morning. I admit that sometimes I dream about how much quicker it would be to pay for a school lunch or easier to just send a sandwich and chips every day. But seeing all the bentos I’ve done the last couple months in one spot like this is at least a little reassuring… somehow I manage to pull them together even on our busiest mornings & most importantly I feel really good about the variety of foods she eats and that we’re teaching her about making healthy choices!

In this round of bentos we have – corn, blueberries, chocolate roasted almonds, rotisserie chicken, banana, hard boiled eggs, veggie chips, prunes, ritz crackers, baby bell cheese, Hawaiian rolls, cinnamon raisin bagel, dried cranberries, ham, dried cherries, fig newtons, trail mix, quiche, corn bread, edemame, string cheese, fruit leather, pink grapefruit, beets, apple sauce, pickles, granola bar, dry cereal, raisins, triscuts, pretzels, celery, lunch meat, jello, grapes, water chestnuts, natural cheetos, almond butter and jam sandwich, cheddar cheese, strawberries and whipped cream, hummus, and green bell peppers.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-05-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

It's been entirely too long since I featured my favorites from my weekly Your Way Wednesday posts, so buckle up, I've got three for you. Starting with a little something I would love to be gifted... a file box of ideas!

The Polka-Dot Umbrella submitted this post and I've been thinking about it since. I love reading my favorite blogs, and I'm pretty good about filing the things I want to reference again later, but when it's time to make that project I've been meaning to tackle I'm probably gonna print off the tutorial... or when my 5 year old is begging for a "project" searching through my blog files and printing them just takes too long. This is a great solution... inspiration at your finger tips!

Next up is this camera strap Originate and Renovated submitted. I love everything about this strap! The colors, the giant rick rack, the flowers, the big buttons, it's all so pretty! I don't have a fancy camera or even pretend to understand how one works, but I would be beyond impressed if my photographer showed up with this beauty around her neck!

And from last week's links is this pretty ring One Artsy Mama made. I love silver jewelry and the robins egg blue beads in the nest ring are perfect!

It's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Coming Soon!

2011-05-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

The party I've been neglecting you... errr planning... for the last few months was last weekend. I'm super excited to show it to you all! My lovely photographer has lots of work to do to get all the pictures ready, so you'll have to wait just a bit longer, but I thought I'd at least show you the invite and give you a little teaser of what's to come.

As I mentioned earlier, we've been picking produce at a local hydroponic farm nearly every weekend for the last few months. Elle always has a great time and thought her friends would like to pick too, so we hosted an end-of-school-year party at the farm. I found these invitations in Rethink Ink's Etsy shop early in the planning process. I love the natural look of them, the seed catalog liners for the envelopes, and the hand drawn feel! They were the inspiration for the design of the rest of the party.

I was super busy with projects for this party! There were 4 party favors, 2 activities, a food table, a sit down breakfast for the kids, a photo taking spot, and party decor so I'll have lots of how to posts for you as soon as the photos are ready, stay tuned!

Daddy Son Ties

2011-05-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Father's Day is less than a month away, but there's still plenty of time to make this adorable gift set for the men in your life... matching Daddy and son ties.

I made these for a friend and his new son. I picked up a couple ties at Marshalls (I always find great ties there!), cut one up to use the fabric in the applique on the baby's onesie, and wrapped the onesie and the other tie up together as a gift set.

I used my embroidery machine and a tie applique design I purchased, but you could make it with the zig zag stitch on your machine if you'd rather, like the one I made for my sweet nephew ages ago:

Your Way Wednesday

2011-05-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'll just go ahead and admit it... I get geeked out about organization! My Doug asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day and at the top of my list was go to Ikea to get a shelf to wrangle this disaster:

So off we went! One small land, some sweedish meatballs, and a reasonably priced shelf later and my party supplies are organized:

Not only was I able to fit everything from the pile, but also my coupon box, a mini ironing board, my embroidery machine arm in its case & my sewing machine cover ! {insert geeky squeal of delight!}

So from what you can see in this before and after can you guess what my next party theme is?

The party is this weekend and how crazy I get over party planning (exhibit A - my last party) is all the excuse I need for not getting this Your Way Wednesday up until less than an hour before it's no longer Wednesday. So sorry about that, I'll try to make it up to you with leaving it open for a few days and promising awesome party pics to come!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays!

