fabric yarn factory

So, you know those potholders you made when you were little with the looper thingies?

Kinsley has been making those for awhile and we decided it was time to make some nicer ones.

So, yesterday it was a fabric yarn factory in our house. Once I got making it, it was sortof addicting and therapeutic to rip all that fabric. Plus, Kinsley gets going on these things and she churns the potholders out, so I wanted a nice stash of fabric yarn ready for her :) Most of it is from vintage sheets.

I bought an awesome loom from Craftsanity. They have a few different sizes, I am thinking about getting another size or two if Kinsley keeps making them.


Here is a finished one that I made, I had to try it out too! They are fun and quick to make, no wonder Kinsley loves them!
Kinsley is going to make these to sell at craft shows with me isn't that the cutest? My 10 year old artist :)

Crafty to do list

I have always loved butterflies and this pillow is so cute from Ruffles and Stuff.

I love these no sew flowers on Made.

aren't these cute? Tutorial on Noodlehead.

a chore chart seen on Calico.

I want to make my own version of this quilt.

I also want to make this Recycled Roses Wreath from Alisa Burke.

and also this shrink plastic statement necklace from Alisa Burke. (I even already ordered my shrink plastic)

Cupcake and cake stand tutorial of sorts

I just love a cupcake with a stand all it's own. And it's super easy to make too.

The cupcake by the way is homemade by me, and it is part way sugar free if that makes any sense. Casey's birthday was on Monday and he requested his favorite German Chocolate. So I experimented with the Stevia baking blend again with success this time! The icing I was afraid to experiment with so that has sugar. These cupcakes are delish I tell you and you wouldn't even guess that the cake had no sugar in it. Anyways on to the tutorial.

Here's what you need:
Plates: I purchased mine at Anthropologie in the sale section months ago. The small plates went with teacups, but the teacups were missing, so I got them for a steal, and they are perfectly sized for cupcakes. You could get plates anywhere, your cupboard, the thrift store, anywhere.

Candlesticks, votive holders, really anything that would serve as a base for your plate.
I got mine at the thrift store.

Glue: I used E6000, you could use epoxy too, not sure if one is better than the other, I just used what I had on hand.

First, make sure everything is clean and dry. Then you could take some sandpaper and rough up the spots where you will glue together. I didn't because I didn't feel like finding the sandpaper. Then just glue together.


I tried to get a shot with glue on the candlestick, didn't really work.
You want to put enough glue to get it attached good, but not too much, you don't want glue oozing out all over the place.

Then let them dry, for however long your glue says, E6000 says 24-72 hours.

Now you have some super cute cupcake or cake stands!

Now bake a yummy cake or cupcakes to put on them!

I would recommend hand washing your new plates.

A small list of some of the things I want to make someday soon

*A Summer swing skirt at the Moda Bake Shop.
*Fabric bracelet from this tutorial that I purchased awhile ago and haven't gotten around to making yet. She also has a cute blog here.
*3 quilts for my girls using this tutorial from cluck cluck sew, my girls have even picked the fabrics out, now I just have to make myself start them.
*I would love to make my own version of this necklace, because I could never afford it, but I LOVE it!
* Wanting to make felt cookies and cupcakes for Christmas gifts from this pattern.
* also for Christmas I want to make a Princess and the Pea set like this one at Soule Mama.

I hope you find this list as fun as I do, i really get excited about a good project :)

Bird on a wire

My day today was consumed by these bird on a wire shirts.
In May I am setting up shop at The Urban Bird Festival at the Tracy Aviary.
The lady in charge of the events there found me on Etsy and wanted to know if I would like to sell my bird related items there, heck yeah! How fun! So I of course will have my usual things, but I have been trying to think of fun ideas just for this event. I thought of these and was super excited about them. I really wanted some things that would be inexpensive, I was thinking if I took my kids to this and they wanted a fun souvenir it would have to be something cheap.
These shirts I will be selling for $6, I would totally spend that amount, perfect!

I make these shirts with inexpensive Hanes shirts and spray paint. I've made pirate versions before and they have been very popular.
All I did was find an image of a bird I liked, cut it out of a scrap of paperboard like what a cereal box is made of. Then covered my work area (I did this outside) and layed my shirt down and placed my stencil where I wanted it and sprayed around it, soooo easy!
Then I let them dry, turn them inside out and wash them, and now you have an awesome shirt!
If you make any, I would always wash them inside out, I think it just helps it not fade so much.

The last picture I just thought looked cool, the bird on the left is my stencil after painting ALOT of shirts, and the one on the right is the excess paint.

