Easy Wipe Off Placemats

My family is going to visit my sister Tiffany in October, so I have scheduled this post for then so that she won't know about these beforehand.  I wanted to share you an easy project that my toddler and I put together as a small gift for his cousin and family.  We wanted to make Easy Wipe off Placemats.  This is how they turned out:

We used the Yo Gabba Gabba Characters because that is what my nephew is into.  One character for each family member is on the front. Then "We love you" and Jesse's scribbles on the back with a border. Two sided! They are laminated in Contact Paper so you can just wipe them down and reuse them.


Jesse and I first cut a regular posterboard into 4 equal parts

Then we cut out our printed characters, glued them on, and named them for family members:

Then decide what you want on the reverse side, and if your child is helping, let them have at it:

Crafting in style:

Then cut out a big piece of contact paper that will fit over both sides and apply it (make sure the kids aren't putting bubbles in it if they are helping with this step).  Smooth out and there you go:

Simple but it will make dinner time more fun and remind them that their Cali family Loves them! 

O Christmas Tree-- You need an Ornament!

Aren't Ornaments the best? Tiffany and I have tried to exchange ornaments for Christmas every year since we both got married and I love the tradition.  Others love it too!! Check out this awesome Ornament Exchange and sign up! 

It should be lots of fun and you have until November 1st to sign up!  So hurry over there and sign up to make and receive an adorable ornament! 

Sometimes you need to make something for yourself!

I made this gorgeous number for myself last night:

I love it - and the best part (other than wearing it around town) is that it got me out of the rut of finishing projects I HAD to do for other people...now I'm re-excited about sewing some new stuff up! :)

And on top of everything, today is Friday! Hope everyone finds some time to get some sewing/quilting/crafting done today!!

Only 9 More Days!!!

In just 9 short days, my lovely sister Melissa and her "boys" are coming to visit me and mine! So exciting! I'm glad that I will meet my nephew, and she my son.  Hopefully the boys (her husband, mine, and the two little ones) will be able to entertain themselves a day, without disaster, so we can get some crafting done!  We have a couple cute projects in mind...so expect pictures...and maybe a surprise tutorial!  If we can fit it in with visiting, catching up, spoiling of nephews, etc :)

Enjoy the rest of the week!!

The joys of children!

A few days a week I help a friend and babysit their little one.  It's great playtime for my little man, since they are all but a couple weeks apart in age!
Some days, they nap separately, and weird things like this happen :

Isn't he a cute little goof?

Usually - the house looks like this:

We had to buy two brooms - they fought over who could "sweep".

Kids - endless entertainment :D

-Tiffany-

Oh boy! I've decided to enter

Oh boy!  I can't believe it! After talking to Tiffany, I was able to get up enough courage to enter my Santa's Undies into the Crafting with the Stars competition.  Go check out the competition and look at all the amazing ideas that people have put up so far!

Santa's Undies!

I know that is only October, but this would be a great thing to start on for stocking stuffers or to hand out to friends and neighbors!  

Santa's Undies!! 

These cute little things have candies inside!  Here is the saying that goes with them:

We looked for stockings but couldn't find a spare

So we ended stuffing Santa's Underwear.

Cute right? 

I made a Santa's Suit one, as well as a green pair.  Both are really cute.  Here are some more pictures of the front and backs:

My son going in for a grab of lifesaver candies

Chocolate covered raisins

Want to make some of your own?  This is my first attempt at sharing a PDF. Here is the pattern:

Santa Undies

Let's see if that works!

All you do is cut out the front and back and bum flap on felt.  I used a blanket stitch on the two shown, but I have previously hand sewn it just rustic looking. You could also machine sew it.  Make sure to attach the bum flap before you sew the front and back together.   Once you have sewn it, cut out a heart on card stock and write the cute message on it and attach with ribbon or embroidery floss.

Fill with candy and you are finished.

Wouldn't this be cute for kids, nieces, nephew, grandkids, friends, etc!

Little Trick or Treat Bags

My lovely lovely sister Melissa and her family are flying out to visit me and mine the end of this month.  I am so so so excited!  I haven't seen my little nephew yet, and he is almost 2!!!  This will be such an awesome visit!

