Little Eme

The Princess Peach Dress

2011-03-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well guys, I'm out. :( But o-well. This was my entry:

I loved this week's challenge! Let's be honest; I totally need a challenge like this every week. Maybe then I'd actually get through my slightly ridiculous stash of fabric. Maybe. Please tell me that some of you buy fabric just because it's pretty too? Quite a bit of what I buy fabric wise is because it's pretty and not necessarily because I have a plan for it... YET. The "yet" part is important; I always come up with something eventually!!

For this week's "Spring Cleaning" challenge I give you:

Can you tell a six year old named the dress? Haha! Super Mario is well loved by the kid's in my life. Isn't my niece so cute?! At one point I told her to say "I'm Princess Peach." Instead she said, "I'm Princess Mario!" Then cracked up. She's so funny. :)

I've had both of these fabrics for a while. The pink one I got for like two bucks at Savers!! Thrift stores can be awesome for getting really nice/pretty fabrics for cheap!! The bridal lace/chiffon I got with a 50% off coupon from Joann's... mostly because I had a 50% off coupon. ;) And the bunny button's were just some cute buttons I had picked up a while ago. Together I think they make a pretty cute Easter dress! (How perfect are the bunny buttons for an Easter dress?!)

All in all, I LOVE the end result of this little dress (that I designed)! (I think my niece likes it too.) ;)

Hooray for Spring!! Green Ruffle Skirt and Flower Shirt

2011-03-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well guys, I made it to round three (and to Seattle!) I'm off to my sister's to get next week's project finished. (I started it at home, but wasn't quite able to get it done before I needed to leave. So, I will be finishing it tonight.) Wish me luck! The competition is getting harder and harder!!

With this week's "green" theme, I wanted to focus on something that could be worn all through the spring and summer season, instead of something just for St. Patty's Day.

I planned and half designed three separate outfits before I decided on the direction I wanted to go in this week. The end result is super fun!! So girly, but not so dressy that you can't have a good time on the playground.

The shirt is purchased, then embellished with flowers made from jersey and little green (and the occasional yellow) beads. The skirt, however is made (and designed by me) from scratch. It originally was planned to be just layers of the green jersey, but as I was making it, it needed a little something "more". That "more" came in the form of a layer of chiffon and two layers of a pretty damask cotton. Plus a rolled rosette as an accent.

Would you like to see some close ups of the details? Ok! Here ya go!!

Isn't my little model so cute? :) I asked her if she was doing the "Pledge of Allegiance" in the picture just above. She said, "Yes." I love little kids!! :)

Tangents aside, I have to say that I love how this week's project turned out! I want to make a big(ger) on for me!

HOORAY for SPRING!!!

2011-03-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Welcome to another week of Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!

Have your guys checked out the entries over at One Month to Win It yet? If not head over there, check out the awesome entries and VOTE!! :) (But don't let your oohing and ahhing over the entries stop you from linking up!)

Also, I am traveling today, so there will not be a tutorial or featured post from last week until next week. :)

So, let's get this party started!! :)

'Tis voting time again!!!

2011-03-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

There are some CUTE entries this week!!! Please head over and VOTE!!! :)

Phew!

2011-03-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

Well, my stress is over for this week! wait. Scratch that. My WAITING stress is over for the week.

I made it through to the next round!! WOOHOOO!

Now I just have to get the rest of my projects done, take pictures, edit them, pack, get my house clean before I leave and then get to the airport on time (6:40 is a VERY early flight for people that don't usually get up until after 9...today Eme didn't wake up till 10:30!!) Oh, and we might buy a car somewhere in the middle of all that.

So wish me luck on everything else that is/will cause stress... But at least the waiting is over!! :) I'm excited to be continuing! :)

Trashed Toddler Play Table to Beautiful Toddler Bed and Learning Center

2011-03-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Did ya guess this was mine?! I love it so much! I can hardly wait till Eme is old enough to use it as a bed. :) But, it's already a great play table for him... he doesn't get that that the chalk is for drawing, not eating though! We're working on that! haha!

This first week's challenge was so much fun! I went straight to the DI and was SUPER lucky to find a majorly trashed toddler play table! It sparked a very fun (and soon to be needed) project! So, without further ado; I give you: The (Trashed) Toddler Play Table to Beautiful Toddler Bed By Night and Learning Center By Day!

To begin this make over, I spray painted the table and little stool a pretty light blue. I also removed the (very ugly) rope drawer pulls and plugged the holes with wood filler. After it had dried, I (ok my hubby) attached the pretty new drawer handles I had picked out. (Thanks babe!)

To make this work as a bed, I had to make a mattress. I did this by stuffing two body pillows into a mattress form that I made using thrifted sheets. Velcro makes for easy removal and cleaning of the mattress form. I also used thrifted sheets to make the bedding set and a thrifted pillow to make the "E" accent pillow. The star is corduroy that I had in my stash.

To make the learning center, I painted one side of the table top with chalkboard paint and glued a map of The United States on the other. (I plan to homeschool, so I figure this will be a fun, easy way to get started with geography early. Plus it makes for a nice "train" background, don't you think??) :)

I love this new little bed/playtable!! And I love that it saves a TON of space!! The fact that the mattress can also be a soft base for playing isn't a bad thing either! No cracked heads = a very good thing! The possibilities for play on this table are endless! Legos? check. Trains? Check. Painting? why not? Really, it's just the perfect space and size for my little monkey!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 10 FEATURES!!

2011-03-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

I know my postings lately have been L.A.M.E. I've been pretty consumed with my projects for One Month To Win It. Especially since I am (unexpectedly) heading to Seattle next Tuesday morning (REALLY) early. That means that I need to get all THREE of the rest of my projects done this week. Say it with me: YIKES. Plus I came down with a cold yesterday, so I have Z.E.R.O. energy and generally feel yucky. It's awesome. I actually started this post yesterday morning then ran out of energy.

I'm sorry I haven't had any tutorials for you of late. Hopefully I'll be able to amend that soon. Also, even though I had planned to pick testers and send the patterns out last week, it didn't happen and then the power surge happened and I can't even access them to send. Boo.

Hopefully, I'll be getting my replacement cord/surge protector in the next day or two and it will fix the problem... if not... I'm not gonna think about that if not right now, mmK?

For now, please enjoy some awesome highlights from last week's party!

First up, from I'm a Mom Not a Professional, Rolo Cookies. Umm. YUM! These look so good! She also has a Peppermint Patty variation. I can't wait to try these!!

Next, from Bugaboo, Mini Mr and Me, we have a very cool Glowing Globe Nightlight. She even shows how to WIRE it. WOW. Plus it just looks REALLY cool. :)

Our Seven Dwarfs shared her super sweet Crocheted Baby Gift. I love the colors she chose! Isn't the ripple pattern pretty?

Rhapsody of Cacophony linked up her Home Made Creme Eggs. I love Creme Eggs don't you?! She made her's the size of cupcakes! I'll take one please!!

Fowl Single File shared her Sheep (Cake) and CUPCAKES!! These are freaking AWESOME! So, SO cute!!!

Apparently, I'm all about the sweets this week! Three out of five are treats! haha!

Thanks everyone for linking up!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the reveal of which OMTWI project was mine!!! :)

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 11

2011-03-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Welcome to another week of Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!

Have your guys checked out the entries over at One Month to Win It yet? If not head over there, check out the awesome entries and VOTE!! :) (But don't let your oohing and ahhing over the entries stop you from linking up!

So, let's get this party started!! :)

Time to VOTE!!! :)

2011-03-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Ok guys! It's votin' day!!! Head on over to One Month To Win It and vote for your favorite!! :)

Oh man... I'm so nervous!

2011-03-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

I got my entry in for this week's One Month to Win It in. Voting opens tomorrow. I CAN'T TAKE THE SUSPENSE!!! Lol. Going a little crazy around here... maybe I'll go start on next week's project to stay occupied... or maybe I'll just watch Food Network. maybe both. Happy Sunday. :)

Houston... We have a problem.

2011-03-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

My laptop won't charge. We're worried that the power outage last night fried my cord. Not. Happy.

On a much happier note though, The Idea Room is featuring my Li'l Bunny Tutorial and Pattern today. :)

Check it out here.

Features for Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 9 and # 8

2011-03-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

So, I'm obviously a little late with these. Life happens and blogging sometimes gets put on the back burner. I'm sure you all understand and have prolly been in the same boat. Also, you might have noticed that I didn't get a tutorial up yesterday. I'm pretty busy with my One Month To Win It project(s), so, no tute this week... and possibly not next week too. We'll see.

Anyway. Here are a few of my favorite links from the past two weeks.