2011-05-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is the first year we've had a little one in school... between family friends and school friends we have had a birthday party to attend nearly every weekend. I put a lot of effort into finding gifts that I can feel good about giving. My criteria is that they inspire creativity, are handmade, or support local artists... oh and of course I hope the birthday kiddo actually likes them! I NEVER give gift cards, they're just too impersonal... I want the receiver to know that we thought of them specifically when we picked out their gift and money just doesn't say that. I made an exception this weekend though because I can see how, especially for a kid, it would be fun to pick out their own prize and I also appreciate the "value of a dollar" lesson that can be learned from using a gift card.

It's always a challenge but I'm pretty excited about what I came up with for the two birthday parties Elle has this weekend! I bought giftcards, but so as not to feel bad about how impersonal they are, I also purchased a couple too cute for words... just admit it!... pocket monsters that my friend, Kelli of Red Marionette makes.

The pocket monsters are adorable but half the fun of buying a Red Marionette creatures is reading its "story". Kelli has an uncanny way of bringing her creations to life! So in addition to the pocket monster & the gift card, I made a little illustration of the monsters... a likeness if you will... to include on a card with thier stories.

So here's the best part, Red Marionette is not only having a sale on pocket monsters right at this very moment, but you can also get FREE shipping by using the coupon code FREESHIPPINGMAY when you check out. And as if my adorable idea and Kelli's irresistable creatures weren't enough reason to leave this blog page right now and get started on a gift for the next birthday girl or boy on your list (did I mention this is THE PERFECT GIFT for either gender?!)you had better hurry because the pocket monsters are an endangered species. The ones listed in the Red Marionette shop right now are the last of their kind (i.e. Kelli is discontinuing them).

Do you have any creative ideas for kids birthday gifts? I'd love to hear them, leave me a comment!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-05-11T05:01:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Lunch Bag Tutorial

2011-05-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Elle goes to a small Montessori school (I should post about Montessori one of these days… we’re completely in love!). They don’t have a cafeteria, so all the kiddos and I’m assuming teachers, bring their lunches… or bentos in our case… to school. So I thought pretty lunch bags would be a useful little gift to give Elle’s teachers for teacher appreciation week!

I was originally thinking I would make the lunch bags from oilcloth, but I didn’t have enough time to drive up to the fabric shop that I knew would have a good selection. Even if I had made the drive I would’ve had to make them all from the same 2 prints or have lots of scraps since you only need a little fabric for this project. Laminated cotton was the perfect solution! It took 3 and a half yards of this particular laminating material (I bought glossy, not matte), I had a 50% off coupon, and I got to use up some of my favorite scraps!

Confession: I finished the bags Wed. night and was planning to design cute tags and take some nice photos of the bags all lined up Thurs night in time for Elle to give them to her teachers on Friday. Thurs. morning I woke up and realized my plan wouldn’t work because Elle is off of school on Friday! So tags and photos were done while packing Elle’s lunch, feeding the girls breakfast, and getting myself ready for work.

So I know we’re too late for teacher appreciation week, but I think you should make these as an end of the year gift for your kid’s teachers, a “thanks for being so great to work with” gift for a co-worker, a “I just wanted to do something special for you” gift for your kiddo, or “I want to take a pretty lunch to work” gift for yourself! Here’s how I did it:

Cut one strip of fabric for the main part of the bag 29 ½ inches by 8 inches.
Cut two strips for the sides of the bag 12 ¼ inches by 5 inches.

Laminate the 3 pieces of the bag by following the instructions that came with your laminating material Tip: I used paperclips when needed… pins will leave holes in the lamination.

Fold the main fabric in half and make ¼ inch long slits in both sides of the fabric strip 2 ½ inches from the fold.

So when unfolded your main strip of fabric will have four ¼ inch slits 5 inches apart from each other on both sides of the center of the strip.

Sew-in the side panels - With right sides (i.e. laminated sides) together sew one long side of a side panel to the main bag with a quarter inch seem allowance. Stop a quarter inch from the slit you cut. Turn the bag and line up the short side of the side panel between the two slits and continue to sew stopping a quarter inch from the slit. Turn the bag again and sew from the slit back up to the top of the main fabric. Repeat on the other side.

Turn the bag right sides out & finger press the seems.

Top-stitch all around.

Fold the sides of the bag in and cut along the top of the bag with pinking shears.

Sew a length of hook and loop tape to the main part of the bag, centered 3 inches from the top. Sew the other side of the tape to the other side of the main part of the bag, centered ½ inch from the top.

Roll down the top of the bag, fasten is with the hook and loop and clothespin a little tag to it.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-05-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

First things first, my favorite from last week's Your Way Wednesday is this great tote that Ms Not So Perfect made that would be Oh so perfect for Mother's Day!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Featured!

