1 Hour Last Minute Gifts

I don't know why I haven't thought to make these for more people for Christmas, so this may be on the list for everyone next year.

This is one of those other last minute Christmas gifts I did yesterday.

My girls are constantly snatching my rice bag.  I thought I should just go ahead and make them their own.

I made all of them 1 larger bag and then 2 little hand size bags.  They'll probably end up being more like fun bean bags to throw around.

However, if you were making them for adults, you can heat any of these up and use them as heating pads for your back or use the little ones for hand warmers when you're going out in the cold.

I even thought it would make a great gift for hunters...just make sure the fabric is camo or something instead of the flowers and monkeys.  Everyone likes hand warmers, right?

To make all of these, it literally took exactly an hour.  Perfect for a quick last minute gift.

Jewelry Box Redo

 I always seem to be working on something last minute for Christmas.  This year it was a couple of things.

First off, this (not so) pretty little jewelry box.  

 

Found at Goodwill for $4.99...which was actually more than I wanted to spend, but was the only jewelry box in 2 thrift stores.

I think it turned out pretty much as I imagined. 

It's for my oldest daughter and all of the fabric on it will be used in her quilt for her bed.  I'm all about the matching stuff.  

I Mod Podged the fabric on the drawers and replaced the glass with a doubled layer of cardstock covered in material.

Can't wait for her to open it Christmas morning. :)

I Can Crochet (well, kinda)!

I have never crocheted a single thing in my life.  But I might just be a crocheter now.  Just what i need...more projects that I want to do.

I saw this rug that someone had made...yes, on Pinterest, and figured I could surely do it too.

Then I saw she was crocheting it...

I'll tell you, it almost made me not even look at how to do it, but I decided to press on.  It really is very simple and very repetitive.  Shoot, you use a crochet hook the size of a baseball bat so it can't be too difficult.  Ok, not that big, but you get my point.

I've always wanted a rug in my baby's room for some reason.  So I happened to have some old sheets that will match my navy and white theme in my soon to be baby boy's room.

I bought a plastic crochet hook, the 11mm, which is one step away from the largest I saw at Joanne's.

I ended up using all of 2 sheets (queen size).

In the tutorial she suggests cutting your sheet a few inches and then just tearing your sheets in strips, which I did with my white one, but my navy sheet would.not.tear.

I ended up using my rotary cutter.  The strips don't have to be exact so I didn't even use my ruler.  I actually think this was faster and easier in the end.  Then your strips are also already folded up and you don't have to wind them up in a ball.  It seemed to go quickly even when you have to attach the strips together.

 I wanted a round rug instead of an oval (like in the tutorial) so I didn't really know how often to make a chain stitch. 

I just put one in here and there when I felt like I was really having to reach to get to the next loop.  Does my rug lay perfectly flat?  Nope.  Does it still look fine to me?  Yes.  For my first time to make a rug and crochet, I'm pretty happy with it.

I guess my daughter's are too since now I have a request for one in each of their rooms.  This really would be pretty in zebra print and pink.

This is where I learned how to do this rug...http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2010/02/rag-rug-tutorial.html.   She has a video that shows you just how to do it.  Really helpful.

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

Now that EVERYONE is addicted to Pinterest...I have to share some more fun things I've actually done since pinning crafty ideas.  I got the rainbow rice from someone on there too.

I made this great Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring the other morning.  So simple and the family loved it.

Here's the recipe I started with:

2 tubes (10 count each - I even used the generic brand) refrigerator buttermilk biscuits

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 C. syrup

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. chopped pecans, opt.

Spray a bunt pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts (if desired).

Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. 
Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Now, the things I did differently.
I used 3 tubes of the biscuits because 2 just didn't seem to fill up the ring very much.  Not thinking, I should of increased the other ingredients, but didn't.
Next time I will double the syrup and sugar mixtures.  I will also pour the syrup mixture in every so often as I lay in my biscuits to get it good and in there.  I also didn't have pecans on hand, but will absolutely use them next time.
Lastly, this took 25 minutes to cook instead of 15.

It was really great this first go around, but next time they'll be even better since I've tried them out.

This is where I got the original recipe...http://all-things-delicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/sticky-bun-breakfast-ring.html.
Enjoy!

*Update: A friend tried doubling the syrup and sugar mixtures and said she ended up with it pouring into the floor.  Guess it was a little TOO much (so sorry!).  So instead of completely doubling those mixtures, just use about 1 1/2 times the recipe if using 3 cans of biscuits.  Which actually makes sense, right? 

Rainbow Rice

This week I'm trying to be more fun, I guess you could say.  I realized that I don't play and craft with my girls as much as I would like.  I'm being a stay-at-home mom, but have really been more of a run errands and try to get things done mom.

