Scrap Ruffle Necklace

I recently saw a necklace on pintrest and I really liked it. (Her shop is very cute by the way, I will take any of those items!) 

I knew that it really could not be all that hard to make, so I tried it. It turned out really well, not as good as hers, but still pretty good for free.  

I started with a necklace I was not using, and a fabric scrap. I think it was about 2 1/2" wide and 8" long. 

 Because I used a fabric that frays very easily, I first used a zig-zag stitch to prevent further fraying.

 Now we can sew our ruffle.  I used  a 1/4" seam allowance, and folded the fabric in half.

 Use the normal extra long stitch, and pull one thread to create a ruffle. Once the ruffle is the desired length, the ends can be tied off, so the ruffle does not come out. Now you can simply use a safety pin to thread the necklace through the ruffle, and you are done.

 Now you can trade out that ruffle to match any outfit. I like to wear my navy ruffle necklace with a salmon colored tank, and navy cargo pants. So many options, and it adds just a little cuteness.

Camera Strap Cover

Second thought after getting my camera, "I can make a camera strap cover!" First thought was "Yay, a nice camera!"
I have known that once I got my nice camera, I would make a camera strap cover. I am surprised I waited the three whole days that I did.

 It is a little different than most camera straps because it is much thinner.

My favorite part about it is the pocket for the lens cap. 

Jeremy's least favorite part, it is girly and ruffled, and he feels silly taking pictures with it. 

 There are a ton of camera strap tutorials online you can search for. I kinda winged mine, but I think it turned out great. Sorry for the short post, it is way past my bedtime. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

5 minute hair clip

Last weekend while getting ready to go out to dinner with some friends. I thought my hair needed a little something extra. I decided to quickly make a little flower clip. It took me about 5 minutes, with taking pictures, and both boys were awake! 

First you will need a few supplies. I had all of these on hand so it cost me nothing! 

I always save all of my bobby pins each time I get an updo, so I never need to buy those. The satin fabric was from the lining of a dress that I shortened for a friend. And everything else was in my stash. 

First you cut your satin to the size circles you like, I think the less perfect the better. Cut concentric circles, so that you will be able to see the layers, I cut 6. 

Then you gently burn the edges. I like to use a candle, because it seems safer, and I never have been good at working lighters. If your circle catches on fire, that's okay just quickly burn them out. 

Now you can start hot gluing the layers down. Just a small amount in the middle will do. Start with your biggest circle and go smaller. On top of your last circle, glue a little jewel or you could also hand sew some seed beads. That would be very cute, but might take more than 5 minutes, and when you are already running late...

After your flower is done, simply glue it to a bobby pin or even a clip. Mine was sloppy, but who will see?

Put it in your hair and you are ready to go! 

Speaking of hair, I love doing my hair this way. I have been looking for cute ways to put up my hair, since it is always up anyway. I saw this hairstyle on I am Momma here me roar, and tried it. It looks great, keeps me cool, takes 5 minutes, and I can do it right out of the shower.



(Pre make up)



Saturday night after we got home, I did this heatless curls trick to my hair for church the next morning. And it looked great too. Love how blogs provide me with such great ideas!

ABC art

I wanted to have some kind of art for the baby's room, but I was not ready to spend a bunch of money. I had a canvas that I had bought last year, and though I was planning on using for something else, who knows when that would happen so I thought it would be much better in the baby's room. This is really the only thing on the walls as of yet, but I will put something else up once we know what this little one is. Excitingly the baby's room is pretty much finished. Just in time huh? My personal deadline was May 1st, so I am happy that I am done.

For the ABC art I used a white canvas and used tape to make straight edges and painted the side and edges red. I used some fabric that I got from IKEA, and some heat n bond iron on adhesive to put on the letters.

I wish some of the letters showed up better, but I think you can still tell what they say. It is easier to see in person also. I really like it, and I think it adds a cute touch to the baby's room. Oh did I mention since I had everything already, it was free? Love that price.

XoXo pillow

Sometimes I just need to do a quick, easy, sewing project. It calms me, and is slightly therapeutic. What came about during this therapy session was a Valentines burlap pillow.

