Baby Girl and Baby Boy: Gift Ideas with Printable

I have a few friends I’ve been meaning to send baby gifts to, and now their babies are getting so old!  I feel a little silly taking so long to do it, but I guess it’s better late than never! 

For the flower cards, I made a some flower clips using THIS tutorial from Craftiness is Not Optional, though I sewed parts of my flowers because the glue wasn’t holding very well.  I have an accuquilt cutter, but you could just use any flower you make and glue it to a barrette or clip to use with the card.  Just cut a small slit and clip onto the card!  The barrette shows inside the card, but it doesn’t bother me. You could always add paper inside the card to cover the barrettes up. 

 

Next I needed to think of something simple for a baby boy.

I used my silhouette machine to cut out the glasses shape (found HERE).  You could easily take the glasses clip art and use freezer paper and fabric paint (or acrylic works also as long as you heat set the paint). 

Finally, they are off to the post office today!  Just in time for the next round of babies to be born ;).

 

Downloads: 

Green and Turquoise Baby Girl

Green and Coral Baby Girl

Good Looking Kid

Removable Lace Ruffles: Shoe Refashion Tutorial

This is nothing brilliant but it’s very easy to do and I love the outcome.

Now let me just put it out there right away that you in no way need to make these lace ruffles removable with the velcro. You could just glue that lace right to your shoe and you’d be good to go! The lace adds such a feminine, flirty, and vintage look to the shoes! The reason I made mine removable is because I can add some velcro to other ruffles or lace and swap them for the lace to change the look of the shoes!

Here’s what you’ll need:


-A pair of shoes (if making them removable with the velcro, they should be a half size bigger than you normally wear, simply because the velcro will add a bit around the shoe and make them snugger than they were. If not using the velcro to make the lace removable, your normal size is great!)

-velcro

-E-6000 glue

-clothespins

-pre-gathered lace

Measure your shoes from the two points you want the lace to start and end.



Mine was 10” so I cut a 10” piece of velcro, then from that I cut about 1/3 of it off (I believe it’s 1” wide Velcro I used).



Using that thin 1/3 of velcro, glue the back of the soft side with the E-6000 glue.



Glue the velcro around the inside portion of the shoe where you want the lace, near the top, but not letting the velcro end up above the top of the shoe. Secure your velcro with clothespins so that it sticks and doesn’t come up.



You might want to check occasionally to make sure the gaps in between the clothespins. Repeat with other shoe.



While the glue dries (you’ll want to give it quite a while, at least an hour I’d say) take the lace and cut the same length you measured (mine was 10”) and take scratchy side of the velcro you cut thin. Zig zag stitch the velcro to the lace, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.



Once the glue has dried, attach the lace to the shoe with the velcro! As I said, your shoes will be a little more snug, so choosing a shoe that is a little larger than you normally wear is a good idea if making the removable lace ruffles. If you want to take the lace off with the option of adding it later, because you use the soft portion of the velcro, you shouldn’t notice that it’s even added to your shoe. I didn’t notice a big difference and it was still totally comfortable!



The possibilities are so fun! And if you like the look enough, just glue that lace right to your shoe to stay! You could probably peel it off if you get tired of the look!



An easy project with fun results! 

Money Cuff, Take Two

First off, if you just came over from MADE, then welcome! 

Celebrate the Boy has been so inspiring, and I’m excited to be a part of it today.  Dana and Rae are incredible.  I absolutely LOVE their blogs and how fun both of them are!  I was beyond happy when Dana emailed me and said I could be a part of Celebrate the Boy. 

Today I’m going to show you how to make a money cuff.  They are really easy and come together quickly.  They also take very little fabric:). 

They can fit tiny little boy treasures inside, money, keys, guitar picks, rocks, dirt, Chuck-E-Cheese coins…

And if your kid is lucky enough, he might even score some more money to stash in it.

My original money cuff was titled “The Lunch Money Cuff”.  I made it so my son could stash his lunch money in it for school. It is the same idea as today’s tutorial, but it has a zipper. 

