Cool easy crafts

My little brain is about to pop! I have stumbled across such NEAT ideas for making toys etc. for children that I want to do it ALL!!! But, realistically, I can't spend the next two weeks at the sewing machine or in a constant state of creating something. There are chores to do you know... they have been rather neglected lately however.

I just made a CUTE tutu. Yeah, no sewing involved. It took me less than 45 minutes too.

I got my directions at www.makeitandloveit.com This lady has some awesome ideas, many of which I plan to try later.

I'm also in the process of making 5 crayon rolls. What's a crayon roll? Here's a picture from the blog, www.skiptomylou.org


EASY hair barrettes! Here

Baby shoe pattern...




Homemade baby toys


And more to come !

Sewing Video 4

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com



***I plan to post a picture of her wearing the dress when it gets finished. My air conditioner hasn't been working and it's really draining me to be so hot all day. I didn't finish the dress yesterday, maybe today :)

The Skirt

Be forewarned that I look a little rough and am quite chatty---I'm a bit spacey and sleepy today :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Belly and the next video

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Another video...hope it isn't boring.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Patterns from the past

Am I resurrecting the early 90s?? I can't figure out why I am so drawn to these patterns.




Does it have to do with the comfort of childhood memories?




Will I look like a frump?




I still like them though....



My children won't care...they'll still be cute, but, me??

Should I dare to be different or should I suppress this urge? Should I go ahead and curl my bangs into a big puff and hairspray it solid??

The Red Dresss

This is the dress I made for my middle child, Alexa. She wanted the exact red dress on the pattern cover. I tried my best and she liked it. I had cut it out like two months ago, so when I finally sewed it together, it just fit! Hopefully she won't grow out of it too quick.

It's so wrinkled because I just washed it from Sunday's wearing and let it air dry. Next on the list is two dress for Sarah for church. I'm not sure which pattern I will use yet, maybe this one with long puffed sleeves. It is so much fun to sew for the girls- they look adorable in the dresses and it's so easy to fit them. Wish I could say the same for myself :(

Quilts, and er, quilts

***all images are clickable***


Well, I don't have a picture of the finished quilt yet- I will wait till it's on Leiah's bed and you can see the whole room. Still tying knots on it! But here it is ready to be 'sandwiched' together.

A close up of the Sues'.



Ok, I am also working on yet another quilt for my mom whose birthday is on the 13th. I am making a rag quilt, which is pretty simple, it's just cutting out all the squares. I am AWFUL at cutting straight edges!!! Help me please!! Somehow I've got to get all of the squares perfectly square and I am failing miserably. It may have to be a crazy quilt...
I can't decide which pattern I like best, so feel free to vote on which layout looks the best.

(I have to cut out more squares, I just laid it out with what I had to figure out how many more squares I needed)

The Dress

Well, I just finished it. It's hard to see the details in the pictures because it is such a 'busy' print. I am planning on making another one with different fabric as soon as possible, and maybe the details will show up better. I'm not sure if I want to embellish the dress with lace or trim yet, still thinking on it.

Oh, and it's a BAD hair day today...ugh.

Oh, and if you click the pics it will get larger.



I think the dress is somewhat slenderizing, which is a big plus for me.

So, what do you think?

Gettin' Creative

I am so proud of myself. Well, really I should give the credit to God because He gave me the idea. See I've been itchin' to make myself a dress, but have not been able to find a pattern in the style I want. I love the vintage 1950s-1960s look, but cannot find anything in plus sizes. Plus, I don't have extra funds at this point to buy fabric or patterns.

So, I got to digging in a box of patterns and found two that I never cut- the bottom of one I loved, but the top was immodest. (why did I buy it??) The other one was slightly frumpy, again, why didI buy it? So, I mixed the two together.

Now, where to get fabric? Well, I bought a really nice Ralph Lauren sheet right after we got married, thinking it was a set. Well it was just a queen flat sheet and I've kept it because it was so pretty. Yall, I made a dress out of a sheet!!

What a way to go, the fabric is such good quality and there was so much of it! This has turned out to be the prettiest and most flattering dress that I've ever made for myself! I had to fudge the patterns a bit to get it the right size, adding extra here and not so much there, and it came out perfect. I cannot believe it- plus is pulls over my head, no zippers or buttons. The problem is, how do I duplicate another dress? Well, I just wrote down what I did and will have to work with it each time. All I have left to do is finish the neckline and hem it- then I'll post a picture.

And, I cut out the pattern, cut out the dress, and sewed most of it in a few hours. Major plusses!!

I think from now on I will be hunting for queen sheets at Goodwill and garage sales :)

Got started

Yesterday it rained all day long, so dear husband was trapped inside with me :) I kept him busy measuring and cutting the white blocks for Leiah's quilt. Then we both started cutting the pieces. We are doing 9 blocks with Sunbonnet Sue total. It's been fun, but I have since learned I should have gotten some solid fabric for some of the pieces.

Examples of what we're putting together:


Just for anyone really interested, this is how we've done it so far. We got a piece of paper and pinned it to some white muslin. Then dh cut out 10 blocks, one extra just in case. He cut a quarter of an inch extra around the pattern for the seam allowance. Then we printed two of the same pattern from www.sunbonnetsue.com and cut those out. Then we pinned and cut out the fabric. I bought 1/2 yd of 4 kinds of fabric plus the white muslin scraps I already have. This is going to be plenty for the sunbonnet sues. Today I will go buy the iron on stuff and hopefully the extra fabric for the strips in between the squares and border.