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 9 Features:

Sew a Straight line linked up this super cute Harmonica Jacket! It's her own pattern and she is sharing it!! Head on over to get the free pattern!! :)

Food, Folks and Fun share a delicious sounding Healthier Orange Chicken recipe. I will definitely be trying this in the next week or two.

Just Sew Sassy shared a Ruffled Zipper Pouch tutorial. It's made with SCRAPS!! I can never have enough ideas for using up scraps. Can you??

Life's Better with Chocolate (isn't it??) shared the pretty bedroom art she made with Vintage Ceiling Tiles. I love the look. :)

And, umm... Isn't her bedding just to die for?!

The Crafty CPA linked up her Party Light Garland Tutorial. She has a printable for you so that you can recreate the light bulb. Seriously a cute take on garland.

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 8 Features:

In the Loop made this hysterical Pirate Hat. My husband has actually asked me to make him something similar. I laughed when I saw her rendition. :)

Inside Brucrew Life shared her method for making super yummy and PRETTY Cake Filled Cookies.

Iron Violet Designs made this colorful Kid's Apron. I just adore her fabric (woohoo for remnants!!) :)

Falafel and the Bee shared her tutorial for a Messenger Bag in Miniature. The best part about this tute is that you can make it a BIG messenger bag if you want.

And finally, Erika with a K linked her Antique Desk Makeover. I {heart} that she chose to redo it in red.

Thanks everyone for linking up! :)

I just had the best night. (And Tute {Yourself} Tuesday #10)

2011-02-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight was unexpectedly awesome. It started as a simple suggestion (by me) that we use the gift card to The Pizza Factory that my husband had received from his work as a Christmas gift as an alternative to making dinner. He was game; and we invited his sister and her son (that is 2 months younger then Eme) to join us. We had a ball. Yummy food, two hilarious toddlers, and I didn't have to make dinner?!! Woohoo! (Not that I don't love to cook, but it's nice to not have to do the dishes.)

After we ate we took the boys into Fat Cats (which is a "fun center/arcade" type place- they even have bowling and bumper cars) to look at the lights, but then decided to let them ride the little merry-go-round. Oh. My. Gosh. When my SIL got my nephew out of his carseat he started yelling "OOOH! WOW! OOH! WOW!" Over and over. It was hysterical. We were dying laughing.

Then because we also had a gift card to Fat Cats we decided to stay a little longer and play a few games with the kids... Ok, and I might have played a game of DDR. (Dance Dance Revolution for those of you scratching your heads as to what DDR is.) ;) Yeah, I know. Total teenager game; but have you tried it?! So. Much. Fun. I'm fairly decent at it (but my hubby STILL beats me every time. Don't tell him I told you. haha!) but tonight the game KICKED my trash. Know why? Oh, prolly because I haven't done a real cardio work out since BEFORE I was pregnant with Eme. (For those of you counting, that's almost 2 years now.) Oops. I should get on that. Time to break out my old Playstation and start DDRing it up everyday again. (What? Yes I have DDR at my house. You know you want one too.)

For those of you that want a good work out, but don't like to work out, try DDR. I PROMISE that you will get a REALLY good cardio work out, but it won't feel like working out, so you'll do it longer and harder then you normally would. Anyway... moving away from my passionate tangent about DDR, we really had a good time tonight. :)

BUT! It wasn't over for me. We went home and got Eme in bed and then I got a text from a good friend wanting to go get cupcakes. Cupcakes you say?! um... yes, please. So said friend picks me (and another friend) up and we head on our merry way, but not to get cupcakes... The cupcake place was already closed, so we got yummy hot chocolate instead and had a LOVELY talk.

It was a totally unexpected, FUN evening that was SO very needed. I'm tired and my lungs are full of junk (from the 5 minutes of cardio DDR that I did. Asthma. Blech.) but, I am feeling so much better then I have in several weeks.

I posted last week that I was really feeling the winter blahs and was in serious need of a pick me up. Well, tonight was exactly what I needed.

I'm sorry posts have been a little slow these last few weeks. And I STILL need to pick out testers. (Tomorrow, I promise.) Thank you for your kind and encouraging words (and for not abandoning me as a lost cause.) Sorry that this post has been a bit of a ramble, but, it is nice to be feeling a lot more like myself. :)

Now that I've talked your ears off, would you be so kind as to share a project/story/recipe/whatever that you've been working on? I can't wait to see it! :)

Well guys, I'm kind of back in sewing business...

2011-02-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

This is the machine I'm using:

And yes. It's as old as it looks. I don't know the exact year it was made, but I think I can safely say it's at least 50 years old.

Wish me luck. I'm fairly certain I'll be needing it.

Is anyone else feeling the "winter doldrums?"

2011-02-24T22:55:00.000-08:00

Cause I am. :/

Anyone know of a good pick me up?

How to Use Actions in Photoshop

2011-02-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

HOORAY! I was finally able to add pictures again. I'm really not sure what the problem was. Thanks for all your suggestions. I would have loved to try uploading from Picasa, but, it wasn't even giving that option. The uploader just wasn't working. It kept telling me that there was an error and to try again later. :P Annoying. But, blogger must have fixed the problem, so, we'll just move on now.

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I had discovered the wonders of Actions? And how I said that I'd be talking more about my discovery later?

Well, it's later! :)

I've been using Photoshop for a few years now, and while not a master, can use it fairly effectively. But. Editing takes a lot of time. Tweaking each picture individually for a blog post can take hours (and hours.) It can be such a time suck at times that I just want to post my post with my pictures straight out of the camera (SOOTC).

But I can't do that to you guys! Part of what makes a good post is GREAT pictures. So, what's a girl that wants to have nicely edited pictures, but with out a ton of time to do?

She uses actions!!

Perhaps you, like me have heard of actions before, but don't know how to use them and figure it must be hard and not really worth the time. Oh, MAN was I wrong on that one.

Actions make everything faster. SO. MUCH. FASTER. So, I'm going to show you how easy it is to take this picture:

(Which is a great picture to start with.)

And turn it into this picture:

In three easy steps. That's right. THREE.
(Isn't my seester pretty? And I must say, I have a rather adorable nephew. I know, I'm lucky.)

Anyway. The difference between the two pictures isn't crazy nuts, but the second picture is definitely clearer and brighter then the first. In blogland that equals better tutorials and more dramatic posts. Which you want. So, if you have Photoshop and haven't explored the fantastic-ness of actions, you really must.

First, you obviously are going to need an action (or 50) to work with. The Pioneer Woman has some AWESOME ones for FREEEE! Go there now and download them; I'll wait. You will thank me. When you download them, choose to open them instead of saving them. This will automatically put them in the actions area of photoshop. Once you have done this you are ready to start "playing". (Haha! Pun intended.) You can also do a search for "free actions" and a bunch will show up. There are tons of actions for purchase as well. Check Etsy or search google.

Ok. You've downloaded them? Great, let's get started.

You need to make sure that your actions tool is open. To do that click on "window" then make sure there is a check mark next to "Actions"; if there is not, click on it.

Once you've done that a box called "actions" will pop up. If you have downloaded and opened the actions from Pioneer Woman, you will have the actions that I am using in this tute. Scroll through them until you find the action called "Define and Sharpen" and click on it once.

Then find the "play" button. It's the arrow button that looks like a play button. ;) Click "play".

Here is the "Define and Sharpen" button in use. It's subtle, but the colors are slightly more vibrant and defined. Everything just looks a little clearer/cleaner.

Now find the action called "Slight Lighten" click on it, then click the "play" button again.

Here it is in "action". (haha! I'm having a good time with puns today.) The picture is definitely brighter. Not enough to wash them out, just enough to make it easier to see them. If your picture is still too dark you can play this action again or (adjust it manually.)

Ok guys, last step! Find the "Boost" action, select it then play it over the picture.

Here is change picture for this action:

I LOVE the boost action! It high lights their faces a bit, brightens up the colors, lightens the whole picture up just a bit and just all in all make a picture better.

Here are the before and after pictures side by side:

When the pics are side by side you can really see the difference between the two. The after pic just pops!

See how easy that was?! If you have photoshop, go get busy! If you don't, there are options available to you online. Try Picnik.com or Picasa.

Having GREAT pictures really makes your blog so much more enjoyable to read, so, give picture editing a try today! Good luck and HAVE FUN!!! Email me if you have any questions!! :)

I'll be linking to the lovely linkys on my side bar.

Is any one else having issues uploading pictures???

2011-02-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

Cause I really am.

Blogger's server keeps "rejecting" my images.

Grr.

I'll post my tute and features post as soon as I can get the images to load.

Cross your fingers that it's soon!

Tute Yourself Tuesday # 9

2011-02-21T22:18:00.000-08:00

OHMYGOSHOMYGOSH!! I'm a CONTESTANT!!!!!!

