Friday, February 18, 2011

Baby Gym Bag...

Just a little project I've been wanting to make and finally finished last night...



I call it the baby gym bag. It's the perfect size for a few diapers, wipes, change of clothes and a snack, but not as big and bulky as a traditional diaper bag.

It might be a smidge too big for him to wear at the moment ;)

Man I just love this little boy...drool stains and all!

Have a great weekend!!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

love note pockets...

In honor of a fastly approaching V-day, this week I'm going to show you how to make a cute, yet uber easy little pocket to stash your love notes to your sweetie in. Since I have mostly boys in my life, I wanted to make a Valentine that was fun, but not too girly girly. So I came up with these little diddies...


A few things you'll need:
Heavy cardstock (I love brown paper card stock!)
Scraps of fabric
Embroidery Floss
Embroidery Needles
Water Soluble Fabric Pen (or other temporary fabric pen)
Wood Grain Stamp and Stamp Pad (You can find a stamp like this at Joanns or Michaels)
Scissors
Sewing Machine + Thread (optional)
Hole punch (optional)

Using a temporary fabric pen, draw out the initials you'd like to embroider.

I didn't want the letters to be too bulky, so I split my embroidery thread in half, using only 4 of the 8 strands. Embroider your letters using a simple backstitch.
(Instructions on that stitch can be found here).

Draw a heart around your letters and cut out.


Next, with your wood grain stamp and stamp pad, stamp your card stock with your stamp.
Cut around the edges.

Using your stamped piece as a guide, cut out another piece of cardstock.


You'll want to cut out a half circle out of the stamped piece of cardstock. A spool of thread was the the exact size I needed, so I used it to trace a half circle on the back of the stamped piece, and then cut out the half circle.

Next, you'll want to adhere your heart w/initials onto your cardstock. Spray adhesive is a great, quick way to do this. Just lightly spray on the back of your heart, and place in the center of your stamped piece.

Time to sew your 2 pieces of cardstock together.
There are a couple different easy ways to do so....First with your sewing machine.
Using the zig zag stitch (#2 in the picture below), and both pieces of cardstock aligned together, sew along 3 of the 4 edges, as close to the edge as possible.


Tie off your loose threads, and you're done!

The other way to attach the two pieces of cardstock together without a sewing machine is a tad more time consuming, but still just as easy.

Along the 3 edges of the back piece of cardstock (not the stamped one) I made a mark every 1/4 inch. Use a pencil so that you can erase the marks when you're finished.

Next, with both pieces together, and a hole punch (I used a 1/16th" hole punch), punch out a hole at each mark you've made

With your embroidery thread and needle, hand sew the two pieces together with a whipstitch (taking the needle from back to front through every hole)


There are a million different ways you could decorate your little pockets. These were just a couple of ideas I had floating around in my head.

And the great thing about this project, is that these cute little pockets don't have to be just for Valentines day. You could use it as a birthday card, or maybe even a gift card holder!
Once you start making them, you won't be able to stop...


Believe me, they're addicting :)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I sat and watched...

I sat and watched as my sweet baby boy slithered around the floor and explored this crazy world around him, opening drawers and cupboards to see what they contained

I sat and watched a determined 10 month old perfect his ability to go from his belly to sitting up even on the slippery hard wood floors

I sat and watched a curious little boy pull out everything in my bedside table, examining every inch of every object he found

I sat and watched chubby little hands reach up to the coffee table and pull himself up for the first time.

I sat and watched as an adventurer carefully cruised his way around his room eventually making it into the living room

I sat and watched as a wide-eyed boy starred into the sky, smiling at the birds as they flew by as if it was the first time he'd ever noticed them.

Somehow, over night, my little baby has turned into a little boy.