Sassy Priscilla

Seven!

I didn't realize it has been so long since I've posted. First of all, thanks for the nice comments about my rotten April and my anxiety issues.

May went better though baby Huck had a setback and was hospitalized for possible seizures. No evidence was found while in the hospital and he is home and doing well now.

Jeff and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. Nine! I can't stand it. Though I do feel that time has passed a little, it really seems hard to believe that I wed the love of my life nine years ago. I still feel giddy when I see him and we hold hands or rub feet every night. I think I am the luckiest wife on earth for getting to see Jeff every day.

Harder yet to believe is that precious Aidan is seven! Whistling, lego building, bike riding, tooth losing, snuggling, sassy pants, skipping, lover of reading, crafting, goofy, smart-alecky, freckle-faced, sugar bag, cat loving, rubber faced, butterfly watching, obsessed with water hoses, tender-hearted, sweet Aidan. He had a grand birthday that included breakfast with his Uncle Dan and cousins and then a party at my mom's house. My grandmother was there and silly Uncle Craig was visiting so that made it even more special. Uncle Craig made a cool zombie cake modeled after the game Plants vs. Zombies. Ever played it? We are addicted to it.  

I make birthday buntings for Aidan every year based upon the theme of his party. This year, he has a new room decor - space. I decided that an American flag was appropriate. I'm not sure why. I think I was thinking about the flag on the moon and the space program. Bear with me - even though the flag looks a bit more primitive than space-ish, it works well in his bedroom, hanging over his bed. 

I think I do much better sewing when I design my own pattern. This bunting is 14" x 14" with seven stripes and seven stars. I tried to design the seven, stars and the flag proportions similar to the 1776 flag. It went very well and Aidan loves it. That is all that matters.

If you want a tutorial, let me know. I'm thinking about making a flag for Independence Day and wouldn't mind sharing a tutorial.

Here's Aidan with silly string in his hair, trying a weird piece of candy that didn't go over well.

 

Valentine's Day Project - Mini Magnetic Heart Garland

This is a simple little project my Mom and I came up when trying to figure out what to do with the leftover hearts from my Fabric Hanging Heart Garland. I realize that the instructions may be a bit basic as it is easy enough to look at the garland to figure it out. But I thought it would help to explain how I did it.

Materials/Tools Needed

• Stiff fabric (using this technique) or heavyweight, decorative paper
• Small paper punch
• Heart paper punch (necessary if you can't cut your hearts freehand)
• Thin twine or string (smaller in diameter than your small paper punch)
• Magnetic tape or thin, self-adhesive magnets

Technique

Punch the desired number of hearts out using you heart paper punch. You can use the old-school technique of folding your paper and cutting your hearts, too.

Use a small paper punch to punch a hole on each side of the heart.

Cut a length of twine or string long enough for you to feel comfortable tying a shoelace bow (I used about 2 1/2 inches). Cut 7 pieces for a 6-heart garland - this includes one piece for between each heart set and the ends.

Tie a shoelace bow (as in how you tie your shoes) with your twine/string to connect each heart to the next. Do not overlap the hearts, rather set them side-by-side. Trim the extra twine/string. Tie a bow on each end of the ending hearts.

Cut a small square of magnetic tape and attach to each end heart. This allows the middle hearts to hang nicely.

Attach to your refrigerator or file cabinet or another fine, magnetic surface.

Enjoy!

 

Rhymes with Luck

My poor sister and sister-in-law. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that has given them a hard time about their choice for a baby name. I photographed the bunting without the first letter of the name. Start your guesses now!

Anyway, a few weekends ago, my sister Heather and her partner, Susannah, were given a baby shower for their upcoming baby boy. Susannah's sister and step-mom hosted the shower and flew in along with several other family members for the shower. They paid for the food and made the arrangements. My mom did flowers. My sister Missy did the games. I hardly had to do anything. Score! 

I did make this bunting for baby "Uck's"  room. I bought a crib sheet from the collection they've selected to decorate his room. I used letters from an alphabet fabric - the name escapes me. I used a pre-made bias tape which I thought coordinated nicely. I also made some burp rags which I forgot to photograph. 

The shower was lovely. My grandma and aunt made the trip for the shower. Family friends were there. Susannah's family was real fun to be with.

We are very excited about having another boy in the family. Missy has two boys, I have one and now we'll have baby "Uck." Want to know his real name? It is after the jump!