2011-05-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to quickly share that the One in a Flash party I did for Liv was featured on the fabulous Baby Lifestyles!

Be back soon to show you the teacher appreciation gifts I'm doing for Elle's teachers.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-04-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm in full party planning mode these days for an end of school year party I'm planning for Elle. It's coming together but I think I'll wait to show you all the projects I've been working on until after I share the finished party. All of that to say, I'm bummed that I don't have a regular post for you this week and am just jumping into the next Your Way Wednesday, but it'll be worth the wait!

First up, my favorite links from the last few Your Way Wednesdays:

JAQs Studio linked up this washcloth tutorial. I love that even something as simple as washcloths can be really nice when you choose quality materials & take your time with the little details like topstitching.

Check out these adorable milk carton favor boxes Rhapsody of Cacophony made for a milk, cookies, and bedtime stories baby shower. So adorable!

And did you see this tray Life in the Dub Lane made? I could really use one of these for those nights we eat dinner as a family while watching Food Network Challenge!

Okay it's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-04-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Charging Station

2011-04-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Between the laptops, iPhones, iPods, and headsets that require charging in our house, this little end table next to our couch was completely engulfed in a crazy tangled wire mess! I really wish I had taken a before picture for you... it would be easy enough to stage... but the thought of going back there even for just a moment makes me shutter! I'm so loving this really useful and super cheap craft project my Doug and I tackled this weekend, a charging station!

Here's the how to if you want to give it a try. I started with a box we already had on hand:

Next I measured the plug for a little power cord we also already had on hand and drew a square on the bottom back side of the box big enough to fit the plug through.

Then I cut it out using a box knife & cleaned up the rough edges with some black electrical tape

Next I measured the top of the box and marked it for three evenly spaced 1" holes. Then we drilled the holes in the top of the box with a 1" hole saw (that's the drill bit thingie on the counter next to the box).

The holes were pretty rough looking, but these 1" grommets made for curtains finished the top and bottom sides of the lid off nicely. We just hot glued them into the holes.

The best part was loading it full of all those cords and closing the lid!

Since I had the box, the power strip, and the hole cutting bit, the project only cost me .67 for the electrical tape and $5.50 for the grommets (I had a 50% off a regular priced item Jo-Anns coupon). Not bad for less than $7!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-04-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Wrap Around Baby Outfit

2011-04-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

I picked up a Sew Baby pattern at Jo-Anns the other day and made this adorable wrap around outfit for a friend's baby boy.... could he be any cuter?!

The pattern says it's best made from a knit & to use fold over elastic for the binding. But I don't love working with knit, and I don't know what fold over elastic is, so I made it with seersucker and handmade bias binding instead. I think it worked just fine and was a great fit!

If you want to give this quick & easy pattern a try, you can look for it at your Jo-Anns (I found it in the spinning rack next to the pattern tables) or on Sew Baby's site. Don't let the snaps deter you, they're surprisingly easy to do!

Memory Quilt

2011-04-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

So this is it… quite possibly my most favorite sewing project I’ve done to date… a quilt I made from my daughter’s baby clothes. I was so nervous about cutting up all those tiny outfits!

I kept reminding myself “they’re just gonna wither away in a dark box for the next 20 years if I don’t do something with them now”. I finally got the courage to break out my rotary cutter and instead of stressing about each cut I daydreamed about how cuddly her little body was in those footie pajamas, how adorable she looked crawling away from me in those ruffle butts, and how pretty her face was framed in the ruffles of the bonnet that went with the outfit she came home from the hospital in. I’m so glad I did, I really couldn’t be happier with the results!

Some details about the quilt – It has 43 individual “outfits” in it, none of them repeating. I included pajamas, dresses, ruffle butts, onesies, lots of handmade goodies, receiving blankets & details like buttons, bows, pockets, embroidery, and applique. The design is a variation of a block called stacked coins.

I think it’s the perfect design for a baby clothes quilt because none of the clothes actually butt up against each other, so there aren’t any bulky seams and all the pressing is really easy. Even though it’s a bit risky, I also really love the white background for this quilt… it highlights the clothes and doesn’t compete with the variety of colors. The finished quilt is approximately 57” x 70”.

Some of my favorite blocks:

The taggie blanket I made and embroidered for Liv... complete with some of her favorite ribbon loops!

Adorable ruffle butts from the retro ruffler outfit made by Rae Gun... she had another of these outfits, and it's one of only a handful of outfits I kept in tact for her to have for her own little ones someday... if she wants.

