Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 6

Dino-Eme-Saurus Hat

**Like my hats??  I'm giving one away... Click here.***

I originally made this hat for the first time about a year ago. 

See?  Here's Eme wearing his dino hat when he was tiny. 

I had a client (ok, my Mom) order one as a baby gift.  This is the result! (I'll be shipping it tomorrow Mom.)

This is one of my favorite styles.

Aren't the spikes fun?  They are each individually made and sewn onto the hat.  I love them.

Isn't it super fun?!

As an important side note, Jane, I still haven't heard from you!!  Please email me (or leave me a comment) to claim your hat!!!  If I haven't heard from you by midnight tomorrow (so by 12am Tuesday morning) I will be choosing a new winner. :(  I so hope I hear from you soon!!!

Seeking Advice...

About sewing machines.

I've kinda-sorta mentioned this before, but I HATE my sewing machine.  I swear that I spend at least as much time fighting with it as I do sewing with it.  It's a cheap-o bottom of the line Singer that was awesome when I got it 3 1/2 years ago.  Mostly because it was a sewing machine and for the two or three (easy) projects I had time to tackle a year, it did what I needed it to.  Which was: make it so that I didn't have to hand sew the whole thing.

Fast forward to now, where I sew just about every day, it's causing a blood pressure raising amount problems.  I'm so tired of fighting tension, needles, fabric, TENSION.  ARG!

I've been saving up to get a serger, because, let's be honest, I need one of those too.

So here's where the advice seeking comes in:  Do I get a new and MUCH better sewing machine first or the serger??

The hubster thinks I should get the serger because I already have a sewing machine so getting a new one can wait.

I'm starting to think that I will go crazy if I have to keep fighting the darn thing.

So, my sewing friends, what to do?

Any machine recommendations will also be VERY welcomed.

I seriously appreciate any insight you have.

Thanks all!

Monkeys for my Monkey.

My son is hilarious.  You've seen the pics, you know.  One of his favorite things to do is pull my blanket off my bed and then roll around and throw himself into it.  haha.  It's really a very cute thing.

My blanket is SUPER soft.  It's like a Little Giraff blanket, only king size and even softer.  I love it and so does he.

Eme has one Little Giraffe blanket that he LOVES, but I thought he could use another one.  (You know, for when the other one's in the wash.)  But Little Giraffe blankets are  EXPENSIVE.  My mom gave him one as a happy BIRTH day present.  He's used and loved it pretty much every day since.  But since buying him another one is out of the question, I decided to make him one with some of the fabric from my stash. (That I bought from the remnant bin a while ago.  I <3 the remnant bin. :) )

It's soft and it's snuggley and it's perfect for my little blankey loving monkey.  Wanna see?

Here ya go!

MONKEYS for my Monkey. :)

The fabric is cute, but not something I would have normally chosen.  The hubster found it.  So, we got it, and tonight as I was pinning on the binding he goes, "Is that the fabric I got?  I was gonna make something with that."  Oops.  Sorry.  Though I really have no idea what he would have make with it.  He just liked the feel of it.

I think this little (totally accidental) corner is my favorite part.  Peek-a-BOO!!!

This was my second time doing a binding and it went a little smoother and looks at least somewhat better.  I have a ways to go before I'll declare myself anywhere near being truly good at it though.  I went the easy(er) (though not as 'creative') route this time and bought pre-made satin blanket binding.  It was definitely faster.  haha.  Making your own binding takes FOREVER.  Especially when you don't have a binding maker. 

All in all this was a fun (relatively fast) little project that I'm fairly certain my son will love.

And the winner is.......

How ridiculous is it that I was getting butterflies as I was counting the comments to find our winner?!  lol.  Yeah, I'm a little emotional like that.  Can we say freak?!  (But, I was excited for you, right?!!! :)

So, do you have butterflies too?

Do you?! DO YOU?!!

haha. 

Ok, moving along...

Are you ready to find out who won?!

Here's the number that random.org picked: 46!!!

Wanna see the proof?  Here ya go!

(Oh, and I know that the comments only show 108, but there were a few entrants that stacked their entries into one comment, so I counted those up and added them to the count.)

So, without further adieu......

The winner is JANE from Out of the Crayon Box!!!

CONGRATS JANE!!!  Do you have butterflies now?!  :)

Jane, shoot me an email with the age/head size of the baby/child you would like the hat made for! :)

Can't wait to hear from you!! :)

The Giveaway is now closed!

Wish me luck with my first experience with Random.org!!!

I'll post results tomorrow morning!! :)

LAST CHANCE!! Giveaway ends at midnight!

Enter while you can!

