Baby Gift Ensemble

I am really enjoying getting to do a lot of sewing right now and I have been trying new things, such as this version of a "Boppy" pillow cover from "Made by Marzipan" called the "Poppy Pillow Slip Cover".

I have a friend who recently had a baby and thought it would be cool to make her a "custom" cover for her nursing pillow!

She likes the mustache theme and is into camo, so I made a matching bib and burp cloth to go with the Boppy cover.

I found the pattern for the bib at "Alice and Lois" and the pattern for the burp cloth at "Cloud 9 Fabrics".

Supplies/Tools Used for this Project:

Fabric - Alexander Henry Fabrics, Nicole's Prints, De Leon Design Group DE#7567 A "Where's My Stache?" (2011)
Fabric - JoAnn's, Flannel, Gray Camo
Pattern - Poppy Pillow Slip Cover - Made By Marzipan
Pattern - Bib - Alice & Lois
Pattern - Burp Cloth - Cloud 9 Fabrics
Thread - Coats & Clark - 100% Polyester - Gray S910 H6 600
Zipper, 18"
Scissors
Straight Pins
Iron
Sewing Machine - Janome New Home 49360
Clear Tape (to tape PDF Pattern Pieces together)

This combination made for such a cute baby Gift!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog!

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Teacher Note Necklace Made from Upcycled CD

Every year I like to make a little something for my Granddaughter's Teacher for Teacher appreciation week and this year I've come up with this note necklace that is made from an old CD.

I wanted to incorporate something useful into something fun!

I noticed that the teachers at school sometime have recess or yard duty and I thought it might be handy to have this little necklace with a post-it note pad and pen attached!

I even included a badge clip so that they can easily wear their school badge with the necklace.

To personalize it for a teacher gift, I added the photo of my Granddaughter and a sweet quote/poem about teachers!

This craft can easily be done in 15 minutes (minus drying time), though I'll have to admit, I added a few more things to my version that probably made it take a little longer.

Adding the gold cord around the photo was a bit tedious as it didn't want to easily lay down in a circle.
Also, the way I attached the beaded necklace to the cd was more elaborate than you really need to get.

I was just thinking of how it might lay nicer, so I added the snipped paper clip ends and cut the necklace in half and glued it to the ends of the clips.

This of course took more time than just gluing the whole beaded necklace to the back of the CD, but I wanted to add the square post-it note which took up more room and made it harder to mount the beads directly to the back of the cd.

I started by sanding the CD lightly on the shiny side and a little harder on the colored side because I was using tissue paper to cover it and didn't want any of the writing to show through.

I cut some strips of patterned tissue paper and then cut them into oblong pieces and adhered them to the CD with Mod Podge.

I only put two coats of Mod Podge, but you can add more if you like, just be sure to allow drying time between coats.

I scanned and printed out a photo of my Granddaughter on my Epson CX7400 color printer and glued it to the center of the CD.

(Note: before applying Mod Podge to a ink jet photo print out...apply a light coat of fixative to the photo/print out first...it will prevent the Mod Podge from causing the print to run or bleed!)

I was going to make a print out of the poem on my computer, but for times sake I decided to hand write the quote using a black sharpie marker.

In hindsight...I wish I had gone with the printout, only because I have a terrible time lining up my writing/printing as you can tell from the pictures!

I even used a "template" I made from paper and pencil, hoping to get it right and I still wasn't thrilled with the results, but the message will get across I suppose and maybe it will make the gift more personable!

The note pad/post-it note was attached using double sided foam tape and the pen was attached using the clip on the pen.

I thought of using magnets for the pen, but I didn't want to add any more weight than necessary to the necklace.

This project was quick and very inexpensive to make, I found the beads, tissue paper, pen and post-it notes at the 99 cents store and of course the CD was just an old one I had laying around that I no longer needed.

Here are the tools and supplies I used for this project:

Tools & Materials List:

Old CD (Not shown in photo above)
Sand Paper
Tissue Paper
Beaded Necklace, Plastic
Post-it Notes
Mod Podge
E6000 Adhesive
Workable Fixatif
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Mod Podge Gloss Sealer
Foam Paint Brush
Wire Cutters
Foam Mounting Tape (Two Sided)
Heavy Duty Scissors (Cutco Brand)
Regular Scissors
Sharpie Pen, Black
Pen (with clip)
Pencil
Gold Cord
Cardboard
Wax Paper and/or Butcher Paper
Paper Weights
Color Printer, Ink Jet (Epson)
Paper Clips
Plastic Container (for Mod Podge) (Not shown in photo above)

I made a slideshow showing the steps I took to make this project.

