M&J Trimming Blogger's Challenge

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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!)

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

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

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!