Pretty Little Camera Strap

I recently purchased a DSLR camera.  I have used said camera one time because I have no idea what I'm doing with it (this girl needs to take a class big time!!).  But, that one time I used it, I realized that I was not a fan of the strap it came with.  It rubbed against my neck and was annoying.  This had to change, and when I came across this tutorial on Pinterest, it looked easy enough.  For once, I was right and flew through this and had it together in less than a half hour.  I love the fact that there is a little pocket to hold the lens...

 ...and I just LOVE the fabric, as it's in my two favorite colors....green and blue.

This strap looks much prettier and is so much more comfortable.  You better believe I'll be making a Mickey themed one too :-)

St. Patrick's Day

I'm pretty sure I am one of the rare ones that actually decorates for St. Patrick's Day.  This month, with Easter being just 2 weeks after, I am finding myself quite busy with getting decor made and displayed, just to take it down.  But, at least it'll be ready for next year!!

First up was some festive table toppers.  This seems to be a recurring event as each holiday nears.  I have big toppers made for pretty much all the major holidays for my kitchen table, so now I'm tasked with making smaller ones for the living room.  I'm also trying to be a little more creative with the patterns, so for these, I found a quilt that I liked and just made a small portion of it to make it end table sized.

Next, was the mantel.  Ever since last month, I've been obsessed with making a fabulous mantel display.  I have to admit, most of the St. Patty's Day decorations out there are pretty hideous (like the ginormous green shamrock below), but, I think my selections worked.

I made the banner across the front with fabric and my Cricut machine.  I cut 7 triangles out of fabric and then spaced, pinned, and sewed them into a piece of 2" fabric folded in half.  I then used my Cricut to cut out the letters and shamrock from cardstock, and adhered them to the fabric with Mod Podge.  For winging this one, I am quite pleased with the outcome and I'm sure you'll be seeing many more banners following this pattern in the future ;-)

Finally, I made the cute little danglies like I did last month, for the playroom.  Again, I hit up the paint section, took a bunch of green paint swatches, and used my Cricut to cut out the shamrock shapes.  I placed them back to back and stuck them together with glue dots.  Then, fed them through the string I used previously and voila, instant decor.

So that's it!  We are ready for St. Patrick's Day!  Hope you have fun celebrating this fun, Irish holiday.  And just know that next Sunday, it's ok to have your favorite beer or Irish Coffee for breakfast!!

A Simple Slipcover

One of my big project this week has been getting L's playroom organized.  Before, it was a mish-mosh of G's medical textbooks, comic books, and other random stuff he had in there when the room was used as his office.  We got everything out, except one big piece- his grandmother's old record player.  This thing is a beast and it's one of his prized possessions, so moving it to the basement where it could run of the risk of being attacked by leaking water or whatever rodents decide to set up shop  down there (hey! we live in the country!), was not an option.  I also knew leaving it wide open in the destructive path of a 2 year old was an equally bad option, so we came to an agreement....I would make a simple slipcover for it.

I decided to use a heavier fabric from the home decor section of Joann's.  Man....this stuff is flipping expensive!!!  Thankfully it was 40% off.  Jeez!  I ended up getting 3 1/2 yards of it, which was more than I needed, but, it was the best figure I could come up with trying to do math on the fly since I forgot to plan this all out before I went to the store (spoken like a true crafter!!). 

I began cutting it- a top piece, two sides, and a front and back.  I made sure to leave a little extra on the ends to account for seam allowances and to help slip it over a little easier.  There was no need to make it a skinny slipcover!  Then, I sewed the sides to the top piece and the front and back to the top piece.  And then, sewed all the sides together.  It really came together quite easily...less than a half hour!  I think it turned out pretty good (for totally winging it and not having a pattern!!) and is very kid friendly.

Zipper Pouches

As many of you know, I am an Independent Consultant for a company that sells bags, totes, accessories, and a bunch of other stylish and functional products to keep you and your home looking good.  But, one thing this company is lacking is cute things for little boys.  So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make something for my little boy!  He got a Star Wars rolling suitcase for Christmas from Grammy and Grampa, and these are the perfect accessory to help him travel in style and keep his stuff organized.

I found a great tutorial on Pinterest that I thought I would be able to do.  With minimal tweaking, I figured out my dimensions for a large pouch and a smaller pouch.  So, off to purchase the supplies.  I was ecstatic when I discovered Joann's sold Star Wars fabric and knew this would be the perfect first project.  I am still trying to figure out what to make G out of this fabric since he is the Star Wars guru in this house!  Anyways....I bought two different prints (1/2 yard each), a yard of white sport nylon for the lining, and two zippers (9" and 14").  I had plenty of thread and pins at home, but, this project really required little supplies which was also great!

 

So my first attempt was an epic failure.  I was so out of my comfort zone.  While my quilting world to date revolved around 1/4" seam allowances and cotton fabric, I turned that world upside down with trying to sew on a zipper, work with slippery nylon, and using a 1/2" seam allowance.  I made it all the way to the end (eventually!) and then managed to cut off the little stopper at the end of the zipper, so, the part that you pull flew right off.  Ugh!

But, I learned my lessons and my second and third attempts were successes!  I made two darling pouches for L just in time for his weekend trip to Grammy and Grampa's.  G was equally impressed that I accomplished this and asked if I could make him footie pajamas (for him, mind you, not L)!

Hopefully this project has given me the confidence to make more useful things.  While I love quilts, you can only have so many.

Coming up....Valentine's Day.  I have a bunch of projects in the works that I will be sharing soon!