2011-02-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

You guys, I MADE IT!!!! I'm a season one contestant on One Month to Win It!!!

WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! Here's hoping I don't choke right?! lol! Wish me luck!!!!

Dino-ROAR Gift Set

2011-02-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

I got an invite another baby shower TWO days ago and the shower was tonight! AHHH!! Talk about creating in a rush! haha.

This friend is having a little boy, so I decided a dino hat was the way to go.

Then I wanted some booties to match and had these colors on hand and they matched perfectly! Woohoo!!

I made these Little Lad Loafers (as I'm calling them)! I love the alliteration. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make a little outfit; nor do I have a working sewing machine, so no outfit this time. :'(

At least the loafers are super fun right?!

I'll be linking to the parties on the right. :)

Ready For TESTERS!!!!

2011-02-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ok guys! I've had quite a few of you excited about pattern testing for me and I'm FINALLY ready. It took me a little longer then I thought it would, but I'm ready.

Here's the good news for you: I have TWO patterns for you to test!

The Li'l Miss Mary Jane Pattern:

AND!!

Introducing the Little Lad Loafers! (Hooray for alliterations!)

So, who wants to test?!

In your comment please let me know which pattern you'd like try and how much experience you have crocheting.

I need two testers for each.

Ready, set, GO!!!!

Features from Tute {Yourself} Tuesday #7!

2011-02-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

Guys, this is my favorite blog day of the week! I so love seeing all your great projects! Here are a few of my faves!!

These Little Nilla Girls are SO. Stinkin'. CUTE!! Amy from Flexible Dreams is so incredibly creative! Don't you think?!

See what I mean?? SO. CRAZY. CUTE!!!!

Mandy from Sugar Bee - Craft Edition made these little turtles! I wish I had been on the list she lost so that I could be eligible to win one, but o-well. Where'd you get your pattern Mandy?! I'd love to make one... or ten!

Frugal Christian Living linked up her Top Secret ~~Butter~~ Sugar Cookies. I plan to try this recipe out this week.

Yummy right?!

I about died when I saw these sequined heart earrings from Fave Crafts: Blog. I love them. Luckily, she posted a tutorial so I can copy cat her. Which I'm totally doing by the way.

Malia over at Yesterday on Tuesday posted this awesome chalkboard painted globe! It's so much fun! She made it as a gift for her hubby for Valentine's Day. I'm sure he loved it!

I know I would have! :)

Thanks everyone for linking up last week!! This week's linky will be up til tomorrow evening as usual! :)

Guest Post: A Panel Skirt Tutorial

2011-02-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

**Looking for the Linky Party? Scroll down!!**

For this week's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday, I have a guest blogger!! My first ever in fact. I've mentioned her a before, she's none other then my friend Natalie from Corduroy Dreams! I'm super excited to have her here today! Take it away...

Hey there! I'm Natalie, from Corduroy Dreams, and I am going to share with you my tutorial on how to make an Easy Panel Skirt. Before I get into it, I have to tell you that I am so excited to be guest posting at Little Eme today. I have known Maleah for a few years now, and I love her blog. Aren't her cute little hats the cutest? Sometimes I think she must be up all night crocheting all of those hats, but if you ever get the chance to watch her crochet, you'll know how she does so many of them... She is so fast!

Anyway, here's how to make an Easy Panel Skirt.

I had this skirt from college {black & white one below} that didn't fit me anymore.

Can I blame it on having babies? I pretty much blame everything on having babies, so yeah, I'm going to blame not fitting in any of my clothes on having babies. Anyway, I loved this skirt because the vertical lines gave it a very slimming effect, and I will take all the slimming effects I can get. Since it didn't fit me anymore, I used it as a pattern to make a new {bigger} skirt.

And, here's how!

Supplies you'll need for this skirt:

Fabric- Any cotton fabric will work fine. I've used this pattern with a regular quilter's fabric, and it was very lightweight and breezy, but fine. The fabric I'm using here is a little thicker, and it was actually in the apparel section at Joann. You'll need about 1 1/2 yards {45" wide}. I wanted my skirt 28 inches long, so I got double that amount of fabric {56 inches, which is just over a yard and a half}. I do, however, have SUPER long legs, so just measure and see how long you want yours. My model skirt was only 26 inches long, but I wanted to add some length. Oh, and make sure you get a fabric that you don't have to match the pattern. Stripes would NOT look good because of all the different pieces.

Piping- 3 times as long as your length. Mine was 28", so times 3, I needed 84 inches, plus a few inches just in case.

Bias Tape- One package {3 yards}. This is to go around the top and bottom.

Zipper- Mine was 9 inches. I like invisible zippers, but use whatever you have.

Scissors, sewing machine, matching thread

The skirt is basically made of 7 panels. I know it looks intimidating, but please don't give up. I promise, it's easy. Here is how the panels go together to make the skirt.

I used my son's drawing paper to make my pattern. You can use newspaper or tissue paper, whatever.

All of my measurements I'm sharing with you are based off of my old skirt. I'm not sure what size it was, but it had a 28 inch waist {THAT'S why it didn't fit!!!}. Add to it or take away if you need to. I'll show you when.

So... 6 out of 7 of your panels are the same shape. It is this shape {below}: So, you need 6 of these. Don't forget to add 1/2" seam allowance.

One side of the panel is straight. The other side is slanted. So on a straight edge, just cut in 4 inches on top and 7 inches on bottom. {plus 1/2" for 2 seam allowances} then cut the top to the bottom and it should make this shape.

I forgot to label this, but it's panel A.

Your 7th Panel is just the above panel {panel a} doubled. You don't need to cut a pattern paper for this, because you're going to cut on the fold, so just cut a pattern paper for panel a {the one above this}, and you're good. This is your back, center panel. Like I said, this one needs to be cut on the fold.

Here is the diagram of how I cut my fabric.

I messed up and started cutting from the biased edge in, but start with your straight edge on the fold {for panel b} and start cutting outward, toward the biased edge.

Here are the back pieces laid out, ready to sew together.

Remember how I said that the back middle piece {panel b} is just panel a doubled, well..... if you want to make your skirt bigger, add a few inches to panel b. Just move it away from the fold as much as you want to add. Really, it's better to make it bigger and take in the side seams, than to make it too small. Or, if you want to make it smaller, just cut panel b smaller.

And here is my front all ready to be sewn together {below}.
This part might get confusing... Stick with me.
Sew the center pieces' straight edges together. {Right sides together}
Then the outside pieces' slanted edges get sewn to the center pieces' slanted edges.
You'll know it's right if you've got the straight edges on the side seams, which will be sewn to the back. And you'll know you've sewn the back part right if you've got the straight edges on the side seams too.
So, always sew slanted to slanted and straight to straight.
{the picture below might confuse you, but trust me.}

I started sewing the front. Sew the two center pieces together. Right sides together. You're sewing the straight edges to each other.

I used my serger, but you can use a regular machine, whatever.

Once you've sewn the center seam, then sew the outside panels.

Be a good little seamstress and iron your seams.

Now you need to add your piping. Cut it the length of your skirt. Mine is 28 inches, but I added half an inch, just in case.

You'll need to cut 3.

You're going to top-stitch the piping on top of the seams on the front of your skirt. No piping on the side seams or back of the skirt.
Make sure not to pull the piping too tight or your skirt won't lay flat. Don't ask how I know that.

Sew down one edge of the piping and back up the other edge.

As long as your thread matches your piping, it shouldn't matter if you sew {perfectly} straight, but at least stay on the piping... oopsie!

Then cut off the excess on the bottom.

Once you've got the piping on, then sew the back piece to the front piece on one side. Right sides together. We are only sewing one side because you still have to add the bias tape to the top and bottom and add a zipper before you sew the other side up.
You might want to try the skirt on at this point, because it's still easy to take in a seam if you need to, or cut a bigger back panel {panel b} if it's too small.

Start sewing the bias tape onto the top {waist} and bottom of the skirt.

If you are standing in the sewing isle of your local craft store and you're thinking to yourself... "hmmm, what kind of bias tape should I get..." Let me show you what kind NOT to get.

You really need to get the kind that just folds in half rather than in thirds, but since I had been back to the store TWICE already, and my second trip made me re-think having children anymore....
I made the kind of bias tape I had work. I had to zig-zag it so that I could stitch down both edges, but if you had the right kind, you would just have to do a straight stitch.
Please, just get the right kind.

And since I had such a hard time with the {wrong type of} bias tape on the waist, I opted to just serge the bottom and then top stitch the extra piping on top. You could really do this instead of using bias tape at all. But you would need a serger, or you'd have to finish the edges.

Make sure you don't let the serged edge hang below your piping.

Then sew your zipper in and sew up the other side.

