Father's Day

For father's day I made freezer paper Transformer shirts for my man and the kids. (with the help from Ceri, John and the Cricut...saved me A LOT of time with the exacto-knife) I love this metallic paint...I was skeptical at first...but it turned out super cool!

p.s. Rodimus Prime is Optimus Prime's successor...apparently you have to be an ultra nerd to know this....as is my husband...and proud of it!

Thank you bags

I made the first orange bag for a thank you to a friend and loved it so much I had to make more! It's a lot like the other pleated totes but bigger! cool!

The broaches are from this tutorial. super easy and super cute!

ruffle refashion

I need more girlie shirts in my life. Yeah for ruffles!

Before: plain, blah...when i removed the pocket I tore the shirt...my bad...luckily the ruffles covered it - no problem!

I got the idea from Tea Rose Home.
This lady is awesome. I wish I had her figure. And I have got to get my self to Down East to score some of those sales! I didn't follow the tutorial...but the idea is the same

Summer is here! That means that in only a few short weeks I will be on the beach soaking up the sun! In honor of this up coming vacation I have put this on my "to do" list:

using this tutorial

What a great beach bag!

One crafty man

Some day when we growup and own our own home, my husband will have a space to build and create...but for now our tiny little front porch will have to do! Matt made me a shelf for Berdi and my serger. What a man! Thanks sweetheart! I love it!

Car Seat Canopy

Totally easy and totally worth it! Now if I could just justify making a few so I can change it up a bit now and then - SO FUN! There are a lot of sites out there with tutorials. Cluck, Cluck, Sew just barely put one out a few days ago. I liked her story about using the cover as a "greeter deterrent". AMEN! This was also my first project making button holes...they turned out okay. I've got to practice more before I ever make them to give away!

Getting ready for baby {Wraps}

{Wraps}

Store bought wraps are cool and all...but why buy them when you can easily save BIG bucks by making it yourself? If you're not a sewer - or feel crafty you don't have to. All you really need for a basic wrap is 5-6 yards of fabric and a pair of scissors! You can actually get 2 wraps out of it. I'm always a sucker for a 2 for one special!

I serged the edges and added a button to mark the middle point because that's just how I roll. But if you use a jersey type fabric you can leave the sides alone since they wont fray!


Speaking of serging...This is the first time I feel like I got the tension just right - isn't it nice? I {heart} my serger!

This is the first time I'll be using a wrap other than my ring sling (which I LOVE) but since I could make this for so stinkin' cheep, I figured why not?

p.s. there has been a lot of recent warnings in the news about the safety of baby wraps...in my opinion baby wraps are completely safe to use as long as you feel confident in how you use it. Common sense first always! I've always practiced with a baby doll first to get the basics down before placing a real baby in there. You tube has some great videos if you're a visual learner like me!

Getting ready for baby {Burp cloth re-do}

{Burp Clothes}

I made tons of these for baby...this is just a few I pulled for the picture

Confession: I saved almost every nasty cloth diaper type burp rag from my first baby.

Because I used them on a daily basis, they were the most used/most haggard baby item I owned. BUT because I'm cheep I didn't get new ones for this new baby...I just dyed them and put some scrap fabric down the middle to fancy them up a bit. Hopefully these will survive the first few months with more grace and style then they did when they were plain.

(with the plain rags, after the first dozen washed I was actually embarrassed when I pulled them out at church. I was constantly repressing the urge to assure anyone who was in eye shot of them that they were indeed clean...just loved)

Getting ready for baby {Nursing Cover}

{Nursing Cover}
a Lime-Made Original

My nursing cover. It's combination of Hooterhider and poncho. With my first baby, I liked the boning aspect of the Hooterhider, but HATED how exposed I felt on the sides. I'm just not comfortable showing skin...even with my mom or sister. I liked the poncho idea but I missed the boning...so I made a combo! I added hooks on the inside to provide a sleeve-like aspect that can hook and unhook depending on what side the baby is on and made the neck width adjustable.

This being a first pancake, I'm not sure how this will work out for me. I'm hoping for success...but I wont know until the baby arrives and I can try it out!

(More posts to come! I've already scheduled them!)

Green is the new pink

Emmie and I had "Leprechaun Day" on Friday since St. Patrick's day fell during Spring Break this year. In honor of the event I finally had a reason to make something out of this shamrock fabric I've had for YEARS! I used the, oh so popular, Market skirt tutorial from MADE. This is the first time I made the skirt and used my serger. One word: awesome.

