CTR Towels

Okay, I know this blog has been so dead lately. I'm slowly getting things back in order to get posting again.

I wanted to post this though. In our church I was just called to be the teacher for the CTR 7 class. That means that all the kiddos in my class are the ones that will be baptized when they turn 8. So, I wanted to find something special to make for them. A long time ago I saw this tutorial on one of my favorite blogs,
Made With Love and Glue and put it in the back of my brain (and also bookmarked it on the computer) as a fun thing to do as a gift for someone. Anyways, I made it for a girl getting baptized tomorrow.

It was such a fast easy project and pretty much the same thing as these but Rachel has a great tutorial here, and there is also a really cute poem that goes along with it, of course not pictured here. Here is the one Rachel did on her blog...

Such a fun gift to give!

Last fall I was busy with my enrichment calling and other things. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. So, this year I'm starting early, to make up for lost time. First off, pumpkins...

Go here for the tutorial. Holly is so cute and creative. In fact go to her blog anyways so you can see how the pumpkins are supposed to look. Good thing I was going for the homemade look and not perfection. Mine turned out so ugly they're cute.

Hooded Towel

Hooded Towel Tutorial. Grab a full sized towel and a hand towel and [re]beautify it.

I'm leaving for the weekend and I should be packing and getting ready to go but I'm not. I'm sitting here on my big rear typing away & stressing about everything that still needs to be done. I'm excited about this tutorial though.

Here's how I did it...thanks to my friend Beth.

Start with a font you like and enlarge it to the size you want. I chose this font but it wasn't thick enough so I printed it and then drew an outer line to make it even thicker. Cut out your letters

Then I got some iron on adhesive. The one I used was Heat N Bond but there are others like Wonder Under. Make sure you get the one that allows you to sew after it's been applied. Next you're going to adhere your fabric to the heat n bond. Place together the bumpy side of the heat n bond and the wrong side of your fabric. Iron over it until it's stuck to the fabric. Here's a picture, bumpy side of adhesive and wrong side of fabric...

Next, you take your cut out letters and trace them backwards on the other side of your heat n bond. This way, you letters come out facing the right way. You'll see what I mean in the next step. So, trace your letters backwards on the paper side of the heat n bond and then cut them out again.

Next, get a hand towel that matches the towel you'll be using. Cut the hand towel in half.

Now, fold up the end of your (half hand towel) towel so that the letters will fit. This is where the letters will be sewn so make sure you give them enough room. Space them out and remove the paper side of the heat n bond. If you look you'll see there will be a shiny residue on your fabric and this is what will make your fabric stick to your towel so you can stitch it on there. Remove the paper and lay the letters back down on the towel...

and then iron those bad boys on there.

then you're going to stitch the letter to the towel. The zig zag stitch is probably the easiest to use, I think. Don't look to closely at my stitching, my poor old ancient machine has been giving me heck. My pedal has started sticking so my stitching gets a little crazy. Before you start stitching, make sure you unfold your towel. You don't want to stitch it folded yet. Stitch all your letters on!

Once all the letters are stitched on, then fold your towel back on the line and pin. Then stitch along the top of the letters like the photo. Don't worry about stitching straight. You won't even see your thread once you're done.

You're almost done with the hood of the towel. Now take your towel and fold it with the letters on the inside like so. You're going to stitch the top of the hood. Pin along the top and sew straight across.

Here's another photo. See the pins on the top? The letters are also on the inside of the fold. Stitch right across the top.

Remove the pins and fold the towel right side out. You made the hood. There is only one more step. You just have to attach it to the towel.

Okay, take your full sized towel and fold it in half. Pay attention to the half way point of the towel because that is where you're going to line up the hood. You want to attach the hood in the center of the towel. Put a pin or something there to mark it. Then take your hood and line up the center of the back bottom of the hood to the pin that marks the center of the towel. You'll line them up with the letters on the hood facing up. Pin it so it will stay in place while you stitch. Your machine will be sewing through a few layers of towel so it will be thick.

