Super Easy Baby Blanket

This is one of the easiest baby blankets you will ever make. Seriously, I was done with this blanket in under 30 minutes. Plus with all the cute selections of super soft flannel that are available the possibilities and combinations are endless.

My brother and his wife just had a brand new baby girl. She is their fourth child but their first girl. She is tiny and beautiful. I found this London themed fabric a few weeks ago and fell in love. In anticipation for this new little bundle of joy I snatched it right up.

Seriously! Just look at all the cute little details on this fabric. I like to imagine that little picture-taking tourist is me. I have always wanted to go to England.

This fabric just solidified that. I mean I am sure I will be surrounded by jolly fellows in gingham suits and dapper bow ties. Don't burst my bubble.

Anywho, I picked a coordinating black and white print to go on the back. Perfection people.

So just how easy is this Super Easy Baby Blanket?

Well, here is what you need:

1 yard each of coordinating flannel fabrics
coordinating thread

How do you make it:

-Trim off selvage, and make the fabric even.

-Lay the fabrics on top of each other, right sides touching. Pin. Sew around the edges with 1/2 " seam allowance. Leave a 3-4" opening to turn out.

-Turn out. Press. Sew around the edge with a 1/4" allowance. I use a larger stitch to add a fun detail. I used 3.5. Make sure the hole you left earlier is properly sewn shut.

-Mark the middle.
-Sew a rectangle, or you can get creative. I sewed a heart. Doing this keeps the fabric from shifting.

The blanket is DONE.

See, I told you it was easy. SUPER easy to be exact.

Now it is all ready to go and cuddle with my newest little niece. Ack! I wish I were there to snuggle her, but I guess this blanket will have to do it for me.

Napoleon Dynamite Halloween Costume

Best. Costume. Ever.

Also, I didn't sew one thing. Not a one.

In fact, all I did (besides gather and buy) was cut out and iron on the "vote for pedro" onto a ringer tee.

I found the t-shirt and the moon boot shoe covers on Amazon. I used Expressions Vinyl and my Silhouette to cut out the words.

I found the wig and the glasses at our local Zurchers party store. Aren't they pretty much perfect?!

We threw it all together with a pair of jeans and this boy's best Napoleon Dynamite face. 

Perfection, and by far the easiest costume I have put together. Woot!

Ninja Halloween Costume

Here is our family Ninja. This costume came about for one reason and one reason only. He wanted two swords. Ninja swords to be exact.

Once it was decided he could be a ninja and have two swords, he also decided that it was important that he wear all black.

I made an executive decision to put on this gold dragon. Turns out he was okay with wearing all black with just a touch of gold. Whew.

I drafted and made this costume up with no pattern. I used three different types of fabric. I used a knit, a sweatshirt jersey, and a rayon satin. I used the sweatshirt for the shirt and the pants. I used the knit for the mask. The satin was the sheath.

This ninja is pretty happy with his new threads. He was all ready for some ninjaing. That is totally a word by the way.

He has already taken his costume for a test run and it kept him fairly warm and got him lots of candy. Win. Win. The last costume of 2015 will be up tomorrow. So exciting.

Pikachu Halloween Costume

There was a lot of debate over this Pikachu Halloween Costume. Like a lot, A LOT. When Mister Little requested this costume, I was not on board. After all, we barely watch this show and we don't own any Pokemon merchandise. 

So I was a little surprised and a lot hesitant. I mean, seriously there are a million other things that would have been cuter. I spent several weeks trying to convince him that other things would be cooler.

Alas, his mind was made up. Since I had said that they all could choose what they wanted to be, I had to surrender.

So the second installment of our no-theme Halloween is this Pikachu costume.

I used the same pattern I used for Daniel Tiger. 

I changed the pattern to make it Pikachu. I appliqued fleece onto the hood to make his face. I added fleece stripes to the back. I altered the ears and the tail. In order to make the tail more sturdy I used a heavy fabric stabilizer. I also hand stitched part of the tail to the costume so it would stay in place.

I used fleece for this whole costume. He will be so warm and cozy on Halloween night.

I don't know why I fought him on this costume. It turned out really cute and he is SO very happy.

Two more costumes and this no-theme Halloween of 2015 will be done.

Daniel Tiger Halloween Costume

Daniel Tiger in Halloween costume form. Could there be anything cuter? This boy LOVES himself some Daniel Tiger. I have known for months this would be his costume. This year we had a bit of a different situation with Halloween costumes.

Normally we have a family theme. There has been Toy Story, superheroes, Star Wars, Phineas and Ferb, and book characters. I kind of thrive on themed costumes. This year...

There.

Is.

No.

Theme.

Ack.

I figured with two older kids, asking them to somehow fit a theme that includes Daniel Tiger wasn't very practical (or nice). So no theme.

If you follow me on Instagram (@larissa_anotherday) you might already know what some of the other costumes are. None of them going with each other.

