The Poppins Bag

A couple weeks ago I wrapped up my school year and needed a thank you gift for our dear friend and daycare provider. I had recently made three Poppins Bags as diaper bags and decided to make her one as a purse.

I used the same alterations I had made with the other bags by adding Peltex to the side and base piece. I also deleted the toddler handle on the outside.

I used the new HGTV line of fabrics (Ring Around in Peacock) for the exterior and a fun turquoise polka dot from Joanns for the interior.

After four of these bags I think I need to move on to a new one soon :) but I have definitely gotten some great use out of my pattern.

Shannon

Easter Decor and Baskets

I am way behind on any seasonal decor...I totally skipped Valentines and St. Patrick's Day and wasn't going to do Easter, but a couple weeks ago I just felt like making Spring decor changes. Maybe it was the blizzard warning we were under that was bringing out the need for some soft Spring colors and fresh decor... I am totally over winter already! So, I quickly rummaged my Spring decor bin and tried to whip up something quick and easy. We have these two cut outs in our house that I decorate for seasons/holidays. I started with the larger one in the upstairs hallway and settled on this:

It came together fairly quickly and for free using items I had on hand. I first took a 16 x 20 frame we have had downstairs for over 5 years and took out the mat. I added some fresh floral wrapping paper from Walmart and hung it on the wall. Next, I created a 3D Egg banner inspired by this tutorial. I did my eggs a little different to hide the back sides being white or a different print and I simply hole punched my paper at the top to string it up. I also would have loved to use book pages, but didn't have any old books to tear up on hand :(

In one corner I grabbed a thrifted pitcher I spray painted cream a long time ago and filled it with sticks and grassy things that I also had downstairs. Throw two little cute birdies next to it and call it good. On the other side I printed an Easter printable and framed it with a moss bunny behind. The bunny and birds came from my husband's aunt who sells these types of decorations wholesale to stores. I love digging through her sale racks of display items to find little treasures.

I wish I could say I finished the downstairs nook...but it sits with a half completed chalkboard project and a nest with no eggs in it...well, maybe next year!

And here is a little look at a project I did last year. Quick little baskets using this tutorial from Positively Splendid

Happy Easter-
Shannon

Coffee Table to Ottoman: A DIY Guide

One of my favorite projects in the family room was the creation of the ottoman. I had a large coffee table in here before, and while I liked the furniture, it seemed to connect with my children's heads all too often. I decided to see what I could do to create a padded soft ottoman to be used for awhile that wouldn't break the bank. Here is the list of materials and supplies you will need to create your own:

- coffee table (I purchased mine from a thrift store for $25.00)
-foam (I purchased the 3 inch foam from Home Depot for $20.00) and 1 inch foam for the sides at Joanns when it was 50% off for $20.00)
-batting (I used the batting by the yard in the foam section of Joann's. I think it was around $6.50/yd and I used a 50% off coupon. I ended up needing more than I thought so I made a couple trips :( I think in the end I purchased4 yards of the 90 inch wide batting for around $14.00)
-Fabric (this was the deal of all deals- I purchased 4 yards of upholstery velvet for under $12.00 from the Joann clearance table). Although it is a light color and will probably stain quickly with my kids, it was the right price. The next closest fabric I could find to work would have been $50. So, for now it will work...and more poor children have to succumb to thorough cleaning and checking all their clothes after every meal before the go in the family room.
-cording for the piping- 5 yards of 9/32 inch cord for about $1 a yard...I think it was then 30% at Hancock Fabrics
-4 furniture feet from Home Depot. I bought the bun foot for around $8 each= $32
-Spray adhesive
-Staple gun (already owned=free :)
-Pegboard (already owned= free)
-Upholstery thread- 3 spools for $6
-spray paint for the feet (already owned=free)
-Scissors
-Sewing Machine with a zipper foot

Total = Around $132.00

Now...on to the fun stuff. How it all came together.

I started by finding the size coffee table I was looking for in my space. This was 47" x 32". The best part about this find was the bottom shelf which would serve as a way to attach the upholstery. The four legs stuck out about 2 inches and so my husband cut them off for me to give us a nice flat bottom for wrapping fabric. 