Ever feel that way?

So I'm going to try to balance it out and enjoy these early years with my kids while they're not at school all day.  And for the one that IS at school all day, try to do some fun & creative things when she's home.

I found this fun idea to do with rice on Pinterest...I know I'm not the only addict out there.

All you need is rice, food coloring and rubbing alcohol.  I didn't end up using nearly as much food coloring as what I read to use.  I would just add more if you want the color richer.

I used about 1/2 TBS of food coloring (at the very most 1 TBS) mixed with 3 TBS of alcohol and dumped it in 4 cups of rice inside of a ziplock bag.

I used what liquid food coloring I had and made green and yellow.  I had some of the gel food coloring and it worked fine, but I think it takes more to make the color as vibrant.

The girls liked helping mix it up in the bags.

 After it's all colored you spread it out on a cookie sheet and let it sit in the sun.  It doesn't take long for it to dry.

I dumped ours in some plastic containers, knowing full well it would never stay there, however.  

 

She asked if she could mix the colors...like she wouldn't have done it anyways.

So I swept off the porch really good so that we could recollect the rice and play again later.

 It made for a great flower garden, or place to bury Barbies, whichever you prefer.

My girls love playing in the sand, and this is somewhat of a substitute.

*Oh, and why on earth do I have all of that rice?  My mom brought it to me because it was old and was starting to get bugs in it.  I didn't have to buy the rice, so it made an even more fun activity.  And we only found one bug the whole time. :)

Here's the link I got the idea from.

http://shareandremember.blogspot.com/2011/06/rainbow-rice-garden-sensory-play.html

Crafty Gift Ideas

My sweet friend is getting married this Saturday so she got to be my guinea pig for some crafts I've been wanting to make.

I'm in such a mood to decorate for Fall & Christmas, I figured she should be too.

I took 3 wooden blocks and Mod Podged scrapbook paper on them and cut out the letters on my Cricut to Mod Podge on top of that.  Really quick and simple...why haven't I made one for myself?!

Pumpkin with painted monogram.

Clear Christmas ornament with painted monogram.

What is supposed to happen is the wedding invitation is supposed to get cut in strips and placed inside...I just didn't have the invite yet.

I think this would be a cute keepsake for a wedding or a baby or whatever occasion you want to be sentimental about.

I ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WAIT to decorate for Christmas.  It hurts.  I will FOR SURE be decorating for Fall on Friday though.  Maybe that will hold me out until after Thanksgiving.  I'm also thinking about wearing jeans, long sleeve shirt, boots etc. on Friday in honor of Fall, even if it's 100 degrees.  I'm so ready.

Happy Crafting!

Girls Shrug

My 1st grader can't wear tank tops/spaghetti strap tops to school so I knew this was the perfect excuse to make some little shrugs for her to give us more options for tops this year.

Ok, so I've only done one so far, but I love how it turned out.

I took this old tee that had some weird spots on it

and turned it into this.

Pretty simple. I cut the bottom off according to how long I wanted it on her and cut a slit right up the middle of what was left.

Then I used another old white shirt and made ruffles about 1 1/2" wide.  I would have used the part I cut from the tee, but it wasn't quite enough.

I pinned it around the edge of the shirt where I cut it and sewed it on. Voila! Done. In less than an hour. And next time it should take even less time.

I also grabbed an elastic headband and sewed a leftover ruffle to it.  Next time I won't do such a long ruffle, but I still like how it turned out too.

I love t-shirt material (or any other non-raveling material) because you don't have to hem it and it still looks great.

I want to make so many now. Some long sleeved ones for winter, ones with contrasting ruffles, some with flowers on them...just have to go dig up some other stained (or not stained) little shirts now.

Cakes & Cupcakes

Since moving back to OK, I have gotten the opportunity to make a lot of cakes & cupcakes.

It has been fun.

In between I've managed to whip up a few other things I'll post soon.

For now, just wanted to post pics of yummy stuff.

 Ice cream cone cupcakes (that I forgot to take a decent picture of).

 THE heaviest cake I've ever made.  It had to weigh 50lbs.  Learned how to make bows for the first time...what to do & NOT to do.

Nothing like being back in OK for some OU pride.

Tonight I get to make bowling cupcakes & a bachelorette party cake...I'll be sure to post only the appropriate pictures.

Bedspreads (FINALLY DONE!)

So it only took about 2 years to finally complete these, but I set a goal to have them done before our big move back to Oklahoma and I DID IT!I started with a massive pile of ruffles. About 10x the amount shown here.Which if you ever decide to do, invest in something called a ruffle foot for your machine. Which I'm sure most experienced seamstresses know about, but I sure didn't.

