Quilted Family Photo Pillow {Sewing}

{If you happen to be my mother in law, avert your eyes, it's likely you may receive this as a gift...}

Earlier this week, my mom celebrated her birthday. Her birthday falls in the beginning of the month and sometimes it sneaks up on me...{I'll just go ahead and blame February for being such a short month!}

This year, about three days before her birthday, I realized I needed to get my act together and send her something special. 

I'd seen this beautiful quilted pillow, and remembered this other beautiful pillow both from Polka Dot Chair, and decided to morph the two pillows into one.

The instructions I used were from the Patchwork Quilted Pillows tutorial, the only difference is that I did not cut the 4 1/2" square prints. Instead I substituted a photo I printed out on printable fabric. I trimmed the fabric down to 9.5" square, but then decided to add a small border. (I had first started with a rectangular photo, and decided it looked funny so I added the small border all around. I think I cut a 1" strip and sewed that around the edges of the photo that was cut to 9"?) 

The printable fabric I used can be found here. 

Here is the front before I added the quilting. 

To quilt, I simply stitched in the ditch along the photo, along the picture border, and then again along all of the triangles. I then used those lines as guides and used my presser foot as my guide so the stitching is fairly close together.

Using the instructions, I sewed a zipper, and printed a special message to my Mom on the printable fabric, and then used Heat 'n Bond Ultra to iron on that fabric.

And the final part of this project is that I ordered a pillow insert and had it mailed directly to my mom!

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Boy's 5th Birthday Gift {Sewing}

Not too long ago, one of my son's classmates celebrated his 5th birthday. Lots of stuff was going on at the time and so we celebrated his birthday with him at Krispy Kreme a little after his actual birthday {it was awesome!}

Mmmm. glazed deliciousness. Mmmm. {heaven?}

The children all received special hats, and were able to decorate their own donuts {check out that huge vat of chocolate + mardi gras colored sprinkles!} 

Needless to say, it was amazing... (in case you're ever expected to throw together a cool birthday party!)

 His Mom requested no gifts, something I completely understand and appreciate, but I hated to show up  empty handed. Especially when the birthday boy is just the sweetest kid!

I decided to pull together a quick + easy gift: a wallet!

I used a tutorial from Noodlehead. It was super easy. I didn't embellish this one, but given more time and less craziness in life, I may have.

Inside, I added a few bucks {I think $5+$1 for good luck} and a Target giftcard...perfect, right?!

What's your favorite quick {non-toy} children's birthday gift?

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family tree {diy} + How to convert a document into a JPEG {tutorial}

One last item that I made for our families for Christmas was a personalized family tree for both sets of parents. I decided to use a template from Martha Stewart's website:

I downloaded the template and opened a new document on the Mac version of "Word" called "Pages." I decided I was going to print this on a large scale so I made my canvas 11x14" and then started the tedious process of making the text boxes and adding text. I printed my final saved version at Sam's Club for probably $3 each. I framed each tree as well (with a Walmart frame for maybe $5.) This was an extremely cost effective project. Once we are sure both families are done with babies, we can always update the text again and maybe someday we will print it on a canvas.

Here is one of the finished digital copies:

{I was pretty certain that I would end up making mistakes, mispellings, or some error, so I was glad to not have invested a huge amount into this project. Sure enough, we discovered I had left one extra person from my husband's family on my family's copy...oops. Some day I'll fix it and reprint it, in the meantime, it's hanging up at my mom's house...}

How to convert a Document into a JPEG: 

I use this technique frequently because I feel most comfortable using a word processing program instead of photoshop (which I do own...)

Once I save the document, I open the print option, instead of selecting PRINT, on the bottom left corner I select PDF, and save the file as a PDF.

Then open the FINDER and open the PDF I just saved using the program PREVIEW (not Adobe!!) once in Preview, go to the file menu, select SAVE AS, and choose save as a JPEG. It's that easy. It takes a tiny bit longer, but I think I probably save a ton of time using the word processing software instead of trying to figure out photoshop. Or if you don't have photoshop...

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My take on a Black Apple Doll {Handmade Birthday Gift}

Last week we attended a birthday party for a sweet little girl in my son's pre-school class.  One perk of going to a pre-school where the mom's attend in a parents' room is that I've become friends with her mom...she's also a transplant, and is lovely.

