Seventeen Months

A little summary:

* working on cleaning up and putting things away

* he loves to help empty the dishwasher

* he is a little parrot and repeats so many words/phrases

* says "please", "trees", "keys", "drop it", "blueberry", "strawberry", "down", "cracker", "car", "paw", "vroom", "eyes"

* loves to blow kisses and will say "muah" 

* counts "two" "three" and then tickles himself

* imitate the sounds of monkey, lion, dog, and a cow

* loves to feed the dog & give her treats 

* he has become quite the little climber now - chairs, couch, bed, etc

* really interested in cars & wheels

* has starting to have some difficulty with certain textures and foods on his tongue/throat

* signing bath, cracker and fish

* loves to point out dadda in pictures

* identifying toes, hand, foot

On the 12th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, some character ornaments.

Well, this post is BEYOND late - sorry!  This is partly because I have been debating which project to use for the final post.  The project I want to share has to remain a secret for a bit longer (because a certain someone reads my blog)!  So, instead I will share these ornaments and will post a BONUS 13th day soon!

So here it is - who doesn't love the Peanuts characters and all of their holiday specials this time of year!  When I saw these little felt ornaments I thought they would make a cute little gift.

Materials:

various colored felt

hot glue gun

embroidery thread

needle

sewing machine

character template

The tutorial is very detailed and pretty easy to follow.  You can find the template and the directions here.  The ornaments are also available through the woman's Etsy shop.  

1. Cut out the template   2. Cut out the felt pieces

3. Match the pieces together  4. Use fabric pen to design faces

5. Use sewing machine to sew on the details
6. Use embroidery thread and sew on facial features

7. Use hot glue to attach the thread pieces
8. Sew the front & back pieces together

On the 11th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, a quilted camera strap.

This project is a little late in that it is/was a birthday present for my sister (December 3rd).  It is a project I have been thinking about trying for a while, but it took me some time to get some of the supplies (fusible interfacing & fleece).  

But, I am very happy with out it turned out, and I think it feels nice and comfy - so hopefully she likes it!  

Here is the tutorial that I used, which is very easy to follow.  The only difference is that I skipped the basting!  

Materials:
scraps of fabric
heavy weight fusible fleece
fusible interfacing
thread

Scraps of fabric pieced together

Front & Back sewn together

Fleece added in

Double stitching the two ends

Front 

Back

Top stitching added - finished product

And it includes a pocket for the lens cap! :)

On the 10th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, one set of iphone magnets.

Looking for a gift idea for that special guy in your life?  Here is a DIY project - iphone/itouch app magnets.  I always have a hard time coming up with ideas for the guys, so I thought this would be great for either the home or office.  

Materials:

3 packs of square magnets (they include 6 each @ Michael's)

Mod Podge

Mod Podge dimensional glue

exacto knife

scissors

computer & printer

Tutorial:

The tutorial I used can be found here with a few slight changes.

1. Choose the apps you would like to create and find the pictures online.  Then size them to fit the magnets (the ones I used were .75 x .75 and I used the Pages program).  

2. After printing the app pictures out on white cardstock, cut them out leaving a border around the outside.  

2. Take the sticky, foam part of the magnet off (I had to use the exacto knife here to scrape it a bit).  

3. Use the Mod Podge to glue the app picture onto the foam side of the magnet.  The picture should overlap quite a bit.  Once it is dry use the exacto knife to trim the picture to fit the magnet.

4. Next you can use a sanding sponge to shape the edges, but I didn't find it necessary.  Next paint a thin layer of Mod Podge over the picture to seal it.

5. Finally, apply a thick coat of the dimesional glue onto the top starting from the outside and working towards the inside.  Then let it dry for at least 3 hours and the magnets are ready!

Check back for a final picture once the glue is dry (tomorrow AM).  

On the 9th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, a family photo book.

On Pinterest I have found many different ideas on how to create your own board book.  I wanted to make one about family members for Braden, so he can begin to associate the pictures with the names.  Unfortunately, there just is not enough time for that.  Which is why Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc are so great!  

Here is the family photo book I created for Braden as a Christmas gift:

My Family

On the 8th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me, a Star Trek quiet book

This project has taken a LONG time, and I am so happy to say that it is finally FINISHED!!!!!  A mom friend asked me to make it for her sons 1st birthday.  I initially started working on it at the end of August - September.  But, I had to take a break to start getting ready for craft fairs in November/December.  I picked it back up again after Thanksgiving and have just finished tonight.  