More ruffle butts! These are the ones she wore while eating her first birthday cake. Made by Sherbet Baby.

The top from the very first thing I made for Liv while I was pregnant but before had even decided on her name... this Amy Butler kimono.

Footie pajamas from Liv's layette so cuddly sweet!

An applique top I made with a matching pair of pants (see it & another one of the outfits in the quilt here).

A crochet trimmed pocket from a dress Liv and Elle both wore (other pocket reserved for Elle's quilt) and the funny glow in the dark rib cage onesie she wore on her first Halloween.

There you have it! I'm really so pleased with how it turned out, and it feels absolutely wonderful to have a big ol' fat check mark in the "cut up my last baby's most cherished clothes" box!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-04-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've got two weeks of favorite Your Way Wednesday links for you. First up, this sweet ruffle pillow by Vixen Made. I really like her monochromatic take on this popular design element! Check out Vixen Made to learn how to make some for yourself.

And my favorite from the week before is this adorable paper bag waist skirt Homestitched made. That paper bag detail adds so much to a comfy little skirt! The best part is that Homestitched even made a tutorial for us!

Now it's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Homework Assignment #4

2011-04-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

I just finalized Elle's summer schedule. Finding engaging, affordable care, that she'll enjoy, and will fit into our work and vacation schedules for every single day of the summer was a grueling 3 week long undertaking! I just kept thinking "I must be missing something. Is it really possible every working parent goes through this for each of their school age children every year?!" If you have any tips I'm listening!

So now that you know what's been on my mind... and to do list... for the last 3 weeks, I think my last Illustrator 101 homework assignment will make a bit more sense. I made us a calendar template. Click here to download yours for free.

I think this is the start of a new spirograph obsession for me!

I've completed the Illustrator class and am so enjoying my newly learned graphic design skills. But I'm also really looking forward to getting back to a more normal schedule where I spend my evenings blogging or making things to blog about :)

Check back in a couple days for a post about quite possibly my most favorite sewing project ever!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-03-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Your Way Wednesday

2011-03-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Toddler Backpack

2011-03-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are new around here, my little spot of the blogosphere is usually full of sewing projects... this whole Illustrator thing is a new discovery. So, I have a "back to what I know" post for you. This adorable little backpack I made for my 18 month old cutie:

LOVE toddler backpacks! They made it possible for me to ditch the diaper bag and have both my girls shlep their own baby stuff as soon as they were old enough to walk.

I found that adorable mushroom print fabric at a local fabric shop (I think it's from Japan... I thought I'd be able to find it on Etsy and tell you what it's called, but I don't see it, sorry). I NEVER buy fabric unless I have a specific project in mind for it... I know that's like sacrilege for those of us who sew... so I passed this fabric up the first time I saw it. 2 days later I decided on the toddler backpack and trecked back to the fabric store to pair it with a pink faux bois ("fake wood" in french) and limey green dots.

The backpack is a really wonderful pattern by Pattern Play. It comes together so simply, the instructions are easy to follow, able to be customized, and perfect for little hands to operate all on their own!

These backpacks may become my standard 1 year old birthday gift!

iPhone icon for Elle Belle Creative!

2011-03-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

One of the projects that's been on my "when I finally take that Illustrator Class" list is to make and set up an iPhone icon for this site.

Now if you add a bookmark of my blog to your iPhone home page, that cutesy little EB creative icon shows up. Fun right?!

If you're not familiar with how to add a site to your iPhone's home page, here's how:

1) Open safari and go to www.ellebelleblog.blogspot.com
2) Tap the little plus sign at the bottom of the screen

3) Choose Add to Home Screen

4) Type EB creative over the text that appears in the box and choose Add at the top of the screen

There you have it... now my every blog post is with you everywhere you go, just one little tap away ;)

Homework Assignment #3 - Blog Button

2011-03-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

I think I'm getting the hang of this whole illustrator thing! For this week's homework I made a blog button for you. I thought you could use it as a cute place to link to kinda whatever you want... like your favorite tags on your blog, a blog roll of your favorite blogs, a flickr group, your Etsy favorites, links you really like...

I know how to make the button and I know how I would get the button on my blog, but that's the extent of what I know. So, unfortunately you may have to do a little research on google if you can't get the way I outline below to work for you. Or if you know of an easier way to do this please please share in the comments!

