Snowman Ornament

I have a confession... I'm a craft hoarder. Which means:

* I buy craft supplies at clearance/discount price- then store it until I have something to use it for

And it also means:

*I hate throwing scraps away if they seem 'usable'

So I had a few scraps after making my latest exploding box.

I decided to use them to make a Christmas tree ornament.

I'm selling it here in my etsy shop.

Snowman Exploding Box

I've made another exploding box and it's for sale here in my etsy shop

This one is a winter theme and would be perfect for holding a Christmas/holiday gift

I love exploding boxes because they seem so nice and simple on the outside, but they're hiding some extra layers of fun on the inside.



Inside the box



All opened up

Children's Quilt

I got the opportunity to make a custom order quilt.

I was asked to make it with large squares of various characters from children's movies and television.

She wanted the quilt to be random, and have no particular direction, so not all of the squares should face the same way.

So here's what I did: 

The back of the quilt is just solid red, in the same fabric as the red on the front.

And After the quilt I had one extra pre-cut square of fabric-

 So I made a bonus pillow, to throw in with the quilt: 

I love making pillows and bedding, You can request a custom order in my etsy shop :JLynneCreations

Car Seat Tent

Just before my last precious baby was born I made a reversible car seat cover.

I love it.

When I'm at the store it keeps people (complete strangers) from touching my baby

It keeps the bright Arizona sunlight out

And It's cute! Especially the brown ruffle around the edge.

Pink and brown on one side:

Solid brown on the other:

Double Sided Grocery Totes

With the same fabrics I used for my set of 4 grocery totes, I made two more... these are reversible, so that on the outside of the bag you have one design and another on the inside.

Apples and Watermelon

But you can flip it either way you like.





Apples.....               or...           Watermelon 

 Whatever you like better

Or Jalapenos and Cherries

Or Cherries and Jalapenos

For sale here: 2 Reversible Totes

Reusable Grocery Bags

I have a set of four re-usable grocery bags (or whatever you want to use them for) for sale now in my etsy shop.

I used four fun fresh produce prints for these eco-friendly bags.

Find them for sale here: 4 Yummy Totes!

Steering Wheel Cover

My Husband's car recently became my car. And, scorched by the Arizona sun- the steering wheel had begun to crack and the top was actually beginning to crumble.

So- to prevent further damage and to protect my hands from the super-hot steering wheel (Seriously- if you live in Phoenix, AZ you know- it gets HOT inside cars)

Here's the finished product:

To help grip the steering wheel and to cover the weird texture where little tiny pieces of the steering wheel came off I used cabinet lining in the inside:

 And, how it looks on the wheel:

An Attempt at Applique

I decided to try my hand at applique for the first time- I thought I knew the general idea, so I didn't bother looking up any tips or tutorials- and somehow I survived.

These are messy, but I was happy with it for a learning experience.

They're coasters- we re-use cups for a day or two in our house, and sometimes (often) I can't remeber which cup was my daughters and which was my sons.

Not a huge problem, I'll admit-- except when one has croupe or the other had brocnhiolotis. We don't want cross contamination on those days.

So to help fix the problem I sewed up some little coasters with our initials on them- so we always remember who had the red cup and who had the yellow cup.



'Daddy'



'Mommy'



'Parker'



'Aria'



Kids Apron

Here is one of the six children's sized aprons I made to go with the hot-pads and the oven mitts

Kids Oven Mitts

The next step in my process of making kids kitchen stuff was the oven mitts (six of them)

I had not pattern, but I drew an oversized oven mitt onto tissue paper and used that as my pattern to cut out 12 pieces of white fabric, 12 pieces of batting and 12 of the red gingham that matched the other portions of the kitchen sets

 I layered a set of white, batting and gingham, and 'quilted' through them by just sewing a few intersecting diagonal lines

 I took two pieces that were opposites of each other (in regards to which way the thumb pointed)

 And I stitched them right-sides together:

 I trimmed the excess, and turned them right side out

Then used some edging I made (exactly the same as the edging I made for the hot-pads) and hand-stitched that around the bottom edge: 

Kids Pot-Holders

A "customer" (my mother) is paying me to make a set of six kids "play kitchen sets"

Meaning: six children's aprons, six pot-holders, six oven mitts and maybe six chef hats.

The pot-holders were the easiest so I started with them.

I cut approx 4" squares- 2 of fabric, and one of batting.

I sandwiched the batting in the middle and then stitched all four sides:

I 'quilted' the piece by just sewing a few lines diagonally across the piece:

Then I trimmed the edges very close to my stitch lines.

Then I made my edging

I stared by cutting a strip about 1.5" wide (left), then I folded it in half and pressed (middle), then I folded the raw edges into the center and pressed again (right)

This is similar to bias tape, except I didn't cut it on a bias.

Then I placed the edge of the hot pat in the fold of the edging I had created and pinned it in place

I left some extra at the end to make the 'loop' that you see on all potholders and oven mitts.

That extra piece hanging off is actually where I started my stitches. I started on the tail end and then sewed around three and a half sides. Once I was an inch or two from completing the square, I would fold the end of the 'tail' back and then loop it around. Then I would stitch to the corner and do some back-stitching back and forth and at an angle to reinforce that corner and the loop.

TA-DA!

Then I just did that 5 more times.

Disclaimer:

This is a project for kids, so they can pretend to cook- don't use this tutorial for real hot pads/potholders- I doubt this is safe to use on hot dishes, the general idea would be the same, but you would need to get material and lining that is more effective against heat.