Fast Bibs

Being indoors during this holiday season has made me want to make crafts. I need instant gratification so I like to make these quick little projects.  Joann Fabrics had this cute little pattern that's like an oilcloth material.  Perfect for quick wiping bibs!!

I think the easiest thing to do is make a pattern from an existing bib... I wanted it a little longer and slightly wider than this bib.

Draw it with a pen.. since it's easier to use and the marks are easily covered when bound.

Make multiple patterns using weights (easier and quicker than pinning).

 Add on the binding and it's done!

 The finished product! Cute isn't it?

The velcro attachment in the back.

Total cost was about $4.  I made about 6 bibs with 1/3 a yard of fabric and 3 packs of binding. Very quick to make.  Less than an hour of work and my craft craving is done for the day. :)

Infant Carseat Cover

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately everyone!  I've been wanting to replace my carseat cover for some time now because it's old and worn after two kids. :)  With the new baby coming in March I thought it would be a good time to revamp the carseat.

I was inspired by dana and her amazing carseat covers (you have to search her archives because I don't think she makes then anymore).  It took some time to create a pattern since I'm too cheap to buy one. :)  But I think it was well worth the effort since I can now use it to make multiple covers.  Here is the old carseat...

And the beginning of the new one.  I still have to add some more batting to the back to make it more cushy because I used a thinner batting on accident.  It's not as fitted as the other one because I haven't put the binding around the edge since I still have to add more cushioning still.

It's actually an aqua/brown combo but it looks white here doesn't it? :)  After I finish it I'll have to do the canopy to match! So for less than $10 on material (including the muslin to make the pattern) I've got a brand new carseat!  Wait scratch that.. I still need more material.. so maybe under $20.. mistakes can be costly. :)

I'll post the finished one when I'm done.  Maybe we should add it to the baby beean line. :)

Alice in Wonderland Kids Costume

Hello faithful readers.. yes, I have been out of my blogging mode for a while now.. but now that I have more energy (in the second trimester) I feel motivated to do a little more.. I posted this on my facebook already, but thought I'd try to keep my blog "relatively" up to date. :)

E has been wanting to be Alice in Wonderland for some time now.. I went to the store and found this cheap costume for $20-$25!  I was mortified at the cost of Halloween costumes!  The fabric alone probably cost the manufacturer 30 cents!  So I decided to try my hand at sewing my own.  I usually go buy a pattern, but I was too cheap to do it, so I reference this book that I have...

By the way, I LOVE this book!  It's very helpful if you're new to making patterns.

Anyway.. referenced the book and make E's costume from scratch!  I should have taken pictures of the process, but I was too lazy.  Next time. :)

Though it's unironed, I think it turned out pretty good!  Eddie thinks it looks like a waitress uniform though.. boo Eddie.  I'm thinking of selling the pattern for some money. hahha. 

The back

 The cutie in just the dress.. I'll take a picture with her full costume once it's ironed. :)

Next time.. the Mad Hatter..

Mid-season garden

Hello all!  I lost my camera a month ago, but I just found it yesterday!  I actually thought it was stolen along with my bag, but discovered it was tucked away behind a stroller that was leaning against the wall!  What a good day it was!

Ok.. on to my garden.  Here it is!

So I'll try not to bore you with a million pictures of all that's growing.. but just post a few.  I made (2) square foot gardens this year as my test garden.  I made the back trellis using electrical conduit and rebar! :)  I'm training the tomato plants, green beans and sugar snap peas up the trellis instead of caging or staking them.  So far so good!

Beefsteak tomatoes are growing well!

I went a little crazy on the pruning with this one, but the fruit branches are pleniful!  Yellow cherry tomatoes.  I also have the regular cherry tomatoes growing and a roma tomato plant (which I didn't know was a bush plant, so we'll see how that one goes!)

 

Banana Peppers growing well!  What do I do with these after I harvest them?  I don't even know how to use them!  I've only ever seen them on pizza, but thought it was a pretty cute plant. :)  Any suggestions?

These are sugar snap peas.. a test group.  Sadly they are not doing too well.  I've harvest like 4 pea pods and ate them with the family.  They were delicious!! So much better than the grocery store!  Next year I will be sure to plant several of them.. maybe even multiple square feet.

The two blueberry bushes that have no fruit because an animal came and ate them all.  Aren't they cute though? I might relocate them for next year.

Zucchini and Squash flourishing!  I think it's actually not enough space for them to co-exist, but it was an experiment to see if the existing soil was any good.  Guess it's good!

My pretty strawberries are finally growing!

Love it!

If you look at my first picture of the garden, all the GIGANTIC leaves in front are my broccoli leaves.  They are HUGE!!!!  Just now though the buds are forming.  Can you see it wrapped in a few tiny leaves?  

Can you see the tiny green bean growing? Isn't it cute?

 

Lastly, some of you have asked how my dad's garden, in my backyard, is going.  Sad to say, this is it... hahah. The ONLY thing growing is the swiss chard.  Which I won't eat because I'm freaked out that nothing else is growing.  Making me thing that there is something wrong with the soil.  My dad concluded that it was either bad soil.. which he doubts.. or possibly that the seeds drowned in the first few weeks.  We discovered that there was a spout from the house that was above this garden and would POUR water right over this area.  You can see the gutter in the back that we place so that the water would be rerouted elsewhere.  Since then, the swiss chard decided to make an appearance.

A Frock By Friday

I've been watching this one blog that posts "Frock by Friday" tutorials.. You guys know how crazy I get when I find a new project. :) So I went out the other day to buy some fabric to do a "past" frock by Friday. I finished it this weekend so I can join in on the "new" frock by Today. :) Yes, I'm crazy.  So here it is, my coffee date dress.  My first craft for me.

