Crandallation

Lap Desks

2012-02-07T19:09:00.003-06:00

Sew... we have 2 tables. An absolutely gorgeous dining room table that stays covered by table cloths and no one is allowed to even think about sitting at to do homework, color, ect... and, our old smaller, beat up table that's located in my craft room. This is where my girls would do their homework. However, I usually have it covered in whatever latest craft I'm working on. I remembered this awesome lap desk I had growing up which allowed me to do my homework where ever I wanted. Naturally, I knew I had to make my daughters each one. I found a great tutorial online here. I've meant to make these several times since school started in August. Well, last week (or was it the week before?) I finally made myself get to it.

I started by taking apart 2 TV dinner trays that never get used.

Then I spent an hour going through all my fabric until I finally settled on some. Clearly, I was determined not to spend a dime on this project. And I'm happy to say, I didn't! EVERYTHING I used, I had on hand. So, fabric selected, I got to work. Took less time to make these than it did to pick the fabrics. I am thinking about covering the wood somehow still. Scrapbook paper, paint, I don't know. Maybe I'll let them each paint their own, then I'll seal it so it stays, and also won't mess with their homework! It's got to stay smooth.

Keep meaning to take a pic of the girls using these, I'll try and get one tomorrow. They have used them every day for homework since I gave them, and they have been in just about every room in the house already! :)

Wordless Wednesday- Valentine's With My Cameo

2012-02-01T16:39:00.002-06:00

New Wreath

2012-01-17T10:52:00.003-06:00

So I wanted a wreath with a very winter feel for January. I had a particular wreath in mind, but couldn't make it work. I still intend to make it one day, just have to find the right material to hold it all. So I browsed thru my wreathaholic board on Pinterest and settled on another one. Here is the original inspiration. I would have been ultra happy to have copied it completely. However, I ran out of supplies and then the fabric I got didn't match completely (though apparently I'm the only one in my home who can tell), and this is what I wound up with. I have to say, I love it. But it still isn't January to me.... So what month is it? Because I swear I'm going to make the January one next year. But this one is still worthy of it's own time!

I think this first one shows off the gorgeousness of the pine cones so well. :) Love using the pine cones my son and I collect together. :)

Wordless Wednesday- Ornaments The Kids and I Made.

2012-01-04T21:56:00.004-06:00

Sew Much To Post...

2012-01-03T09:23:00.006-06:00

I guess I'll start with shirts. I ended up making several shirts and pants this year. And best of all, the end result was me getting a Silhouette Cameo!!! WOOHOO! Though it's still in the box it shipped in. I actually didn't plan to open it until after my girls went back to school though. That's today, and I feel like the day is going way too fast for me to get to open it! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

For today, I will show the shirts I made. I also made 10 pairs of pants... But forgot to take pics of them. I freezer paper stenciled 13 shirts. Most were matching ones for my girls, and 2 were matching for the dolls they so desperately wanted (and got) for Christmas.

Here's the ones I made the girls.

Pretty sure I'm making myself one like this!

Probably this too... :)Someone was being a butt for this pic... But in case there were any doubt... We LOVE softball!And here are the ones I made T-Buddy (and those Thomas pants are one pair of the pants I made!).

He loves angry birds!And of course, Phineas and Ferb! Perry rocks!And he is most definitely still a huge Thomas fan!

Here is a shirt I am wanting to make for myself, my girls, my mom, my sisters, and my niece. It was just too much cutting to freezer paper stencil like the others, so I just wrote it out... I don't like it so much. I mean, it's okay for the kids, but not so much for the adults. I gave this one to my niece. But if i can get my cameo to do it, she'll be getting a better version too!

And lastly... I made my hubby and myself each a shirt. :)

Double Wordless Wednesday- Christmas "Wreath" & Christmas Pine Cones!

2011-12-21T17:12:00.005-06:00

Softball Sweatshirts

2011-12-19T17:10:00.004-06:00

My oldest played in her first select softball tournaments a couple months ago and I saw these awesome sweatshirts made to look like softballs. They had a little more on the front and back as well, but as soon as I saw them, I new I had to make some. I used freezer paper stenciling to do these. As a result... My pointer finger is still numb at the tip. It's been several weeks now... It is getting better though. I've been doing a ton of freezer paper stenciling for Christmas presents for my kiddos, so I'm sure that's not helped my finger. Actually, my whole hand is having some issues. My middle finger and ring finger are sore from catching (kind of- it bounced off the tips of those 2 fingers and then I caught it.) a foul ball that headed right for Demi's head at a tournament a couple weeks ago. It's an achy time of year apparently. My left leg is swollen and at it again too....BUT, I won't let any of that get me down. On the contrary, I've made several shirts (promise I'll post after Christmas) and am not stopping anytime soon. I also have 10-12 pairs of pants to make still. And even better... I planted a Silhouette Cameo seed in my hubby's ear and he's actually thinking about it! Praying it happens! I actually have started a folder of things I want to make with it. I have this one design I'm wanting to make 9 of, but my hand can't even handle 1 of it. It's too much cutting.

Here's a couple pictures of the blade I use to cut for freezer paper stenciling. It's become my personal torture device...

And here are the softball sweat shirts. I'm happy to say my girls love them! I think they are pretty cute too. My only complaint would be that I didn't bring the laces in enough. I still like them though! Oh, and it was pretty cold when I took these. None of us were up for trying to get the best pics!

And lastly... Am I the only person in the world never to hear of putting candles in the fireplace? We have a gas fireplace. And were informed before we moved in 4 years ago, that the line was cut therefore it wouldn't work. We wanted it fixed, but so far it's not happened. A few weeks ago we had our last ladies bible study for the book we were on and I walk in and immediately see candles burning beautifully in the fireplace. If you know me, you know it took me NO time to get some candles in mine! I love it!

Wordless Wednesday- After Halloween Clearance!

2011-11-30T08:46:00.003-06:00

This seasons softball goodies and more!

2011-11-29T19:44:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm slowly making more things... Just in time to maybe pump out a few items for Christmas presents. I've also been pondering an idea to help force me back into the blogging habit. I miss my blog. And I have also seriously slowed down on my picture taking. Sew... I'm thinking I'm just going to take a minute to post a picture every other day, or even every day. It's a start. And as I get crafting done, I'll already be in the habit of taking a few minutes to post so a few minutes more will be easier, right???

Now to posting things I've made lately...

Two close friends of my daughters' had birthdays recently and my girls insisted I make them memo boards. I was worried about the bright bold fabric on the first one, but that one turned out to be my favorite so far! I thought the fabric might over shadow the pictures, but instead I feel like the pictures stand out even better. So glad I went against my thoughts and made it with that fabric anyways. Lesson learned. Future ones will be more bold as well!

Next, my son and I tackled his pine cone reevclection (as he says it) and made this. Got the idea off Pinterest, which I must say is one thing I have NOT been slacking in! :P LOVE me some pinterest! Wish I made more things off there, but at least I've made some, and I'm still working on some more!

And finally... Another softball season has come to an end. Our girls made the jump to 10U this season and man I couldn't be more proud! They finished with a record of 7-2-1 and just plain were amazing! I know, I am biased, but seriously, they rocked! Our goal coming into this season was to finish at 500. We were confident our WILDCATS could win half their games. It's just that it's a big change from 8u to 10u. The bases are further, the girls start pitching, stealing bases, ect... Well, needless to say, these girls shined like they always do. And I'm left nearly in tears as another season ends and I know we are inevitably closer to these girls all entering high school and the WILDCATS team just being a memory. I'm so happy my girls are making these lifelong friendships, but I feel like I have 10 other daughters that just don't live with me and I am NOT ready for them to all grow up and move on!

Moving on... I always make the girls something at the end of the season and I really struggled with what to make them this Fall. I had my hubby, my sister , and my bestie, Cerise, all helping me come up with ideas. I even went to the store and bought everything to make something, only to wake up with the perfect idea the next morning and have to take all the other stuff back.

As our players get older and keep coming back and playing every season, they all tend to get their own bats, helmets, and bags. This season, we realized our own daughters were the only ones on the team without bags. We're toting around this huge bag with only their stuff in it when we certainly don't need to be. Sew, we bought them bags. And it hit me... BAG TAGS!!! I made all our girls bag tags with their name and number on one side, and the team logo on the other. And yes, I realize the logo side is upside down. Someone waited until the last possible day to make these and couldn't correct her error... I still love how they turned out though! The point is for them to see their name anyways!

What a year....

2011-10-28T08:27:00.006-05:00

Time to admit, this has not been the best year. Things will never be the same without my mother-in-law around. She was the most amazing woman! And softball season has been especially difficult. She was our teams biggest fan. She just loved watching the girls play and was just as proud of her son for coaching them and me for helping as well.

Unfortunately, her death was not the only one my family had to face this year. On September 23rd, my father-in-law passed away.

I am convinced he was too heartbroken to go on any longer. Though they had been divorced for over 30 years, Rob's father still very much loved his mother. They still did holidays and birthdays, and just plain old family lunch days together. He was devastated when she passed. She definitely still loved him too. Though she did her best to jokingly hide it MOST of the time. One of the first laughs we had after was when Rob suddenly spoke the thought of his dad walking up to his mom in Heaven! And her yelling at him, What are you doing here?! You seriously couldn't leave me alone for longer than 3 months?!

He was one of the most hilarious men I have ever met, as well! To everyone in life, he was the definition of a simple man. In death, we've all found that alone, he was actually rather complex. He was a hoarder. Of many different things. Mostly, OLD things. We've found books over 100 years old. His massive collection of JFK papers, books, magazines, ect- all from when it happened. Old LP's and 45's, gorgeous antique furniture, instruments, old coins, and best of all, PICTURES! So many pictures! Looks like when Rob's mom and dad divorced, his dad took all the pictures with him! We founds some when his mom passed, but his dad had a massive collection. It's been very bitter sweet going through them with Rob and his siblings. Some very funny finds in those pics as well! The of just him is an old one of him we found there. None of us were quite as close to him as to Rob's mom, but it's still hard. I cannot imagine the pain in my husband's heart right now. To lose both his parents in only 3 months. He is definitely feeling it, though he's trying not to show it. He's struggling to sleep right now, and seems to be in a constant state of Cranky. I will keep praying and doing whatever I can to try and help him through this.

So our house is a disaster, garage filled with items from his mom, house filled with items from his dad. We've managed to clean out and sell his mom's house, but still have his dad's to finish up now. It's softball season, which has been a great blessing. We've taken on chalking the fields, making the schedules, running the website and facebook pages, and it's been a great distraction (though it's also keeping the house from being cleaned). I've hardly crafted at all. But I do have a couple items to show, so I'll end this somber post with happier things. I would have preferred to break this up into 3 different post, but I am not trusting that I would get the other 2 done anytime soon right now.

My little man turned 4 a couple weeks ago. All he wanted for his birthday was trains, and a real picnic basket. :) LOVE IT! So I searched for picnic baskets and discovered they aren't exactly cheap. Especially for one as big as we'd need for all 5 of us to go picnicking together. I mean, why bother getting the boy a real picnic basket if we can't use it as a family, right? I put a call out to my friends hoping someone could help me out with finding a cheap used one. Next thing I know, I've got a huge, free one in my hands! Hooray for awesome friends! So here's is the basket before.

In my mind, before I even started looking for a basket, I had thought I would make a liner out of Thomas (the train) fabric to make it more enjoyable for him right now. Once I got the basket, it took several days to decide what to do. I knew I wanted to paint it pretty early in, but I couldn't decide colors, or design. Eventually, I decided to use the favorite colors in our family, yellow, green, and blue, and then spotted a star fabric I had and the whole project suddenly just appeared completed in my head. So I got to painting.

I used stencils to paint our last name on the lid.

Once I made the liner (no pattern, I should have taken pics of it as I made it. Was very easy and would be a simple tutorial to put up...), and fit it in, it just didn't look finished to me.

I stared and thought for a while and then remembered these 2 little pine cones my lil man had found on one of our morning walks. He LOVES pine cones (many future pine cone projects to come as we've gathered quite a collection!)! I think they finished it off perfectly!

And finally... I am a wreathaholic. I spotted this wreath on Pinterest and knew I had to make it. It was very easy. And I also used the foam tubing for plumbing to make the actual wreath form. I cut it to the size I wanted, and hot glued the ends together (this took a minute, and extra hot glue.).

Next I wrapped it in orange duct tape. Not really necessary, but I thought I would just in case there were any spots showing.

I took a black feather boa and loosely wrapped it around the wreath so it when around the inside and outside, front and back and tied the ends together.

After that, I took an orange and black boa and hot glued it around the front towards the outside of the ring.

I thought about stopping here, but felt the eyes would blend it too much if I did. So I went ahead and glued an orange boa on the top center.

Then I grabbed some different size googly eyes and glued them in various spots. And to finish it off, I added some orange and black corker ribbons to add a little unexpected flare. Something about those dangling ribbons just makes it look even more "Halloween" to me. Are they legs? What is it???

I do just love this wreath! It's simple, and way fun!

The only advice I have, is use plenty of glue. After a couple storms, with some good winds, you can't see half the eyes on mine anymore. I need to grab my glue gun and head out to fix it up.

