A Trio of Tres Chic-ness!

So I have 3 neices (on my husband's side) that, unfortunately, I've never met. They live wayyyyy down yonder in the Lone Star State and, well, a meetup has just never happened in the last, oh, 11 years. Our families have never claimed to be crazy-close and this is definitely a case in point. In any case...



I wanted to make them something for Christmas this year instead of sending along the token gift card that we usually do. Problem is...I don't really know their style or interests. They're older now (teens and twenties) so Barbies and the like are just out of the question. The solution? Three darling little chic purses in different patterns. I figure I'll send one box to all three of them and they can fight over which one they like best (assuming they like them at all)!




I've GOT to learn to take better pictures...really, these bags are cute! I used this Chic and Easy Bamboo-Handle Purse tutorial by Little Birdie Secrets. They really are super-di-duper easy. Then, being the can't-leave-well-enough-alone gal that I am, I wanted to spice them up a bit. So, I added these adorable and oh-so-simple Perfect Add on Fabric Flowers from V and Co. I pinned them on in case the girls hate them. Wha-la!...perfect.

Crazy With The Crayon Rolls

I think most beginner sewers (seamstresses, stitchers?...no idea), especially if they have or know little kiddles, try their hand at crayon rolls. Boy oh boy, did I!

I'd made a handful and sent them to various friends with kiddos. My friend, Erica (whose daughter is the proud owner of my first puzzle ball), liked the one I sent her son so much that she asked me to make a bunch as favors for his birthday party. I couldn't say no (she's a very dear friend), even though I was nervous about sewing all those straight lines. She needed 15...FIFTEEN?! Yup and I was glad to do it. I busted out some of my favorite Michael Miller fabrics and got started. The rundown was as follows: 1 jumbo-size for a girl (Daisy Delight in grape), 2 jumbo-size for boys (First Circles), 7 regular-size girly ones (Patti Paisley in watermelon), and 5 regular-size boyish ones (Sprockets). And, they turned out like this:

Pretty nifty, eh? There are many tutorials out there for crayon rolls, but the one I generally followed was this: Crayon Roll Tutorial (though I skipped the ric-rac). When I was browsing blogs the other day (which is one of my new favorite things to do...so much crafting inspriation!) I came across this tute...instead of the ribbon closure she does a velcro strap. Ingenius! I'd been thinking that the ribbon, while cute, might be problematic because little ones can't tie stuff. But, being fairly unimaginative and basically an idea-stealer, I couldn't think of an alternative. Serena of Nap Time Crafts figured it out for me. From now on, my crayon rolls will do the velcro thing.

The Itch I Had To Scratch

I got the itch to sew something after I got this for my littlest guy:

Awesome, isn't it? Gail at Bright Life Toys is amazingly talented and I really owe it to her that I even dusted off my sewing machine.

I loved the idea that plain, flat fabric could be turned into something so squishy and dimensional. So, I ventured off to find a pattern. After endless cruising around the internet and disovering that they're called Amish Puzzle Balls, I finally happened upon exactly the pattern I wanted, but the directions are only available in a book. I told you I'm not about investing in patterns yet...I just want the free stuff. How lucky am I that my library has the book?! It's called Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson of The Purl Bee. I don't claim to know anything about who's who in the crafting/sewing/knitting/making-beautiful-stuff world, but apparently she's hot stuff...and I believe it! Anyway, I immediately checked out her book so I could figure out if I could maybe somehow make one of these balls myself.

And lookie here...I did!

Ignore the bad photo. I need to figure out how to take the beautiful pictures I see on all of the other lovely blogs. But, it looks pretty good, right? I sent this to my friend, Erica, for her new baby gal.

I've since made 4 more - I think they're my favorite thing to make so far. I've seen tiny ones done as Christmas ornaments, which I think would be darling...maybe if I find time between now and Christmas... The cool thing is that they look hard, but looks can be deceiving. Seriously, if I can make this with very limited skills (I'll share my bobbin story one of these days), anyone can.

Here Goes Nuthin'

Ok...my first blog post...EVER. I'd pretty much grown up thinking I had not a creative bone in my body - that my sister got all the artistic genes in the family. I found out not too long ago that it's just not so! I was inspired by a handmade toy I bought last spring for my youngest bean. For some reason it was just the thing to get me going.

Of course I'd been to Michael's and JoAnn before, and I even bought the stuff to start scrapbooking (and it still sits in a drawer some 6 years later) but I would never dare say I was a crafter...nothing I'd made would actually be called a craft. OK, I sewed some bean bags once and even painted those wooden letters to spell out my older two sons' names for their rooms, but really, anything more than sewing buttons was pretty beyond me. But now - NOW - I'm starting to think of myself as a crafter. Sewer (is that what you'd called it?) for the most part , but I find myself adding lots of other kinds of crafts to my ever-expanding "to-try" list.

I've got to say that I'm pretty proud of myself and wanted to start this blog to toot my own horn a little bit and show you that anyone can "make stuff". I'll share some of my projects and tell you where I found them. I won't be spending money on patterns just yet - gotta stick with the freebies for now. There are some awesomely creative gals out there, blowing my mind with the cool stuff they make!

Drumroll please...my first share:

My very first attempt at a bag. From far away it looks pretty good, no? It actually turned out pretty well, all except the bias tape around the top. Bias tape is not my friend and I'm not so sure it ever will be. Only time will tell. I used this tute and it was pretty easy, even for a super-duper novice like me: Rag Bag Tote

Hope you like it! I've actually been using it as my diaper bag...next time I'll add a pocket or two. My keys and cell phone keep getting lost in the midst of all the baby junk!

I've got some other projects in the can, too. I'll post some of those and some of the other stuff I'm working on (mostly Xmas presents right now...only how many days left?). Off to sew a bit while the littlest man of the house sleeps. Well, it's either that or shower.