homemade by jill

baby bear hat

2012-01-31T01:07:00.001-05:00

In my experience, there is nothing sweeter than a baby with little animal ears on his hat. I crocheted this baby bear hat for a little man who will be making his entrance into the world shortly. Congratulations, Holly! I can't wait to meet Hunter.

This was a no-pattern hat ... I like to crochet on the fly. :)

ruffle tunic

2012-01-23T02:55:00.001-05:00

Don't you love learning something new? Last week I learned how to ruffle fabric using my Brother serger, and it sure beats pulling threads (thanks, Pinterest!). Check out the tutorial at {lbg studio} if you want to learn, too.

I made this little top for one of my favorite baby friends using the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila & Ben. I shortened the dress to a tunic, lengthened the sleeves to about 3/4 length, and added lots of playful ruffles. It felt really good to pull the serger out again - I even changed the thread!

Hope you had a great weekend. :)

art caddy

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

I sewed something! One of Oscar's buddies had a birthday party this weekend, and making a gift was just the motivation I needed to dust off the sewing machine. I made a little take-along art caddy in hopes that it will be useful in keeping a 3-year-old busy and happy.

There are lots of variations of this project floating around the internet, and I used bits and pieces of many of them. I've referenced my favorite versions at the bottom of this post. I didn't follow a specific tutorial partially because I wanted to create something unique, but mostly because I am feeling too tired to try and follow written directions. :)

Is it silly that I am proud of myself for including a zipper pocket? I have known how to sew zippers for a long time now, but for some reason I tend to shy away from them. Zippers are not scary! I need to remember that.

When you open the caddy, you find crayons and markers on the left, and a paper pad and an extra pocket for goodies like stickers on the right.

The fabrics for this project came from Riley Blake's Wheels line. For inspiration or instructions on a similar project, check out the following blogs:

Spledorfalls: composition caddy
Simply Modern Mom: kaye's sketchbook caddy
Sutton Gract: art notebook
{lbg studio}: art journal

And now, for a gratuitous cute baby photo:

Can you believe it has already been 7 weeks since Cora was born? Time really flies. While I can't say it has been super fun so far, I sure do love her.

butterflies

2012-01-05T18:15:00.001-05:00

Happy new year!

I have not done any sewing or crafting since Christmas, but I wanted to stop by and say hi. Want to see what Christmas Eve looks like in Santa Barbara?

I know. Life is rough, right? On Christmas Eve, we headed out to the local butterfly preserve to see the monarchs that migrate here every winter. This year was the most impressive display I've seen yet.

Do you see the big brown clumps hanging from the trees below? Those are butterfly clusters!

The pictures really don't do this place justice. On cold days, the butterflies stay in their clusters for warmth, but on warm days (like the day we went), they break free. Walking through the eucylyptus grove with thousands of butterflies flying above you is nothing short of spectacular. This year they estimated about 40,000 monarchs in the preserve.

I took a little video, but you'll have to ignore the running commentary of the people around me. :)

Oscar and Ruby loved the butterflies. I don't think they really understood the clusters, but there were plenty of butterflies to watch fluttering by.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and that the new year is a very happy one!

his and hers wooden peg dolls

2011-12-19T00:16:00.000-05:00

I assume you've all seen the adorable wooden doll projects at Lil Blue Boo? (They are plastered all over pinterest.)

Back in November, Ashley posted her Box o' Princesses and Boyville projects, and they have been on my mind ever since. Luckily my mom also wanted to make them, so we each painted a couple of sets while she visited. I know I wouldn't have gotten around to making them without her motivation, so thanks, mom!

First up, the boys:

I expanded the boy's set a bit to include a few more characters. If Ruby received eight dolls and Oscar only received four, he would not be pleased. Even with equal sets, I am still anticipating a lot of stealing between them.

My favorite boy dolls are Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader (although Buzz and Woody are a very close second). Oscar is borderline obsessed with Star Wars. He's only seen Episode One (which pains Jared to watch), but he thinks anything Star Wars is just the greatest.

I sanded down toothpicks and painted them as light sabers. They are super-glued to the dolls for safety, so hopefully Oscar isn't disappointed that they aren't functional.

On to the girls:

This set is the same group of princesses that Ashley made, but I tried to add my own flare to each of them. My kids are young, so to avoid a choking hazard, I purchased bigger wood people (they are all 3 1/2 inches tall). The larger sized dolls made it easier to add a few extra details.

My favorite ladies are Ariel, Tiana and Cinderella. I used Martha Stewart glitter paint in silver to add sparkly scales to Ariel's fin. Cinderella's dress was painted with Martha Stewart pearl finish paint in "aquarium" - it turned out so perfectly shimmery (I just love the MS line of craft paints!). I didn't use any special paints for Tiana, but she sure has a fun dress.

I'm not going to lie, these dolls took a bit of time to paint. It's not an easy project to churn out in one night! But I sure am excited for Oscar and Ruby to open them on Christmas day. Hopefully they will enjoy playing with them. If so, it will give me an excuse to make more. I'd love to add a doctor, fireman, ballerina ... peg people are fun!

Have you made any homemade gifts for Christmas this year? I know it is only a week away, but I still have four projects on my list. Yikes.

wood source: I ordered my 3 1/2 inch peg people from Casey's Wood, and have always had a good experience with their products. However, Ashley linked to a different shop, Woodworks Ltd., and they have slightly lower prices - I can't speak for the quality.

no-mess glittered ornaments

2011-12-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

One of my personal Christmas traditions is that I like to make a few new ornaments for my tree each year. They almost always involve glitter. I was talking to my sister earlier today and she remarked that if she could find a way to work extra glitter into every season, it would make her life a little happier. I agree completely - glitter makes me happy.

This year I still got the glitter I love without the accompanying mess. These kid-friendly (i.e. non-breakable) ornaments are made with wood discs and glittered cardstock. They are totally low-fuss, low-mess, high-sparkle. You should be able to find all of the supplies at your basic craft store.

First I used a small amount of hot glue to adhere a ribbon loop to each wooden disc. Then I glued my cut paper to on each side of the disc using Mod Podge. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the glittered circles and little shapes, but you could just as easily use a paper punch, or even cut them out by hand.

It wasn't long before I had a large set of glittery, festive new ornaments.

They really shine against the lights of the tree.

I also made a set of ornaments with my family's initials. They found a home on our newly decorated mantel (which also features glittered trees, a holiday book wreath, and felt candy cane garland from crafts of Christmas past).

I hope you have had a very merry December so far! We've been battling sickness at my house. A week after Cora was born, my husband came down with shingles and then Oscar and Ruby both caught chicken pox (and yes, they were both vaccinated). Talk about the worst transition period, ever. I wouldn't have gotten through it without my mom being here, continually saving the day! It looks like things are on the upswing now, though. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this little sweetie remains chicken pox-free, would you?

happy thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for my family, especially healthy babies, modern medicine, and my sister-in-law's delicious chocolate pie.

Speaking of babies ... remember how I just had one? Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Cora Margaret:

Cora is such a peaceful, sweet baby. We just love her! I was so worried about Ruby (a.k.a. "the brute") using her muscles on the baby, but so far it is just hugs and kisses all around. Oscar, of course, is smitten as well (it probably helps that she looks just like him).

We had a few hiccups in the hospital, so it has taken me longer to get back to the computer. Between needing to recover and the holidays coming up, posting is going to be really light around here for the foreseeable future. But can you blame me? We are all super busy snuggling Cora.

For Thanksgiving, I crocheted Cora a silly turkey drumstick hat:

Funny, right? After seeing it on Pinterest, I just couldn't resist! I made up the the pattern as I went along and didn't write it down, so I don't have instructions to share with you. You might be able to find a crochet turkey leg pattern online, and just add it to a simple hat. After the holiday, I think I might take the drumsticks off and add some teddy bear ears for a more useful everyday hat.

At first it seemed like Cora really liked it:

But then she started making sour faces at me:

One-week-olds are so fickle. :)

In completely unrelated news ...

I have a Black Friday Deal to share with all you Silhouette fans. Silhouette is having a great Black Friday sale where everything in the online store (except the CAMEO, subscriptions, download cards, and gift cards) is 30% off. You can get an extra 10% off using the online code, JILL, for a total of 40% off!

Also, the CAMEO will not be found in the regular online store, but you can find it on the "secret" Black Friday Page. The Cameo is not 30% off, and my extra code will not apply, but it will be nicely discounted. The Black Friday Cameos are expected to sell out fast.

All shapes will be 50% off.

The Black Friday sale starts at 12:01 a.m. (MST) on Friday, November 25th. Codes will be valid through the 28th.

Happy shopping!

bringing home baby - she'll probably need something to wear

2011-11-14T18:16:00.000-05:00

Unbelievably, the week has already arrived when we get to welcome our new baby - we'll meet her on Friday! Some of my friends started asking about her "coming home" outfit, and I realized I didn't have anything planned. Come to think of it, I have never planned a special coming home from the hospital outfit for my own kids. I'm not super sentimental about that kind of stuff. But this baby needed something, poor third child that she is.

First, I made her a really simple knot-top cap. It is modeled after my favorite store-bought newborn cap that I bought for Oscar years ago. I sketched out a simple template for you, which you can print out HERE. You'll need to cut two pieces of stretchy knit fabric from the template, and then another rectangular piece for the border at the bottom. I cut my border piece to 3 inches tall, and double the width of the bottom of the template piece. I'm not going to go into detail how to piece it together, but Make It and Love It has a really great baby hat tutorial that should give you a pretty good idea. Keep in mind that her hat brim folds up, but mine does not.

I also have basic instructions for a really easy baby hat from a t-shirt sleeve from my early sewing days - you can find it HERE.

Besides long sleepers, my favorite newborn clothes are the basic kimono-style snap shirts you can buy in packs. I even did a tutorial a few years ago about how to dress one up with ric-rac and some pretty buttons (find it HERE). For this shirt, I simply added a lace trim around the shirt's opening - really easy, really fast. This is actually the exact shirt that Oscar wore home from the hospital, and possibly Ruby, too (I don't actually remember what I put her in).

So there you have it, possibly the easiest coming home from the hospital outfit, ever. Add a pair of leggings and some cute socks, and you're all set.

a very halloween birthday

2011-11-04T03:35:00.003-04:00

I'm sure by now you are all sick of hearing about Halloween, but I had to share a few more photos of Oscar & Audrey's double birthday party. My friend, Sonja, and I put so much work into it, but it was such a great time! Both of the birthday kids were in Halloween heaven.

I wish I had taken more photos of the decorations! Sonja's house looked awesome - she made several cute felt buntings, including the bats pictured above. There were also decorated lanterns, lots of bat silhouettes, and a gigantic yarn spiderweb that covered an entire wall in her hallway.

I made a simple cake (vanilla with blackberry filling and chocolate frosting), and decorated the top with cardstock cutouts to look like a haunted house, or "house of spooks" as Oscar called it. Sonja made yummy nutella mini cupcakes, decorated with the cupcake toppers. Sonja's husband, Jake, cooked up a delicious dinner of pulled pork burritos with all the fixings, and we also had clementines dressed up as jack-o-lanterns, spooky mummy sugar cookies on a stick, cookie bones, and brownies with cute jack-o-lantern wrappers (there was no shortage of treats).

Since the kids were mostly 3-years an under, we kept the activities simple. After handing out the treat bags Sonja and I made, we sent them on a mini trick-or-treat to the doors inside her house. The kids received stickers, spider rings, a piece of candy, and a pumpkin-wrapped brownie. Afterward, we sent them outside to break open a pinata to fill their bags with a few more treats.

We ended the evening with cake, of course. After Audrey beat Oscar to the punch of blowing out the candles, we re-lit them at least five more times. I hope they got all their wishes in.

You can find many of the ideas and tutorials from projects mentioned above linked on my Halloween Party Pinterest Board.

ruby's wonder woman costume

2011-11-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hello! You'll find me over at Lil Blue Boo today, sharing a bit more about Ruby's Halloween costume.

If you aren't already keeping up on Ashley's story, you'll want to check out her posts on her recent battle with cancer. I've always admired Ashley's work, but even more I admire her positive attitude and tenacity. She is truly an inspiration, and it sounds like things are finally turning around for the better. Hurray!

Keep fighting, Ashley! We love you.

halloween costume parade

2011-10-31T13:08:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun time at Oscar's birthday party this weekend - I have tons of photos, but I still need to go through them, so I'll share party details later this week.

Meanwhile, want to see all of our costumes?

