A look back at my very first tutorial

I was perusing blogs this weekend when I came across this blog.  The blog first of all caught my eye because the blog is having a giveaway (check it out!), but I also really like that the blogger has a feature called "Sunday Favorites," where every Sunday she posts an old blog post of her own that she likes.  What a fun idea!  I have so many posts that I look back and laugh at or have forgotten I even wrote.   I decided to join in and share this blog post from November of 2008--my very first tutorial.  I know you can hardly call it a tutorial, but I was so proud of myself when I wrote it. :)


Cowgirl Carrie and a Tutorial
A few weekends ago I went out with a group of friends and did some country line dancing...well I attempted to anyways. I think that the only dance I am good at is the electric slide, which actually goes well with quite a few country songs! I don't know what part of the brain makes a person able to pick up dance moves, but mine is underdeveloped whatever it is. I can follow along if I watch long enough, but if I am next to a person who is dancing fancy moves it messes me up for the whole song--so I spent quite a few songs on the sidelines trying to figure out the moves. It was a blast though!

When looking through the Rubber Romance stamps at eP I saw a great cowgirl named "Carrie" that I knew would be perfect for cards for my country loving friends. So here is what I came up with.

This card was pretty easy to make, but took quite a bit of time. I know the picture really doesn't show it, but the shirt, arm, cowboy hat, and boots are all paper pieced on. To make the wall I masked Carrie,sponged So Saffron and stamped Weathered. I sponged the floor and drew in hard wood flooring.

The photo corners are a fun little addition and very easy to make. Since I am borrowing a friend's camera for the day I thought I would do my first tutorial to show you how to make them. (click on any "how to" picture to enlarge)

Photo Corner Tutorial

Step 1: Cut a piece of cardstock 2" x 2"

Step 2: Cut the square piece in half from corner to corner. This gives you the two pieces that will be your two photo corners.

Step 3: Take corner A and fold it to meet corner C.

Step 4: Take corner B and fold it to meet corner C.

Step 5: Take your scissors to cut across from corner to corner (you will cut off corners A, B, and C by doing this)

Step 6: Flip pieces over and wrap around any corner.



Linking to Sunday Favorites at Happy to Design

Snuggly Baby Blanket

     It seems to be baby season again so I have been making many baby shower gifts.  Here is a simple baby blanket 36 x 36 (well mine is 34 x 36 because of a stubborn corner that wouldn't lay right, long, frustrating story :) ).  I wanted the blanket to be 2 layers, but I thought that living in CA two layers of flannel might be too much, so I went with flannel and cotton.   The animal side is flannel and the blue polka dots side is cotton.  A couple of burp rags to match will be coming soon. :)

     To make this blanket all you need to do is measure out 2 pieces of cloth 36" x 36"   Lay them RIGHT sides together and sew around the outside with a 5/8 in seam.  Sew all but about 4" so that you can flip the blanket right side out.  After you flip the blanket you sew the 4" gap and keep going all around the outside and about 3/8".  

My problem came in because the flannel was stretchy and the cotton wasn't--so if you use 2 different fabrics be sure they match up perfectly and use a lot of pins to hold it. :)

Click here to see blog parties I link to.

Going Green--Reusable grocery shopping bag

     I feel a little bit guilty every time I get home from the grocery store and empty my pile plastic grocery bags and add them to my stash.   I do reuse those bags for other things, but I have a lot of them and I don't need them all.  I started out recently by asking for no bags for things I can carry--like if I am only getting a few items at a store or with gallons of milk.   A few weeks ago one of my SIL showed me this tutorial that was perfect for me and my many extra bags issue. :)  ---Reusable shopping totes made from sheets.  I didn't follow the tutorial all the way, but used it as a guide.

     I didn't have any old sheets lying around so when I was at the thrift center I browsed the linen section and found a flat sheet that I fell in love with!  I don't know the size, but it is bigger than a twin so I think that I can get 3 or 4 bags from one sheet.

I threw a book and a few stamps sets in to show how roomy it is.  If you click to enlarge, please ignore all the threads hanging--I was so excited to take pictures I didn't stop to cut them all first! 

 I realized how useful it is when I threw a bunch of envelopes in it to go mail them at the post office and I decided it makes a nice regular tote too. :)

Click here to see where I linked.

Wild Animal Park Pics

I gave myself a mini-vacation this week and headed to San Diego to spend some time with friends and head to the Wild Animal Park.  What a relaxing and fun time.   Here are a few pics.  All taken with my Canon Powershot. :)    

This baby elephant was just born in February.  So cute!

The Park has a special butterfly exhibit going on.  The line was long to get it, but it was worth it!

This last one is my favorite.

Layered skirt made from t-shirts

I went to the thrift store the other day hoping for some deals.  This store is my least favorite thrift store, but they have good sales at times.  The sale for that day was 20 articles of clothing (without lines on their tags) for $5.50.  Pretty sweet deal...except that it didn't take me long to realize that most of the clothes I would want had lines on them and therefore were not on sale.  I did however find some clothes that I have big plans for repurposing!  Here is the first one.  I made it for me, but it would be so easy to make a kids version.

I don't have a before picture, but this skirt was 2 red shirts with a logo on the front pocket area and high on the back so I had to work around these areas.  The first shirt I cut to make the main skirt and the second shirt I cut into 4" strips and sewed on the main skirt (no hemming or serging on the layers).   The picture is from before I washed it.  After it was washed the layers curled a bit giving a new cool look.  I will try to get a picture of that soon.
I got the idea for this skirt at Make it and Love it.

eta: here is what is looks like after being washed.

Click here to see parties I link to.

Chair makeover

When I first moved to California I drove here in a car with all of my stuff.  Whatever didn't fit in the car, didn't come.  So, needless to say, I did not come with any furniture.  After my dad and I moved all of the boxes into my new place we went to sit down only to discover that there was nothing to sit on besides the floor!  That day we went thrift store shopping and I came home with my first piece of furniture...this chair.

 Pretty?  No it is not.  But it has sentimental value (and is comfy) so I have kept it.
I decided it was time to fix up the chair and "pretty it up" to match the room it is in.  I sanded it and gave it a good paint job (to match the desk I use it with) and recovered the seat with upholstery fabric.  I think it looks much better after its makeover.  What do you think?

Here are a few "in between shots"

Linked to:
The DIY Showoff



Metamorphosis Mondays

and sorry I forgot this one before:

Love Song

Happy Easter! I am so thankful that the story didn't end on Good Friday. "He is risen, He is risen indeed!"
Here is a song called "Love Song" by a group called Third Day. It is about the greatest love story of all...the one between us and God.




"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16