Monthly Archives: May 2011

Easy Reusable Gift Bag Tutorial

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I threw my three year old a story book themed birthday party not too long ago.  Details are here.

The gift bag was a collection of a book, suckers, cookies, whistles, and other little tiny pieces of dollar store crap that you love stepping on in the middle of the night when you are trying to make your way to the bathroom to pee.  To my friends who came- you are welcome.  :)

But I couldn’t find a flipping bag to put all this crap in and I was NOT going to go store to store on some crazy gift bag hunt.  Plus I’m cheap frugal and If I can’t find it for close to free it ain’t makin it into my cart.

I’m a master procrastinator.  My motto for years has been:  Procrastination leads to inspiration.  Mark that one down people- because it’s TRUE!!  The party was Saturday.  Thursday I was sitting at my desk all bummy and stuff because I didn’t have a cute bag to put all the kid crap stuff into.  And then it dawned on me…like a spotlight being shined in your face when you are pulled over at night by the cops and you have been drinking..(not that this has happened to ME..I watch cop shows is all…I swear.)  Anyway- my moment of clarity arrives and I realize I CAN SEW!!  I’ll MAKE my own bags!  Woot!  It’s Thursday.  The party is Saturday.  I’ve done NOTHING to prepare yet.  Procrastination at its finest.

So I ran home that day and got to work.  This is what I came up with:

To make this easy five minute bag you will need:

Cute fabric

Thread

Sewing machine

Scissors

I chose a different fabric when taking the pictures because this was my test piece.

Cut a rectangle of fabric for the height and width you need with seam allowances.  My fabric was 11 X 24 to accommodate the book.  I put the book on the fabric, folded the fabric over it and cut.

Fold the rectangle (with right sides together) to make a square- zig zag the edges to prevent fraying and then reinforce with a straight stitch.  This will make your rectangle into a square little bag.

You now have the bag part.  Next finish the upper edge by folding over the top and using a straight stitch all the way around.

Don’t laugh at my uneven edges.  I was in a hurry!

Now you want to make the handle.  I thought about adding a nice drawstring or ribbon handle, but I did not have the time so I decided to just put in a little rectangle to create a handle.  Easy stuff.  I like easy.

To do this, I folded the bag in half and cut a little square close to the top of the bag.

Next I needed to zig zag around the edges of this little square in order to keep from fraying.  What I SHOULD have done was finish this edge better, but again…last minute Liz.  So instead, I chose a tighter zig zag stitch and went over the edge a couple of times.  If you are not waiting till the last minute like me, I would say to spend a little more time making this part look pretty.  It annoyed me after wards that it looked so unfinished.

Finished product!  A nifty little reusable bag that creates less waste!  AND only took about five minutes so I really didn’t care what happened to it after it left my house.

The party fabric is much much better I think.

I’m using mine this weekend when we travel to hold my curling iron.  :)

Happy sewing!

~Elizabeth

My Tornado Preparation Kit

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I’ve lived on the edge of Tornado Alley for most my life.  This season, is the worst that I can remember.    So many deaths…  210 in Alabama, 124 in Joplin, and now 13 more last night in Oklahoma/Arkansas/Kansas.  Associated Press is reporting a total of 494 deaths total this year so far.  It’s mind-numbing.

Tuscaloosa Damage: Photo The Tuscaloosa News via Dusty Compton/AP

Joplin Damage: Photo by Adam Wisneski/AP

After living in Texas for my whole life, I’ve gotten kinda complacent with the idea that you always read about tornadoes, and even if the sirens go off- it will never happen to my home.  After the past couple of weeks, however, my ideas have changed.

Last night, we were warned way in advance to be prepared for some bad weather and tornado warnings.  Oklahoma was getting hit right as I was about to leave work.  At first I really didn’t think much about it, reverting back to my “it won’t happen here” mindset.  But then, a good friend who blogs over at Baby Rabies (funniest parenting blog EVER!) wrote a post detailing her tornado survival kit and safety place.  She thought that it might be overkill- but better safe than sorry…and I completely agree.  Details of the post are here.