If you need help sewing in your zipper, refer to the package for instructions, or you can check out this post by Michelle at SewMamaSew. {I didn't do it the way Michelle did it, so I'm thinking I probably did it the wrong way, but meh.... It still worked.}

The zipper is the only thing that holds the skirt together, so if you are nervous about that, you can add a button and a loop at the top just in case. I didn't, because let's face it, I'm sort of lazy.

And there you have it!
This skirt took me about 1 1/2 hours, and cost $13.00, but you could make it for much cheaper if you found a fabric on sale!

I also made one using green and brown.

And, on a side note, I take back the thing I said earlier about not wanting kids anymore. They're just too cute!
{By the way, it took me 7 shots to get one of this skirt without either kid or The Mr. lacing up his bball shoes.}

Thanks for reading, and if you made it all the way to the end, good for you!
Please feel free to stop by my blog anytime to see what I've been up to!

Thanks so much for sharing with us today Nat! I can't wait to give this a try... just as soon as I get a working machine. :/ Yeah, my machine is outta commission. :'( That's why all the crochet projects of late. Hopefully I'll have a new one soon.

Do any of you have a great Tutorial that you'd like to share on Tute {Yourself} Tuesday? If so, I'd love to feature you! Please email me at maleahbliss@msn.com Can't wait to hear from you! :)

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 8

2011-02-15T00:13:00.000-08:00

Good News Guys!!!

2011-02-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

They FIT!!!

Just gotta make them again...

Sweet Mary Janes!

2011-02-14T01:02:00.000-08:00

Well, guys, I finished them!!

And I LOVE them. There is something so satisfying about creating something completely from the pattern up.

I'm almost ready for testers. I want to make them one more time and I need to test the size on an actual foot.

Which I'll be doing tomorrow thanks to a friend with a new little girl. :) (Thanks Nitasha!!)

As soon as I've done that I'll be in need of you! Several of you have already volunteered. :)

I can't wait 'til it's ready to test! :) Soon, soon!! In the mean time, enjoy the pictures!

Sweet Little Bow Hat {and a Small Brag on my Hubby}

2011-02-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a sweet little hat with a bow! Recognize the bow? It's the same one from the pattern/tutorial I posted here.

I think it's fun and a little different.

Which makes it super special right?! haha. Really though, I really like this look.

It's got a button with glitter in the center of it, but you can't really see the glitter in the pic. I promise it's there!

I love the purple as an alternative to pink. That's not to say that I'm not completely obsessed with pink. 'Cause I totally am. But it's nice to change it up occasionally.

Before I go, I have to brag on my hubby just a bit. We went on our Valentine's date last night. We got to leave the little man at home too!!! WOOHOO!! A few hours break for me (which after the cranky, teething week Eme had, was SOO needed.)

The plan was that we were going out to pho (our fav) and then going to Barnes and Noble for a few hours of leisurely browsing. I had gotten us both a $20 groupon so that we could each get a book or two of our choosing. This would have been an AWESOME date.

However, Dave had something else planned. We still went had pho and hit the bookstore, but, we only stayed at the book store for 45 minutes or so. We then went to "play games" with a few friends at the church building. When we got there and went in, we (the wife-ies) found that our hubbies had spent a TON of time putting together a dance for us. They had lined the cultural hall in Christmas lights, made a tent of streamers, had a disco ball, snacks and everything!! My hubby used to DJ for weddings, so he had broken out his old equipment. It was incredible!! And so, SO sweet!

For someone that spent the first 26 years of their life dancing/teaching dance, Dancing = Happiness.

I couldn't have asked for a better night.

Thanks Babe!! I love you. :)

What are you guys doing for Love Day??

Working on another pattern... aka... Testers??

2011-02-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'ma need a pattern tester or two for this one. I'm not asking for testers yet, just letting you know to be on the look out for when I do ask for them. Which will be in the next day or two. :)

Wanna peek at what I'm making?

Ok.

Now. I realize that my color pallet is getting boooorrriiiinnnggggg. But, I'm developing a pattern folks, so I'm all about using what I have on hand.

Want a peek at the actual shoe?

I've run into a small snag that's making me want to tear out my hair, but, I'll figure out the prob soon. I know it's just an error in numbers but it's still making me crazy. Grr. Arg. (reference anyone??)

So, anyway, stay tuned for my call!!! :)

Sorry guys! The link closed early... It's back up!

2011-02-09T08:09:00.000-08:00

I'm apparently a spaz.

Features from Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 6

2011-02-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

As always, you guys linked up some FANTASTIC projects!! I wish I could feature you all!

Here are a few of my favorites! :)

First up we have Lauren from West Furniture Revival who linked up a BEAUTIFUL cabinet re-do! I simply adore the fact that she called it "Anne of Green Gables!!" Anne is pretty much my hero even if she is a fictional character. :)

Next up we have these lovely SUPER fun tights from Nike at Choose to Thrive. I want a pair for me! Of course they are made from women's socks, so I guess I could at least get some similar socks. ;) Oh! And guys? She has a full tutorial! So you can totally deck out your little girls!!

My Little Corner of the World made Elmo Cake Pops for her daughter's birthday! These are the cutest cake pops I think I've ever seen!!

Beach Brights linked up her new handmade business cards! I LOVE LOVE them. I want to find some old looking shipping labels and do something similar! They just make me happy. :)

Finally, Dana from Saturday Mornings made these lovely leash hangers! I love that she used the first letter of each of her dogs names. I don't have a use for a leash holder, but a key hook may have to be made in a similar fashion!! :) I love the brilliant colors in the paper she chose. And, um, Dana? I WANT you wall. GORGEOUS color!! :)

Great job everyone!! If you've been featured, feel free to grab a featured button! :)

Sweet Little Baby Moccasins Pattern and Tutorial

2011-02-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ok guys! It's here it is!!! I know a lot of you have been waiting for it; sorry it's taken me all day to get it up. Like I said earlier, little Eme is teething and is therefore really not in to me doing much else then hold him. And even when I'm am holding him he's fussy, fussy, FUSSY. I may just be a little bit insane right now. Poor guy has at least four teeth coming in though. :(
Anyway! Let's get on with the....

Woohoo!!!

This is the first crochet pattern that I've ever put together for another person to be able to read and follow. Generally, when I'm making a pattern it's all kinds of shorthand that only I can follow. So, what I guess I'm saying is this: If you come across any problems or get stuck at some point, please email me or comment here and I will fix whatever it is that I messed up! haha!

Also, I'd like to thank Mon Petit Violon for allowing me to share her sole pattern. (The soles of these moccasins are from this pattern.) The rest of the pattern is mine. :)

Size:

0-6 months, app. 10 cm foot length.

Materials:
Aprox. 10 g of light weight yarn for color one .
Aprox. 20 g of light weigh yarn for color two.
Crochet hook size “D” (or size needed to obtain gauge.)

(The turquoise/brown yarns are Patons Silk Bamboo in Sapphire and Bark. ~~The pink yarn is a bamboo blend that I can't remember or find the name of. I will figure it out and post it later. Sorry about that!~~ The pink yarn is Natually Caron Country in Rose Bisque.)

Gauge:
4 sts = 2 cm or 5 sts = 1 inch

Stitches used:
st(s) – stitch(es)
ch – chain stitch
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
sc – single crochet
sl st - slip stitch
dc2tog - double crochet two together (not sure how to do it? video tute (not mine) here.)

Using color 1.
Sole:
Rnd 1: ch11, hdc in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in next 7 sts, 6 hdc in last ch, work on opposite side, hdc in next 7 sts, 5 hdc in last ch, join with sl st in 1st hdc.
Rnd 2: ch1, hdc in next 8 sts, 2 hdc in each of next 5 sts, hdc in next 8 sts, 2 hdc in each of next 5 sts, join with sl st in 1st hdc.
Rnd 3: ch1, hdc in next 8 sts, (2 hdc in 1 st, 1 hdc) 5 times, hdc in next 8 sts, (2 hdc in 1 st, 1 hdc) 5 times, join with sl st in 1st hdc.

Upper:
Rnd 4: ch 1, in back loop only, sc in next 4 sts, dc in next 7 sts, dc2tog 4 times across 8 sts, dc in next 7 sts, sc in next 19 sts, using 2nd color yarn, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 5: ch 1, working in both loops, sc in next 4 sts, dc in next 5 sts, dc2tog 4 times across 8 sts, dc in next 5 sts, sc in next 19 sts, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 6: ch 1, sc in next 4 sts, dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog 4 times across 8 sts, sc in next 19 sts, join with sl st to 1st st.