You can view it here on my YouTube Channel:


Or here on my Flipagram Feed:



Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

If you want to see some more great Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas, click on the graphic below and visit Angie, Carolina and Jessica's blogs for some awesome and crafty inspiration!

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Scrap Fabric Frame

I just recently finished my first "Rag Quilt" and had lot's of leftover fabric scraps from that project and since I hate to throw any thing away...I decided to come up with a way to use them and here is the result!

I made the quilt for my sweet Momma for Mother's Day and figured what could be better than a matching framed picture to go with her quilt!

I decided to use a photo I found in a box of old photos that my Sister recently sent to me.

We had to move my precious Mother into an assisted living facility recently and a lot of her "things" couldn't go with her and my Sweet Sister knew that I would love having some of Mom's old photos and I'm thankful she sent them to me...it has brought back such great memories and this is one of my favorites!

It is a throwback photo from 1975 of my Grandma Walker (Maternal), Me and my Mom!

I cherish this photo so much and of course didn't want to give up my recently acquired only copy, so I scanned it and had a copy made at my local Walgreens.

NOTE: Just a tip here for those who don't do a lot of scanning...most commercial scanners that are built-in with your printers will default scan to a low to medium resolution (75 - 300 dpi), so if you are wanting to get a good quality print to have printed out, it's wise to choose "custom" scan from your scanner/printer software and scan the photo at a little higher resolution, because it will turn out better.

I originally scanned this at 300 dpi and tried printing it out on my Lexmark Inkjet printer and it turned out decent but because the photo was from the 70's and not the greatest quality to begin with, that print-out showed lines and some decreased clarity. 

When I went back in and scanned it at 600 dpi and printed it out, it was a lot better, so that is the one I used when ordering the final print from Walgreens and it came out really nice and I was also able to order another larger 5x7 print without sacrificing the clarity and quality of the photo.

I added a bit of family memorabilia to the photo above, and it is fitting for this group photo of me, Grandma & Mom.

My Grandma Walker had this family sign hangin' in her kitchen/dining room for as long as I could remember and it was something us kids LOVED to play with!

It was a family "Dog House" wooden sign that had 7 wooden doggies hanging on it with the names of my Grandparents and all their children on it.

Whenever someone was in "trouble" they were put into the dog house, by removing the doggie from it's hook and placing it in the dog house portion.

We had so much fun when visiting Grandma, by putting our own parent's into the "Dog House" and laughing about it!

That is such a treasured memory for me and when my Grandmother passed away, my Mother got this treasure and it hung in her kitchen until a few years ago when I asked her if she minded if I had it.

She knew how much it meant to me and lovingly handed it over to me!

I am happy to be showcasing my scrap frame in another "Craft Lightning" series hosted by Angie at the Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 minute crafts.

I just love this ongoing quick crafts series and for this one there was no particular theme, so it fit right in with my scrap fabric frame idea as it is real quick to make and can be finished in no time at all with a little patience for drying time for the Mod Podge finish!

One tip though...to make the craft quicker (if you are in a hurry)...use larger fabric scraps than I did.

I didn't think it through and used pretty small scraps which made it a little more time consuming than I originally planned, but it still turned out nice and will match my Mom's quilt, so I am happy with it!

Here is a collage showing the steps used to complete this project:

Here are the tools and supplies used:

Supplies/Tools Used for this Project:

Plaid Rectangle Wooden Frame - 4-1/8" x 6-1/8" 

Fabric Scraps, Assorted

Favorite Photo

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Mod Podge

Foam Paint Brush

Scissors

X-acto Knife (not shown in photo above)

Black Gel Ink Pen

Marking Chalk 

Felt (for frame backing)

Cardboard (for backing insert)

Lexmark 4975 Printer, Scanner, Copier

Thanks for stopping by today and if you get a chance, stop by Angie and Carolina's blogs to see some more awesome 15 minute crafts! 

Upcycled/Recycled Gift for Teacher Appreciation

I have been volunteering in my Granddaughter "B's" class this year and when it came time for teacher appreciation week I knew I wanted to do something for B's teacher.

I've really loved being in her class and watching how she interacts with the children and helps them learn and grow.

She is just plain amazing in my book!

I really thought it was awesome how she dressed like a Dalmatian on the 101 st day of school!

The kids REALLY loved that!

I asked "B" what kind of things did her teacher like and she told me "Coffee, Monkey's and US!" (meaning the whole kindergarten class.) That really made me smile!

I decided to go with the coffee theme for a gift since I already had something in mind that would fit perfectly with coffee.

A few months earlier I had made some Green Bean Casserole and was pleasantly surprised to find that French's had a new container for their French Fried Onions.

When I saw it, I immediately started thinking of all the cool things I could make with it later on.

I have a bit of a confession to make here...I am a recycle junkie!

