Dinosaurs Everywhere...

Today was a special craft for G. I made a dinosaur tail to wear for his many adventures throughout the day. He is very much into putting on plays with his sister right now and their most favorite one is knight in shining armor and slaying the dragon to save the princes. G now is the dragon and the knight in shining armor at the same time:) The pattern I made up on my own. Of course there are a ton of tweaks I would like to make to it and then maybe it will be a tutorial (my second one!) Stay tuned!
This dinosaur tail was made out of a flannel fabric (I only had yellow in the house) and the spikes were felt. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

11 Dr. Seuss pillows for C's preschool class.

Weekend Away

This weekend I traveled up to Lancaster County with four friends. We holed up in the Walnut Lawn Bed and Breakfast all weekend and "crafted". It was wonderful to be able to spend some time away relaxing and sewing all with some fabulous ladies. I can't say enough about the Walnut Lawn B&B. Innkeepers Tom and Sarah were fantastic. This historic house was so comfortable, clean, and interesting, I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to visit Lancaster. Also, as a bonus, they let us use the whole B&B so we had it to ourselves all weekend. We just set up shop and crafted.


Saturday, I was able to visit a local quilt shop, Burkholders. It is FABULOUS. My mom has ranted and raved about it and she was dead on. This place was totally overwhelming. They had EVERYTHING and cheap too (well at least cheaper than I can get it around me)! I found some great Dr. Seuss material to make pillows for C's preschool class on Dr. Seuss' birthday, I found some beautiful springy material to make dresses out of, and I found lots of great circle prints. I am obsessed with circle fabric and think that I will make a quilt out of them someday:)

Everyone was working on something a bit different. There were two scrapbookers, a hair bow designer, and two sewers.
My first project was the Buttercup Bag. This was a great, easy project. I really like the fabric that I used and the finished product. I made one for myself and one for a friend for an upcoming birthday. I plan on making a few more of these, but maybe next time with a little heavier of a fabric. I used a cotton blend this time and I think I need something sturdier.


A twirly circle skirt was next. This was super easy. I used one of my new scores from Burkholders for this one. C tried it on tonight and was "in love". (Of course she did, it was pink;)


YAY! G finally gets something! This is the perfect present for a little boy that chooses his own clothes everyday and everyday he chooses a "workshirt" and neck tie. I LOVED making this. It was so fun and so easy. I can't way to make more fun ones for him to choose from. The pattern I used was one that I had bought from Dainty Couture on etsy.com. I did however, change the pattern quite a bit. Most specifically, instead of using a plain elastic around the neck, I chose to build a casing and attach velcro at either end to secure it. G has other ties that close this way and this and the clip close seem to work the best. He just loved his present!

Lastly, I started some more baby blocks. this time, I decided on making six half size ones. I did them in the same way as the Big Baby Block, only each of the six had it's own texture. These I cut out were 5"X5". They were slightly bigger than I imagined, so I think if I were going to do a number of them again, it would be a bit smaller. But really, they are turning out great!
Here is the first one (minus the stuffing):


We accomplished quite a bit this weekend, but the best thing was relaxing! It was so nice and cozy. I feel refreshed and ready to face the week! Thanks to the husband for the weekend off!

Getting Ready

I sent off a very special package yesterday...I hope it is liked!
Now I can share my goods that were included. The first half of the week was spent creating and putting the finishing touches on it.
Here is the diaper holder/changing pad that I made, courtesy of Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial found here. This project was super fast and easy. It is a GREAT gift idea. I would have loved one of these compact all-in-ones for C and G.















Then, there is the craft near and dear to my heart, knitting. I decided on matching knitted hats.
This pattern was Children's Cotton Hats by Kim Hamlin from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton yarn and size 7 dpns. This is a pattern I had knit before, but with a different yarn and color. It is so fast and simple. I love the look of the i-cord that circles the hat. I can't wait to see the girls. I hope their heads haven't grown too much yet:)




















Lastly, there was the Big Baby Block. I am really curious to hear what they think. The babies are too small to play with it now, but soon enough...



I have spent the majority of the second half of the week getting ready to go away. Four friends and I are going on a fantastic, fabulous, crafting getaway. I have been attempting to organize. I have put all of the patterns I want to sew along with all of the materials and cut out material in ziploc baggies, I have printed off the templates I want to embroider, and I have packed some knitting and pictures to organize. Each of us does something different, there are scrapbookers, paper crafters, sewers, knitters, and those that are great with a hot glue gun! I am psyched. We leave this evening and come home on Sunday, so Sunday nights blog post should be WONDERFUL, stay tuned...