I had no idea how detailed the book would be and it required much more hand-stitching than I expected.  Unfortunately, I can not include a tutorial here, but if anyone is interested the pattern can be purchased through Etsy.  There are also Star Wars and Harry Potter versions available.    

Here are the pages that I created, and the creators version can be found here.  

On the 7th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me a Christmas tree onesie.  

Heather found this adorable Christmas tree onesie and asked me to make one for Miss McKinli.  It was a really quick project and I love how it came out!  

Materials:

long sleeve onesie 

green fabric

brown fabric

heat n bond

white thread

pink ribbon

"bling"

Tutorial:

First I drew the tree outline and trunk onto the heat n bond and cut the pieces out.  Next I ironed them onto the back of the designated fabrics and cut the pieces out.  For McKinli's Heather picked out a really cute pink & green polka dot fabric.  

After I ironed them onto the onesie, I used the sewing machine and did a straight stitch to outline the tree itself.  Then I placed the ribbon onto the onesie and hand-stitched it to the top of the tree.  Finally, in order to get the bow just right I decided to use hot glue instead of sewing.  

The only thing missing is the little gemstone, "bling" to go in the center of the bow.  Heather will be adding that tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to get a picture of McKinli in the outfit as well!  

On the 6th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me the cutest Santa tutu. 

On Pinterst (surprise, surprise) I found the most adorable Santa outfit for a little girl.  I pinned it thinking that I would make it someday for my own little girl (fingers crossed for the future).  But someday came sooner than expected, because I made one for Miss McKinli.  

The picture was found on Etsy for sale at $89.99 (regularly $115.00) - YIKES!  So, Heather and I brainstormed ideas for the materials and then I tried different things to create my own version.  

Materials:

5 yards of red tulle

white feather boa

felted ribbon

buckle 

1" elastic

thread

Tutorial:

There are so many tutorials out there on how to make a tutu.  I had Heather measure McKinli just under her armpits and cut the elastic to be 1 inch shorter.  Then I sewed the two ends together to create a circle.  

Next I cut the tulle to be 5-6 inches wide & the length needed to be 12 inches, so I cut it at 24-26 inches.  Once everything was cut I put the elastic around my leg and began the tying process.  

The finished tutu

The next step was to figure out how to attache a feather boa to the top.  I originally thought I would have to hot glue it.  But, instead I decided to tie a piece of thread around the tutu and then continuously wrap it around to keep the boa in place.  I ended up going around the top of the tutu twice.  Then I cut the excess feather boa pieces off.  

Finally, I used McKinli's measurements again and cut the black felt ribbon to that length.  Then I sewed the ends together to create a circular belt.  If using a real buckle be sure to secure it on the ribbon before sewing it.  

I also wanted to make sure it would actually fit around her, so I made a second belt that tied around her (just incase).  Then instead of using a buckle, Heather was going to add a little bling in a square shape to create the look of one.  

The complete Santa tutu (without the bling)

I can't wait to see pictures of how Miss McKinli looks in the completed outfit!  

On the 5th Day of Christmas

my true love made for me some holiday subway art.  

I am always looking for different items to be used as seasonal decoration for the mantle.  That is why I was excited to find all kinds of free, printable, subway art pages through Pinterest.  There are so many different themes to choose from and so many varieties for each season.  You can find the one I made and used for the fall here.

There were so many options for Christmas and even more for "winter" themes for January & February.  Here are a few that I liked and may use another year:

Materials:

8x10 canvas (Michael's)

Mod Podge

Paint brush

Computer & Printer 

Card stock

Tutorial: 

These are so easy to make and do not take very long at all.  First find a printable that you would like to use.  Then size it slightly smaller than 8x10 (I use 7.75x9.75).  Then print onto plain card stock.  I used regular printer paper for the one on the left and it came out fine.  The paper tends to bubble a little more than the card stock does. 

The Subway Art Printables I chose

Next spread a thin layer (do not want too much) of Mod Podge onto the canvas. 

Place the card stock on top of the canvas and paint another thin coat of Mod Podge on top to seal it onto the canvas.  A second coat can be done, but it is not necessary.  Then hang or place on the mantle for decor.  

 The final products