(And I don't mean the environmental kind who loves to "turn in" all her recycles to the local county recycle program...) I keep all kinds of "crap" as DH would call it because I am CERTAIN something can be made from it later! LOL!

The problem is...most of the time...LATER never comes and I am over-run with all kinds of glass, plastic and cardboard containers.

(Yes...I would be a perfect candidate for that reality show "Hoarder's"...
My husband is constantly reminding me of this. He isn't amused!)

I had saved a couple of those cool containers and thought one of them would be PERFECT for this project.

I loved the way the lid snapped on securely and knew it would work good for coffee.

The smooth plastic surface would be easy to cover with fabric or scrapbooking paper.

I decided to go with fabric because I thought it would hold up better with repeated use.

I bought some little coffee packets at the dollar store to store inside the container, knowing that B's teacher would probably want to eventually replace it with her own brand/taste in coffee when it needed to be refilled.

I had some jewelry findings that I had purchased at an Estate Sale and found the perfect embellishment to add to the container along with some coordinating ribbon.

I added black felt to the top of the lid and to the bottom of the container using a pattern I made from tracing the lid and bottom.

You can do this yourself or I created a PDF version of my pattern that you can download here for free to save you some time.

I wanted to personalize the container a little more, so that it would somehow hold a memory for the teacher of my sweet Granddaughter, so I took her kindergarten school picture and cut it to fit in a round frame (old earring from the jewelry findings) and attached it to the outside lid of the box.

I also wanted to let Mrs. R know how special she was to me and B and what a good teacher she is, so I included a quote about teaching on the inside of the lid, so she would see it whenever she opened the container.

I found this cute graphic/quote at a great website called Bitsy Creations. They have some really cute designs and many of them are offered as free printables.

If you'd like to download this particular graphic/quote please go here for the link.

As a final touch I purchased a small coffee themed kitchen towel and a gift card to Starbucks for when Ms. R wanted coffee on the go!

Little B was pretty excited when I told her that I had made something special for her teacher and she couldn't wait to give it to her!

Supplies and Tools used for this project:

Supplies/Tools List:

Re-useable/Re-sealable Plastic Container
Fabric Strip - 14" x 14" (approx.)
Black Felt - 5"x3" (approx.) (2 pieces)
Pattern for Felt Pieces - 2 pcs. (Traced from top and bottom of container onto paper) Download Here.
Glue Dots - Glue Lines, 1"
Ribbon, Sheer Organdy, Black, 7/8" (Ribbon Trends)
Ribbon, Grosgrain, Black, 1/4" (Essentials)
Aleene's Tacky Glue
E6000 Glue
Jewelry Findings/Embellishments - (Not shown in photo above) I used an old round earring and a cabochon
Scissors
Jewelry Pliers
Popsicle Stick (for use spreading glue)
Straight Pins (to pin pattern to felt pieces)
Printed Quote/Poem for Inside of Lid - (The one shown above can be downloaded here)
Gift Card
Small food/candy items to fill container (in this case coffee packets)

Thanks for stopping by!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/link parties:

15 Minute Craft - Ceramic Tile Photo Magnet - Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone and I hope all of you who celebrate it had a wonderful day!

I was blessed in that I was able to spend it with 3 of our 4 children and 4 of our 5 grandchildren.

We really missed my mom and our son Rickey and his family, but I am thrilled to say, we will see them all soon!

Our family had a Mother's Day Brunch which has become a tradition of sorts in the last few years.

Every year, I struggle to think of a unique and special gift to give my sweet Mother-in-Law, she prefer's no gifts really, which is kind of my motto also, since the older you get the less you need.

Don't get me wrong...gifts from the heart are always welcome, but the best gift of all is time with your children and grandchildren! That is an immeasurable blessing indeed!

So, I always like to try and think of something that will bring back a good memory for her or touch her heart and as you can imagine, that often involves photographs, videos or mementos.

The timing could not have been better that I was participating in a Craft Lightning Challenge with Angie at the Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 minute Crafts!

I thought it would be great if I could incorporate a gift for my MIL at the same time.

This lightning challenge requires that you come up with a craft that takes only 15 minutes or less to complete (minus drying time).

A great idea to get those on a limited time schedule to craft when they think they don't have the time!

I racked my brain to figure out what I could come up with that would only take 15-minutes, but would produce a lovely and heartfelt gift for my MIL.

I knew that it would most likely need to include a photo of some sort and a quote or poem about Mother's Day.

I remembered that just a few weeks before DH and I had gone Yard Sale-ing and I found a big bag of small 2x2 ceramic tiles that I thought would be perfect for fridge magnets if I could get them at the right price.

(I got the entire bag for $1.00!)

So, I thought if I could think of something good to use those for, for this project...DH would be proud of me!