Mostly I better finish getting the Sue's cut out :)

On another note, has anyone noticed how hard it is to stay on task and in routine when your husband is home? I am so behind in my work just because we've been doing other things, but like yesterday we were 'stuck' in the house and I still didn't get some things finished that I normally do. He doesn't make messes like he used to and does help me with the girls a bit so I can't figure out the problem :) Well, we are spending more time with each other, so I'd rather do that than fold clothes or something :)

New Project

I am going to make a quilt! I never thought I'd be able to do something like that. However, I've figured it out in my mind how I can do it simply, so maybe it will work :) See, I am fixing my oldest daughter's room up. I had something in particular in mind, but of course I can't find anything that doesn't have characters on it like Disney Princess or that Hannah Montana crud.

So, I'll just have to make something. I have always loved the Sunbonnet Sue pattern, like this:

This type of quilt isn't that hard. Really all you have to do is get the pattern and cut out the pieces, iron them on the fabric, stitch a decorative stitch around the edges and then sew the blocks together. I am terrible at measuring, so that's where my dh comes in- he is awesome at measuring precisely :) I am going to do 9 blocks that are 8x12'', like a piece of paper. I wanted to do it in shades of yellow and white and some pastels, but I cannot find the fabric I want, so I chose yellow, blue, white and green florals and ginghams. I am planning to use a twin sheet for the back and use yarn to 'quilt' it- poke the yarn through the whole thing and tie it. Hopefully I can remember to take pictures of the process so you can see. Maybe it will work!

For more quilts go to www.sunbonnetsue.com

Tea Party

Yesterday I whizzed through the house doing an Emergency quick clean and the girls did a good job of keeping themselves busy, so I rewarded them with a real tea party. We gathered up every doll and teddy bear or rabbit we could find and dug out the plastic tea set. They played with those while I made the real tea.


As you can see Snow White and Belle were also present at the tea. Then came the real tea. I brewed chai tea in my teapot and set out real sugar in the bowl and real milk in the little pitcher. I made little pizza toasts (sauce on bread topped with cheese and an olive), apple slices spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and poppy seeds, little toasts with strawberry jam and powdered sugar sprinkled on top and some leftover sand tart cookies. They all did very well, and had fun 'making' their tea.
Again, I can't seem to take a good picture- something is messed up on my camera and of course the kids wouldn't all look at me at the same time- that would be a miracle!

I started yet another project last night- making vintage doll clothes for the girls' dolls for Christmas. I saw the patterns one day at wal-mart and just loved it! I really wanted to make real clothes my children with them, but that would be a bit difficult, LOL.
This is the one I picked- I started a jacket and bonnet for Sarah's new baby, then I will made a dress for each of the other two's dolls, and hopefully a pillow and blanket too. I want to make a whole wardrobe for each doll, but I don't know if I'll have time.

Well, time to do baths for the kids and then get to work on laundry and bread dough. Hopefully I will get more time to sew today!

What I've been up to

Lots! I've been online a lot getting information about homeschooling with special needs. It's interesting that the family members that were previously opposed to homeschooling her are now all for it :)

However, I need more than ever to organize and simplify- working on that.

I've also been sewing! Flannel nightgowns and robes for all the girls:

I have Alexa's done on the left- the patchwork pattern is the robe (still needs the ribbon tie) and the yellow is the gown, which till needs a button. Leiah's is the mint green gown which still needs the white flower buttons in the middle of the bodice and the lace trim at the hem, and the material behind it will be the robe. Sarah's will be the pink with the flower trim- no robe for her. Here are some more close ups:

Also, I am planning to get more of the Thanksgiving History up soon especially since it's getting closer to the big day.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I finally decided the menu plan. I've never cooked a turkey before, so I plan to get a smaller one. Hopefully I will still have plenty of leftovers to freeze and make stock.
So here it is:

Sundholm Thanksgiving Menu 2007 (yes that's our last name, think Swedish)

Turkey- duh!
Sausage apple stuffing (Southerners usually use corbread, I'm using regular bread)
Broccoli Bacon salad(de-lish, will try to post the recipe)
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Jamaican Cranberry sauce
Pecan Shortbread bars (we have millions of pecans in our yard!)
Pumpkin Pie (because I love it)

Jamaican Cranberry Sauce

*Note: nothing is measured exactly here, you know me :)

2 bags fresh cranberries
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 inch fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
juice of two oranges
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 t allspice


Combine all ingredients in larger saucepan. Add enough water to cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until berries 'pop' and the sauce thickens. Let cool and refrigerate, or serve warm. It's wonderful with turkey and ham. You may want to adjust the spices and sugar- I usually tweak it with more, but I start with those amounts to be safe. Easy!

Romantic Dresses for Baby

Here are the dresses I have been working on the last few days. All that is left is cutting the buttonholes- I have to wait till all children are asleep because that involves a sharp object. LOL.

My model was not cooperating so most of the 'live' shots aren't too good. She has the dress on over her clothes (shirt and capris) so it looks interesting. I altered the bodice a bit to make it one piece. This dress is pretty simple to make, and I'm no expert. You can see the original pattern here, just scroll down to the girls pattern.I can make dresses for us and curtains, pillows etc. but that's all. I'm not good at fitting myself either. Still learning after three years.

I didn't 'fancy' up these dresses or add trim since they are for play- these fabrics only cost $1 per yard, so that's about $2.50 for both dresses including thread and buttons.