I thought about this on my drive home as I remembered the many who have lost their lives in the past month, who may or may not have been worried when they first heard reports of an impending storm, who may or may not have been prepared….  When you grow up with this weather, you just get used to the reports and sirens, and it’s easy to forget that it can strike anywhere at anytime.  Being that I’m not in the middle of tornado country, we usually get a couple of funnel clouds but not too many on the ground destructive tornadoes.  BUT- I’m a mother now- I have a child to think about and the images I see of the aftermath of the destruction north of me remind me just how important it is to be prepared.

So I went home- put on some sturdy shoes and gathered a strong durable backpack and stocked it with:

  • three large water bottles
  • protein bars
  • flashlight
  • batteries
  • phone charger

It was sparse, but a start.

As our tornado sirens went off last night- my heart raced and I was scared- but I was comfortable knowing that we at least had something.

My neighbor- who is not from Texas- does not have a safe place in her open house plan so when the sirens went off- she came barreling over here…holding a twin mattress atop her head and trying to herd two small boys and two dogs.  The image today is making me laugh…I laugh about it now- only because we had three kids squashed in a bathtub, with a crib mattress ready to cover them- the two of us on the floor and toilet- ready with a twin mattress to cover everyone up- and FOUR dogs running wild in the room next door.  We.felt.ready.  Even though nothing happened, we had some funnel clouds and minor storm damage, we felt prepared.  The kids aren’t old enough to really be scared, they thought we were camping or something.  We sang songs, checked the weather on our phones, and after awhile- it passed.

So today, I’m thinking, that we need to have a true tornado pack- something larger that will hold much much more.  I’m researching on various sites and there are several items that are important that I’m missing:

  • first aid kit (Hello? How could I forget that?)
  • ponchos – yeah it will probably be raining
  • helmet for the kiddo
  • pictures- for identification purposes
  • utility bill or copy of driver’s license (to prove that you are you)
  • plastic bags (always handy)
  • rubber bands (always handy in McGyver situations)
  • radio
  • duct tape (you never know)
  • changes of clothes
  • blanket or that super cool shiny tarp thingy they give runners after a race

Wiki How also has a nice feature on how to stock a tornado kit, but would be functional for other natural disasters as well.

From the American Red Cross website:

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to help in times of disaster. Those who want to help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, floods and wildfires, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, can make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. This gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters. Visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS; people can also text the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

So if anything, this information can be useful not just for tornadoes but for any sort of natural disaster that can strike.

My thoughts and prayers truly go out to those who have lost so much this year and I truly wish there was more I could do to help.

~Elizabeth

My Tutorial Faves

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After I got my first sewing machine, I was stoked to try every tutorial I saw.  And there are some good ones out there.  I thought it might be a cool idea to share some of the tutorials I used when I first started.  These little tutes helped me learn the basics and are a wonderful resource to any beginner.

So after I took the machine out of the box, watched the nifty instructional DVD, and  learned how to sew a straight stitch, I decided my first project would be a pair of pants.  And what a pair it was…O.M.Goodness…these are ::cough:: niiiiiice.  Not quite what I was hoping for so I tried a different tutorial.

I made a NEW pair using a tutorial from Make it and Love It. This blog has been a major source of information with awesome FREE tutorials.  Her instructions are clear and easy to follow.  The next pair were ten times better.  Trust me.

Because I have a little girl, I knew I would want to adorn her in gathers and ruffles so I learned this technique from Ruffles and Stuff.  She also has amazing basic tutorials such as how to thread your machine, wind your bobbin, and sew a basic stitch.  VERY helpful.

I love love love the cute shirred summer strappy dresses but learning this technique scared the pants off of me.  I thought it would be soo difficult but once I tried this tutorial from Kuky Ideas; I realized that it is super easy!  This tute was very easy to follow and her pictures are click-able.  The result:

And what’s a little girl’s summer wardrobe without a pair of shorts?  My quest to find the perfect short tutorial led me to Crafterhours (great blog name) and her short tutorial.

