A Doll for Skylee

When was the last time your house was totally clean, AND the laundry was done? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know ;) Monday, a miracle happened at my house and that was just the case! Last week Sew Much Ado had the Ruby Lou Doll pattern 50% off, and I couldn't resist. When I didn't have the guilt hanging over me of needing to clean or do laundry, I knew it was the perfect time to give this doll pattern a go! Now, hopefully my version isn't the first you've seen of these cute dolls, but if it is...go over and see how much cuter they're suppose to be ;)
I made her out of scrap materials I already had. Instead of muslin for the body, I used old white cotton t-shirts. Her clothes were all made from other pieces of clothing as well. Her hair is made of felt, a color I already had, her face...well those are my sorry "embroidery" skills (without embroidery thread). As Tim Gunn says "make it work"!
The most important thing of course, whatever project I make for Skylee, is that she loves it. No matter what imperfections there may be (there are plenty!) she doesn't know, and loves it just the same. For this four year old, any doll that wears a skirt, is awesome! I plan to make more of these, maybe as friends for this first one, or gift for other little girls I know. Hopefully I'll get better with practice!
*Brittney*

Improvising

Hello again :)

Last week while blog-hopping, I found this cute tutorial and really wanted to try it. Then I got a great idea in the shower (the only place/time I have to myself, I'm sure you can relate :) ) to make the pom poms interchangeable. I got this gray sweater on sale at Target and wanted to wear my pink high heals to church, and figured I could make the pom pom necklace to match.
Late Saturday night, after the kids went to sleep, I started making the pom pom necklace using fabric I had from an old shirt of mine. It was going really well until I tried to make it interchangeable, totally my fault. So my idea hasn't worked, yet. I still needed something to go with my shoes though, and I had just made the 5 pom poms, so I put them together and pinned it on my shirt as a brooch-like accessory. For the center I used some rhinestones for sparkle. It was not at all what I originally wanted, but for the few hours at church, it worked. I'll admit I did try to cover it with my hair so no one would inspect it too much. lol. I don't plan on using it again, but I had fun learning how to make the pom poms :) I'll get back to ya when I figure out how to make the interchangeable necklace work!

Cute shoes though, right!?

*Brittney*

Linked up to: Little Miss Momma

Crayon Rolls

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were more merry than ours, we were all sick with the flu :( BUT, we still had a nice Christmas and I love any excuse to cuddle my kids. I was SOoooo grateful that I had finished gift shopping, grocery shopping and baking when it hit me, so at least we had presents and food covered! We were feeling better by NYE, and had a fun time with friends.
I've been so good this year, organizing and cleaning out our home's inventory, even my craft supplies ( a daunting task at times)! Going through everything made me realize how many supplies I already had that I needed to use, which sent my mind on a thinking-spree of ideas I could do. These crayon rolls have been on my to-do list for sometime, and since they take very limited supplies, I already had everything to make them (LOVE that)! I used the tutorial over at The Pleated Poppy and it was great! I highly recommend it, and the rest of the site is fun too!
I made one for Skylee and one for Parker, they think they're pretty awesome, even though Skylee's is way messed up. lol :) For Parker's I used two leftover receiving blankets from this project. For Skylee's crayon roll I used a pair of pants and a skirt that I picked up at Goodwill, because I liked the material/pattern a while back. I even used one of those little button kits for the first time on Skylee's, sometimes it's seems silly the things I've never tried.
I figured I'd reserve these for when we're on the go, but the kids liked them so much, they spent the evening coloring. If only I could make them something everyday to ensure their happiness ;)

*Brittney*

Tutorial: Scripture tote

If you're scrambling for a last minute gift for your daughter, mother, sister, or friend, this is a simple but useful homemade one. The first one I ever made was actually for a boy, so if there's a guy in your life who could use one, give it a try using appropriate colors/ribbon(handle material) and embellishments! Sorry for all the super bright pics, I didn't have a chance to edit them and I knew if I didn't post this while I had the chance, it probably wouldn't happen :)
Materials Needed:
1 placemat
2 yards of ribbon
needle (or hot glue gun) and matching thread
flower/other embellishments
Directions:
1. Lay placemat horizontally and place your ribbon 2-3 inches from the side in straight line, and sew down both side of your ribbon.
2. Repeat on the other side, just make sure to use the same measurements.