Well, that's all I have for now. I do miss my crafting. And I should have more soon as softball season is coming to an end in 2-3 weeks (depends on the weather) and I have a project planned for our team, as usual.

What have I done?

2011-08-25T10:32:00.004-05:00

Well, I am going back trying to remember anything I have made over the summer, and I have only come up with a couple... I know I've done more, but can't seem to figure out what they were at the moment...

First. Demi and I worked on a project together. Rob and Lexi like to play video games a couple months a year(I sure wish I still had time too!), but Demi isn't into the same kind of games because she isn't quite as good. She doesn't have the determination Lexi does with them right now, and would rather do something crafty. So, I decided to come up with a craft she could do with my help. We made her a memo board. It's been finished for a couple months now, actually. Just waiting to be filled with pictures then hung on the wall. The pictures should be here tomorrow! :) We bought stuff to make Lexi one as well. However, video game was done, and Lexi ended up making hers with me instead of Demi making it for her. I definitely still have some projects for Demi the next time they get a game though! And I have projects for both of them as well. I'll post more pics once they are filled and hanging! And take the time to get better quality pics...

Here is Demi's. She designed, helped put it all together, painted the letters of her name and glittered them, ect.

And here is Lexi's. She designed hers and everything too.

Next... I like to make something for our softball players every season (speaking of, I better get on starting something for our Fall season that's about to start). This season, Rob and I worked together on a picture collage for them. We are lucky and have a grandparent on the team that works in a major companies print shop and printed them all for us and put them on a core board as well. Rob worked really hard on this too. I edited several softball pictures and just love them, I may have to post more later. Hubby definitely did more than me on this collage. I think it turned out great!

And last... My Lexi up and decided to turn 9 on me. And to have a massive slumber party! It actually turned out great and I can say that TJ, Rob, and I all had fun also! :) I was scared out of my mind before hand, but in the end, that turned out to be what made the party. My fear turned into the planning of MANY games to keep everyone busy. And it was great! I actually would be completely on board with doing it again! And again. And again.

I ran across a cake just browsing the internet and immediately knew it was for Lexi. Showed it to her and she begged me to make it for her birthday party. It was super easy, and super cute. I was worried about the taste though. It just called for plain white cake mix and icing. Not even vanilla, just white. And Lexi took a taste off the inside of the empty icing jar and didn't like it. So I did too, and I didn't like it. However, once it was cooked, it was fantastic. All the girls devoured it! It was such a fun different cake! And so SUPER easy to make! We'll me doing a rainbow one just for the fun of it soon!

Here's a link to the exact cake I ran across with a tutorial for making it! Have fun with it! It's awesome!

Photo Class- Finale, Days 13, 14 & 15

2011-08-24T10:30:00.005-05:00

Today I decided to finish the photo class I had been taking. I really enjoyed that class! Hope to take another soon!

Day 13- Juxtaposition

Does the little man in a big chair count? Does for me. I just love this pic!

Day 14- Black & White

I've always been a HUGE fan of what happens when you take the right pic and turn it to a black & white pic. Here are several of my favorites.

Day 15- Favorite Photo

Well.. This is just ridiculous! I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens. SERIOUSLY. It's just not possible. So, instead... Please enjoy 2 of my more recently added "instant favs". Yep... Softball season is almost here again! :) Both of these were edited by myself and my hubby.

Zaria

2011-08-23T14:27:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I've posted. This has been one of those years for my family. I believe I have sewn a total of 2 items since Christmas last year. I miss it. And I sure miss my blog! I have done several other crafty things sporadically through this year and I will share them soon. I hope to take the time each morning this week to get caught up. But for now, I want to share one big reason I have neglected my sewing and blogging.

My mother-in-law, Zaria Rumbo, was diagnosed with ALS last year. She was the most amazing mother-in-law anyone could ever pray, hope, and wish for. She was devastated by the diagnosis. She insisted on living alone for longer than she could manage. She was always so independent. Not to mention how much she liked her time to herself. Even on Holidays, if the family stuck around too long, she'd make it known it was time for everyone to leave. She had a twisted sense of humor, which she passed on to her son and is one of the first things that drew me to him. We spent a lot of time with her in her last months, and at night, when I usually sew, I couldn't bare to leave my husband alone. Regardless of what he wanted to talk about, be it her, arrangements for her, softball, a movie, football, you name it, I was there. No way I was going to leave him to his thoughts alone, especially if he wanted me right there with him.

The disease was rapid with her. Which is exactly what she wanted. Her biggest fear was that she would become a "vegetable". We both (as well as many others) prayed God would take her quickly, and I am so happy that was His will. She couldn't talk well the last 5 months, but she would text often. Her last requests of us was that we would take her dog, Echo (which was actually our dog originally- 12 years ago!), that I write a letter to my bff of 25 years that had died 6 years ago to be cremated with her (and rob's brother's wife write one to her daughter that had died), and that she get to see her granddaughters play softball once more (I think it's amazing the girls have such a great thing, on top of many others, that will always remind them how much she cared about them.). Naturally we took the dog, and I am so glad, we were able to get her to one last game. For the remainder of the season, if I didn't text her our score fast enough, she'd be texting me for it so she could get to sleep for the night. The final 2 weeks, she seemed to text me at least every other day asking when the team party would be. I knew why she was asking, but I never said. Our team party was an issue to put together. But that last week, I finally told her the team party would be later in the summer, but the league party was the day after our last game. On a Saturday. She passed away the following Monday. And the kicker of it all, not only was she determined to wait until the softball season was over for the girls, she also predicted the day she would pass on. She told us one day that in 9 days, she'd be in Heaven. And every morning that she could, she would tell us it was 8 more days, more days, ect. She left our world on June 13th, with less than 30 minutes to spare on her prediction.

We thank God for allowing her to not suffer long. It's very hard, but I'm also surprised at how well my husband, our children, myself, and the rest of the family has handled it. I do miss her so much though. This woman was absolutely amazing. I could go on forever about her! I miss her, and I look forward to seeing her and many others when I get to Heaven.

She did not want a funeral. To the point that her son had to tell her there would be one, that it was for us. And no way we'd not honor her after her passing! She never wanted to be a burden. When it came to her ashes, I asked her several times for something she would like done with them. Her answer was always the same- I don't care. When meeting with the crematorium, the question was brought up again. She finally changed her answer- Take them to the zoo and feed them to the monkeys for all I care!. We finally got the point. The ashes wouldn't be her. She'd be up in Heaven. And she could honestly care less what we chose to do with them.

We did have a celebration of life service for her. It was hard, but it was such a blessing, such a relief to know she was not suffering anymore. So happy, even, to know she was now with God... Some days, though, I'm not sure how we manage without her being a short drive or even a text away...

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone from the service.

We love and miss you Mom/Granny!

Photo Class- Day 11, Fast & Day 12. Slow

2011-05-29T15:37:00.002-05:00

Behind again, as usual. Nearly 6 months into this year and I'm starting to accept the fact that this is how my year will be. Very little sewing time. Way behind on blogging, ect. Too many more important things going on right now. If I'm not physically worn out, I am emotionally. This has been a harder year for me personally, and for the rest of my family. And the hardest is still to come. Sew for now, here are 2 more days from photo class. I believe there are only 3 left! I also have a super special craft to post that will probably go up tomorrow.

Day 11, Fast

I don't have an slr, so no luck with shutter speed there. But if you time it right, you can still get some great jump shots! :)

And a great shot of Shelby's tongue, mid-bath!

Day 12, Slow

Well... This one was a bit impossible without an slr. The assignment was to seriously slow down our shutter speed. Since I can't do this, I just found a picture I had taken that really signifies slowing things down to me. And the kicker is, this is a total phone pic! One of the best pics I've ever taken with a phone, that's for sure! So glad I had my phone with me so I could get this one. :)

Recent Crafts

2011-05-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

I've fallen behind on posting, so here's what I've been working on.

First, I got an order for two ribbon belts like the ones I made my daughter's for Christmas last year. I really love these belts. They are a bit monotonous when sewing, but they just turn out so well. I want to make myself a purse like these!!! Here are several pictures of the 2 I recently made.

And here is my new wreath! I got the idea from another blog, Faith, Family, and Frugality. (Okay, honestly I got the idea from my bff, Cerise, who had posted it on her "to do" list. And she had gotten the idea from their blog!:P) I really did NOT like my wreath at first. It just wasn't turning out the way I had pictured it in my head. But I decided to finish it anyways. And while it still wasn't what I imagined, I was accepting of it. Now, once I actually hung it on the door and took a step back, I was ecstatic! Being on the door the wreath just seemed to spring to life and full beauty and became even better than that junky one I had imagined up in my head! I still remained skeptical for the first few days, thinking no one else would feel the same, but man this wreath has fully grown on me! I am so ready to make another wreath, but I do not want to take this one down!!!

And just cause I do love each of these girls! Here's the girls who demand so much of my time every Spring and Fall! I love everyone of our WILDCATS! They are truly a joy to be around and every Winter and Summer we find ourselves missing them more and more. (Lucky for us, our daughters have take to inviting the whole team over for their birthday slumber parties this year. One in the winter, one in the summer.) Most of these girls have really started growing up together. We only had to add 2 girls to our roster this season. They've bonded so close on the field. Ask either of my daughters who their best friends are and they may mention one or two girls from school, and then they'll light up and run through the whole roster of their softball team. I truly hope these girls continue to play, bond, and grow together for many years to come.

Photo Class- Day 9, Near & Day 10, Far

2011-05-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

Softball season is in full swing around here which means I am a very busy person. And this year, it's busier than ever before.

Sew, in other words, I'm behind!!! Here's a quick post of 2 more days in photo class. I also have several projects to post, so hopefully I'll post at least every other day for the next week and get caught up!

Day 9, Near

I LOVE this picture. This was another picture I had snapped at my lil sister's super sweet 16 paint ball party. I took pictures of some of her friends like this that turned out fantastic too! In fact, I'm just going to post all 3 of them! I just adore how well these pictures turned out. Especially their eyes!

Day 10, Far

This picture I took on Easter Sunday. Something about it just sings to me. It's certainly not the best picture in the world. However, it just seems to play the tunes of my childhood when I look at it. I swear I can smell the honey suckle when I look long enough.

Photo Class- Day 8, Light

2011-05-01T00:17:00.003-05:00

Today's lesson was about using backlight. When I read it, I knew I had just taken a couple pictures that would be perfect! Here's my lil sis at her Super Sweet 16 Paint Ball Party!!! :) This one isn't exactly backlight, but it's semi-close in the effect, and hey, it's an excuse to post this fantastic pic of the most awesome lil sis in the world!

And here's my dad from the party as well. This one's more backlight. Love you Daddy!

I do love how both these pictures turned out!

Photo Class- Day 7, Shadows

2011-04-29T12:13:00.004-05:00

Our assignment today was Shadows. No big tips or lessons, just to go out and play with some shadows. And I just have to say, I cannot believe that I've never really taken shadow pics before. One of my favorite pics is a shadow pic that was taken by one of my lil sister's bffs, Brittney. And let me just declare right now (even though I have several times on FB already) Brittney is AMAZING with a camera. I'm telling you, she is a 16 year old with a major eye for photography. I honestly believe it's what God has called her to do in life. Here's her pic. (Hope she doesn't mind my sharing...)

Well, for lack of time and being extremely busy, I have to follow up that greatness with blah. The girls are at school, TJ wasn't so into this project, but I did manage to get this pic. I wish it were just our shadows, but I do still like it quite a bit! I turned it black & white because, as our teacher stated, it can make the shadow show up better. And it did.

I spent a few more minutes playing around after TJ completely tuned out. Here's one more I got. I love the way the texture of our street makes this picture look!

Photo Class- Day 5, Quiet & Day 6, Loud

2011-04-28T18:50:00.005-05:00

Been pretty busy with softball lately and have fallen behind, so I will the next 2 assignments for the photo class today.

Day 5, Quiet

Today we learned about the composition of our pictures. Like not making sure your subject is squarely centered. My picture today is of my sewing/craft room. One wall in particular. I love sewing and crafting and it's mainly reserved for late nights when the kids are all asleep and I can just have some quiet time. There's such scope for imagination in crafting quietly for me. Most of my best ideas come to me after midnight. I am in NO rush for my son to start school, but I can say I do look forward to being able to do more daytime quiet crafting.

So here is my treasured wall. I could literally write for days about each item on this wall. There isn't an item you can see that I do not treasure for one reason or another. I LOVE this wall.

Day 6, Loud

The lesson today was on white balance. I haven't had a chance to mess with this yet, but it's interesting the different things it can do. The theme is Loud, and his one is a bit contradictory for me. On Easter, we went to my mom's for lunch. We being, my mom, dad, lil sis, big sis, and her hubby and 3 kids, and myself and my 3 kids. As well as my Uncle Jimmy. Now, if only I could show you exactly how small the house is we all cram into. And when 2 of those people are 16, and 5 of them are between 8 and 3, and the men are watching tv with it cranked up to hear and the women are yelling over all the noise trying to have a conversation... Well, I have to say at times simply calling it loud is an understatement. But I do love it still! Now, after lunch, we went to The Resort (my parents property they bought that is just GORGEOUS, but will take MUCH work before they can actually live on it) not far from their house. The Resort is amazing. It's so calm and peaceful, and even with us all there yelling and laughing and carrying on, it seems quiet. Quiet enough it seemed to take my migraine away that day. Here's my mom with all her grandkids.

