My New Obsession!

I absolutely love making these. OK, so I love eating them too. The thing is both my husband and I would rather eat pie than cake. Well after making these a few times I think it is safe to say that even he loves these things. They are just so fun and easy to make. 

 Recently I hosted a party and wanted to make these cake balls as a refreshment. I needed to add something cute to the styrofoam circle to spruce it up a bit. This is what I came up with. I just simply took a scrap ruffle the same height as my foam and wrapped it around. I then added some ribbon at the top with coordinating pins to secure it all in place. I didn't want to glue it because then I can reuse the foam with different fabric later on. Anyhow, if you know how to make a ruffle you can easily make this. 

 Cake Pops anyone?

Baby Stuff

In preparation for baby I needed to reward myself with a few handmade items. Unfortunately I waited until the last couple months to make it all. Not as ideal because I am more exhausted and my body doesn't really maneuver easily. However, here is a brief look at a few things I have made.

1. Diaper Bag- This was a must because in the past I just used the one they give you at the hospital. The don't last me long because the cheap plastic stuff breaks. I have made a few of these for others and now that I have one of my own I must say that I love it. It has a ton of pockets and room for me to fit what I need in there.

I tried making it with a fabric my husband would also feel comfortable carrying around if needed. Anyhow, I really love it and look forward to actually using it instead of pretending.

2. Crocheted Flannel Blankets- I wanted to learn to crochet, so I started off by making these blankets. They were fairly simple to learn with except that the yarn thread is super tiny. I really like how they turned out.

A second look at a crocheted flannel blanket for baby.

3. Newsboy Hat, Diaper Cover, and Loafers- After feeling confident with the blankets I was ready to move on to learn some other crocheting. I had the patterns for a long time waiting to find a friend to help me figure out how to read the pattern. They seemed so confusing. Finally I decided to just see if I could figure it all out and thanks to youtube I was able to find video tutorials for all the new stitches I had never tried before. Now I love crocheting. I feel a little bit grandma like, however, I love it.

4. Crib Bedding- I wanted to try making crib bedding this time. Unfortunately I can only go as far as the bumper pads and sheet because the rest of the fabric I want to use doesn't come out until June. So since the baby doesn't really need a quilt for sleeping right away I am not worried. This is a sneak peak at what I do have. I have other plans for the wall and crib, but I will reveal those once they are finished.

Well, sewing, and now crocheting are some of my favorite past times. Now I am happy to sew things for my own baby too.

Spring Pillow

About two years ago I made a quilt for my daughter. I planned to make pillows to go with it. The problem is I never did make the time for it. The quilt itself was such a huge project for me that I think when it was finished I didn't want to do anything else with it.

Finally two years later and after a big move I decided it was time to give her bed a little more. This is the first pillow I finished and I have two others I have in my head.

I bought a pillow that was on Clearance for $5 at a place here in Canada called Home Outfitters. It is like Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I was glad to score a nice pillow that I could cover for a great price. Anyhow, here is how it looks on the bed.
Once I get the other two finished it will look a little bit more complete. I also need to get my daughter some nicer pillows because hers are like pancakes. She hasn't complained though. I am glad I finally got around to making this because it adds a lot to her room and I love how it turned out. I will post pictures of the other two once they are made.

Hannah Montana Comes for a Visit

Don't mind the serious face above. My daughter is very shy, so it surprised me to see her willing to walk across the stage at the YMCA trunk-or-treat. This is her next to the real Hannah Montana, and the picture that we were inspired by. The jacket and boots where the only hard parts. I couldn't find a jacket pattern anywhere, and I looked for a white denim jacket to save time, but I think it must be the wrong season for that. So, I had to wing it and figure it out myself. I didn't put a zipper in it because by the time I got that far I was ready to be finished. She did help me bedazzle her microphone which helped out a bit.

