Every Baby Boy Needs a Tribal Frog Onesie

So, you know I like to make, rather than buy, presents for babies.  I've made quilts (like the Finding Nemo Quilt and Elephant Quilts for Twins), burp cloths, and nursing covers.  Right now, I like decorating onesies.

Specifically, I like to carve custom stamps, and stamp the onesies.  I've made flower, crab, crawfish, seahorse, starfish, and now frog stamps.  It's so fun to make (and use) a hand-carved stamp.  I have another baby shower coming up, this time for a baby girl, so I'm thinking about carving a new stamp. What design to do...?

What do you like to give for baby shower presents?  What is the best baby gift you've received?

The Finding Nemo Baby Quilt

{I had this whole blog post written and completely ready to go, but then I somehow managed to delete it by accident.  I don't know what happened.  (Sadness!)  So you get the abbreviated version.}

I made this baby quilt for one of my friends.  She and her husband were planning a Disney theme nursery for their baby boy, so when I found this fabric, I knew it was meant to be.

I love giving handmade items as baby presents.  It's partially because I just really like making things, but it's also that I feel that handmade gifts are an extra-special welcome to the world.  :)

The quilt is just a big rectangle with a white border inside to add interest, so it was a pretty quick quilt.  I think I even got it done the night before the baby shower.

"Star of Bethlehem" Christmas Tree Ornament Mini Tutorial

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!  

Today is the last of our Sew a Song of Christmas series.  I hope you've enjoyed it!  I've sure had fun teaming up with Kelli, Al, Stephanie, Megan, and Bethany to bring to you a bit of musical holiday craftiness. :)

For my last song, I chose "Shine for Me Again, Star of Bethlehem."  This song is about keeping the faith in the things you once knew, even though the long days and years make that difficult sometimes.    

There is a line of the song that sums this idea up very nicely: "Do not despair—your star is still there."

It's nice to have that reminder hanging on the Christmas tree.

These stars, inspired by this pin, are so easy to make!  Boo made these with me last year, actually.

We used salt dough, but you could use any kind of clay you'd like--polymer clay, corn starch clay, whatever.

After rolling the dough out, we cut out the stars with cookie cutters and stamped the designs.  Rubber stamps, found objects—whatever you'd like could be used to make fun patterns.  I made these swirls with a sea shell!  :)  Don't forget to make a hole for running the ribbon.

After baking the clay, we made painted the stars and hung them with loops of ribbons.  Easy and done.  

They make nice little Christmas presents, too; my family all got ornaments last year.

Boo wanted to help me take the pictures.  Love her.

Merry Christmas!

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"Away in a Manger" Sweet and Simple Nativity

Do you ever feel like Christ gets a little lost in the Christmas season?  I do.  So I wanted today's Sew a Song of Christmas project to remind us what Christmas is really about.

I did already make a wooden nativity set a couple years ago, but there's always room for another nativity set, right?   We will have fun playing with these cute little guys and teaching Boo and Daddy's Girl about when Christ was born.

This project was inspired by these adorable Princess Peg Dolls.  When I showed Boo this tutorial, she decided she wanted to paint a princess set.  So she did.  And they turned out really cute.  I'll have to show them to you later.

  

Besides the regular painting supplies, all you need for this project are eight wooden peg dolls.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby.  They come in packs of eight, so that worked out great!

These are the "Man" sized peg people; they also make "Boy" sized dolls, so you could make baby Jesus smaller than the others.  I didn't want Daddy's Girl to eat or lose the little baby Jesus, so I painted Him on Mary.  (The "Man" size are still a choking hazard, so be watchful if you have babies/toddlers.)

First, I painted their heads.  The nice thing about painting all the Nativity People at once is that by the time you've finished the last one, the first is dry already and you can go right to the next step.

Then I painted their clothes.  I decided this was a "less is more" kind of project, and painted their clothes really simply.  

I painted Mary in her traditional blue.  Joseph is dark blue so he feels like he belongs with Mary.  The shepherds are grey to show their humble state in life. (I would have done brown, but I couldn't mix a nice color.)  The three kings are rich, jewel-toned colors.  And of course, the angel is white.