So here's how I would do it:

1) right click on the button above and choose "save as" Save the button somewhere you'll remember

2) Add a new picture gadget to your blog. I use Blogger, so for me, I do that by clicking on the Design tab, then add a gadget, then scroll down and select the picture gadget.
3) Upload the button graphic as the picture and key the link to whatever the stuff you <3 is.
4) Tell everyone about your cute new button and that I'm just giving them away over here at www.ellebellecreative.com ;)

Your Way Wednesday

2011-03-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogger (or blogspot... whatever you call yourself... I'm still sorta confused by that),

Why do you torment me so?! I depend on you multiple times a week to make my blog posts pretty and easy to read. I'm a faithful follower of so many of your bloggers, I read and read and read... I've done my part, please do yours! Please allow me to leave comments on the blogs I read. Please allow me to import more than one picture into my blog posts without jacking everything up and forcing me to exit and return to the compose window. And pretty please allow my most favorite people, my readers, to leave me a comment! I promise to love you forever or move to wordpress... just let me know.... k?

-Stacey

Now that that's over with, let's get on with Your Way Wednesday. As you may have guessed from the above little note, I couldn't leave comments for some of you who left links on last week's Your Way Wednesday. So I apologize, but unless you use the pop-up comment form style or are on a service other than Blogger, I couldn't leave you a comment (apparently some of my readers were having the same problem which is why I switched back to the pop-up format). But that won't stop me from showing you all my favorite link:

Rhinestone Beagle linked up this reusable snack baggie. If you've been following along, you know I make bento lunches for my pre-schooler so you may not be surprised that I picked this little gem to show you this week. But it's not just in line with the whole waist-free lunch "thing" it also uses fusible vinyl which is so fun!

On to Your Way Wednesday for this week!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

•Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to

•Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post (if I'm able! Do you think someone from Blogger will actually read that... how sweet would that be?!) & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Homework Assignment #2

2011-03-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of my Illustrator 101 class through Nicole's Classes is complete and as promised, I've made a little something for you... a couple lunchbox notes to include in your kiddos St. Patricks Day and Easter bentos (yes these notes will also work with a regular non-bento lunch, but I don't recommend it).

Just click on the picture below to be taken to docstoc where you can download the PDF for free!

Petite Picnic

2011-03-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

We recently discovered a hydroponic U-Pick farm right near our house. Picking our own veggies, and a basket full of strawberries so we can make a big salad for dinner and strawberries with whipped cream for dessert is quickly becoming our Spring time tradition! Last week we asked some friends to come with us and we made a little (literally!) picnic to enjoy after all that picking.

We had mini club sandwiches, "watermelon" slices, and tiny smores.

We made the "watermelon" by cutting some limes in half, scooping out the fruit (that was a lot harder than it sounds), filling it with Jello made the jigglers way, and sliced once the jello is set.

I picked up a skinny baguette from the bakery to cut for the sandwiches. Topped it with turkey, cheese, a grape tomato, and a toothpick.

The smores were my favorite! Stack mini marshmallows on top of a squares of Golden Gram cereal, toast just a few seconds, smoosh a mini chocolate chip in the top and toast until barely brown, top with another Golden Gram.

Enjoy!

Your Way Wednesday

2011-03-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

I was lucky I managed to get Your Way Wednesday posted at all last Wednesday, let alone feature my favorite link from the week prior (I did however trace a hand in Illustrator using the pen tool as well as the pencil tool ;)). So here you have it, my favorites from the last two Your Way Wednesday:

Last week, A Girl in Paradise posted this tutorial for making your own pin toppers:

I LOVE this idea! She put together the sweetest little gift of a super cute pin cushion and these darling pins in a little matchbook pin case. I would jump for joy if I received a package like that in the mail!

From the week before, The Polka-Dot Umbrella posted this bunting quilt:

I've been thinking about this quilt since. The way she put it together makes it so easy and totally doable even for a non-quilter! You should definitely stop by the Polka-Dot Umbrella, to check out this quilt, but also the other great ideas on this blog... tons of fun creative ideas for your kiddos!

Now it's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Party of the Year Contest - Please Vote!

2011-03-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

The One Year Old in a Flash party I planned for Liv's 1st birthday is a finalist in a Party of the Year Contest! I'm so not above begging you to vote for me... click here to check out the details and a link to the page to cast your vote.

If you found my blog because of the parties I've planned or have spent any time perusing the blogosphere for parties, I'm sure you're familiar with Kara's Party Ideas. Kara features amazing parties every single week! She picked her top 5 for the contest and I'm so thrilled Liv's made the cut!

The contest ends Sunday March 13th!