I made this headband for Emmie also, but she decided she wanted me to wear it...I didn't complain - I love it! Felt is my new best friend...we've bonded.

Happy Valentines Day!

Super Baby!

I haven't gotten my fill of Super Hero capes yet! I love how this one turned out for my friend's baby shower! Another E name! I think I need to make a girl version next for Emmie!

Boys!

In honor of my little boy and the new little boy arriving in April, I think that we should all Celebrate the Boy! All month long MADE and MADE BY RAE are doing everything boy... tons of tutorials and ideas all for boys! Today they show how to make shirts for little guys... adorable! So go see how they are celebrating!

Super Hero Cape

I had so much fun putting this cape together. Let me just say that I'm in love with fusible webbing! A totally easy, fun, and fast project! I hope Emmie's little buddy (who's name also begins with an E) loves this cape as much as Emmie did. I'm thinking she's going to need one now too! The neck fits her a little big...but her buddy is bigger than her so I have no doubt that it will be perfect for him! I used Puking Pastilles tutorial - I changed some things to make it my own - but the basics are very clear cut and easy to follow!

E is using her super power's to measure he daddy's drum set!

Berdi's Back!

Oh how I've missed you!

Now that she's back I have got to get busy!

Baby boy is only 10 weeks away...give or take.
On my To Do list:

One of these for one of Em's buddies:


Lot's of these:
(in boy print of course)

One of these:
(the crib set...not mobile...but come to think of it...maybe I should add that to my to do!)

Something like this:
(because why buy a moby wrap...when you can make your own NO SEW wrap for a fraction of the price!!! I LOVE my ring sling...but it's tricky when the baby is bran new but I've only heard really good things about this for the tiny new ones!)

And something a little like this:
(Anyone else have issues with the hooter hider cover?)

Well...that's it for now. I'm sure my list will grow as these projects get done! who knows if I will get to it all! Second semester is a busy time of year for a teacher!

What happens when I loose things....

My sister loaned me her sewing machine and not only did the foot fall off and get lost while in my possession...so did the flimsy vinyl cover (those dinky one's that come with the machine). I searched EVERYWHERE and didn't find anything - no foot, no cover, nothing. The only thing that I can think that happened it that I got a little too zellous in nesting mode and accidently threw it out. But I really don't know. I told my sister about the missing foot but couldn't bring my self to tell her about the cover.

Anyways I went out and bought a replacement for both at Joann's but when I got home I felt really poopy about the cover. It didn't have a nice hole for the handle...I wanted it to have a hole for the handle. I knew if the replacement I got didn't have a handle that my sister would hold it against me for the rest of my life - I have too many things that she holds over me...I didn't want the list to grow so what did I do? I pouted for a while....kicked a door and then....TA - DA...the light went on - I will MAKE her a cover!

I found this tutorial and got to work. I think it came out good - I think I would definitely do the binding on the handle hole differently if I could do it over....but it's a first pancake right?

For Holly

I've had this fabric for months. And now I've finally finished it...it was silly how long it took me to finish this project - mostly because I just kept pushing it to the back burner while I finished all my other projects. Well know that it's done I hope Holly enjoys it! I love the yellow cuddly fabric!

Now that the holiday's are over....

...I can finally share all the gifts I made! Next year it's all about "Christmas in July" having those gifts done and over so I can actually enjoy the season. This year between the boutiques and Christmas it was a little much....not to say it wasn't fun...it was just a lot at once!

Beaded necklace for my sister and sister-in-law

(idea from U Create)

Snuggle blankets for my 4 month old nephew

Slippers for my sister-in-law

(marthastewart.com)

A ruffled pillow for my cousin

A tote for my mother-in-law

Ceri and I put together this: The ultimate baby/Christmas gift for our cousin who just had a baby
From left to right
top row: Swaddle blankets, burp-clothes, wash-clothes, soft cubed ball, diaper and wipe envelope, sling.
bottom row: appliqued onsies, snow hat, leg warmers, snuggle blanket, tote bag

Not pictured:
car visor covers for my dad
etched mugs for my brother and brother-in-law


It was busy...but it was worth it! I'll definitely do it again...but new time I'll be planning my time better...like I said, "Christmas in July" is were it's at!