Apple Print Newspaper Bunting

Aidan and I decided to make apple prints yesterday. He did his on blank card stock. I decided to cut some newspaper and print mine on it. 

Inspired by this craftbits post, I cut apples in half, squirted acrylic paint on a paper plate, used a foam brush to put the paint on the apple and pressed the apple onto the paper. No Honeycrisps were harmed in this project. Just some Paula Reds. I tried to avoid the obituaries. That would work better for a Halloween bunting.

When dry, I used brown acrylic paint to draw on stems and seeds and a green sharpie to make leaves. 

I then took the folded paper and placed it over some cotton cording and sewed the newspaper around the cording.

This may not last forever but it was fun to make and it will be fun until I can get my spooky stuff up.

Crepe Paper Garland

 My Paper Crane posted her awesome crepe paper garlands yesterday. I just happen to have a few rolls in the house so I whipped up an orange and yellow one last night. It is a matter of stitching a line through the center and gently pushing the crepe paper as you sew to make a ruffle.

Visit My Paper Crane for better pictures and super easy instructions.

The Lemonade Barker

Ah, the end of summer. A hot day and a neighborhood rummage sale seemed like a good time to setup a lemonade stand.

Who knew Aidan would be quite the salesman? I guess new Legos were at stake. It doesn't hurt that his freckles are adorable and he NEVER GAVE UP. This picture sums up his tenacity for the sale. He brought people in like a carnival barker.

I whipped up a little bunting and Aidan brought out his vintage cash register, his adorable homemade sign and a bell. He also drank about 20 glasses of lemonade on his own.

His first customer got about 1/4" of lemonade. That really cracked the guy up and he refused any more. 50 plus glasses later (seriously), we were out of cups and lemonade so we called it quits. At 25 cents a glass, the profit wasn't huge but his lesson was learned. New Legos were purchased today along with a small gift for a boy at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (a tradition we started when he started using his money to buy his own toys).

We fared as well at our yard sale. We sold some tough things (Aidan's crib and baby toys, my old sewing machine). But it feels good to clear up some space and the extra money will really help.

I'd like to throw out a big thanks to all the people that kindly stopped by to buy a glass of lemonade. They didn't have to do it and some bought more than one glass and some gave tips. It made a little boy's day.   

Another Year, Another Birthday Bunting

The day the world waited for finally came. Aidan turned 6. Did you feel the earth move and hear the angels sing? What about the fireworks?

We had a Lego themed birthday this year. Since it is nearly impossible to find Lego fabric, Aidan and I brought some of his Legos to the quilting shop to pick out matching fabric.

I'll post more about the party boy in the next couple days with promises of vomiting and head-thunking. You would think he turned 21 instead of 6...

For Valentine's Day : Fabric Hanging Heart Flag Garland

This is a re-post from February 13, 2008. It is such a great technique that I thought I would share it again. In fact, I love this garland so much I leave it up all year.

I really have a thing about garlands and buntings. I find flags/garlands/buntings so hard to photograph so I apologize for the quality of my photos. However, I'm so excited! I used my new stiff fabric technique that I learned about to make fabric paper airplanes and made this fun garland out of fabric.

Last week I saw on Chicago Apartment Therapy and then on bb-blog the fabulous heart flag garlands designed by Cori Kindred. Her garlands are made of vintage paper and really are so wonderful. Looks like she sold out of them in her Etsy shop (see her image at right - you can click on it to enlarge).   You can now find them in Cori's web store.

I decided with my new stiff paper technique that I wanted to make some of my own and had fabric on hand that would kind of replicate her papers. So I set to work and am really tickled with how they turned out!

First of all, I want to say that I felt a little funny about blogging about an item that I basically copied the idea from. So I contacted Cori to ask permission to blog about mine and show hers and she was kind enough to give me the OK.

I used the fabric origami technique I mentioned in this post to stiffen the paper. When dry, I cut out the fabric in various square and rectangle sizes. I used a large heart paper punch to punch out the hearts. I then steam-ironed the end of the fabric over a pencil so that I would be able to string the fabric pieces. When complete, I strung the garland over hemp twine.