Her tutorial was important because it acknowledges the fact that with shorts, the back fabric needs to be longer in the crotch area or you have shorts that fit weird and look like this:

These tutorials definitely helped me improve my skills and are all from blogs that have many many more super tutorials to follow.  As a beginner sewer- tutorials like these are so important because they lead you step by step through a project with easy to follow instructions.

I’m sure  I’ll be shirring some dresses and making some summer shorts (maybe for me!) soon!

Happy Sewing!

~Elizabeth

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Storybook Themed Birthday Party

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For my little girl’s third birthday,  I knew I wanted to have it at the house.  The year before we had it at a park and it was sooo windy, we almost blew away.  Our gazebo was like a wind tunnel and we almost lost all the cupcakes.

Okay so having it at the house, meant I needed a theme…my kid is OBSESSED with princesses and fairies so I wanted to incorporate this somehow, but I knew there would be little boys there as well so I didn’t want it to look like princesspalooza 2011.  I found this tutorial for a storybook themed party at Kojo Designs.  This blogger really knows how to put on a great party with amazing details.  Mine wasn’t as fancy as this, but with this inspiration;  I decided to throw a storybook themed birthday party and ask that the kids come dressed as their favorite story book character.

The invites were an actual booklet (Why didn’t I think to take a freakin picture?).  I used regular card stock and my home color printer and created four- 4×5 “pages” with the words “you’re invited”, the party details, a little poem detailing the costume idea, and then a “the end” page.  I used clip art to add little princesses and knight color graphics.

The poem read:

Come one! come all!

To Princess Addy’s fairy-tale ball!

Wear a costume from your favorite story

to celebrate at Princess Addy’s third birthday party!

We hope to see you there, don’t be late

There will be fairy-tale food, fun, and cake!

For the favors, I went to the local Dollar Tree (I love this place) and chose a book, cupcakes, whistles, wands, and animal crackers for their goody bags.  The problem I discovered, was that I didn’t have an actual bag to fit all this stuff into…  So on Thursday- two days BEFORE the party- it dawned on me that I can sew!  I’ll make the bags!

This is the design I came up with:

  • I did end up choosing a better different fabric, but I had to test my pattern first to make sure it worked.  I plan on doing a tutorial for these soon! They were super duper easy and fast!

I decided to make the cupcakes myself, because I’m cheap I love to DIY; so I chose a plain jane chocolate and yellow cupcake mix and filled them with creamy filling and topped with pink cream cheese icing.

For the cupcake stand, I simply stacked books at different levels and topped with a cardboard cake circle. 

The cupcake toppers were little “books” that were printed onto mailing labels and wrapped around a toothpick.  THANK YOU Google Images.

My lovely sister helping me craft.


Then we had the Dollar Tree Banner:

The drink table and favors:

Birthday girl sharpening her bossy skills:

Big castle bouncy house (fun for the kiddos AND adults):

Later I couldn’t find the birthday girl and after a thorough search of the house, discovered her OUTSIDE sneaking another cupcake, which I believe was her fourth.


What a sneaky stinker.

She had a blast though, and I had fun planning.  I’m not the most creative person in the world, or the most detailed, but thanks to awesome inspiration- I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out!

~Elizabeth

Birthday Cupcake Shirt Tutorial

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Birthday Cupcake Shirt Tutorial

With the help of my crafty neighbor, who has almost the entire stock of Hobby Lobby fabric in her craft room (yay me!)- I was able to create my little girl’s birthday cupcake shirt.  Here is the tutorial:

Materials needed:

Fabric for cupcake bottom

Fabric for “frosting”

Ribbon for candles

Plain white tee

Iron on jewels for candle flame

Thread

Heat N Bond Iron on Adhesive

Fray check

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First I had to decide what fabric to use for the project.  Like I said, my neighbor has an amazing stash so she saved me a ton of time and a trip to the fabric store.  She helped me choose a purple fabric with pink flowers for the base, a pink rosette trim for the frosting, and green ribbon for the candles.

  • ­  I chose a pink tulle rosette trim from Hobby Lobby to add texture and interest to the cupcake frosting, but if you don’t have this particular trim- you can make little rosettes out of any fabric with THIS awesome tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets.  OR you can just choose a coordinating fabric and cut out a “cloud” shape for the frosting.