I made Jared a quick and easy robot costume by covering a large cardboard box in silver duct tape and cutting a bunch of vinyl decals with my Silhouette machine. He really hates dressing up for Halloween, but he was sweet to humor Oscar (and me) for the party.

You've already seen Oscar's pumpkin costume. It was too hot on Saturday to stuff him full, but we might try that for trick or treating tonight. He was such a happy birthday boy. The ear-to-ear smiles he wore all night made all the party prep worth it.

I made a pregnant pumpkin shirt with a simple freezer paper stencil and the new Martha Stewart Glitter Paint. Not an elaborate costume, I know, but it was about all I could muster and it made Oscar happy. We felt like a pretty cute pair of pumpkins.

Here's our happy gang all together. Ruby was Wonder Woman, and I am thrilled with how her dress came out. She even wore the accessories happily, which was a miracle. I'll post more on her outfit later.

I also made the costume for our friend Audrey (Oscar's party companion), as her birthday present. She loves Beauty and the Beast, so I made her a Belle dress using the Crafterhours tutorial again. Her baby sister wore Ruby's old Belle dress, so we had two little princesses running/crawling around the party.

I hope you have a very happy and safe Halloween! Don't make yourself sick with candy. :)

Here are the kids' costumes from previous years:

2010: Skeleton and Baby Aerobics Instructor
2009: Bluebird

rollie-pollie pumpkin

2011-10-28T04:20:00.000-04:00

Oscar is a Halloween kid through and through. He waffled on his costume selection at first (bat, pirate, star wars guy), but eventually he had only one request: a pumpkin!

When I asked him to try on his costume for a photo, he said, "wait! I need a pumpkin. It looks just like me." So cute.

The hat was made using Delia Create's hat-ette tutorial. It was so fast and easy to put together (literally less than a half hour!) and totally completes the look. I used elastic instead of a ribbon tie, because I wanted it to be quick to put on and take off.

For the felt pumpkin suit, I used the Rollie Pollie bean bag pattern from MADE, with the small bag pattern pieces scaled down slightly. The zipper in the pattern makes the costume really easy to get in and out of. Instead of adding the top and bottom pieces, I made an elastic casing. I cut arm holes in the side, and edged them with "bias" tape made from felt. The arm holes are cut a little too large, but you can't win them all.

Or maybe you can?

For the actual costume day, he's going to wear and orange t-shirt and his green legging pj pants underneath, and we are going to stuff the pumpkin to fill it out a bit.

I am also going to be a pumpkin, but don't require any stuffing in my costume. Only 3 weeks to go before baby girl #2 arrives. :)

mini cupcake toppers

2011-10-27T17:53:00.000-04:00

The only thing cuter than mini cupcakes are mini cupcakes with mini cupcake toppers (how many times do you think I can fit the word "mini" into one sentence?).

I used my Silhouette to cut these little cuties out from black cardstock and scrapbook paper, so other than gluing the pieces together, there was very little work involved. All of the shapes came from the Silhouette online store.

Each topper is simply taped to a toothpick and will be popped into a mini cupcake for the kids' Halloween birthday party this weekend.

My friend Sonja and I are a bad combo for party planning, because we tend to feed off of each other's craziness. Even this afternoon, we were discussing ideas for more things to do and make (with the party only days away) ... we have to take turns reminding each other to calm down and focus on the current to-do list. Do you have a friend like that? It makes me laugh.

p.s. Just a reminder that the promo for the new Silhouette Cameo ends Monday, Oct. 31st. Use the code JILL to get a Cameo and your choice of a free starter kit.

introducing the Silhouette CAMEO

2011-10-25T01:46:00.003-04:00

You all know how much I love my Silhouette cutter. I've used it to make wall art, custom shirts for my kids and husband, hair accessories, etched glassware, and to organize my pantry. Most of all, I love to use it for parties and gifts - decorations, labels, treat boxes, etc.

So have you heard the news? They have just released a new version, the Silhouette CAMEO. She's a sleek little thing...

The biggest change is the increased cutting size. The Cameo cuts paper, cardstock, vinyl, or fabric up to 12 inches wide (verses the SD's 9 inches) and 10 feet long. The extra 3 inch width allows you to cut significantly larger designs - you can see the difference in the cutting mats below. I love that I no longer have to trim down 12 inch scrapbook paper before running it through the machine.

Other improvements include a quieter motor and an adjustable cutting blade. I'm a big fan of the new blade, because I was always losing my blade caps on the SD. Now I can change the cutting depth with a simple click. Yay! I also find that it is much smoother to load materials, particularly the vinyl. All in all, it is just a new and improved version of an already awesome machine.

The nice Silhouette folks also sent me one of the new starter kits to try out. There are starter kits for vinyl, heat transfer, fabric ink, and rhinestones, and include all the tools you need to learn and make a new project.

So far, I've kept my Cameo busy with party prep - Oscar is having a Halloween themed birthday party this weekend, and my machine is working overtime.

First, I used the Vinyl Starter Kit to decorate a beverage dispenser for the party. It's going to look awesome filled with colorful, Halloween punch.

I also cut a little vinyl wall decal for a blank space near one of the food tables. The party will actually be held at my friend's house, because our kids are having a joint party. Vinyl is great for making easy, temporary decor - I didn't feel bad plastering her walls with Halloween stuff, because I know it will peel right off when the party's over.

Paper buntings cut from scrapbook paper spook-ify my otherwise plain cake stands. I can't wait to load them up with treats!

If you've been saving your pennies for a craft cutter, I can't say enough good things about the Silhouette Cameo. And since I love sharing a good deal, you can get one of the new Cameos plus your choice of a free starter kit (Fabric Ink, Vinyl, Heat Transfer, or Rhinestone) for $299, using the online promo code, JILL.

This promo runs starting today, October 25, through October 31. There are a limited number of promotion bundles for the first shipment of Cameos, and they are expected to sell out. Maybe it can be an early Christmas present for yourself? I'm sure you deserve it. :)

doll/bear carrier

2011-10-24T05:46:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest project selection from the Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew book:

the bear carrier! I'm telling you, this book is gold when it comes to making handmade gifts for children. Every project is a big hit (I've also made several explorer vests and the red riding hood cape).

This carrier was for another one of Oscar's friends, but we tried it on his favorite bear to get the straps sized properly. He was ecstatic - hands free bear travel? Life doesn't get much better. "Let's try glow turtle next!" he says.

Can you imagine the tears when I had to package it up for the birthday party? Oh, man, was Oscar mad. I promised to make a special one just for him, which means Ruby will probably need one, too. My to-do list never stops growing.

ruffly playdate dress

2011-10-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

Did you participate in the Kids Clothes Week Challenge last week? I intended to, but it didn't quite happen. Too much else going on this month! I'll have to look forward to it in the spring.

I did manage to make this fun little dress for Ruby, using the Playdate Dress pattern from Craftiness is Not Optional (I made it once before back in July). It is such a breeze to put together - especially with the Ruffle Fabric, which saved me the step of hemming the bottom. It looks really sweet on Ruby, but she is walking now and won't hold still for a photo. You'll have to take my word for it. :)

red riding hood cape

2011-10-17T01:50:00.001-04:00

Last week I made the Red Riding hood Cape from the book, Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew. I can't say enough good things about this book! I love every project.

The cape was for Oscar's friend's birthday, but I couldn't resist taking a photo or two before wrapping it up. Oscar was happy to oblige, and I'm pretty sure he didn't even realize this cape is meant for little girls.

This was one of the easier rated patterns in the book, and is beautifully simplistic. I hope our little friend enjoys the addition to her dress-up box.

Speaking of birthdays, guess who turned 3 yesterday? I can hardly believe it - feels like just yesterday Oscar was a tiny burrito of a baby. We are so glad to have him in our family.

simple felt trick-or-treat bags: templates and tutorial

2011-10-14T05:24:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are the templates and instructions for making my simple felt trick-or-treat bags. They really are easy, and unless you have to crank out 25 (like me), you should have plenty of time to make them before Halloween. Hooray!

First I'll show you how to construct the basic bag.

Main bag piece: 11 x 20 inches felt
Handle pieces: (2) 12 x 1 inches felt or ribbon
To make the felt handles extra sturdy, cut two pieces of felt 12 x 1 inches and sew them together. A simple seam down either side will do. To clarify, cut four total 12 x 1 felt pieces for each bag, and sew two sets together, creating two 12 inch handles.

1. With your main bag piece laying flat, pin your handles to the inside of the fabric (on the 11-inch side), approximately 2 inches in from the side, and overlapping the edge approximately 1 inch (as pictured below).

2. Sew the handle to the bag. Repeat with the other handle.

3. Decorate the front of the bag. Templates and more details on each bag can be found further down this post.

4. Fold the main bag piece, right sides together, lining up the side and top edges. Sew a 3/8 inch side seam (about the width of your presser foot) on each side.

5. Square off the bottom of the bag: Match the side seam to the bottom fold of the bag, creating a triangle. With the open seam at the middle to lay flat, mark a line at the 2 1/2 inch wide point. Sew a seam across the marked line and trim off the triangle, leaving about a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Repeat with other side.

It will look like this:

6. Turn the bag right-side out and revel in the cuteness.

Now that we have the bag basics down, let's talk about the different variations:

The pumpkin is pretty straight-forward. Follow the instructions above, using the jack-o-lantern face template provided. I added a strip of green ric-rac across the top of the front of the bag (you'll need 11 inches), and then sewed a leaf on top. The leaf was top-stitched for added detail.

For the frankenstein bag, I used buttons for the eyes, and ric rac for the eyebrow (about 4 inches long). You could substitute felt for both details. For the neck bolt, cut out the 3 x 1 inch felt strip and fold it in half before sewing to the bag. I placed the neck bolts 6 1/2 inches down from the top of the bag. Make sure you pin them facing inward (the cut edge will line up with the bag's edge), so when you turn the bag right side out, the bolts will stick out.

The bat bag has a slightly different shape because I tapered the main bag piece 1 inch on either side (starting from midway up the side of the folded main piece) to give it a rounder appearance. Otherwise, construction is the same. Ric rac was added to the handles for a little extra color, and the mouth was stitched on with contrast colored thread. Buttons for the eyes. The wings are a single layer of felt, but you could make it a double layer for added stability (they are a little floppy). Use the template piece from the jack-o-lantern nose for the bat's ears.

Click on the images below to download the pdf templates:

Happy trick-or-treating. :)

simple felt trick-or-treat bags

2011-10-10T18:54:00.001-04:00

Oscar is having a double Halloween birthday party with his little friend, Audrey. It has been a lot of fun to plan, especially since I have a friend to work with (double the mom-power!). We have been busily sewing felt trick or treat bags as party favors. Here are the first three prototypes:

So far, we have a little army of pumpkin bags assembled, and the Frankenstein bags (my personal favorite) are all cut out, ready to be sewn next.

These bags are ridiculously easy to make, and I'm putting together some templates for you ... they will definitely (probably, maybe) be ready sometime this week. How's that for a vote of confidence? Blogging is getting harder and harder by the day - Oscar doesn't nap in the afternoon anymore, I'm exhausted by the end of each day, and have thoughts of newborn preparations looming over my head (less than 6 weeks to go!). You understand, right? Thanks :)

UPDATE: Find the templates and tutorial HERE

kid craft: easy pipe cleaner spiders

2011-10-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

My son, Oscar, loves Halloween. Whether that love stems from his October birthday or the fact that we did like 4 trick or treating sessions last year, I'll never know (I have my suspicions), but he really looks forward to it. Last week we started decorating the house at his request, and one of the new items we made was a set of easy pipe cleaner spiders. We stick to the fun and friendly side of Halloween around here.

They couldn't be more simple - the only supply you need is black pipe cleaners. The project is easy enough for school aged children, and quick enough to keep the attention of observing toddlers.

1. You'll need 7 pipe cleaners for a large spider.
2. Twist 2 pipe cleaners together to make one large strand.
3. Wind the long strand around your finger to create the body. You want it to look nice and round, but still have a hole through the middle.

4. Take four more pipe cleaners and twist them together in the center to create the eight spider legs.
5. Thread the legs through the hole in the body so there are four legs on each side.
6. Bend the legs on either side, and spread them out a bit.
7. Twist the end of each leg to create a little foot.

8. Using your last pipe cleaner, wind it into another ball, leaving a slight tail at the end. Tuck the tail into the body of the spider towards the front, creating a head.