Here's another photo...

Of course I forgot to take a photo of the towel all done and unfolded so you could see it. I did however take a photo of how I like to fold them after they're finished. I made 2 towels. I bought 2 full sized towels and one hand towel. I just used the other half of the hand towel after it was cut for the other hood. I also buy all my towels at target when they go on clearance. I stock up.

They also look cute with a bottle of bubble bath tucked in there too!

There might seem to be a lot of steps and I hope I didn't make it too confusing. They're actually really easy. let me know if you have any questions or if I need to explain a little more. Go make one and send me pics. I'd love to see your creations!

Also, I took some good advice from Beth. I made a towel for my 10 year old niece too. Since she was so tall the hooded towel wouldn't really fit right. Her bum probably would have hung out the bottom. So, when I made hers I just put her name at the end of the towel instead of making a hood for it. Still so cute!

p.s. are you as excited as I am to get those picture of my toilet off the top of my blog?

4th of July Dress...

I love all you crafty bloggers out there. You have the most amazing ideas that I can use on my almost nonexistent budget. I was checking out Trey and Lucy and saw the cutest bandanna dress that gave me an idea for a 4th of July dress for Sydney. That day is Ben's birthday after all, so we try to dress for the occasion. Here's the one I made for Missy Moo, and it really did only take me about 15 minutes. Okay, maybe 23 or so but it was my first one...

I bought the bandanna's at Joanns for about $1.25 each. The ribbon, I [re]used from another project so the dress cost a whopping $2.50 to make! Woo Hoo!

Click here if you want a tutorial on how to make one

Ribbon Tag Blanket

I got this idea for a blanket from my friend Jill. It took about 3 hours from start to finish. Here's how you make it: (and don't be afraid to post any questions in the comments section. I'm not so good with the step by step thing).

Choose your fabric and ribbon. You can do as much as you want with the ribbon. It will get more expensive with the more ribbon you use. I had all of this ribbon on hand so I didn't have to buy any, that's why I used 6 different kinds. You could use different ribbons or you could use the same ribbon. Either way would be cute! The thing that attracted me to the blanket was the cute ribbon and the soft textured material. I don't even know the name if it but it is sooo soft and sooo cute. I bought it at Hobby Lobby for $12.99 a yard but use a coupon and you an get it 40% off.

First thing you do is decide where you want to place your ribbon. I just did mine on 2 ends of the blanket. Cut your ribbon in 4 inch strips. Fold it in half and iron it so it will stay creased and it will be 2 inches. This ironing the ribbon part is what took the longest to do. Everything else went by so much faster.

After the ribbon is ironed, pin it to the good side of one of your fabric. Make sure to pin it on with loop of your ribbon facing in towards the blanket. Pin the raw edges of the ribbon and the fabric together. Here's a couple of photos to maybe make a little more sense...

Once you have your ribbon pinned on... sew it together.

Like I said I did ribbon just one 2 sides of my blanket. My friend Jill did 4 sides of the blanket she made and it was adorable. Once the ribbon is sewn on you'll lay the piece of fabric with the ribbon on top of the textured fabric. Good sides facing each other, in this picture I just flipped up the corner to give you an idea of which way is correct. Good sides touching...

and pin it together to stay in place while sewing. Pay attention to where you start sewing because you're going to sew all the way around the blanket. All 4 sides. When you get back to the side you started on leave a good 3 inch opening and end your stitch there. You want the the opening because this is where you turn the blanket right side out. So your good sides of the fabric are on the outside. Make sure you remove the pins before you turn it though. They're hard to remove when the pins are on the inside of the blanket. I didn't take a picture of this step... I forgot because I was too excited to see the final product. Once the fabric is turned right side out stitch the 3 inch opening closed by hand. I think Jill said at this point she actually sewed all the way around the blanket but I just left mine.

I don't know how I forgot to take a picture of the final product but I the only one I have is while it's being used. Ha!