Then I used about 200 pins when I laid out the ruffles before sewing them on the pink top. I hate pinning, but it was a must.Now my girls hate me pinning too...we keep finding leftover pins in the bedspreads.

So my tutorials are short and simple.

I made a million feet of ruffles, pinned them on the pink top of the bedspread and then sewed down the middle of the ruffle.
I did add a detail that I'm so glad I did. I put a rope edge around the bedspread. I think it makes it look finished.
Then I just used black cotton material for the back. I didn't use any batting in between since the top was a thick fabric.

So, I think I finished my girls' room just in time to move out my oldest to make room for a new baby...DUE DECEMBER 15th!!! We're very excited!

Up next, (hopefully it'll take less time than these bedspreads did) a red & white bedroom for my almost 6 year old.

Shirring Everything!

I have shirred everything in my path lately! Still on my "using what I have to make things" kick, so I have literally cut up most every piece of clothing that I was intending on getting rid of (and have come close to cutting up perfectly good things that look like fun to shirr).

T-shirts make the prettiest dresses...it's amazing.
My girls' dresses were from 3 of my old shirts cut into 5" wide strips. I shirred the top tier and kept adding tiers until the dress was long enough for that girl. I added braided straps to the older girls' dresses.
On this dress I shirred a few rows at the top of a strip of t-shirt and sewed them on the top tier at an angle for the sleeves.

I made 3 of these shirts for my girls out of my old pajama pants and a t-shirt.
The top of this dress was my old shirt and then I added strips from a t-shirt on the bottom.This was made from an old dress I had.These next dresses were probably the most time consuming. I bought a dress for Easter/Graduation and I actually hadn't planned on making the girls'. Then I found an old shirt (the orange color) and it matched my dress exactly. I knew I had to come up with something.
So these are made from their Daddy's old dress shirt, and other random shirts from my giveaway pile.

I loved the fullness of the tiered skirt for my middle girl. I was literally having to piece together small sections of material to make it work, but in the end it did.

If you want a quick easy way to figure up how to make one of these skirts, this is a great place to look...http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/05/28/sew-a-tiered-ruffled-skirt/.
They actually give you a calculator (which would have been handy about 6 hours before I found it).

With all of this shirring going on, I had to repurpose this dress I had. I loved it, but the pattern had become a little overwhelming to me.
So I cut it off under the keyhole and added black to the top (some old shorts I had) and shirred it.
I'm not crazy about the low belt, but I didn't have any choice. It was normally supposed to tie in the back, but it looked better in the front after the alterations.

So, I have to take a break from shirring...I have to move halfway across the country. Just hopefully when I get there I have something left to shirr.

If you've never shirred anything before here's a great youtube video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckKmm1cPFs
Also, I have found that light weight non-stretchy material is the best for shirring.

Leapster Cartridge Rollup

I was tired of seeing these laying around everywhere.Not like they're cheap (unless you get them on Craigslist, but still).

This is what I came up with.
The first try was ok, but I was afraid the games would all fall out the top when rolled up.

Then I got to thinking about it and this worked a lot better.
I wish I would have seen the Leapster Cartridge Wallets beforehand, but couldn't ever find anything to hold all of the games around Christmastime. I thought they just didn't have anything out there...not so.

This one is so much cuter though!

I wanted something that 1) held all of the games or I could make 2 to hold them all and 2) something where they could see the games so they didn't have to take every.single.game. out to find what they wanted.

Here's how I did it.
I'm on a "use what I have in my craft closet to make things" type of deal, so I had to be creative. It ended up working in my favor b/c I wouldn't have thought of this material for the transparent part.

I cut up this bag I was using to hold other craft items. It's a hard mesh...that's the only way I know to describe it. I was planning on using some sort of plastic, but I think this was better.

I cut 2 pieces of coordinating fabric 22 1/2" X 4 1/2". I cut the mesh into 3" X 4 1/2" pieces. I used 1/4" seam for everything.

I used the binding off of the mesh bag I cut up to finish the tops of the little pockets.
After I sewed the binding on the pockets, I spaced them out on top of one my pieces of material (right side up) and pinned them in place. It ended up being about 1 1/4" between each pocket.
Then I stitched down the middle of each pocket and across the bottom of each pocket. I added a piece of elastic at the bottom to keep the roll together when it's closed up. Place the other piece of fabric on top so right sides are together and sew around all but the top edge. Leave that open so you can turn it.
*This is from the 1st attempt, but wanted to show you how I put the elastic in and material together before sewing around it.

After you turn it right side out you can go along the edge and stitch a finishing stitch if you desire (and close up your opening). If you want to do this, you will want to cut your pieces of fabric 23" X 5" and your pockets 3" X 5" to give enough room.

The finished product rolled up.
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