All done! We made a little family of spiders to add to our mantle. Have you started decorating for Halloween?

crafting memories: Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts winners

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for all the thoughtful comments left on last Tuesday's giveaway post. It has been fun to read about all of your crafting memories!

Some common themes: crafting with sisters/mothers/grandmothers/friends is always special. My sister reminded me of the time my mom sat down with us and taught us how to weave baskets (she makes the most amazing baskets). My mom can make anything - I always loved making projects with her growing up (and she was the one to get me hooked on Martha Stewart). We still end up crafting together during visits.

I usually find that I am far less productive while crafting with friends than alone, but it is always a good time. Years ago in New York, my friends and I had an impromptu sock-animal sewing party:

I loved hearing all of your stories! They reminded me of good times I've had crafting with loved ones, successful projects, and funny failures. It was nearly impossible to pick favorites, but here are the five comments I chose as the giveaway winners:

Danielle said...

One of my favorite memories was when my grandmother was teaching my cousin Eric and I to embroider (we were both around 8 or 9 yrs old). I was working on a pillow case and he was making a pillow for his mom. I accidentally stitched my pillow case to her bed quilt! I ended up cutting the quilt to get my stitches out and tried to sew the quilt back. It looked terrible haha. Those stitches are still there today though, so I must have put them in pretty well!

Amy said:
When I was a kid we were making come craft for our moms for mothers day. My friend Tanya (a tomboy) was doing an awful job at hers so she turned to me and said "Amy, make mine for me, or I'll beat you up! And make it blue." I would have done it for her anyway!

Tish said:
My favorite craft moment was learning to sew not from my mom, but from my younger brother who was in high school. He learned in Home economics. He stayed up until the wee hours of the morning teaching me the basics. Since then it has opened more windows in my craft world. So thank you to my brother Nick!

Aunt Nancy said:
My favorite crafting memory goes way back to when I was about7 years old. I made earrings for my mother in my school class out of big, dark red buttons. I glued little crystal clear beads in the center of the button and glued a screw-on back and I was ready to give the most amazing christmas present ever to my mom. I wrapped the earrings all by myself and couldn't wait till she unwrapped them Christmas morning. Well, needless to say, because the package was so tiny and not in a box, it got lost for awhile in the ton of wrapping paper all over the living room floor. I was devastated! But thanks to my mom, we finally found the treasure and true to my imagined joy...she loved them!. My mother was my inspiration for growing up wanting to make my home more beautiful by creating things myself. When my mother passed away and I was going through her jewelry box, I found the beaded earrings that I had made for her with love. She had kept them for all those years....a very tender memory for me of a mother's love and inspiration!

myemye_12 said:
I was still fairly new to sewing and my husband asked me to make him a ninja turtle costume. It was only a week before Halloween but I told him I could do it(I really wasn't sure I could!). He went to the fabric store with me to pick out a pattern and the perfect ninja turtle color fabric and we worked on it late together every night that week, even staying up until 3 the night before Halloween. Our daughter was just two months old, and boy were we exhausted but we had the best time together. He would trace the pattern and cut the fabric and I ran the sewing machine. Oh man when that costume was finally finished he was so excited. I have never given him anything (except our daughter) that he thought was that awesome. It was like he was six years old again. And he was so proud of it, he told everyone at the Halloween party that we made it. I'm pretty sure they could tell we made it with it's odd proportions(we blew up a toddler sized pattern) and crooked seams, but he was convinced it was THE BEST costume at the party. It is still hanging in our closet and I smile every time I look at it.

Congratulations to the winners! Please email me (homemadebyjill@gmail.com) with your shipping address so I can have the book mailed out to you.

Thanks again to everyone who shared a memory!

explorer vests!

2011-09-30T12:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all who entered Tuesday's giveaway! I am really enjoying reading through everyone's crafting memories. It is so hard to narrow down favorites, but I'll choose my top five over the weekend and post the winners on Monday.

This week I've kept busy sewing birthday presents for Oscar's friends. He is in a playgroup with kids that have birthdays all within about a month and a half of each other. It is wonderful, but makes for an extremely busy birthday party season!

Oscar has two little friends who are especially adventurous and love the outdoors. I knew the Explorer Vest from the book Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew would be just perfect for them.

I made the first (khaki colored) vest with the simpler flat pockets, but couldn't resist adding the pocket bellows the second time around. I used the lining fabric, so the bellows would really stand out. It was fun to add bright touches in hidden places, too. Hello, colorful pocket flaps! Sewing for boys does not have to be boring.

I think my favorite part is the giant back pocket. Not sure how easily a toddler will get his treasures back there, but I'm sure it will be entertaining to watch him try. :)

Oscar keeps asking when I'll make him an explorer vest (he wants the accompanying bug-catcher box), so I'm sure you'll see more versions in the future!

Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts - review and giveaway!

2011-09-27T12:06:00.002-04:00

It's no secret that I love Martha - everything that comes from her company is pure perfection. Today she is releasing a new book, Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts: 225 Projects for Year-Round Celebrations.

From Easter eggs, to Father's Day gifts, to Christmas decorations, the book offers dozens of crafts for every holiday. It feels like a collection of all the best "Good Things" projects and special holiday issues of the magazine, all bundled in one spot.

Of course, there is a fabulous Halloween section (Martha's favorite holiday), which is the perfect jump-start I needed to get started on Oscar's 3rd birthday party, a Halloween extravaganza (at least in his eyes).

I am excited to try the Jar-o'-lanterns, featured in the Halloween section. (Photos by Eric Piasecki. Reprinted from the book Martha Stewart’s Handmade Holiday Crafts. Copyright © 2011 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc.)

Jar-o'-lanterns

Tools and Materials
Clean glass jars
Paintbrush

Oil-based enamel paint (black and orange or yellow)
Extra-wide masking tape

Jar-o-lantern template (marthastewart.com/holiday-crafts-book-extras)
Marker
Craft knife
Plastic-covered 20-gauge wire
Needle-nose pliers
Wire cutters

1. Working in a well-ventilated area, coat the inside of a jar with orange or yellow paint. Apply a square of masking tape to the outside of each jar. Press out any air bubbles. Use a marker to draw face on tape. Cut out features with a craft knife to form a stencil. (Alternatively, download and print jar-o’-lantern templates, cut out features, and secure over the tape; cut around them to form stencil.)

2. Using black paint and a brush, fill in the features of the stencil. Let paint dry completely, then carefully peel off and discard tape.

3. For a handle, loop one end of the wire with pliers. Make a lasso shape to hug the neck of the jar. Bend remaining wire over for a handle. Cut wire; make another loop to hook onto ring. Slip ring over jar's mouth; tighten as necessary.

How cute are those? All I need is some orange paint and I'm set to start.

Ok, onto the really fun part. Would you like a copy of the book? Today I'm giving away 5 copies of Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts: 225 Projects for Year-Round Celebrations!

I'm going to run this giveaway a little differently, just for fun. To enter:

Leave a comment telling me your favorite crafting memory! It can be anything - a success, a funny failure, just the sweet memory of crafting with someone special. I'll choose my 5 favorites for the winners. Make me smile. :)
One comment per person please. If you accidentally leave duplicate comments, please delete the extras.
Please leave me a way to contact you, either with an email address, or a public profile that leads to your blog. Thanks!
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. So sorry, international friends!

This giveaway is open for 24 hours only! Get your comment in by 9 a.m. PST, on September 28th.

One of my favorite crafting memories is when I got to meet Ms. Martha herself and talk to her about something I made. It was October 2008, just 11 days after Oscar was born, and I had submitted a pair of baby booties to the MSLO employee art show. She loved the shoes (I about passed out on the spot), but even more she loved Oscar, and took his picture. The shoes and Oscar's little newborn face even flashed briefly on the show the next day. My tiny celebrity! It was a thrill.

Good luck! I'm really looking forward to reading your crafting memories.

yarn-wrapped letters - made cheaper than cheap

2011-09-23T13:09:00.001-04:00

I love the yarn-wrapped letter trend that seems to be so popular these days, but I can be a total cheapskate. So when I went to make some word art for the kids' playroom, I made my own from scratch.

Instead of buying cardboard letter forms from the craft store, I cut my own out of foam board. To make a template, simply find a font you like in MS Word (or a similar program), and print it out as large as you'd like your letter. I used the font "Rockwell," in bold (not to be confused with "Rockwell Bold", which was a little too chunky for my taste). To get really big letters, you can print out multiple pages or get them blown up at a copy shop.

Then wrap, wrap, wrap your letters in yarn, until they are completely covered. Use dabs of hot glue in the corners and around edges to keep the yarn in place.

As a bonus, the foam board letters are really thin and lightweight, and which helps them hang flat against the wall. I hot glued round picture hangers I had on hand to the back of each letter to hang.

My letters got a lot tidier with practice, so if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I made this big letter G for our mantel using a thinner yarn and a little more patience.

So far, I've used less than a full piece of foam board and all other materials I've had on hand ... so this project is coming in under $2. Not bad for a bit of DIY decor!

Wee Wonderfuls Mermaiden Doll

2011-09-21T17:14:00.001-04:00

A (long) while back, I received a copy of the book, Wee Wonderfuls, 24 Dolls to Sew and Love. It is a very charming book - I immediately bookmarked a bunch of projects. Somehow, they got knocked down the to-do list, but with many toddler birthday parties in the coming months, I pulled the book out again.

Last night I made the Mermaiden Doll. Hello, beautiful!

It is a small-sized doll, only about 7 inches tall, perfect for little girls who like to take things on the go. All of the stitching details add a lot of personality.

If you are planning to make dolls for holiday gifts, this book is a great place to start. I love how diverse each of the projects is. There really is something for everyone (even little boys!).

Up next on my dolls to make list are the Hansel and Gretel wooden spoon puppets, doxie necklace, and Little Miss Storybook (pictured below, left to right).

This little mermaid was hard to say goodbye to, but she'll be in good hands. The birthday girl has such a love of swimming, she is practically a fish. I'm sure these two will get along nicely.

Have you started thinking about handmade holiday gifts? What is on your to-do list?

vinyl wipes case template

2011-09-19T16:59:00.002-04:00

You asked for it, so here it is ... a template to make your own vinyl-decorated wipes case.

Supplies needed:

Hard plastic travel wipes case (my template is made to fit the Huggies brand cases)
Cut vinyl, contact paper, or scrapbook paper and mod podge - I'm going to show you how I used the vinyl
scotch tape
scissors
wipes case template

First, print and cut out the pdf template (please select the "fit to printable area" option to get the correct sizing). Get the template HERE.

Prepare your vinyl - I used my Silhouette machine to cut a design (for Silhouette users, this design is called "Butterfly Floral Lace Square"). You could also buy pre-cut vinyl, cut it by hand, or substitute pretty contact paper (there are some great contact paper patterns out there these days). In my last post, a reader suggested using scrapbook paper and mod podging it to the wipes case. I've never tried this, but I'm sure it would work!

Lay the template pieces on top of the vinyl, and using small pieces of scotch tape to hold them in place.

Cut around each template to get one back piece and two front pieces.

Apply the vinyl to the wipes case, according to the material's instructions. If you are using an intricately cut design, I would strongly recommend using transfer paper.

I used some of the leftover scraps to apply little pieces to the center case flap.

Make sure you firmly adhere the vinyl to the case, smoothing down all corners, and you're done! Enjoy your one-of-a-kind wipes case.

And one more time ... here's another link for the wipes case template, in case you missed it. :)

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Just Bunch Designs giveaway winner

2011-09-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Congratulations, Tiff - your comment was selected as the Just Bunch Designs giveaway winner, and you will receive three prints of your choice from the Just Bunch etsy shop. I'll be in touch!

Stephanie is also offering Homemade by Jill readers a 15% discount on all orders for the next two weeks, using the code JILL15. Happy Shopping!

retro homemaking night

2011-09-16T01:19:00.003-04:00

Sorry to be so absent this week! I've been prepping non-stop for another ladies event at my church, which was held last night. I no longer have as much responsibility as I've had in the past (phew), but these things are always a lot of work.

We had a retro-themed homemaking night, complete with classes about pressure cooking, making apple pies (in a jar - cute!), and sewing an apron.

Our tables were decorated with a fun assortment of vintage items, and a sweet bouquet of flowers in a can (idea from Rachel Ray, which I saw on Pinterest).

I love my blue Singer. I don't actually use it, but it sure is pretty, right?

My favorite part of the night (besides the fun activity, delicious food, and wonderful company, of course) was definitely getting all dolled up with retro hair and make up.

