New Blog Location!

Alright, it's official. I'm no longer posting here...
Because I'm starting to post on my new blog!

My first post went up there today. However, I'm waiting to throw a full-blown launch party until Monday next week so that I can work out all the kinks and problems. It still does have some little quirks, so please forgive me while I work those out.

Please, please follow me there! I'll be posting in Facebook and on Twitter as new posts go up, and once I get the RSS feed working and get links to other social media hubs up and running, you ought to be able to follow me as you please.

So go and see my latest post! There's a free printable template for some really cute Valentine candy boxes. I think you'll like them!

Owl Embroidered Cotton Blanket

A friend of mine is having a baby girl and her nursery colors are orange and grey. At her babyshower over the weekend, I knew a lot of people would be giving her flannel and fleece blankets, which are completely necessary and important. But when Graham was born, that's all I had blanket-wise. I learned that sometimes, you just need something lighter weight for hot days or to use as a cover up while breastfeeding so that your baby doesn't smother and sweat profusely underneath a fabric that doesn't breathe.

Keeping all of that in mind, I made a cotton gauze blanket and used the same DIY embroidering technique as I did on Graham's monogrammed blanket, except this time I made an owl instead of an initial. (I love cotton gauze because it's so lightweight. It was a life saver on hot days last summer with a newborn!)

I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

I love the soft, fringed edges.

I did have to be a little more careful in removing the paper so that I didn't rip any of the stitching out, since there was quite a bit more sewing on this than just a single letter.

I'm excited to make some more of these and put them up for sale in my Etsy shop. I've been wanting to do that for a while now. *sigh* I'll get around to it sooner or later.

Hopscotch Rug

I tried to make a lot of my Christmas gifts this year (big surprise, right?). Luckily, most of them were well received. Either that, or the people I made things for are just really nice.

One of my favorite gifts I made was this hopscotch rug for my nephews.

They live in Utah, and in the winter time there's so much snow that it's impossible to play these kinds of fun outdoor games. Now they can play it on rainy days, snow days, or swelteringly hot days, all within the comfort and safety of their home and the weather outside won't matter. 

The boys opening it up on Christmas Day.

But let me tell you, it was a beast to make! There is just so much fabric to it.

I found this nice and heavy orangey-brown upholstery fabric for the base of it, and then I decided to use grey broadcloth for the lines and to bind the edges. I went with bright green fleece for the numbers. 

I made each square 16 inches by 12 inches, measuring from the outside edges of the squares. The grey lines themselves are about 1 inch wide.

I wish I had gotten 3 full yards of the upholstery fabric, but I only got 2.5, so the numbered squares only go up to 9 instead of 10. Oh well!

I made 6 little round bean bags to use with it, each a different color.

I even included a little pocket in one corner of the rug to keep the instructions and bean bags.

On one side of the instructions I wrote the rules to the game (there are so many different ways to play--I just picked the most basic, common way). On the other side I wrote a brief history of hopscotch and the care instructions for the rug.

I love how it turned out! But it was a lot of tedious work. If I ever make one to sell, it will be a little on the expensive side.

My nephews played it a couple of days after Christmas. At one point, one of them said, "This is actually really fun!" I guess they thought it was going to be boring. It's great for teaching them coordination and to use up some of that pent-up energy that kids tend to have.

What other games would you like to see made into a rug like this?

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Halloween!

Halloween this year was a lot of fun, once again. Our costumes were awesome, for the fourth year in a row. So awesome, that I took too many pictures and then couldn't decide between them, so I posted almost all of them. Plus, I've been practicing my photography skills.

Hopefully you can figure out who we were from the pictures.

I designed and made Graham's Peter Pan costume from head to toe. I made patterns for the tights, cap, and shoes. The feather was tricky to attach into his little cap, but I figured it out!

Also, I apologize for going overboard with pictures of Graham. I just couldn't help it. He's the most precious baby boy I've ever seen! (Plus, I'm his mom... I'm supposed to go picture-crazy, right?)

My Tinkerbell costume was fun to wear. I thrifted the shoes (and glued the puff-balls onto them) and bought the wings. I made the dress by reworking two t-shirts and then using elastic and strips of tulle to make a tutu to go underneath it.

Bob made quite a fabulous and very handsome Captain Hook. Seriously, I'm so happy with how his costume came out. It was borrowed, bought, thrifted, and made by me and Bob.

How was your Halloween? What were your costumes?

Lauren's Throw Pillow #1

One of my brothers and his wife recently bought their first house. It's really exciting for them. My sister-in-law just got some new furniture, including some gorgeous brown leather couches that are in need of some throw pillows. Naturally she called me. ( I really love when people think of me for needs/projects like this!)

She told me the colors she wants (emerald, sapphire, jewel tones) and that she's decorating with a peacock feather theme. She didn't exactly want peacock feathers on the throw pillows, but rather something more abstract. I really love the shapes and lines that peacock feather make. 

So I sketched up some ideas and went fabric shopping...

I even kind of made up my own sewing techniques to create this first one. Maybe they've been used before, but I've never seen or heard of anything quite like this.

I really like how this one came out.

I can't decide if I should add a button on the back or not. 

I'm excited to work on the other ideas for the rest of the throw pillows. 

What do you think?