Best baby gift ever!

Happy Friday!

Today I am going to mix things up a bit. Most of you that have been following me for awhile, know that I love to sew. I thought it would be fun to mix things up a bit and start adding in some easy sewing tutorials, every couple weeks.

You will need to have some basic knowledge about how to operate your sewing machine. I will not be doing tutorials on how to thread or operate your machine. 

The first project, is my most favorite baby gift to give. 

Here is a list of things you will need:

1. 2 yard's of a cotton flannel
I normally get two coordinating fabrics - 1yd of each.  I always buy the quilters cotton flannel from Joann's when it's on sale.  This will be enough to make 4 burp rags and 2 bibs.
2. 1 yard of a light weight batting (Warm and Natural)
In lieu of Warm and Natural, you can also use a 1yd piece of white flannel, it's a little more affordable and does just as good of a job.
3. Coordinating spool of thread
4. Sewing Machine
5. Good pair of Scissors 
Never use your fabric scissors to cut paper, it will ruin them. 
6. Pins
7. Bib pattern (Here is a free one)
8. Burp rag pattern (Here's a free pattern, it's the one I use in this tutorial.)

Let's get started!
The first thing you will need to do is wash and dry your fabric, this will pre-shrink it. You don't have to worry about the batting, it may shrink a tiny bit, but not enough to worry about. Although if you choose to use white flannel instead of the batting, make sure you wash and dry it too. Once this is done, you're ready to cut everything out.

Let's get to cutting, shall we?
1st fabric (face fabric)- 4 burp rag pieces and 2 bib pieces
2nd fabric (back fabric)- 4 burp rag pieces and 2 bib pieces
Warm & Natural or White Flannel - 4 burp rag pieces and 2 bib pieces

Let's get ready to sew!
Now that everything is cut out, we can get everything pinned together and ready to sew. 
You are going to layer all of your pieces like this:

1. Take a back piece and lay it facing downward so that the wrong side of the fabric is facing upward toward you.
2. Place the batting or flannel piece next. Get them lined up as best you can.
3. Take a front piece and place it on top of the other two pieces, just make sure the face of the fabric is facing up this time. Again, make sure to line them up the best you can.
4. Pin them together to keep them in place. 
Look at my photos for an example of pin placement. 

Ready to sew!
Once you have your machine threaded and ready to go, sew all the way around the edge of each burp rag and bib. You will use a straight stitch, medium length, your seam allowance will be 1/2" (so place the edge of whatever you are sewing at the 1/2"mark while you are sewing). Remove the pins as you go, so that you don't damage your machine (I'm really bad about this).

When you are finished sewing all your pieces, they should look something like this.

Ready to start snipping?
Now that all of your pieces are sewn together, you can start snipping. Find yourself a comfortable seat. Take your scissors and start "snipping"all the way along the seam allowance. Be careful not to cut into your sew line. I make a snip every 1/4", or so, all the way around. I just eyeball it the best I can. 

Once you are finished they will look like this.

Then all you have to do is run them through the rinse cycle again and throw them in the dryer. This will make the snipped edge "fuzz". Which is the look we are going for.

The best part about these burp rags and bibs is that the more you use them, the softer they become. 

I love this gift b/c it's home made, practical, and new moms love it! Want to know the best part? If you get your fabric on sale, this gift will cost you less then $10. Even less then that if you happen to sew and you have lots of fabric already. These burp rags and bibs are a great way to use up all those small pieces of fabric you just couldn't bear to throw out.

I hoped you liked my tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions. I am off to think of something for next week!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Have a Spooktacular Day!

Happy Thursday!

I have another fun Halloween card for you today.   

When I saw this cute  little ghost, I knew that he would work perfectly with my sentiment. 

The card base is a label shape from the Artiste Cricut cartridge. I adjusted the height a bit and welded two of them together, to form the base of the card.  I love all the fun labels and page shapes in this cart. I see lots of fun shaped cards in my future. :)

The ghost is from Scrapping Bug Designs, she has a peachy face, and the sentiment is from My Creative Time. (links below)

Card Base: Artiste Cricut cart 
Ghost svg: Scrapping Bug Designs, Boo Buddies
Paper: PaperTrey Ink, K and Company
Halloween Twine: Endless Inkabilities
Face Stamp: Peachy Keen stamps, Monster Mash Assortment
Sentiment: My Creative Time's, Treats for My Sweets stamp set

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

3-D Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! 

Today is 3-D Wednesday over at My Creative Time. Since yesterday was Emma's mom's birthday, she asked us all to create a birthday themed project in honor of her mom.

