The Things I do for My Sisters...Family Tree!!!

I got this fun little email from my baby sister a few weeks ago. She is planning on making a quilt for her mother in law for Christmas and wants to put this cute fabric tree in the center of it...

The Rubber Punkin

So what made it fun? She asked me to figure out an easier way to make it!

Gotta love those sisters, right?

{Kidding Carley-I really had fun doing this!}

So what did I do to make it "easier"...

Honestly, it wasn't bad at all. A little time consuming, but not hard.

I started by using satin ribbon for my tree trunk instead of flannel. I didn't want to mess with the un-hemmed edge, and well, I didn't want to hem them to begin with. I also thought that it would hold  up better in the wash.

I made my ruffles by sewing a running stitch down the center of the ribbon. I gathered it as I went, laying it out on my fabric until I had the length I wanted for each branch.

I

I cut the ends of my ribbon into a narrowing point and then burned the edges to prevent fraying.

I also used the funky forked end of the ribbon to create another set of branches.

I kept pinning the "branches" together until I liked the look of my tree, then went back and sewed the ruffles into place with my sewing machine.

Then came the fun part..flowers and leaves!

The large flowers represent a member of my family, the smaller ones just fun little accents, but could be used to represent grandchildren if you've got them.

Again, I just used ribbon and rolled/glued and then stitched to keep them together.

 I used felt for the leaves but if it's going on a quilt (hint, hint) I would make little fabric ones instead.

Everything was stitched into place and then I went back and sewed in the beads. I didn't do the little name tags, pretty sure they wouldn't make it through the wash...

but do need to come up with some way to add names...any ideas? Please share!

Last I stitched in the lettering. I printed out the saying I wanted, in a font I liked and then traced it onto my fabric.

I used embroidery floss and a back stitch to finish it.

And ta-dah!!! I just grew a tree.

So details... the frame I put this in is a 16x24.

I used an entire spool of brown satin ribbon that I picked up at Walmart for $2.97-

I think it was 10 yds?

My tree is on a piece of canvas, so it wasn't easy to sew through, but it is very durable, and I like it for framing not for quilting.

I sprayed my tree with liquid starch and ironed it after it was sewn into place to help the ruffles lay a little flatter. It also helped to close up any little "gaps" between the ribbons in the trunk.

All in all this was probably a 5-6 hr project. (Not to bad!)

After thoughts...If your family is big enough, some grass and a few growing flowers would be cute. I would hand stitch the grass and stems.

I'm thinking of adding a little heart to the trunk with the initials J + W.

Like it was carved into the trunk...like when you were little and that was cute, okay it would still be cute now.

And how about a little bird or two (love birds?) in the tree.

Yeah, I'm totally excited at the thought of one day, far from now, adding to my little tree...

Anyway, {Carley} it wasn't bad, you can totally do this, and if you need help, you know where I live!

Happy Crafting.

Ruffled Cinch Bag {Mini} Tutorial...Cutest bags EVER!!!

It's okay, take a minute and just enjoy the cuteness of it all! I still giggle every time I see my girls sporting one of these.

Best part???

Each bag cost me less than $1.50 to make.

So here's the story quickly...

Attended a Thirty-One Party and saw this...

Loved it, ordered it. OH! Happy me.

Had a trip to Sea World with my two super-cute nieces planned, thought "How cute would it be to have those little munchkins running around Sea World with their own little ruffled bag to tote a few goodies in?"

Loved the idea-so excited, got all the supplies needed...ran out of time before the trip to get them made...bad aunt and mom!

Did however get them made after we got home. Perfect for toting around our new friends...

Do you love the outfit? She's so in the I can dress myself phase...

Seriously, super easy, and the compliments we get! Makes me a happy "Yes, I made those," mama.

Here's the skinny on making one for your little munchkin:

Small piece of muslin to make the bag

*Mine were 20 x 14 inches

1 XL plain T-shirt for the Ruffles

*I bought X-LG t-shirts from my local Dollar Tree, one shirt easily covered one bag in the size I cut. I just bought a few different colored t-shirts and the girls picked their designs.

Matching ribbon for the ties

*I used about 8 ft of ribbon per bag

That's it! So let's make one of these cuties...

I checked out this tutorial

from Little Birdie Secrets

 to learn the basics of how to make a cinch bag.