And my dad with them.

Photo Class- Day 4, Out

2011-04-15T09:11:00.004-05:00

Our 4th assignment for our photo class is OUT. We learned about shooting in the middle of the day using open shade to get great pics. I kind of have a habit right now of being inspired by the theme before I read the tips... But, hey, I am still learning! I took several pictures this morning, All on my manual setting again! They are far from perfect, that's for sure. But to me, they show sparks. Little sparks promising me it will be worth it for me to keep trying and learning.

My original thought for today's theme was to take my kids out to a particular spot and get their picture. However, that changed last night. I went for a wonderful walk last night. Came home and started to wind down watching TV while my hubby fell asleep on the couch next to me. Right when I was ready to go to bed, the thunder started. I got up and went to the restroom where I found my sweet Shelby asleep and just starting petting her and listened as it started hailing. It hailed for about 15 minutes straight. Maybe even a couple minutes longer. Lots of pea sized hail, mostly quarter sized, and larger than that. It got loud enough the last 5 minutes that it woke my hubby. All the kids slept through it though! I wanted to get a picture of our street so bad. It was just weird looking. Our street looked like it was made out of ice. Like bags of ice from the gas station had been poured out onto our street (and yards as well). The yards were crazy too. But the street. It was something else. I wasn't going to take my camera out in the rain though! So I decided to snap a pic of our trampoline this morning. This is the best one I got on manual. I could have stayed out there all day until I got all the setting right and got the perfect pic, BUT, I have a house to clean, children to take care of, sewing to do, ect.

On my way back in, I noticed our old turtle pond. For those who don't know, this was a very small little spot we dug in our backyard for our turtle a couple of summers ago. Clearly we've been neglecting this little spot now. Much to my surprise, there was hail in it still! So today, I share 2 pics!

Photo Class- Day 3, IN

2011-04-14T11:39:00.003-05:00

Our next photo class assignment is IN. The first thing I thought of when I saw the theme was one of our cats. Our cats are indoor/outdoor cats. They love both. If you are ever at our house during the daytime when the girls are at school, 99.9% of the time you can always find Shelby in the same place. From the time I let her in after we get back from school, until they come barging in their room to change clothes after school, she sleeps. In their bed. And typically on either of their pillows.

Guess who took today's picture using the manual setting on her point and shoot camera?! Yep, that would be me!

One of the tips we learned this for this assignment was how to get catchlights in our pics. I really can't wait to try this one! But my inspiration was too sleepy to open her eyes today.

Photo Class- Day 2, NEW

2011-04-09T14:48:00.005-05:00

I am really enjoying the free Opposites Photo Class so far! I can't wait to start playing around with the manual settings on my camera though! My lil man should wake from his nap soon, and we will be headed straight to the store when he does.

The theme for day 2 is New. This is an Opposites class, after all! :P I recently got my hair cut short. Well, many will argue it's not really short as it's just past my shoulders, but it's really short for me. I have always admired people with short hair, but just never have liked it on myself. Literally cried over it being cut before. HATED it. Well, that's changed. I cut it just because I was sick of it. Always in a pony and just stringy, ect. I love my hair now. And it's suddenly bounced to life. It's actually curly which is totally new for me. And I even want to go shorter now. I never, EVER thought I'd live to see the day... So with my new hair, I've suddenly got a major thing for dangling earrings. And big, BIG hoops. And I need a place to store them. I made some frames for my daughters to put their jewelery on a while back. I wanted one for myself but never got around to it. Thanks to my new hair and new obsession, I finally did. So here is my new earring holder! I think she's just gorgeous! Though many of my earrings blend with her because they are so dark. (Oh, and the peace signs belong to my Lexi. But I thought the colors in them really added to the overall look!)

Photo Class- Day 1, OLD

2011-04-08T23:42:00.004-05:00

Sew, my bff, Cerise, sent me the info for a free 30 day online photo class. You should totally check it out. So far our host has given some great tips and, well, she's motivated me to start playing around with my totally awesome new camera (I love you Can.0!). So far, I've only used sweet Can.0 on his Auto setting. I planned to change that tonight after reading her email, only to discover my batteries are now dead! UGH! Must get more tomorrow...

Our First assignment is... Old. To me, old is just a short, unflattering way to say Beautiful. Old is wise. Old is worn, used, loved, held, cherished, looked up to. Personally, I love old. My little sister is about to turn another year older. Seems so long ago she was born, and yet this Wednesday she'll be turning 16. My husband just turned another year older as well. A handsome, smart, funny, creative, loving 40. My bff from the time we were born till she passed away when we were just 25... The anniversary of her death is getting another year older in less than a month. Another year older, and another year closer to us being reunited. My kids are getting older... Well, we can put the brakes on them! I do enjoy watching them grow, but let's not let them get old too fast! But yes, I do love old.

I really found it impossible to pick just one picture for old. So I narrowed it down to 3.

In 3rd Place.

The books on the top shelf are a set that belonged to my Uncle Jimmy. He couldn't bare to sell them or get rid of them so he passed them onto me just the other day. I really enjoyed going through them and putting them on the shelf in chronological order. Now it's time to start reading them. The first book in the series was written in 1953. On the shelf below, records that belonged to my Grandpa. My Grandma delivered them to me to sell for her, but the markets been too flooded lately, so I've been enjoying them in the meantime. Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Elvis. The list goes on.

2nd Place

My 2nd picture is filled with more books. These books were a staple of my childhood. Going to Grandma's every Sunday I would read these. I've since learned that before I could read, I would have my my Grandma, or one of my Aunts read them to me as well! I remember reading them with my cousins also. Especially Jennie. Well, after years and years of begging, I was given the honor of owning the collection. And was told of how all my aunts actually grew up being read those books and then reading them to themselves as well. :) And sitting on top of those books... That's my Teddy-Teddy. When I was in Kindergarten, my Memaw died. She was my great-grandma. My Grandma took a quilt Memaw had made, and she turned that quilt into bears for all her grandkids. I couldn't even try to hide how much love this bear has been given!

1st Place.

This is my favorite picture right now. My mother-in-law, and my husband. Hopefully neither of them will get mad at me for posting this! There is just so much beauty in this picture. The years, the wisdom, the love. It and so much more just pour out of this picture every time I look at it. I didn't actually take this picture today. I took this picture last Saturday. But with a theme that speaks to me as this one does, I had to use it.

Hopefully the future assignments won't inspire me to write another novel on my blog!

Shirts and Pics

2011-03-12T22:23:00.003-06:00

My much older sister :P, Holly, found a fantastic shirt online and sent me the pic with the statement "You must make this for me" attached. Her birthday was coming up, so I decided to make one for her birthday. But, it was just too great not to share. I simply had to have one for myself. And... my bff, Cerise, who's birthday is just a few days after my sisters. AND... My awesome cousin, Cassie, who has done so many wonderful things to help me and my family over the years. Holly and I have already discussed the need for these in every color. This shirt immediately became my favorite! And I have a new shirt along these lines that is still in my head. Hope to make it this week! So... Here they are. I hope one day the 4 of us can all get together for a craft night and a pic of us all in our shirts!

And tonight, I worked on something that I started nearly a year ago... The joys of unfinished projects. I can't tell you how happy I am that I decided to finish this one tonight! This one is 8 feet long and is hanging in our front room/my craft room. I honestly couldn't be happier. I started to update the 2 I made last year with new pictures, but I just couldn't bring myself to take any of the old ones down. I think I'm going to have to make another smaller one for a different room in the house for updated pics... The hallways would be good for more of these! :) I always did have a hard time updating picture frames with newer pictures. And for these, I spent a couple weeks picking out all the best pics from the previous years. There's just not a single one I do not want up anymore!

Okay, enough with my justifying! I'm sure I'm not the only one with that issue! So... Here's the big unveilling. My 8 foot frame hanging in the front room. Rob actually stopped and stared for a few minutes and proceeded to tell me how great it was. I'm proud. This project actually turned out even better than I had pictured it in my head. :)

A Special Night for Our Girls

2011-02-28T14:27:00.004-06:00

Sew the Hubby and I had been discussing going to a concert, or 2, soon and in the process we discovered that Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) was going to be in town. Our girls LOVE Miranda Cosgrove and have all her available cds right now. They've also been BEGGING us to take them to a concert for well over a year now... So we decided to check it out. The tickets were the right price for us, so we bought them. Then the real sneakiness began! We decided we would not tell the girls ANYthing about it. So we didn't. We also decided I would make them shirts to wear. I figured out their whole outfits in my head and then we just forgot all about it anytime they were around, minus a few secret winks and shared grins over the 8 days leading up to the concert. I LOVE the shirts I made for them. Some of my favorite work so far! I can't tell you how much I love love love love LOVE freezer paper stenciling. For these shirts, I poured some glitter all over them while the paint was wet. Then, when all was dry and the paint had been heat set, I sprayed some spray adhesive on them to help keep the glitter in place. Worked perfectly until they were washed. Don't get me wrong, they are still awesome, but they lost 95% of their sparkle during that first wash. I'm happy though, I was in a time crunch and my goal was to get the sparkle to last that night, which it did. However, these pics don't even come close to showing the major sparkle!

Here's several pics with the paper still attached. The fronts say "Sparks Fly" (name of tour) and "Bam" (1 of their favorite songs). The backs say "Miranda Cosgrove 2011" and "Disgusting" (their other favorite song).

SO... The day of the concert rolled around and while TJ was napping I made the girls take a quick shower and told them I wanted to play with their hair and that we would be running by their memaw's when their little brother woke up, but that we couldn't stay. They immediately started asking why as memaw doesn't live right up the street from us... They figured we must be picking up something, or dropping off something. I finally told them that it was their brother's special night and he was getting to stay the night with memaw. The girls weren't so happy with me after that. While doing their hair we talked about how they get to stay the night at a friends but TJ doesn't yet, so this is like a sleepover to him and they shouldn't be so upset. We would have the night to play games or watch a movie or whatever without him interrupting, and we MIGHT even go out to eat. Now they're excited. Also, while they were in the shower, I packed up their outfits, the cameras, and the tickets in car.

We got their brother dropped off, came home and their daddy and I "talked over" going out to eat and finally decided we would (as if we hadn't already decided to go eat first!) Rob sets the TV to record the All Star events and we head out. I made sure and mentioned that we need to hurry because daddy and I don't want to miss the slam dunk contest!

After we eat, we head straight to the venue. We park and get out before the girls finally ask where we are. I just mutter something about daddy wanting to check out something for All Star weekend and to get out of the car. We head to the trunk where I handed them each a gift bag with their shirts in it.

They loved the shirts (YEAH!), but still had no clue. So I showed them the tickets.

At this point, I am sure they knew, but were afraid if they said it it wouldn't be real. So told them. Many screams while changing in the parking lot (note in the picture where they opened their shirts, mommy thought ahead and had them wear a long sleeve shirt and leggings under their outfit so they could change in the parking lot no problem!) And then we headed in!

It was the perfect first concert. Was very relaxed, and not too rowdy at all. I still can't believe I couldn't get a single scream out of either girl while we were in there though! We all enjoyed it so much, we can't wait to take them to another one! Rob was sure to let the girls know on the way home that this isn't something we can do all the time as it is pricey, but we would like to take them once a year or so. Although later that night he was mentioning other concerts he'd like to take them to NOW... :)

So after my long story... I decided I wanted to make a scrap page to hang in the girls room with some pics form that night and the actual tickets. I decided to try a digiscrap page for the 1st time. I could have it on here, and print it and put the tickets on it for their room. I'm really not happy with it, honestly.... I was using PSP5, which normally I love, but it just wasn't cutting it for this project. If I do pages in the future, I will need a program for it. But here it is. The background and the background in the note are from Kellies Kreations Punk You- Pinks, Black and White. The whole kit is fantastic, but my PSP just wouldn't cooperate with it at all.

I must add... I am SO happy with these pettiskirts. I made these I believe 3 years ago now and they still fit! WOOHOO! I thought I would never ever make one again, but I am rethinking that now...

Catch Up Party!

2011-02-27T15:16:00.007-06:00

Well... I'm honestly ashamed at how long it's been since I've posted. This wicked case of pinpoint (guttate) psoriasis I've had since Christmas has really had me a bit down... I finally got into the doctor and so far am much MUCH better. Though still not 100%. This last week I've finally started getting myself and house back into a schedule and I have to say it's an even better one than we had before. Add to that I'm back to eating right and lost 5 pounds this week and I'm definitely not so down anymore! If I could only get this pain in my left ankle to go away, I could start working out again too..

So to get caught up, here's pics of everything (Hope I'm not forgetting anything) I made for Christmas gifts this year!

Ribbon Scrap Belts for my daughters

Crocheted Pocket Scarf for my lil' man

Holly Jolly Sign for my big sis

Peace Sign for family auction

Believe Sign for family auction

Large Fabric Ornament for family auction

Magnet Christmas Trees my girls made for their teachers

Season Block Signs (I made 3 sets of these. 1 for my mom, one my big sis, and 1 for myself!)

