I've MOVED

I've moved sites! please check out the new blog, This Homemade Life, here! Looking forward to seeing you!

Baby O and The Bear Hat

I wanted to post these beautiful photos just in case you haven't seen them yet! They were posted on Facebook, I linked to them in my previous post and they are up on my etsy page! But they are SO SWEET that I felt compelled to put them up one more time! And I am really proud of the following things: 1. Baby O is the newest addition to the Allen family (O is the third of three BOYS!) The Allens have become such great friends or ours, and it has been fun seeing this little blessing going from inside his mama into the real world! 2. These photos themselves!! My (also new and great) friend Katie is a stay at home mom who has her own photography business; I'd say she's doin pretty well! It's neat to know people in one capacity and then be totally blown away by their talent in another facet of their life! Please visit Katie's site katielittlephotography.com. (Side note: These photos are up on Katie's site also and if she gets 30 comments then the Allen's get a free 8x10 and a free 5x7! So leave your thoughts people! Another side note: Katie's daughter Lorelai and my Harper have the same birthday, totally irrelevant to this post and to your lives, but fun anyways!) 3. I heart this bear hat and diaper cover big time! It was cute just sitting in my living room, but seeing it on baby O just made me so proud! If you would like one please visit my esty shop here (you gotta love a little blatant self promotion!) Also, this hat can be made in any size and any color, so don't think you have to have a newborn to rock this cute thing!

Love.

Modeling. Bleh!

Harper HATES modeling for me! I literally bribe her with baked goods, or ice cream or TV in order for her to leave something on or stay still. Today I managed to only get two semi-decent photos from her. And by decent I mean they are not blurry or of her ripping the hat off her head. This is a new style of hat I made for Ellie's Enchanted Closet and the craft show I am doing in October. The boy version of this (which of course I didn't get photos of before I took it to the store) was Navy, lime green and white and was AWESOME! (If I do say so myself!) Love an earflap hat! Thank you to Kristi of RAKJpatterns for the inspiration and the patterns! (If you crochet and are in need of beautiful and easy to follow patterns click on the link above and visit RAKJpatterns' shop on Etsy! Or look for her on Ravelry under Oh So Cute Designs.)

Not looking at the camera.Totally over it. And like I said, these were the good ones!

Hat Crazy

So, I was told the other day that I need to post more pictures of the things I make (Thank you again Tracy for the great compliments and the little push I needed to get my buns in gear!). I am horrible about making things and then NOT taking pictures of them. Jeff is constantly yelling at me, "It's so easy to take and post pictures!" (He is by far my biggest fan, and thinks I am super talented and is always telling me "not to hide my light," and a bunch of other cute stuff like that!) Well, this is true, it is easy, I just don't do it as often as I should, which is funny because that is kind of what a blog is all about...hmm? Anyway, I thought I would show you some things I have made. I would like to say I have made these things lately, but that is not true, I have had these pictures for awhile, and now I have a whole new slough of stuff I need to photograph and post! Enjoy!

Just a sweet little girl hat...LOVE a big flower on a little head!

Little boy beanie made out of some leftover yarn I had. The next one I make I won't use the same color twice, but like I said "leftover." If you belong to Ravelry you can find the pattern here. (Side note #1, I have made a girl version of this with a little pom pom on top, super cute. You can (maybe) see it on little Micaiah Lee here. Side note #2, If you crochet/knit and you don't belong to Ravelry, you need to join!)
I am IN LOVE with this hat! And how cute would it be with a big flower on it for a girl? The tassels are super long and the yarn is thick and cuddley. And while this pic doesn't do it justice, you can go here and see sweet little Owen wearing this hat and the matching diaper cover I made. But be careful, you may die of cuteness; proceed with caution. (This hat is also on sale at my etsy store, and the diaper cover is soon to come. It makes a great baby shower gift or a great prop for your favorite photographer!)
This is the same as the Harper Flower that I posted about here; I just changed the colors. Personally, I LOVE this one. This one in particular was made for Miss Mckinley Thai, the beautiful daughter of my life long friend Chelsea (we were in the same 3rd grade class, were in youth group together and were college roomates). Mck was born 10 days before my Luke, and even though they have never met (Chelsea and her husband live on the east coast) they will be married one day; we're bringing back the arranged marriage.

Tutorial: Shiny Hieny Wipes Case

So, first let me say that I have apparently been living in a closet (or I just have two kids under 3), but these wipes cases are EVERYWHERE! All over etsy.com and in all sorts of boutiques. I was first given one by my great friend Kim, and at that time had never seen one before (like I said, two kids under 3). I was later asked to make a gift for a baby shower and decided to try one out myself. Surprisingly easy and really fun, these little cases not only can make a great gift, but if you have to carry a wipes case in your purse or diaper bag why not have it be fabulous?! So here's a little tutorial for you!

