crinkly owl teethers

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.

diaper cake - an oldie, but a goodie

Get ready for some baby-themed goodness in the next several posts.  I helped with a friend's baby shower this week and one of the things I made was a diaper cake using my original diaper cake tutorial.

I did fudge the supplies a bit.  Instead of using a telescoping mail tube, I substituted two heavy weight cardboard tubes.  One was a wrapping paper tube (again, heavy weight - the flimsy ones won't work well), and the other was the tube from inside a roll of Silhouette vinyl.  Waste not, want not!  They need to be two different sizes so one fits inside the other.  The tubes hold the cake layers together, but they are still easy to separate.

I also changed the way I layered the diapers.  Instead of rolling each diaper individually, I wrapped them around the tubes.  I liked that the edges of the cake were smoother, and it also enabled me to use double the diapers (this cake held 80 size-1 diapers).   It also meant a LOT fewer rubber bands.  Only three large bands used on the whole cake - one for each tier.

I made the banner cake topper on my Silhouette and glued it to two white lolly pop sticks.  The sticks slid right between the diapers and held in place well.

Like the original cake, I decorated this one with paper flowers.  The flower decorations were cut on my Silhouette using the 3-D Ruffle Flower from the online store.  Each flower was glued to a mini clothes pin, so they just clipped onto the outer ribbons on the cake tiers.  Maybe the mama-to-be can find a way to re-use the flowers?  I'd probably attach them to gifts in lieu of bows, or maybe string them together on ribbon to make a cute garland.

Speaking of ribbon, I found that fabulously wide green satin ribbon at Michael's - it is 4 inches wide, which is perfect for a diaper cake because what do you know ... little diapers are also 4 inches wide.

The ribbon was attached with a few straight pins into the back of the cake.

With my extra paper I made a few more flowers as a table decoration and a paper banner to hang.

I knew it was a good looking cake when one of the ladies at the baby shower asked when we were going to cut into it.

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astronomy club t-shirts

My husband and father-in-law are total astronomy buffs - on a clear night, they haul their giant telescopes into the back yard and search the skies.   Oscar likes to "help" by touching things he shouldn't and shining the flashlight in grandpa's eyes. 

I couldn't resist making the guys some matching t-shirts (using my silhouette, what else?) so I can pretend they have an official club.  Now if I can only convince them to put the shirts on all at the same time for a picture!  :)

Everything is cuter toddler-sized, don't you think?

classic sock monkey

Happy Monday to you! 

As fun as making sock animals out of crazy patterned socks can be, every once and a while I like to do a classic craft ... no need to re-invent the wheel.  I made this old-fashioned sock monkey for my cutie pie niece, Ellie.  You can't beat the original.

I embroidered Ellie's initial on his heart so he won't forget who he belongs to.

Start with a pair of original Rockford Red Heel Socks (you can get them in fun colors, too, like pink and blue) and follow the instructions at Supersockmonkey.com. 

Insulated Casserole Carriers

You saw a peek of this bag on my oven mitts post and a few of you guessed correctly ... it is a casserole carrier.  Long live the Pot-Luck!

I was so excited to find this Casserole Carrier tutorial at 2 Little Hooligans - I'd never seen anything like it.  Toting a hot dish has never looked so good.

 

I made two changes to the 2 Little Hooligans tutorial to make my carriers:

1. There are two main pieces to the carrier.  One short, wide piece to go around the width of your casserole dish and one long, skinny piece to wrap around the length.  I increased the longer piece to 40 inches to accommodate a Pyrex dish (you need extra length to wrap around the Pyrex handles).
2. Instead of sewing fabric straps I used cotton belting.  The 82 inch piece of belting was sewn into a continuous loop and attached the same way I make my Spring Totes.

This Amy Butler fabric was almost too delicious to cut into.  Yum.

If you have a stylish carrier, you need a cute dish to go with it.  I used my faithful Silhouette to cut vinyl and etch the glass with family names.

 Have you ever etched glass before?  It is so easy!  You apply a template, literally glop the etching cream on, wait a while, and wash it off.  That's it.  I can see myself getting a little crazy with the etching.

So there you have it ... another Christmas gift recorded.  More to come next week!

oven mitts, big and small

I made big girl and little girl oven mitts as Christmas gifts this year.  This cupcake set was for Oscar's BFF, Audrey, who also received a brand-new play kitchen from her grandparents.  Audrey's mom made her an adorable apron with this cupcake fabric, and I contributed matching oven mitts. 

For a pattern, I traced one of Oscar's mini oven-mitts from a Melissa and Doug set.  But I also did a little research and found a kid-sized oven mitt tutorial at Ikat Bag for you to reference if you'd like to make some.  Of course, toddlers should never handle hot pans, but these mitts have a layer of Insul-Bright (a heat-resistant batting) inside.  You know, just in case.

Grown ups love new oven mitts, too.  I made a set for my mother-in-law using the tutorial at The Crafty Cupboard. 

I love this pattern!  It is the kind of oven mitt with the thumb on the front instead of the side.  Easier to use, in my opinion.  I'm also a huge fan of this fabric.  It is a home dec fabric that I found at JoAnn's, and it wants me to buy more and sew it into throw pillows for my living room.

Are you intrigued by the bag?  It is the first mass-produced project that I've made in a long time - tell you more later this week.

homemade ice cream kit

Hey, I'm back!  Miss me?  :)

My sister-in-law got a rockin' ice cream maker for Christmas.  So when her birthday rolled around last week, I knew just what to make for her:  a homemade ice cream kit!

First I designed some super cute labels with my Silhouette machine (seriously, one of my favorite things ever).  The labels are printed on full-page office labels.  Of course, you don't need a fancy machine to cut them out, but now that I don't have to do it by hand I can add fun details like a scalloped edge with no extra work.  Love that. 

The white, pint-sized ice cream cartons are found at Smart & Final.  The cartons and lids each come in sleeves of 25.

Then I added some delicious mix-ins from Trader Joe's.  You already know about my addiction to the mini peanut butter cups, but now the Dark Chocolate Tahitian Vanilla Caramels are climbing the list.  Is that not the most scrumptious sounding treat you've ever heard of?  Hoo, boy.

Here is a printable label if you'd like to join the ice-cream party.  Save the image and drop it into a word document to re-size and print as many times as you'd like.  Personal use only, please!  Email me if you want a copy of the file to print and cut from your Silhouette: homemadebyjill@gmail.com.

 

If you are looking for pint-sized ice cream containers online, check out Sweet Bliss Containers (disposable), or Zak Designs Ice Cream Tubs (reusable).