Christmas Wreath for myself

Arm Chair Organizer for my mother-in-law

Car Holder for my son (already needing a second one of these for him!)

Reading Tent for my girls

I believe that's all for Christmas.

Onto January now! My hawk sport'n, star wars fanatic nephew turned 5 in January and I made this shirt for him. Please ignore the bleed thru spots... I didn't realize it happened until it was too late! :(

We got a new family member this year! Meet Ranger! We had lots of snow and ice immediately after we got him so I made him this sweater. Someone decided to let him play with it while I wasn't in the room a week later and it's now shredded... Was super easy though and I am totally going to make him more!

That's all for this post!

Quick Post!

2010-12-17T11:02:00.004-06:00

Still working hard on Christmas presents, but I have some things I can post now!

3 more pillows.

A scarf for a sweet 3 year old (turned 3 TODAY!)!

And a shirt for that same sweetie! Happy 3rd Birthday, LANE! We love you!

A little ornament ball. Didn't get a good pic of the little butterflies I had cut out and put on it... My lil sis snatched this from our Christmas auction.

I also made these two signs for the auction.

AND... Here is my GORGEOUS, refinished table and chairs, in all it's glory. My uncle refinished them, and I recovered the chairs. Turned out so completely perfect! Looks like it belongs in a castle! Which makes my daughters really happy too. We've all decided, our table and chairs are very Narnian! :)

More Freezer Paper Stenciling! (I'm totally addicted!)

2010-11-12T12:48:00.003-06:00

I must admit, I am addicted to freezer paper stenciling. This is definitely going to be showing up in several Christmas presents this year!

For now though, here are some shirts I made for a friend of mine's son's birthday.

And I did these two for TJ while I was already doing the others!

I've also made 3 more personalized pillows. If you'd like one, orders must be in by November 26th to guarantee them by Christmas!

And I also want to Congratulate April Fitzgerald Nelson for winning the Ho Ho Ho Giveaway! We will be teaming up with Spirit By Holly for another giveaway soon, so keep checking back!

Costumes, More Freezer Paper Stenciling, An Upcycled- Upcycle project, And GIVEAWAY TIME!

2010-11-03T12:40:00.005-05:00

I realize now that I'm posting this, apparently I've been busier lately than I thought!

Let's start with Halloween. I managed to get off pretty easy this year! My girls decided to be black cats, and though all they needed were ears and a tail, I ended up making their pants too.

And little man decided he wanted to be a puppy. I'm still not sure how I managed to get his outfit done in less than 24 hours! I used some knit I bought for 50cents a yard a while back to make the hoodie and pants. Then took some brown felt and sewed ears and spots all over.

I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of a single one of their tails! They were just tails, but they looked so cute!

Next... I did some more freezer paper stenciling. I made my hubby and myself both Texas Rangers shirts. So sad they didn't win it all, but it was a great season still! I must say though, I'm still shocked that we used to turn on Rangers games to fall asleep in this house! But ever since our girls started playing softball, we are glued to the games. The last 2 seasons we've hardly missed a game. Glad we started watching when we did! Was such an exciting season!

I also made myself a Glee shirt! :)

And for upcycling.... I took a shirt that I had upcycled last year and upcycled it so it could be used this year as well. Check out the original upcycle for it! I do like the deeper orange I used last year. This year's is more of a neon orange. But I had to use what I had! The orange in this one was also from an old Little Caesars work shirt. TJ wasn't so much in the mood for pics today though...

And finally- It's Giveaway time people! Crandallation and Spirit By Holly have teamed up for a special Ho Ho Ho Giveaway! So how would one go about entering??? It's simple! "Like" Crandallation for an entry. "Like" Spirit By Holly for another entry. And for additional entries, suggest to your friends- Have them comment on either of our pages that you referred them and you will get an additional entry! And yes, you get an entry PER friend, as long as they comment that you are the one that referred them! All entries must be received by 11:59pm on Tuesday, November the 9th. Winner will be announced the morning of the 10th. Good luck!!!

Special Project

2010-10-27T10:07:00.007-05:00

Sew... I have been working hard on a very special project. Most of you know that my two girls play softball. Their daddy coaches and I am the manager/team mom. I have to say, I could never thank Maureen enough for asking us if we would coach a team 4 seasons ago. We have such an amazing group of girls that just love the game! We went undefeated this season! and are 16-2 in the last 2 seasons! I am so sad to see this season come to an end. Seriously, is it March yet? Let's start practicing for Spring!

If you haven't already guessed, the special project I was working on was for our girls! We really wanted to do something special for each of the girls. We tossed around several ideas and as I had just made the personalized pillows, pillows have just been on my brain, so I came up with the idea to make each of our girls a pillow with their number on it. I hand embroidered their name, our team name (GO WILDCATS!), and the year at the bottom. And the back was left completely white. Why? So the girls could sign them! Sew after our game last night we all headed to braums, enjoyed some ice cream, and then after a very sweet short speech by my hubby (seriously, I was starting to tear up right when he finished it! We really love our Wildcat girls!), we passed out pens and then the pillows. It was a very giggly scene as they were signing each others! Unfortunately... I forgot my camera! I believe 2 of our mom's got pics though. Once I get copies, I will update with more pics. For now, here are some pics of them after I finished them, as well as a couple my daughters holding theirs after we got home last night.

ALSO... I finally made myself do some freezer paper stenciling! And I am completely addicted to it! LOVE LOVE LOVE! Here is TJ modelling 2 shirts I made for him. I really am in awe of how well they turned out! I can't wait to make more. The first one, The letters were so small I couldn't really get the dots in on the r's and p's, ect. And you can see a little of the freezer paper that I hadn't gotten off yet between some letters. I couldn't find my tweezers and little man insisted on wearing it right then! But I still think it turned out great.

The second one... WOW. LOVE. My little man is obsessed with Dinosaur Train right now (and I can't blame him! Where was that show when I was little?! Dinosaurs and trains together! GENIUS!). I already have plans for a few more shirts inspired by that show! Need to get some better pics of this one though!

Coming later this week- Collaboration Giveaway with Spirit By Holly!

Another Birthday Present

2010-10-23T10:39:00.003-05:00

Okay. Sew another friend of both my girls is having a birthday! I actually made her a personalized pillow last year, so I had to come up with something else. I was really stuck on the whole pillow idea and just couldn't get my brain to come up with anything else. So I started searching for ideas online. No matter how many cute things I found, I just didn't want to do them. So I realized I had to do something pillow-like. A floor cushion! I found a few tutorials online and read through them, and then came up with this. There was a toddler sized version that I really liked the look of, so I designed my own version off of it. My kiddos definitely will have to get their own for Christmas! Love how it turned out! I went back and forth on the pocket idea, and when my sister, Holly, mentioned it, I decided I definitely had to put the pocket on their. Glad I did. The girls LOVE the pocket! Check out Crandallation on Facebook if you'd like to order one! I am offering them in 3 different sizes! (Please forgive my pics! The weather is not cooperating, my lighting is horrible, my craft room is a mess, and we have to give the gift- so I had to get the best pics I could!)

Birthdays!

2010-10-18T21:45:00.004-05:00

Sew many Birthday's in October! I have been working away on Birthday presents and some Christmas presents lately, and I can finally post some. First, for my sweet baby boy, who turned 3 on the 14th. I made him two reversible bucket hats. He used to have one he loved to play with, but it finally got to small so I made him these. Here he is modelling them with Myrtle. His needs an extra ironing to set right, but he hasn't wanted to let me do it. I keep randomly spotting Myrtle around the house wearing one lately! :)

And I also made him a glove puppy!

Next- my bff's son turned 2 on the same day! For Lyndon I made a reversible bucket hat as well. Here's TJ modelling it. This one turned out the best, by far! The thicker the interfacing, the better, I've learned!

I also decided to crochet a dinosaur for Lyndon. However, I didn't get the legs done in time. But I decided to give it anyways and have it sent back home with me for legs. Well, Lyndon was really holding onto it once he saw it, so with some help from his family- we decided it was done. I was wrong. It wasn't an incomplete dinosaur, it was the loch ness monster!

And finally, it seems that nearly all my girls' friends have October Birthdays! I decided to make initial pillows for the first 2. And, I just have to say, I LOVE them! My girls will get their own under the tree this year for sure! I also will be offering these in my shop! $18 per pillow. And if you want to do a full name or 3 initials, will be $2 per letter extra. I plan to have a boy version soon also.

I have a major project to complete within a week as well as another Birthday present to make by Saturday- sew still very busy. BUT... Coming next week, Crandallation will be teaming up with my awesome big sister over at Spirit By Holly for a really great give away! Go check out her page and be sure to become a fan. And then suggest Crandallation and Spirit By Holly to all your friends! This can be a double people! We've yet to reach 200 fans at Crandallation! So you and everyone else who "likes" Crandallation will be eligible for the 200 fan give away, AND the collaboration give away with Spirit By Holly!

Donations for the 3 Day Walk

2010-10-01T22:25:00.005-05:00

Sew... my bff, Cerise, informed me a while back that her little sister, Arianna, would be walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure this November. Cerise was going to sew some items and put them together in a basket to be sold with the proceeds going towards her sister's goal of $2300. I knew immediately that I wanted to help fill that basket! Well, we finally have gotten around to it. And here is what I made. The theme of the basket is everything must have pink. Sew naturally, it's all baby girl stuff! As a mom of 3, I know when baby showers come, 99.9% of everything you get is newborn- 6 months. Sew I decided to make a size 12 months outfit to go in it. Here is the shirt.

And here it is with the pants.

And then I made some matching blocks! The bigger one has a bell in it, and the smaller one makes the crinkly sound. TJ LOVES them. Guess I'll have to make him some of his own. Need to get some more BIG bells first!

And the last item just kinda happened. I saw the fabric and had the onesie and decided to add it it!

I still love Carebears! :)

If you would like to donate towards Arianna's goal for the 3Day, please click here. You can also visit her group, The Pink Galas Facebook page. The Pink Galas are 3 teachers. Arianna, Florence, and Amber. Let's help these ladies raise money to find a cure!

Also, I've updated Crandallation on Facebook. You can now see all my items for sale just by going to the "My Etsy" tab on the Crandallation Facebook page! And reviews can be left there as well. I really like this option because now, anyone who has received any Crandallation product can leave a review. Whether they purchased something, or it was a gift! So if you've ever received anything from Crandallation- Please stop by and leave a review! And don't forget to refer your friends for the 200 Fans Giveaway!

Daughters' Designs

2010-09-27T13:35:00.004-05:00

My body (head) has been under a major dual-attack lately. Sinuses and Allergies decided to see what damage they could do if they teamed up on me. UGH! Feeling much better now. Not 100% yet, but close enough that I'm happy! For now.

Sew... Friday evening I stepped out of the shower to find my children attempting to make paper snow flakes. They didn't quite get the fold of the paper right, but what they did make, sparked something. Each of my girls had one in particular that just really looked like it needed to be made into something. So I took some shirts, and some fabric and went to town. Once they were sewn, I grabbed some buttons and gave them to the girls and told them to place them where they wanted them sewn on. Here are their creations. (Lexi wasn't in such a photographic mood in the first two..)

I love them! And best of all, the girls do too! Lexi hasn't decided what to call hers yet, but Demi says hers is a pig from Mars!

They wore them Saturday to my Grandma's 80th Birthday Party. It was a surprise party and it was great. And the best gift of all definitely had to be her awesome new pink bowling shoes that my big sister, Holly, and our cousin, Cassie, bought her! I was hoping to have a picture to post on here, but I haven't gotten them yet. Another cousin, Meagan, brought her really nice camera and tripod and took several pics of all the family. Here is one of all of us with Grandma!

And here is one of Grandma with her Grandkids and Great-Grandkids!

My girls made pot holders from a weaving kit for her, and I made this card to go with it. I don't think I will EVER buy a card again. Love how it turned out!

I've also completed another project that I can't show yet! I need to start a folder with pics of all the things I'll have to post after Christmas!

Don't forget to like us on Facebook and suggest to all your friends. Giveaway will happen at 200!

Baby Gifts

2010-09-20T13:32:00.004-05:00

My bff, Cerise had her 2nd baby, another boy on August 30th. He is such a sweetheart already, just like his big brother! The same day, my husband's boss/owner became a father again to a baby girl. And, a friend of mine from high school was having a shower for her soon to be born daughter. SO, I got to work on some baby gifts. Thanks so much to Cerise as she had bought this diaper cover pattern and passed it on to me for some help. They are very easy to make, once you get the hang of it, but one part in particular is a bit tricky.

I made each of the three a set with diaper cover(s), burp cloth(s), and a reversible bib.

I also crocheted some fingerless gloves. The pattern sizing is definitely off as the part over the hands was way too big. Though you can't really tell it in the picture.

BUT- it was really easy to adjust the pattern and make them for my girls! And they were super fast to make. And they LOVE them.

I'm seriously choking up at how grown up my Demi looks in that picture!..

They are all just growing so fast.