(LOL...he thinks  we are gonna end up on that show "Hoarder's" one day if I don't stop collecting that kind of "stuff"!)

I decided to make a photo magnet for my MIL and wanted to make it relevant to Mother's Day.

I scoured (Googled) the internet for Mom's Day Poems and Quotes and found the perfect one for my situation:

"Men are what their Mother's made them" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I chose this because it really say's it all about how I feel about my husband and my MIL.

It is evident she did a wonderful job of raising good men! (4 of them to be exact...my husband has 3 awesome brothers!)

The love, kindness and honor that my husband has in his heart shines through in everything he does everyday and I know his mother had much to do with this as she has the same heart and makes our family thrive with happiness and love!

I could not be prouder to be a wife to her son and to call her "Mom"!

After finding the quote I searched for a photo of MIL and DH together that I could use on the magnet and came across this one:

I just loved it because it portray's so much about their life back then as well as our's today!

His family loved to go to the ocean, camp-out and go hunting and fishing.

This photo was taken in 1958 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at a place called Cold Springs.

DH and I have tried to carry on those traditions in our children and grandchildren's lives as well, so this picture could not have been more perfect!

Here is my completed project/gift:

Here is what you will need to complete this craft:

Supplies/Tools List:

Ceramic Tile Piece, Square, 2"x2" (You can get these at most Home Improvement Stores)
Digital Photo (Cropped and sized to fit)
Photo Editing Program (Photoshop Elements, Picasa, Pic Monkey, etc.)
Quote or Poem of your choice
Font of your choice (I used Papyrus)
Photo Paper (Great White Imaging & Photo Paper - Matte Finish, 92 Brightness, Ultra White)
Ink Jet Printer (Lexmark X4975)
Scissors
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Krylon Workable Fixatif
Mod Podge (Gloss, Matte or Satin)
Foam Brush
Mini Pie Tin
Wax or Butcher Paper
E6000 Adhesive
Magnets (One or Two, depending on size & strength - 3/4" or larger)

Tutorial/Instructions:

1. Crop and resize your photo in digital imaging software (I used Photoshop Elements & Picasa)
2. Add Text to Your Photo (if desired) using digital imaging software (I used Picasa)
3. Print out photo onto Photo Quality Paper (Matte Photo Paper would probably work best and is what I used) on an Inkjet Printer.
4. Cut-out photo to size of tile (in this case, 2"x2")
5. Glue photo onto ceramic tile piece using a thick craft glue such as Aleene's Tacky Glue (Be careful what type of glue you use here, if it's too watery, it could tear the photo or ruin the image...that is why I recommend using Aleene's...it's tacky and adheres well without damaging the image.)
6. Let it dry for a bit (15-20 minutes)
7. Spray with a fixative (to protect the image from the initial coat of Mod Podge) - This may not be necessary for all images or printers, but I have had trouble in the past with colored images from inkjets "running" a bit when you brush on the first coat of Mod Podge, so just to be safe, I always use a fixative before I apply Mod Podge or other watery coating.)
8. Let dry for about 5 minutes. (Usually fixative dries very fast, but be careful not to hold it too close when spraying it or you could saturate the image and make it sticky which would make it take longer to cure. A light coat is all you need in this case.)
9. Apply first coat of Mod Podge with the foam brush. (I actually had to thin-out my Mod Podge a bit, because the bottle was older and had been sitting around for awhile and had thickened. That is why you see the pie tin in the supplies. I use that to thin out the Mod Podge when I add water.) (Usually you can use the Mod Podge straight from the bottle with no problems)
10. Let dry for 15-20 minutes.
11. Apply at least one more coat of Mod Podge. (This ensures a good seal and helps the project last longer. You can apply as many coats as you like, just be sure to wait 15-20 minutes between coats and I recommend waiting at least 8-10 hours before trying to wrap or handle any items that have been coated with Mod Podge as it becomes completely cured with time, but can be somewhat tacky at first).
12. Attach one or more magnets to the back of the tile using a strong adhesive such as E6000. (If you have very strong magnets, one will usually suffice, but the one's I had on hand were smaller and not as powerful, so I added two just to be sure the magnet with the ceramic tile attached would be functional)
13. Let dry for at least 30 minutes.

Ta-Daaa!! Your done in in lightning fast speed!

I had intended on getting a photo of my MIL with her gift at our brunch yesterday, but somehow in all the frivolity of the day, I forgot!

But I think she really loved the photo magnet and I know it brought back precious memories for her as will photos from yesterday's celebration do for me years from now.

Hope you enjoyed my post and will stop by again soon to see what I'm up to!

If you have a lightning fast craft to share, be sure to click on the "craft lightning" badge above and add your link to the list!

Thanks!

XO