I figured as with all 4 year olds, there is very little they actually NEED...So I decided to make Maeve this adorable little doll. My take on a Black Apple doll, as shown on Martha Stewart (a very long time ago.) I've made a few of these dolls before, but  this time I embroidered Maeve's name on the belly (in white, so it's difficult to see) as well as making a cute little skirt using some Sarah Jane fabric. I also folded up a $4+$1 for Good Luck for Little Maeve to carry.

A sweet little gift for a sweet little girl!

Also, in case you didn't notice: I've finally become a .com...yay!

I've also linked to The Pity Party at 30 Handmade Days & Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts. 

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the perfect boy gift-a tent kit

My nephew turns 4 in a few weeks. I figured since we were getting a chance to see him, I'd bring his birthday present. I'd seen some cool ideas of tent kits on Pinterest and decided to make once for him. 

Here is the tent set up in my in-law's living room. We actually used a suction cup/hook stuck to the center of the tv to hold up the far side!

Here is the tent kit in action:

I made a bag for the tent kit using an old t-shirt I had in the donate pile. I made a little iron on transfer using my Silhouette machine. I also included 2 flat twin sized sheets with ties sewn on the corners and through the center (to help it "hang") two flashlights, a bunch of "attachment devices"-clothes pins, &suction cup/hooks, and cotton clothes line rope. I purchased everything at Walmart.

Twin Sheets (2) $5 each
Flashlights (2 kinds) $3 & $5--the one is a whistle too, but I don't think the kids realize that yet!
Clothes Pins (plastic & wooden) I would imagine $5 or less
Rope $2
TOTAL cost: about $25...

I reused the bags the sheets came in to hold the clothes pins and rope.

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Great Gift Idea for Growing Families

This year for Christmas I really struggled what to get for family members who don't really NEED anything {a wonderful problem!} and saw this growth chart on pinterest and knew that it was the perfect gift! 

I thought these were simple, attractive, and surprisingly easy to make. I think these are also a perfect gift for military families who move frequently!! 

{Hung with a simple piece of twine}

I added a simple single letter monogram using a stencil I made with my Silhouette machine. Using a measuring tape, I also added measurements every 6 inches {up to 6 1/2 feet in case the kids really spout!}

To mark growth, I included key tags on tiny clothes pins.

{key tags mark date/age information}

{I plan on adding tags every few months for years to come!}

{I made simple bags out of a scrap bed sheet to store the key tags, I used a black pen to write "grow"}

{I added a personalized label for each box)

{each growth chart set & tags fit nicely boxed!}

{Of course, I made one for our house, too}

If you are interested in ordering a growth chart for someone special, please contact me!

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Easy Birthday Gift Idea

My friend's son Dean LOVES the alphabet. He's amazing at telling you the letters and has been for a while now. SO, luckily during my east coast tour a few weeks ago I was able to attend Dean's third birthday party.

It was an amazing party, but in my opinion the best part was catching up with a few girlfriends after most people left...during the "after party" we sat and talked and relaxed and caught up. It was great! BUT, I also have to mention the breakfast burritos they served. Let me just say: YUM! I'm not sure if it was my friend, her husband, or both, but they created a burrito bar with refried beans, and cilantro rice (and eggs, and other deliciousness) but wow, was it good! Exceptional, really! But I digress.

Being that I knew Dean's love of the alphabet I wanted to make him something he would like, but would have a use. I saw the idea of Alphabet Bean Bags at U-Create and realized this would be perfect for Dean.

Unfortunately, I do not have any fancy machine to cut everything out for me (BUT, maybe I'll ask Santa for one?!) so I simply printed out the alphabet onto freezer paper. I used iron on adhesive--Heat n Bond--on the back side of the felt, and the freezer paper on the front. Then, I used some sharp scissors to cut out the alphabet. Luckily, my mother in law bought me some Baby Genius precut 5" fabric squares last summer and I'd been holding onto them for a rainy day...Once I adhered the uppercase alphabet, I realized I should probably create the lowercase alphabet on the other side of the beanbag, so I started over (basically.) Once I had the uppercase and lowercase alphabet cut out and adhered to the fabric squares I sewed along the sides leaving a 3" opening on one side. I then filled each beanbag with 3/4 cup of pinto beans (I did tell my friend if they were ever starving they could always eat the beans...hehe!) and pinned the opening shut. I sewed a seam 1/2" from the edge making sure the 3" opening was sealed well. This project WAS a little time consuming, but that was probably more because I decided to create the lowercase alphabet TOO!

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