I feel like the nativity set is already identifiable, but that's probably just me.  Let's add a little something, while still keeping them simple.

Mary is holding baby Jesus and wearing the blue head covering.  I didn't know what to do for Joseph; most nativity sets I've seen have him holding a shepherd's crook, which doesn't make any sense at all for the carpenter that he is.

 The angel gets a halo and wings.

The shepherds get a shepherd's crook and a lamb.

And the kings get crowns.  I thought about giving them gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but I went back to "less is more."

UPDATE:  I realized these guys should have a coat of clear polyurethane to protect them, but I haven't done that yet.

I think this little nativity set turned out so cute.  :)  

 Merry Christmas, everybody!  Only nine more days!

Don't miss the other posts in our Sew a Song of Christmas series!
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath
"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments
"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt
"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts
"Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Ornaments
"Let It Snow" Mitten Ornaments

"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts

Boo loves to match.  Not like her shirt matching her pants; she comes up with some pretty...inventive outfits.  No, she likes to match other people.  So she will be so excited when she and Daddy's Girl unwrap matching Blue Christmas Skirts on Christmas morning.

These are really basic skirts, but the nice thing about "basic" is that you can easily add your own spin on it.

Both skirts are made from the same blue satin (surprisingly affordable, yet it adds a bit of "special" to the outfit).  Daddy's Girl got pleats on her skirt, Boo got ruffles.  I love variations on a theme.

Oh, ruffles, why must you be so cute, yet so annoying to make?  I actually prefer making pleats than ruffles.  

(By the way, I certainly didn't invent this way of making a skirt; it's been around forever.)

I don't have step-by-step pictures, since I sewed these up at night so the girls wouldn't see their Christmas presents.  (Read:  There was really bad lighting for pictures.)  But the skirts are so easy.

Ready?

Cut the elastic to your child's waist measurement.  Don't add seam allowance—you need the elastic to stretch a little so the skirt stays up.

Cut your skirt fabric as shown in the picture above.  Or, if you want a fuller skirt, cut a longer rectangle.  Less full, closer to square.

Sew up the two short sides, finishing the seams as you prefer.  (I went over the raw edges with a zig-zag seam for the first, and made a french seam for the second.  Just because I didn't think about the french seam at first.)

Make your hem by folding the bottom edge over a half inch, then fold again another half inch.  And sew it down.  A decorative stitch with a contrasting thread could be a nice way to add some detailing.  You could also hand stitch for a less visible seam, or use the blind hem stitch on your sewing machine.  But that's another tutorial.

Now you'll make a casing.  Just iron the top edge down a quarter inch, then fold down again whatever size you need to fit your elastic.  Sew this down, too, being sure to leave a little space for inserting the elastic.

And insert the elastic.  Attach one safety pin to the leading edge so it's easier to thread it through, and another securing the other end to the fabric so it can't pull all the way through.  (Hate it when that happens.)  Once the elastic's through, overlap the two ends by a half inch and use a zig-zag stitch to secure them.

Topstitch the casing closed, and you're done!

(If any of this didn't make sense, send me an email or leave a question in the comments below.  If needed, I'd be happy to make a photo tutorial later.)

Now that you know how to make a basic skirt, you can change it up to make so many different looks!  Besides adding ruffles or pleats, you can make the skirt more or less full, longer or shorter, try color blocking, or a paper bag waistband...I think I'm going to try a scalloped hem next time.

Don't miss any posts as we Sew a Song of Christmas!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath

"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ornaments

"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt {with free pattern}

"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments

Merry Christmas, everybody!  Since Thanksgiving is over and it's "legal" to get into the Christmas spirit, I helped Jill and her family put up their Christmas decorations on Saturday.  I've given Jill a Christmas tree ornament (or sometimes a set) every year since she got married.  Last year, I made her a glitter ball ornament.  Boo obviously liked it, because later Saturday, she informed me that she was going to use my glitter and ball ornaments to make an ornament for her baby sister.  After getting her to ask me, rather than tell me, I agreed to help her and let her use my stuff. 