Good Luck! :)

Last Day to Enter!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!!  It ends tonight!

Click here to enter!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday Features from week 4

So, for some reason, I'm having trouble getting the pictures for my features to save. :(  I've been working on it for a while and I can only get one to work.  Does it give anyone else the crazies when you can't get something on your computer to work the way it always has?!  GRRR. (Arrg.)

So, the ONE pic that I've been able to upload is this one from Mariesa at Ten Cow Wife.  (HAHA!!! AWESOME NAME!!!  Mahana, you ugly, get out of the tree!!!  Who's feelin' me?!)  I LOVE the idea of making a Valentine Bag for Eme.  And, I have to say, I LOVE how her's turned out.  I LOVE the red and I LOVE the rickrack.

Next we have Jenny from Embellishing Life who linked up a super cute Valentine Banner.  Clothes pins, burlap and felt hearts?  Yes, please!

Sabra from Sew a Straight Line shared the awesome Monster Scripture Bag she made for her son.  We all know how much I love monsters, so how could I *not* share this?!

I LOVE this shoe redo from Katie at Eye Spy DIY!  La La La LOVE them.  Grey and yellow is such a beautiful color combo! So pretty!!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, is a WONDERFUL pantry door redo by Michell at Girl in Air.  I LOVE that she turned the inside of her pantry door into a chalk board.  Chalkboard paint really is the best!

Ladies, you are all AWESOME!!  I'm so sorry that I blogger is not cooperating with me!  I want so badly to be able to share the pictures of your fabulous creations!! :(

Go grab your featured buttons!! :)

Rosette Garland Tutorial

**Looking for the Linky Party?  Scroll down it's next!**

Hello all and welcome to the "Tute" part of Tute {Yourself} Tuesday! 

Sorry I'm a little late in getting this up this morning, Little Eme had a Doctor's Appointment.  Don't worry, he's not sick!  Just a little late in getting in for his 12 month check up.  I'm happy to report that he's growing well (even though he's TINY!) and that all looks good. :)

Anyway!  You all are here for a tutorial right!?  Not updates on growth.  lol.

This week I was inspired by my friend Natalie's project.  She has just started her own crafty blog and posted a tute on how to make a super pretty wreath.  But, you'll remember that I made a "wreath" last week, so I prolly don't (doesn't mean I WON'T though...) need to make another one.  But I loved the crepe paper rosettes that she made to cover her wreath!  So what's a girl to do?

Well the idea rolled around in my head for a while and then I had an "Ah HA!!" moment. 

This is the result of that "Ah HA!":

Garland is no longer confined to Christmas!! Woot!  The best part (I think) about this garland is that it isn't confined to just one holiday.  You could do something similar in many different colors for Easter,  a baby shower, birthday party (or for Valentine's day as I have.)  I'll be honest; this garland might have found a permanent home adorning my inspiration board.

Since I made my rosette differently then Natalie did (mine's more like a flat pancake cinnamon roll) I am going to take you through my whole process.

I recommend NOT cutting the strands first, because there will be some shrinkage in length.  The easiest way to braid the crepe paper while still on the rolls is to keep the rolls as wound up as possible and just move the rolls around.  Do the on some kind of surface (I used the couch) and have someone hold the end.  DON'T skip this step!!  You need the extra strength that the braid lends to hold the weight of the rosettes.

It's going to be wide, but kind of flat- this will help it lay better on the garland.

If you put it all over the back you are going to burn your fingers when you put it on the braid.  (The rosette is much wider then the braid.  So, for the sake of your fingers, keep it in the middle people! :) )

I decided to decorate my sewing/inspiration board area.   What do you think? :)


I'll be linking this tute up to the fab linky parties on my side bar.

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 5

It's that time again! It's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!!

Before we get started, I have a few announcements. :)

**Have you heard?? I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!! 

(Like this one.)

Isn't that exciting?! :)  Click here to enter!**

Also,  Andrea from The Train to Crazy included this little skirt:

in her Make It Wear It, Women's Fashion Competition!!  I feel so honored!  I'm in super cute company. :)

I'd love it if you'd head over and vote!!! (Of course vote for your favorite; though I wouldn't be disappointed if I happened to be your favorite!)  ;)

An now...... ON WITH THE SHOWWW!!!!

It's that time again! It's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!!

As per my what seems to be my usual, I'll be posting features and my tutorial later on today, for now, let's get this party started!!

 I can't wait to see what you all have up your sleeves this week.

The Rules:

1. Link directly to the particular post you are sharing not your main blog site.

2. Link up anything that you have made and are ready to proudly toot your horn about! (Please no shop links.)

3. Please add my Tute {Yourself} Tuesday Button (it's in my side bar) to your post or link to my site somewhere on your site.

