Happy Thanksgiving edition of Craft Favorites Friday

I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was a sweet time with family and friends to truly realize the BOUNTY of God's blessings in your life.

This will be short and sweet, but here you go... :)

Christmas Ornament Wreath

Get your house ready for Christmas with this ornament wreath tutorial from Eddie Ross. I am in the midst of creating one on my own, Dollar Store ornaments and all. :) It's very simple and so far is turning out quite lovely and sparkly. And CERTAINLY more affordable than the ones you can buy in a store. :)

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more Christmasy crafts. :)

Magnet Board

My sweet friend's birthday was approaching, and I wanted to make something special for her. When I came across a tutorial over at craftynest for a fabric covered, framed magnet board I really thought I could tailor it to her liking. It seemed like a fun little something she could post verses, pictures of her adorable twins, or other fun notes on.

I know she likes pink, so I picked out some fun pink fabric and some coordinating fabric to cover the magnet board. I played around with a couple of ideas. I considered trying to make a city skyline from the coordinating fabric because she used to live in and loves NYC. I wasn't sure if I could really get it to look like a skyline though, so I made a monogram instead.

Without further ado, here's the finished product!

the little black square are magnets

a close-up of the monogram

Craft Favorites Friday

Welcome back to Craft Favorites Friday!

To start us off this week, we have something for the little ladies. :)

Little Girls' Fleece Jumper



This is another tutorial from Smashed Peas and Carrots. I love the silhouette of the jumper, the over-a-shirt-and-pants look, and I have to admit, I love that it has buttons. I have been eyeing buttons lately and trying to think of projects I can make for Asa that have buttons. So far I have come up with... overalls. :) But here's a toasty and cute jumper for the little girl in your life. :)

Next are some Coasters



Check out the tutorial for these coasters from Beneath My Heart. It would be so easy to coordinate this with decor in a particular room, a holiday, or personalize with a monogram. With just a few supplies, a couple steps, and a little time you have a GREAT gift as well!

Corner Bookmark



I thought this simple and sweet bookmark was definitely worth passing along. I like the "x marks the spot" embroidery, but you could also embroider with a monogram or other little design. The tutorial at Kootoyoo uses a magnet to keep the bookmark on your page. This would be a sweet addition if you plan to give a book as a gift! :)

I finally did it...

... I posted a year or two ago about wanting to make my first quilt. Well, I can check that off my to do list.... 2 years later. :) I began making wonky log cabin blocks for a quilt for Asa before he was born. Then he came. And as any Mom knows, time takes on a new dimension with a baby in your life! I realized I would never finish if I kept piecing the blocks. NOT that they are so difficult to sew. It's just strip after strip. But I was having trouble getting them to come out in the end in a way that squared up well. I put the project on hold while I loved on my newborn. :) Now that he goes to bed by 7 and naps 3 times a day, I have been able to get back on it. I decided to go for a strip quilt instead. I found my inspiration and got to work. I found a few more fabrics to round out my strips, and I sewed the quilt top in 2 days. I probably could have done it in one if I'd devoted all Asa's naps to the quilt, but alas there are dishes to be washed, laundry to be done, floors to vacuum, etc. :)

I need to trim the edges, actually make the quilt sandwich, and choose binding, but I am very excited to have the top done! I found a possible premade binding I might use. Is it weird to use a fabric for the binding that you did not use in the quilt? Also, those blocks I already made? I'm going to piece them into the back so they are still used. :) I am hoping to have it done in time to give Asa for Christmas (shhhh, don't tell him ;) ), but we'll see if I really get that done. I also needed to decide how exactly I want to quilt it... stitch in the ditch? Vertical lines like my inspiration? How do you think they kept the lines so straight for that? I am excited to see how it all comes together in the end. Until then, here's step 1! :)

New Friday Feature

So you know how I said I am finding LOADS of amazing crafting ideas on the internet? I thought I should pass along some of those ideas and some of that inspiration to you! So, I decided to try a new Friday post--Craft Favorites Friday. Now, with my little man at home with me I cannot promise I will never miss a Friday. But these ideas are just too good not to let you know about them!

Without further ado, here's my first Craft Favorites Friday!

The Stuffed Animal Child Harness!

We have all seen those child harnesses meant to keep a "runner" close to Mom and Dad. While we all want to have perfect, obedient children who would never dart away from us, reality does not always live up to that! This tutorial from Cupkateer shows you how to take a stuffed animal and turn it into a harness to help you keep your little one out of harms way. TOO cute. I love that it's so customizable in that you can use any stuffed animal. I love her tip for where to find backpack-like strap adjusters (let me know if you know a better source). And I love how simple it looks. I haven't tried it myself yet as Asa can only roll away from me. I can still keep up with him at the moment. ;) But I will definitely be storing this idea for when our little guy gets a bit older!

Toilet Paper Pumpkins (sew-less!)



I thought these no-sew pumpkins were super sweet. They would be easy to place throughout the house, showing off some of your favorite fabrics from your stash. But after fall has passed, you can add the fabric back to your stash and make something else with it! I love the re-use factor. :) These look really simple and would even be easy to make into an apple earlier in the fall with reddish fabrics. :) Check out the tutorial at Smashed Peas and Carrots.

And lastly, the Outlet Cover Makeover



What a simple and clever idea from Little Birdie Secrets! Again, this would be easy to personalize to coordinate with decor or a favorite character, etc. You could even let your child paint something and then glue it on the outlet cover. You'll want to make sure the decoration doesn't make it so your child can pull out the outlet cover or make the outlet too enticing. But if you can jump both those hurdles, you can have some adorable little outlets at your house. :)

So there you have it, the first installment of Craft Favorites Friday! I hope you find something that inspires the crafter in you!

First Doll

I have seen a couple dolls lately that I thought were very sweet. Then I decided, "Hey, I could try that." I drew my own pattern and kind of worked my own way through it. I will be making a few changes to my next one... the head isn't exactly round, I will add more hair features, shorten the neck area, straighten the torso/dress, and use less wide elastic in the skirt. BUT, overall, I think it's not half bad, especially for not having any directions and making it all up on my own. :)

Without further ado, here she is (minus a face... haven't settled on that yet)!

(it's not really as crooked as this picture makes it look)

After I settle on what to do for a face, this will be my first drop for The Toy Society! :)

Here comes...

...crafting! At least, my brain is SWIMMING with crafting ideas and inspiration! I was thinking the other day how COOL it is to get so many crafting ideas on the internet. There are countless crafty ideas I never would have thought of if I hadn't seen them online! Thanks to all the crafty bloggers out there! :)

On top of collecting a million crafty ideas from blogs, I received several crafting books for my birthday last week. I cannot wait to dive into them! I can now create with the guidance of Applique Your Way, a pre-0rder of Button and Stitch, Softies, and Hand-Stitched Felt, while listening to Paul Baloche and Christy Nockels. Yesssss! :) Thank you to my sweet husband and wonderful family. And thank you, my baby boy and hubby, for letting me do it all while wearing a personalized version of this (with Asa's name and birthdate on the back)! I LOVE it!!

I am really excited to get crafting. I feel like I could start a 100 projects, but I'm trying to finish what I already have started. Stay tuned soon to see one of the completed projects--my first toy for The Toy Society! :)