Frame Hanging Tip

I found this on another blog and had to share.  Please click here to find out how to hang a frame with much less hassle!!

Bottle Vase

I've been loving that it is fall and decorating for it.  Once I got all of my fall decorations out I realized that I had room for some more.  I hate spending tons of money on decorations that are only out for a couple of months, so I figured I would just ignore my need for them.  Then when I was looking online I saw wine bottles wrapped in yarn.  They were very pretty, and the wheels started turning.  I dont have yarn, but I have twine.  So I started playing with the bottle.  I didnt have enough twine on hand to cover the entire bottle, so I thought some more.  I had left over burlap from my banners.  YAY!

So this is what I used:

  An empty cooking wine bottle.
A piece of burlap that was as tall as the flat part of the bottle, and could wrap around it twice. 

Twine or yarn

Hot Glue Gun and Scissors

Make a verticle line with your hot glue on your bottle and start wrapping the burlap around it.  When finished add more hot glue to secure the burlap.

This is what your bottle will look like. 

Now put some glue around the top of the bottle and start wrapping the twine around it.  You either need to put very little glue or wrap fast b/c the glue dries fast.

Wrap the twine around until it meets the burlap.  I wrapped it around about four more times after it met with the burlap.  It will look like the above picture.  Now you could be done here if you wanted, but I thought it looked off balance, so I wanted to add more twine.

Glue and wrap around the bottom of the bottle again.  Go up as high as you think looks good.  I just eye balled it and glue it all in place.  This is your finished piece!

You can use different bottles of sizes and different materials.  I thing it looks really nice and I would probably pay money for it in a store, but what I love best is that I used things that I had laying around, so there was no shopping or buying.  Here is another style I did:



Halloween Decorations

Its that time of year again and I couldnt be more excited!  Since Alison has been born we just have not  had the opportunity to decorate for Halloween.  We lived in an apartment for the first two years, and then last year we had just moved here.  So this year I decided it was time to decorate.  Now I tried to do decorations that she and I could do together.  Her and I both had fun with decorating.  We still need to carve pumpkins, but that will not happen for another week or two.  I'll update pictures if I change anything.  But I am pretty happy with these for now.  Its not over the top but its fun :)

I created spiderwebs at our enterance with white yarn.  It went together really easily and was fun to be creative on how to make.

This is a wreath that Alison and I both made.  There is no tutorial needed, we simply used a wreath form (made one from plumbling insulation from lowes) and then shiney halloween garland we bought at the dollar store.  The sign was also from the dollar store, so we just wrapped the garland around and attached the sign.  It was a great craft that Alison could help with a lot. 

I made another spider web around our front windows to add a bit to the Ghosts that we had already made.  I added some bones and pumpkins too.  I am thinking maybe if we get a chance we'll make some tombstones, or that could be a project for next year.

We had to make sure some ghosts were in our tree :)

The Burlap Banner was the only decoration I did myself. 

Halloween is a fun holiday for me, I think its definitely one that is most fun when the decorating is done with the kids, they are the ones that enjoy it the most too.  It will be interesting to see how our decorations change as the kids get older and are able to do more difficult crafts :)

Burlap Banner

So I saw this banner online and figured "I can make that!"  I made it to a size that would work for me, so you could do it as you would like it.  I actually have no idea how big or small the banner I saw online was.

The first thing I did was make a template.  I used a standard 8.5x11 piece of paper and folded it into a triangle.  I left about an inch at the bottom so I could stitch it together.

I outlined the pieces onto the burlap.

Then I cut them all out.  Cut as many triangles as letters you need.

Since I am using a fall theme I wanted to do orange and black letters.  I did every other and just made a list of which letters where which color.  The paint dried very quickly on the burlap which I loved b/c I could do the whole project pretty quickly.

I attached my words to a piece of twine.  I pinned them together and folded the top of them over the twine and sewed it all down the line.  I did not stitch through the twine, the letters will move around.  Also, when you cut your twine, cut it for where you want to hang the banner instead of for the word.

I made a Thanksgiving banner too, so when Halloween is over I can just take the bottom part down and put up thanksgiving.  I think it looks nice and was a quick and fun holiday decoration to make.