 And made my bag...

From there, I cut the t-shirt into 2 1/2 inch wide strips. I cut the strips across the width of the shirt-from one side seam to the other, so that it made a great big loop. And NO HEMMING! 

 Hooray for jersey knit!

Then I marked out my guide lines on my bag (1 inch up from the bottom and then every 2 inches) and started sewing the loops into place...

I didn't pre-pull my ruffles, I just tuck the fabric up under my presser foot as I go-there is no rule that says you can't pre-make the ruffles, I'm just a bit lazy that way!

Keep adding those ruffles until you reach the top...

Thread your ribbons through the top of the bag and then sew them into place on the bottom of the bag.

Pack your bag, cinch it up, and you're on your way!

You can finish the top in a few different ways, in fact if you look really closely at this picture, you might notice that I finished three of the five bags in a different way.

{I didn't take any pics of them individually, sorry. I'll add some in in a bit.}

 I love how the pink one came out but it was by far the hardest-probably just me.

I cut a strip of pink 4 inches wide and folded it over the top of the bag being sure that when I started sewing I would be below the pocket that the ribbon would run through.

And then I ruffled.

 It was probably hard because I was so paranoid that I was going to sew my ribbon channel shut and then there would be no "cinch"!

I also had to cut a slit into each of the sides so that the ribbon could come out.

Method 2 (the purple bag) was just to add another ruffle right over the seam line of my ribbon channel. Easy, cute, but you can see the different color of the bag along the cinched up edge.

And Method 3 ( the white & coral bag) I like this one best overall. When making the bag, I left the top alone-I didn't sew a channel for the ribbon. Instead, I folded one of the long loops in half, long side to long side, and sewed the edges closed to form the channel.

I then sewed on all my ruffles, making sure the last ruffle lined up with the top edge of the bag.

I then sewed the channel piece onto the edge of the top ruffle, seams together, so that when the ribbon was threaded through, all you see is a matching, finished edge.

What ever you choose, have fun and enjoy your ruffles!

Happy Crafting.

 

You can find this post at the CSI Project Knock Off Challenge!

Meet My Friend...Ginger from Ginger Snap Crafts!!!

I'm a wife to one awesome guy
& mom to 5 wild & crazy kiddos.
I love to create things, blog, garden, decorate
& most of all be with my family.
I've been blogging for almost 4 years,
& I love keeping a journal of my family,




but I thought our family blog was getting a little overrun with all my craftiness.So, I decided it was time to part ways & start my very own craft blog,Ginger Snap Crafts. :)It's a place to share ideas I've found, &inspire you to create along with me.
 Today I'm going to show you how to make these {cute & easy} burp cloths.Just letting you know I don't sew!So if I can make these anyone can! 
I made these for my sister, & she just had another little girl.{So, I'm an aunt again! Wahoo!}

 All you'll need is some ribbon, thread, cloth diapers & a sewing machine.Lay out your cloth diaper and measure two ribbons a little longer than the diaper.You can always trim these later on. These will be sewn along each seam of your diaper.

Pin your ribbon down along the seams of your cloth diaper to hold it in place.Now to the fun part, you get to crank up your sewing machine!  You'll sew down one side, turn & then sew up the other side.Trim your ribbon if you need to.There you go!  All done!{How easy is that?}  You can fold them up & stack them on top of each other.I used some extra ribbon to tie a bow around them.Added a cute tag & that was it!  A {cute & easy} baby shower gift that you know will be used a bunch!
  I'd love, love, love to have you stop by Ginger Snap Crafts. Each week I have a super fun link party called{wow me} wednesday. Love to have you link up your fun projects & ideas.
 You can also check out my blog for some more {cute & easy} projects. Like these fun{teacher appreciation gifts}

or here's another easy sewing project

{lap top cover}

or check out our bathroom rules

{bathroom rules sign}!

 Thank you, Wendyfor letting me drop by!{Hope you are having a fabulous vacation!} Don't forget to check out me at Ginger Snap Crafts. {Hope to see you soon!} 

Thanks so much Ginger!
I needed this fun tutorial-I just found out I'm going to be an aunt again too!

SO excited, you can bet my little sis will be needing a bunch of these.