And finally, I had a custom order for two reversible TX Longhorns men's capes! I'm hoping to get a picture of them in action! Love these. I really think I'm going to have to make myself a cape to run around the house in! Seriously.

All this, and I still have some things I can't post yet that are gifts waiting to be given! I'm so proud of myself for not waiting until the last minute this year!

Don't forget to "like" Crandallation on FB and/or suggest to your friends to enter the Giveaway!

My First Tutorial & A Giveaway!

2010-09-17T13:17:00.008-05:00

I had an urge last week to make something functional and super quick for my husband to help kick-off football season! I pulled out some of my TX Longhorns fabric and it hit me- a Steering Wheel Cover! So I did some searches online and found several tutorials but in the end I opted to make it my own way. The first one I made using bias tape.

I liked it, and my dear, sweet husband thought I actually bought it for him, so I'll take that as a compliment! But honestly, I knew I could do better. So here is what I did for the next one.

Beyond your normal sewing necessities (machine, measuring tape, iron)-You will need:

1/4 Yard of Fabric

36" of 1/4" Elastic

Matching Thread

Safety Pins and/or Elastic Threader

First I measured straight across the two furthest points of my steering wheel.

Then I measured the grip circumference.

This tutorial works for most, but if yours is bigger or smaller- you will need to make adjustments. I tried mine on two cars and it fit both- one measured 14.5" with 4" grip, the other 15" with a 5" grip. And I'm fairly certain it could work on steering wheels an inch smaller or larger.

Once I got my measurements I came back inside and grabbed my fabric. I cut a strip 5 1/2" wide and used the entire width of the fabric (44") for the length.

Next came the iron. I folded over 1/4" and ironed all the way down the length of my strip of fabric.

Then I took this same side and folded over 1/2" and ironed.

Repeated with the opposite side.

Now to the sewing machine! I opened the folds, lined up the two short ends and sewed them together using a straight stitch Then I zig-zagged the edge because it always makes me feel more secure.

Then I folded the fabric back down where the iron creases were and sewed using a straight stitch very close to the edge of my ironed fold all along the length of each of the two sides, minus an inch. This leaves an opening for the elastic.

I took my elastic and cut it in half leaving me with two 18" pieces of elastic.

Just before I start threading my elastic, I remember a tip I found a while back that I really just adore! I take a marker and make a mark on the same side of each end of my elastic pieces so I will know if my elastic accidentally twists while I'm threading it. LOVE THIS! Can't remember where I found it- but seriously- THANK YOU!

Now I start threading my elastic. I like to safety pin the opposite end to the outside so I don't accidentally pull it all the way through.

Once threaded, I sew each end of the elastic to a piece of scrap fabric using a zig-zag stitch. I usually sew up and down 3 or 4 times on each side of the elastic.

Then I cut the excess scrap fabric off and stretch the fabric so the elastic works it's way all the way in where it belongs. Then I sew up the opening (using a straight stitch! Of course this is after I forgot to change my machine back to straight and zig-zagged instead. Causing me to have to stop down completely and remove stitches... UGH!).

Then repeat on the other side. But this time I remembered to change back to straight stitch!!!

And here it is!

Super easy! And I love the results! I do think it turned out better than my first one using bias tape. And, it was easier and faster!

So now... For the Giveaway! Surely you didn't think I had forgotten?! I have not 1, but 2 of these Longhorns steering wheel covers to giveaway! I reached the wonderful first 100 fans on my Facebook page a while back, but now I want more! (Suddenly I feel like one of my children... Always wanting more.) When we reach 200 fans, I will have 2 drawings. One winner from the first 100 fans, and then a 2nd winner from 101-200! So everyone, suggest to your friends! And, Thanks so much for all your support!

Pattern Making

2010-08-26T21:20:00.004-05:00

Sew... My big sis Holly has been on me for a while to start making patterns for these outfits that I just wing it on. And the more I make the more I realize she's right. Sew we went in on some swedish tracing paper together and I've had it for a couple weeks now but haven't touched it. I finally decided today was the day. I honestly have no desire to make patterns with instructions, ect. But I would like to have the actual pattern pieces so I can make more without starting it all over again, or make it bigger, smaller, whatever!

Sew I pretty much drew stick figures of my girls (I am NO artist, it's really WAY too embarrassing to share.) last night and then took measurements of every little thing and marked them on the figures. Today, I took a dress that my sister made Lexi for her birthday and decided to draw up a pattern for Demi one. I honestly don't know what I'm more proud of, the fact that I managed to draw it up and it fit, or the fact that I managed to get it all sewn together without any instructions at all.

I really need a working camera.... Here is Lexi in the one my sister made with the actual bought pattern.

And here is Demi in the one I made her today. (I am also really pleased that from the start of rolling out the pattern paper to the last stitch on the dress took me about 2 1/2-3 hours- once I calculate how much time was spent picking up the girls, giving snacks, playing with the kids, ect.)

Now to find out how I can do on a dress that's in my head with nothing in front of me to look at...

Sew Many Things...

2010-08-25T13:50:00.002-05:00

Okay, the title is because right now, I have like 20 different things I'm wanting to sew! Each one just as bad as the others! It's driving me crazy. It's time to write them on scraps of paper, drop them in a jar, shake it up and draw one!

But for now... I went to visit my bff, Cerise last week and she was kind (and crazy) enough to show a couple of books she had found to me. Generation T and Generation T Beyond Fashion. I managed to con her into sending them home with me! Okay, really- she's 9 months pregnant and admittedly does not have the energy to make anything from it right now, so we agreed that I could borrow them as long as I make something for Lennox out of one of the patterns. Here's what I made a couple nights ago. The pattern for the booties say 0-3 months, but they look bigger than that to me... I guess time will tell. They were SUPER easy to make. Wouldn't have taken long at all if I had not sewn the fabric on one bootie the wrong way- TWICE. Never underestimate the importance of checking your work before you sew it shut! Even on a super easy project! I am fairly certain when I run across another shirt that I think will be good for this, Lennox will be getting more!

Hope the Wade family likes them!

Been A While...

2010-08-21T09:43:00.003-05:00

Well, I've not been so busy sewing, but I have been busy with vacationing, enjoying some time with my kiddos, and getting them ready to head back to school. I have managed to make some items that I need to post though. And a note, my cameras have all quit on me at the moment... So most of these are from my phone, and really are not good pics.

First, my cousin, Andrea contacted me and asked if I would make scrunchies for some cheer leaders. I made 14 of these.

Then I decided I wanted to try something and I had a lot of this yellow 60s-70s fabric. So I made the girls and myself skirts from it. The girls wore them as swimsuit cover-ups when we went to NRH2O Thursday and they were really cute like that. Not sure they have a shirt in their closet that would go with them for everyday wear though!

And finally, I have been working for months on a hat for my bff, Cerise's newest edition to her family. She's 38 weeks now, and I gave it to her at her baby shower last week. The instructions were a bit of a pain, and this hat was taken apart more than once before I figured out what it was the author meant but was making so complicated... Frustrating! But so happy with the outcome! And a big Thank You to Cerise for taking the pics for me!

I have also been working on one other crochet piece for baby Lennox. And unfortunately for me, the pattern is made by the same person and this one, I just haven't been able to figure out yet. I got really frustrated the night before the baby shower and just felt I had to have something else to go with the hat. So I started looking online for ideas and when I woke up the morning of the shower, I knew what to do. So I made these. Super easy, super cute, and I super wish I had thought of it when my kiddos were little!

Lexi's 8th!

2010-07-04T19:32:00.005-05:00

Sew... I can't hardly believe it, but my oldest baby girl is officially 8! She has grown so much and is such a blessing to have in my life! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET LEXI!

And for her birthday, she had requested a patriotic outfit. Then we all decided Demi needed one also. Well, then we decided yesterday that TJ really needs one too. At least a shirt, right?! Well, I was working on a dress and my needle broke on my serger, and I have since found out that I do not have the proper tool to replace it. I spent way to much time and energy learning this fact though... But, at the last minute, I managed to get my mind off that situation and back onto the shirt for TJ. And managed to make it in 10 minutes this morning- just in time to throw it on him and get in the car for church! :) And Rob thought I couldn't do it! Shame on him for doubting my skills! :P

TJ's is made from a tracing of his hand. I've decided I MUST make myself a shirt or bag or something with one of each of the kids hands. Actually, I may just do all 5 of our hands together! Something I would always cherish! :)

Here is a picture I snapped of all 3 real quick after church.

And here they are sharing an iCarly moment... :P

OH! And here's a shirt I did for a giveaway for reaching 100 fans on FB!

New Serger

2010-06-28T23:25:00.005-05:00

Sew... As I am new to the world of serging, and loving it- Naturally, the serger I was using decided to quit on me. I managed to find another one cheap enough and at the perfect time for us to afford it. Thank you craigslist, and Rob's checks falling so perfectly this month! It took me at least 3 hours to get the serger set correctly, and I just got to really use it today. I managed to finish the dress the old serger quit on the end of, and do 2 more today.

These two are made from tshirts I found for $1.99 each and some knit material I have had for several years now. They aren't perfect. I had no pattern and just used a dress from each of the girls current collection of clothes as a guide for cutting the fabric. And I definitely could do better on the neck and arms, but again- I was really just trying to make sure it would look cute and fit. And once I let the girls try them on, they didn't want to take them back off! Which makes me very happy, I must say!

And this last dress has pretty much the same story. I just used a dress as a guide for the sizing and then went for it. I'm thinking I am going to make a collar to match the bias around the arms on this one. It's a little tight coming over the head for my liking. But Lexi was there to prove that it would still fit an 8 year old! I'd probably size it as a 4-6 though. Hoping to do the collar tomorrow and get this one in my etsy shop!

She's got legs!

Another 4th Outfit, and 2 more skirts

2010-06-17T12:37:00.003-05:00

Sew... Lexi and Demi decided that Demi needed a 4th outfit too. Here is Demi modelling hers!

And then I made 2 skirts to list on etsy. Here are the girls modelling them!

And I just have to say. I love serging! Thank you to my big sis who loaned me an old serger of hers, at least a year ago. I have had it sitting on top of a book shelf all this time, afraid to try it. I finally got it down on these last 4 skirts and used it! And, I even had to figure out how to rethread the thing (thank you very much TJ)! I'm proud. And I love it. And my next project will rely heavily on serging!

Special Request For My Oldest Baby Girl.

2010-06-14T15:47:00.005-05:00

Sew... Lexi requested that I make her a 4th of July outfit for her birthday. I wanted to try something I hadn't really done before and I couldn't be more pleased! I will definitely be making many more of these skirts! And the shirt really just seals the deal for me. And I am so pleased to say it did for Lexi also! She is my pickiest client, so anytime she is 100% happy, I am BEAMING with joy! She did have one request that I did not fill on this. She wants her name on the bottom of the shirt too. I told her we would ask Auntie Holly if maybe she could embroider it on there for her. Although once I was done with it, she didn't mention wanting it anymore. She just kept telling me she loves it! And then telling me I would need to make her something else in secret so she would still have a present from us that she wouldn't know about ahead of time!

Here she is modeling her birthday outfit!

Girls and Boys

2010-06-02T19:58:00.004-05:00

I have made a few dresses and another boys outfit. They are all listed in my etsy shop!

This first dress (I made 2 of these) is going to get a blue stripe added down each side. Somehow I managed NOT to sew it at the measurements I was supposed to. I didn't have a pattern for it, but I had it figured up. It was really too tight. So I sat down with it this evening, grabbed my measurements, then measured it, and it wasn't even close! Glad I didn't sell it to someone to have them get upset over it! I'll post it again when it's got the stripe!

Here's the next dress. I really love this one! And the little model, Maley definitely makes the dress even cuter! :)

And here is TJ modeling a boys outfit.

OH! And I did a giveaway on Memorial Day! We drew a name out of a hat and the winner won this shirt modeled by TJ! Love the way it worked out too! I didn't know the winner, but I saw that she had a 6 year old daughter and was getting prepared to make one like it for her. But then she said she actually wanted it for her son, who is 2! LOVE IT! I will definitely be making each of my kids 4th of July shirts! I loved the way this one turned out! I have some ideas so they probably won't all be the same.

More Listings, A Birthday Present, And Dresses For My Girls

2010-05-24T10:01:00.004-05:00

Sew, I've posted 3 more items on the Crandallation Facebook Page, and Etsy.

I also made a dress for my friend, Amanda's daughter, Molly. This is one of my absolute favorites!!! I love the end result. I will be making more of this pattern to list for sure!

And finally... I saw this dress from Lil Boo Blue and really just loved the way the sides hang down. I decided to try my own version. This is what I came up with for the girls. No pattern. I braided strips of fabric for the belts, and bracelets, and I actually had an anklet to match them. Actually, Lexi wore her bracelet as a necklace (it is long, doubled around the wrist for a bracelet) later in the day and it looked great like that too! I think they almost look like little teenagers in these. I didn't notice until last night, that the sides are actually different in the inspiration dress. There are two points on each side. I plan to make some more like my version, and some like the inspiration dress- once I get some serger training. I know these dresses would have looked even better had I serged them!