Next, I took the 3 inch foam from Home Depot and sliced it into two pieces to make it fit. It was not quite wide enough to just lay right on top, so I just took out my Gingher Scissors, opened them up and sliced right through. I sprayed adhesive spray (make sure it is safe for foam and won't disintegrate) and attached the foam. My husband then filled in the bottom openings with some pegboard we had in the garage. I then took my 1 inch foam and filled in the bottom section, cutting and slicing as needed with my trusty scissors.

Then came wrapping the piece in batting. Again, the pieces were not big enough to fit in one piece so I had to piece two together. You can somewhat see the seam that was created in the 1st picture, but I did my best to match it up closely and create a seamless look. We flipped it over and pulled it tight as we could as we stapled it all around 4 sides. I then took muslin and created a slipcover which was also stapled on. Unlike other ottomans that are often wrapped around the sides, I knew I wanted something more tailored since the sides were so deep. **To see how I created the pattern for the ottoman please see the next picture in this post.** 

 For the pattern I cut 4 side pieces. The two short pieces were 33 inches wide by the height of the ottoman plus a few inches to allow for wrapping the fabric around for stapling. The same with the longer sides at 48 inches by the height plus a few inches. I first sewed the short and long pieces together to create a tube. I took this piece and tried it on to the table to make sure the sides were lining up on the corners and everything was snug. (You can see this in the 1st picture). I then took my top piece (which I stupidly cut at 33 inches by 47 inches instead of 48)  and created piping to go around the top with the cording and fabric. I attached the cording to the top piece using a zipper foot. There are lots of tutorials on line if you need help with piping. I took the 4 piece tube and put it on inside out, then put my top on upside down so that the right sides were together. I then pinned and pinned and pinned some more attaching it all around 4 sides. It is much easier to pin the pieces together while they are on the ottoman. This helps to ensure a correct fit. And to make up for my cutting error I ended up having to take in the side seams just a bit on each side to make it fit, but it was a tight fit. I was so nervous that it was too tight that I first hand stitched the whole thing together. This also helped me get nice and close to the piping. Then I went around again with my sewing machine for a durable seam. I stuffed my ottoman into it, flipped it over, and stapled it on, pulling it vey tightly. By having the corners sewn, instead of wrapped, I was able to keep it very tailored looking without all the bulk of the extra fabric.

Finally I spray painted all the bun feet and my hubby attached them to the bottom of the table where the original feet were. We love the new ottoman and so do the kids...so I am not sure how long my light tan fabric will make it, but for 12 bucks in fabric, I will be okay if I need to redo it one day in the future. Overall it is just what we wanted and for way less than the versions in stores.

Shannon

Linking up Here:
http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/uncategorized/tutorials-tips-link-party-96.html

Quick Handmade Gift: DIY Travel First Aid Kit

I was in need of a "favorite thing" for a MOPS meeting. Well for me, the favorite thing was easy- sewing...what to make was more challenging. I needed something easy and quick...I had one naptime and the items in my craft room to get this done. Now...what would moms like to have? I threw around several ideas when I found this tutorial from Positively Splendid. Perfect- a travel first aid kit. I got busy cutting and creating the pattern...all was going well. I found this fun flower fabric I have had in my stash for awhile now, just waiting for a project. And just enough mustard yellow fabric left over from another project to make the kit...awesome.

Or so I thought, I neglected to read the whole tutorial supply list and realized I didn't have any ribbon to match...crud...what to do. The ribbon is used to close the kit, so it was an essential part of the project. I thought and looked around and finally came up with the idea of using elastic instead. I happened to have matching teal elastic, so I fiddled around with it a bit and came up with the following way of inserting it to hold the kit closed.

First I cut a piece of elastic about 8 inches long. Then I wrapped it into a loop and placed the two ends in the center of the fabric (with the loop laying on top of the center of the fabric) and tacked it down using a few stitches. Then I placed the main back fabric on top and stitched around the outside, leaving an opening for turning, per the tutorial.

When rolled up, the elastic easily stretches around the kit to hold it closed. I made two at the same time, one to give away and one to keep, and have found mine very handy several times already. The item I reach for most is the nail clipper. I have used it for hang nails and broken nails quite a bit!