Scrappy banner

If you are anything like me, you are always looking for ways to use up scrap fabric. I have always wanted to make some banners, but never got around to it until today. I needed something different, fast and easy to do. I don't know about you but I am ready for warmer weather, I have been in kind of a funk lately!
So easy! I cut about a 3 yard length of jute twine, dug through my fabric scraps and just cut strips to fold over the twine and sewed it on! I used a rotary cutter to cut my strips, but you wouldn't have to, I wasn't going for perfect, all the fabrics are different sizes, and I love the way it turned out, and it only took about half an hour from start to finish!

Fabric wrapped letters

photo via Goody Goody

When I ran across this idea, I loved it. Instructions are here at Goody Goody.

I'm thinking Christmas ornaments, fun project with the kids, wouldn't it look cute in a bird or owl shape? Oh the possibilities and a great way to use up that huge bag of scraps that I have.

Happy Halloween!

My kids decided all on their own that they would take care of some of the leaves today. How could I deny them their right to do what they please? They even found ways of making it easier to get the leaves into the can. Oh! and do you see our new fence! I am very happy that we have a finished fence! Well almost finished, it just needs sealed now, hopefully we can get it done before the weather turns too nasty.

And here they are dumping the leaves in the street (the city comes around and sucks them up with a leaf sucking truck) Sorry I don't know what else to call it:)

While my kids were raking leaves, I was playing around on the internet and found these cute Halloween paper dolls at Sarah Jane Studios. You can download them and print them up, so cute!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I know it's Halloween tommorrow!

Yes, I know it's Halloween tomorrow, but these ornaments are one of the projects I have been working on.

I had to share them because I think they are so stinking cute. They are super simple to make too, I just sandwiched two layers of felt in between fabric, sewed it all together with the hang string sandwiched in the middle and the bird I first fused it on then I hand stitched around it. Ta-da your finished!

I also had to share what the lace thrifting fairies guided me to. I love all of it. I had the idea when I was looking through all of it to make a lace skirt. I think I would just start by making a white skirt and then covering the entire thing with all different lace, I think it would be so pretty.
If I don't post tomorrow, Happy Halloween!

Family Fun

While our Family was in Park City this weekend we went to a fun place called Color Me Mine .

We each picked out what we wanted to paint, I think we spent about 2 1/2 hours there, everyone had fun. My kids said that it was the funnest thing they had ever done. Here's all of our finished pieces.


This is Sage's seahorse, it turned out so cute! She hugged it when she saw it all finished.

Jade's very cute, colorful turtle, it's shell lifts up and it's a box, Jade says her treasures will go in there.

Kinsley's Unicorn in her favorite colors, she even did little tiny dots for the eyes.

Casey's travel mug with flames of course, there is even a plastic lid for the top.

And I painted a plate.

I would definitely recommend going somewhere like this as a family. Just be prepared to spend a bit of money, it is not cheap, but it's worth it.

Vintage Wallpaper Project

I said I would share my idea for the vintage wallpaper that I thrifted last week. So, easiest project ever. All you do is cut the wallpaper to fit the front of your card, glue it on, and this is important!, Put the finished cards under heavy books while they dry or else they will become all warped. I also used vintage contact paper, and that was even easier, just cut it out, peel off the back and stick it on! So easy and so cute in my opinion!I made up a bunch to sell at Oh sweet Sadie! this weekend. I am very pleased with how they turned out!

Pocket People

My daughter's fourth birthday party was on Sunday and this is what she got from Mom and Dad. First let me explain that I normally don't do this much for birthdays, but I fell in love with these pocket people that Becky creates and sells in her esty store called Whosies and Whatnots. I just think they are the cutest things ever! Becky lives close by me, and she agreed to do a trade! So then I got this idea in my head that they couldn't be homeless, so I made a house for the pocket people and furniture and accessories. I will just say that when I really like something, I tend to go a bit crazy!

Rooms in the Pocket People's house

So this is each room of the pocket people's house, Soooooooo cute! I wish I had toys like this when I was little. I spent most of my nights last week making all the furniture, it was fun to do something other than sewing! The walls in the house are covered in vintage contact paper, and Martha Stewart wrapping paper that I found on clearance at Michael's for $1 a package! The furniture was just blocks and things I found at Micheal's that I painted and mod podged scrapbook paper onto, except for the sofa and chair which I just kindof made up as I went. I used all vintage fabrics for the mattresses and blankets and tiny pillows. All the little tiny things like the tea set and food I found at Hobby Lobby. Such a fun project and my children love it!