Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!

March Snow Showers bring Fabric Flowers

It snowed this weekend. But I was in the mood for flowers. So, I used Cami's Sizzix and some super cool wool fabric that I got from my mom's stash and I made some fabric flowers. I met a girl in my neighborhood a few months ago that was wearing a fabric flower similar to these. I asked her how she made them and she kind of explained it to me. So, I thought I would do my version and see how it turned out.

For these flowers you will need 6 flowers. We cheated and cut the flowers out on the Sizzix with a flower die. You could trace and hand cut the flowers if you want. I am using different colors in my sample flower so that you can see the layering easier.
Step 1: Take your first two flowers and off set them. Using a needle and thread, just pull the need through from the back.
Step 2: Fold the other 4 flowers in half (I ironed mine for the picture, but don't do that. You want them to fluff up).
Step 3: Layer the flowers like you would fold closed the top of a box... turning a quarter turn for every flower.

Step 4: Put your layered flowers on top of your other two flowers and pull that needle through the flowers again. Sew a couple of stitches through to make sure you get every layer.
Step 5: With that threaded needle still in your flower, sew a button in the middle.

Now, my multi-colored flower is a little wonky... but kind of cute. But let me show you some of my cuter flowers.
Gotta love my mom's stash of fabric!!!
-Anisa

Creative Guest on Ucreate!

I am soooo excited!!! I am going to be the Creative Guest on Ucreate !!! I love Ucreate. I always check out this blog when I'm looking for inspiration. I will be doing a tutorial on how to make my picture frames with vinyl images on the glass!

You can see more of my frames here.

If you are interested in purchasing some frames already made, visit my Etsy shop.


-Anisa

Applique Tutorial

A few months ago our 1 craft 3 ways was applique.

I thought that it would be appropriate to do a tutorial on exactly how to do an applique.

1. Make a pattern of what you want to applique. I am going to applique a tie on my little boy's shirt. I just hand drew the tie, but you could trace an actual tie.
2. Trace the pattern onto an iron on product such as Heat-n-bond.
3. Place the Heat-n-bond onto the wrong side of the fabric.
4. Cut the heat-n-bond and the fabric down to a size that is a little bigger than your pattern. Then iron the heat n bond onto the fabric according to package directions.
5. Cut your pattern out and peel the paper backing off.
6. Iron the applique onto whatever you are attaching it to according to package directions.

7. Now comes the fun part. You need to sew around the edges to keep them from fraying. There are several ways to do this. You could use embroidery floss and do it by hand. I chose to use my sewing machine and do a zig zag stitch.

8 Sew all the way around and you are done!
I had bought this shirt on clearance at Old Navy for 97cents. It was kind of plain and I wanted to dress it up a bit. I wasn't sure if my 5 year old would like it or not. When I showed it to him he absolutely loved it! I think he will look so adorable in this with some tan pants. It totally looks like a grandpa tie.

Anisa was featured!

Angie and I just wanted to toot Anisa's horn for her and let you know her towel beach bag was featured on U create!

Way to go, Anisa!

If you somehow missed her awesome tutorial, click here.

--C

Beach Towel Bag Tutorial

Beach Towel Bag Tutorial....

Supplies:

• 1 Beach Towel (I bought the cheapest at Walmart)


• 5 yards gros grain ribbon (just to be safe)


• Sewing machine


• Thread to match ribbon

Step #1- Fold the towel in half

Step #2- From the open side, measure in 22" and cut the towel (You are essentially cutting out the center of the towel. The excess that you cut off will make a pocket for the front of the bag)
Step #3- Turn the towel and cut off about 4-5 inches of one side of the towel (otherwise the bag is just TOO big). You may want to serge or zig zag stitch any of the unfinished edges of the towel.
Step #4- Now take the excess piece that you cut out of the center of the towel. This is going to be a pocket. The top of the pocket is going to be one of the edges that is already finished. From that end, measure down 18" and cut the other edge off.
Step #5- Take the pocket and place it on one of the pieces of your bag. You will want all of the finished edges to be at the TOP of the bag. You will want your pocket to be about 5-6 inches down from the top of the bag. You are going to sew ribbon over the sides of the pocket so that none of the unfinished portion will show. Pin the pocket into place.
Step #6- Sew the pocket onto the bag. Do NOT sew the top of the pocket (or you won't be able to put anything in your bag:)
(I had a little excess on the bottom that I had to cut off only because I wanted the pattern to match up)
Step #7- Place right sides of the towels together and pin just the bottom of the bag.

Step #8- Sew the bottom of the bag... do NOT sew any of the sides or the top.  You still want to be able to open it up fully to attach the ribbon.
Step #9- open your bag up and lay it front side up on the floor or on a table.
Step #10- Pin your handles all around your bag. I made the actual handle part of the bag 32". You will want to make sure the ribbon covers the side of your pockets.
Step #11- Sew right on the edge of your gros grain ribbon... sew both sides.
Step #12- Fold the towel right sides together.
Step #13- Sew down the side of your bag (starting at the top) until you are about 6-8 inches from the bottom of the bag.
Step #14- Open up the part you didn't sew and ...
...put that part together.
Step #15- sew the open part together. (I hope these pictures make sense) Do this on both sides of the bag. It just makes a flat bottom to the bag.
Step #16- Flip your bag right side out and you will have an awesome bag to take to the pool!!!
Please feel free to email me at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com if you have any questions.

-Anisa

Fabric Baskets

I have been wanting to make a fabric basket (or 2 or 3) for storage in my craft room.  I just love all of the fun different fabrics that are out there.

Here are some sites with great tutorials on fabric baskets.  (I haven't tried any of them yet, so if you do, let me know how hard they are)  Just click on the link below the picture and it will take you to a tutorial on how to make each of these darling baskets.

Crazy Mom Quilts

J. Caroline Creative

Pink Penguin

-Anisa

P.S.  Our giveaway is still open until Sunday...

P.P.S.  Which baskets do you think I should make?  Leave a comment and let me know.