 I first sewed on my X's and O's. Then I sewed my two pieces of burlap, wrong sides together, leaving an opening to stuff. I stuffed the pillow with poly fil and sewed the opening shut. Finally I frayed the burlap some by pulling out the burlap strings.

As my husband pointed out, it is not a comfortable pillow, but it still looks cute!

Valentines Day Runner

It is sooo chilly outside here and we have been stuck in doors. (It was -12 degrees this morning while in the car!) We can't be warmed by the sun so I have been making a few things around the house for Valentines Day, to make us all a little more lovely. I did not plan on making much, but I just did not stop. And the best part is that I only spent about 4 dollars! Everything else is from my stash that I already have. So this week will be about sharing all of our easy cheap Valentines Day goodies, so I hope you check back.

First up is a scrappy runner for our table. It is simply ruffled fabric scraps and some ribbon sewn onto a piece of fabric. Easy, easy.

I took many strips of pink fabric from my scrap pile, and ruffled the strips. I did not even finish the edges because I liked an unfinished look on such girly fabric. You can cut on the bias and it won't fray as much, but I was not worried about it, so I just left it as is. After I had laid out all of my strips, I sewed them down the middle onto a long white piece of cotton.

Once all of my strips were sewn on, I sewed another white piece of cotton with right sides together. Clipped corners, turned right side out. and sewed shut. I pressed the underside to make sure everything would lie like I wanted to, and done! I told you it was easy and quick.

This would be a great project for a beginning sewer to learn on because it is really just straight lines. It adds just a little more love to our table. Now it just needs a delicious meal on it... wonder who will be making that?

Reusable Produce Bags

I am really tired of the plastic produce bags that you get from the grocery store. I have seen plain ole ugly, reusable, slightly expensive produce bags at the store. I immediately thought I could make those cheaper, and cuter too!

I got these lingerie bags at the dollar spot at Target. I have also seen them at the dollar store. Both places had the bags, two for a dollar.

They are a small size with a zipper on them. I cut the zipper off of the bag, but saved that for a later project. (I don't see the sense in throwing away zippers, when I will have to pay for them otherwise. Takes more time, but I think they are still usable.) 

 

I could of used scraps, but I did buy this fabric at the store, with a coupon of course. I like it because it has both fruit and veggies.

 

I cut the fabric in strips, about twice the width of the bag, so that it could go all the around the bag.Then I ironed it to kind of create a binding or casing.

 

Here is the fabric cut and ironed ready to sew around my bag.

I sewed the ends of the fabric strips so that it looks nice and neat.

After pinning the strips in place all around the top edge of the bag. I made sure to sew completely around the edges of the bag and make sure the sides were secure and there are no holes, you don't want any chance for the bag edges to unravel.

(I know, the sewing is kinda crazy, I was moving fast and not being too careful. Normally not so wonky.)

You also want to be sure that there is an opening in your casing for you to insert ribbon to close the bag.  Once you insert your ribbon of choice with a safety pin, tie the ribbon, and heat seal the ends of the ribbon, you are done. I did this three more times, and I have a set ready for the grocery store.

I also added a 31 tag, to make sure that everyone eyeing my bags at the store knows they are mine! It has a 31 on one side and a heart on the other. (Making these tags is easy and fun, I will show you how in a few days.)

No more of these ugly, not environmentally friendly, plastic bags.

Now we have cute, green, earth loving bags. these bags are sturdy, but you and the checker at the grocery can still see your produce in there. They are light weight so you are not adding extra weight to scale when buying your veggies.  

Don't my peaches look happier?

Linking up was so fun last week, I think I will do it again!

Quilting?

I have seen so many wonderful cute quilts in the craft blog world. They look like so much fun. I had just a small amount of time, towards the end of nap time, and instead of starting a whole new project, or doing something productive, I wanted to play with quilting.

I had an old tote bag, that kids at the day camp I ran years ago made for me.

I also had some scrap fabric.

I had fun piecing the scraps together, and putting them on the bag. I did not actually quilt because I did not want to take apart the bag. This was just a test run, and I did not want to put too much time into it.

Now I really want to do a quilt. There are so many fun ones out there. Like I have time for this, Ha!