As a mom who is admittedly frumpy and often sports a wet french braid and no makeup, I felt fabulous last night! How weird would it be if I started rocking a retro look more often? Because it was kind of awesome. I found really helpful hair and makeup tutorials on YouTube. Is there anything you can't learn on YouTube?

I lead the apron sewing class (with lots of helpers - thanks Holly & Lori!), and we made the apron in a hour that I posted about previously. Since we are always on tight budgets for these types of things, we had to find a great deal on fabric ... which last week lead me here:

the Fabric Barrel in Solvang, CA. I kid you not, this was one of the nuttiest places I've ever been. Crazy, I tell you! There are two buildings, two stories each, plus a separate cafe, all manned by one lady. On the bottom floors are several rooms of fabric, some on giant bolts, others just piled in bins, like the photo above. All the fabric is 99 cents a yard, and you cut it yourself. There is not an employee to be seen (she is busy in the cafe, cooking burgers).

My friend Lori and I went together, with four toddlers in tow, and it was an adventure to say the least. When we first walked in, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't think we would find a thing.

Fifty yards of fabric and 20 zippers later (zippers are 5 cents, buttons only a penny), we hauled our kids and our spoils over to the cafe for hot dogs, burgers, and root beer floats.

There were so many great knits ... and 99 cent fabric makes me kind of dizzy with excitement. I can't wait to go again, but definitely without kids!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. I haven't forgotten about the vinyl wipes case template - I'll post it next week!

p.s. today is the last day to enter the Just Bunch Designs giveaway. Don't forget to leave a comment if you haven't already. :)

celebrating baby: Just Bunch Designs giveaway

2011-09-12T03:00:00.003-04:00

I've been keeping a little secret from this blog, but I think it's time to spill the beans ... I'm 30 weeks pregnant!

I've spent most of this pregnancy feeling excited but also kind of scared to be the mom of three little ones (this will make 3 kids in 3 years). It is going to be a big adjustment and will call for significant changes around here ... namely, I will have very little time (if any) to blog. But I have two months to go, so in the meantime, let's celebrate!

Today I'm excited to offer a giveaway from Just Bunch Designs, an etsy shop that sells beautiful, original nursery collage prints. Being a mom of two herself, Stephanie definitely has an eye for colorful children's art. I love the way she mixes patterns and colors. Here are a few of my favorites:

birds on a croc

happy whale

I can fly elephant with balloons

I also love the kid's art for the bathroom. My kids might need one of these reminders:

brush

Stephanie sent me a set of number prints, and they look so great in our new little playroom. Oscar loves to count the objects in each picture.

Visit the Just Bunch blog, where Stephanie posts fun crafts and recipes. I love her easy superhero mask (which comes with a free template!).

The giveaway this week is for three nursery prints of your choice! If you'd love to win, please leave a comment on this post by midnight (PST), Friday, September 16th, and tell me your favorite print (or set of prints) from Just Bunch Designs.

Giveaway Rules:

Only one entry per person. If you accidentally enter more than once, please delete your duplicate comment(s).
Contact information must be provided. Either your profile must link back to a public blog, or you must include an email address on your comments. Anonymous comments will be deleted.
One winner will be selected via random.org and announced on September 19th.
This giveaway is available to U.S. and international friends (yay!)

an even easier diaper wipes case

2011-09-08T11:43:00.002-04:00

There is no fooling you guys - most of you were spot on with your guesses about Ruby's costume in the last post. I'll wait until I've actually sewn something wearable before I make a reveal though Snow White or Wonder Woman? I'm sure you'll lose sleep over the anticipation. :)

This week I made a diaper wipes case for a friend's baby shower, but I wasn't in the mood for hot-gluing (every once and a while I like to save my fingertips).

Instead, I got out my vinyl and cut an all-over pattern using my Silhouette machine. The front had the pattern only, fudged slightly on that center flap.

The back has the same pattern repeated, and the mommy-to-be's last name in the center. I doubt she'll ever grab the wrong case at the playground now.

You don't need a Silhouette to make one of these (although that certainly makes the process quicker and more precise). Vinyl can always be cut by hand, and I think even Contact Paper would work well. I recommend using a premium or outdoor vinyl if you can get your hands on it, since the adhesive is stronger and hold up to more abuse.

~~I saved my template pieces for the front and back of the case, so let me know if you'd like me to post them!~~
UPDATE: You can find the wipes case template posted HERE.

any guesses?

2011-09-06T19:56:00.000-04:00

The fabric for Ruby's Halloween costume arrived today (yes, I know it is early, but with Oscar having an October birthday, I'm trying to get a jump on things).

Lots of metallic spandex, a bit of sequined knit, and a splash of gold faux leather, just for good measure.

Any guesses?

chalkboard contact paper

2011-09-02T13:41:00.001-04:00

Here I go, jumping on the chalkboard bandwagon ...

We recently moved into a new house, but since we are still renting, I can't really go crazy with the chalkboard paint. We did, however, purchase the refrigerator, so I went ahead and ordered a roll of chalkboard contact paper, hoping it would do the trick.

It is so easy, and really works like a real chalkboard. And did I mention it is easy? You literally peel and stick (you can also pull it off and reposition).

I cut off a big piece for the kids to doodle on for the bottom of the fridge, and used my Silhouette to cut a smaller, prettier shape (you can run contact paper through the machine just like vinyl) to make notes on up top ... grocery lists, love notes, or whatever else springs to mind.

For best results, prep the chalkboard by rubbing a piece of chalk all over the surface, then erase, and repeat. Now you're ready for maximum doodling! My kids love it, and I love not having them attached to my leg while I'm trying to fix lunch.

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pumpkin gooey butter cake

2011-08-31T12:43:00.001-04:00

Happy September! While this month doesn't spell fall weather for Santa Barbara, I've got that autumn bug ... especially when it comes to food. Bring on the pumpkin!

Gooey Butter Cake is a buttery, cream-cheesy cake that is traditionally baked in St. Louis, where I grew up. You'll find it at any well-stocked picnic or pot luck event. While on Pinterest the other day, I saw someone had made a pumpkin variety - be still my heart. I had to try it out. The recipe is the same as the traditional style, with a can of pumpkin and spices added.

Gooey Butter Cake (my friend Megan's recipe)

Crust:
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 Egg
1 stick of butter, melted

Mix with fork, and press in bottom of 9x13 pan.

Top:
1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)
1 package cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
1 stick of butter, very soft or melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix and pour over base.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until set. The center should still be slightly gooey.

Cool and serve topped with powdered sugar. Delicious! But not diet friendly. :)

To make the pumpkin version, add one 15 ounce can of pureed pumpkin (plain pumpkin, not canned pumpkin pie), 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp nutmeg.

apron in an hour

2011-08-26T02:00:00.003-04:00

Next month, the woman's organization at my church is having a retro-homemaking themed evening of activities. Among the classes, I am leading a sewing class to make an easy apron. These are my test runs ...

We are using the Apron in an Hour tutorial by Stop Staring and ... Start Sewing. True to its name, it really only takes about an hour and is so cute (love the long sash for a front bow!).

These two aprons are made with quilting weight cotton, so they are more for looks than function. I'm going to look for some heavier fabrics for the real aprons.

Speaking of fabric, I can't tell you how much I love this print. It is called Spring Street by Carolyn Gavin.

If you are looking for homemade gift ideas for this Christmas, this apron is a great place to start - thanks, Jona, for the fun pattern!

WWYM: mommy & me pajama pants

2011-08-18T03:00:00.003-04:00

I'm excited to post today about a project I made for Lil Blue Boo's, What Would You Make series! Ashley sent several bloggers two yards of a gorgeous floral print, and we were allowed to use it however we liked. I loved the freedom of the challenge.

Does your fabric ever speak to you? When I opened Ashley's lovely package, the pretty print told me it wanted to become pajama pants ... a pair for me, and a pair for baby Ruby.

I used a Made by Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants pattern for Ruby's pants and drafted a pattern for the mama-sized pj's from a pair I already owned. For a comfy waistband on my pants, I opted for elastic thread. There may need to be some adjustments here, since when I was attempting a little photo session, Ruby kept repeatedly pantsing me. Apparently, a shirred waist is a little too flexible for my lifestyle with two busy toddlers.

Sweet pajamas, just like my girl.

Check out what the other talented bloggers made with this beautiful fabric:
Fabric Coasters by Ashley Ann of Under a Sycamore
Little Girl Romper by Ashley of Make It & Love It
Art on the Go kit by Julie of Joy's Hope

Visit Lil Blue Boo for a chance to win two yards of this gorgeous fabric. What would you make?

getting settled

2011-08-17T02:39:00.001-04:00

Are you still with me? Sorry for the prolonged absence ... we moved to a new place over the weekend and life has felt very crazy.

The kids were busy scaling mountains of boxes in our old apartment ...

And I have been busily trying to get us unpacked and settled at the new house. It is a lot of work!

Luckily, we have a pretty little backyard to explore, excavate, and keep little ones entertained.

We are all really tired, and more than just a little bit cranky, but this is how Oscar (all of us really) feels about our new digs:

Yesterday, Jared and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Aren't we cute?

I was a child-bride, only 20 years old, and I thought Jared was spectacular. Still do. I love you, sweetie!

Check back tomorrow to see what I contributed to Lil Blue Boo's, What Would You Make series.

a special request birthday shirt

2011-08-08T00:00:00.006-04:00

My sister-in-law asked me to help with a birthday shirt for my niece's Jessie-themed birthday party. How could I resist? While her only request was to have a big number two, I couldn't help but try to create a Jessie-style t-shirt.

I used the Sienna Dress Pattern by Lil Blue Boo, shortened to t-shirt length. The yellow top of the shirt is appliqued by machine, I added some blue hand embroidery to the border (you can just barely see it on Jessie's shirt, but the stitching is there), and the red swirls and number are flocked Silhouette heat transfer material.

Very Jessie, don't you think? I looked everywhere to find that swirly pattern for my shirt, but came up with nothing. In the end, I just sketched it out myself. After getting the shape right on graph paper, I traced it using a thick black sharpie and scanned the image into my computer. Then I imported the graphic into my Silhouette software and traced the outline to get the perfect cut.

You have no idea how this t-shirt has the wheels in my head turning for Halloween. Thanks to a hilarious suggestion from my husband, Ruby is going to be rocking an awesome costume this year (fingers crossed).

viva la fiesta outfit

2011-08-05T13:07:00.000-04:00

This weekend, the good people of Santa Barbara are enjoying Old Spanish Days, a.k.a. Fiesta - a celebration of the city's Spanish heritage. Jared asked me to make Ruby a little outfit for his work party, and this is what I came up with:

It is not the traditional Fiesta dress he was hoping for, but I thought something casual would get more frequent wear. Besides, it does include all the three most important elements of a great Fiesta outfit:

1. LOTS of ruffles - the more the better
2. vibrant color, especially red
3. pretty flowers

check, check and ... check. Mission accomplished!

The bloomers were made using Ruffle Fabric in Candy Cane and Dana's Perfect Diaper Cover pattern. Before I sewed any seams, I serged all the cut edges of my Ruffle Fabric. It really helped those wily ruffles stay in place and I didn't have to pin nearly as much.
I made the top from part of a men's t-shirt, using guidelines from Dana's Summer Vacation Dress pattern (notice a trend here? I may have a favorite blogger).
The flower on the top and hair clip are made from the same t-shirt. I cut long strips of connected scallops, and hand stitched them together in circular layers.

I'm off to eat copious amounts of churros. Have a great weekend!

shirred bloomers (a.k.a. not a very exciting post)

2011-08-02T12:39:00.000-04:00

I have a new favorite way of making bloomers/diaper covers: elastic thread!

Do you hate making elastic casings, or is that just me? Instead, I've been making bloomers out of jersey fabric and shirring the waist and leg openings with elastic thread.

I use Dana's Perfect Diaper Cover pattern to cut the fabric (old t-shirts work great for this). Before sewing the front and back pieces together, I sew two lines of elastic thread on the leg and three rows to the waist. Then sew together at the sides and crotch and they are done, lickety-split. You don't even have to fold over the seams on the openings, because jersey won't fray. They take literally 10 minutes to make. As a bonus, they are super stretchy, so I think they'll fit a long time. Hurray for that.

That's all for today. Hope you're having a great week!

oven mitt hand puppet

2011-07-27T12:36:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago when I was making Monkey and Crocodile finger puppet sets (get your template HERE), I also made this guy:

It was supposed to be a crocodile, but looks more like a demented dragon to me. I almost considered it a craft fail, but my kids LOVE him ... so there you go. He'd look more like a crocodile with some eye bumps, I think. And we'd have to do something about those teeth. Hmm.

