Color me Crazy

After weeks of thinking, and tough decision making, I have decided to start really pushing out solely baby blankets to sell. I can make baby blankets in a matter of days, and I really love making them. BloomWood Blankets!! I'm super excited. I have not decided on the pricing yet. I need to just figure out how much yarn each blanket will take me and how much the yarn will be. And I need to figure out shipping prices. But I have been coming up with some set color schemes because I don't want to take custom orders anymore And sorry for the HORRIBLE quality photos. They suck, I know. I had so much fun naming my color combos.

Polymer Clay Crochet Hooks

I crochet a lot and recently it has been hurting my hands. I took a break from it for a few months and I've just jumped back into it full force. Andddd I'm rusty. My wrists are killing me. I was thinking about doing something with polymer clay to make a handle on the hooks. Polymer clay is really fun to work with. Its the adult version of play dough. Once you make what you want, you have to bake it. Once its baked its super hard and sturdy.

There are sooo many pretty colors to choose from.

 Plus look at all the cute things you can make.

So my next project will be to make polymer clay handles for some of my more used hooks.

Maybe not this fancy. Or this cute.

I could dream right? Practice makes perfect.

Crochet Bowtie's

Had a moment of inspiration today! I don't quite know what struck me to think about bowtie's. I'm quirky like that. But then I though I could crochet a bowtie. So I did just that. I pulled out some gray yarn, grabbed my trusty crochet hook and went to it. 15 minutes later I was finished. I didn't follow a pattern, just went with it. The best part of it all, is that if Brayden's neck gets wider when he ages, the neck strap can be removed easy peasy and I can make a larger one :) I'm thinking about selling them. I'd love your input! I could do so many colors!

see the cute little red button? I'm finally putting my collection to use!

 

I simply asked for a smile and got this.

I think $3.50 a piece sounds appropriate!

All Things Arrows.

It's been slowly creepin' up on me. I've seen them everywhere lately. Told myself whats so great about em? Well..... it didn't take long. Little by little I have been appreciating them more. You wondering what I've been obsessing over for the last few months? ARROWS PEOPLE. >>>------------------>

They are everywhere! And I am not a least bit annoyed. Arrows add a bit of edge. Once known as something manly and scary, for some reason is now cool and stylish. Our generation is wack. Chevron is sorta like arrows. But different. Can't wait to finish my gray and yellow blanket I've been working on forever. Even gray and yellow are popular go-to colors. Have a good tuesday!

Easter Bunny Shirt Tutorial

A few posts ago I had decided to make my nephew an Easter shirt. Well I stopped to get a shirt and got started on it yesterday night.

1. Get a shirt you want to use. A plain, solid colored one works the best. You can wash it first, but you don't have to.

 2. Print or draw out the image you want to use. I just Googled "Easter Bunny Silhouette".

3. Then you are going to trace it onto freezer paper. You can buy a huge roll of it at the grocery store for a couple of dollars. Its in the cooking isle/baking needs isle. Its in a type of roll you would see aluminum foil in.

You need to trace on the non-waxy side. Its important. The waxy side will be ironed onto the shirt.

To make the bitten-off-ears part, just make little waves halfway down the ears. See? Pretty easy so far.

4. Then you need to cut out the shape. Anything cut out will be painted. So you would only cut what you want to be painted. 

5. Iron it, waxy side down on low heat to the shirt. Don't worry, the paper won't catch on fire. Just don't press too hard and don't leave it on one spot for too long. Go around the design, making sure the seams are stuck down to the shirt really good. 

You will need paint and a paintbrush. I use Tulip Soft  Matte fabric paint, and a disposable paintbrush.

6. Paint the design on, making sure to not get any paint under the seams. Make an even coat, and do not put too much on. Start with putting paint onto a plate, not just directly onto the shirt. Please remember to put a piece of cardboard under the shirt to make it tight. Also it will stop the paint from bleeding onto the back of the shirt. Do at least two coats, making sure the first coat is dry before doing the second.

Wait for it to dry, or use a hairdryer. Once you feel all around and are sure its dry, carefully peel the freezer paper off the shirt.

It should look something like this. Minus the little bit of paint I accidentally spilled on the shirt. Drat.

So now I have to fix the spot. Remember, once the paint is on, its super hard to get off. So I decided to do my nephew Brayden's name at the bottom. Not planned, but easy to do.

I just drew his name in thick letter onto the leftover scraps of freezer paper. Then you need to add the "Ouch" to add the laugh factor. Trace, or free hand like I did onto freezer paper. Don't forget to save the circles that go in the letters. You will iron them on. 

Now the paint mark is covered. Then I added the holes for the B, A, and O. Iron them on.

7. Paint once more. Use two coats if you have to. Once its dry peel the paper off, not forgetting about the circles in the B, A, and O. 

 

8. Lastly you will need to heat set the paint so its permanent. With your iron on cotton, grab a washcloth or towel and place it over the painted design. Then just iron it, making sure you are moving the iron around. Then wait 72 hours before washing. Don't bleach. 

Boo-Ya! You've just made an Easter shirt!

Things I would have done differently :
Gotten a different colored shirt. They didn't have any other than white and I was in a hurry. I wanted blue.
Used brown paint. Totally didn't check if I had brown. So I settled with black.
Watched what I was doing. I was distracted and dropped a drop of black. I never wanted to have to put "Bray" on there. Now people are going to ask why it says "Ouch Bray". Not what I wanted.

But practice makes perfect! Good luck on yours!

 

THESE.