Cuff:
Rnd 7: ch 3, (skip 1 st, dc in next st, ch 1) repeat around, join last ch 1 to 2nd ch in the ch 3. (fish net st)

Rnd 8: ch 2, 2 dc in ea sp, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 9: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 10: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 11: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 12: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 13: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st.
Rnd 14: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st to 1st st. If you want to make the top ruffley, continue with next line, if not, tie off and weave in ends.

For Ruffled Edge:
Rnd 15: (ch 3, insert hook into 2nd ch from hook, sc 1, sc into next st) repeat around. Tie off and weave in ends.

Tie:
Make a chain 80 sts long,weave in to fish net st sps, then attach poms to ends. (if desired.)
OR
Use a ribbon.

Repeat the process for the second moccasin and this is what you'll end up with!! :)

Hope you guys have fun!! If you guys do make any of these PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE send me a link or a picture so that I can see them!! :)

Also, I prolly don't need to say this, but, this pattern is for personal use only, please don't sell them. If you want to share the pattern with others, feel free, just direct them to my site to get it! Thanks all! :)

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

Just want to let you know...

2011-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

The pattern is coming guys! Give me just a bit longer. I have a very cranky pants, teething little mister that is majorly slowing things down today. :/

It'll be up soon! I promise!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 7

2011-02-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

Little Lyric's Gift Set

2011-02-07T01:19:00.000-08:00

So, I know I promised to post this earlier, but, I forgot that we had a "Souper" Bowl party to attend, for which I had to make soup. Which took a good portion of my afternoon, then there was the party, and now it's 1am and I'm FINALLY writing this. lol. O-well, better late then never right? For those interested I made Itailian Wedding Soup and it was awesome. :)

Anyway, you guys wanted to hear about the gift set right?!

Here it is! I'm calling it the Little Lyric Set. I had such a wonderful time designing this set! (Like the booties?! I'll be sharing my pattern (for which I used the bottoms of these booties) on this week's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday, so don't forget to stop by, get the pattern and link up!)

The blanket is what I call a "car seat blanket" because it is perfectly sized for a carseat! No more blankets hanging out and ending up on the ground!! Woohoo!!!!! (I seriously HATE when Eme's blankets end up half on the ground because they are too big. So, this is the perfect solution.)

Then I made a little pink monkey hat to match the blanket so that Lyric can hit the town in style!

I think the flower is a fun little detail. :)

The jewled center of the flower is really a button that matches the one on the chin strap.

Gotta love a little bling on a baby! :)

Next up is the dress that I totally teased you all with last night. I la-la-LOVE it!!!!

I was seriously dying when I finished it!! Remember the little white dress that I showed you a few weeks ago? That was the first draft of this dress.

I shortened the sleeves up, elasticized the neck line and gathered the sleeve and hem lines to make them poofy. Poofy anything is super fabulous on baby girls, don't you think?! :)

To round the gift out, I made her these sweet little booties. (Which I realize I showed you just a few days ago...)

Based on your sweet, sweet comments, I decided to keep the polka dots instead of switching to the poms. Thanks for your help on that! :)

I'll leave you with one last parting shot of the whole gift. :)

What do you guys think?

Oh! Before I go, have you guys heard about "One Month to Win It"? It's a new crafting competion that is being hosted by several different blogs. The auditions for month one start Wednesday! I'm planning on entering, but I'm not sure which project to enter... The two projects I'm deciding between are this post's Little Lyric Gift Set and Little Elijah's Gift Set. Which set do you guys like better?

PLEASE, PLEASE help me decide!!!! Pretty, pretty, pretty please!!!!

**Edit**
Ok guys! Apparently THIS is the one to enter so, I have!!! Fingers crossed and wish me luck!!!!!

And, as usual, I'll be linking to the awesome linkies on my side bar. :)

Remember that baby shower gift I've been working on?

2011-02-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

I finished it! Good thing too, since the shower was today. Should I tease you with a little sneak peek of the dress? I think I should...

Haha! That's all you're getting tonight! I'll do a full reveal tomorrow.

In the mean time, head over to my friend Natalie's Blog, where I'll be sharing my Li'l Miss Bunny Tutorial. (Check Sunday morning.) :)

P.S. Incase you haven't yet entered, my giveaway ends TOMORROW at midnight...head over to Acting Balanced now!! You might just win a hat of your choice or one of two $20 gift certificates to my shop!! :)

Another Baby Shower Gift in the Works!

2011-02-03T00:25:00.000-08:00

This one is for a girl! I love pink and ruffles! I have a dress in the works, but it's not done yet. In the mean time here are the moccasins that I've made for her! :)

They are pretty similar to the one's I made for Elijah (who should be here any day!!!!!!) except that (obviously) they are pink and I put a little picot edge around the top to make them a little ruffled. :)

Also, instead of a crocheted and pommed tie, I used polka dot ribbon, which I guess is also obvious. Mostly because I ran out of the brown yarn, so I had to improvise. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to go get more yarn or not yet.

But, I do have to admit, I like the polka dots. :)

What do you guys think? Crocheted tie and poms or polka dot ribbon?

I'll be sharing this pattern with you guys next Tuesday!!! How exciting is that?! But, for those of you that either, don't have time to make them yourself, don't know how to crochet, or just can't wait for next Tuesday, I'll be listing a pair in my shop this morning. :)

Linking these little mocs up to the fabulously awesome linky parties in my side bar.

So Excited!!!

2011-02-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

I just had to share!!! I was SOOO excited when I saw that my Koala Bear Hat had been featured in a treasury!!! Check it out here! :)

Another New Hat - The Shrek Hat

2011-02-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here is another of my fun hats. :) My original thought as I was making it was that I was making a bug hat. Then I thought it looked kind of alien-esque However, most people seem to think that it's a Shrek hat. So, I guess I'll go with it.

Introducing The Shrek{y} Hat!!!

I love how cute this one is on! I don't have one big enough to put on Eme's head right now, but, as soon as I do, I will share a pic. :)

I'm going to be rolling out a bunch more of my hats as I get the pictures taken and edited. This one is currently for sale in my shop! :)

Don't forget to head over to Acting Balanced to enter my giveaway! You could win a hat of your choice or one of two $20 Gift Cards to my shop! WOOHOO!! :)

Also, Sweet Panda, I haven't heard from you yet either! I'm starting to feel self conscious. Please leave a comment here or shoot me an email to claim your Koala Bear Hat!!! I'll give you until midnight Friday evening to claim it, other wise I'll have to choose yet another winner. :( I hope I hear from you soon!!!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday Features #5

2011-02-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

** Looking for the Linky Party?? Scroll down!**

You guys amaze me! It's so much fun seeing what everyone links up each week. I want you all to know that I really and truly do visit each one of you, however, because my internet/computer is S.L.O.W. I have not been able to comment on everyone's links. :( I want to say thank you so much for linking up!

There were so many awesome projects this week! Here are a few of my favs...

I la-la-la-love the crocheted rosettes on this wreath!!! I'm so glad Jill from Our Seven Dwarfs included the pattern so that I can make a few.

Boats and water make me happy. Do they make you happy too? I miss them. Now that I live in U-tar I don't see much of either. :( These cute nautical themed cupcakes by Jackie at I Design remind me of my loves. :)

I love to read. So, this wreath made by Sheila at Note Songs just made me squeal! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Umm. Guys? Pam at Backwoods Cottage ~~made~~ built an art studio. Yes, you read that right, and entire art studio. W.O.W. I'm speechless. It's incredible.

And finally, remember my friend Natalie from Corduroy Dreams whose wreath inspired my Rosette Garland Tutorial last week? Well, I was so happy to see that she linked it up this week so that I could feature her, cause, like I said last week, I love it!! :)

Congrats guys! Go ahead and grab a featured button from my side bar. :)

Super Exciting, AWESOME news! (Which means there might be another giveaway...)

2011-02-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

**Looking for the linky party? It's next; scroll down!**

Ok guys! Are you ready for the super exciting new I promised?!

You may have noticed, but I have a few new items on my side bar, based on that, you may have already guessed, but, I have officially opened my Etsy shop!!!!! Whooohooo!!!

(I also joined twitter and finally figured out how to get the facebook link onto my blog. lol. I'd love for you to join me on those sites. :) )

Now, opening my Etsy shop is super exciting to me, but my not be quite as exciting to you as it is to me, BUT!!! If you head over to Acting Balanced you will find that I am having another giveaway (and that has to be at least somewhat exciting right?!!) AND there will be THREE winners. So if you didn't win last week you have another opportunity (or three!!!) And this time YOU get to choose the hat!!!!) :)

There also may be a coupon code for my shop. I'd go check it out if I were you!!!! :)

As another small matter of business, Jane, I'm sorry but I still haven't heard from you, so I have had to pick a new winner for last week's giveaway.

