The last of the Christmas Gifts: countdown wall hanging {tutorial}

I had been seeing cute countdown calendars all over the place and decided to make my own version for my sister in law for Christmas. 

I started by cutting down a section of 1x6 wood to about 20" long. Then lightly sanded the edges.

I sprayed the center portion of the board with beige spray paint and left it to dry overnight.

Using my silhouette machine, I cut the "days until" vinyl and once the board with the white spray paint was dry, I applied the vinyl. I covered that with chalkboard paint that I have easily had for 10 years. Nothing that a little stir wasn't able to fix...

Once the chalk paint was applied and starting to dry, but not all the way dry, I peeled off the vinyl....I added hanging brackets on the back side. And wrapped it with a Starbucks giftcard, because lets face it, every mom needs a special coffee treat once in a while...

I think that's the end of my handmade Christmas gifts...

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Handmade Gift Idea {Things for Mom-to-Be}

One of my friends {from way back when} is expecting her second child, a baby girl. I was so thrilled when she asked me to make her a few things for the baby's room, remember the ruffle quilt? And I was so excited by the challenge her Mom surprised me with. After seeing what I had made for the baby's room, my friend's Mom asked that I hand make her Christmas gift: a hospital/nursing gown, a matching pillowcase, plus a matching outfit for the new baby. I was SO excited! 

With all of the excitement of Christmas, I now look back and wish I had taken better pictures, but I suppose these from my iPhone will suffice...sorry. 

You can probably recognize the fabric, as I had used similar patterns for the ruffle quilt. 

I decided to go with a solid pink pillowcase, maybe even something the baby will be able to use some day when she's old enough for a pillow. I had pinned on some rolled flowers {bummer this picture doesn't do them justice!}

For the baby, I made some fleece booties, newborn pants, embellished a onesie with rolled flowers, as well as a few headbands and a hat.

And for the Mom to be, a hospital gown, with buttons down the back AND the coolest part is that across the top in the front there are snaps so she's able to discretely nurse without showing too much...

Here's a view of the snaps:

And while I probably shouldn't post this for the world to see, here's a picture of my little boy modeling one of the hair bows...pretty cute, right?!

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Handmade Gift Idea {Sewers Pouch}

Now that the giftwrap has been long gone, I figured I should share some of the gifts I made. 

This is a sewer's pouch I made for my mother-in-law. She's always working on one quilt or another, so when I saw this at a local quilt shop I immediately thought of my mother-in-law. I made this using two fat quarters and some batting. It went together REALLY quickly, and I think it will be useful! 

Inside the pouch there are three pockets, in the largest I included a mini self-healing cutting mat (found at Michaels) as well as a medium sized pocket perfect for storing patterns, and the lowest level of pocket is sewn into smaller sections, perfect for scissors, pens, + seam rippers. I might just have to make one of these for myself!

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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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Housewarming Gift {DIY}

Good friends of ours recently purchased a new home. They have an established home, and probably don't need much, so I decided to go for a simple gift filled with little items they might find handy. 

To begin, I personalized a store bought doormat. I had never done this before, so I did not invest in an expensive doormat...I figure I can always make another one when this one looks bad. I used Silhouette vinyl and spray paint, it really did not create the crisp lines I was looking for. Next time I might either use a freezer paper stencil OR possibly spray adhesive with a cardboard stencil...the vinyl didn't really adhere well to the jute...live & learn! 

here is the vinyl over the rug prior to spray painting...

I also puchased a glass jar from Walmart (our options are limited where we live!) and used my Silhouette machine and the clear/frosted vinyl to create an etched look. 

I couldn't decide on what I wanted the jar to say, so on one side it says "S&S" (their last names) 

The other side says "tammy & nate" (because I couldn't decide)

Inside the container I jammed in a bunch of goodies:
-sponges
-rubber gloves
-Mrs. Myers hand soap
-two oven mitts
-picture hangers
-adhesive felt pads for the legs of chairs (see below)
-some coasters (sale rack from Walmart) with vinyl initials

I also used this tutorial to create my own envelope to hold some felt circles (chair protectors?) It was very easy. I used paper I had printed on my computer, but purchased from the Jones Design Shop.