Top Left: Personalized charger stickers
Top Right: Organic lip balm
Bottom Left: Child's drawing into stuffed toy!
Bottom Right: Rice hand warmers

I'm a few days behind my weekly wednesday THESE post. But I'm going to try to keep up.
Currently sitting on the couch enjoying the smell of cake baking and watching the snow fall.

Easter Bunny Shirt

For my handsome nephew Brayden, I wanted to make a shirt. Not just any old shirt. An Easter Shirt. Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Its almost impossible to make a boy's Easter shirt that doesn't have eggs, bunnies, chicks, or flowers on it. To put it frankly, there are NO boy's Easter shirts out there. And come on, boys want to join in the festivities too! Well, minus the bunny ears that is. So I went to google, and THIS popped up. How. Freaking. Hilarious. And super cute in a boyish way.

Isn't it just perfect?  It's totally what I had in mind. Especially the first one! And I'll probably make it just a wee bit bigger so he can get some use out of it. And instead of making it a sew on applique, I'll do freezer paper stenciling. Its super simple and will last through many washes. Never pay for boring store tees again when you can totally make them yourself!

Happy..Er...Monday! (Mondays are never happy, who am I kidding!)

Button Tree

I recently ordered 300 buttons from this Etsy shop. They just came in today and I'm very pleased! Because I'm up to my ears in buttons at the moment, I wanted to put them to use right away. I had a big canvas on hand, and decided to make a button tree. I drew out the tree with a pencil, then went over it in brown paint.

The finished product!

Finished.

Finally finished my Hunger Games cross stitch.

Softies

Spent a few hours going over my fabric stash, wondering what I wanted to do with it. For starters, I wanted to make some stuffed dolls, otherwise known as Softies. So I went to work.

I decided to start with this pink floral print. Next I created my pattern with paper.

Then I cut out all my pieces. I sewed button eyes and a nose on the cat. Then I sewed the arms and legs together.

Then I sewed the body, and stuffed everything with filling.

This is the first one I made. I added a heart, and a little flower hairpiece.

I definitely love the second one better. Happy Wednesday!

THESE.

Top Left: Bento Box by Goodbyn (not handmade, but I still love the product)
Top Right: Personalized mommy necklace on Etsy (I did business with her before. She's awesome!)
Bottom Left: Knitted boot socks here (Perfect for the boots I just bought)
Bottom Right: Oilcloth lunch bag by SewThereNH

The Hunger Games crafts

I'm very fond of The Hunger Games. I love the action, plot, characters, and pretty much everything. I'm taking a break from crocheting to start making some Hunger Games inspired crafts. I love cross stitching, but haven't done much of it since my middle school years. I like doing more free hand stitching. A little secret: I'm a bit of a fangirl. I love me some Marvel! And don't get me started on The Avengers. The first craft I've made is the flaming Mockingjay symbol out of perler beads. It was really simple to do. I just found a picture of the original symbol and replicated it with beads.

Here's a little bit about perler beads if you are new to it.

. The second craft I'm currently making is a cross stitch Mockingjay symbol. Underneath it will be the famous Hunger Games quote "May the odds be ever in your favor". All of this is free hand. I'm excited to say that it is going very well. I have outlined the symbol and I am working on filling it in with gold embroidery thread (always knew keeping it around would come in handy!)

Happy Hunger Games!

THESE.

Here are four more pretty things that I love!

Top Left: I love this Chevron camera strap
Top Right: Adorable mustache mugs on Etsy here
Bottom Left: Baby boy/girl shoe sewing pattern PDF
Bottom Right: This wristlet

Have a great week!

Thank you Pinterest!

I'm a humungous fan of Pinterest. I love just looking at all the possible things I could make. Some look a bit fishy, but others seem possible. I was browsing the local thrift shop with a gal pal when I came across a box of 64 unused crayola crayons for 2.99. Instantly this Pinterest picture came to my mind.

I knew I wasnted to create one of my own. Maybe not as big. I had an 8 by 10 canvas at home that was in a set of two I  had purchased for a project. That project will have to come in a later post. In a 64 pack of crayons, you aren't going to get that many pretty colors. Because the canvas wasn't that big I stuck with just using the pinks, reds, and purples.

All I did was hot glue the crayons to the canvas, then heated the ends up with a hairdryer. Now to find a space on my wall for it :)

THESE.

I love buying handmade. If you can afford it, do it. Nothing feels better than knowing you are supporting people who worked so hard. I love running my hands over stitches, knowing someone's sewing machine made it and not some sweatshop worker. You aren't just buying the beautiful handmade thing. You are funding their growing business, and showing them that you love and appreciate what they made. So in honor of those who homemake, each week I'm going to showcase four pretty things I love.

Top Left: Beautiful moon earrings from Etsy (which I'm waiting to arrive!)
Top Right: Freshly Picked Moccasins (Wish i owned)
Bottom Left: Bags of a Feather clutches from Etsy (I.Love.Mine)
Bottom Right: Glow in the dark hand-blown Memory bead by a lovely lady(She's making me one)

I Heart You

I love Valentine's Day. The rich reds and pinks get me every time. I've never had a real valentine, but I still can appreciate the romance of the special day. Who wouldn't love getting cute little chocolates and flowers? Crazy people that's who. So in honor of the day, which is only 3 days away mind you, I've been crocheting little hearts!

While browsing the web, I came across a cute tutorial from maybematilda. She shows a step-by-step picture tutorial that even beginners can follow. In 10 minutes I was whipping them up like mad.

I'm hoping to stop by the craft store soon to grab some materials to make some sweet girls I know Valentine's Day hair clips.