The new winner, as assigned by random.org is:

Which means that our new winner is Sweet Panda!! Congrats Sweet Panda, please email me or leave a comment to claim your Koala Bear Hat!!!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 6

2011-01-31T23:26:00.000-08:00

Dino-Eme-Saurus Hat

2011-01-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

**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...

2011-01-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-28T02:11:00.000-08:00

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.......

2011-01-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

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

I'll post results tomorrow morning!! :)

LAST CHANCE!! Giveaway ends at midnight!

2011-01-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

Enter while you can!

Good Luck! :)

Last Day to Enter!

2011-01-26T02:14:00.000-08:00

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

Click here to enter!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday Features from week 4

2011-01-25T23:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-25T13:01:00.000-08:00

**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

2011-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

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?!

2011-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

**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

2011-01-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

**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!!!!

2011-01-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

**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!!!

Featured on Tute Yourself Tuesday # 3

2011-01-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

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

Finding a balance between life and blogging can be difficult at times. :P Here are the features from LAST week's party. I'm so sorry they are late!!!

Fonda over at Southern Scraps shared these fabulous Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins. (I know, I made some. They were good. I added a little extra cinnamon + some ginger, nutmeg and clove.) Yum-o! You should make some too, just sayin.

Amy from Serving Pink Lemonade shared her beautifully made quiet book. This is just one of her incredible pages. I love the finger puppets on this page.

Clara from Ami Eggs linked up this super cute little skunk finger puppet. You all know how much I love crochet (and apparently finger puppets, lol), so I just couldn't resist featuring this little guy! :)

Audrey at Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats shared a TUTORIAL on how to make these A-MAZ-ZA-ZING Rose Cake Pops. Aren't they Beautiful!!?? I just love them.

Amy at Flexible Dreams linked these super cute appliqued onesies. We all know how much I love applique and these are just fun. I love her fabric. :)

Congrats guys!! Feel free to grab a featured button! (It's on my side bar.)

Giveaway being posted soooooooon...

Valentine's "Wreath" Tutorial

2011-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

**Looking for the Linky Party? Scroll down, it's next! :)**
**I'm giving away one of my Koala Bear Hats!! Click here to enter!**

Welcome to this week's tutorial! In thinking about what to share with you all this week, I realized that I have NO Valentine's Day decorations. None. Zip. Zero. Nada.

To fix this little over site, I decided that it was high time I made my self a wreath. However, I had this fun little frame that I had spray painted red a few weeks ago, inspiration struck and I went with it (though the hubster totally doesn't get it. O-well.)

I give you the:

Tutorial.

You will need:

One old picture frame spray painted red. It can be as large as you would like. I used a small one, but if you wanted to do a large one, I think it would look very pretty. Just adjust the size of your heart to fit the frame. :)

Some pink fabric scraps large enough to cut out your hearts.

a sewing needle

matching thread

eyelet lace four times the length that you want your wreath to hang

satin ribbon

Now, I don't have any pictures of me spray painting the frame, but, I'm thinking that you guys can handle that part with out my help. ;) Have it sprayed and ready to go.

(Like my band aid? I *highly* recommend only using a rotary cutter as it is intended to be used. *Don't* try carving an eraser with one. You might get cut. Just sayin'.)

Ta-Dah! My new Valentine's Day "Wreath" hack. What do you think, fun no?

I'll be linking this "wreath" up to the linky's on the right. :)

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday #4

2011-01-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

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

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

Umm. So, this is embarrassing, this is the second week in a row that I haven't gotten around to seeing everyone from last week's party. YET. Don't worry I'm on it. I will be posting a featured post later on today, I promise!!

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!!! :)

What I did today.

2011-01-15T01:53:00.000-08:00

I got this hat sent off to it's lucky recipient:

I made this sweet, super fun bow tie for Li'l E:

And, I found this fan-tabulous embroidered fabric while thrifting (ok, really, it's a duvet cover, but I see fabric.):

It's calling out to become a summer skirt...or possibly a dress. :)

Have a Super Fabulous weekend! :)

The Desert Rose Skirt

2011-01-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

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

**Edited to add: GUESS WHAT?! Andrea from The Train to Crazy included this little skirt in her top 10 Make It Wear It Women's Fashion Contest!!!! Holy Cow!!!!! I feel so honored! And guess what else?! YOU can vote for your favorite!!! :) So, head over there now and vote!!**
I started this skirt last June. Yeah. A LOOONG time ago. It's been sitting in my "in progress" pile for a while. I hit a design wall and couldn't decide whether I wanted to make it a bubble hem or just a regular straight hem. Does that ever happen to you? You just can't make your mind so you don't? haha.

So, it sat... and sat... and sat.. Until yesterday, when I decided I just wanted to finish it and would do a regular hem to get it off my table.

Here's it's big debut!

You might recognize the fabric. It's from the vintage sheet that I used to make the flower on my flower cuff. I LOVE the fabric and I think that this skirt shows it off nicely.

Isn't the crocheted lace pretty? I think it it the perfect complement to the fabric. It adds to it's vintage appeal. :) NOTE: I DID NOT crochet that lace. It's from Joann's.

I think I need this shirt:

And this sweater:

To complete the outfit. (Both from Anthropolgie.) What do you think?

Pretty no? Design wise it's just a long rectangle with an elasticized waist. Easy Peasy. :)

I'll be linking this project to the loverly linky parties on my side bar.

Oh and another side note. I just discovered the wonders of Pioneer Woman's Actions. I'll be posting on this soon. :)

An exciting milestone for me!!!

2011-01-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

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

So, I don't know if you guys noticed (I sure DID!!!!), this week, I passed the 100 follower mark!! It's super exciting (to me anyway!!!) So, THANK YOU to all of you that have followed me! It means a TON to me. Stay tuned... I'ma do a celebratory giveaway soon!

Another cool thing that happened last week, I received THREE blogger awards! Wow! So, I need to say a big thanks to: The ladies over at The Paisley Cupcake, Andi from Potential Treasures and Jennifer Dawn from The Life of Jennifer Dawn!

I received two Stylish Blogger Awards and one Trendy Blogger Award! It was so sweet of all you guys to think of li'l ol' me. :)

So, to accept the Stylish Blogger Award I need to tell you seven things about myself...

1. I LOVE to cook. But, I rarely, if ever, use a recipe. You could say that I'm a "dump" cook. Meaning that I just dump stuff in the pot without measuring. So, if I ever share a recipe on here, be ready for a lot of "ishes" on the ends of my measurements. Also, I rarely leave a recipe as I find it.
2. I love to read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Well, anything and everything CLEAN anyway.
3. I love cats.
4. I'm a BIG advocate of natural child birth and extended breastfeeding. (Does that mean I think you should only have your babies at home, no. I've had both of my boys in a hospital. With Eme it really ended up being a good thing too. (He had some breathing problems around 24 hrs.) But, natural is the safest way to go for both you and your babe, most of the time. There are instances where it is decidedly NOT the safest, in which case do what needs to be done. ;) )
5. I don't come from a crafty home. Meaning, that I didn't grow up sewing or crocheting and that my mom doesn't crochet and only sews when absolutely necessary. My crafty ways are still a surprise to her. haha! (I do get my cooking skills from her though.) I am 96.7% self taught. (I was taught to sew a straight line at 14 and how to crochet a single crochet stitch at 24; the rest I figured out on my own.)
6. I HATE bananas. BLECH.
7. I have reoccurring nightmares about my teeth falling out.

Those were seven very random facts.

Now it's my turn to nominate 15 of you to be stylish bloggers as well!

My 15 picks, in random order are:

Southern Scraps (She's got a great pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe up currently.)
Embellishing Life (AWESOME Valentine's ideas)
Pretty Hand Girl (You have GOT to see her dandelion mural. W.O.W. There's a tute too!!)
The Charm of Home (Her "My Heart on a String" has the creative wheels a-churning in my head!)
Craftily Ever After (She has a PRETTY and FREEEEEE Valentine's Printable available.)
Smile Monsters (Super pretty burlap wreath tute up now!)
Decorating Addict (Also has a fun wreath tute up now. Can you tell I'm loving wreaths right now?)
The Domestic Sugar Bake Shop (Ever wanted to make fondant flowers for a cake? She's got a tute!)
Loving Every Second (Like chocolate and peanut butter? She's got a cupcake recipe for that.)
Girl in Air (I love EVERYTHING she does. Every. Thing. Alphabet Wall? Yes please. Fake Wainscoting? Awesome! Go there. You'll thank me.)
Show and Tell (Uh, guys, she made a table. By herself. No help.)
Fresh Cut Flours (Wow, can she decorate cookies!!!!)
Just a Geek Named Jess (Comic Book Ballet Flats?! Awesome.)
Our Seven Dwarfs (She has a tute on making bath time finger paints!)
Sprik Space (She's got a FREE Land of Nod inspired printable in just about ANY color you could want.)