4. If you feel so inclined, follow me. :)

Now get linking!!! :)

This is what happens when I try to blog when Eme's awake... aka: It seems I have a food thief.

Someone is getting bigger and that means that someone can reach things that he once couldn't...  Like the last few candy canes from TOP of Daddy's desk.

Sorry that some of these are blurry.  My camera just isn't fast enough to catch my little man in action (obviously I need a DSLR. lol.) but, I still thought the pictures were cute and decided to include them regardless of the blur factor.  Some of them, ok, one  of them actually looks really cool because it is blurry.  Well, I think it looks cool, but it's possible I'm biased.



I think this one is hysterical.

I wish this one had turned out.  Boo.  This is when he realize he was 'caught'.  haha.

This is the one I think looks cool regardless of the blur factor.  haha!  Maybe I'm crazy?!  Maybe not?

Now, to prove I'm not a completely horrible mother, he also swiped some sweet potatoes from a too low fruit/vegetable basket.

Umm. Yum?

He also had a good time with my apples.  He's done this a few times.  I need to get a hanging basket so that he can't keep doing this.  Not that I'm opposed to his eating apples, I'm just opposed to him dropping 3 or 4 apples on the ground before choosing which one he's going to take a few randomly placed bites from.  I hate bruised apples and at this point, I'm not sure that I have any unbruised apples left. :(

I {heart} this one!

O-well.  At least he's cute.

This next one is another new trick of his...  The food thief is cute and silly (and sometimes sticky.)  But this climbing monkey scared the pants off me!   (But apparently not enough to take him down before taking a picture...)  I assure you that this chair has since been moved to a place that he can no longer climb on!

Doesn't he look SUPER proud of himself??  Oy.

I think there is a saying...  "When the cat's asleep the mice will play." 

Fitting?  Prolly.  {sigh.}

I think I need to adopt this mantra: "When the BABY'S asleep THEN Mommy can play {aka: blog.}"

Gah!! Guess What?!

**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!!  Click here to enter!**


Andrea from The Train to Crazy included this little skirt:

in her Make It Wear It, Women's Fashion Competition!!  I feel so honored!  I'm in super cute company. :)

Guess what?  You guys can vote for your favorite!  Head over now and check 'em out, get inspired and don't forget to vote!

A Little Dress

**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!!  Click here to enter!**

This is a trial/muslin of a pattern I'm working on.  This is the first "go" and there are some obvious problems, but still, all in all, I think it'll be pretty cute once I get the kinks worked out. :)

(Do you recognize the fabric?  I know I said that I was going to make a skirt out of it, but there's a TON of fabric, so I decided to use some of it on this little dress.  I'll still be making a skirt at some point!)

The neck line is rather large, but, I plan to add a casing and ribbon to it so that it is cinch down-able.  The arms are longer then I want them to be, so, I'll be shortening those the next time.  Also, you'll probably have noticed that the under arm seam is a bit wonky.  Here have a look:

That will need to be fixed as well.  This is why I do muslins people!  So that I get the kinks out before I destroy the nice pretty fabric that I have planned for the final dress.  Not that this fabric isn't nice and pretty... ;) 

The last detail that needs some fixing is that I plan on making this dress bubble just a bit, not like big and puffy, just a little bit ruffle-y.  (Does that make sense at all?  It looks good in my head...)  So, that means I need to make the outer layer a bit wider at the bottom then the inner layer.  I'll share more as this process unfolds it's self.

Designing is FUN!! :)



I'll be linking up to the parties on my side bar! :)

A Giveaway, A Giveaway!!!!

**This Giveaway is now closed.**

Please say that title in a sing songy voice. :)

I'm  finally doing my 100 follower giveaway that I had promised! HORRAY!!!!


Want to know what I'm giving away??


It's one of these:

A custom made Koala Bear Hat!!!  Woohoo!!!!  This hat looks super cute on a boy or a girl and the chin strap keeps the hat on!  (Which all you parents know can be a problem!)

I will make the hat in whatever (child or baby) size the winner wants. :)  Just think about how super sweet your little one will look in this. :)  Are you thinking about it?  Great. 

Are you ready to win?  Awesome.

Here's how to enter (one entry for each):

1. Be or become a follower on GFC. (It's on my sidebar.)
2. "Like" me on Facebook.  (Click here to do so.)
3. Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back here.
4. Post about this giveaway on Facebook and share the link.

That means that you have up to 4 entries into this giveaway!!
Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

This giveaway will be open for one week, so you have plenty of time to enter and to spread the word!

GOOD LUCK!!!