Thanks so much Ginger, be sure to stop by and tell her hi!
I'm so checking out that Bathroom Rules board...
Happy Crafting!

Meet My Friend...Rachel from Blooming Mommy!!!

Rachel from Blooming Mommy offered to share this tutorial with all of you and well, I couldn't say no becasue when I saw the first picture, I thought she had taken it in my play room! If nothing else, I NEED THIS TUTORIAL!!! So thank you Rachel for helping me out...twice!

 

"When I saw this:

I knew our whole toy storing situation desperately needed to be dealt with. Our one basket just wasn't cuttin it anymore! At first I went venturing out looking for some cute storage bins, baskets or shelves. NOTHING!!! It was either too expensive for what I desired or not what I needed.

So I decided to make "Toy Themed Bags." We have a whole heap of Toy Story toys, Pirate toys, Cars toys, Animal toys, Train toys and so on. You get the picture. So I made some bags to go along with the toy specified. Example: Pirates go in the Pirate bag. Toy Story goes in the Toy story bag and so on! The boys LOVE this idea and it's SUPER easy for them to put their toys away! Works for us! Soooooo, come see how we did it and then make some yourself! It takes about an hour (or more if your a new sewer) to make. :)

Materials:

About a yard 1/2 of material (I used snuggle flannel cause it was on sale....super sturdy too)

Thread to match

Rotary Cutter

Cutting mat

Ruler

Rope for drawstring (Wal-Mart or JoAnns)

Sewing Machine

Iron and Ironing board

Step 1: Measure and Cut

First you are going to measure and cut your material. I folded my material in half wrong sides together to see how big I wanted it... think of it like folding a piece of paper in half. (I measured about 22in. or more cause I wanted them big) You decide how big you want yours to be and then add about 4 1/2 inches to the top for the flap. (see later how we put in drawstrings)

Step 2: Whip It... Whip it good!
You want to whip stitch (the zig zag stitch) all around the edges of your material to avoid fraying. It just makes it look nicer too. :)

Step 3: Fold, Iron and Sew Edges
Fold down your edges and iron down. You can pin if you want, but I just glided it on through my sewing machine. Sew along the edge carefully until all edges are done.

Step 4: Pin and Make a Flap

After edges are complete, fold fabric in half right sides together. Sorry my picture is so bad, it was late. Anywho, pin the edges of your fabric together as seen in my "great" picture! ;) (Follow the arrows)

At the top of your bag you are going to want to leave about 4 inches unpinned in order to make a flap for your drawstring to go through. YOU WILL NOT BE SEWING the 4 inches at the top yet... so hold on to your horses! ;)

After pinning together, start sewing your sides and bottom. See picture for where to start and stop. Remember you need at least 3 and 1/2 to 4 inches un-sewn at the top. Start and stop at the lightening bolts. :)

Step 5: Drawstring Time

After sewing, grab your drawstring and place it at the top of your bag like so. Measure how much you want to use. I layed it on the top and left about 3 inches hanging out of the sides to tie at the end.

Flip extra fabric or flap over your drawstring and pin. You can either keep your rope there and continue pinning of remove it and stuff it through later... it's up to you.

Then pin it down. Make sure to ONLY pin the flap part together, NOT ALL of your fabric. You want to still make it a bag remember, so it needs an opening. :) (sorry I don't have a picture of it)

Step 6: Sewing that Flappy thing

Sew your edges together to make it easier to sew the flaps. Start at arrows and then stop at the cute little lightening bolt. :) (about 2 inches)

After you sew both sides, open up your bag and slide it onto your sewing machine to sew the flap together. Sew it all the way around and viola! Your done with the sewing part.

Then take your cute little snake of a drawstring and start pushing it through. I call it the chinese finger trap...

After the trap, flip your bag right side out. Tie knots in the end to avoid fraying. (You can even burn the tips of you want to go the extra mile)

Now my little A.J. insisted on having a "Buzz Lightyear" bag. So I decided to apply an applique to it when it was finished. I simply sewed around the edges of buzz and through his middle to ensure safe holding. :) Love it!

So there you have it! I made a few and now have a little bit of order to my mayhem! I hope you have fun making yours! Happy Sewing! Muah!

 

 

Don't worry play things-I'll be home to organize you soon! Thanks so much Rachel for sharing such a fun idea.

Happy Crafting.