She had a lot of fun as Hannah Montana, and even Miley Cyrus for school because she couldn't wear her wig. I think next year I need to to something really easy going. Who knows who she will pick next year.

Halloween was great and now we have too much candy that will probably get tossed eventually. I hope you all had a great Halloween as well.

Boots

My daughter decided that she wanted to be Hannah Montana for Halloween this year. So I finally went with it. She picked a picture and we tried to get it as close as we could. I will be posting the full costume later this week.

However, after a lot of work I finished some boots that I thought would go with the costume well. So, I thought I would at least dedicate a whole post just to these boots that were slightly obnoxious to make but worth it.

The toes turned out a little pointy, and I just haven't figured out how to get them nice and round yet. I hope to make a few more for practice.
The boots are made with a suede cloth in grey, and embellished with 4 buttons down the side and two ribbon ties at the back. The soles are soft and made with a non slip rubber. Lets just say that your kid would not want to go running around in a bunch of pebbles or twigs. P.E. might not be the best place for them either. I am sure that this sole would be perfect for smaller kids, but it would be nice to find something that was a bit more durable for the older ones.

Well, the boots were quite the experiment, but one I am glad I did. It was a fun challenge especially once I was finished. I will post the complete Hannah Montana Costume later this week.

Happy Halloween!

Etsy Shop Dilema

Over the summer my poor shop has been neglected. I have not really renewed my listings or added new items. Really I have just been focusing on making my own projects, and creating things I have been wanting to try. Right now I have marked down all my dress sets to clear out my shop.

I would like to replace them with new listings. The dilemma I am having is what to put in there. The towel sets seem to do OK, and I can't decide if I should add some new designs or if I should add something new altogether. I have in mind some diaper bags, but they take so long to make. I will probably add some new towel designs, and something else too. We will see were my thoughts take me. I need to scramble my brain for some ideas.

So, while I take yet more time to think about what I want to put in my shop I will be enjoying the slightly cool weather we are having, and maybe even make myself a new purse while I am at it.

What are you enjoying during this fall season? What are you making?

T-Shirt Embellishing

Cupcakes or Necklaces Anyone?

Near the end of the summer I purchased a few solid color shirts so that I could embellish them as I wanted to. The first on my list was an appliqued zebra that I will have to post a picture of later.

I had been wanting to make one of these ruffle cupcake shirts for my daughter who loves sweet things especially cupcakes. Whenever she is invited to a birthday party the one thing on her mind is the cake. So, she can indulge in this cupcake frequently without getting a sugar rush. I love how it turned out.
I do recommend using a stabilizer underneath so you can prevent mishaps like the right bottom corner of the cupcake. I couldn't unpick it or it would have torn the shirt up. So, it has a little beauty mark, but I like it. It seemed incomplete without a cherry on top, so I sewed a red button on top for the cherry.
I love making hair bows/flowers/barrettes to match shirts. I have not done it in a while, so this was a treat. I thought I would take some of the frosting like fabric and make a little frosted rosette headband to match.

Next up was a little freezer paper action. My daughter also loves these pretend necklace shirts that are pretty much in every store right now. I did buy her one for school, but I wanted to see if I could pull one off myself.

This is my take on the necklace shirt. I did not want to cut all these holes out of the freezer paper by hand, so I used my scrapbooking tools. I have not used them in so long, but they sure did come in handy. I used my eyelet hole punch thing, and made various different sized holes all over the outline I had for then necklace. I wish I would have had one that was a little bit bigger so that I could add a few larger circles.

If you are new to freezer paper stenciling, or you have never done it you should try it. I will try getting another project using it so I can make a tutorial. In the mean time there are tutorials all over the place.

Of course this one had to have a matching hair pin too. I used a lavender colored satin and made a little flower as you can see.

There are so many ways to add to a plain old shirt. I have so many ideas running in my head, but then I have to wait because a kid only needs so many t-shirts.

Do you have any fun shirt, skirt, or purse embellishment ideas?