Thumbprint Art - Christmas Lights Picture Tutorial

A while back I thought I started putting together a board on Pinterest devoted to Thumbprint art....there are so many cute ideas out there! I particularly loved this Christmas Lights picture {inspiration here}. I wanted to use the same concept in a different way: picture frame mat.

Can you think of a grandparent on the planet who wouldn't love one of these?!? This would make a great gift for someone special. Oh, and the total cost is about $3-4 for the frame because it's likely you have everything else on hand! Awe.some.

To make this, you need:

• Picture Frame (mine is a 5 x 7 purchased at Target the other day for $3)
• White cardstock cut to 5 x 7 - cheaper than buying a mat for the frame
• Stamp Ink - I used Acid Free Ink in red, green & yellow
• Fine point Sharpie to draw in the cord
• Picture of someone special to be framed! I used a little piece of double stick tape to keep it secure.

I printed out my inspiration picture for reference!

My girl and I just set up shop and started stamping away ... we made four of these. So first, we stamped all the reds, then the greens and finally the yellow. I'll admit she didn't (surprisingly!) love this, so as soon as she made her prints, she went back to playing and I drew in the cord string with a fine point sharpie.

Close-up of a finished Christmas Light Picture Mat.

My plan is to put a Christmas picture in here, but I don't have one printed up yet ;)

Isn't this awesome how the lights from my Christmas tree are reflecting in the frame? Soooo pretty! Will you make one? If so, be sure to leave a comment w/ a link to your blog!  

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Hawkeye Ruffle "Butts"

How cute are these? So cute I ALMOST wish I had a little hiney to put them on!

A friend recently had a baby girl and her family is huge Iowa Hawkeye fans, so she wanted Hawkeye Ruffle Butts for her daughter's newborn pictures. I cannot wait to see the pictures!

I wanted to use fabrics other than solid black and gold ... I love the gingham fabric with the polka dotted ruffles. The black and white is a woven (that super lightweight kind of slippy stuff - I cannot remember the name right now!) and the gold is knit interlock.

I used Made's Perfect Diaper Cover tutorial ... I just added two ruffle strips to spruce it up a little!

front view

Close up of the hot pink serged edges - a little girly pop!

Looking forward to seeing the pictures of baby girl in her sporty ruffle butts!

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Challenge No. 20 Submission - Fabric Covered Holiday Storage Boxes - Tutorial

May I introduce you to my newest storage solution? These are fabric covered boxes, made to hold holiday decorations. The idea is for the contents to be obvious by the box "decor" ... It seem to be forming a habit of making some craft for each holiday and they didn't really have a place, and everything needs a place. So, I decided to give new life to some old shoe / gift boxes by covering them in cute fabrics.

Which holidays do you think these boxes represent?

Pink & red = Valentine's Day, and

Red white & blue = Memorial Day & 4th of July!

They are big enough to hold all those random holiday trinkets (like the stuff from the dollar bin at Target that I cannot help but go to).  



nice & tidy corner!



You see, part of my laundry room is really organized but part is not. For months, I've been shoving stuff on the shelves. In my recent spring cleaning / organizing mode, I couldn't handle it anymore.  I decided I wanted boxes that made it obvious what was inside.

If you like them too, then please vote for this in our challenge! And if you want to make your own, just keep reading :)

I think it'd be fun to embellish with ribbon, buttons, etc and use them for gift boxes (like for a new baby, or a wedding present). Here are a couple of other ideas for these boxes (I'll probably do some of these as my spring cleaning fit continues to plague me):

• boxes for Christmas cards (for each year, with the year on the box)
• boxes to hold gifts / box as the gift.
• boxes for each year of child's life (mark it w/ the number) ... to hold cards, pics, etc.

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Scrapbuster No. 28: Recapping Applique Projects

For today's scrapbuster, I decided to share photos of some past applique projects. Adding applique to clothes is an EXCELLENT way to use up scraps. It takes so little to spruce up a plain white onesie or tees... these personalized items are always a hit at baby showers!

I love using two fabrics ...

I use sewable fusible interfacing for all of these because I either Hand or Machine sew the edges to secure it and for decoration. The no sew type will wreck your fingers if you try to push a sewing needle through .. or gum up your sewing machine. :-) Earlier in Scarpbuster Month, I posted about how to applique with no sew interfacing and provided a little tutorial (you can find the no sew bunting tutorial here) ... doing these projects is just the same with two exceptions:

1. use Sewable interfacing
2. embroidery or machine stitch around the edges!

The possibitilies are endless!

Again, use those scraps to make matching gift cards!

These lil & big sets are always a hit!

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Scrapbuster No. 20: Scappy Owls

I had the best of intentions for making these little scrapbusting owls for gifts, but it seems other little hands have staked their claim on them! One pair of hands insists on taking her "baby toy" with her; she has also started asking for a paci and saying "wah wah look I a baby." Charming, huh!? (She is 3.5).

This is a great scrapbusting project - the owls are actually pretty small. I used felt scraps for the eyes & beak. The owls are stuffed with scrap batting and plastic that would otherwise have gone into the trash.

I used the Rubber Punkin's tutorial with pattern pieces found here. Easy to follow and awesome to print out the pieces as a pdf. Jill of Handmade by Jill posted about how she made these scrappy owls but inserted plastic inside her owls (so they crinkle lots) ... and I did that too; even I kind of want to play with them!

These two owls are spoken for - it's back to the sewing table for some giftable owls!
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E's Birthday Gift - Picture Post

For my cousin's birthday, I made her a set of 4 "winter" coasters featuring her favorite colors - pink & lime green. I also used some leftover pieces from these table runners. Each coaster has batting in the middle and is backed with linen. I top stitched the edges & added some extra "quilted" lines, generally following the sections of fabric.

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