I made a paper flower cone.

 I have always wanted to make one of these flower cones. I cut a party hat svg, turned it upside down, and made it into a flower cone.  I added some white 6"tulle, some flowers, and a   sentiment tag.

Party Hat/Vase SVG: Svgcuts.com, Happy Birthday to You

Tag Die: My Creative Time, Curly Label Die

Sentiment: My Creative Time, Celebrate Good Times

Paper: Authentique, Fresh Collection

White Tulle: Michael's

Blue Hemp Twine: Liz's Paper Loft Boutique

If you want to see more 3-D inspiration, click here!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Happy Happy Halloweenie!

Happy Tuesday!

So  I have to say right off that I am not in love with this card. I love the ribbon, love the witch, love the sentiment, but I just had the worst time trying to create a card. In-fact I was told not to even post it, but I wanted to show you that I have "bad card days" too. :) 

The frame behind the witch measures 3 3/4" x 3 3/4". The witch is 3" tall.

 I actually learned this glitter technique from Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking. I made a tutorial video showing how to do it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

So... back to the card.

I found this ribbon at Michael's, I love it. 

Frame SVG: Lettering Delights 
Witch SVG: Lori Whitlock
Papers: PaperTrey Ink and Core'dinations
Ribbon: Michael's
Sentiment: My Creative Time, All Around Halloween stamp set
Glitter: Martha Stewart, black

Also...

Emma at My Creative Time is starting a fun new thing on her blog today. Tuesday's are now known as "Show Me Your Technique" Tuesday. Each week 3 of the My Creative Time designers will be sharing a new technique. This weeks designer's are:

Amy 

Cassandra

Cathryn

I can't wait to see what fun techniques they have come up with.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Birthday Wishes

Happy Monday!

A couple weeks ago, I bought the new Close to My Heart, Artiste Circut cart. I haven't used my Cricut in forever and I had forgotten what it's little "chirp"sounded like. :) I am loving this new cart! It is chalk full of fun stuff and definitely worth the cost, if you can afford it.  

Today's card is a birthday card.

The card shape/base of the card is from the Artiste cart. It's actually a shaped page for a mini album, but I stood it up and welded two of them together to form the base of my card. Then I took the same shape and shrunk it down and created to layer frame pieces for the front. The overall card size is 4"x 4 5/8". The cupcake was sized to 3 1/2" tall.

Card Base: Artiste Cricut cart

Cupcake SVG: Kadoodle Bug Designs, Pretty Emo Kitty

Paper: PaperTrey Ink, Core'dinations, and My Mind's Eye's, Follow Your Heart collection, bought from Paper Issues.

Ribbon: May Art's 3/4" Turquoise Twill Ribbon with Chevron Stripes

Sentiment: My Creative Time's, Teeny Tag's Greetings Stamp Set

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Post-it Note Holder

Happy Friday!

Today is day five and the final day of my back-to-school, teacher's gift week. Those of you that missed Monday's post, I dedicated this week to inexpensive and easy back-to-school gifts for teacher's.

My project today is a Post-it Note Holder.

I saw the idea for this on Pinterest and thought I would try making one. I found the acrylic frame at the $1 store.  If I make another one, I will probably look at Target and see if I can find a sturdier acrylic frame. 

To put it together, you just cut your decorative paper to size and slide it in, wrap it with ribbon and tie a knot or bow. I also added a sentiment, but you could add a paper piecing/die cut, or a small photo would be cute too. I  also added several rows of ATG tape to the back of the post-it note to make sure that it stays in place.

The sentiment is from Mt Creative Time's set called, My Teacher Rocks. If you don't have a teacher's sentiment stamp set, you could print something out on the computer.

Here's the breakdown

Acrylic Frame: 99 cent store - $1

Papers: Free- from my paper stash

Sentiment stamp: Free- from my stamp stash 

Ribbon: Free - from my ribbon box

Total spent: $1

Whew! What a week! I hope you have gained some inspiration from all the projects. If you would like to see a few more click here, here, here, here, and here.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Personalized Tumbler!

Happy Thursday!

Today is day four of my back-to-school, teacher's gift week. Those of you that missed Monday's post, I am dedicating this week to inexpensive and easy back-to-school gifts for teacher's.

My project today is a altered custom tumbler.

 I made these two tumblers, one for my SIL and one for the other 3rd grade teacher that she teaches with. Both tumblers were purchased at the 99 cent store. I designed the vinyl pieces in Make-the-Cut and cut them out on my Silhouette. The vinyl I used is "outdoor" vinyl, it is more durable and has a better stick to it. These will hold up to being hand washed with out any problem.