Crandallation

2010-05-15T19:15:00.004-05:00

Sew... I finally decided to try and start selling some outfits. I am listing them on a facebook page, and also on etsy. I decided to start with an outfit for a boy since it's not as easy to find cute boys clothes!

I made TJ one, and then made the same pants and then the orange top to sell. Here's my little man modelling!

More Concert Shirts

2010-05-05T08:44:00.004-05:00

Sew... Rob and I got this past weekend together with no kids! First one we've had in many years. It was really nice. We started it off Friday night by going to the Blue October concert. After the 2 opening bands, the curtains were closed, and I was just in awe at how beautiful the curtains were. You can't see all the detail in this pic, but it was really gorgeous. I am not an expert, but I just don't know how it would have been made other than with a lot of love and time! I had to take a picture to share.

And here is a picture one of the many completely awesome fans took of us. Seriously, best fans ever! I made these shirts with a stencil Rob and I created from a picture of the lead singer, and the logo for this tour, bleach, and a sharpie! The very first one I made turned out great, but I decided to experiment with it some and it ended up ruining it. The second one just never turned out. The bleach just spread and turned into on big blob on the shirt. So these are shirt numbers 3 and 4. We liked them!

Things for ME!

2010-04-26T00:09:00.004-05:00

Sew... I'll start with a pic I just discovered I had of one of the 2 outfits I need pictures of to post. Can't really see that outfit that well in it though. (hint hint, holly!)

I've been working on this next project for a while. It wasn't anything that really had to take so long to make at all, I just did a little at a time on it. Got the idea from my sister who got it from Knock off wood. Our cats, and TJ teamed up over the last few months and knock ALL my pictures down on practically an hourly basis... Sew when I saw this, I knew it was the perfect way to stop that madness! I should have taken a before picture of the 2 shelves that were holding all these in frames! But I forgot. Here's the finished products though. These are each 6 feet long.

I'm actually working on one more that's 8ft long to go in our front room/my sewing room. Probably won't finish it until next week though.

And finally, I really don't know what came over me, but I got a wild hair and just had to make myself a purse. A purse! Seriously?! I have always had a thing for purses, but I haven't really carried one at all since I stopped working outside of the home. In over 2 years. I just have my wallet and keys, both of which have wrist straps so I just slip them on when I'm out. Well, something came over me and I just had to make one. And the best thing is, I found one that suits my wrist loving style right now! And it's just big enough for my phone, wallet, and keys! With 3 kids, I definitely don't need a purse that can hold more- or it will....

Oh... And it's reversible! :)

And I think it is fantastic! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FABRICS TO MY BIG SISTER, HOLLY!!!

Still behind...

2010-04-13T07:33:00.003-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted a couple of things I've sewn recently. I still have 2 things I did that I need pictures of. But for now, here goes!

First, I made this outfit for my cousin's daughter, Lilly. This is my new favorite outfit to make! They just turn out so cute! I started making little scrunchies to go with them when I made this one. Hopefully I will get a picture of her in it to put up here soon!

Here is is all nice and neat and ready to be placed in a box and put in the mail!

And here are some dresses I just did for the girls. The instructions were a bit of a pain, but once I had it all figured out, they were really easy to make. Too bad that took so long. AND, too bad I ran out of white thread before I could finish. Seriously... I ran out of white thread. And Red... Ridiculous! I usually have at least 3 spools of white on hand at all times! It ended up being the finished dress of 1 of the two options with the pattern. The other option had a belt. I ran out of thread right at the finish of the dress without the belt. And it was the middle of the night. I really wanted the belt though. I don't think they are near as cute as they would be with a belt. And also, to bad I forgot to really get pics of the outfits! I actually only got these pics because Demi was sitting in the window sill looking so cute. We were at the hospital visiting Rob's mom (doing great) after church Sunday. So I did the best I could with my phone!

SKILLET

2010-04-03T22:06:00.003-05:00

Sew... Last night, Rob and I took my lil' sister, Kaylee, and my nephew, Brayden, to the Skillet concert in Tyler. It was AWESOME. I still cannot believe they did the pyro in such a small venue. Was great. I did a lot of crafting over the week, and Kaylee mentioned I should make myself a shirt to wear. I told her I was too busy with other crafting and sewing. But, I ended up getting a wild hair and made one on Thursday. Very easy. A little stinky though... No one else was complaining, but I still smell it. I took a solid black shirt. Printed off the Skillet logo onto some way too thin, but at least it was thicker than paper, card stock. Then, I cut out the logo with a kitchen knife. If you can't tell by now, I was only willing to make this shirt out of things I already had on hand! After that, I pinned the logo into place on the shirt, took it to the garage, grabbed some silver spray paint, and painted it.

The initial attempt failed. The spray paint bled through several places.

So... I let it dry. Then took a sharpie to it!

Let it dry some more, and followed it up with a light spray painting all over, then a sharpie outlining all the letters.

Kaylee thought it was great, so I was happy. And I did wear it. It really turned out very 90's grunge to me. Too bad I no longer own a big flannel. Would have paired up perfectly with an unbuttoned flannel on top!

I have 3 more completely projects that I'm just waiting on pictures to be able to post! And tonight... It's 10:20, but I am seriously considering trying to tackle 2 Easter dresses for the girls for tomorrow. Going to have to be something SUPER fast and easy though!

Much Crafting

2010-03-30T23:18:00.004-05:00

Sew... I realized tonight that I have been seriously kicking out some crafts lately after a long drought, or at least it feels like a drought. Saturday night I knocked out Indyanna's birthday present (pics after the birthday), last night I knocked out a present for my cousin's daughter (holding off on pics of that as well). This morning I made another Easter wreath to hang on my mil's hospital room door. I really want to make my big sis and mom one too! They are quick, easy, and cute!

Then I started hanging up pictures of us that I ordered a while back and just haven't gotten to yet. After I hung a couple of them, I decided to finish a couple (of the same) projects that I've been working on for a while. Thank you Meagan for the idea! The problem I had with them is the wood was just absorbing the paint. I honestly lost track of how many coats it took. But it's finally where I want it today. You can't tell so much from the pictures, but it looks more vintage. The pictures make them look like they need more paint though! I was making 3 of these, the two below, are my daughters.'. The 3rd I was making for me. But I HATE it. It's really just the color. I decided to do mine red, and it's just not looking like I want. I love the pink on the girls' ones, so I am thinking of just starting from scratch and doing mine in pink as well. The girls love them, and so do I!

And after hanging those in their room, we went outside to play and start another project. I got all the painting done, so tomorrow I will try and tackle finishing that project as well! I still have 2 more outfits that I'm wanting to sew before Friday also. And on a side note... Amazingly, somehow, I've not only been keeping the house clean while doing all this crafting, but I've been de-cluttering and just really getting some "spring cleaning" going as well! GO ME! :) Hope I can keep this up!

Easter Wreath

2010-03-27T22:41:00.004-05:00

Been very busy lately. Spending quite a bit of time at the hospital with my mil over the past month now. She is doing wonderful! I have a lot of items that I need to complete by Thursday this week. But can't get pics of them until after this weekend. In the meantime, I really don't know what got into me, but I woke up Friday morning just itching to have a new wreath on my front door. So I started searching the net for ideas. I found one and started making it, and then my Cousin Cassie emails me one! I thought it was pretty cool we were thinking the same thing at the same time. The one she found had spanish moss in it, and I actually really liked it because it made the eggs look more hidden, like in the grass. Took me back to my childhood. I actually planned to add the moss to mine, but then I ran out of glue and completely forgot to get more today while right next door to Walmart! So, I decided that for this year (or possibly just for today, we'll see tomorrow!) I'm done. And I tied the ribbon to it and hung it on the front door. I really like it! I think I could make the next one even better though. It was SUPER fast and easy too! (We totally should have done a craft-a-long on this!) And it actually pained me to have to take down my pine cone wreath, but it is put up until fall now.

Now, I just have to see about making at least 1 more of these. I want to make one for the door to mil's hospital room. And Rob has started asking me to make a couple for some of his stores! We'll see!

Up-Cycled T-shirt Dresses

2010-02-26T09:24:00.003-06:00

Sew, I finally made one of the tshirt dresses. I kinda had to wing it because the sienna dress pattern is too small for Lexi. I used the raglan pattern pieces, and then just cut it up and added to it. My little sister gave me a pink panther shirt and a 1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish shirt. The girls just couldn't decide so both ended up on their dresses. I did my best to try and make it all coordinate. I really wasn't so sure I liked them at first. They were very easy to sew, and I like the design, just not the fabrics together. There are piece from 5 different shirts on these. Actually 6. It took two different shirts for the sleeves. I couldn't get enough fabric out of 1 shirt to do both girls' sleeves.

At first I really wasn't sure about the finished product. I was just hoping it would look cute when I finally got them on the girls. Throughout the day they slowly started growing on me. Then the girls put them on and they looked like the should be nightgowns. Then we broke out the leggings and they still had a nightgown vibe. But about 15 minutes later, they finally just started looking like cute outfits to me!

Here's a video of them in action also! The girls have taught TJ "ring around the rosey" and muscial chairs in one combined game! It's so cute!

Valentine's Craft-A-Long

2010-02-13T23:38:00.003-06:00

Well, I can't believe I waited until the last minute to finish this! I really wanted to have it hanging for a few weeks before Valentine's Day, but it didn't happen. I kinda just let Valentine's sneak right up on me this year! I originally planned to sew some fabric into a bow to hang it, like I did the pine cone wreath, but as went to finish it tonight (determined to at least have it hanging by the morning), I realized that it really just seems too small for what I pictured. I wanted it to be bigger the entire time. I never was able to find a bigger heart shaped form. I still intend to make a much bigger round one (not Valentine's themed) though.

Sew... to shorten all that up, I waited till the last minute just to cut a piece of red ribbon and tie it around it in a bow! At least it's hanging now!

One Of My Favorite Sewing Creations Thus Far!

2010-02-05T21:22:00.005-06:00

Sew, I have been wanting to make a shirt for a while now. Just like a regular style t-shirt... But with cool fabrics, of course. I have had the pattern for awhile, and my sister has even made some, but again, another pattern that intimidated me. One of these days, I will stop letting myself put a sewing project off because it intimidates me. Every one has turned out great so far when I finally do it! And this one is one of my absolute favorites!

I decided since it's still winter, I would make a long sleeved hoodie. And it had to be up-cycled! TJ is ultra obsessed with Little Caesars. At least one of our kids had to be! He knows the logos and everything. It's pretty funny. He had a cute little onesie that Rob had gotten from the owners, but he's outgrown it. So I took it, and one of Rob's old work shirts, and made TJ a super cute hoodie. Not the greatest pics, yet again. He has not wanted to hold still for me for pics lately!

I intend to go back and make the orange at the bottom longer. It's made the size of the pattern, but it still seems a bit short to me. I was going to take it off right away last night and put a longer one on, but then I realized I didn't have enough solid orange left to do it. Rob's trying to get another orange shirt for me though! Maybe this way the hoodie will last longer too! And Rob took TJ to show it off to the owners today. I think Rob loves this one too! :) I can't wait to up-cycle some more of these for him and his sisters!

Potty Power!

2010-02-02T21:50:00.006-06:00

Not really a big sewing/crafting post... But, I made my son this shirt with an iron on transfer I ran across at Joanns. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to get it! The perfect little "trophy" to show off his awesome potty power abilities! I really can't believe my little man potty trained so quickly, so easily, and so YOUNG! I take no credit. All I did was got the nerve to try it a week before his 2nd birthday (thanks for a little inspiration on that Maley and your mom Amber!), kept him in his undies and made him sit on the potty as often as possible for 2 days. After that, it was all him!

Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood for having his picture taken. And for anyone out there in need of potty training materials, I highly recommend "Potty Power". TJ does not care for TV. Potty power is one of only 3 things he will watch. And we had to give it back to the library after so long... But he still asks for it and we find clips at kidmazing.com for him sometimes. He didn't really like it the first time I put it in, but I turned it on while making him sit on the potty one time After that, he insisted on watching it while going potty. Didn't really care for the potty being in the living room, but it worked. Only took about a month to get it into the bathroom permanently. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

He's been in undies all day, even when we go out, since November. And several times in October, in the beginning of training, we had put a diaper on him, he held it and then went running to the potty when we'd get home! Today, I bought a pack of diapers (sold the cloth diapers when he stopped wearing them all day. Just wasn't worth washing one diaper a day!) with the plan that this will be the last. He has gotten up 7 mornings in a row and run to the potty. I think he's about ready to sleep all night in his undies now... I guess we'll see. He's so young, I really don't know if he's ready yet!

Sew, here's my little man wearing his trophy shirt "potty like a rockstar" (and I made the pants too!). Yes, yes you certainly do little man!

Longhorns

2010-02-01T09:38:00.003-06:00

Sew... I was super tired last night, but had a major sewing itch that wouldn't let me crawl in bed. I really have been wanting to sew something in particular, but don't have everything I need for it yet. Sew, I decided it was time to tackle an outfit I had cut out for TJ before Christmas! I had originally planned on doing an appliqué on the shirt, but now that I learned to reverse appliqué, I decided I would do that. I just LOVE reverse appliqué! It's cute, it doesn't require as much work on my part, and there is much more room for error. I whipped out the pants, then grabbed the shirt and realized that before Christmas, I had already completely prepped the shirt for regular appliqué! UGH!!! More work for me! I thought about just ripping the stuff off and hoping it wouldn't rip the shirt, but I decided to go ahead and just finish it. I do like how it turned out. Still not perfect, but I like it!

