Autism Awareness Necklace

Now that the Easter insanity has come to a close, I can finally show you this easy-to-make and able to be worn with everything necklace to celebrate Autism Awareness month. As some of you might know, I am an Autism Support teacher and hold this cause very near and dear to my heart. Autism now effects 1 in 68 children and there is no cure at this time. Researchers continue to work tirelessly to determine its cause and are getting closer to determining factors. Knowledge is power, folks, and bringing awareness to this cause can only help increase support and understanding of individuals on the Autism spectrum. For more info., feel free to check out this awesome site. Here are the steps to make a necklace of your very own!

Materials:

-chain with closures (mine was about 18")

-puzzle piece charm (Hobby Lobby and Michael's both sell them in their "Charms" sections)

-split ring

-blue, faceted glass bead

-head pin

-wire cutters

-needle-nosed pliers

Instructions:

1. Using needle-nosed pliers, open the split ring and place the puzzle piece charm onto it.

2. Place blue bead onto head pin and cut remainder of the pin about 1" above the bead. Create a loop using needle-nosed pliers

3. Place blue bead onto split ring. Close split ring using pliers.

4. String pendant onto the necklace. If closures are too large, simply open the split ring and close once around necklace.

Together, let's Light it up Blue for Autism Awareness!!!

Fabric Bow Ties

It feels as though this project was completed ages ago, as it was one of my "crafts to complete before baby" way back in June for my nephew Royce's first birthday, which just happened this past weekend (and allow me a minute to just brag that he is the sweetest, most adorable one year old EVER)! Pics from his "mustache bash" party to come! Anywho, here is the first of two projects for my sweet little nephy! Happy birthday, Roycey! We love you!!!!!

I found the BEST tutorial on creating simple, fabric bow ties.  Here are pics of some I made myself, along with the link containing the directions:

Sock monkey bow ties for my nephew and his daddy (if he can be convinced to wear one!) Stay tuned for the matching vest!

Use a clip-on earring clip to attach the bow tie to any shirt...Genius!



Another pair of fabulous bow ties



Here is the awesome link I found!

Baby Tutu for Monthly Photos



Cutest little model I ever did see!

The inspiration for this project was an adorable sticker pack called "Sticky Bellies" that I found at Hobby Lobby ($9.99 for a pack of 12/ $6 if you've got one of their 40% off coupons)! In the package, colorful stickers are labeled 1-12 months and meant to be displayed on baby's onesie or shirt for monthly pictures. A picture of an adorable baby girl wearing a Sticky Belly on a shirt and a sweet, little tutu gave me the perfect idea for the ensemble my baby girl could eventually wear. I have seen instructions for and pictures of adorable ribbon and tulle tutus that I have been meaning to make for what seems like forever now. I went to my local Wal-Mart and bought 1 yard each of brightly colored blue, pink, purple, and green tulle, along with polka-dot, pink ribbon and followed the directions I found online through the website indicated below (keeping in mind I measured the ribbon according to baby's potential waist and height adding lots of extra so that it expands as she does; the directions call for a larger child's dimensions):

http://bebehblog.com/the-most-unnecessary-craft-tutorial-ever-baby-tutu/

A view of the entire skirt...I may add more tulle pieces to fluff it up a bit

Bonus pic of a Steelers tutu I made for my little munchkin (please pray she doesn't hate me some day for making her wear all these flippin tutus!)

Hand Painted Oil Bottle

Although I'm not a big user of oil dressings or the use of oil for a whole lot in general, I love the look of oil bottles...and I loved this one in particular even more when I found it for a dollar at my local craft store! To decorate it, I simply chose four colors of acrylic paint that I thought would complement each other, in this case black, white, light blue, and red. Beginning with the lightest color (white), I used the tip of a Q-tip, dabbed it into the paint and created small dots around the entire bottle. I then repeated the same process with the light blue, followed by the red, and finally the black, until the bottle appeared completely covered in dots. After the paint dried, I sprayed a clear sealant all over the bottle to keep it protected from chipping. Although it sounds like a lot of monotony, it really is a very quick project and creates a really neat effect!

Organza Flower Hair Clips

Organza flowers

Now that my favorite local craft store, Pat Catan’s, has begun selling organza fabric, I have been obsessed with making organza flowers, which look much more complicated than they actually are! There are a million different ways to create these types of flowers, but I simply cut out organza circles in 4-5 different sizes and singed around the edges using a lighter (be careful to not leave on too long, as the fabric will burn!). The circles naturally curl up when singed, creating a flower petal look. Using a needle and thread, I sewed each of the circles together with the large circle on the bottom descending to the smallest circle on the top. I then embellished the flowers by hot-gluing various beads into the center of the flower. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Flowers can be adhered to hair clips, headbands, pins, household decorations, etc. The sky is the limit!

Organza fabric used for this project

Fabric Roses Embellished Throw Pillow

After deciding to “upgrade” the couch cushions in our household, there was one pillow remaining that I couldn’t bear to get rid of without first attempting to update it myself. Using blue cotton fabric (because the pillow itself was brown and I love a good brown/blue combo!), I cut out a 4” and 6” circle. Using the 6” circle, I cut in a circular motion until reaching the center of the circle so that, if picked up from the center, it formed what looked like a coil. After spreading the coil out, I began using a glue gun to glue the tail of the fabric to the outside edge of the 4” circle, coiling it around and securing with glue until reaching the center of the circle. I created two smaller rosettes using 2” and 4” circles and glued all three to the upper corner of the pillow. TADAH!!!