Here's the breakdown
Tumblers: 99 cent store - $1 eac
Font: LD Super Duper Cool (Free - Chose a font I already had)
SVG shapes: Lettering Delights (Free - used svg files I had previously purchased)
Vinyl: Free - in my stash

Total $1 eac.

I can't wait to make more of these, I have a ton of ideas swirling around in my head!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Personalized Note Cards & Box

Happy Wednesday!

Today is day three of my back-to-school, teacher's gift week. Those of you that missed Monday's post, I am dedicating this week to inexpensive and easy back-to-school gifts for teacher's.

My project today is a boxed set of custom note cards.

I made a similar set a couple years ago, you can see that post here.  I decided to mix it up a bit and add a bit of patterned paper and some twine. My gift box contains 8 note cards and 8 envelopes. 

The stitched circle die and the "Back to School!" sentiment are both from My Creative Time's Shop.

The personalized sentiment was designed in word and printed onto the card stock. The font is American Typewriter.

I don't have a cost breakdown for you today because all the supplies I used, were supplies that I had on hand.

Products used:
Kraft and colored card stock: Michael's
Pattern paper: We R Memory Keepers, Back to School collection
Apple SVG file: Kerri Bradford Studio, Educationish
Twine: Timeless Twine
Clear Acetate: Staples

Die and stamp: My Creative Time (Direct links above)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a fabulous day!

 

Customized Clip Board

Happy Tuesday!

Today is day two of my back-to-school, teacher's gift week. Those of you that missed yesterday's post, I am dedicating this week to inexpensive and easy back-to-school gifts for teacher's.

My project today is a altered custom clipboard.

 How much fun is this?

I found this fun back-to-school paper in my paper stash. I trimmed it to the same size as the clipboard and then Mod Podged it to the front of the clipboard. Once it finished drying, I sanded and inked all the edges. The solid black paper piece measures 3" x 9" and the red is 2 1/2" x 9, I also inked the edges with black ink. I then attached them 1" up from the bottom edge. I designed/sized the letters in Make-the-Cut: 2 1/2" tall and 7 3/4" wide, then I cut them out in black vinyl, weeded the negative parts off, applied transfer tape, and transfered it to the front of the board. Lastly, I tied ribbon to the "clip" part of the board. 

Clipboard: 99 cent Store

Paper: Free- from my paper stash  

Font: LD Letterman Jacket - Free - already on my computer

Black Vinyl: Free - from my vinyl stash

Ribbon: Free - from my ribbon box

Mod Podge: Free - in my adhesive box

Total cost $1!

The "Mrs. Robinson" was designed in Make- the-Cut and cut out, in back vinyl, with my Silhouette.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a fabulous day!

 

Cutting Edge Magazine and Back to School Week

Happy Monday!

Have you heard about the newest magazine solely devoted to svg's and digital cutting machines? 

For more information about the magazine, click here to go to their website. 

You can also find them (and like them) on Facebook, here. Free subscriptions will be given away when they reach 50 likes, 100, 200 and so on until September 1, 2012. Head on over and see what all the fuss is all about! 

I can't wait to see the 1st issue!

Now on to today's post...

  Since August is the month that most kids find themselves going back to school, I thought it would be fun to devote a week to inexpensive and easy gifts, for the teacher, for that 1st day of school. It's always fun to have a little something to hand the teacher on the way to your desk. :) 

I realize that for most families the whole "going back to school" thing isn't cheap. Between new clothes (uniforms for some), shoes, school supplies, back packs, books, ect... usually most families aren't thinking about teacher gifts. So, I decided to challenge myself  and find things at the dollar store that I could alter with supplies that I already had on had, in my craftroom. All of the projects/gifts that I will be showing you this week will cost under $5, most even less then that.

Ready to get started?

My project today is a pencil holder with a custom vinyl decal.

I found the glass vase at the 99cent store. It measures 3" x 6" tall. I use Make-the-Cut to design the custom vinyl piece. I sized it at 3 1/4", and then cut the design out of black outdoor vinyl. Once I had "weeded" all the extra vinyl off (so that the only vinyl left is the design), I applied transfer tape and then transferred the design to the front of the vase.

I filled my vase with pencils and added some ruler ribbon around the top, but how cute would this been full of school essentials? You could add pencils, pens, highlighters, and a ruler, all of these items can bet purchased at the 99cent/$1 store.