Anyway, I used Melanie's Oven Mitt Pattern from The Crafty Cupboard (a great pattern - I used it often this past Christmas for kitchen-themed gifts).

The green, brown, and orange-red fabrics are all jersey, and the teeth and eyes are made of white felt. I fused a layer of fusible fleece interfacing to the green jersey and brown to give the body a little more stability. And obviously, I cut the top pattern piece in half to add those pointy scales up the middle.

He is good for munching monkeys,

and little girls.

Hope you are all having a good week! We've been playing non-stop with visiting family recently, and I had the sudden realization that I am moving in like two weeks. Yikes. Better get to work! So if I am not around as much at the beginning of August, now you know why. :)

serger scraps hair clip

2011-07-20T19:24:00.000-04:00

Remember those beautiful serger scraps I posted last week?

The hoarder in me couldn't bear to throw them out right away, so they sat in a pile on my kitchen table for several days. Late one night while I was baking cake layers, I wound them up as you would make a yarn pom pom (just not quite as dense), tied it off at the center, trimmed up the resulting puff, and hot glued it to a hair clip. So easy, and it was a perfect match to the rainbow dress (since that's where the scraps came from, of course).

rainbow birthday party!

2011-07-18T03:41:00.000-04:00

Rainbow parties are super fun! It was totally overboard for a 1-year-old party, but we combined with Ruby's cousin, Violet, and the rainbow theme was so fun, and let's be honest ... I just got carried away. :)

We had a blast with our rainbow treats and rainbow outfits and rainbow decorations. It resulted in two very happy birthday girls.

See the girl's rainbow dresses posted here, and directions to make a lickety-split birthday crown here.

I couldn't have pulled it off without my in-laws ... the sister-in-laws were enthusiastic decorators, and grandma and grandpa were the grill masters, whipping up a delicious BBQ dinner. Thanks, guys!

The decorations were fairly simple. We made a streamer canopy inside the shade tent, hung paper lanterns (remember them from my spring Relief Society activity?), and a watch-me-grow birthday banner. I really liked the rainbow circle garland I saw at Sweet and Lovely Crafts, so I made a smaller version. The dots were punched out of rainbow colored card stock using a 1-inch scalloped circle punch, and sewn together on the sewing machine. Easy, peasy.

The bean bag toss was fun for the kids. There was no formal game or prizes ... it was just out for fun. I got the idea from born.in.japan, and just ran with it. If you are in the Santa Barbara area and want a (free) lovingly handmade bean bag toss board, email me! I have no space to store it.

I also used some toys we already had as entertainment: a tunnel to climb through, a kid's play parachute, and all the rainbow baby toys I could round up for a little baby zone in the shade.

There were jars of crayons on the table with cute rainbow coloring pages (courtesy of Style Me Gorgeous) for anyone interested in coloring.

I didn't do an over-the-top dessert table that are so popular these days, but there were plenty of goodies to go around.

My big splurge for the party was this rainbow popcorn, to go into those beautifully cut rainbow popcorn boxes. I ordered it online from Sakida. It was tasty, but if I had to do it again, I would have tried to make it myself. Just be warned - the shipping is atrocious (which I did not know until I received my invoice - ouch). It sure looked pretty though.

A much bigger hit with the crowd was the layered rainbow jello. It was kind of beautiful, and delicious! Get the recipe at Glorious Treats. I have an aversion to Cool Whip, so I substituted vanilla yogurt and it was really yummy. Two tablespoons of each layer is just enough to fill a clear 8-ounce plastic cup.

Of course, you can't have a rainbow birthday party without doing THE rainbow cake.

I wanted it to be the real deal, so I went directly to the source - Whisk Kid. She may or may not have been the first person ever to make a rainbow cake, but she certainly started the internet sensation. Whisk Kid's cake recipe was the perfect amount for a 6 layer cake. I used my go-to Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe for the frosting.

The reaction from the party-goers when I cut into this cake made the effort of baking it so worth it. It tasted great, too! Ruby was supposed to have her own little cake, but I had a gluten-free baking fail. So she ended up with gluten free cupcake from Santa Barbara's most delicious bakery, Jeanine's, and she devoured it with gusto.

I sent our little guests away with some gold coins (idea found at the blog, it is what it is) - as you know, there is always gold at the end of a rainbow (party). Bulk gold coins found at Smart & Final.

As my nephew frequently reminded me, "Jill has gone rainbow crazy!" It was such a fun day, and while I know Ruby won't remember it when she is older, she can look at pictures of this party and know her mama really loves her.

rainbow birthday dresses

2011-07-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

Birthday girls deserve special birthday outfits, don't you think?

Both dresses were made using Lil Blue Boo's Sienna Dress pattern. Ruby's dress goes red to purple:

and Violet's dress goes purple to red:

The fabric for the dresses came from t-shirts, and the number is appliqued. I divided the skirt pattern piece into 4 to make the stripes and didn't add extra seam allowance (dumb, dumb, dumb), so the dresses came out a little short. Nothing leggings or bloomers can't fix!

We are partying this weekend, so I'll have more to share next week of everything put together. Hope you are not too sick of rainbows yet. :)

rainbow bean bag toss

2011-07-14T12:30:00.000-04:00

As I was gluing a bazillion 1-inch punched paper rainbow dots to Ruby's bean bag toss board yesterday, I realized about 3/4 of the way through that a similar effect could have been achieved much more easily with some pretty wrapping paper. Duh. Motherhood may have melted my brain, but apparently has boosted my patience.

At least bean bags are fast and easy to make!

rainbow popcorn boxes

2011-07-12T16:09:00.001-04:00

I've been getting cozy with my Silhouette this week - cut, cut, cut. About two weeks ago, I went to their digital download store to see if they had a popcorn box shape. Imagine my surprise when it was the free shape of the week! How fortuitous.

I re-sized the template and arranged it so I could fit all the pieces on one page. Then I cut ... and cut ... and cut ... and started gluing.

This morning I finished my stack:

Can't wait to show you what is going inside! If only the FedEx guy would hurry up.

rainbows galore

2011-07-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

Rainbow birthday party prep is in full swing at my place, so the apartment is looking a little ... colorful (meaning scraps and threads and cardstock covering every inch of space).

Not sure that it is healthy to have a favorite pile of serger scraps, but if it was, this would be mine:

One thing I did to save time (and money) was to use an e-vite to the party. I've never been a huge fan of them, but am recently converted to Paperless Post. They have a beautiful selection of letterpressed stationery that you can customize and send out digitally. It even comes delivered (to your inbox) in an envelope! How's that for cute.

Paperless Post is not totally free, because you do have to buy "stamps" to send them out, but it is really well-priced. They gave me a bunch of stamps and coins (used for designer cards and special customizations like an envelope liner) just for signing up, so my e-vite for this party was free. Can't beat that! Here's what I chose for the party:

p.s. Paperless Post is not sponsoring this post - I just like them!

happy birthday, ruby!

2011-07-08T04:27:00.002-04:00

My sweet and saucy Ruby turns one year old today. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!

One of Ruby's very favorite activities is singing the Monkey and Crocodile song. She thinks it is hysterical and bops along to the song, giggling and grinning.

For her birthday, I made a set of monkey and crocodile finger puppets, and I'd also like to share the template with you. Get the monkey and crocodile finger puppet template HERE.

If you are not familiar with the song, here is a copy of the text, as we sing it:

We are doing some light birthday celebrations today, but the big shindig is next weekend when we have family in town. We are doing a double party for Ruby and her cousin, Violet, complete with a festive rainbow theme. Lots of details to come later.

Happy birthday, Ruby! I love you.

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Fourth of July Playdate Dress

2011-07-04T12:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! If you are celebrating with us here in the U.S., I hope you have barbeques and fireworks on your agenda today.

Over the weekend, I whipped up the Playdate Dress from Craftiness is Not Optional. Jess is a blogging all-star and is constantly putting out free tutorials and patterns for super cute girls clothes.

I didn't deviate from Jess's pattern at all, and though it is sized 2T, it was a perfect fit for my behemoth 1 year old. Ruby isn't quite walking, so I made the dress super short (nothing frustrates her more than getting her knees caught up in a dress) and paired it with some matching zig zag bloomers using Dana's Perfect Diaper Cover tutorial.

It was such an easy sew and looks really cute, so I foresee many more playdate dresses in Ruby's wardrobe.

Just for fun, here's a photo of a neighbor's patriotic dog statue:

Wouldn't it be fun if we all had that level of enthusiasm for the holidays? :)

M&J Trimming Blogger's Challenge

2011-06-29T00:00:00.003-04:00

I had the pleasure of participating in M&J Trimming's Blogger's Challenge this year - which I was thrilled about, because M&J Trimming is the most spectacular trim spot in NYC. I loved going to that store, and Jared dreaded it, because I always wanted to look for "just a few more minutes" (a.k.a. hours on end).

Each blogger received a mystery box (pictured above) and we had free reign to use it however we liked. I have to admit, some of the materials had me totally stumped ... but I pulled it together in the end. Head over to the M&J Blog to check out all the blogger's projects (complete with instructions!).

Here's a peak at one of my projects...

Also, leave a comment (with email contact) on the M&J Challenge 2 post for a chance to win the same box of supplies.

rhythm instruments

2011-06-26T15:16:00.000-04:00

You'll find me over at Skip to my Lou's Craft Camp today, where I'm sharing how to make a couple sets of rhythm instruments. I hope you'll stop by!

blueberry picking

2011-06-23T04:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the kids and I escaped our coastal fog to soak in the sun on the other side of the mountains. Our playgroup met at Santa Barbara Blueberries, the local U-Pick blueberry farm. It was so awesome, I'm already planning a trip back!

Oscar was an eager little picker, but his bucket was very slow to fill. He ate most of his berries straight off the bush, and I don't blame him ... the blueberries were so warm and sweet, you could almost taste the sunshine.

After a lot of eating, the bucket slowly started to fill (much from the help of Oscar's friend, Audrey, who was more interested in filling Oscar's bucket than her own).

Ruby is such a goober, and probably ate more dirt than blueberries in the field. But she was happy, so I let her at it.

She soon developed a taste for the blueberries though, and it wasn't long before she was double-fisting them.

Chubby little hands diving into buckets of fresh blueberries ... now that's summer.

In other news, I am participating in this year's M&J Trimming Blogger's Challenge! You can see a little preview HERE. The mystery box certainly was challenging to me, but in the end I made a few fun things. You'll have to check it out next week when all the projects are revealed. I am dying to see what all the other bloggers made!

beach robe pattern by MADE

2011-06-21T01:20:00.001-04:00

Have you seen Dana's new Beach Robe Pattern over at MADE? It is fabulous, as her patterns always are - tons of photos, clear instructions, extra useful information.

I had the privilege of being a pattern tester and made robes for Oscar and Ruby. Between the two, I used almost every variation - short sleeve, long sleeve, full tie, half tie, lined hood, un-lined ... the Beach Robe pattern has lots of ways to customize.

Oscar chose a solid blue towel with an embossed shark print. At first it wasn't my favorite, but then a friend suggested I embroider one of the sharks and now I LOVE it. It totally made the robe.

My favorite part about this pattern is the fast construction - I was able to make Oscar's robe (minus the embroidery) in a little over 2 hours, including cutting the fabric.

Ruby is just cute as a button in her robe. I made the bias tape from a Riley Blake's Pink Summer Stripe. Note to self ... a diagonal stripe print makes horizontal stripe bias tape (duh!).

Get the Beach Robe Pattern HERE.

superhero snack pack

2011-06-17T12:52:00.000-04:00

My father-in-law is celebrating a birthday next week, but he'll be off on a 3 week road trip. We decided to send him off well-equipped with plenty of fun snacks.

I used Jordan Ferney's Superhero Supply labels and packed a box full of all our favorite Trader Joe's goodies. Oscar believes his grandpa can do anything (if something is broken, "grandpa can fix it!"), so this was a fun gift to put together. Jordan's labels were originally designed for a Father's Day gift, but I think it works for any guy-gift occasion!

I used my Silhouette to make a fun pop-up birthday cake card. Love you, Silhouette!

Oscar really wanted to make his grandpa a rocket ship for his birthday, so we dove into the world of toilet paper roll crafts for the first time. He is surprisingly good with a glue stick.