When I made these the first time, I got the inspiration from the blog The Greenbean's Crafterole.  You can find the post here.

This tutorial said to use Pledge furniture polish, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy a big bottle of something I would only use once.  I used homemade Mod Podge (aka, watered down Elmer's glue) instead.  A year later, the glue's still holding.  I don't remember what ratio of water to glue I used—just mix in water until it looks good.  (Don't you love instructions like that?)  Just remember that it needs to make a nice, thin, non-gloppy film.

What you need:
-Clear glass ball (or other shape) ornaments
-Adhesive of choice.  I used watered down Elmer's glue.
-Glitter
-A funnel.  I made my own with a sheet of paper.

(Isn't my niece cute?  She was cold, so she grabbed the nearest coat—mine.)

Pour glue into the ball.  Use more that you think you'll need.  You'll pour the extra out anyway. Carefully swirl it all around.  As the original blogger said, shaking the ball would made froth, which is bad.  Hence the careful swirling.  Now, dump out the extra.  Make sure it drains well, but don't leave it so long that it dries.  Last year, I had to rinse out my glitter and start a ball over again because too much glue puddled on the bottom of the ball and didn't let the glitter coat the ornament evenly.

Dump in the glitter.  Use the funnel, if needed.  Again, don't be afraid to use more than you think you'll need.  You will dump out the extra.  Just make sure you don't have big glue puddles in the ornament.  This time, you can shake the ball to get it covered.  Let it dry before you pour the extra glitter back into the bottles. You wouldn't want to get wet glue in your unused glitter.

And that's it!  After they're dry and free of extra glitter, put the tops back on and hang your beautiful, glittery ornaments on your tree.

Be sure to check out the other posts in our Sew a Song of Christmas series!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath

And check back on Friday for the next bit of musical Christmas fun!

Fast, Easy, and Elegant Ombre Earrings Tutorial {Plus How to Make Hammered Headpins}

I hope you've had fun with our Summer Swimming series; we have!  From making and using sea glass, to sewing cute and practical cover-ups for yourself and your little ones, to visiting family, we've had a lot of wet and wonderful fun this month.

For the last installment for our Summer Swimming, I made these quick and easy ombre earrings.  I like how the beads transition from white to dark blue, like the waves of the sea.  But at the same time, it's not so water-themed that you feel you can only wear them at the beach.  And I like long, dangly earrings.  Not that I feel safe wearing them quite yet--Daddy's girl is still likely to pull on them when I least expect it.  

These earrings are really easy to make, but if you're an absolute beginner, check out my Holiday Earrings Tutorial.  It goes over some basics I'll skip over here.

Ready for the tutorial?

You Need:

Two pairs of pliers (one being round nosed)

Jewelry hammer and anvil (optional)

Two ear wires

Two jump rings

Four small white beads

Two medium white beads

Two medium light blue beads

Two large light blue beads

Four large dark blue beads

a length of 20 gauge wire a half inch longer than your finished length (or two headpins)

Note:  This anvil has a bit of metal on it to protect it from scratches, so the scratches won't be transferred to another project .  They don't come like that.

How to Make a Hammered Headpin:

This is so easy.  Just take your length of wire and hammer the end of it until it flattens wide enough that your beads won't fall off the end.  Easy and done.

{If you don't have a jewelry hammer and anvil, you can still make your own headpins.  Just use the method I did to make my Holiday Earrings.}

Then just thread your beads on your brand-new headpin...

...make a loop at the top, cutting off any extra wire, and attach the jump ring and ear wire.  And you're done!

If you missed any of our Summer Swimming fun, just click on the images below to check them out.  I'm hoping to make this series a yearly event, only next year it will be Summer Swimming and Sun.  :D  What kinds of things would you like to see in next year's series?

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Pendant Power: Sea Glass Pendant Tutorial

Last time, I showed you how to make sea glass.  As promised, I’ll now show you something you can do with all your lovely glass. 

