Tiny Prints Inspired Custom Birth Announcment

My beautiful bestie Claire welcomed the birth of her 2nd child; handsome little Eli, back in September. On a phone call last night she was complaining about the lack of good birth announcement options she'd found in her small Canadian town and I kind of chuckled and said, "Uh Claire...I can make you one!" 

(Sometimes my friends forget I have mad skills!)

Anyway I sent her some American websites to check out for inspiration since I knew she'd already have something in mind and she very quickly replied with an example she loved from Tiny Prints. So I immediately got to work and here is the final product!
 

Isn't he adorable!!

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No comments | Posted in: Boys,Digital Cards

Baby Boy #2 Nursery {Part 2}

It's starting to come together! 

I can't express how excited I am about this room!

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3 comments | Posted in: Baby Boy #2 Nursery,Boys,Random Fun Stuff,Sewing

Baby Boy #2 Nursery {Part 1}

So I finally made some decisions on Baby Boy #2's nursery decor! I am so excited now I can hardly wait to get the room done! Here is a little sneak peek!

My amazing cousin Staci from Just Sew Sassy has been officially contracted to sew me all custom duds for this baby! Yeah she's awesome like that! 

Here is the main fabric & inspiration:

Michael Miller Gray Bicycles

In addition to solids here are some coordinating Michael Miller fabrics I like. 
(The exact ones we'll use are still undecided)

 And look at the little number I snagged of Craigslist today!

This vintage wonder will serve as room decor when I'm not stealing it for photo shoots! 

Here is the crib currently in the lead. 
(We'll be getting the matching dresser etc too.)

Now you can see why I'm so excited!! Oh and I am leaning toward orange as an accent color! 

What do ya think???

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3 comments | Posted in: Baby Boy #2 Nursery,Boys,Random Fun Stuff,Sewing

Canada Day Vinyl Bib

█ ♥ █ Happy Canada Day █ ♥ █

I was so excited when I saw THIS tutorial from Cheri {I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar} and knew I had to make some vinyl bibs for Ash and his friends! (Sorry, spoiler alert!)

   With Canada Day right around the corner maple leafs were an obvious choice! We'll also be spending a month back home in Canuckville this summer so some super stylin bibs were definitely in order!

  I followed Cheri's tutorial with a few changes. First I traced a piece of 8.5x11 Cardstock for the size/shape then followed her instructions for using a CD to round off the corners. 

  I too chose against Velcro as well since Ash is starting to play the "I can rip my bib off game" but instead of a button I used a Heavy Duty Snap Fastener that you just hammer on. (Way easy!)

 Another change was I was hand stitching with embroidery floss vs. machine sewing so I used a tiny bit of hot glue on to keep the maple leafs in place while I killed my fingers stitching them on! ;) Seriously still in pain here folks...but the bib looks awesome so it was well worth it!

 The hand stitching was honestly the only time consuming part. Every thing else went super fast and easy. My mind is reeling with ideas of what to make next and think these will make the cutest baby gifts! Yay! I can't wait to make more! And I don't know about you...but I think he likes it! ;)

█ ♥ █ Happy Canada Day █ ♥ █

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4 comments | Posted in: Appliques,Boys,Sewing,Vinyl Bibs

Tutorial Tuesday: Masculine Father's Day Card

Tutorial Tuesday:

Masculine Father's Day Card

Thanks to my bestie Claire I've just recently caught the card making addiction! But seem struggle with making masculine cards. I mean c'mon you can't use ribbon, flowers, anything that glitters...umm hello...what are you left with? But I needed to make a Father's Day card and thought, "Ok I CAN do this!" So as I sat there staring at my craft desk I noticed a piece of sand paper and had an "aha" moment!

Luckily I had made my Dad {This} Custom Tile/Vinyl Checkerboard this year which resulted in me buying some "boy" scrapbook paper! (I used the same paper from the checker pieces to tie it all together.) I just decided on a basic layout, trimmed with my paper cutter and stamped the top sheet over and over with a word stamp. Then I grabbed my sand paper! I rounded the paper over so I could sand two sides at once and went nuts! No rhyme or reason, just random sanding. Then I stuck it all together and embellished with my most masculine matching embellishment! I just love how it turned out! 

-

Have you created an awesome masculine card?