List of supplies:

Travel Wipe Case (Use the same basic steps for a large wipe case, you will just nee more fabric)

Base Fabric- less than 1/4 of a yard will be used (but due to all the cutting and gluing you should start with at least 1/4 yard.)

Fleece- or any other type of batting you would like (it all depends how "fluffy" you want it.)

Hot glue gun

Mod Podge and sponge- you could also use photo spray glue, but that gets MESSY

Ribbon

Scissors

Optional:

Any other embellishment

Coordinating Fabric

1. Apply mod podge to top of case.
2. Apply fleece (batting) to case. Make sure to get out all creases and bubbles.
3. Apply mod podge to fleece.
4. Apply fabric. Once again, get out all creases and bubble.
5. Now, you can do steps 1-4 then cut one side, then repeat steps 1-4 on the other side, then cut that side or just wait and cut both sides at the same time. (Do you like how confusing I made that?) Basically if your fabric isn't so big that it's getting in your way while you work on the second side, just wait to cut it...it's easier. Also, you are going to cover all the raw edges with ribbon, so don't worry about cutting perfectly! (I love this kind of crafting)
6. Now, if you don't have a coordinating fabric, just skip this step. If you do, you'll want to cut it now.
7. Still skipping this step if you don't have a coordinating fabric...Hot glue your fabric to both edges of your case.
It should look like this below (I'm realizing I took a ridiculous amount of pictures)
8. Now hot glue your ribbon; covering up the raw edges of your coordinating fabric.
9. Now, starting at the back, hot glue your ribbon around the edge of both sides of your wipe case.
Almost finished! (You could actually be finished here if you wanted to, but I like to add a little "something")
Harper was also crafting; sewing up a hippo puppet. Teaching her young!
10. Add embellishment. I crocheted a little bow and then hot glued it on, but you could add anything; buttons, jewels, fabric flowers, etc.
Finished project! I also added a jewel in the middle of the bow, as well in the back where the ribbon meets (this was my friend Kim's idea, just thought I'd site my source).
Here is a picture of a large case. I have a few of the travel cases and some coordinating sets (travel and large) in a local Children's Store; once again, cute baby shower gift!!

Enjoy!

Easy. Cute. Presents.

So I like to make stuff. I love to find new patterns, create my own projects and just dream of all the things I would like to sew, crochet, mod podge, cut, hang, embellish (you get where I'm going with this?) Anyway, the problem is that usually, I find so many things I want to do that the "looking" and "thinking" takes up the time of the "doing." Well with a couple birthdays coming up (two being today; Happy Birthday Kerri and Claire) I had a great excuse to make some stuff.

I have a braided fabric headband that I love, and as I was reading through a few blogs that I like and I found this tutorial to make my own. Super easy. Super fast. The only advice would be to cut your fabric strips bigger than you may think. The first time I made it (yeah, I know I said it was super easy, I just like to make life harder) I cut my strips too small and my braids were tiny and just weren't the look I was going for. So the next time, I cut my fabric a few inches wide and it turned out a lot better (this is one of two that I am sending to my sister's- in- law; they have the same birthday.)

I had been looking for a good kid pattern for a brimmed hat (I already have an adult) and I found one here. But this pattern was made for a 7-8 year old, and I needed it to fit a (soon to be) 1 year old, so I simply used a G hook instead of a J. I tried it on Luke (who is also 1) and it's a little big, but he kinda has a peanut head, so...

The hat is for a our good friend Hudson (he's Luke's BFF), Hudson's dad, Nick, is doing an Army Residency in DC (which means Jeff and I are far away from OUR friends...single tear!), so I cut out his last name in camo letters and then glued (and stitched the corners) down. I think it's cute and I am planning on making Luke one and then when Luke and Hudson are reunited they can wear their hats together (because that's what BFF's do people.)

My daughter's the cutest...and these headbands are alright too.

After an argument about her outfit (that ended in her crying and me bribing), I finally got the crazy girl to model these headbands I had made. And by model, I mean follow her around and beg her to be still for 2 seconds while I snap a photo. But here they are...

This flower pattern I found here and the headband I just made up, it was super easy, maybe I'll post it another time.

For this bow headband I simply crocheted around an elastic headband, and then attached the bow (go here for the pattern.) They both turned out great, but I didn't love them until this cute girl put them on!