Can you tell how proud he was? His project was almost too precious to him to give up, so I sense more rockets in our future.

stripey stuffed penguin (with template)

2011-06-13T00:00:00.009-04:00

What is it about striped fabric that makes a project 10 times cuter?

Ruby's little boyfriend, Logan, celebrated his first birthday over the weekend and his very talented mama threw him a penguin-themed party (you can see all the cute penguin-party details HERE on Holly's blog).

Of course, I wanted to make him a little something. I saw these stuffed penguins in Martha Stewart Living years ago, but just caught another glimpse of them on Pinterest last week (love that site!). There is not a template available on Martha's site, so I made up my own, and I'm sharing it with you.

Get the 2-page penguin template HERE and HERE.

I don't have a detailed step by step for you, but it is pretty simple to figure out. Hand sew the eyes, beak, and belly to the front body piece. Assemble the wings and feet - two pieces of felt for each appendage, right side facing out, and stitch around the edges to secure (I used a blanket stitch).

Pin the wings and feet to the front body piece as diagrammed below.

With right sides of the body pieces together, sew around the edges, leaving an opening to stuff. Stuff with polyfill and hand-stitch the opening closed.

Happy birthday, sweet Logan! We love you.

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baby name decor

2011-06-10T12:27:00.001-04:00

This happy little baby name sign was another part of the take-home decor from this week's baby shower:

First I cut a template of the baby's name on my Silhouette (but this could also be done by hand, using a font you type out in a word document). Then I traced the name on thin pieces of cardboard (food boxes) and cut out several layers with my exacto knife. I didn't want any of the box labels to show, so I cut one with the front design facing and two with the plain back cardboard facing so I could sandwich the label inside.

Three layers of thin cardboard was just right. I glued each piece together with mod podge and gave the edges a quick sand after it was all dry.

Then I added another layer of mod podge on top and glued down a cut out of the name on some pretty scrapbook paper. I also cut this layer on my Silhouette, but again, you can do it by hand.

To finish it off, I hot glued ribbon all along the outer edges to conceal the cardboard. That was the most time-consuming part, especially in those little loops, but it was worth it.

This could be hung on a wall or propped up on a bookshelf. Hopefully the mama-to-be likes it!

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owl mobile (with tree template!)

2011-06-08T13:17:00.001-04:00

Last night, one of my friends had a baby shower for her first little girl and I helped out with a few decorations. Instead of making my usual paper decor, I decided to go with decorations she could reuse for the nursery.

First up, a little owl mobile to go with the nursery bedding she picked out:

After a quick pinterest search, I found tons of handmade owl mobile inspiration, but I particularly liked this mobile made by etsy seller EvelynX.

I also found a really cute template for an owl ornament on the blog, Juicy Bits - you can get the template here. I love finding a good template. It really speeds a project along.

Putting a mobile like this together is really easy, because it just hangs from two wooden dowels. I marked three spots on each dowel (one on each end and one in the middle) and drilled a little hole with my smallest drill bit:

Then, thread your decorations through and tie a knot to hold the string in place. Wrap the strings several times around the crossed dowels to keep them in a + position. If all of your decorations are the same, balancing the mobile should be fairly easy.

And that's it! Hang in a nursery and let baby enjoy. :)

Get my template for the felt tree HERE

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my favorite tote

2011-06-06T13:23:00.002-04:00

I've made a lot of spring totes, and the most recent version usually ends up being my favorite, but this tote is my favorite favorite.

Does the fabric look familiar? A few of you asked about it in the last post - it called Night and Day Abstract in brown and blue by Robert Kaufman.

A few updates to my basic spring tote pattern:

I added piping to the outside pockets (attached the same way as on the chevron tote).

I also added a strip of plain brown fabric along the bottom of the tote. You know how the bottom of your bag looks a little grungy after sitting on the ground a few times? Hopefully this helps. Also, it looks cute. :)

I just cut a 10" long strip of fabric the same width of the bag and centered it in the very middle of the main panel before attaching the belting straps. Turn under the edges about a 1/4 inch and press before sewing to enclose the raw edge. After attaching, just continue sewing the bag as usual!

I threw on some inner pockets for good measure. It was really hard to mail this bag off to its new home in Utah!

p.s. want to see what happens when I attempt a photo shoot while the baby is awake?

I bet you didn't know I had such a grown up girl in the house.

another casserole carrier

2011-06-01T11:41:00.001-04:00

My sister's birthday rolled around last week, and a casserole carrier was an easy gift choice (she put in a request back in January). I made the same alterations to the 2 Little Hooligans pattern as the first batch, but also rounded the corners on both of the main pieces (trace a CD at the corner for an easy template) and added piping.

The inside flap is like 4 inches too long for a regular pack of piping, so I didn't sew in there (my laziness is showing through here, but who wants to piece in a tiny bit of piping? not me). The outside flap, however, is just the right length for one pack of store-bought piping - perfect! I love (like, really love) piping.

So happy birthday to Melanie, the best sister and friend a girl could ask for. I love you!

i madonnari

2011-05-31T12:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! (to all of you in the U.S.) I didn't spend anytime sewing this weekend, but we did work in two barbeques, a trip to the pool and a visit to this:

I Madonnari, the Italian street painting festival held at the Santa Barbara Mission each year.

We went on the second day, so very few of the paintings (made with chalk) were finished. But this is actually my favorite part of the process ... seeing it all unfold. I love the contrast between the unfinished portions and the carefully blended, stunningly painted sections.

This one, of the Santa Barbara Tea Fire, was one of my favorites:

I'm amazed at the talent of these artists, and their ability to sit on tiny pieces of cardboard or carpet for three days straight (many of them in full sun). It must be so exhausting! And to think, with the next rain all their hard work will be washed away.

invites and envelopes

2011-05-27T15:51:00.002-04:00

My little brother got married last month and I was able to help make invites and menus for the family dinner the night before the wedding.

The dinner was held at a restaurant located on The Hill in St. Louis, a historic Italian neighborhood loaded with delicious places to eat. Favazza's calls itself "The Rose of the Hill," so my mom asked me to create something to go with the rose theme.

I used my Silhouette machine and the digital software to create the invitations and dinner menus. I loved the convenience of not having to do any measuring and cutting by hand, but you definitely could do it without a machine. On the invitation, the rose was a delicate cut-out, so the red backing showed through.

I used the L Letterpress to monogram the envelopes with silver ink. So simple, but adds a nice touch!

Rose Cake

2011-05-19T13:13:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law had a birthday, which was the perfect occasion to try out the Rose Cake Tutorial from I Am Baker. It is really beautiful (and a lot easier than it looks).

While mine isn't as perfect as the original, it definitely was a fun first attempt, and something I'll try again. In the future, I'll use a larger star tip on my icing bag.

My favorite new way of finding new tutorials is through Pinterest.com. I know, old news to the internet world ... but I have been using it for the last several months to organize craft ideas, and I am totally hooked! I used to have a miles-long bookmark list in my internet browser, and now I have neatly arranged inspiration boards, complete with pretty photos. LOVE! You can check out my pinterest boards here. My "food" board cracks me up because it is 99% baked goods that I'm not even allowed to eat (still gluten-free over here. bah-humbug).

stegosaurus hoodie

2011-05-13T18:59:00.000-04:00

My next project for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge was to make a stegosaurus hoodie for Oscar. It has been far too long since I have sewn something for my little guy.

I used the Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern by Heidi & Finn. To change it up a little bit, I added stegosaurus plates up the back and hood (not terribly creative, I know, but Oscar is a dinosaur fanatic). The only modification to the pattern was to split the back piece in half and a small seam allowance for sewing it back together.

I drafted the stegosaurus plates myself. They are two layers of jersey fabric with fusible fleece interfacing in between. Truth be told, I would make the plates much smaller if I were to do this again. But Oscar thinks it is great, and that's what matters, right?

You might think a hoodie is a strange project so close to summer, but you kind of need a jacket in the evenings year-round in Santa Barbara. Since this is slightly large on him, it should get a lot of use.

For the outer fabric, I used an incredibly soft XL men's t-shirt that I found at a thrift store. The polka dot lining is Michael Miller's Interlock Knit Ta Dot in aqua.

Hooray for dinosaurs, and hooray for little boys who still get excited about the things their mamas sew for them.

Peekaboo Bonnet

2011-05-11T12:49:00.002-04:00

Last night I didn't get any sewing done for KCWC, so I am going to cheat and show you Ruby's bonnet today.

It was made with the Peekaboo Bonnet pattern at Made by Rae. The large brim provides awesome sun coverage for your little one's face, and as a bonus, is completely reversible! It got rave reviews from the mamas in my playgroup this morning.

spring kcwc day 1

2011-05-10T18:40:00.002-04:00

Here are the results from last night's Kid's Clothing Week Challenge efforts - a little peasant top and leggings for Ruby.

The top was made from the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila and Ben. I shortened it to tunic length and left the elastic off the sleeves to change things up a bit. The fabric is Amy Butler's Lotus Wall Flower in cherry.

The leggings are a Lil' Blue Boo pattern, which I lengthened, widened to a straight leg, and added decorative buttons at the ankles. A very fast pattern was made even easier by reusing an old pair of yoga pants, so I didn't even have to hem them. I love that.

Also, this photo is courtesy of my new camera, which arrived just this afternoon (yay!). Thanks for all the camera advice. I stuck with my trusty Canon PowerShot, but upgraded to the SX130 IS. I have only tested it a little bit so far, but it seems great! Sorry to disappoint you SLR diehards ... I just can't face the thought of one right now. I already haul two kids and an overloaded diaper bag everywhere I go ... I don't have the strength for a camera bag, too! :)

yellow seersucker pants

2011-05-09T02:34:00.000-04:00

Hi friends. I hope all the ladies out there had a fabulous mother's day. Jared treated me to a new camera, so it is on its way ... hurray! Until then, he took a few photos for me over the weekend with his fancy phone.

I made these pants for Oscar ages ago, and just haven't found the time to catch them in action. He is a very busy boy.

Have you tried Dana's Kid Pants Pattern? It is free, and awesome. I love having a son so close in age to her Owen so I can take advantage of all her fabulous boy tutorials.

For these pants, I combined a whole bunch of Dana's tutorials and made them flat front, lined, with back pockets, and flat front pockets (the pork chop style). Phew. The yellow seersucker made for super cute Easter slacks.

Just for fun, here is an action shot of Oscar doing what he does best ... playing in the dirt!

Are you sewing with Elsie Marley for Kids Clothing Week Challenge? It starts today. I was somehow able to make it happen last session, and by golly, I'm going to do my best this week.

broken camera :(

2011-05-06T11:59:00.000-04:00

My camera broke this week, which is a real shame because I made a very cute project last night. Have you seen the new Peekaboo Sunbonnet pattern at Made by Rae? I made one for Ruby and it is adorable. Hopefully I'll have photos to share next week!

Anyone have a recommendation for a great point-and-shoot? I'm not ready to make the leap to an SLR.

summer bucket hat

2011-05-02T00:00:00.001-04:00

Remember when I used to post on a regular basis? That was fun. Sorry for the long hiatus, but I was in St. Louis visiting my (really awesome) family. I had planned on posting a little bit, but then, eh ... I didn't feel like it. Instead I went on too many trips to the local frozen custard place, made late night taco runs with my little brother, and hung out with my mom and dad. And one of my brothers got married! It was all very exciting.

Less exciting was the weather there - it rained almost everyday! So imagine my pleasure at returning to Santa Barbara where it feels like full-blown summer. We are going swimming today. Hurrah!

Ruby was in need of a sun hat.

Earlier this month I celebrated a birthday and my sweet sister sent me a copy of Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, by Liesl Gibson. It is fantastic! I seriously want to make every single project in the book, but especially have big plans for the puppet theater project for Ruby's first birthday, which is coming up fast.

My first pick was the bucket hat, which I made out of some cute Amy Butler fabric. The pattern was perfectly easy and came together in just a few hours.

Ruby's favorite part of her new hat is taking it off. I think I need to add a chin strap (did you notice my hand holding the hat down on her head in the top photo?).

Oscar has already requested his own hat (with a truck on it).

the spring tote goes all trendy

2011-04-08T11:08:00.001-04:00

Have you jumped on the chevron wagon yet? I found this great chevron print fabric at Fabric.com and knew it was meant for a tote bag. There is something about spring that gets me sewing these tote bags (which is probably why I named my tutorial the Spring Tote).

For an easy way to add a pocket to the outside of your tote, simply line a pocket up between the straps. For this pocket, I measured the distance between the straps, and added a little extra so there would be some overlap. I finished the bottom seam and added bias tape to the top. You don't really need to finish the side seams, because they will be sewn under the straps.