The Big Baby Block

YAY!!! I created my first original pattern! This is too exciting. The fact that I get to finally develop my own tutorial is really awesome. Here is the start of it. Honestly, it is a super easy pattern, if you can even call it that. The idea was sparked by the birth of some new little ones. I was hoping to make a toy that they would love, but something different than a softie (which I do love making by the way). I figured that all babies love different textures, and that this pattern allowed lots of flexibility for creativity. No two blocks will be the same.
I really enjoyed picking the fabric. I loved the idea that scraps can be used from other projects. I then loved picking the textures that would go on each block.
Here goes...

First, pick out six designs of fabric. For this block, I used one corduroy piece, a terry cloth piece, a flannel piece, and three cotton pieces of fabric.I then cut each of these six pieces of fabric to a 10 inch by 10 inch square. I knew that I would be allowing for a 1/2 inch seam allowance on each side, so the finished project would be a 9 inch by 9 inch square.
After all the pieces were cut, I picked what the textures would be for each side.
For the first side, I used felt hearts, stitched onto the flannel fabric piece.









The second side (my favorite) was a cotton flower fabric with minky fabric patches in it. I cut out the squares and then sewed the minky fabric underneath. One tip I have if doing this is after you cut the squares out, if you cut a slit at each corner so you can fold the sides under for a nicely
hemmed edge.





















The third block was an ABC cotton fabric with grosgain ribbon tabs sewed on. I took the ribbon and sewed each end onto the fabric, making a loop. Each grosgain ribbon piece was 5 inches.














The fourth block was the terry cloth block. I scored some half off chunky ribbon trim at JoAnne's today. I made an "X" pattern on the terry cloth and sewed it on using the zig zag stitch.










The fifth block was the yarn block (another favorite of mine). I used the corduroy fabric as a base. Then I used a beautiful blue yarn. I stitched the yarn on in a swirling pattern. This one feels really neat!














Last but not least, here is the sixth block. I chose some satin ribbon (babies love satin, right?). I formed these loops, the same way as the third block, only I cut these pieces at 6 inches and after sewing them into a loop, I sewed down the middle to make two loops. This is the bright pink cotton block with off white satin loops seen in the first picture. (I forgot to take a pic at this step).

Now for the most difficult piece of the project. Let me start off by saying IT WORKS OUT, I PROMISE. Sew the first three blocks in a row, right sides together.



Sew the rest of the blocks, so that there are two stacked on the top of this center block in the main row and one stacked on the bottom. You will now have one funky tetris shape. After this, you literally just sew all of the right sides together, forming a square. Keep in mind that you will be using 1/2 inch seam allowances so that your end result will be 9X9. Piecing all of the blocks together will get more difficult as you get farther in, but it WILL ALL WORK OUT!
When you get to the last block, stitch halfway down, leaving a 4-5 inch opening.
At this point, flip your block right side out.


Iron each crease. Topstitch using a 1/8 inch seam allowance around all sides of the block (leaving the side with the opening unstitched at this point). The point of this top stitch is to form a more defined square so that when you stuff it, it will look like a block and not just a ball.
At this point, use a poly fill stuffing to stuff your block. Use a pencil or wooden dowel to get the stuffing in corners. I made my block fairly firm because I feel like stuffing condenses over time, but to each their own. Then top stitch your last side. Voila!

Please email with any suggestions or questions. I would be HAPPY to answer them as this was my first tutorial and I am sure I left something out: laurynrb03 [at hotmail.com]
Thanks so much for reading and ENJOY!

An Afternoon Photo Shoot...

I finished my first "me" piece. I LOVE how it turned out (minus numerous flaws when looked at up close). I made a "Party Skirt" using the tutorial over at Creative Spaces. This was a great first piece. I am just getting into sewing, so I am far from experienced! There are lots of beginner techniques that I still need to learn. This tutorial incorporated a zipper into it as well as ruffling, which was great. Both were much easier than I thought they would be.
I used a pink linen fabric from JoAnne's that was on clearance. C is obsessed with the color and wants her very own Party Skirt, so I just may need to attempt the kids version. She was very intrigued by the whole process. C is definitely going to be my arts and crafts girl. It is such a THRILLING feeling to know that she will someday be so interested in learning how to knit and sew.

The only pieces of the tutorial that I changed or would change are:

-I used double my waist size in length of the fabric piece as suggested by the tutorial. Next time I would use less. After ruffling, it was super poofy.
-I would definitely make the bow detachable as suggested. It looks great that way!

After I finished the skirt today, C insisted that we have a fashion show. She took my pic and I took hers...Enjoy!



Photos courtesy of "C"!

Totally Outdone...

My husband ROCKS! There are no other words to use. That Valentine's gift was the nicest, most thoughtful, beautiful gift in the world! He is SO sweet... The only bad part was that he totally showed me up. His post was awesome, along with his pictures and his idea!

Here were the small gifts that the kids and I made for him...a classic original scrapbook full of their valentines and artwork and a mod podged picture on wood for his office. It turned out great!