Next you need to apply Heat N Bond to your fabric that you plan on cutting out.  Heat N Bond is purchased at the fabric store or Walmart and looks like this:

You then take the Heat N Bond and iron it to the back of the fabric by following the package instructions.  Make sure the paper side is facing up.

Next I drew my cupcake base onto the paper side of the fabric and cut AROUND it to make a smaller piece to work with.

I then fold the fabric down the center of the cupcake in order to cut an even cupcake.  Cut along the lines and you won’t have to worry about matching both sides up.

Now that I have the cupcake base, I take the paper off the back, place the Heat N Bond side down onto the middle of the T-Shirt, and iron it.  The Heat N Bond will adhere the cupcake to the shirt for extra stability.

Next, I sew it onto the T-Shirt using a small zig-zag stitch in coordinating thread.

I then added the frosting by placing three tulle rosettes on the base of the frosting and adding two on top- creating a pyramid of fabric frosting.

I pinned these pieces into place using a stick pin inserted vertically and then sewed a line all around the edge with a straight stitch in pink thread.

Now I needed to apply the candles so I cut three candles from green ribbon and applied fray check to ensure that they wouldn’t fray.  I also clipped the tops to create the tapered candle look.

Next I sewed the candle tops above the frosting using a contrasting straight stitch.  I would recommend applying some adhesive to the backs of these because they kept moving around and annoying me.

Almost done!!

Now I enlisted the help of my crafty neighbor- who has a bejeweling thingamajig and she added some jewels onto the candles for me.

BUT if you don’t have a super crafty neighbor with neato crafting toys- then you can easily do this yourself by using the iron on jewels that you can purchase at any fabric store or even Walmart!  Just follow the package instructions.

The result!!

A super easy T-Shirt and a super happy birthday girl!



I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!  And happy crafting!

~Elizabeth

The cupcake shirt

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My little girl is three.  She needed a cute birthday shirt to wear to school so everyone would know it was her special day.  I didn’t want to buy one, so I enlisted the help of my very creative neighbor who has a literal hobby lobby in her craft room, and created this shirt:

I plan on writing a tutorial about it very soon, because it was actually easier than I anticipated!

And the finished product, with a cheeky three year old…

Tutorial soon!

Dollar Tree Designs

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My daughter’s three year old Birthday party was this past Saturday.  Being the DIYer and frugal person that I am, I opted to have it at the house instead of at a location.  This gave me the opportunity to do what I love- which is entertain my friends and family and craft.  The theme was a storybook theme.   One of the crafts I chose to do was to make a banner for the party that read “Once Upon A Time”.  I was inspired by a trip to my FAVORITE place…the Dollar Tree.

Supplies:

1 book- for $1!!

Construction paper

Die cut letters (teacher section)

Ribbon

Glue stick

Hole punch

First I cut all the construction paper in half to make the base.  Easy stuff.

Second, I pulled out pages of the book I chose to make an interesting backdrop for the letters.

On a separate note…when choosing a book from the dollar store…make sure you READ the pages first. This book: seemed innocent enough…I mean it has parrots on the cover; I ASSUMED it was about a lost bird.  But upon further investigation into my little crafty time, it was discovered that this innocent bird book is a cover for a deeply disturbing sex novel filled with salacious scenes that made ME blush- and I’m 34!  AND this was only the first THIRTY pages!!!  I can’t even imagine what the rest of the book is about…which I might be buying again…you know…er…just out of curiosity…

After that little debacle- we (my trusty sidekick sister) and I were able to get to work making this super easy birthday banner.

Take a piece of the book page (WITHOUT sex scenes) and glue it onto a piece of construction paper:


Then take your die cut letters and glue those onto the book page:


Next, punch a hole in the top of the page and string a ribbon through to connect each piece.  I used curling ribbon and we tied the ribbon to each individual page to stabilize it and keep it from moving around so much.

The result is an easy banner in what ever wording you choose!

This is why I love the Dollar Tree and will forever be checking the content of the books I buy from there!