Do-It-Yourself Storage Cubes

I love to have things put in their place, I like to be able to find things when I want to instead of spending an extra ten minutes finding the thing.  An extra ten minutes when my little guy falls asleep is an eternity, naps are sacred time around here.  Anyways, a few months ago I stumbled on this post and have had it in my to-do file.  My sewing room is in desperate need of some organization.  After seeing Dana's amazingly organized sewing room I knew that I needed to get moving. 
I wanted to try two sizes a 6 inch and a 12 inch.  Once I started sewing it went so fast, and I loved the result.

 

The dotted fabric is 100%, the floral is a decorator fabric. 

 

So, now that I know how to make really cute storage cubes I have no excuse as to why my sewing room looks the way it does.  I also have another idea brewing in my head using these nifty cubes.  Next week I will post some before and afters.

-Joanna

Blog to Book

Do you have a family blog?  Do you take a million pictures of your kids, but don't know what to do with them.  Or do you love to scrapbook, but don't have the time, money, or space to keep up with it?  Do you have all the photo's in files on your computer and want to print them out in a fun way?  Here is an idea for you-hardbound, printed book.
For my first born I was very diligent and I scrap-booked her entire first year of life.  I wanted her to have this when she became a mommy, I love the book and I am glad that I did it.  For my second child, I didn't have the desire or the time to get all the gear out and scrap book.  I also started our family blog a month after he was born.  I was able to keep up with posting, my family and friends were able to see pictures without me having to mail or email them.  I discovered Blurb when I was making a photo book for a Christmas gift.  I ended up using a different company for the photo book, but I kept blurb in my files.  When my little guy turned one I decided to print off our family blog and this would be his record of his first year.
The program Blurb uses is very easy-and if you have a mac I am sure you would love it even more.  You slurp your blog into the program and the pictures are lined up with your posts. It also allows you to design your own layout, I can't say enough about that.  You can choose your size of book, dust cover or image wrap.  And believe it or not the prices are very reasonable.  It makes regular scrap booking seem over priced, for my book it was about $1.75 per page.
If you wait until the holidays to print your book they have great discounts, and usually free shipping.  I love to have a hard copy of the pictures, we don't seem to print off pictures like we used to.  Hope this helps any of you.

Our book is 12x12 and 87 pages long, it cost $54

 

This page was a custom layout

 

Love the quality and colors available

 

Allows for lots of words or pictures or both

Hearts and More

If you follow any blogs you have seen a lot of valentine's day wreaths.  I love the idea of it and wanted to make one two myself.  My goal recently is to go to the fabric or craft store as little as possible.  With Christmas, bills, and car repairs my budget has been reduced greatly.  My mom has a saying on her sewing room wall that says', "Use it up, make it do, or do without."  So my goal for the wreath was to use what I have.  I'm not too worried about it because I have over six boxes of material in my sewing room closet. 

So on to the craft.

Supplies:
Nylon Chiffon (leftover from making a tutu) or any fabric
Wire Hanger
Ribbon

Step 1-Cut fabric into 3-4 inch strips

Step 2-Cut the strips into 4 inch pieces.

Step 4- Tie each piece on to the hanger

You will want the knots to be on the back so the ends can crowd in the front.  Keep pushing the knots together to make a tight fit.

Step 5- Shape hanger, cut off excess hook.  Bend the rest to form a little hoop.  Tie ribbon on and hang up or display.

Happy Valentines Day!

Dress-Ups

My daughter has been asking me to buy some princess dress-ups.  I really didn't want to spend that amount on a dress that would inevitably wear out too quickly.  After some searching I found this pattern and tutorial on Grosgrain.  I made up the pattern in a red velour and loved how my daughter would twirl and wear the dress.  Because it really only took 30 minutes from cutting to finishing I knew this was the pattern I wanted to use.  So far I have made a pink princess and wedding dress for our dress-up box.

 

The main fabric is a light knit.  The over skirt and sleeve is a nylon chiffon.  I shirred the edges of the over skirt and sleeves.  Before sewing the sleeve seem I sewed the puff of the sleeve onto the fabric. The hem of the skirt will naturally curl if you pull the fabric as you zig-zag the edge.

This is a similar design with the skirt, I didn't sew the side seams completely together.  This will allow for more movement and hopefully less tearing.

I started the lace on the back of the neck and pulled the fabric to ensure the stretch stayed in the fabric.

When I cut out the fabric I added a bell shape to the edge of the sleeve.  Then I sewed on the lace and again pulled the fabric to keep the stretch.

Next up a veil and a yellow/blue princess dress

Jungle Baby Quilt

Here is a project I tried for Christmas.  My in-laws are having their first baby.  They picked out a jungle theme for the nursery.  Here is where I found a tutorial and measurements.  This didn't take too long, and I was able to quilt it on my machine without any quilting presser feet.

Red binding, quilted it in the ditches on the diagonal

Hourglass block, green is flannel, white plain cotton

Back, I didn't want too much flannel on the back--flannel and summer usually don't mix well

So soft and snuggly.