Monday, May 31, 2010

ABCs in a Can

I saw this idea on Brown Paper Packages and instantly knew I wanted to make one. I did things a little differently since I didn't have the same supplies she did. We don't drink juice from a concentrate, so I didn't have 26 of those lids on hand. But . . . we do eat refridgerator biscuits - you know, those Pillsbury ones packed in a tube? So I used those instead. But they are much smaller, so a No. 10 can wouldn't work good with smaller circles. So I cleaned out an old infant formula can - I knew I saved those for a reason (but I had the "sample" size that I got in the mail from Similac, so the smaller size worked great with the biscuit lids.)


My daughter grabbed the inside rim yesterday and cut her finger, even though I thought I checked to see if it was smooth enough - guess not - so I would suggest sanding the inner rim down before giving it to your kiddos.


The other thing I did differently is I used letter die-cuts I've had for several years instead of printing them on the paper with the computer/printer.


The above picture didn't show it, but later I cut a slit in the lid so he can drop the letters in. I just used an exacto knife to cut through the plastic lid - worked great.


I showed it to my son when he got up from nap and there were a lot of wow's and smiles. He's just learning his letters so he loved seeing them on the metal lids that he could drop in the jar.



Then a few weeks later, I saw on her blog that she made something else with juice lids . . . a color quiet book. So now, I guess I have to go out and start buying juice concentrate to get the larger lids.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Baby Shower Onesies

These are 2 onesies I gave as a baby shower gift.

The tie onesie was made using the template from Trey and Lucy.
The striped onesie has the number 3 on it because this is their 3rd child. On the back, I also appliqued "OTTO" and a big "3" for his last name like a baseball player . . . but my computer decided to shut itself down when I was trying to rotate the picture and now it's lost. So you'll have to use your imagination on that.


Monday, May 17, 2010

Toddler Blanket

I made this blanket for my son. I wanted a "toddler sized" blanket for him since he's not a baby anymore :( I cut the flannel fabric to 45"x60", used quit batting inbetween the layers, and stitched a few lines along the length of the blanket to hold the batting in place better. The letters run down the long side so that they are sideways when using the blanket. I didn't like the look of placing them at the top or bottom.

I cut the letters for his name on freezer paper using my cricut and ironed them to the fabric to cut out the letters. You can cut fabric with your cricut, but this one was a little stretchy and wouldn't cut without messing up, so I opted for the freezer paper option and then removed the paper before stitching it to the blanket.

Then I finished it off with red blanket binding.



Friday, May 14, 2010

Gathered Clutch

Using this tutorial, I made a gathered clutch. This was my first attempt at a zipper - and it didn't go so bad. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the main fabric is a dark brown with a small pattern to it (it reminds me of a tweed jacket print, but smaller).

The tutorial was easy to follow, but I would suggest making the little tabs that cover the zipper ends longer so the zipper doesn't pucker at the opening end. I can't really zip it closed all the way since the zipper is so close to the edge.

I made a 2nd one the next day and it zips way better after making the tabs a bit longer so the zipper isn't as close to the edge.

It's even lined!!



Thursday, May 13, 2010

Brag Book

Using the tutorial from eighteen25, I made this brag book for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I added small vinyl letters (using my Cricut) to 3 of the pictures with the kid's names. Since there are only 3 grandkids on that side, I did 2 pictures of each kid. And the back of the pages are blank for now, but I can add pictures of future grandkids if needed.


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Grandkids Scoreboard

I made this for my mom for Mother's Day . . . I used an old kitchen drawer front (recycled from a kitchen my husband demo'd at work - he owns a cabinet company and designs/installs people's new kitchens/bathrooms and occasionally tears out their old kitchen and brings me home the drawer fronts in good shape to use on projects like this)

And then I drilled holes for the dowels to sit in and hung the number tiles on there. There are additional tiles hanging behind the current numbers so she can change them when more grandkids are added to the family.

UPDATE:
for the number tiles: I bought a long, thin piece of wood at Jo-Ann's and cut it with a saw, then drilled the holes to hang on the dowels. Followed by paint and vinyl.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Denim Baby Book

During Dana & Rae's "Celebrate the Boy" month in February, I found this idea. I adapted it for my little girl though. My favorite pages are the front cover and the back. I used cookie cutters and text/images I made for all the pages.

I also rounded the corners and added piping along the outside edges. This was time consuming to make, but I really enjoyed making it last weekend. I also made a boy one for a baby shower I'm going to tomorrow. I used cookie cutters and images I drew for that one as well. I'll post that later this week with the rest of the items I made.

Here is the front: Here are the inside pages: Here is the back: