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.

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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Easy Pillow Case Superhero Cape

I originally shared this post on Thirty Handmade Days in March.

I am sharing it again here in case you missed it! 

A no-fuss, low-key, easy on the budget project is the best. A project that is all those things AND super fun for the kiddos is the very best. In a houseful of boys, we tend to be a little superhero obsessed.

In one of these superhero moments, I had an "aha!" moment for a quick and easy way to make one of my Superheros In Training his own superpower inducing cape.

This project is SO easy and has minimal sewing and the best part is, it uses a standard pillow case. A pillow case is something we all have laying around. However, even if we don't have an extra pillow case available, you can purchase a set of standard pillow cases at some stores for $5.

Here is what you will need:

standard pillow case

fleece strip measuring 2" by 28"

yellow felt

lightning bolt template

coordinating thread

Here is the easy DIY for making this Easy Pillow Case Superhero Cape.

After you have purchased (or rounded up) a pillow case, iron it out. Especially if it is brand new.

Fold over the top of the pillowcase at the point where the stitching is at. You know the border at the opening. Iron. Zig zag stitch along where the edge meets with the pillowcase. This will make an casing for the piece of fleece.

 

Pin a safety pin to one edge of the fleece strip. Feed the fleece strip through the casing.

One you have the fleece through, make sure that there are equallengths of the fleece are on either side. These will become the ties for the cape. Pin the fleece to the pillowcase at the mid point. Run a zig zag stitch over the fleece and pillowcase for about 1 1/2" in order to secure the fleece in place.

The next step is to sew on the lightning bolt. After the lightning bolt has been cut out, pin it in place to the cape. You want to pin it in the top middle making sure it is centered. You will also want to make sure that your are pinning to side of the pillow case that you folded the top away from, so that edge doesn't show.

Stitch the lightning bolt in place with coordinating thread (yellow). If you use thread the same color as the pillowcase (orange in my case) in the bobbin then the stitching will not be visible on that back side.

Easy as that you have a cape fitting for any Superhero In Training. A mask and some cuffs add just that much more superheroness. I totally just made up that word.

UP, UP, and AWAY.

The world can rest well tonight knowing this Superhero is watching out for them.

World peace all thanks to an Easy Pillow Case Superhero Cape.

Magnetic Bobby Pin Tray

Do you lose all of your bobby pins? Or is that just me? I swear! Or I want to! Where do they all go????? I remember very religiously always taking them out of my hair while in my bathroom...well almost religiously. 

Almost religiously should only lose me a quarter of my bobby pins, not all but one or two. Seriously, I think they are marching away and laughing at me from all the hidden crevices around my house.

So rude.

Feeling my plight, or annoyed at my need to keep buying more, Hubby came home from his favorite tool store with a solution. He brought me a silver magnetic tool tray. The manly tool purpose for this tray is to hold screws, nails, and other construction bits. He felt rather like a genius exclaiming that he bought it for my wayward bobby pins.

I couldn't deny he was a genius. However, the style of the said tool tray was a little lacking. It was just a plain silver tray. Blah. I can't blame the man though. Function over style is always his motto.

I like both style and function, so I had to pretty up the little boring magnetic tool tray.

A little spray paint and some vinyl and well, hello there gorgeous.

I cut out the hello from vinyl. I put it in the middle of the tray before spray painting. Then I spray painted several coats. I peeled off the vinyl after about 30 minutes of my last coat of paint. Do not let the vinyl stay there until the paint completely dries or the removal of the vinyl will also remove some paint. Wait about 24 hours before you use your tray.

Then load that beauty up with all the bobby pins you can find...or the ones you just went out and bought.

Now my bobby pins happily sit in this gorgeous little tray in my bathroom. I am happy to report that I haven't lost hardly any (let's be honest I am still probably gonna lose one or two in my purse). Seriously guys this is the easiest, cheapest, and quickest little project.

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Superhero Mask and Cuffs DIY

Do you already feel the world is a safer place just by looking at this photo? I sure do.

Yup. The safety of the world is in good hands. The good hands of the cutest Superhero in existence.

I have previously shared this ridiculously adorable...er..I mean...manly Superhero in Training T-shirt.

Today I want to add a couple of necessary accessories for the superhero ensemble...yes I realize a real superhero probably wouldn't  say ensemble. They would probably say crime fighting gear, or something like that.

