Hooded beach towel

Who doesn't like hooded towels? I know as a mom I love them. And if you are a busy mom like me, then this is perfect for you... These are so easy to make! And fast!!

Supplies:
1 - beach (or bath towel)
1 - hand towel

First take your hand towel and cut it in half. I like to fold it and use a pin to mark the middle on each side, mark it and cut it. Set one half aside for another project.





Fold the half of the hand towel in half. making sure the raw edge you just cut is along the top. And pin it together. About 2 1/2" from the top, on the side with the fold, mare a curve. Then cut it.

Next sew that raw edge shut. If you have a serger, I suggest using it. If you are like me and you don't then I would do a straight stitch first. Then go back over that stitch with a zig zag.


Flip it right side out and you've got your hood.

Fold your beach towel in half and mark the middle with a pin.

Fold the hood in half and mark the middle with a pin.

Lay the hood on top of the beach towel, lining up the pins, and pin the hood to the towel.


Using a zig zag stitch, sew the hood to the towel. (Since the hand towel and beach towel had finished edges there is no need to reinforce the stitching)

Voila! You made your very own hooded towel!

Bandana Top/Dress Tutorial

I have really been neglecting my blog. I hope that a couple fun tutorials will make up for it!

Things have been very crazy here the last couple months and I have missed posting tutorials. So to make up for it, I'm going to post more then one this month. Up first...

A girls top or baby/toddler dress made out of bandanas! I got my bandanas at Walmart for $1 each. So you can easily make these for under $5 each 

Supplies:
2 bandanas
1-2 yds of grosgrain ribbon (I am using 7/8")
Thread

Start by making a seam across the top of each bandanas. This will be where we run the ribbon through at the end.




For a baby dress, if you's like it shorter. Trim a few inches off the top. Then sew your seam. On this one I trimmed 4" off the top.

Next we need to mark where the side seam ends and the arm holes begin. Measure from the top 4-6 inches down and mark the fabric with a marker.


You'll have two that look something like this.

I like to pin the bandanas together, stopping where I put my mark. Then sew up both sides, stopping at your mark.


Flip the top right side out and run your ribbon through the top seam. I just have the girls stand here to figure out the best length. But if they aren't around, I like to pull the ribbon through both sides, then pull the looped end out about 2", and have 6" of loose ribbon on the other end. Then I cut the ribbon.


Gather the fabric up a bit. And have your girl put it on. Tie the bow. (sorry the pics aren't better. It's hard to convince a 19 month old to be a model)


Now if you don't want to cut it shorter, you can still use the bandanas to make a toddler dress. Peyton is in 18m, this is her in the top Annsleigh was wearing above. I personally like them a bit shorter though. I think this would fit her better if she were in a 3t.

You can add other embellishments if you wanted. Like trim or a ruffle along the bottom, an applique or embroidery, etc.


Another way to make a summer top for older girls is to make it a tie back halter. For this you only need one bandana.

You do the top seam the same as the others. Then attach a strip of ribbon to both sides. Since it's for Annsleigh, I cut the ribbon's length, the same width as the bandana. I like to get the ribbon placed as close to the middle of the bandana as possible to attach them. For the ribbon length at the neck I double the width of the bandana. Run the ribbon through the seam and you're done! You can do a similar top to this by making the top seam from one of the corner sections. This makes the bottom go to a point.

Tissue Paper Flowers.

The Crafting Pot has a "Flower" challenge going on. I made tissue paper flowers and attached them to a foam ball. It came out so much better then I expected. I love it! I ended up giving it to a very close friend for Mother's Day. I think she really liked it too. :)

Treat Bags

Since Valtentine's Day and Easter are occasions for candy in bulk, I found these and had to make them. They are both SO simple too! Enjoy!

I found the tutorial for this one on SplitCoastStampers

And this one was on ustamp4fun
I made mine a bit longer then what the tutorial says to fit the fruit roll up better.

Been MIA

Sorry I haven't been around lately. But I have been trying to get organized and purge my house of clutter. I still have my creative juices flowing. I am getting ready to paint a few rooms in my house. Starting with the kids bathroom. I am so excited to be doing this though. Here are my color choices and my inspiration.

The wall color - Glidden paint - True Turquoise

Accent Color- Glidden paint - Onyx Black

The inspiration prints to be framed and hung:

 

Each of the individual prints will represent one of my children. They will each have a color coordinating set of towels to go with one robot. The two oldest have picked their colors. I plan to hang the individual ones above the towel rack. The other print is larger and will be hung on another wall. I will paint the walls in the terquoise and in the black I will randomly paint cogs and sprockets on all the walls. The kids can't wait for it to be done. And neither can I for that matter. I can't wait to turn their drab white bathroom into something fun and colorful!

More to come!

12 weeks of Christmas - Week 12

Wow week 12 is here already. Since we are down to one full week plus a couple days until Christmas I am sure many are now just grabbing gift cards. I know I grabbed a couple! But wouldn't it be fun to give a gift card in a little more then an envelope? So this week we are going to do a couple gift card holders. And as a bonus I will throw in a way to dress up some concert or sporting event tickets!


I love the explosion boxes with a pocket for a gift card. 
Denise at Paper Pastime has a great video tutorial for making one with one or more pockets for gift cards I love that she added a 3D element right in the center! So I took that concept and combined it with the explosion bow with a paper bow tutorial from Christmas With The Cricut and combined the two to make this:

I took this basic idea and tweaked the measurements and made a similar box to hold some hockey tickets. The measurements are different but the box it's self goes together the same way...

Ignore the football tickets. I wanted to see what it looked like with tickets and the hockey tickets haven't arrived yet. ;)

















For the box:
1- 8x12 piece cardstock
Score at 3" on each side.
Cut and remove the square from each corner.
Fold on the scored lines inward on each side.

The Lid:
1- 4 1/8x8 1/8 piece of cardstock
Score at 1" on all sides
Cut a triangle from each corner making a tab attached to the long sides.
Fold scored edges inward.
Glue tabs to inside of short sides. 
(Click on the pictures to see the cut diagrams larger)


Pocket for the tickets:
1 - 3 1/4x3 cardstock
Score at 1 1/2" down the longer sides
Fold both sides inward.

Using one of the triangles cut from the lid.
Score 2 sides at 1/16" and cut of the little square the score lines make.
Attach one side of triangle to the bottom of the box and the other to the backside of the pocket.

























The Bow:
1- 4 1/2" circle from BT paper
Cut 8 curved lines from 1/4" away from the center outward to the edge.
Punch a hole in the center.
Put brad through the hole.
Fold the pointer corners inward attaching them to the brad, making a pinwheel.
Fold open the brad to hold the bows shape.

Band:
1 1/2"x12" strip of BT paper.
Wrap around box & lid.
Over lap edges and glue down (I used a glue dot)
Attach the bow with 3D foam dot. 




Some other fabulous gift card holders can be found all over the net. Some of my favorites are:
The cupcake from The Stamp Goddess - I love this project! Gorgeous presentation for a gift card!
Holiday House from The Paper Monkey
A Beanie from Caorolina's Creative Pad
Pop Up holder from Chic 'n Scratch