There are larger pictures here and below. Sorry about the craziness of my mantle. I have Aidan rocks (he gives me rocks and pebbles from every place he visits), Ephraim pottery, a dusty clock, dead daffodils, chalkboard Valentines from Aidan and paper Valentines

Recycled Vintage Linen Sewing : Fabulous Bunting

We are lucky enough to live a few blocks away from a consignment shop. I visit every few weeks and always take a gander in the vintage linens room. Every now and then I get lucky - like the time I found a vintage hand-sewn red and white quilt for $8. We snuggle under that quilt every night now.

Last visit I purchased these sweet crocheted-edge handkerchiefs (well, a little bigger than handkerchief) with embroidered flowers. You can click on the picture to see them larger and in detail. 

I simply folded these in half over a cotton cable cord and sewed close to the cord. Completed in less than 10 minutes and so sweet and spring-y!

Fabric Hanging Heart Flag Garland

I really have a thing about garlands and buntings. I find flags/garlands/buntings so hard to photograph so I apologize for the quality of my photos. However, I'm so excited! I used my new stiff fabric technique that I learned about to make fabric paper airplanes and made this fun garland out of fabric.

Last week I saw on Chicago Apartment Therapy and then on bb-blog the fabulous heart flag garlands designed by Cori Kindred. Her garlands are made of vintage paper and really are so wonderful. Looks like she sold out of them in her Etsy shop (see her image at right - you can click on it to enlarge).

I decided with my new stiff paper technique that I wanted to make some of my own and had fabric on hand that would kind of replicate her papers. So I set to work and am really tickled with how they turned out!

First of all, I want to say that I felt a little funny about blogging about an item that I basically copied the idea from. So I contacted Cori to ask permission to blog about mine and show hers and she was kind enough to give me the OK.

I used the fabric origami technique I mentioned in this post to stiffen the paper. When dry, I cut out the fabric in various square and rectangle sizes. I used a large heart paper punch to punch out the hearts. I then steam-ironed the end of the fabric over a pencil so that I would be able to string the fabric pieces. When complete, I strung the garland over hemp twine.

There are larger pictures here and below. Sorry about the craziness of my mantle. I have Aidan rocks (he gives me rocks and pebbles from every place he visits), Ephraim pottery, a dusty clock, dead daffodils, chalkboard Valentines from Aidan and paper Valentines!

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Valentine's Day Heart Yo-Yo Garland

I can't take any credit for this one. Though I supplied the fabric and the heart yo-yo maker, my mom went to town with the yo-yos and made me this garland. Isn't it lovely?

We are in the Valentine's Day spirit around here. Mom and I made wreaths using yo-yos though mine has been made fun of a bit and I won't mention in what way but you can view it for yourself.

Aidan and I made hanging paper hearts by cutting out three hearts, folding them in half and gluing each side to another heart.  He drew leaves on his - so cute!

Aidan's been making presents like crazy and wrapping them to boot. It is kind of exciting! He made me the sweetest valentine, too.

Even Mucha and Toulouse are getting in on the action.

Valentine pictures here and below.

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Go Pack Go

Valentine's Day Hanging Heart Garland

I saw a Valentine's Day Heart Garland tutorial on One Hour Craft and decided to make my own and I love it! I opted to make mine from fabric rather than paper.

I used 4" toile fabric squares and fused two together using fusible interfacing web. I then cut out the hearts and pinned them to freezer paper.  I sewed down the middle of the hearts and also added a ribbon on the top so they could be hung.

A more detailed tutorial, plus more descriptive pictures is in the sidebar to the right and here.

It was a lot of fun, easy, and fast. Thanks One Hour Craft!

I'm in Love with Buntings : Aidan's Birthday Bunting

Tomorrow my baby turns 4. Hard to believe. I had this bunting idea in mind for a while and, as usual, procrastinated until the very end to make it. I was inspired by Miss Woolly and bought the bunting pattern from her Etsy shop.

I searched for fabric online and really fell in love with Moda's Peas and Carrots collection. I was lucky to find the fabric at my local quilt shop and right next to it was this great alphabet fabric. I picked some up and put Aidan's name on the bunting.

Things I did different:

I used wonder under to attach the letters to the birthday banner and the number "4" to the year banner.  I sewed around the edges. On the birthday banner, I also turned in the edges before attaching Wonder Under and sewing but didn't do so with the number banner.

I added a mid-weight interfacing between the layers of each flag.

I used pre-made bias binding rather than making my own.

I changed the size of the flags on the year banner.

I can use this banner every year and then change the number bunting based on Aidan's age and also the party theme. This year, the birthday theme was Lightning McQueen:

More pictures after the jump.