Here are my pattern pieces cut.. 

The finished dress!

Auggie wouldn't let me taken any pictures without him.

The ruffle detail.  The dress looks black, but it's actually blue.  Ignore the puckering on the bodice.

On another note, Baby Beean is still booming!  We've been getting some hits to our website (that still need so much work). I stocked up on some of our favorite fabrics and serged all of them... so if you need a cover, they're ready to go!  We've also been making some changes with the labels, seams, etc... so you can also order a SECOND cover if you need one. :)

If you order a cover now, you'll get our "new" label on them now. :)

They grow up so fast...

In 9 days my baby cousin, the youngest of all the cousins, is going to be getting married! I can't believe how quickly time has passed and I can't believe Aili will be a wife!  For the three weddings that our family has had, I've made each bride a wedding veil (did you know you can make one really cheaply instead of paying hundreds of dollars??).  Mine was a cathedral length, and both my sister's were fingertip length.

So Aili follows in our tradition... I hope to make one for her older sisters one day *hint hint* :).  I made this very thin one (the bride wanted a fuller one) that I gave it to Elizabeth to play with.  She LOVES it.  When she wears it, it makes me so sad to think that one day my baby will be (God willing) someone's wife...

 She's not posing, just watching TV.

Now she's posing..

My little baby's growing up.  She put the crown and dress on herself.

I'm trying to convince my husband to have another baby, but he said, "No!" hahah. We'll see about that...

Onesie for Baby Chung

My very first attempt at making a onesie.. totally not bad!  But then I went to Walmart the other day and saw plain onesies for $3. hahah.  Should have just bought one.  Lily is a former Michigan girl so I made the onesie in the appropriate colors..

Took the picture before putting in the snaps at the bottom.

I made this mini stencil that I was going to applique onto the onesie, but I ran out of time..

If this baby is anything like his father, this will describe him perfectly. :)

Jesus was a carpenter...

After I started getting into sewing, I became obsessed by DIY projects, shows and websites.  There were so many creations just waiting to be made... baby clothes, blankets, slip covers, curtains.... I couldn't believe how many things you could make just by learning how to sew a straight stitch!

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could learn how to work with wood?  You could make your own bookcases, furniture, even toys for the kids.  I watch all those shows on HGTV and see how they build things for pennies and dream about one day being a carpenter.. (a really cool feminine one, not butch).  But of course, I'm scared to death of power tools!  :)  So whenever there is a project that requires them, I ask my big strong hubby to do them.  Sadly he has many projects of his own and he gets annoyed by my nagging him to do project after project.

SO... on Saturday I decided it would be my first attempt at building something... a raised garden bed (MY garden bed.. not my dad's garden in my yard) :)  I went to Menards and bought my wood.  I had no idea where to go and was walking around trying to look distraught so some merciful man would come and help me.  An older gentlemen came to my rescue and directed me where to go.  I bought the wood and used my "artful" ways to get them to cut them to the appropriate lengths... power saw will have to come after power drill. :)  Being careful not to get splinters, I loaded it into my car and drove home.  I'm such a girl..

I started to put my boxes together but couldn't get the screws to go in!  After many attempts and many holes drilled, I called upon my big strong hubby to help me.  He just shook his head and told me I was doing it wrong and helped me put together the first box. BOO me.

 Here is the box Hubby put together in 5 minutes after I worked on it for an hour.

Here are the many nails I "stripped" while attempting to learn how to use a power drill.

After hubby showed me how to do it the right way, the second box was so much better!  I am proud to say I did it all by myself too!!!

Many would ask.. where were the kids?? Here.. checking the mail.

Reaching for more..

... and riding Auggie's bike with her mismatched shoes.

I think I understand why Jesus was a carpenter.  It's so rewarding to see what your two hands can create!  Granted, all I put together were 4 little wood boards, but I MADE something. :)  One day I will learn how to use a saw and put up some crown molding in our house.. but one step at a time.  I can proudly say that I can now use a hammer and nails and I know how to use a power drill to drill holes and put in screws.  But that's about it.  Thanks for reading.  Hope you're entertained a little.

Barrettes

I love little hair accessories.. but they can be sooo expensive for something so little?  You know?  I hate to spend money on things that you can easily make at home.

Yesterday the kids were napping and I decided to pull out my college "craft" box (you know.. the ones you had all your fabrics and felts that you used to make album covers and small group notes with? CFCers remember that?).  I forgot how much JUNK I had in that box but also found a bunch of felt, and embroidery threads!

Here was my 15 minute project of the day!

My materials... 

I cut two pieces of felt that surrounded the barrette with a little sewing allowance.  (The left one has a slit for the clip part)

Slip the clip through the slit.

Thread the thread through the bottom of the top piece of felt, through the whole in the flower, through the bead and then back down.

Stitch around!

The backside.

On my crazy model. :)

She's watching tv here..

Close up with her crazy hair.

What's awesome about this project was that it cost me nothing! I had all the materials in the house and I did it while Auggie was taking a nap is so little time.  :)  People always ask me where I have time to do these projects, but I find the quickest projects so that I can do it during nap time and feel like I've accomplished something.  I can't do what other people do and sew for hours and hours without feeling like it's pointless.  I need a quick fix. haha

The bead actually came from a necklace that I bought Elizabeth. She decided to cut it that morning and there were like 30 beads all over the kitchen floor.  So instead of getting mad, I tried to make the best of it and thought of what I could make with the bead. (Though it's only one bead). :)  This was also the same day I found her cutting her hair on the kitchen floor.. oh the joys of motherhood.