3. Decide how long you want your handles and pin them on the opposite side (wrong side/inside) of the placemat. Turn under about an inch of the ribbon from the bottom to reinforce and keep from the ribbon fraying. Sew each side of your handles on. Make sure to reinforce or sew over a couple times so it's nice and strong! Nobody likes breaking handles ;)
4. Fold placemat in half, so handles meet, and sew a straight line down each side5. Fold your corners the opposite way so it looks like this: (kinda hard to put into words, or it's just late and I need sleep)
6. Sew a straight line across your corner, about 2 inches down from the tip.
7. This is what the bottom should look like after you sew the corners:
8. You're almost done! Sewing is out of the way, easy right?! Now turn your tote right side out, and add embellishments.

9. For silk flowers, I take them apart, completely discard the plastic parts, then reassemble the layers again. Hand stitch your flower on the front of your tote. On this tote, I added a pearl for the center which can be hand stitched, or hot glued on there. I've even hot glued my flowers on, but if you do that, glue each layer one at a time.
There are endless possibilities, have fun!
Merry Christmas :)
Linking up to:
Keeping it simple
Craftastic Monday- Sew Can Do
*Brittney*

Christmas in our home

With a week until Christmas, I finally got my house decorated! Whew! I can't believe it took me so long to get it done. I had my tree up by December 1st, but everything else was put on hold due to a crazy busy schedule. Here's a look at what I managed to do this year on my budget:

Each year I pick up tree branches from tree lots to use for decorations, and a nice added smell to the house. Add a strand or lights for a couple bucks and use what you've got.

Poinsettia from a Christmas party, Nutcracker from Goodwill.

Homemade stockings, polyfil "snow" and a couple wrapped empty boxes. ( I need some more up there!)

I moved this little nativity around so many times. This is where it is as I type, up high enough for it to not be touched by my kids (who have already broken just about every piece). I used to put this in my room as a little girl, and now this year it's in my home :) I couldn't find anything else to put on these candlesticks, and it's a little different, but I think I like it!

Some more of those tree branches (garland)

This little inlet in our dinning room is always fun to decorate.

Old window pane with my ornament wreath hung, spiced up a little with a few vinyl snowflakes.

Wooden blocks

homemade "Merry Christmas"banner

Light up snowman(or woman)

Of course, I wish I had more time this year to make more fun things, but I guess next year I'll have to start earlier! Merry Christmas :)

*Brittney*

Call me Martha...

Or something like that... She would probably have a cow if she saw how I made these and the details of them! I'm no Martha, but I'm so happy with how my stockings came out. This was my own pattern made up with my favorite method, "trial and error". I was kinda picky about the shape of my stocking (I know, I'm strange...it's just a stocking, right?!) so I drew out a pattern from newspaper, it seemed to work pretty well!
When I pulled out our Christmas decorations from the attic, I realized that I only had 3 matching stockings! Last year for Parker's first Christmas, we were in CA with our family and I never had to buy one for him, so this year he didn't have one here in our home. I figured I could manage a few stockings! I originally really wanted a red print, but when I came across this fabric that could be used on either side and resembles snowflakes, I knew it was made for my project. Only 3 are hanging in this picture, but I made 4 today...it's that darn 3 thing again...only so many stocking holders around here. I've got to fix that soon, SANTA is coming next week! If you're interested in a tutorial, leave me a comment, I'm planning on making a couple more. Merry Christmas :)
*Brittney*

*Brittney*
Linking up to:
Creative Itch
Someday Crafts

Super Saturday

Last weekend our ward (church congregation) had a craft day "Super Saturday". It was intentionally just in time for Christmas so things could be made as gifts or Christmas decorations for the home. Here are some of the projects we did, well the ones I got pictures of at least!

Ribbon Bracelet- $1 each

Small handbag/Scripture Tote- $5

Seasonal Wooden Blocks- $7 found at Brown Paper Packages (love this blog!)

^side note: do not attempt to sand 112 wooden blocks...it's NOT fun!

Light up Snowman-$3

Ornament Wreath-$15-20

We also had Christmas cards using stamps that I didn't get pictures of, they were SO cute too! Thanks to everyone who helped, I needed it! This was my first time putting one together, AND attending one! So happy with how the day turned out, but more happy that it's over ;)
Merry Christmas!

*Brittney*