Leave a comment with a link so we can check it out and be inspired!

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3 comments | Posted in: Boys,Cards,Father's Day,Tutorials

See It Again Saturday: Bandanna Shirt Tutorial

In case you missed my guest post at Seven Thirty Three this week here is again!

Bandanna Shirt Tutorial

What you'll Need:

Bandanna

T-Shirt

Embroidery Floss

Wonder Under

Iron & Ironing Board
Pencil & Scissors

Step One:
Measure your bandanna. Just eyeball it, it's supposed to be messy. Trust me!

Step Two:
Now you want your bandanna to have movement, not be "glued" to the shirt. To accomplish this place bandanna right side down on your ironing board and mess/crumple up slightly. Now iron your wonder under rough side down onto your messy bandanna.

Step Three:
Trim your bandanna to the appropriate size, flip back over and pin to the shirt.

Step Four:
Turn inside out and use a pen to trace where you want it to be on the collar, unpin and cut!

Step Five:
Peel off the backing of the Wonder Under, place on shirt, cover with a damp cloth and iron on.

Step Six:
 Hand stitch around the edge with the embroidery floss and you're done! I chose not to seal the edges of the bandanna with fray check because I want it to fray a little...y'know go along with the whole "messy" thing!

And I'll be linking up as always with {These Great Blogs} including The Boardwalk Bragfest!

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9 comments | Posted in: Appliques,Boys,Sewing,T-Shirts,Tutorials

Field Trip Friday with Seven Thirty Three---A Creative Blog

Hi Aly & Ash friends! I'm Kim from seven thirty three - - - a creative blog.  I'm so excited to be guest posting here today!  Thanks for having me Jax.
Let me take a quick second to tell you about the goings on at seven thirty three.

I host a Sugar & Spice Weekly Link Party every Wednesday for all of your adorable girl crafts and Thursdays are for our little men with the What are little boys made of? Weekly Party.
I offer blog design for reasonable prices, so if you are in need for a new header or button, I'm your girl!

Or maybe you are looking for some helpful blog tips? Yup, I do that too! Every Sunday I post a tip to help you personalize your blog. Send me an email if you have a question you would like answered!

Here are a few of my recent projects:

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:
hello baby! banner with coffee filter "flower"
stylish cropped pants
freezer paper stencil shirts
superhero invitation
Quick bit of personal info: I am a Marketing Director by day and a mommy blogger by night. I have three gorgeous kiddos that make me smile everyday and I have a wonderful husband that supports my crafting (although right now he is crabbing about needing the computer...).
Oh and because I like you people I have decided to give you a SNEAK PEEK at my daughters 1st Birthday Party... make sure to stop by tomorrow for the FULL DETAILS!

I also have a giveaway for Father's Day starting tomorrow, so make sure not to miss it.


Alright, onto today's craft...woodland creature masks!

I am hosting a camping themed baby shower for my SIL and what camping trip isn't complete without an animal or two?  The little kids invited to the party will fill in the party nicely with these.

This tutorial is showing you how to make a Bear Mask, but see the other pictures above for the other creatures!  All were created with the same template with tweaks here and there.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

2 sheets of Felt (2 coordinating colors)

Elastic

Wonder Under or similar Fusible Web (optional)

First you will want to make a template on paper.  I just freehanded one, cut it out and measured it against my sons face to make sure it fit.  I also marked the eyes at the same time and cut those out.

Next you will want to iron your fusible web onto one of the pieces of felt (the interfacing will create a sturdier mask, but I only used it on two of my masks and didn't have a problem with the others)  Trace your mask template onto the paper of the fusible web, remove the paper backing and cut it out.  Now trace your mask again and cut out the second piece.

Iron the two pieces together. On the back of the mask (the part that will touch your childs face, trace the eyes - I did this BEFORE I ironed the pieces together and ended up having the marks transfer to my ironing board cover - OOPS!).

Cut out the inner ear pieces.  Sew them onto the mask with a zigzag stitch (you can do this BEFORE you iron the two pieces together if you don't want to see the stitch on the back of the mask).

Zigzap stitch the entire edge of your mask.  Cut out the eyes and zigzag stitch around them.  Measure the elastic against your childs head and sew it onto your mask (make sure it is nice and secure), and now you are done! 

