Travel preparation

For Labor Day weekend, our little family took our first road trip with kids.  It was a wonderful experience and we will do it again but maybe not too soon.

I found a few things on Pinterest that I knew would help the travel go more smoothly.

The trash bag

I completely copied the girl with the fabric but I didn't have boning so I left that out for another day when I get some.  It'll be easy enough to insert.

The travel clutch

There are actually 2 tutorial I found for this one.  Here's the other.

Fall banner

I have a bone to pick with Mother Nature.  Fall is my favorite season, especially since I live in a state with so many trees and beautiful fall colors.  I also love to relish the cool weather before winter sets in for the next 6 months.  But the last 2 years have been quite a disappointment.  We have had "Indian" summers which is when it is hot way past when it's supposed to be.  Don't get me wrong, I love the warm weather, but it's really frustrating to have winter last until May, then spring happens June and July, and summer goes until October.  Winter starts back up in November.  Where is the FALL!?!

Since I can't enjoy fall outside, I have been enjoying it inside with lots of fun projects and decor.  I made this banner using my silhouette and after cutting the letters realized I should have done 2 banners for Thanksgiving and Halloween.  Oh well.  This is cute and it will do for this year.  

Easy burp cloths

Made some burps cloths for a friend.  They were so easy.  I found the tutorial here.  I found another tutorial that said to add batting in the middle.  Maybe next time I'll do that just to give it more absorbency.  But I'm pretty happy with the final result other than the awful lighting in the pictures.

Cookie Recipe #2- Lemon Drops

Well, I tried out my second cookie hoping that it would be a success and make it onto the party menu and it DID!

They are called Lemon Drops for the very obvious reason that they have lemon drops in them.  The hub was nervous about them but ended up loving them.  He summed them up perfectly calling them lemon-flavored sugar cookies. 

I found the recipe on Your Homebased Mom.  Her glaze looks a little thicker than mine.  My lemon had a lot of juice I guess.  But that will be my only tweek when the party rolls around. 

As a sidenote, making these cookies fell at a very convenient time when our friends throw an Annual Cookie Contest.  They judge your cookies and present winners with a prize.  I took these since I didn't like the idea of eating them all on my own.  Anyway, the judge is not a lemon fan but award these with an Honorable Mention!  I'd say that says it all.

Baby, look at those legs!

 Just finished another pair of baby legs!  These things are so nice to put on "sissy Q" now that she's moving around and it's getting a little cooler.  I know, it's still summer but we live in Minnesota so you have to take it while it's here.

Anyway, in the past, I have made my baby legs using a very simple method of cutting off the feet to knee high socks, folding the cut edge under to make a hem and whip stitching it.  Doesn't take long, but I kept seeing them with the cuff and I knew there was a way to do it if I could just find it.  I hate to admit this, but this whole time, I never googled it...

Until tonight.  I found a pair of cute socks in my pile of procrastinated projects, of course I had forgotten all about them.  I had seen another really cute way to hem the socks and thought I'd try that this time around.  I just couldn't remember where I saw the tutorial, so I googled it and lo and behold, not only did I find the one I was looking for but 3 more that show you how to put cuffs on.  So I ditched the original plan and made them with cuffs.

Some below are all the tutorials I've used to make this cute accessory.

Simple whip stitching method

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Ruffled edge- this is the method I ditched tonight but still want to make.  Consequently, I have no pictures.

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Attaching a cuff- I actually followed 2 pages for this

Little Birdie's Nest

Everything Your Mama Made

Wipe with style

One of my favorite things that I've made of all time is the wipes clutch.  When it was new to the baby world, I thought it was the cutest and most clever thing ever.  I figured out how to make it thanks to the help of a friend since they were selling for double digits and have made them for gifts and myself ever since. 

Since I'm not the best when it comes to tutorials, I did go out in search of one to post.  It is complete with a template and everything.  So not only did I provide the tutorial for you (here you go), but I tested it out.  Here's my finished product...

But it is different from how I normally make them and I'm not sure if I like it as much.  So I guess I will tell you how I do it, but this is not an official tutorial, it is best if you read the other page first and then what I say will make more sense.

So the things I do differently:

-First of all, I have used a few different kinds of fabric and have found that home decor fabric is my favorite.  It is more durable and there are cuter patterns, at least where I look.

-I trace the wipes container and use that template for my batting that way I don't have anything to trim anything.  

-I put batting on the top and the bottom of the container.

-The make a second template for my fabric by tracing around the container but making it between 1/4 to 1/2 larger than the other template.  This is so that the fabric will cover the edges.  

Side note: You could just use the template already provided in the tutorial for both the batting and the fabric.  I would just round the corners where the dotted line is and not cut on the fold of the fabric.  Instead cut 2 separate pieces of fabric.

-You glue only the edges of the fabric down exactly like the other tutorial tells you but of course, you continue all the way around since the fabric doesn't connect on the back part.

-When when you put the trim on, you put it all the way around as well- again because the fabric doesn't cover the back.  The picture shows the difference looking at the back.  Sorry about the bottom one.  The trim is coming undone and I haven't fixed it, not to mention the purples are 2 different colors (my bad for not taking a sample with me to the store when I ran out).

And the finished product...

Since purple trim on the above flap is darker than the bottom, I kept this one for myself.

Happy wiping!

Giveaway at CA!

One of my favorite blogs is celebrating their 2 year blogiversary and I am celebrating with them.

Craftaholics Anonymous is having giveaways all week so go check it out.

The first giveaway is for a $35 Gift card to Bella Michele.  Go check out her shop.  She makes custom jewelry.

The second giveaway is for an $85 GC to Blush Envy, a very cute shop that helps you accessorize.