I would recommend this for a quick and easy project that is also very practical.
Shannon

Ruffle Trees and Christmas Decor

Before I began blogging I made some ruffle Christmas trees to add to my holiday decor. They have held up well over the three years I have had them and each year I pull them out and find some place to put them in the house. This year I thought I would use our upstairs cut out. Our house has a couple of these areas that I love and hate at the same time. While I like being able to decorate for the seasons and holidays, I find the cut outs difficult to fill without looking cluttered and quite frankly, I haven't had the time to decorate them the way I would like...but for the short amount of time we are at home between Thanksgiving and Christmas traveling, this will do :)

Originally I saw the trees somewhere (sorry can't remember where) and thought...I could make that.  To make the ruffle trees you need a few supplies:
-Styrofoam cones- I used two large ones and one smaller one for the height that I wanted
-Felt- I purchased a half yard of each color for these trees (I would have rather purchased a brighter green, but the hunter green color was all they had at the store).
-straight pins
-ribbon
-scissors

 First, take your felt and cut circles, I traced the bottom of a juice glass for my template. And cut lots and lots of circles. I tripled and quadrupled my fabric when cutting to make this faster. Once you have circles, take one and fold it in half, then in half again. Finally, stick a straight pin through the folded tip and stick it on the styrofoam tree. Keep pinning your circles on starting at the base and working your way to the top of the tree. I placed my pieces close together for a fuller look.

 I then took ribbon and tied it into small bows. Stick a straight pin through the center and stick them on to the tree in random spots. And that's it. I made these in an evening while watching tv and I am happy with the way they turned out.

For the rest of the nook I took the silhouette portraits I created years ago using Ikea frames and scrapbook paper and quickly added a new one for my daughter and son (since he wasn't here the first time I made these and her profile had changed from being a baby). On the other side I simply filled an apothecary jar with red, silver, and green ornaments, a jar with dollar store peppermint sticks and a cute little santa...and called it good. It is a nice little way to come out of our bedroom each morning. A little Christmas decor always puts me in a better mood :)

Merry Christmas,
Shannon

Painted Curtains

Shannon had given me these sheer curtains from Ikea that she had had for a couple years and were still in the package.  I decided to figure out how to paint a pattern on them to fancy them up a bit.  I had done some research on the best way to do this, but after talking to my art teacher friend, I decided to just mix the craft paint I wanted to use with something called a Textile Medium.  I used the directions on the back of the Textile Medium to mix the paint.  It is found right with the craft paints and looks like this (at least the one I found does):

I had found a pattern of a flower online.  I printed it out and make a stencil out of it with stencil paper and an Xacto knife.  I laid out a whole bunch of my crafting towels and put the curtain on top of those.  

Then, I laid my stencil out and painted over it.

I randomly laid the stencil out - again, I love randomness, but this is easy to adapt to what you want.  You could choose great colors and patterns for your curtains.  Here is my finished project for my guest room:

Let me know if you try it!  I would love to see what you come up with too!

Betsy

Right "Frame" of Mind

I thought I would take a break from sewing projects and talk about how I LOVE to do craft projects for my house.  Love.  In fact, I am running out of wall space to do new ones.  Doesn't make me very happy!  My friend, Bobbi, and I got what we thought was a brilliant idea for our homes.  Once we did it, we realized that apparently others had the same idea.  Oh well.  I still love it!  


We decided to go around to all of the local ARC's and Goodwill's (there are A LOT around here).  Bobbi was looking for specific shaped frames.  I love randomness, so I was looking for whatever caught my eye.  It didn't matter what size, color, or condition - in fact some of my frames used to be mirrors, and one was even a clock.  We took out all the glass (or whatever was in the frame), disposed of it if it was gross or reused it if we could, and cleaned the frames up.  Then, we enlisted the help of Bobbi's husband, Jason, to help us make some "repairs".  Again, we were not picky with the frames we bought.  


We laid out how we wanted them to look on our walls and took a picture. 

This is a picture of what mine looked like originally.  

Then, we took them to the garage and spray painted them so they all were one color.  This is where you could get creative.  I have a ton of color going on in my living room already, so I used black, but get creative!  Add some color to a room with this project if you need it.

Here is a  picture of my final project.  I put mine in my living room and Bobbi put hers in her stairwell.  We love them!  

Betsy