Hearts for Hair

Here's a quick how-to on those cute felt heart hair clips that you see in my girls' hair above. This is for all of you who don't sew...this is a really easy beginner project that just requires some simple stitching with a needle and thread. There are so many possibilities with embroidery thread and it's the cheapest craft/hobby out there and also the easiest! Not to mention how happy it is to look at all those colors together:


So for those little hearts, you'll need:
felt scraps
contrasting embroidery thread & needle
snap clip or barrette
polyfill stuffing (optional)
superglue or fabric glue

Start by cutting out two hearts of the same size & shape. Mine was smaller for Kate than Jane. Heart size depends on head size of kid.


Using a running stitch, sew the two hearts together. Don't tie a knot at the beginning, just leave a long tail.


When you're three-quarters done, use the tiniest bit of polyfill to stuff the little guys. This is optional. It would be super cute not stuffed too. Use a chopstick or straw to stuff the stuff in.




Then continue stitching the rest of the way around and tie the two long ends together and snip (don't snip too close, we'll go back and snip closer later). See the knot at the bottom? This side will be the back.


Sew the snap clip onto the back of the heart using strong thread (I used upholstery thread) or you could also separate three single strands from your embroidery thread and use that. Two stitches for the fat end and one stitch through the hole in the skinny end. When you're done, use a dot of superglue or fabric glue on each knot and also on the knot on the bottom of the heart. Those knots won't hold otherwise. Let glue dry before you put the heart in small fry's hair (hahaha!!!) After glue dries, go back and snip the threads as close as you can.


Done!

Crayon Shaving Heart Garland

Remember making these as a kid? Fall leaves or butterflies? Well I got the idea for hearts from Martha. Hers came out prettier than mine, doesn't she always do everything better than everyone else? Stinking Martha. Here's hers:



We had fun making them...Jane did all the sprinkling and I did all the ironing and cutting.





Kate was busy with stickers, but when I got up to go to the bathroom, she pulled the entire tablecloth off the table and all the crayon shavings were on the floor. Stinker!!! Jane helped me clean it up and we started over.



Then we strung them with a needle and thread and hung them. It was hard to get a good picture in front of the window, but you get the idea. Do you like our extremely sad, gray weather out there??? I do not.





I'll be back tomorrow with another Valentine craft! If you need directions on the crayon shaving hearts, click here.

Almost February!!!

I think January is my least favorite month. All that post-holiday sadness and crappy gray weather. I remember the day Jane was born (May 18th), John's brother Jim was driving to the hospital to see us and said he heard on the radio that May 18th is the happiest day of the year. Of course we thought so with our perfect new little girl..........but then they said the saddest day of the year is January 7th. Do you agree? I do......other than the fact that that's my mom's birthday...I had to laugh at that. Sorry, Mom!!! Anyway...I think that's why I love Valentine's Day so much. The end of January means I can start to craft/decorate for Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong....of course I hated Valentine's day during my teenage/college years just like every other girl. I love it now that I have kids partly because I know how much they love it and look forward to every holiday. To me it's really more about the kids and not all that romantic roses/chocolate crap that it's been commercialized as.

Sorry for rambling. Remember how long I've been away from the blog? Now I have lots to say!!! I know you're out there listening, my blog traffic software says that you are...not to mention how many people told me I needed to post! So if you're reading this, please take a minute to post a comment...especially if you never have....just so I know you're out there! Your comments are what keep me going, and up until now I mostly get comments in person but I'd love to have more on here. If I can get more feedback I will start having contests and giveaways!!! Yay! You know you want something free! Leave a comment!

I will be back very soon to show you how to make a 30 minute (or less) personalized shirt for your favorite little loved one!



In the mean time, click here to take a look at my post last year about a very easy and sweet Valentine garland that you can make to remind yourself how lucky you are to have love in your life (and how happy you are to be done with January!)

If you want to make your own click here for a quick tutorial!

Easy No-Sew Halloween Party Flags*

*actually, I did sew them, but you can make them without sewing...I want my friends who don't sew to try this!

*and there doesn't have to be a party either.

