Craft Party

I went to a craft party today hosted by my friend Paula and a SU demonstrator. We made these neat blocks. We were supposed to create "faith" or "hope" but all ended up doing names and something else on the other side. I made these to go in either my great room or kitchen. As you can see, you can stack them vertically or horizontally. We used SU DP and misc. embellies. The demonstrator used the Cricut to cut out the letters, that's a pretty cool machine. It was a fun project and would be nice to do as gifts. My advice: have a paper/color scheme in mind in advance, it will make it a lot easier if you're like me and have a horrible time matching papers/embellies.

Hanging Treat Box

I made these hanging treat boxes for my ds' teachers for their first day back to school. I used the Deja Views paper pack that Archiver's gave out as a free gift this past weekend. I didn't have to stamp anything, which made these very quick and easy.

Tutorial found on SCS: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/hanging_treat_box/

Another M&T

I went to Archiver's Make & Take today and made this cute card and an 8x8 scrapbook page.

Crayon Roll

I made 2 more Crayon Rolls. I used the directions from this blog again: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/ but tweaked the measurements a little to make one that holds 18 crayons and one that holds 8. I also changed the closure to an elastic loop, it's not as cute but I think it will be more functional for me.

Nap Mat Cover

My mom brought me a sewing machine this past weekend. It's amazing how fun sewing can be when you have a machine that works! :) And this one is neat, it has cruise control, haha! Anyway, my ds has to use a nap mat this year and I wanted a cover made for his mat. I know we could use a crib sheet but that wouldn't be as much fun, would it? He has a 2" thick mat, length and width are typical dimensions. We layed the mat on the fabric (which mom also brought, thanks!) and cut. We used 2 pieces of 26"w by 60"l fabric and 1 piece of 45"w by 16"l fabric (for the attached pillowcase, travel size pillow). She did an envelope opening on the end to remove for washing, we didn't use Velcro, it doesn't seem necessary right now. These dimensions leave enough room to fold the mat to carry and remove the mat easily for washing, it's not a tight fit. I am going to make 1 more just for kicks. It's a great way to practice for other projects I'd like to do. Envelope opening:
My ds, the ham, I can't imgine they are actually going to get him to sleep on this mat! :)

Baby Tag Lovey

I decided to practice sewing by making baby tag lovies. There are several people having babies soon and I thought they would make sweet gifts IF I can learn to sew straight. I read these blogs for instructions and hints:

http://mamasdoodles.blogspot.com/2008/08/twiddler-tag-blankie-tutorial.html

http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/07/22/make-your-own-taggie-blankets/

http://ideas4fun.blogspot.com/2009/03/make-your-own-tag-blanket.html

http://craftblog.com.au/2008/07/04/appliqued-ribbon-blanket-tutorial/

When I get the hang of sewing straight, I'm going to make one using minky for my great-nephew, he is due in Nov. so I have plenty of time to practice. It irks me, though, that I can sew straight on a scrap piece of fabric, ugh! I bought the fabric and ribbon at Joann's. I learned to test the ribbon before using it on this though, one of the ribbons "pulled" when I ran my finger across it-not good for chewing on. Anyway, pretty I'm happy with how it turned out and look forward to making more of them.

More Quick & Easy

This is the rest of the teacher gifts. I used the SU rubons and a glass vase/container I found at the $ Tree. I learned something with the rubons...making it not so quick but a great lesson learned. I used a large flower and it came out bubbly, which I didn't like at all. So, I scraped the rubon off with my fingernail then wiped the glass clean with alcohol on a papertowel to remove any leftover traces of the rubons. Then, I chose a different design that didn't have such a large, solid design. I like how these turned out.