Here he is with the reversible cape I made him a few months ago on over his new outfit.

I love the cape so I just decided to throw in the pic showing it better too!

Taking the cape off.

Here's just the outfit I made last night.

In other news... The girls haven't sewn for 2 straight weekends now... We are having troubles picking what they will sew next!!! I have one thing stuck in my head that I want to make sew bad (but need more stuff to make it), it is blocking me from thinking of anything else right now! And the girls haven't really come up with anything either. I think I'm just going to have them make themselves some pants, but they aren't so thrilled about that. Need to find some fabric in my collection that will get them excited.

Valentine's Wreath Craft-A-Long

2010-01-27T15:56:00.002-06:00

I finished putting all the fabric on my wreath this morning. I tried to finish last night, and ran out of fabric. I managed to find a very similar fabric to finish the last inch or 2 that was lacking fabric. You can tell if you look really close at the upper left side. I am thinking of making a little fabric ribbon and hanging it the same way I did the pine cone wreath so it will hide the part with the different fabric...

BTW... Hubby just REALLY loves this one. He told me today this is one of his favorite things that I've made so far. I do really like it too. I am planning on making another one using my stash of scraps on a round form. Like a REALLY big one maybe. And not cutting them all the same size either. I think it could turn out really cool to hang in my sewing room!

Scarves, Craft-A-Long, and My Demi's 6th Birthday!

2010-01-26T12:07:00.004-06:00

I crocheted a couple more scarves, one for my big sister, and the other for my mom. My sister specifically requested hers to be thin, and short, not made to wrap around the neck- but more like just for an accessory. I did my mom's the same. Here is a picture of my mom with hers.

And for the Craft-A-Long, here is a pic of my small heart (I really wanted a big one, but couldn't seem to find one anywhere.) and my fabric squares.

And here's what I've done so far. Hubby thinks these are pretty awesome, btw. :)

And finally, my Demi is officially 6! I can't believe how much my babies are growing! I made her some pants and a reverse appliqué shirt. I REALLY love these outfits. I just might make a few and try to sell them.

Hour 2

2010-01-19T14:44:00.003-06:00

Sew... Since the girls had a 4 day weekend, and Demi turned out sick the first 2 days of it, we stalled hour 2 until today. They are both a bit impatient with the sewing process, but are thrilled with the final product. That's right, FINAL! It only took 2 sessions for them to make their bags/purses. Here they are sewing the straps.

And here they are modelling their reversible purses! I'm so proud!

Reverse Applique

2010-01-14T12:28:00.006-06:00

Sew... My bff, Cerise mentioned something about doing reverse appliqué to me, and I had never heard of it. I immediately looked it up, and decided I had to do it. Many birthdays are coming up sew I thought I'd try it for them. After finishing the first one, I am in love with reverse appliqué. It's very cute, and doesn't take as long (or as much patience) as regular appliqué. Here is Rob's bff's daughter, Ansleigh, modelling her pants and shirt I made for her 4th birthday. Her birthday isn't actually until the 19th, but I gave them to her early. I picked the fabric not knowing what colors she liked, but her face really lit up when she saw it, and her mommy confirmed that green is actually her favorite color right now! GO ME! :P Here she is! She is such a pretty girl too! And I learned quickly- she loves to model. Please excuse the messy background!

Last Christmas... Present

2010-01-14T12:22:00.004-06:00

As far as I know, this is the last Christmas present I needed to post. I was able to give the last one yesterday. I made 6 of these this year! And so far, TJ plays with his every morning, so I'm happy!

I wish I had gotten better pictures. I also made teeth for them. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the teeth. I thought they turned out really cool!

Hour 1

2010-01-08T21:12:00.003-06:00

Sew... I just couldn't wait until TJ's nap tomorrow. The girls and I had their 1st sewing hour tonight! Although, they didn't sew. We just worked on cutting out all the fabric for their purses. We're just making the smaller market bag. I thought that would be simple enough. I measured and they cut.

Here they are being silly and acting like they are falling asleep waiting on me to measure!

And here they are each cutting!

I have 2 Camp Rock fabrics, and 2 High School Musical fabrics. They choose to make their bags reversible like I did mine- and to use all 4 fabrics. And we found in my collection, a cute black fabric with little pink hearts to use for the top and straps! Hopefully tomorrow they'll get some time to sew a little. I explained to them that this could take a several weeks as we are just going to do a little at a time each weekend. They weren't so thrilled about that part.

Should I start a separate blog for the girls sewing???? I'm torn on this.

Inspiration

2010-01-03T21:04:00.004-06:00

Sew.... My little niece sewed herself a bookmark, and I made my girls check it out on my sister's blog. They were instantly begging to sew. Demi wanted to start with a dress... I decided we needed to start with something more simple like the bookmark. She got some paints for Christmas she's been really wanting to use, so I told them they could sew the bookmarks, and then paint their names and whatever else they wanted on the felt side.

Here they are cutting the fabric. They picked the fabric. Daddy was very proud. :)

And here they are sewing. Demi went first. They ended up standing to do it, I tried using a stool, but it was too tall for them. We need to find a more comfortable arrangement for them for future projects though. They couldn't stop smiling! Neither could I! :)

I did cut off the extra fabric after they sewed, but they did everything else. I should have just let them do that too, but we were worried TJ would wake up and then stop everything down, and they really wanted to paint on them!

Here they are painting away!

And here they are with the finished projects! Lexi was being a total goof!

Now you can really see why Daddy was so proud, huh?! Although his whole face really did light up when he saw them sewing. It was really sweet! I didn't think he'd really care either way, but he really thought it was just so great that his little girls were sewing! :)

I have decided that I want to try and have at least 1 hour each weekend dedicated to sewing time for them. I haven't told them yet, but next, I'm going to let them each make a smaller version of the market bags for themselves. I have some Camp Rock and some High School Musical fabrics for them to use. They loved the market bags when I made them and have asked me several times to make them smaller ones, so I think they will love this! And it should be fairly simple, I think. But Shhhhhh!! They don't know yet!

Is Christmas Really Over?!?!

2009-12-27T16:38:00.005-06:00

As I sit here gathering all my pics to post, I just have to say... MY PARENTS ARE THE BEST!!!! This is my first post to type while staring at our brand new, 23 inch, flat screen, HD monitor. It's HUGE. And my pictures look amazing! Rob and I found ourselves just looking through pics of the kids half the night last night. Thank you for the millionth time mom and dad!!!

Sew... Here we go!!! I made pants for all the kids on Rob's side of the family. There are actually 2 of each of these below. 2 sets of sisters, and one set of brothers. Actually, I made TJ a pair of the scooby ones too!

And I managed to get a photo ornament made this year! YEAH!!! Made one of these for Rob's mom, my parents, holly, and us.

I made these pants for TJ. LOVE THEM!

I made these pants for the girls, and I am seriously going to have to get some fabric and make some for myself. I love these! They are so cute. And they look so comfy!!!

For Indyanna and Boston, I made these art caddys. My sister and I got together and decided to make these for each other's kids. I am SO glad we did. It's going to clean up a big mess in my cabinets!!! I was very intimidated by this project though, and wasn't able to do it until the last possible night I had to sew before Christmas! But, I did it. And I would have done it faster but the pattern instructions were a bit confusing in one part. I really am proud of these. I wish I had done the handles with fabric instead of ribbon though! But I do still like them!

And I made this scarf for my big sister Holly. She picked the colors, actually, she sent me the yarn too. And was very specific on wanting it very skinny. I am pleased to say that she likes it!

And lastly.... Here is the family pic in front of the tree in the pj's I made us this year!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Wild Hair

2009-12-21T09:26:00.004-06:00

First let me say, for all you slackers out there- there's another post below this one that you haven't looked at yet! :P

Now- Onto this post!

I seriously got a wild hair yesterday and it just wouldn't leave me be. I need to be working on Christmas presents- only limited time left for them now, but I just couldn't get rid of this hair. So I had to please it instead. I found this project a while back, actually, over a year ago. Yesterday I was scanning through projects I have saved that I would like to do and apparently this one HAD to be done. IMMEDIATELY.

It will be used on my kitchen counter for our keys and wallets. This one section of my kitchen counter ALWAYS seems to be cluttered. I clean it, and literally 24 hours later, it's covered again. And it's never anything of mine. Honestly. It's the one part of the house that drives me the most crazy because I never take part in making it look so bad! Well, when all the Christmas stuff was set out, I found this basket mixed in and put it on the counter. And it's pretty much stayed clutter free since! We've had one minor flare up of clutter, but I consider it a wonderful improvement. So I decided I would have to get a basket to put there permanently. Well, the wild hair hit, and now we have our basket! It's made from the pages of an old Parents magazine.

Here's the inside view.

And outside.

Christmas Sewing

2009-12-19T19:54:00.004-06:00

Sew... It has been a VERY busy month! I have been sewing, sewing, sewing, and crocheting, crocheting, crocheting. I have several things I still cannot post... But for now, onto the ones I can!

I made these pants for Kolby's 8th Birthday!

And this scarf is for the white elephant gift exchange on Rob's side.

And then this scarf was for the big family Christmas auction.

And these were gifts for the girls' teachers, and I also put two of them in the auction.

Scarves for My LadyGirls...

2009-12-10T08:09:00.003-06:00

Sew, my bff Cerise used to crochet in the car on the way to work (back in the day when we worked! :P Also, she car pooled with her hubby- she wasn't crocheting and driving!). As the Thanksgiving trip to Round Rock was approaching, I decided I wanted to try crocheting a scarf in the car. I wasn't able to get with Cerise for her to get me started though. But, I remembered that my wonderful Grandma had given me this crochet book and told me that it made it all real simple. So I grabbed it, some yarn, and a crochet needle before we left. I am SO happy with that book. It really broke down EVERY single stitch and how to do it. And, it had a pattern for a very cute scarf in it.

I've now made each of my girls their own scarf. I did not have enough yarn left to add the fringe to the ends though. But I decided they were cute enough without- Mainly because the girls have been begging me to let them have them already! I finally gave them to them this morning.

The Stockings Were Hung...

2009-12-05T21:51:00.005-06:00

Sew... I've been working hard on some stockings lately. Let me give you a little background on our family's stockings. It all started with my mom making Holly's stocking. Then, I believe my aunt Decah made mine to match (forgive me if I'm wrong!!!). We have had them I guess since we were babies, or at least VERY young- I cannot remember a Christmas without mine. Well... Low and behold my parents decide to bless us with a little sister 15 years after I was born, and my Holly blessed me with a nephew 2 months later. Sew, on my Christmas vacation that year, while watching my little sister, I took my stocking apart, and used the pieces as a pattern to make them matching stockings. I had to get more creative with Brayden's, since there were no boy stockings like this yet. Well, years later I had Lexi, and decided to make her one. And Rob and Ryan while I was at it. I believe that's the same year I made mom and dad theirs also. Then Demi. And I still swear I made Boston one at the same time I made Demi's- but Holly has never seen it, and I have no clue where it is! Then TJ.

Sew there's the background. Well, Holly's stocking had some problems and was sent to me for repairs this year. She didn't want a complete over-haul on it, so I just patched it up, it needed a new hook, some fabric in the front and back parts where the "h" is, and also the "h".

I also made Boston one that he will FOR SURE get this time!

I had been thinking of making one for Rob's mom for the past few years as it's become tradition for her to stay the night with us on Christmas Eve- not to mention the fact that we're trying to get her to move in with us for good. Holly had mentioned making Grandma one this year, sew I decided to make them both one.

And as I was talking to Holly, we decided our Uncle Jimmy needed one too! He's moved closer to my parents and will surely be with the family when we all get together on Christmas as well!

Sew... There they are. A tradition in our family born out of 2 cute stockings made many years ago. From 2, to 16!

Another Wreath?

2009-12-04T16:38:00.002-06:00

Since when did I become a wreath person, anyways?! Seriously, I LOVE wreaths. Probably because they are sew beautiful, but I've never felt I could justify spending money on one... Sew, this year I am loving that I have found some to make. First my fall leaf wreath that I can use every year... and NOW- My very own pine cone wreath! I LOVE IT!

Let me just say, this wreath was a bit of a pain. Okay, a MAJOR pain. It was too big for the wreath form I had. So I wrapped them all together with some wire. Well, they were too heavy and would just hang down almost in two lines. I was thinking all day (while working on another project I should be posting tonight, or tomorrow) about what in the world I could use or do to this to get it right. I'm not so proud of what I'm about to tell you... Well, when we moved into this house, the landlords had some wreaths up for decoration. Our landlord explained she liked to have some homey touches when potential renters would come by. Wreaths up, and decorative towels in the bathrooms... And they left the wreaths. They've been sitting in my garage for 2 years now. Well.. I took the one that was the most hideous (they are both pretty old cheap, perfect for her purposes) and just ripped everything off of it. Then I put my pine cones on top, and wrapped wire all around them to hold it on. It's really not the prettiest, if you look close, but I love it anyways. Next year maybe I'll actually but the right form and try it again! The bow is two strips of fabric sewn together to make it stronger. Then I tied them together and sewed the tie so it wouldn't come undone.