Glass vase: 99 cent store - $1

Font: Girls are Weird (free font)

Black Vinyl: Oh My Crafts (already had the vinyl in my stash)

Pencils: Wal-Mart -$2
Ribbon: Wal-Mart (Purchased last year for another project)

Total cost: $3

Everything was designed in Make-the-Cut and cut out on my Silhouette.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a fabulous day!

 

My Creative Time's August New Release Blog Hop!

Happy Friday!

Today is My Creative Time's new release blog hop! If you have arrived from the super talented, Miss Nikki's blog, then you are on the right track. If you would like to start at the beginning, click here. 

I think this is my favorite MCT release so far! I love all the new holiday sets and the Tri-fold card, envelope, sentiments, and the Just Simply Live sets are so much fun!

My project for today was made with the new, From Our Family To Yours stamp set. 

 I made this cute star and holly tag.

 

 For this card I used the following items:

Papers: PaperTrey Ink, Core'dinations, and Echo Park's, Season's Greeting's Collection

 Sentiment stamp & die: My Creative Time's, From Our Family to Yours and Teeny Tag Greetings Stamp Set
  The star & holly SVG:  My Scrap Chick, Stars and Holly Freebie

    White Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll, Med.

Natural Twisted Burlap Twine: Endless Inkabilities

***BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY ALERT***

For our Blog hop giveaway, there will be 2 winners chosen from ALL the comments combined!  The 1st prize is: A guest design spot for our next release in Sept & the 2nd prize is you can pick $50 worth of products from the "My Creative Time" store! 

All you have to do is leave a comment here along w/the rest of the design team's blogs. Make sure you leave a way for us to contact you!  

Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners! The deadline is Sunday, August 19th at midnight! 

EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

 Your next stop on the hop is the fabulously talented, Shar!

 

 Thanks for hopping with us today! I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Precious Pumpkin

Happy Thursday!

Today is day four of sneaks for My Creative Time's August new release week. Today's project was made with the new set called, Card Sentiments w/ 3 x 3 Fancy Tri-fold Card and 3 x 3 Fancy Envelope Die.

This new set comes with a die that creates a 3 x 3 fancy tri-fold card and ten fun sentiments. There is also a matching 3 x 3 Fancy Envelope die that you can purchase separately. 

This little pumpkin worked perfectly with this sentiment. This new card and envelope die is  perfect for that "last minute" card that you might need to make. 

 For this card I used the following items:

Papers: PaperTrey Ink, Core'dinations, and Echo Parks, The Apothecary Emproium

 Sentiment stamp & die: My Creative Time's,  Card Sentiments
Card and Envelope die: My Creative Time's, Card Sentiments w/ 3 x 3 Fancy Tri-fold Card and 3 x 3 Fancy Envelope Die

 Pumpkin SVG:  Treasure Box Designs, Pumpkin Baby Freebie
Pumpkin face:  Peachy Keen Stamps, Cut-out Pumpkin Faces

    White Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll, Med.

Halloween Twine: Endless Inkabilities

Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!

With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, Emma likes to do some FUN giveaways!

 ***All you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will just have more chances to win!

 ***SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on My Creative Time's Facebook page that you did so! OR you can just tag Emma in your post!

 Emma will randomly pick & announce all winners on Friday, August 17th during the blog hop, that starts @ 12:01am PST! 

GOOD LUCK!

To see more sneaks, click here.


See you back here tomorrow for the big reveal blog hop! Eep! I can't wait!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Love, Love, Love!

Happy Wednesday!

Today is day three of My Creative Time's August release sneak peeks! Today's project was made with the new set called, Just Simply Live. This set comes with a ton of fun sentiments and two really cool dies.

I made a super quick and easy frame for my fridge.

I cut out both the frame and sentiment die. Love the look of the sentiment die, it looks like a piece of washi tape, so fun! All of the sentiments in the set fit perfectly on the die. 

So... back to my frame... after I cut out my decorative paper frame, I attached the photo to the back with some tape. Then I cut a second frame piece out of a medium weight chipboard. I applied the chipboard piece to the back of the decorative paper to add some stability to the frame. Lastly, I applied some sticky backed magnet to the back, so that I could add it to my fridge! So fun right?!?

These would make super quick and fun stocking stuffer's or they would even be a great way to spruce up and display school photos.  

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him! 

For this project I used the following items:

Papers: We R Memory Keepers, Down the Boardwalk Collection

 Sentiment stamp & die: My Creative Time's, Just Simply Live (w/coordinating die)
 Shaped dies: My Creative Time's, Just Simply Live (w/coordinating die)

     Magnet: Joanns

If you would like to see some more fun sneaks, click here. See you back here tomorrow with another!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!