Bethany Box

I like to make things for my family at Christmas time and this was something I made for my daughter last year.  I have one which I have also started for my son so hopefully he'll get that one this year for his birthday.  I bought the boxes from The MDF Man at the Hobby Crafts Show last year and always planned on making them for my children. Also at the show I found a lovely stall that sold wooden buttons where I bought ones to spell out Bethany's name.

I painted the box using some Dulux sample pots and then used ink pads to decorate the initial buttons and the butterfly.  I then stuck them down and coated the whole thing in clear Mod Podge to finish.  Bethany loves it so that's the main thing!

Shopping lists

As I'm off following a knee op, I thought I should update the blog!  I've got several items to show so maybe I'll actually get round to writing some of them this week.

This item was another one I made as a Christmas present for one of my sisters.  At Christmas I always try to make something for my family but this year things got in the way and I needed an emergency gift for my sister. I remembered that we went to the crafting exhibition at the NEC and I bought a cardboard covered ring-bound notebook.  I painted it blue (my sister's favourite colour) and decorated it with black alphabet stickers and sparkly gold butterflies.  I wish I'd bought more now as I quite fancy one for myself too!

Canvas Photo Noticeboard

First of a couple of Christmas present posts!  I normally try to make lots of things for my family at Christmas but with moving house and having a little one, this year just seems to have disappeared!  I did manage to make a couple of things though. The first is another one of my photo noticeboards using a canvas, fabric, wadding and ribbon.  They are so easy to make (this one took about 30 minutes) and look really effective.  Hopefully my sister liked it too!

Bag for me!

I realised recently that although I had made lots of bags for other people, I didn't have one for myself yet so I thought I should remedy this.  I came up with a slightly different design for this one which meant that it had 3 small external pockets and then I added two small internal pockets suitable for a mobile phone and a purse or similar.  I will attempt to do a tutorial for this one shortly but for now, here is the final product in use!

Flowery Bag

Time for another very belated present!  This time for my sister who chose the fabric ages ago and then I said I'd make her a bag.  The design has changed a bit over time so it now has an outside and an inside pocket. It was harder sorting that out as normally the straps hold the pocket down so I had to stitch the inside pocket down first.  It seems to have worked though so I'm pleased.

Post-it Note Holder

Well as it is my birthday today, I decided I wanted to try to do something crafty but my gorgeous little monster didn't want to sleep so I only had time to do something quick!  When I was sorting through my craft stuff recently, I discovered some beer mats that I had covered previously for calendars.  I also found some post-it notes so decided to make some holders for post-it notes. I bought some mini Sharpies to go with them and added ribbon to the sides to make holders for them. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, they might end up as stocking fillers at Christmas!

I used decopatch papers to cover some beer mats in different colours.  Once dry, I used double-sided sticky tape to fix Post-it notes to the covered beer mat.  I then used double-sided tape again to fix a small piece of ribbon to the back of the mats and stick the ends together.  The pen can then be slotted into place.

Baby soft book

This is probably my favourite item that I have made since I started sewing!  I had seen some soft baby books and wanted to get one for my son, however I couldn't justify buying one as it looked like I could make one; so I finally got round to trying it.  

It was actually a lot easier than I expected.  The hardest part was deciding what to put on each page, but once I'd done that, the process was easy. 

Here's the finished book!

Ribbon blanket

When my daughter was young, my sister bought her a little cat with lots of ribbons coming out of it. I decided to make my son a small blanket with ribbons similar to this and here is my attempt.  I found lots of different designs of ribbons in my collection and used some nice dinosaur material for the front.  For the back I got a very soft material with raised dots on it.  My son seems to like it anyway.  I will probably make some more for him in different designs.

I cut a fabric square slightly larger than I wanted the final one to be and 12 pieces of ribbon slightly longer than I needed them.  I pinned the ribbons to the right side of the material with the two ends of the ribbon hanging over the edge.  I then stitched all round the edges.I took the backing piece of the material and sewed the two pieces front to front leaving a hole to turn inside out. I cut the ends off the ribbons and trimmed the edges of the material.  I then turned it all the right way round and sewed round all the edges sealing up the hole.

Painted pencil case

I'm trying to go through some of the craft things that I bought but never got round to doing anything with.  I've had this MDF pencil case for about 3 years so thought I would decorate it for my daughter.  I used a tester pot of emulsion paint to paint the box and then used a sparkle effect Mod Podge to decorate it. I then added black letter stickers to the top to finish it off.

Ribbon hairband holder

Whilst on maternity leave, I'm trying to get lots of craft projects done.  One project was this hairband holder made from ribbon.  I had only ever seen a photo of one so had to work out how to make it myself.  I was pleased with the final design and my daughter was excited by it as well.

Make-up bag

I needed a new bag to store my make-up in as I lost my old one so I decided to make one. I have made these bags a lot recently so decided to try a variation by doing a triangular flap this time instead.  I used one of my favourite butterfly fabrics and am happy with my new bag.

Toiletries Pouches

Well new baby is born and I'm trying to get back into crafting things when I get the time.  To start with I thought I'd share some items I made for Christmas that I didn't get round to adding before.  First here are some sewn pouches I made for Christmas presents for the girls in the family.  They are similar to the smaller ones I made before but I made them big enough to put a few mini toiletries in.

Baby Grab Bags

I made these bags for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for their new baby.  I saw the original idea on Pinterest and decided to make them as a gift. I made 5 little drawstring bags and filled them with baby essentials.

 

 

I called them Baby Grab Bags and added a tag to them explaining that each of them contains a vest, nappies, wipes, and nappy sacks. The idea is that parents can just grab a bag on their way out of the door and it already has everything they need.  Just got to make myself some for when my next is due!

Tissue Holder

Whilst looking for something new to make, I came across a pattern for making a holder for pocket tissue packs.  I decided I wanted to make a bigger one to hold a full size pack of tissues so I worked out some new dimensions and then went with it.  It was such a simple thing to make but very effective.  Am very pleased with them!

Drawstring bag

I found a lovely idea for a present for new mums but I needed to be able to make a drawstring bag for it to work so I needed to learn how to do one!  With a bit of help from my husband and my dad, we managed to create a prototype which I am very pleased with.  Just got to make a full set before I show the final outcome.

 

And I'm back!

Back after a long break after being ill with morning sickness and not in the mood for crafting!  I have just finished a project for my brother-in-law making 7 little pouches for him to add a gift to.  I have used the same style I have used several times before and just changed the sizes as necessary.

They have taken a while to complete and I found it quite boring to do the same thing over and over again!  Looking forward to trying something new now.

Hello Kitty Bag

My daughter loves Hello Kitty so I decided to get her some fabric to make her a little bag to carry her toys around in.

I adapted the previous design I had used to make a smaller bag which she could carry in her hand. I also decided that it would be better if I added a pocket on the inside rather than the outside so my daughter could see all the Hello Kitty design.  I therefore put the straps on the inside as well.

Large Bag

I made my first bag especially for someone else this weekend!  I was allowed to choose the material but it had to fit an A4 ring binder so I had to re-think all the sizes.  It was quite a challenge getting it right for someone else and trying to make everything straight, but I think they liked it.

Small shoulder bag

Had a go at a different bag today.  I found a website called www.crazylittleprojects.com which had a pattern for a small messenger bag.  It only took me the afternoon to make and I am really pleased with it!  I need to make something different now as I don't think I need that many bags!

Satnav Case again!



 

And here is the new improved manly SatNav case. I let Steve choose the material this time and am quite pleased with the results. I bought a packet of buttons from Papermanias range which included the button I used on the front.