Going on Safari...

I love how Safari Mickey turned out!  

Homemade Christmas 2012

Another Homemade Christmas...

Another apron for my girls.  The aprons are personalized with their intials.  These are made from repurosed jeans.  Here is a tutorial for the jean apron.















A rose scarf - this is made from felt.  I sewed the scalloped circles together to make the flowers.  Then I sewed the flowers to the felt scarf.  This could be a no sew project by using a glue gun.

A friend of mine asked if I could make a dress for her daughter out of some material that she had.  This is what I made.  From what I hear, the daughter loves it!  

Front of Dress

Back of Dress

Is it an Apron or a Bag?

Is it a bag? or...

an Apron?


It is both.

My girls love to paint.  With these bag aprons, it is easy to keep our paint and paintbrushes put away.  When  they are ready to paint, we empty the bag and change it into an apron.  

These were gifts for Christmas.

Carry It All Bag

For Christmas, I was given fabric and a pattern for a bigger bag.  The giver thought that I would make it for our cruise.  Well, I made it sooner!  I love this bag.  It is big enough that I can carry my kindle, and some entertainment for the kids.  Well, my other bag could do that...but this bag is bigger because I can also carry gluten free treats.  :)

 It has a zipper for my phone, keys, and money.  On the other side it has two pockets.  Great for the snacks or Kindle.

This pattern also included a mini bag.  The mini bag does not have a zipper, but it does have the pockets.  I have made one for one of my daughters.  I need to make another for my youngest daughter.  The mini size is perfect size for kids.  I let both girls pick their colors for the bag.  

This is the bag for my almost 6 year old daughter.

This is the inside of her bag.

Here is a picture to compare the bags.  

I don't think this picture really shows how much bigger my bag (on right) is compared to the mini (on left).  

My daughter with her bag.

Easy Find for the Tooth-Fairy...

I knew my middle daughter would eventually have a wiggly tooth.  I knew that I would have to pull it out eventually.  That day finally came.  They grow up to fast.  She did not cry when I pulled her tooth out.  No, she instead asked for her tooth pillow.  (I actually made this for her when I made my son a tooth pillow.)

This little pillow has a little pocket on the tooth shape to hold the tooth for the tooth-fairy   I know that the tooth-fairy loves this idea because she doesn't have to search for any teeth under pillows.  :)  Plus, the kids love it because they don't have to look for their reward from the tooth-fairy.

Crayon Holder

Both of my girls love to color.  They often carry their crayons in a box or a bag.  However, the crayons were always rolling off the tables or getting lost.  I decided to make a crayon roll.  The top of this crayon roll folds down over the crayons and then rolls up.  On the outside, I have a piece of ribbon that my daughter can use to tie the roll closed.  My oldest daughter loves this as she can take this in the car and her crayons will not roll away.

To make this I used a piece of felt, fabric, and ribbon.  The great thing about making this myself is that I can make it the size that is needed.  I lined up my daughter's favorite crayons (the Twister type crayons) and cut my fabric to fit.

Now my girls have informed me they need a bag to carry their color books and crayon roll in...off I go to sew so more.

Travel Items

I wanted to make some travel items for our kids for Christmas.

I ran out of time.

So, instead I made these travel items for their birthdays.  My son already opened his present.  My almost 6yr old daughter saw my son's pillow and wants her own.  She will be so excited to see her own flower pillow and toothbrush holder.

So, seat belt pillows and toothbrush holders -  Easy gifts that are needed because we are going on a cruise to celebrate our FREEDOM!  We have paid off our final debt (does not include the house).   We will be traveling with our children, so I decided to make the kids seat belt pillows and toothbrush holders.  These will also be used for our trips to my parent's house or other overnight trips.

Want to make your own?  I'm sure there are plenty of ideas on Pinterest.  For the pillow, I made a small rectangle of leftover fabric and added straps (and velcro).   Adding straps allows me to tie the pillow to my youngest's seat so she can not drop it.  Would you like a tutorial?  Here is one for a simple pillow from my friend Jackie at Blessings Overflowing.

For the the toothbrush/toothpaste holder, I used a hand towel, leftover fabric, and a piece of elastic.  Here is a simple travel toothbrush holder tutorial from my friend Jackie at Blessings Overflowing.

Skylanders Cake

My son is 8!  How is that possible?  8!

He knew what he wanted for his cake.  Skylanders.  I decided to make a Skylander portal and then use his favorite character on the cake.

This was actually my second attempt at the cake.  The first one fell apart...let me explain.  I usually make and decorate the cake a day or two before the party day.  I have not had a problem with cakes falling apart before.  But, this cake was different.  This cake needed to be gluten free so my youngest could eat cake at her brother's birthday party.  I have learned that I can not make a gluten free cake 2 or 3 days before a party.  Thankfully, his party was in the afternoon so I could bake and decorate the cake over again.

This cake was gluten free.  I used the Bob's Red Mill White Cake Mix and a glass bottle of Faygo.  It was iced with butter-cream icing.