There are a MILLION other ways to create fabric rosettes, carnations, poppies, you name it, there is a way to recreate it using fabric. Here is a cool link that gives instructions for a variety of them!

http://tipnut.com/fabric-flowers/

Easy to Make Accent Pillows Using Upholstery Samples

Awesome accent pillows using fabric samples

I have zero shame in admitting my love for and possible obsession with craft stores, but my most recent trip to Joann Fabrics proved that my constant observation and shopping was not done in vain. My husband and I recently bought new bedspreads for the bedrooms of our new house but were not willing to spend the money on the accent pillows that went with the bedspreads. On my trip to Joann’s, I spotted a huge area in the middle of the store with fabric samples. I high-tailed it over to the samples to see if they would work for the pillows I wanted to make and to check on the cost, only to find that they were $2 each. Not bad! As I began to dig (‘cause the good stuff is ALWAYS at the bottom), the fabulous salesperson informed me that they were all 50% off, making them $1 each. Score!!! I snagged three samples that would match one bedspread, three to match a second, and a few I thought were too cute to pass up, despite not knowing what I could use them for.

Here is a picture of what each fabric sample I picked up looks like



I bought two yards of gray fabric for the backs of the pillows and cut out and pinned the fabric to the samples as soon as I got home. After running the sewing machine around the edges of the pinned fabric, leaving a gap of about three inches, I used Poly-fil for stuffing and hand-sewed the pillows shut. I could not be happier with the result!

Completed pillows with bedding in bedroom #1

And in bedroom #2



Elephant Themed Baby Shower

Baby boy bowtie onesie

My sister, Kyra, is expecting her first child, a little boy, in September, which means many things…tons of diapers, loads and loads of laundry, late night feedings, and eventually race cars, mud pies, and high speed chases around the house. But before all of that, it means another reason to throw a themed party to celebrate her BABY SHOWER!!!  Kyra chose elephants as her nursery theme, so we incorporated them into the shower, along with the colors blue and lime green.  We started with the basics…lime green and baby blue table cloths, blue plates and cups, lime green silverware and napkins, and baby blue and lime green  balloons and streamers.  I also cut elephant shapes out of craft foam, added a googly eye and foam polka-dots to each elephant and used them on the walls of the shower room. In addition, we purchased six blow-up elephants (found in the Target “One Spot” I might add) for added décor and whimsy.

Tables set up and ready to go!

Makeshift clothesline featuring handmade and store-bought clothing, as well as adorable blowup elephants!

More table decor...Notice the elephant confetti on the table courtesy of Martha Stewart's elephant stamp and punch

Food table

Since my mother was recently gifted with multiple boxes of empty baby food jars, we decided we wanted to incorporate them in some way into the favors or centerpieces.  As a result, we decided to use them for cupcakes in a jar to duel as favors for guests to eat at the party or take home to enjoy later AND to arrange them in a way that they could also function as table centerpieces.  We filled each jar about 1/3 full of “Whoopie pie” batter (recipe included) and placed them into cupcake pans so that they didn’t fall over in the oven. After baking them at degrees for minutes, we let them cool and eventually place in the fridge overnight, since we wanted to wait until the last possible moment to add icing and sprinkles. The following day, we added icing to fill each cupcake jar, leaving about ½” of space for sprinkles and to twist on the cap. We had previously cut out fabric circles using pinking shears to put on the tops of our jars and tie with ribbon in coordinating colors and add a tag thanking guests for attending and a spoon. I then found four-packs of green, plastic plates, blue plastic plates, green, plastic cups, and blue, plastic cups and glued the bottom edge of each cup onto the bottom of the corresponding colored plate, creating a simple, cake stand to place the cupcakes on.

Decorated cupcake in a jar

Cupcakes on their homemade cake stand

Another glance

Games included a baby pool where guests indicated what they thought the baby’s name, age, weight, and date of birth would be, and a baby-themed guessing game, where tables of guests played in teams to answer questions related to having and raising a baby (for example, “How many diapers does an average mommy change in two years?” The answer, by the way, is an astounding 7,200!!!).  Since my sister is not revealing the name of her little man, we also decided to give each guest seven Scrabble tiles(2 vowels, 5 consonants), markers, and construction paper. The idea was to come up with a name for baby using as many of the letters as possible and write down the final name on the piece of construction paper. Kyra would then chose her two favorite names from the options provided and give their creators prizes.

Team #1 ready to win!

The final activity we had guests participate in at the shower was to take a piece of cardstock with a letter placed on it (one page for each letter of the alphabet). The guests were directed to decorate the page with words and pictures of objects beginning with that letter so that, when the activity ended, the pages would be compiled to make baby’s first alphabet book.

Decorating Baby Boy's alphabet book pages

Here are a few more pics from the shower just for funsies!!!

Punch with rubber whales for added cuteness

My BFF Tammie made these adorable elephant cookies

The mommy-to-be holding the elephant pillow I made for my future nephew

Holding the beautiful and super-soft car seat cover my grandmother knitted for her future great grandson