So if zippers make you want to cry and you hate them or are just plain afraid to try one, then this version today is the one for you (but really, the zipper in that tutorial is really an easy way to put one in, so consider trying something new!). 

 

You’ll Need:

-four 3” x 8.5” pieces fabric, mix and match how you please

-one 2.5” strip velcro

-one 4” strip velcro

-buttons or anything else you’d like to embellish with

The way I’m going to show you how to make this seems a little different.  You are welcome to adjust the other tutorial for the money cuff to use velcro, but the velcro might just be a little difficult to sew in that way.  That is why I chose the way I did for this version—to accommodate the velcro closure.  **Just be sure to really cut and sew exactly, as it will definitely help with the final steps and outcome in this tutorial.**

Take two pieces fabric and place right sides together.  Do the same with the other two pieces. 

Sew around the edges with a 1/4” seam, leaving an opening at one end for turning.  Clip corners and turn.

Iron, tucking the openings in, then sew the velcro to the top center of both pieces.

Flip over and sew the velcro onto the same end of each piece.

Place together, matching the velcro and sides, top and bottom, as evenly as possible (this is where the cutting and sewing as exact as possible really matters).

Topstitch closely around the edges, leaving the top portion with the velcro un-sewn.  This is where the openings you left for turning get sewn shut.

Reinforce the sides of the velcro opening so it doesn’t rip when opened over and over.

Sew some buttons or other embellishments on, if desired.

Now take your kid into the freezing cold with the promise of playing dad’s guitar. :)

And possibly the promise of keeping the dollar stashed in his new money cuff, for being  a good sport.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  Hope you are all having a blast celebrating the crazy and cute boys in your life!

Long Mittens: a Tutorial

This is likely my last tutorial for the rest of the month, just so’s you know. I wanted to get them up quickly so that you could use them this season!  And mittens would make a great gift!

Have you ever had your kid come in crying because they have snow down their sleeves?  I definitely have, and since my oldest son C was about 3 years old, I’ve just added a longer section onto gloves he had from the store.  That way snow stays off their arms, and their arms have an extra layer for warmth! 

Then I realized how easy it would be to just make the mitten portion as well.  I’ve actually had this idea on my list since I started my blog in January!  So after nearly a year, I finally got around to it!

You’ll need some fleece, and thin elastic.  That’s it!

First trace your child’s hand. 

And measure around their wrist for the elastic measurement.

Make your pattern—it’s very easy and really does not have to be perfect.  You will round out the fingers a bit more, then add space to the side of the thumb, so it’s more of a line down rather than dipping in by the wrist area.  Also, add 1/2” – 1” around the entire pattern, to allow for easy fitting and seams.  You really want to make sure that you have enough room for their arm to fit into the glove, so make sure to measure for that as well.

So the pattern I’m using for this is the one on the right pictured below.  The one on the left is what I used to make the pattern on the right—see the part on the left pattern where B’s hand is traced?  The extra part I added at the bottom is about 6”, though you’ll want to measure the child’s forearm to see how long you’ll want it, allowing for a 1/4” seam along the bottom.  I also had to tape two pieces together since it was longer than a standard size paper.

So after cutting with your fleece folded along the straight edge of the pattern, this is what you should end up with (the pattern is covering the other side of the mitten, so it looks like the right side, but reversed:

Fold up the bottom part of the mitten 1/4” and stitch.  There is no need to finish the edge with fleece.  Yea!

Mark where the child’s falls on the mitten—make sure you are thinking of the added 1/2” – 1” around the pattern.  B was asleep so I put my elastic a bit too low.  Sew one end down with a couple straight stitches, making sure to backstitch.  Then change to a zig-zag stitch and sew, stretching the elastic to meet the other side of the glove.

Fold the mitten in half, matching sides, and pin.  Stitch using a 1/4” seam.

Note how for the thumb area, you sew a V.

Clip to the corner of the thumb, but be careful not to cut too far!

 

That’s all—easy right?  Now make another and you have yourself, as my 2 year old says, “A comfy and cozy” pair of mittens.