Pin the pocket in place and sew the bottom seam to the bag. Then place your straps, and sew according to the spring tote tutorial, making sure the sides of the pocket get caught in the strap seam.

I usually add inside pockets these days as well. You can do giant pockets that are sewn into the side seams, or small pockets, like I added here. A little bias trim on the pocket adds a nice bit of contrast.

Have you made a spring tote? If so, I'd love to see a picture in the Flickr group!

spring church party 2011

2011-04-06T18:03:00.002-04:00

Please forgive my recent absence ... things have been busy around here! Last night we had our annual spring celebration for the women's organization at my church. I had a lot of fun with the decorations this year - the theme was light-oriented, so we went overboard with lanterns, twinkle lights, and etched candle votives (75 of them!). And of course, lots of pretty flowers. You can never go wrong with flowers.

It was a special evening with delicious food, a fun atmosphere, and lovely company. And I'm not kidding on the food - our dessert bar included vanilla bean creme brulee. My mouth is still watering!

p.s. I found my white paper lanterns for a great price at The Paper Lantern Store. I went with the 10 inch lanterns, and they were a nice quality and the perfect size.

crocheted lion mane hat

2011-03-24T16:58:00.001-04:00

What do you think of my new digs? I decided the old blog could use a spruce and decided to get professional help this time. Kate from Smitten Blog Designs took excellent care of me and I am thrilled with the new look. Thanks, Kate!

Last night as it was all being installed, I was poking around with things, reorganizing some labels, and editing my archives. When I first started blogging (all the way back in 2006), I had no idea how to operate a sewing machine. Instead, I was an avid crocheter. In fact, my very first post ever was a crocheted bear hat.

I made a lot of animal hats that winter, but only kept one, which I realized is the perfect size for Oscar now.

This lion hat is kind of funny looking, but I love it. As with all of my animal hats, I just made it up as I went along, so unfortunately there is no pattern to share. But I will try to explain how I made the curly mane.

Single crochet tends to curl into itself, so I did fingers of single crochet off of a chain stitch. Basically, you chain stitch however long you want the piece to be, then single crochet a long finger, turn and single crochet back the other direction toward your chain stitches. Move to the next chain and do it again (repeat, repeat). The single crochet strands will curl into twisty spirals. I hope that makes sense to you if you are a crocheter. There is a reason I've never tried to write down my crochet patterns! :)

Check out my past posts to see my bear, frog, puppy, hippo, fish, pig, blue tiger (ha!), and monkey hats (but beware of the icky photography).

Flower Hair Clip Tutorial with Silhouette Fabric Interfacing

2011-03-21T12:01:00.001-04:00

Did you know you can now cut fabric with the Silhouette? Over the weekend, I tested the new fabric interfacing and fell in love with my Silhouette all over again.

The Sewable Fabric Interfacing has a thin adhesive which allows you to temporarily adhere your cut shape to your project while sewing (and is sewing machine friendly). The Clean-Cut Interfacing has a stronger adhesive for a cleaner cut and less fraying over time, and is meant for projects that don't need to be washed and will be hand-stitched.

I used the Clean Cut Interfacing to make some pretty flower hair accessories. I love that they are far more detailed than anything I typically make by hand, but the best part is how fast they come together. I can't tell you how much I enjoy having a machine do all my cutting for me.

First, I got my document ready, inserting the 3D Ruffle Flower template from the online store. Then I prepared my fabric, following the instructions on the package. The interfacing is an easy iron-on. It literally takes 2 seconds with a hot iron to adhere the interfacing to your fabric. When you are ready to cut, change the Silhouette settings to about a 30 thickness and slow the cutting speed down to about a 3.

When the cut was finished, I was able to pop many of the fabric flowers right out, although I did have to use my scissors to snip a thread here and there to release others. I noticed that when I used fabric with a tighter weave, the cut was cleaner.

The interfacing is fusible on both sides. It is smooth and kind of shiny, but unless you apply heat, it doesn't feel sticky.

I stacked the flowers, applying the iron to the center only to fuse them together.

Then I sewed a few pearls to the center. I'm not going to lie - it was tough to push my needle through all those gluey layers, but it was manageable.

I attached one flower to a stretch headband, and the rest to hair clips and bobby pins. And I kind of love them. If they weren't so easy to make, I'd have a tough time giving them away. I have a family wedding coming up ... maybe all the cute little nieces need coordinating hair accessories?

Check out the Silhouette blog to see more ways the fabric interfacing can be used.

Silhouette America is running special promotions this week (March 21-27) featuring the new Fabric Interfacing. Using the promo code JILL at checkout when you purchase a Silhouette SD, you will also receive one package of each fabric interfacing (clean cut & sewable) and a roll of white flocked heat transfer material for only $229.

If you already have a Silhouette, use the promo code JILL at checkout to receive a 25% discount on fabric interfacing through March 27th.

p.s. I know I post a lot about Silhouette projects these days, and I really hope it doesn't bother those of you who aren't Silhouette-users. This little machine truly has changed the way I do crafts, so I can't help posting about it frequently, since I use it on, well ... everything!

disneyland outfits for the girls

2011-03-18T18:41:00.000-04:00

We did two days of Disneyland, so of course, Ruby needed two days of outfits. I already showed you the Belle Dress. I was sad because we never ran into Belle for a photo. Better luck next time!

For the second day, we dropped the Disney princess stuff and went for full-on FUN. Because looking like a polka dot explosion is completely acceptable at Disneyland (actually, if you are a baby it is acceptable anytime).

T-shirt dresses are easy-peasy. All you do is add a few inches of fabric to the bottom of a t-shirt. I also like a little gather, so I cut the fabric 1.5 times the width of the t-shirt. The length of the skirt can vary - I think Ruby's skirt was about 4 inches long after hemming, and her cousin's was about 6 inches long. The flower was made using a Make It and Love It tutorial.

Of course, the girls needed coordinating leggings (pattern by Lil' Blue Boo).

Ruby's cousin is a big Minnie/Mickey fan. Minnie's face was made with the Silhouette heat transfer. Before cutting, I edited out her bow so I could add my own fabric bow to match the skirt.

Ruby was a real trooper all through Disneyland. Her favorite stop was definitely the little petting zoo in Frontierland. She would grab the goats' ears and laugh hysterically. I love big baby laughs. Oh, and did I mention that Oscar rode the Matterhorn? He was one tough cookie.

Hurray for Disneyland! I really do love it. I'm sure you are sick of hearing about it, so back to non-disney crafts next week. :)

disneyland shirts for boys

2011-03-16T15:18:00.001-04:00

Hi, friends! Did you think I got lost forever at Disneyland? Maybe stuck somewhere in Small World? We had such a fun weekend - I finally got to ride Space Mountain for the first time ever (it was SO awesome!), and of course Oscar had a very magical time. My new favorite spot in Disneyland is the Baby Center. Who knew?

It took me a few days to get back into the swing of things, but we are back to real life and now I want to show you the t-shirts I made for Oscar.

Last fall, Dana from MADE posted about some Disney shirts she made for a friend using freezer paper stencils, and in passing, mentioned how cool it would be to use the images of the retro-styled Disneyland ride posters to make shirts. A brilliant idea (as her ideas usually are). The designs are far too intricate to cut out by hand (at least for me), but this is the perfect project to do on the Silhouette.

I started with an image from the Jungle River cruise ride:

The most common questions I get about the Silhouette are:

How do I import my own images?
How do I trace images to get cut lines?

Both are very easy to do. To import an image, simply click on File, then Import to my Library. That's it! Then you can add the image to your document just like any other image in your library. Your imports should be stored in your library in the folder marked "My Own Designs" (rather than "Recent Downloads").

However, it won't automatically have cut lines. That's where the tracing feature comes in. Open the Trace menu and click on Select Trace Area. You will then be able to click and drag a rectangle around your image to select the area. Once it is highlighted, adjust the trace settings to get the image how you want it to be traced.

Then you choose your trace method. For this project, I just clicked Trace, and it does all the lines. You can also trace the outer edge only (for something line a silhouette of a face), or you can trace and detach. The trace and detach feature doesn't add cut lines, but instead separates whatever you've traced from the rest of the image, in case you want to isolate something.

Once the image is traced, the red cut lines and the original image are separate and you can drag them apart easily. I used the eraser in the tool bar to clean up some of the lines and removed some of the small text that wouldn't trace clearly.

If you have text in your image, don't forget to flip it horizontally before cutting, otherwise all the words will be backwards and you will be very sad. Ask me how I know. :)

Then I cut the image out of the Smooth Heat Transfer material on the Silhouette. For an intricate design like this, I recommend slowing down the cutting speed to a 3 or 4. It just seems to produce better results.

Peel away all the negative space around your cut image. I LOVE the little hook tool to pick up small pieces (and to hold little pieces in place that I don't want to come up). I don't think I would have been able to pull the negative space away without the hook on this project.

Here's what it will look like when it is all done:

Then place it on your shirt. The heat transfer material works very well when you follow the directions. Set your iron to the Cotton Setting (and no higher, or it can ruin the heat transfer), and make sure you use a press cloth so you don't melt the plastic. I just use a thin scrap of cotton jersey, and it works very well.

After I peel away the protective plastic, I typically cover it with the press cloth and iron it again, just for good measure.

Then you can sit back and enjoy your totally cool, one-of-a-kind t-shirt that is sure to be the envy of Jungle Cruise lovers everywhere.

Don't sit back too long though, because you should probably make another shirt or two. :) Lightning McQueen is a celebrity and hero at our house. Did you know that you can layer different colors of the heat transfer? Because you totally can.

I didn't get any good action shots of Oscar in his shirts, but this was the face he wore all weekend:

He was one happy boy.

One more Disneyland post with more girl outfits coming up later this week!

baby belle dress

2011-03-09T11:28:00.000-05:00

We are heading to Disneyland this weekend, and since it is Ruby's first time, she demanded a special outfit. While I've always expected that we'd reach the princess stage, I didn't think it would be as early as 8 months.

I kid. Obviously Ruby doesn't know anything about princesses, and this is all about her mama getting a little giddy at the sewing machine. But when I saw the Belle Dress Tutorial at Crafterhours last summer, I just couldn't resist. Princess dress up clothes made out of knits? Genius! This pretty dress is just as comfy as all her other baby clothes.

Squeal! Ok, just had to get that out of my system. :)

Ruby is a crawler now, so this little dress only comes to about her knees (which only happens to up the cuteness factor about tenfold). We'll save the floor length gowns for later.

Like I said, I used Crafterhour's dress tutorial as my guide, and the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila and Ben as my peasant dress starter. I used two men's t-shirts and only materials I had on hand.

Now the wheels in my head are turning, because she might need a whole collection of baby princess dresses. Too young? Nah ... you're never too young for dress up.

easy fabric baskets

2011-03-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

If you like super quick sewing projects, this post is for you. These little baskets take only about 20 minutes to make.

I started with the Tidy Tray tutorial at The Sewing Republic, which is a very simple project. You basically sew a square and then sew the corners together to create a little basket. I didn't change much, but did take a few shortcuts. First, I substituted fusible fleece interfacing so I wouldn't have to pin much. Also, I didn't mark full lines on the fabric and eliminated the stitching on the bottom of the basket. I just marked little dots equal distances in from each corner, and then folded the square on the diagonal to make the dots meet up. Sew a straight seam perpendicular to the finished edge, and you're done!

Then I experimented with making larger baskets with deeper sides. I didn't like how much the corners stuck out, so I folded them in onto the sides and then stitched them down.

The original squares on these two nesting boxes were 12.5 inches and 8.5 inches. I marked each corner at 2.5 inches before sewing and folding. I think they are cute - like little folded fabric boxes. So simple, and seriously quick. They are perfect as a little catch-all to hold spare change, jewelry, or whatever else you need to keep contained!

giddy-up cowboy (and girl) vests

2011-03-04T12:12:00.002-05:00

Did you see the tutorial for the Frontier Vest on MADE? Super cute. Oscar loves dress up, but our collection mostly consists of Ruby's tu-tu's at this point. While we are equal opportunity fun around here (no boy-stuff/girl-stuff yet), it was time to beef things up.

The faux cowhide came from one of my favorite old skirts. In high school, I was a big fan of animal prints. :) I've been saving it for years for just this kind of project! The denim came from a pair of my husband's jeans and the khaki from another old skirt, so this project was entirely refashioned.