Hanging Ghosts

I am so excited about the holidays this year.  Not only is baby Lexi here, but Alison is about to turn four and is really understanding the holidays, which means more fun for me!  I wanted to decorate for Halloween this year, and not wait until the day of.  I also wanted to do it for very cheap and have Alison be involved.  So I did some brainstorming and decided on these ghosts.

First I took a white sheet and ripped it into rectangles (could also do squares or cut circles if you really wanted to be fancy).  Then you take two plastic bags that you get from the grocery and wad them into a ball.  Place the plastic bags into the center of your fabric.

Now when you pick up your fabric by the bags you will see your ghost start to form.

I used a heavy quilting thread.  You could use yarn or whatever you wanted to as long as it was strong enough nto to just break.  You simply tie around under the bags in order to make the head and to keep the bags from falling out and the fabric from falling off.

To hang them, use the same thread and just do one stitch through the top. 

Knot the end and you are ready to hang.

You can hang them just about anywhere, we put a few in our tree.

And the rest on the front of the house.  It was a fun project that Alison and I could do together and that did not cost a lot and we had everything on hand.

Ruffle Bottom Onesie

I think the ruffle bottom onesies are so cute on little girls.  Especially when they are crawling.  I had to try to make one to see how it came together.

You will need a onesie, and three pieces of fabric cut 3" wide.  The length of them will be determined by the side of the onesie.  I meausred on the bottom where I wanted them placed and doubled the length. I used two different fabrics, but you could use three different or all the same.

I did a straight stitch then a zig-zag down the three pieces.  I wanted it to look rough, but did not want it to fray the first time used.

I started with the fabric that would go in the middle.  You will want it to go right where the leg seam is. 

Pin it straight across ruffling it.

Do a straight stitch across the fabric

This is what it will look like

next I added the shorter piece about 1/2" below the other one.. repeat how you did the above ruffle.

Now add the third ruffle 1/2" above the middle one.  Repeat the process again.

This is what you will have

If your onesie does not have any design, add an applique to the front.  I thought this bird was cute.

And you are finished!  Its just adorable!

Birthday Balloon Wreath

This was a fun and easy project.  I wanted to put one together before Alison's birthday party.  I think it is adorable and will just add to the festivity decorations.

First I used this tutorial for the wreath base.  If I were to make this again I would have bought a thicker tubing.  To attach the balloons was extremely easy, I used this tutorial.  It probably would have looked better on the wreath form she used, but I am cheap, so I went the cheaper route.  Anyways, this was a project I could do while holding a baby, cute and fun :)

Carseat Cover Tutorial

This was another item I HAD to make to make life with a baby easier.  I used this tutorial, but modified my design some.  But her tutorial explains everything very well, it all came together very quickly and I am happy with the results.

Carseat Swaddle Blanket

So its been a while since I've updated anything.  Little Alexis came into our family 9 weeks earlier than expected and we spent almost 6 weeks busy with life and vising her in the NICU.  Unfortunately her coming early put me WAY behind on the projects I wanted to get done before she came.  But I am slowly trying to get some things done.  Who needs sleep anyways :)

So a project I finally got a chance to do today was a Carseat Swaddle Blanket. 

I knew I HAD to have one of these when I saw them.  What a great idea.  I used this site for the tutorial.  Simply search "carseat" on her blog and you will see the tutorial.  She has a great pattern that you can use and a video tutorial, please only use for personal use, this is her pattern, so its not fair for you to get rich off of her design :).  Look over her tutorial first, because I am only going to explain some of the changes I made. 

First, her pattern did not go together as precisely as she said it would, or I just didnt do it right, either way if yours isnt perfect, don't worry, it'll work.  I think this size is great for a newborn, but I think it could be a bit larger for an older baby.  I would probably add an inch all around the pattern if I were to make it again.  I also did not add the batting to the inside.  I did not want to make it too thick.

I also did not cut the verticle holes for the carseat straps.  Actually I did cut them, then decided I didnt want them on so stitched them closed again.  I realized there was a better way to put it in the seat.

Cut the hole for the buckle, and just slide the blanket under the shoulder straps.  This works really well, and I think it will be nicer than having long holes in the blanket.

This is what it looks like with baby inserted :)

Now wrap the little one up.  Alexis is only 6.5lbs, so you can see why i think it could be just a tad bigger... there is still room for her to grow, but I cannot imagine this still working when she is closer to a year.  We will see.  Anyways, this was an easy project, and I think it is going to make life much easier!