FYI: I also attemped to add the elastic before sewing the edges, which is doable, but I didn't mind seeing the elastic on the back of the mask since it doesn't show when the child is wearing it.

I managed to break my bobbin holder half way through the masks so switched to handsewing... although it took longer it was still just as easy - so no machine required!

 For the duck and blue bird (not pictured) masks, I cut out a triangle for the beak and inserted it between the two pieces of the mask at the nose curve and just sewed around the edge of the mask as normal.

Hopefully these instructions were clear.  If you have any questions feel free to email me!

Hopefully I'll see a few of you over at seven thirty three today (and tomorrow - don't forget that giveaway!).

Happy Friday!

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3 comments | Posted in: Boys,Field Trip Fridays,Girls,Tutorials

See It Again Saturday: Tic Tac Toe Game

 In-case you missed my Field Trip Friday with Craft Envy last week here is what we did:


Easy Kids Project

Tic Tac Toe Game

Step One:

Have your kiddos pick out two pieces of scrapbook paper. You don't need much so it's a great time to use up scraps from other projects! Next have them trace around the deco rock onto the scrapbook paper and cut out just inside the trace lines.

Step Two:

Using a foam brush have the kiddos apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the flat side of the deco rock and attach cut out paper image side up. Allow to dry.

Step Three:

Next have them apply another thin coat of Mod Podge to the back side of the scrapbook paper and allow to dry completely.

 

Step Four:

The Board: I picked this up for a buck at The Dollar Tree. It has two long squares but hey, it was a dollar! You could also have the kids paint their board! *If you are really crafty you could cut some wood and separate the long squares but hey... I like the quick craft method: just fake it!

Step Five:

Play!

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2 comments | Posted in: Boys,Crafts,Girls,Mod Podge,Tutorials

"School of Rock" Template

Yay! New Template!

I'm working on a baby shower gift and decided to make another rock star shirt!  

Addicted I know!

I'll post pictures of the finished shirts onesies after the mommy to be gets them but in the mean time here is the new template!
(You can also find it on my sidebar)

School of Rock Template

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7 comments | Posted in: Appliques,Boys,Freezer Paper Stencils,Girls,Sewing,T-Shirts,Templates

Tutorial Tuesday: Rock Star Tee & Template

Tutorial Tuesday

Rock Star Tee & Template

I am so excited about this shirt! I have been wanting to make Asher a cool electric guitar applique shirt for a while but couldnt find a template and can't sew a strait line much less the angles of a guitar...sooo

I made my own template and hand stitched with embroidery floss! I love it!

Here is how to make it and I have even included the template at the end of the tutorial! 

Step One:

Cut out the guitar from your template and iron the Wonder Under to the back of your fabric.

(Rough side down, follow Wonder Under directions)

Step Two:
Flip the guitar over and trace onto the Wonder Under.

Step Three:
Play around with placement and choose where you want your guitar and text.

Step Four:
Peel off the Wonder Under backing and place guitar on shirt where desired.

Step Five:
Cover with a damp cloth and iron guitar to shirt.

Step Six:

Trace the text onto matte side of the Freezer Paper and cut out your stencil using an xacto knife.

Iron stencil onto your shirt and fill in with fabric paint using a very small amount of paint in thin layers allowing to dry in between. (Don't forget to add back the shapes inside the letter "o" etc.)

Step Seven:
Hand stitch around your guitar using embriodery floss.
I split my floss to half thickness (three strands) but this isn't required.

Optional Step:
I used the letters I cut out for the stencil to create a messy reverse stencil on the back of the shirt. I got the "spray paint" look by blotting with an almost dry amount of paint on piece of toilet paper.

Voila!

 Now you have a super cool Rock Star shirt!

I'd love to see this in a pink fabric for a girl too! You can also use the guitar template as a freezer paper stencil and I have included the shapes of the "pickups" and "bridge" to add detail if desired. (The hubs said this was important!) Another fun idea would be to use your embroidery floss to detail the "tuning pegs" at the top.

(Did you just get a guitar anatomy lesson...cause I did!)

Rock Star Template

Now go make it and email me your pics!

And don't forget to {ENTER}

{Linking up with These Great Blogs} including {The Boardwalk Bragfest} &

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35 comments | Posted in: Appliques,Boys,Freezer Paper Stencils,T-Shirts,Templates,Tutorials