For the Trendy Blogger I get to nominate 10 of you!

My picks for Trendy Bloggers are:

Spunky Junky (You can redo a plate?! She'll show you how!)
A Scrap of Time (She has the CUTEST free penguin printable.)
Not Just a House Wife (Recently discovered, recently beloved. She's got some fun Valentine's stuff.)
Racks and Mooby (She's got a REALLY quick way of making cute Valentine's art.)
See Kate Sew (She's A-MAZE-ZING. Seriously. She recently redid some shoes...let's just say that we may have a copy cat amongst us. ;) )
Joseph's Grainery (She's got some breakfast cupcakes that I NEED to try.)
Mummy Crafts (She makes lovely quilts.)
We are the Joneses (I need to keep up with her Valentine's Projects!)
Bursts of Creativity (She does some BEAUTIFUL art journaling!)
House Revivals (She has a REALLY pretty wreath up currently too. I think I need to make a wreath!)

Congrats guys! You are all awesome. Thanks for making my day more enjoyable.

Here's the code for the Trendy Blogger button:
<center><a href="http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="TrendyBlogAward" src="http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy216/krissybbe/blogaward.gif"/></a></center>

Featured On Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!

2011-01-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

** Looking for the Linky party? Scroll down!**

I'm so sorry it took me so long to get around and see everybody! You guys had some great projects last week, it was hard to pick my favorites!

Sanditerese over at I'm a Yarner made this incredible wreath! I LOVE it. I want to make one, and guess what? She posted a tutorial, so I can!! WOOT!!

Malia (I love her name ;)) at Yesterday on Tuesday linked up the super cute organizers! I think my fav is the sweater covered one. She's got a tute posted on these babies too.

Jaime at I'm a Mom not a Professional added the sweet bow tie. My. Son. NEEDS. One! On my to make list. (This seems to be the week of tutorials! Which is only fitting; it IS Tute {Yourself }Tuesday!)

Jessica at Running With Scissors made this IN-FREAKING-CREDIBLE Bullseye Tutorial. All I can say is W.O.W. I think her inclusion of wire legs is just genius.

The Mama at Mama Says Sew made this beautiful scarf. I love the white on white. So classic and clean.

Congrats guys!! You can grab your featured button from my side bar. :)

Don't forget to link up to this week's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!! Happy Linky Day! :)

Flower Cuff Tutorial

2011-01-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

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

**Looking for the Linky Party? Scroll down!**

Good morning all!! I'm so excited to share this week's tutorial with you! Remember my Green Sweater Purse? Well, I had a few scraps left over and thought they would contribute nicely to a pretty cuff/bracelet. This was so super easy to make and looks so pretty on. I used a vintage sheet to make the flower and the lining, so this project is a complete refashion!

You will need:

Scraps of a sweater large enough to fit around your wrist
Scraps to make a flower/rosette
Matching thread
Sewing machine
Hand sewing needle
Pins
Scissors

Let's get started!

Isn't it so much fun?! I love it. I thought about adding a large bead to the center of the flower, but, I want to keep it baby friendly so that if my son wants to play with it he can. But, I think a pretty bead would look really pretty on it. Just some food for thought. ;)

I'll be linking up to the fabulous linky parties on the right!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday #3

2011-01-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

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

This last week has FLOWN by! It's been ca-ca-ca-CrAzY at my house! I haven't gotten around to seeing everyone from last week's party, shame on me!! I will be posting a featured post later on today, I promise!!

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!!! :)

The Completed Project!

2011-01-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Duh duh DUH!!! It's done! I can't WAIT to see little {tiny} E in his outfit and snuggled up in his blanket!

Now, since this is my audition piece for Crafting with the Stars and American Crafter, I am going to share each piece of the project. I'll start with the last piece that I finished, his outfit. I made this to be a "take-me-home" outfit, so it is teeny tiny. I was dying when I finished it. What is it about tiny things that just make you want to stare for hours?

The construction is a kimono style shirt and elastic waisted pants; both in interlock jersey. I wanted the shirt to open in the front, so that it would be more comfortable for baby E. (Cause I've never met a newborn that likes having shirts pulled on over their head.) The shirt ties on the inside side and has a sweet little sailboat button on the outside side.

I made a SUPER soft, CRAY warm blanket for him so that he won't freeze in our Utah weather. I love the binding fabric (it's sari fabric)!! It really "pops" next to the brown. I think it MAKES the blanket. It was a bit difficult to work with, but SOOO worth it.

Here are the sweet, sweet little {tiny} booties that will keep his little tootsies warm and will stay on, because of the (pom-pom) ties at his ankles. These might be my favorite part of the gift... Well, maybe. They are made of a silk/bamboo blend that is so. soft. and it has a beautiful sheen that just seems to make the yarn almost have an inner glow. I will definitely be using it again.

To round the gift out, I made little E two different hats, a monkey hat and the hat that inspired the gift, a sweet little turquoise hat with dark brown edging and a pom to match. The monkey hat has my signature button under the chin strap and the turquoise hat is a beanie meant to replace the typical ugly hospital hat they put on babies right after they are born. Here is the whole set!!

All in the box!

And here is the happy Mama! Heidi is so cute, she had to 'put it on' him immediately. haha! I can't wait to see it on him for real. (Can you believe she's due in 5 weeks?! She is SO tiny. I was a bus by 35 weeks, just sayin.)

This is a trick I use All. The. Time. I don't love to wrap. In fact, I kind of dislike it. So, this is my solution:

Pretty huh? It's a pre-decorated box! It's a GREAT presentation and, it's a keepsake box that they can use to keep the special little things they will collect at Little E's birth and beyond.

So there you have it! A sweet special gift for a sweet special baby. Can't wait to me you Little E!!!

**All of the pieces in this project are my own patterns, except for the bottoms of the booties, (which I got here) but I completely reworked the top portion on the booties to fit the vision I had in my head.**

I'll be linking this project up to the linky parties on the right. :)

My Baby is ONE!

2011-01-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

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

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's kinda bitter sweet. But, here are the obligitory first birthday cake pics.

I decided to add this one:

It was taken at the extended family party a week later. I LOVE how excited/gleeful/happy he looks. :) I'm entering this one in this weeks I {heart} faces comp...

Before I get to the cute baby pics, here is the 'Pirate Island' Cupcake I made for him. I'm loving how it turned out! And now, on with the show! :)

The Introduction.

Timid at first.

Getting to know the lay of the land.

Seeing it from all sides.

Digging in.

Cupcake EXPLOSION!!

Quite pleased. Please note the drool.

Gotta say, I think he's pretty cute. :)

Just a Sneaky Peeky...

2011-01-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

To let you know that I'm still busy at work!

PLEASE don't look too closely at the binding... It's my first time and, well, I'm kinda a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda gal, which means that I should have looked up a tutorial, or asked someone about it, or you know, something, but totally didn't. 'Cause apparently, I like to make my own mistakes; and I'm telling you, there are mistakes aplenty. Plus I didn't exactly choose the easiest of fabrics to attempt my first binding. 'Cause why do anything the easy way?

Luckily, baby E won't care... and hopefully, his mama will turn a blind eye to the errors. ;) But the colors are pretty and it's SUPER warm and SOOO soft, so I think that makes up for it... Right??!

The gift is almost complete! Just gotta finish up the outfit. :) I'll debut the whole thing tomorrow... (Hopefully.)

(I'll be linking this blanket up to the fab linky parties on the right.)

Seam Ripping...

2011-01-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

...the original do something, achieve NOTHING task. :P

Currently accepting hints, tips, tricks, ANYTHING that will help with sewing jersey knits on a basic machine.

OR! If anyone happens to have the four to five hundred dollars I need to buy a serger just laying around, I'll accept that too. ;)

Thanks all!!

Super Mario Bros. Star Power Softie Tutorial

2011-01-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hey all! Welcome to the Tute portion of Tute {Yourself} Tuesday! If you are looking for the linky party, keep scrolling down, it's next!

So, this week, instead of me making you a pattern, I’m going to show you an easy way of making your own softie pattern.

Here we go! (And yes, I realize that my geek is showing...)

My husband was SO. EXCITED. about this little star. He said it was the best thing I've ever made. HA! He also informed me that he needed a mushroom to match. I guess I'll have to get on that. Good thing I can make a pattern out of a google search right? ;) And now you can too! Go crazy! What kind of softie are you going to make?! :)

I'm linking this tute up to the lovely parties listed in my side bar!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 2

2011-01-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hey all!! It's that time again, the time where I share a Tute and you get to toot your own horn; it's Tute {Yourself} Tuesday!!!