Because it's so close to halloween, we will be doing some family outings for the boys in costume - Jesse will be Buzz Lightyear, and Everett will be Woody.  (We will blog and post photos when the costumes are done.)

So - since the kids will be dressing up, they needed treat bags! Quilts and More magazine - fall 2010 - had the perfect little bags on their cover!  I had the black skull fabric on hand, and ran quick to the store to buy some accenting fabric, and whipped up these two bad boys!

Insides

In my hand - so you can see how cute of a size they are!!!

I think I might whip some of these out for Christmas time - secret santas etc.  Can put some cute little gifts in and give as a thank you to someone, to a teacher, or even just a "just because" little gift!

Adventures with a Bento Box

(I have been having major troubles loading pictures into blogger lately. I double checked to see if the train was right in the picture, but it came out vertical.  Sorry.  Trying to work on that.)

My son is almost two and while I go to work, my mother in law watches him.  His nap time is during lunch and so it has sometimes been hard for her to get him to sit down and eat lunch. I thought it might be nice if I made some lunches from mom for him to have during the day.  I have read recently about Bento Box Lunches and have decided to give them a try.

My first step was to buy a cute little box and some accessories. I bought some things at Wal-Mart, Joanns, and the Dollar Store. But I found the bento box  at the Disney Store. It was $5.50 and a great size for him.  He had spaghetti for dinner and so he is having leftovers. I cut out cheese with a train cookie cutter.

For the second layer of his bento box, I made a small sandwich with sourdough bread and a slice of dry salami.  I used little silicone cups to separate the train sandwich and the gold fish from his dried fruit (he loves fruit).  

I also told Hope (my awesome mother in law) its okay if he eats his regular snacks (string cheese, apples, etc). We'll see how much he eats.

Here is everything packed up in his new "mouse" lunch box:

Now I need to just start packing my own lunches like this so that I eat better at work. :D  

Preview - A quilt for my Mom

Here it is, quilt top almost finished.  Gonna add a border all around, then I think it will be all done.  I have a pinwheel addiction atm, can you tell?? :D

The middle blocks are called Double Spinwheels.  Go visit Marcia at quilters cache! She has a great collection of blocks.  I think that I picked the perfect block to go with my pinwheels!

Birthday Present

My husband's aunt lives a couple of states away, so with her birthday coming up I wanted to send her something that wouldn't cost a lot to ship, but that she would enjoy. and use.

I first decided on fabric.  She is a very talented singer and so I decided on a simple musical notes fabric.  Then I went ahead and made some hot pads. The hot pads were similar to the ones Ive made previously from The Idea Room's pattern. I tried square ones this time.  I like the size, but the bias tape didn't come out perfectly. Corners are difficult. :)

I also made a simple card.  The card is brown, not purple.  

Her birthday is on saturday so Im hoping it gets there on time. 

Happy Birthday

My son's new Bow Tie

I sometimes star things in my google reader and then forget about them. Occasionally I think "I have a million projects I want to try, but no time or money."  I was looking through my starred items when I came across the bow tie tutorial from Scraps and Strings.  It looked fairly simple enough and I didn't need a lot of fabric. I bought a fat quarter on my trip to Wal-Mart Saturday night. Sunday morning I cut and started sewing.  Things never go according to plan, so I finished the tie by hand sewing the last few steps during the announcements in Sacrament Meeting. (Bad Melissa I know!).  Although I don't know which is worse. Sewing during church, or taking a picture with a camera phone so that I can blog about it!

Thanks

for an awesome blog on my list. Thanks Ruth for an easy to follow tutorial!  

Okay, Go check them out! 

 

The Stitchery Reveal

Here is my finished stitchery that I have made into a pillow. The pattern is from Twin Stitchers.

It is for my mother in law.  It is all her grand-kids on a swing set. Recently she lined up all the California grand kids on the swing set out front and took some pictures. I thought it would be really nice if I could go ahead and make it into a pillow for her.  It was my first pillow and I think next time I will use a pillow form instead of pillow batting... I felt it was a bit too lumpy for my liking.  But its just for decorations so I guess its okay.

Also,  I need to learn how to hand blind stitch.  Really need to learn. Oy vey.