Black Apple Dolls

I am in LOVE with these sweet dolls! I found the pattern and video here. These turned out smaller than I anticipated. I was going to give them as birthday gifts to my niece, turning four in February, and my daughter, turning three in January.

 I think I will enlarge the pattern to make them bigger ones. I am going to save these for my two nieces who are turning one and two in May. 

I love how you can make the dolls little accessories. I did not put any on these two because they are going to a one and two year old; they might choke on a little scarf! I think I will make little purses and bows for the bigger ones. I made their legs out of satin so they looked a little more dressed up. I also used a thin sharpie to draw the eyes instead of paint. This is the perfect project to get rid of some of your scrap material! I think it would be pretty easy to make a boy version too.  I think they are adorable! 

When we visited family over the Christmas break my grandmother-in-law gave me tons of zippers, buttons, and thread! So I'm thinking I might do a zipper week! One project everyday that involves a zipper. Some tutorials will be from other blogger's, and some from me. Hopefully I will have everything ready to do that in a week or two. Fun huh! Well, fun if you get excited over a bag full of zippers. 

Free sewing supplies always excite me! I know I'm special : )

Success!

  My niece's loved their turtles I made them. My one year old niece calls it a ball. I think my seven month old niece really loved the noise it made from the bell I added. 

 My girls like their headbands too, they did not want to take a picture though. Oh well. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! 

Diaper Cover

Dana has a wonderful diaper cover pattern! I added some embroidery to mine, and used them as gift for my daughter and nieces. They are also super cute with a ruffle! Don't you just love ruffles? I am obsessed! If you would like to try this super easy pattern out go here. These are perfect for spring and summer to put under dresses, especially for church. I noticed with my girls that some dresses stopped coming with bloomers around 18-24 months. So this pattern solved my problem, no more ugly diaper showing! 

Emergency Clutch

This little thing is so handy!  

I found the tutorial here. This emergency kit is perfect for all the little things that get lost in your purse. I keep Band-Aids, hair elastic, gum, and anything else I need in mine.

It's also a great stocking stuffer! 

To make this I bought two pot holders at Dollar Tree for $1.

I bought the snack sized plastic bags from Wal-mart. I had to tape mine down while I was sewing it because they kept slipping. I added some ribbon to the outside (I ruffled the sides of it). I also had matching fabric so I used it to cover the button. The ribbon and fabric are from Hobby Lobby. 

Have fun getting organized! 

Decorating Headbands

Can you believe all I spent on this project was just $1!

 My oldest daughter really likes headbands now, but the one she had fell apart quickly.

I decided I should try to make some cute ones that will hold up better, and cost less! 

The one she had before had ribbon wrapped around it, and it unravelled. 

These ones looked a little sturdier. I found them at Dollar Tree for $1.  Everything I used to decorate them I already had on hand. I realize not everyone has all of these supplies on hand, so I'll let you know where I found them. 

 First was the purple headband. I found these white rosette strips in the trimmings isle at Joann's Fabric. I believe they were around $3-$4 a yard. You won't need much at all, I used a 40% coupon when I bought my strip. All I did was put a strip of hot glue on the side of the band and placed the rosette on it. I decided not to fold over the excess netting, I think it's cute. 

 For the next headband I used pink flowers. I bought this bushel at Joann's a few months ago on clearance. All you do is pull the flowers off the stem, and then pull the plastic off the back. The flower usually comes apart in three pieces. Then you layer them on top of each other and glue them together. 

 Then glue the flowers to your headband. 

 I chose a blue button from my button stash to place in the middle. 

 With this aqua colored headband I glued a black bow on it. I had this bow sitting in my sewing box (it had fallen off a shirt I made my daughter a while ago). I never got around to reattaching it. I'm glad I didn't just throw it away now!

 There were two yellow headbands in the pack, so I decided to make my girls matching ones. I had two different types of flowers for these. The first was sunflowers, they looked too empty in the middle so I layered another yellow flower on top of them. 

 Now they look nice and full! Then I added cream colored buttons to the center. 

  I made these gold flowers a while back, I just added a little sparkle to the middle and glued them on. This one is perfect for Christmas! To make these flowers just cut satin in different sized circles, burn the edges (they will curl right up) and then glue the layers together. Whenever I make these I do a bunch at a time, that's why I had these left over. 

 There you go! An inexpensive way to make cute headbands! They are perfect for gifts too! My girls will be getting these for Christmas! 

DIY Storage Containers

 I needed some storage containers for some of my craft supplies. I didn't want to spend any money, so I re-purposed a tissue box! 

The first step is to cut off the top of the tissue box. 

Cut out a scrap piece of fabric that fits around the box, and leave about 2 inches on each end. 

Cover all the sides of the box in mod podge and then wrap the fabric around it. 

 Cut the fabric on the ends at each corner down to the tissue box. 

 Then put about two inches of mod podge on the inside of the box, and press the fabric down. Then cover that section with mod podge. 

 Do the same on the other end of the box. 

 Then place it upside down, and cover the whole bottom with mod podge and let it dry. 

 When that parts dry cover the whole box with mod podge. 

After it is dry you are done! 

You can use these anywhere in your home! 

You can find mod podge at Wal-mart. 

Kids Nativity

Need an activity to entertain your kids while your crafting? Check out this free nativity printable here! My girls loved it. If you don't have time to collect a bunch of toilet paper rolls, just use the roll inside of your wrapping paper. You'll probably need one or two for the whole nativity. 

Christmas Gifts for babies

I have three nieces all under the age of two. We are on a tight budget, and I decided to make their Christmas gifts. Everything I used I already had. It just took a little scrap material, batting, and I added a few bells inside for fun! I found this great tutorial here I love Ashley's blog, she is so talented! These would also make great baby shower or birthday gifts. 

Paper Christmas Tree's

 Need some more decorations, but already blew your budget this month? Here are some Christmas tree decorations I made for free! I used supplies that I had on hand. The brown paper is actually the roll inside of Christmas wrapping paper. Instead of a tube, this roll had thin cardboard paper rolled up. 

 I shaped the paper into the shape I wanted, then I cut down the side and taped it together with packing tape. 

 Next I cut the paper strait across the bottom. 

 Then I cut scrap booking paper into strips, and I fringed the ends. 

 I rolled the ends up using a pen. 

 All you have to do is hot glue the paper to your cone. It's easier to apply in 3-4 inch strips. 

I overlapped each laver a little bit so the cardboard paper would not show underneath. 

I glued a piece of paper to the top to cover the hole. Easy! 

 It would be really cute to make several different sized tree's and use them as centerpieces.
At our house nothing is safe if it's within reach of the kids, maybe we will do the centerpiece thing in a few years. 

Merry Christmas! Go make a forest!