Just so you know...this was not my idea. There are TONS of flag garlands out there in the blogosphere and I was inspired by one I saw out there somewhere. For lots and lots of inspiration, click here to check out the Flickr group, Ga-ga for Garlands. I have made many (will share more later!), they are so quick and such a cute and unique way to decorate for kids' birthdays and holidays, and also to hang in kids rooms. The possibilities are endless and you can obviously use fabrics to suit any occasion. I was walking through Pottery Barn Kids last week and saw this felt leaf garland for SIXTY dollars...



...and I think I can make something similar. I try to hang a seasonal one in the kids' playroom so maybe I'll try to copy this.

OK, so for the Halloween party flags, you'll need:
assorted fabric
bias tape
cardstock
pinking shears
sewing machine or fabric glue (I recommend Fabri-Tac or Liquid Stitch)



You can use as many different fabrics as you like. If you trace them close together, you should be able to get about 12 triangles out of 1/4 yard of fabric. I had three different fabrics, so with 1/4 yard of each, I could make a banner with 36 flags, or about 18 feet long (that's pretty long...mine only has 14 flags).

Cut a template from cardstock to trace your triangles with. My triangles are 6" across the top and 7" from top to bottom. To make a perfect triangle, first make a 6X7 rectangle, mark the midpoint on one of the short ends, and then draw a line from each of the opposite corners to the mark you made.



Trace the triangle on your fabric, alternating upside-down ones to get as many in without wasting fabric.



Cut out with pinking shears.



Now you'll need your bias tape. Use extra-wide double fold.



Sandwich the triangles in the fold of the bias tape and sew through all layers with a zig-zag stitch, alternating your flag colors however you like.





Or, open up bias tape and apply a thin line of glue to the bottom half and place a flag on top, working one flag at a time. When all flags are glued down, use more glue to glue down top flap of bias tape.

All done!

I also made a mini flag banner that I hung across the mirror in our entryway. For this one, my triangles were 2" by 3" and I used the thin bias tape instead of the extra-wide. It's little and cute!



Ohhh...let's get a better look at that candy...



Yum! I hope the Great Pumpkin brings you many treats this year. And speaking of the Great Pumpkin, LOOK at this fabric I found!!! I love it!



I think I'm going to make a tablecloth with green pom pom trim for the kids' playroom. They won't know who these characters are and when they're old enough to watch the Peanuts specials on TV, I will force them to watch and they'll probably hate it. So the tablecloth is really for me!!!

Anyway, back to Halloween...have a great one!!! Be back soon, hopefully to post pictures of my homemade costumes!

Make it: Fall Hair Ribbons

I found these felt leaves at Hobby Lobby and knew I could make something cute with them!



I decided to do cute hair thingies. They will work for all of October & November, Halloween & Thanksgiving.

You can make these too (in about 5 minutes!) with these supplies:



ribbon
felt leaves or other fall decoration from the craft store
giant needle or tailor's awl (I used a dollmaker's needle {no, I don't make dolls...not yet anyway...hmmm}, but just use the biggest needle of any kind that you have)
Fray Check or superglue

Here's what you do:
Poke the needle through the leaf. Go back & forth a bunch of times and move it around in circles to try to get your hole big enough for the ribbon to go through.


Cut at least 18 inches of ribbon for each one. My girl has skinny hair so 18 inches was enough.


Make sure your ribbon is cut on an angle and thread just the very end of it (not the whole ribbon) through the eye of the needle.


Poke needle through leaf and try to pull ribbon through. This part is tough. It took me a few tries. Once you can get just the tiniest bit of the ribbon through,

you can now grab the ribbon with your fingers and pull it through to center the leaf on the ribbon.

But now the edges of your ribbon are screwed:


So cut the ends off


and grab your Fray Check (or superglue).


Put the tiniest bit on the ends of your ribbons...


...and you're done!


Now tie them in that cutie's hair...


...and let her frolic outside in the leaves!

{once they start falling!}

Happy Crafting!

A doll bed for Janie...

I never shared the doll bed that John and I did for Jane's birthday...





John painted this little bed and I made a doll quilt:



and a little pillow:



Do these fabrics look familiar? Some of them are the same ones I used for the curtain in the laundry room.....that's what reminded me that I needed to share this too!

Now, what do we get little Kate for her birthday (coming up in 10 days)??? I have no ideas.......