Here is what I jammed into that cute little envelope:

Although some aspects of this project (the doormat) did not come out exactly as I had envisioned, it was still a very easy gift to pull together! 

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Crafting A.D.D.

I've had a lot going on lately, summer has been a perfect mixture of busy & relaxing...but I have been suffering from some serious crafting A.D.D. I've been sewing, quilting, building and painting...embroidering, fixing up, shopping and returning, and overall NOT cleaning. You know how it goes (or am I the only one who operates like this?

Luckily I have family visiting next Monday...which means I have a little pressure to have the house in some semblance of a presentable state. Ha. We'll see what gets done. 

In the mean time, I have a million things I want to show, okay maybe not a million, but quite a few. 

A few weeks ago I had a chance to get out of town and visit my brother Christian & his wife Lauren. We always have a great time together. Lauren & Christian celebrated their anniversary the day I headed home...the same day as Lauren's birthday...and they had just moved. I decided to make her a little something...a Happy New House Anni-birthday gift, if you will. This is what I came up with: 

A monogrammed pouch (for diapers or stuff.) I used the very simple pattern from Jamie at That's My Letter. I also made Lauren a simple little wallet to match. (I had made her a diaper bag as a shower gift when he first son was born--she's pregnant now again--just to clarify why I'd be giving her a diaper clutch when her son is almost 2....) 

I also monogrammed her some towels, since I have had my new sewing machine for half a year and am JUST learning HOW to do this: 

I also included some hand towels and wash cloths just to make a full set.

While we were visiting it was great to see the kiddies play so nicely together. My eldest is turning into an opinionated mess {as most 3 year olds tend to do?} so it was nice to see he was fairly pleasant to his cousin and not a complete bully like he is with his baby brother.

It was VERY hot while we visited. So I thought I'd include some of my favorite pictures from our visit:

And here is another towel that I made, monogrammed of course:

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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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Christmas Shopping-online style

In the last few years I've realized that online shopping can make for a much easier Christmas shopping experience. Having family spread across the United States, and my undying hatred for the post office, having some online store deal with the hassle of transporting a gift seems more like a gift to myself.

One marital dispute my husband and I have is my feeling that I can't do everything. I don't know what happened, and how I assumed the role of "Take Care of Everything" person, but that is basically what has happened in our 4 1/2 years of marriage. I pay the bills, I do the laundry, I clean (he does help), I take care of the general day to day---including taking care of the computers (very scary!) but I also end up taking care of all gift giving. And ultimately, I hate to say it, it becomes less fun when you only have half of a functioning brain to come up with ideas (the other half is generally worried about all the other things I need to do, have to do, haven't done yet, will do as soon as I stand up and then forget what it was I was going to do!) You get the picture. So, this year my husband admitted to me that he feels like he doesn't get to truly feel Christmas spirit when he doesn't get to do any shopping. I guess in the last few years, I even ended up buying my own Christmas gifts. It was such a revelation. He did take my son one day, giving me a chance to stay home and craft so they could do some shopping together, but ultimately more shopping needed to be done.

So as you saw in my earlier post: today was the day I was going to do some shopping. I have to say, I did do a *tiny* bit of shopping for myself, but I did order some things for other people to. BUT, what I learned while ordering a laminator (that I do NOT need, but have wanted for some time) on Amazon.com for $16.99 (SCORE!) that Amazon actually has a program for Moms (or people that order things for Children--grandparents included!) that you can get FREE 2 day shipping. It was SO easy to become a member, I highly recommend you do too: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/info

I hate paying for shipping, so this is a great way to avoid that, even if you order something small!

And that my friends, is my gift to you!

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