Enough about all the no themed costumes already. Let's talk about this Daniel Tiger.

I die.

I started this costume with a basic pattern. I used the Simplicity 1032 pattern. It is a basic jumpsuit with a hood animal pattern.

In order to make Daniel, I had to alter the pattern a bit.

I added strips onto the hood, ears, legs, and tail.

I used the pattern's cat instructions, but I rounded the ears.

Daniel Tiger also needs his red sweater.

I roughly used the pattern to make a sweater. I added applique pockets, a collar, and a jacket zipper.

The pattern does seem to run a little big. This was a size 3T and it is obviously HUGE on him. No worries though, it just makes him more cozy.

The fabric I used for the costume:

fur felt- fur/stripes
red fleece- red sweater
soft flannel-hood lining

He loves it, so I love it. He is so cozy and so cute! I really cannot get over it.

It will be a beautiful day in the neighborhood and a beautiful day for this Daniel Tiger neighbor. No doubt.

Come back tomorrow to see the next costume. Ooh so exciting.

Easy Trick-or-Treat Bag

Halloween is almost here. Costumes. Candy. Trick or Treating. All the fun stuff.  Getting everything ready for Halloween is not always so fun. Don't fret! This Pillow Case Trick or Treat Bag is easy to make.

 

When I was growing up, my brothers and sisters and I could be found running around the neighborhood on Halloween dressed up and toting the pillow cases off our pillows. Pillow cases were the best things for gathering massive amounts of candy. We just threw it over our shoulder Santa Claus style. We were more than happy to just use the pillow case off our bed.

I thought I could steal the pillow case idea, but amp up the cuteness just a bit. I decorated the front of the bag with heat transfer vinyl. You could also use paint, fabric markers, or fabric. I made this image in Picmonkey. I saved it to my computer and then imported into my Silhouette software in order to cut the image from vinyl. You could also print off the image and  use it as a freezer paper stencil.


 

 If you want to import the image into Silhouette, here is how you use it with vinyl. Import the image into your Silhouette files. Bring up the image.

 

Select the trace function. Then pick the Select Trace Area. Drag a box around the entire image. Then pick Trace Outer Edge.

 

Drag away the original image and delete it.

 

Before you cut anything in heat transfer vinyl you have to mirror flip the image.

 

Cut out the image. Set it aside. Now that we have the image ready, we can prep the pillow case. Fold over the top of the open end. Iron.

 

Sew around the hem, leaving an opening to thread through the fabric. I used a fancy stitch option but a regular stitch does the job.

 

Pull off the negative of the vinyl. Iron on the image.

 



For the bag tie, use a piece of fleece. I cut it to a 3 1/2" by 52" strip.

       
Using a safety pin, thread through one end of the strip all the way around. Then thread the other end through the opposite way. Once both ends are through, knot the ends. Now you have a drawstring bag.  

 

Not just any drawstring bag. A really fun and perfectly festive Easy Trick or Treat Bag.

 

Happy Halloween!

Pretty Little Drawstring Mess Kit Bag

I just spent a little less than a week out in the woods camping it up with a fabulous group of young women. We ate. We laughed. We cried. We hiked. We grew. We learned. So basically it was awesome and we did lots of stuff.

When you go camping, word on the street is that you occasionally will want to eat a meal. Since whilst enjoying nature, one should probably take care of nature it is best to have dishes to use that do not have to be thrown away.

That means you need a mess kit.

What is a mess kit? (I know some of you might be asking)

A mess kit is a set of dishes, mostly likely plastic. You know a cup, a plate, a bowl, and some silverware. Then it all goes in a little bag for convenient transporting.

Most of the time the bag is a simple mesh bag. I decided I wanted to go a little more pretty and a little less boy scouty. Oh and by the way, isn't my cute little neighbor/model the cutest? She sure is.

So I bought some plastic turquoise dishes from Target. I also found a set of coordinating napkins. Those coordinating napkins were not for me to wipe up my face. Instead  I used them to make my mess kit.

I took each napkin and right side down and folded over the top down 3 inches. Then fold up the bottom deep enough to make a pocket. One side I let as a regular pocket for my plates.

On the other side, I split the pocket. One side was left as a pocket and the other side was sectioned off for my silverware.

I sewed all the pockets in place. Then I laid the napkins on top of each other, right sides facing. I sewed seams across the sides and the bottom, stopping before the top seam you sewed, the casing seam for the drawstring.

I used biased tape that I had previously stitched up for my drawstring. You can also use thin cording.

 Cut two long pieces of your cord. Using a safety pin, weave one end of one string from one side all the way around the bag. Then weave the other string from the opposite side all the way round. Knot the ends of the cords.

Now you have an adorable drawstring mess kit bag.

I got a lot of compliments on this bag at girls camp. Obviously this isn't a drawstring bag I could send with my boys to scout camp, but I intend to go to girls camp lots and lots over the years. So now I never have to worry about my mess kit again.

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