I used Dana's template but added extra seam allowance at all the finished seams.

Ruby's vest was actually a happy mistake. I printed the template to the wrong size, and plowed ahead despite it looking rather small. Luckily it turned out to be a perfect 12 month size!

My kids are not at a happy picture-taking stage. Ruby can't sit still and Oscar is just kind of uncooperative. Even with a bribe, this is the best I could get.

Have a great weekend!

retro baby sneakers

2011-03-02T11:32:00.001-05:00

You know how some bloggers plan things weeks in advance and do awesome photo shoots to show off their projects? Not me. This is what I was sewing at 1 a.m. last night. These little retro sneakers were made with another Sweet Pea Pattern (I really like them!) using faux leather and some yummy Amy Butler on the inside.

The shoes are a really great fit on Ruby, and even stay on her busy feet, but she was not interested in taking photos this morning (unless of course, you are interested in seeing a blurry baby crawling away from the camera). I'll try to snap a photo of them in action at some point.

big butt baby pants for boys

2011-02-28T02:08:00.001-05:00

It is high time I joined the sewing for boys fun this month, don't you think? Over the weekend I made four pairs of toddler-sized Big Butt Baby Pants - one for Oscar, and three for some of our best NYC pals.

I posted a few months ago how much I like this pattern (from Made by Rae), but I think I love it ten times more on a toddler. Oscar is a fan, too. Do you like his breakfast spot? He likes to perch high on a stool and eat his waffles on the dishwasher. We are the picture of safety over here.

(fabric - Heather Ross, Mendocino collection)

I was even able to stretch the pattern to fit a slim 4-year old by adding several inches to the hemline. I cut the rest of the pattern to the normal 2T size and it is still a perfect fit.

(fabric - Riley Blake, Wheels collection)

Ok, this next pair is for a girl ... but the point is, this is a great pattern!

(fabric - Lizzy House, Red Letter Day collection)

Also, I bought a box of gorgeous ranunculus this weekend to plant in our window boxes, despite the fact that I am a notorious plant-killer. Here's hoping I can remember to water them this go round!

L Letterpress Winner

2011-02-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you for entering last week's giveaway!

Congratulations to lucky winner #803, Sarah, who said, "I love making custom invites to our birthday and holiday parties, so this would be SO COOL!! Thanks for such a great giveaway!"

You are going to l.o.v.e. the L Letterpress system! Thanks to Lifestyle Crafts for providing such an exciting prize.

baby ballerina slippers

2011-02-25T17:42:00.000-05:00

So ... I am in a creative funk this week. I even left my sewing studio time an hour early last night because I just didn't feel like sewing. I can't believe I just typed that.

Anyway, here are some baby shoes I sewed for Ruby recently using the Angelina Ballerina pattern from Sweet Pea Patterns. I have bought several pdf patterns from that etsy shop, and they always come out great.

I'm off to browse the Celebrate the Boy flickr group and get inspired for a boy project. If that can't get me going, I'm not sure what will!

"facebook" birthday photo wall

2011-02-23T12:36:00.000-05:00

My sweet husband had a birthday over the weekend. He isn't into big parties, doesn't eat dessert, and generally buys himself the things he wants these days, so finding the right way to celebrate can be hard.

One thing Jared does love is friends and family. So I asked them all to email me a photo of themselves holding a happy birthday sign, had the pictures printed in a large size, and stuck them all up on the wall in the middle of the night.

Jared woke up to a birthday greeting from everyone he loves. I wasn't thinking about it as I put it together, but Jared commented that it was like a real, live Facebook wall! Kind of fun, especially since he is not on Facebook.

For my family photos, I made some fun little party hats using the template at Oh Happy Day. I glued some pretty papers to plain white cardstock before cutting them out with the template. Very easy and festive!

L Letterpress Giveaway (CLOSED)

2011-02-21T12:48:00.003-05:00

Remember my fun new toy? Would you like to have one, too?

I am so excited for this giveaway because you can't imagine the fun I've been having with this simple machine.

The L Letterpress by Lifestyle Crafts is really easy to use - Just place your printing plates, apply the ink with a brayer, close the lid, run it through the Epic die-cut machine and ...

out pops beautifully letterpressed stationery!

Of course, I couldn't resist making something for Oscar, too. Who says toddlers can't enjoy a little letterpress? I used a circle die-cut to cut lots of little discs and then letterpressed them with numbers and flowers to make a number matching game.

Each disc is two pieces of letterpress paper, glued together with paper mod-podge, so they are nice and sturdy. Oscar calls them his "coins" and carries them around like little treasures. So far it is the only bit of "mama's paper" that I let his usually sticky fingers come anywhere near, so he is pretty excited.

Check out the Lifestyle Crafts website and blog for tons of creative ideas for using the L Letterpress system.

So ... you want one, right? One lucky winner will receive a prize valued at over $250:

The Epic Combo Kit
2 Letterpress Inks
Letterpress paper and envelopes
2 additional printing plates

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks for entering!

If you would love to win, visit the Lifestyle Crafts website and leave a comment on this post by midnight (PST), Friday, February 25th telling me your favorite project or how you would use the combo kit.

~~Giveaway Rules:~~

~~Only one entry per person. If you accidentally enter more than once, please delete your duplicate comment(s).~~
~~Contact information must be provided. Either your profile must link back to a public blog, or you must include an email address on your comments. Anonymous comments will be deleted.~~
~~One winner will be selected via random.org and announced on February 28th.~~
~~This giveaway is available to U.S. readers only (so sorry international friends!)~~

making wall art using vinyl - two ways

2011-02-18T13:22:00.001-05:00

As a renter, I'm always looking for temporary ways to add color to my apartment. In the past, I've even pasted fabric to the wall. The easiest solution, though, is just to add some bright artwork. I love taking blank canvases from the craft or art supply store and making something unique.

I'm not a great artist, so using vinyl has really stepped up my homemade artwork. For these blue prints, I cut the vinyl design (using my Silhouette) and applied it to a blank white canvas to use like a reverse stencil. Then I painted right over the top of it. When the paint was mostly dry, but still a little tacky, I peeled the vinyl away, leaving the white space underneath. The edges of the canvas were painted brown to add a bit of contrast.

I propped the pair up on top of a bookshelf to add a pop of color to an otherwise boring corner.

For this dandelion, I cut the vinyl and applied it to the canvas once again. And that was it! Talk about easy. I also cut strips of vinyl and adhered them to the edges of the canvas to give it another dark border.

Check out my past posts to see canvases I covered in tissue paper, and another set I painted for Oscar's nursery.

Pin It

I heart Santa Barbara onesie

2011-02-16T19:46:00.000-05:00

Ruby likes to wear her heart on her onesie, and we are madly in love with Santa Barbara.

I used the ol' Silhouette to make these onesies with the Heat Transfer material. It is fantastic, and yes, it holds up well in the wash.

Coming up on the blog ... home dec projects. I've been working on artwork and new pillows and stuff. Fun!

happy valentine's day!

2011-02-14T12:12:00.003-05:00

I hope you feel loved today!

(spoils of the church cookie party)

Over the weekend I whipped up some easy flower hair clips for some of my favorite church ladies, made with the same fabric I used for last week's Party Skirt. I've recieved a lot of questions about that fabric, but sorry to say, I'm not sure what it is. That fabric is from my mother-in-law's stash - it feels like a heavy linen-ish cotton, but I'm pretty sure she bought it many years ago. It has been great for valentine projects! :)

[

p.s. how excited are you that Celebrate the Boy is starting again tomorrow over at Made and Made by Rae?! I've been looking forward to all the delicious boy-themed projects all winter. It has been a little too pink around here lately, don't you think?

my new toy: the L Letterpress

2011-02-11T03:03:00.001-05:00

Are you a fan of letterpress stationery? Me too. I love the look, the texture ... it just feels luxurious. This week I've been playing with the L Letterpress combo system from Lifestyle Crafts and it is kind of rocking my world.

The L Letterpress is actually a plastic system that you run through a die cut machine to simultaneously ink and deboss the paper, which creates the look and feel of real letterpress. I love that this system gives the at-home crafter the opportunity to experiment with letterpress - you don't need a studio, or a 1,000 pound machine (although that sounds dreamy, too). While it won't replace the ancient method, it sure is a lot of fun. You can learn a little more about the L Letterpress by watching these demo videos.

Last night I devoted the evening to my tube of pink ink and made lots of valentines. For this first card, I did a blind deboss (no ink) for the words "I" and "you" using the Scholastic Plate. I also pressed some matching envelopes with my last initial on the back flap.

I used the Blossom printing plate to create this all-over blink debossed card, and a die cut to add the love tag (the word love comes from the Twigs and Sprigs printing plate).

More love cards ...

And finally, a little something for Ruby's wall. Now I just need to find a frame.

Can you tell I love that Blossom all over print? It is one of my favorites. I also can't wait to get my hands on the new plates that have just been released - the Botanical and Wooden printing plates are calling my name. And don't get me started on the custom plates. I see glorious Homemade by Jill letterpress in my future.

If you want to get in on the letterpressing fun, Lifestyle Crafts is offering you a 20% discount using the online code: LC2011BLOG02. The code is valid through Friday, February 18.

Check out The L Blog for more eye candy and inspiration.

valentine cookie bags

2011-02-10T13:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight I am having a little Valentine activity with the ladies at church. We are decorating heart shape cookies and making these little cookie bags to go with them. Nice and simple.

The bags are just a white lunch sack that is punched along the top using a Martha Stewart scalloped edge punch (decorative scissors would work, too).

I cut the tags on my Silhouette. It is a two piece tag that I designed myself (although, I'm being liberal with the word "designed" - the software is so easy to use). If you want a copy of the files, just email me! homemadebyjill@gmail.com

Do you love my background today? I have a new craft tool. :) It is fun, easy to use, and makes beautiful things. Check back tomorrow and I'll show you more.

In other news, I was diagnosed with shingles yesterday. Boo hoo for me. I am accepting all forms of pity. :) Pray for me that it will pass quickly? Thanks.

sewing for me

2011-02-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

We had a pretty slow weekend for crafting at my house - Jared sucked me into a new tv show (the British "Downton Abbey"), so we were camped out on the couch. It was wonderfully lazy.

I did sew this skirt for myself last week, using the Party Skirt Tutorial at Creative Spaces. The directions are very easy to follow, and the only changes I made were to sew two side seams and sew the sash into the waistband. It turned out really cute! I should sew for myself more often.

baby shower cookies

2011-02-02T00:00:00.018-05:00

It's been a few years since I've broke out the old onesie cookie cutter. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy decorating sugar cookies (despite hours of icing turning my hand into a decrepit, arthritic claw). For my friend's baby shower, I stuck to the classic white onesie because she doesn't know her baby's gender.

The Blonde Designs Blog has a really good cream cheese sugar cookie recipe. It is tasty and holds its shape really well while baking. I used Wilton's Royal Icing recipe using meringue powder for the icing. The basic recipe is the perfect consistency for piping, and you can add a little extra water to make "flow" icing, which spreads nice and smooth for the base.

Yum! Or so I heard. I'm still temporarily gluten-free, so I couldn't even eat one. How sad is that?

crinkly owl teethers

2011-01-31T00:00:00.003-05:00

I have babies on the brain these days. It seems like everyone I know is pregnant or just had a baby. My newest niece was born just Saturday! Then, of course, I have my sweet Ruby around the house, fresh with two new teeth, chewing on everything in sight. Can you believe how big she is already?

I couldn't resist making the little owl teether I found at The Rubber Punkin. Such a cute free pattern!

Instead of stuffing the owl, I used one layer of plastic and one layer of warm 'n natural batting inside, for that soft crinkle, crinkle sound that my baby loves. The plastic is actually a piece of diaper wipes packaging, which is one of Ruby's favorite things to get her hands on.

Just cut the plastic and batting to the main pattern piece size and sew them together. Then layer it on top of your outer owl pieces and sew according to the directions in the tutorial. Using a walking foot on your sewing machine also helps!

I used minky fabric on the back to make it extra soft and cuddly.

Munch, munch ... crinkle, crinkle. This is going to be your baby's favorite chew toy.

Update: Ruby's leggings are from Kohl's (thanks, grandma!) and I made the headband using the rolled felt flower tutorial at I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar. The elastic is called Fold Over Elastic (FOE) and can be pretty commonly found in the elastic/trim section at your fabric store. It is my favorite elastic for baby headbands because it is super soft, comes in great colors, and is wider than your typical elastic.