It was so much fun seeing everybody's projects last week. Here are a few of my favorites:

Marissa over at Rea Gun Ramblings offered up this super cute little sun dress. I love the polka dots. And the heart pockets.

Michell at Girl in Air showed off these FREAKING AWESOME crocheted hats. I love me some crocheted character hats. Michell, these hats have been added to my 'to make' list. :)

And Spare Time Sanity linked up this amazing teddy bear! She figured out a discontinued pattern with a measuring tape and picture. SO. CUTE. PLEASE post a pattern and tute for the rest of us! :)

If you've been featured, feel free to grab a featured button! It's in my side bar.

Now, let 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!!! :)

*edit* So, I've been having so issues with my linky closing early... not sure why. To fix this problem, I'm leaving it up intil tomorrow.

Piece by Little {Tiny!} Piece

2011-01-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

Please raise your hand if you love the tininess of newborn things. I know I do!!

I love making them.

I love looking at them.

I love taking pictures of them.

Ok. Maybe I love taking pictures of them a little too much.

Or maybe a lot too much. But at least you like little {tiny!} newborn things too right? So, you are perfectly happy to look at an obscene amount of pictures of baby booties. ;)

As I was saying though, this gift is coming together piece by little {tiny!} piece and I am LOVING it.

I used the Simply Cute Baby Booties pattern that are free at Mon Petit Violon to make the bottoms of the booties, but then I changed/revised the top portion to fit the vision in my head.

I went to Joann's yesterday to (try) and get some fabric to match the beautiful color of the yarn that I'm working with. Wouldn't you know that the ONLY fabric in the entire store that really matched was dupioni silk. Yeah. ((sigh)) The last time I checked silk was *not* the most appropriate of fabric choices for babies. ((double sigh)) So, I did the best I could and this is what I came up with:

As you can see the blues are a little lighter then the yarn. But, I think they will work together when all is said and done. I can hardly wait to get working on the outfit and blanket! (Maybe tonight after Eme is down for the night...but then again, maybe not...I'm kinda excited to see Iron Chef and The Worst Cook in America. I heart Food Network. So, it might not be til tomorrow's morning nap that I get started. We'll see. :) )

Oh so sweet and {tiny}! I can't believe that *my* baby will be one a week from today. (sob)

I'm linking these lovely booties to the parties listed on my side bar. :)

Shh!! A Custom Hat and Baby Gift Plan

2010-12-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

I have a good Friend that has ordered 2 custom hats for her little miracle baby due in February. I just had to show you guys how PRETTY this yarn is! This hat is not quite finished; it is getting a big pom on top. :)

The yarn is a silk/bamboo blend and is so. soft. My friend didn't want the typical, stocking net hat they normally put on newborns right after they are born. So, she asked me to make a nice soft one and this is the result. She has also asked for a monkey hat to fend off the CRAZY cold weather here. (My animal hats are SUPER warm.)

I am LOVING the colors and I hope she does too. Really these pictures hardly to the yarn justice. Seriously. Now, Heidi, if you are reading this, STOP NOW. If you keep going, you are going to spoil your surprise for next week.

This hat has inspired me. I plan to make her a SUPER soft blanket out of this fabric (and no, this is not a mistake, I know I showed you this pic yesterday, but I got more of the brown snuggly fabric and am making the main part of the blanket with it. Just ignore the star fabric and buttons.)

I am going to get some silky fabric to match the turquoise/sapphire of the hat to edge it with. Then I'm going to make a take-me-home outfit to match. I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to show you guys the finished project! It's gonna be SO pretty. Of course, she is having a boy though, so I guess I should call the outfit handsome. ;)

I'm linking this project up to the fabulous linky parties listed on my side bar! :)

A Work in Progress

2010-12-30T01:52:00.000-08:00

So, I'm working on a new coat for Eme. This is a just a muslin. I have A LOT more work to do before I'll be ready to cut the real fabric.

I think I'm going to switch to a traditional sleeve or possibly a raglan sleeve... I haven't which decided yet. And I plan to add a hoodie. Want to see the pretty fabric *cough* I mean handsome fabric that I picked for the final piece? :)

The snuggly brown is for the lining.

The star fabric will be the main fabric.

And aren't the star buttons sweet?

I've got some work to do before it'll be ready to show off, but, if I can get it to what I see in my head, it's gonna be CUTE!!

Tute {Yourself} Tuesday # 1

2010-12-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ok! Now that I have tuted, it's your turn to toot (you know, like your own horn?) What have you been up to?

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 show off! (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!!! :)

Sweet Crocheted Bow Clip Tutorial and Free Pattern

2010-12-28T01:45:00.000-08:00

Hey all! I hope that your Christmas was WONDERFUL!!

If you read last week's Li'l Miss Bunny Tutorial all the way to the end (yeah, it was pretty long), you would have read that I was thinking about making Tuesday, Tute Tuesday. Well, I've thought and today is officially Tute Tuesday!! YAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!(Shakes arms above head Kermit style.)

Today I have a sweet little crocheted bow clip for you. I've been busy making a bunch in lots of different colors. If you don't really crochet but have always wanted to or you crochet just a little, that's ok, this is THE EASIEST pattern ever. Like, ever ever. (But if you really don't know how, there are TONS of tutorials on YouTube. Just search "crochet". For this pattern all you need to know how to do is a chain, turning, and single crochet .)

*Note: If you are a seasoned crocheter and would prefer a straight forward pattern scroll down to the bottom of the pictures.*

Sweet Little Bow Clip Pattern:
Row 1: Ch. 9 turn
Row 2: Starting in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each st across for 8 sc, ch 1 turn
Row 3: sc 8, ch 1 turn
Row 4: sc 8, tie off and weave in ends

Now, to make it a bow, you are going to take some of the same yarn you used to crochet your little rectangle (or a different yarn if you want a contrasting color; your choice) and wrap it around the center of your rectangle about 20 times fairly tightly. Then tie it the ends of your yarn together on the back side of your bow. Take a moment and fluff your bow while your hot glue gun is heating up (or you could plan ahead better then me and heat up your glue gun while you are crocheting your rectangle, but still fluff your bow.) ;) Now glue your little bow on to your chosen clip. I use little snap clips, but alligator clips would work just as well. (Speaking of, does anyone know a good place to get alligator clips? I've looked everywhere and am still empty handed. )

Now see my next post for Tute {Yourself} Tuesday (a linky party!!) to share what you have been upto!
I'm Linkin' Up! Please check my sidebar for a list of FABULOUS Linkys! :)

Merry Christmas to all...

2010-12-24T22:39:00.000-08:00

(Sorry the picture is grainy. I took it in the dark, sans flash; didn't want to wake the sleeping babe.)

Blobby Rocker Monster Softie

2010-12-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

I made this guy (gal?) last night while I was watching TV. I think she (he?) turned out pretty cute. I LOVE the movement in IT'S hair. It is re-purposed from a bunch of scarves that I got from Old Navy for a buck last weekend.

This is the original sketch I drew that inspired the softie:

I know the sketch is REALLY rough people, so don't judge. ;) I really like the horns in the picture, but then as I was playing with fabrics the fringe was just calling out to be hair, so, the horns were ditched in favor of the crazy, rocker style hair.

I hand stitched her face, then pinned her all up inside out and machine sewed her body. Then I stuffed her and hand sewed up the small hole I had left to turn and stuff her and TA-DA!!

A fun, SUPER soft (it's performance fleece as Old Navy calls it), crazy haired softie for my son to throw around. Assuming the cats don't get to it first. I swear my cats think that Eme's toys are really their toys.

I'm Linkin' Up!! Check out my side bar for a list of FABULOUS Linky Parties. :)

Pirates on the Poop Deck

2010-12-22T00:08:00.000-08:00

Hahahaha! I'm kinda loving my title, cause check out these pants!

Get it?! Pirates on the POOP deck! Cause I totally put a skull and crossbones on the bum of the pants. Hahahaha!! Yee-aahh.. I crack my self up! It's possible I'm a bit of a freak.

Aaaannnyyyway. I made these as a LONG over due baby gift for a good friend who's family (well really their three year) is OBSESSED with pirates. So, (since I've been loving appliques so much) I decided to make (well, really re-make, cause the gift was so long over due that the first one I made was too small. Yeah. I'm an awesome friend like that.) As I was saying, I decided to make them a pirate centric gift. It seemed only right.

So I made the pants and the patch and was planning on getting a plain long sleeve onesie, but then found the beauty that is this:

A pirate onesie?! Yes please! (Thanks Old Navy!) It was the perfect finishing touch to this outfit. I hope the Pirate Papa, Mama, Brother and Baby enjoy these as much as I enjoyed dreaming and making them up!

I'm linkin' up! Check out my side bar to see the many different Linky Parties!