Ta da!  Pendants!  I’m sure you’re so surprised, considering the title of the post.

It’s always nice to have a quick, done-in-one-sitting project, isn’t it?  Wrapping glass to make pendants is so easy, you don’t really need a tutorial, but I’ll give you some tips.

1) The most important thing: remember you’re working with glass.  There’s nothing more frustrating than being almost done with a project, then breaking it. 

2) Make sure you wrap the piece so it’s secure from all angles.  If the glass can fall out if the pendant’s tipped upside down, it will tip upside down at the most inconvenient time.  The picture above shows three different ways to wrap: 1-near the edges, rather than going across the glass, 2-wrapping with fairly even loops and ending with a spiral, with another wire wrapping across the top and side so it won't fall out, and 3-having the wire radiate from (mostly) one point.   

3) Spirals are good for making the end of your wire decorative (as you can see from the middle pendant).

4) If you use found, rather than purchased glass, you’ll probably end up with more clear than colored glass.  Unfortunately, since you can see through the resulting sea glass, it can hide more than you’d want a pendant to.  Solution: before you wrap the glass, paint the back of it.  I used fingernail polish.  You probably have some handy, and it comes in every color you can think of.  I haven’t tried glitter ones yet, but I expect they’d be great. If you want to keep the glass colorless, but don't want it to hide, try using white fingernail polish. I think this blue one turned out nicely, don't you?

5) For a different look, you can hammer some wire flat, and wrap it around the edge of the pendant, like I did with this one.  

Unless you use some kind of adhesive, you’ll still need to wrap on the front and back, but doesn’t that look spiffy?  Too bad I forgot rule #1 and broke the glass.  See the crack on the top right side?  (Cry!) 

6) Try different kinds of wire.  I used square wire for one pendant.  See how the wire of the spiral is twisted?  The easiest way to get a nice twist would probably be to clamp one end of the wire in a vice and twist the other end with pliers.  I don’t have a vice, so I made do with a pair of pliers at each end.  You can hold one end stationary and twist the other end, or you can twist a small section at a time.  If you use the second method, you may want to use nylon-jawed pliers so you don’t mark up the wire.  Keep an eye on the twist to make sure it’s doing what you want it to.

And voila!  String your pendants on a chain or cord, and you have a brand new necklace.  I went pretty simple with these, but you don’t have to.  Add beads.  Make the wire the focus and the glass the accent.  Combine multiple pieces into one pendant.  Try anything!  That crazy idea might become your favorite necklace.

If you don't want to wrap the pendants, you can also drill a hole in the glass and hang it.  But that's a post for another day!

What pendants have you made?  What would you like to see us do with sea glass?

If you like our Summer Swimming series, share it with your friends!  We'll see you back here on Wednesday for our next fun project!

DIY Burp Cloths

Ready for a non-clothing project?  Just to make sure this blog isn't completely taken over by clothes-sewing.  :)  I made these for a baby shower a couple of months ago and hadn't gotten around to posting them yet.

Since Daddy's Girl was born, I've had less time for projects, as you can imagine!  So even though I like making tutorials for all of you, the choice has been between making a tutorial and actually finishing a project.  Obviously tutorials lost.  This project is super-simple, though, so here's a mini-tutorial.

Start off with a couple of plain cloth diapers.  (I got mine from Walmart, in the baby section.)  Get the pre-folded kind, though, unlike me, since they wrinkle less and are a good burp cloth shape to start with.  Decorate with some scraps of cute fabric, and you're done!

I just zig-zag appliquéd these cute little elephants onto the burp cloths, like in this tutorial, only simpler, since it's just a rectangle!  For a more finished look, I also bound the two short ends of the cloths with some non-bias cut 'bias tape' made from a different part of the same fabric scrap as the elephants.

If you need a little help with binding or zig-zag appliqué, click below.  

Now, since you're binding only two edges, rather than all four, it will be a tiny bit different than in the quilt binding tutorial--just cut the bias tape an inch longer than the length of the side you're binding, fold the two short sides 1/2" in so it ends up the same length, and then proceed as normal.