It actually hangs lower than I wanted as well, but I'm through messing with it. I think it looks good as it is.

Here's a pic of it on our front door. Then I realized it was too thick and the front door wouldn't shut!

Here it is on the outside of our screen door. Now, we just have to be careful not to crush it into the mailbox every time we open the door!!!

More Leaf Wreaths

2009-11-29T09:43:00.003-06:00

I made 3 more leaf wreaths! I believe 1 went to my mom, and the other 2 went to my cousin Cassie. As long as my mom remembered to get hers before we left Cassie's!

Leaf Art

2009-11-13T21:44:00.003-06:00

We finally got a chance to do some more leaf art tonight! Here are a couple of pics of all the ones the girls and I made tonight.

And here is a close up of the one that says Crandall. The leaves will fall and stick the way they want, so I'm not sure just anyone would realize it says Crandall- but I think it still rocks!

And this one I made for my sweet hubby! Sew happy to have spent my 30th Birthday with him and our 3 amazing kids. Some might think it's weird that I made him a "card" on my birthday- but after everything we've been through- I spent my morning walk talking to God and thanking him for blessing me with 30 great years, and for such great parents, and siblings, and friends, and for bringing Rob and I out of everything stronger and together! There is no place in this world I would rather be- than with my sweet hubby and our family!

RockStars!

2009-11-09T21:11:00.004-06:00

Sew... I made these dresses for the girls months ago, but I had to send them to my sister for button holes as the machine I have won't do button holes anymore... When I got them back from her, they were tossed aside for a bit. I finally got the buttons sewn on (Which I now realize I forgot to take a close up pic of! They are cute butterflies!), the girls tried the dresses on, but they were just a little too low cut. Nothing was showing, but it was definitely too low. Sew I got the idea to just create a little ruffle strip to add some length on the chest. I finally sat down last night and did that.

I have to say, I think the girls look like little (hannah) rock stars in these outfits. The dresses, with the leggings. But really- I think the boots are what definitely pulls the rock star vibe together in the outfit. I'm thinking I might needs to make them a black belt to go around their waists. That just might be the icing on the cake for these rock star outfits!

And here are a few pics of TJ modeling his birthday outfit, and his cape!

Square Fall Wreath

2009-11-08T14:15:00.005-06:00

Sew...Not a sewing project yet again, but I love this one! I was just browsing the net, trying to find some more ideas of things to make for Christmas. Well, I ran across a ton of crafts to do with leaves! Sew, the kids and I went on a little leaf collecting hike yesterday. Was a very nice walk. And the kids had fun trying to find the coolest leaves. TJ was big on helping collect acorns, which we were needing also! Would have liked to get pics of them collecting leaves, but we were just going up our street and down the next and I didn't want to risk TJ running into the street while I was trying to snap a photo!

Here's the first finished project. The girls and I made this after TJ went to bed last night. I did the bow this morning. It's not the most cooperative, or pretty bow, but I still like it. It turned out even better than I thought it would! It looks so beautiful on our front door! We actually got some pine cones as well, but they needed to be hot glued, and then we forgot about them. I'll have to put some on the others we will make. As we will definitely be making more of these! And you can be sure you will be seeing more completed leaf crafts soon!

Shrinky Dinks!

2009-11-06T20:27:00.004-06:00

Sew... For TJ's birthday, my wonderful cousin Jennie got him some cool bath toys, and got the girls a box of Shrinky Dinks!! We made some that weekend, but didn't do anything with them yet. Tonight, they made a bunch more, and each made themselves charm bracelets with some of them. Here are some pics of them crafting away! THANKS JENNIE! :)

Colored and about to go in the oven.

Watching them shrink.

Shrunk.

AWESOME! :)

Trick or Treating with Fairies and a Turtle!

2009-11-01T15:45:00.004-06:00

Sew... I never ended up sewing TJ and shirt and pants. Just didn't have enough fabric. Sew he wore green pants and a green shirt that had a forest pic on it with some forest animals on the front. It really turned out cute! And he loved it. He kept calling it his turtle backpack!

He had a BLAST trick or treating! He told EVERYONE "Thank you" at least 10 times. And he would ask us "More Candy?" as we would leave each house. His basket was getting so heavy that he actually started stumbling to one side, but he kept refusing to let me hold it for him. Finally at the end of the night he did let me hold it, but he had to stay right beside it! It was really adorable! The girls had a blast too! They used their Easter baskets, which are pretty big, and they were all completely filled by the end of the night! People kept just giving them huge handfuls of candy!

The girls were ready to be done about 30 minutes before TJ was. Actually, TJ never was ready. He started throwing a fit as we headed home. So we told him we'd do one more and kept reminding him it was the last one and then he did pretty good. I had to remind him twice after we left the last one that we were going home and he could have a piece of candy when we got there!

Sew... Here's TJ as Myrtle the Turtle, hugging Myrtle the Turtle.

And here are pics from Trick or Treating!

Halloween Costumes & Another Birthday Present!

2009-10-26T23:03:00.004-05:00

Sew... I've been working hard on my 3 kiddos Halloween Costumes. Lexi is Rosetta, and Demi is Silvermist- both are fairy friends of Tinkerbell in the movies. I finally completely finished their costumes Saturday morning. I do have to say, I took a totally different attitude that normal with these. I just decided they are Halloween costumes, and I am not out to make them perfect or stress over them or anything. I completely winged everything but the shoes. I did have a pattern (THANK YOU HOLLY) for the shoes. I am proud of them though. Turned out even better than I had pictured in my head. I just looked at pics of the fairies from the movies and pics of the women working at Disneyland dressed up as them and then went for it.

TJ is going to be Myrtle, his bff! Okay, sew to anyone who doesn't know us, he's just being a turtle. But I'm totally making his costume to look just like Myrtle, his stuffed turtle that he absolutely loves! I made the shell, but am not having so much luck with the pants and shirt. I was really hoping to just find a green shirt and pants, but am not having sucess on that. Looks like I'll be making them. Pics to come when I finish the full outfit!

Sew... Here's a couple of pics of Lexi as Rosetta. I made the shirt and skirt- which are supposed to look like rose petals, wings, shoes, and the little fairy dust pouch on her wrist. She just hasn't been in the mood for pics for me the last several times I've taken pics of her! :( Not to mention the fact that she accidentally touched the iron reaching out for some makeup I told her not to touch... She got a very small burn on her wrist. Left a little red mark on her. Poor baby. This was about 15 minutes later, but it didn't stop bothering her until we got to the party and she was having too much fun to notice it anymore.

And here are pics of Demi as Rosetta. I made her dress- which is supposed to be like water, wings, shoes and fairy dust pouch as well. Not sure why her dress looks sew uneven in this pic, it's really not. Weird.

Also, a friend on the girls' softball team turned 7 on Sunday. She had a really fun costume birthday party. I made her a name pillow. Not my best work, but I thought it was still pretty cute. I needed a thicker background fabric. It pulled on the thin fabric... I also needed sleep. It was my 3rd night in a row staying up way to late sewing... I literally nodded off more than once while sewing this pillow! SEW BAD! Anyways... I thought it was still pretty cute, and I was out of time to do anything else. The girls loved it, so hopefully she will too. Her party was packed with sew many activities- she didn't even get to open her presents! All the kids there, including the birthday girl had a great time! Definitely gave me some ideas for future parties!

Here is the pillow!

Another Birthday!

2009-10-18T15:42:00.005-05:00

Sew... my baby boy has turned 2, and on his birthday, his future bff turned 1! I had my sister make this shirt for him- It says "L is for Lyndon". And I made the matching pants. And then I decided that he needed something else too. I couldn't figure out what for a few days, and then, on the day of the party, it popped in my head. A little play pillow that would match! Sew I made one for him, and one for TJ. They crinkle when you squeeze them. I learned somewhere online that you put the wrapper from wipes inside things like this and it makes them have that crinkle sound. It works! I didn't get a very good pic, unfortunately.. Was in a hurry!

Hopefully I can get a pic of Lyndon in it to add on here soon. And here's a pic of TJ with his pillow.

I still have a few things left that I've made and can't post yet. And I have 2 dresses that I need to add buttons on that I will post soon. ALSO, I'm working on Halloween costumes for the kiddos. All that lacks on Lexi's is the sparkles and wings. Demi's is ALMOST to that point. And I finally just figured out how I'm going to do TJ's late last night. Sew hopefully I'll have them all done in a few days!

Dressing-Up Boys

2009-10-09T08:42:00.004-05:00

Sew... Let me just start by saying that I am SO proud of this one!

TJ has gotten to the point that he wants to play with clothes and dress-up, like he sees his sisters do. Sew I've been on the hunt for boy dress-up stuff. The first thing I thought of was a cape, and I found a free pattern online. I found it a month or two ago but apparently I'm learning that I have an issue with being intimidated by seeing finished products. But at least I'm still getting to them eventually.

I also was waiting for the right fabric to talk to me for this project. Yesterday afternoon, it just completely popped in my head from out of no where!

Also- I've decided I like to appliqué. Still not perfect on this one, but MUCH better. And the cheapo Walmart thread didn't break a single time!!! I think it definitely must have been the combination of the knit, cheapo walmart thread, and needle I was using last time.

Sew... Here it is!!! I will be taking pics of it and the TJ outfit on him after his birthday and post them. I will say- this cape is definitely long for him, but it'll last years at least! The size of the pattern said fits 2T- 6, or maybe 8... And it shouldn't be tripping him since it's going to be on his back!

This picture shows the sides folded over so you can see the inside lining of the cape.

My 1st Official Appliqué

2009-09-29T08:04:00.006-05:00

Sew... One of the projects I've recently made was a pair of Thomas the Train pants for TJ's cousin, Palmer, who is only 3 weeks older than TJ. I had my wonderful big sis make the shirt for him!!! LOVE IT! I really want an embroidery machine now!!! Here's TJ modeling his own pair of Thomas pants. He is really into trains right now. He throws a fit to put on these pants anytime he sees them!

And here's the shirt. Picture courtesy of my sister's blog.

I still have a lot of projects I've been doing that I can't post yet. Well, when I thought up the shirt for Palmer, I wanted to have Holly do one for TJ too. But "T is for TJ" just doesn't sound as good! Sew I didn't ask her. Funny thing is, she just mentioned to me how she had thought of doing it for him anyways for his birthday, but she decided it didn't sound right either! Well, I gave her several projects to embroider for me right now- sew when I did decide it didn't sound right, I decided I would try to appliqué TJ on a shirt. I did some cut outs ironed on fabric before, but I never have truly done appliqué.

Between doing laundry that I was behind on, and this shirt- I was up till 3am... I seriously need a nap already!!! Well, I learned one very important lesson- never use cheap walmart thread for appliqué! What a nightmare. I actually lost track of how many times the thread just completely cut itself in two... Very frustrating. And it would leave little fuzzies in the eye of the needle every single time, so it took forever to get it cleaned and the thread back though each time! Then, add to that the cheapo thread would just randomly decide to not catch the fabric in various places. But it actually doesn't look horrible because it randomly did it all over... It doesn't look great either though. Beyond that, not so bad. I did forget to leave the needle down in the right spot on the T in the same couple of places on each side, but I figured I would just fix that by hand. By the time I was done, I decided I wasn't doing any hand fixing at all. For my first time ever, I expected the absolute worse. And then with the thread problems added in... Well, I am very happy with my finished product actually! And I am very antsy and excited to try something else. But I don't have anything other than cheapo thread... So I'll be having the same problem until I can afford better. Now I'll be putting it up to give to TJ for his birthday- as if he'll care! :P

What I really hate in this picture is it looks like I messed up on the bottom of the J, but it's really the red part of a train and the thread together. I wouldn't be as happy with it if I did have a huge bunch of red thread there!

The Draping Runway

2009-09-26T15:59:00.003-05:00

Sew... Before I forget, I have been working on SEVERAL projects lately for Birthday and Christmas presents... I'll be posting them as I can.

Today, I was moving a box of fabric I have in my sewing room and getting ready to vacuum. as I grabbed the box, I noticed this green stretch polyester fabric that would be perfect for a Tinkerbell dress for Lexi for Halloween (Is what she wants to be). I grabbed it and called her in to look at it, and when I did, two other pieces of fabric fell. One thing led to another, and next thing I know I've draped them onto my girls and they are putting on a runway show! Too bad they wouldn't be still long enough for me to get very many good pics.

They haven't taken the dresses off yet and it's been about 4 hours... What fun we can have with fabric!

More shirts

2009-09-09T21:38:00.002-05:00

I have been buying the iron-on things off and on lately. And I had one left that my cousin Cassie gave me too. I finally got them out and did them the other night.

I realized after the fact, that 2 of the words on this one were black... I'm surprised- but you can still see what it says even though it's on a black shirt!

This one I made to go with a particular fabric I have. I'll be making some pants to go with it soon!