Anyway you say it...here is a little DIY on how to make a few pretty awesome crime-fighting-approved accessories.

First, we have a set of Superhero Crime Fighting Cuffs.

You need felt and velcro. Cut two rectangles measuring 4" by the circumference of your child's wrist plus 2" from one color. Also cut two rectangles measuring the determined width by 1".  Cut a piece of velcro measuring 2 1/2".

Sew the skinnier strip onto the center of two of the larger rectangle.

Sew the velcro on one of the striped rectangles and one of the plain ones. Sew on opposite ends. Repeat with the other set.

Sew the striped rectangle to the plain one. The velcro facing out on each side.

Cuffs are done and ready to be worn.

All we need now to finish off the ensemble...er...crime fighting gear...is a Superhero Identity Hiding Mask.

To make the mask you just need the Superhero Mask Template some felt and some elastic.

Cut out two pieces of felt in the shape of the face mask.

 To sew the eye holes, I keep the template pinned to the two pieces of felt. Then I sew on the inside of each eye hole in the template.

Once the eye holes are sewn in, you can remove the template.

Measure a piece of elastic that will allow the mask to snugly fit your supers head and add an inch.

Pin one edge of the elastic between the layers of the mask on one side. Then pin the other end on the other side.

Sew around the outside edges of the mask, securing the two layers together and securing the elastic in place.

The last thing that needs to be done is to cut out the eye holes.

With mask and cuffs in place, our Superhero is ready to save the world.

Or at leas the front porch.

Superhero crime fighting gear that any Super would be proud to wear.

I hope your Supers enjoy them as much as my Supers do.

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Pillowcase Heart Envelope Throwpillow

What? Is it only a couple days from Valentine's Day? Seriously?

Yeah, okay, so I know this. This was one of those posts that, although it has been done and even photographed for ages--like AGES, I tell you--I just didn't whip out a post.

So today, I am sharing the how-to on these sweet, very simple Pillowcase Throw Pillows.

The good news is that hearts (and bows) are not just for Valentine's Day. The other good news, yep there is more, is that this simple throw pillow how-to can be altered and changed for other seasons or for general decoration.

The possibilities for this Pillowcase Throw Pillow how-to is endless.

Between the heart stencil on the front and these adorable felt bows on the back, you are sure to make your sofa really happy with the addition of these lovely pillows.

These pillows are practically sew free. They are so very easy to whip up.

What you need:

standard pillow cases
freezer paper
fabric paint
felt, cut into 4"x20" and 2"x6" rectangles
velcro, cut into 2- 4" strips
hot glue
thread
18x18 pillow form

Take out the pillow cases and iron all the lines out of them. Fold the top over so the flap is 10". Iron the fold in place.

Trace a heart, or whatever shape you would like, on to the non-shiny side of sheets of freezer paper. Cut out the shape with an exacto knife.

Iron the freezer paper onto the non-flap side of the pillowcase. Once the freezer paper is securely ironed on, place a piece of cardboard in the pillow case so the paint does not bleed through. Next, apply craft paint in a thin coat with a craft brush. Apply more coats as needed. Make sure not to get too heavy handed around the edges.

Allow to dry for several hours, or cheat by drying the paint with a blow dryer. Remove the freezer paper.

Sew the velcro in place at the top middle of the inside of the pillow case, so that it has a closure.

Once the velcro is in place, it is time to make the bow.

Fold the larger rectangle so the ends overlap. The bow should measure about 9" wide once folded. Sew up the middle. Fold the smaller piece in half and just sew up the outside edge.

Turn the middle piece out so the seam is on the inside.

Fold the large piece a little to put it through the turned out smaller piece.

Arrange the bow and mold into bow shape. Make sure the seam for the smaller piece is in the back.

Attach the bow to the flap side, on the front, bottom, middle of the flap itself. Basically just over the stitches from the velcro you applied to the inside.

Once the glue dries, insert the pillow form. The weight of the felt bow will help the envelope flap stay down so there is no additional closure needed.

You can arrange the pillow heart out, bow out, or one of each.

My favorite part of these pillows, just after the ease of the project of course, is that BOW. Eek. Swoon. I love that bow.

Now I am trying decide in a house full of boys where else I am allowed to put bows!

Hope you find this tutorial useful for more than just Valentine's decor or that you pin it for next Valentine's Day. Gotta love Pinterest.

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