I am Made For Competition

Thanks to everyone who voted for me and my fishy!

It's official, I made it through. It's officially time to go over and vote. It's officially time for me to wait and see if I made something people like. It's official, I should be buying stock in Pepto.

So stop on by Heidi's and cast a vote for your favorite project...ooh fingers crossed it is mine, but I know it will be a hard decision.

If you are feeling so inclined you can vote once each day.

Love ya all.

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

FIRST- Sorry to Sumo for posting her swap two days late! Blame the weather and the lack of computer this weekend. BUT I am back and the computer is fixed so here is Sumo and her AWESOME blog Sumo's Sweet Stuff...PLEASE go and check her blog out if you already haven't...say hi or hey even follower her.

AND here she is--

Hello everyone!

I'm so excited to be guest posting over here today!

I'm Sumo, from Sumo's Sweet Stuff!

My real name is Summer, but my husband nicknamed me Sumo when we were dating. (Should I be offended?) Now he's got all of my family, as well as lots of our friends, calling me Sumo. I think Aunt Sumo sounds pretty great, don't you? I live in Utah with my husband, and our two beautiful daughters - Reece & Remi!

Growing up, I never used to be all that domestic or crafty, so I think no one is more surprised than my mom at how I've ended up where I am today! I started Sumo's Sweet Stuff last May as a place to keep some of my crafting projects so that my personal blog wasn't overrun with them. Somehow, that developed into a place to host giveaways, share tutorials, share recipes, and feature fellow bloggers' ideas and blogs! I also use my blog to promote my etsy shop, so if you're ever in the market for some baby girl accessories, come on over! Every Monday is Market Yourself Monday, where you can link up your latest projects, and visit other blogs to get some inspiration!

Here's a little peek at some of the things you can find on my blog:

Zipper Flower Tutorial

Easy (and tasty!) Bon Bons

Feather Wreath

Chalkboard Block

Seasonal Wood Board

Three Tiered Shirts


T-Shirt Dress


Fabric/Elastic Headbands


You can find something every day of the week at Sumo's Sweet Stuff:

Market Yourself Monday

Tutorial Tuesday

Mouth-Watering Wednesday

Things to Try Thursday

Feature Friday

Showcase Saturday

Sponsor Sunday

I also am involved in a joint blogging venture - Win, Lose or Blog. If you aren't following already, you should get on over there and do so! We have a lot of great sponsors, and not all of the prizes donated are going to the contestants - they are also going to people who comment! Plus it's just nice to cheer for those lovely ladies. We're also starting to do some giveaways, so what's not to love? We'll be doing more seasons as well, so if you think you want to participate, you may get that chance in the future!

Thanks again for having me! I hope to see you all over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff soon!

Thanks again Sumo.


Yay for my computer finally being fixed, we will be all up to blogging speed next week.

Lightning + Computer = Cryface

Here is a tip- when a raging lightning storm is flashing outside, turn off your computer.

Otherwise, your computer might just get a boo boo.

I should know, we have had to abruptly say farewell to our computer screen.

Thank heavens the hard drive is just peachy, and my hubby's ipod touch is available.

Cross your fingers and send happy thoughts my way and this will be just a tiny bump in my road.

It really is Just Another Day in Paradise!


Friday I am introducing myself over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff



...it would be lovely if you went and said hi.

Sock Monkey Snuggle Square Tutorial

I was in need of a fast and easy...but CUTE baby gift.

I have never made a blankie square, but I had some minky fabric left over from this blanket and decided it would be perfect for a pretty sweet sock monkey themed snuggle square.

Sock Monkey Snuggle Square Tutorial

You will need:

sock monkey face pattern...below

four different kinds of coordinating ribbon

1 piece of red, cream, and brown felt

17X17 piece of each brown minky fabric and coordinating red striped fabric

red and brown thread

Sock monkey pattern...click to download

Cut pieces of fabric 17X17

Cut several 2 1/2" strips of  each ribbon. Just shy of a ton. I ended up using 12 pieces a side. Fold them each in half and iron them so they stay folded.

Saw this cute way to embellish the back of minky fabric on The Crafting Chicks and knew I had to do it on the back of this. Basically you sew diagonal lines every set of four bumps from one side, turn around and then sew back to make diamond shapes.

Sorry for the lack of how-to pictures for the monkey face, it was only after that I realized I was in a photo coma and didn't snap any pictures of the process.

BUT here is how....

You want to cut out the individual pieces and sew them on in layers with coordinating colors. Start with main monkey face then layer all the pieces on top. You will sew this on to your patterned fabric BEFORE you sew the two fabric pieces together.

Once the sock monkey face is sewn on, lay you two fabrics on top of each other, right sides facing. Take your folded ribbon pieces and sandwich them between the two fabrics so that the unfolded edge matches up with the fabric edges. Play around with how far about you want them and in what order you want them.

Pin each ribbon in place.

Sew around the edge with a 1/4" seam, leaving an opening to turn. That will leave a couple pieces of ribbon loose.

Once you have turned out your snuggle square, at the opening insert the missing ribbon into a folded seam. 

Starting where the ribbon is pinned in, sew around the entire edge of the snuggle square.

Guess what, now you are done!

Just find one of these and let him snuggle away.

Believe me...he will.

Made By You Mondays- Skip to my Lou
Whatever Goes Wednesday- Someday Crafts

Felt Bracelet Tutorial

First, PLEASE oh pretty PUH-LEASE go over here and vote...

She fixed the voting snafu and now you can vote more than once...so feel free to vote more than once!
OK now on to the tutorial...

About a month ago I was lucky enough to guest post over at Someday Crafts. 

Here is the tutorial I did for her site. Thought I would now pass it along here, just for those who may have missed it.

Back tomorrow with a new tutorial...well as long as the sickness officially leaves our house. WHAT is with summer colds???

Washer Felt Cuff

You will need:

Washers

Spray paint

Diamond Glaze

t-shirt scraps

felt

snaps

coordinating thread

hot glue

First: You will need to spray paint your washer with your chosen color. It will take several coats.

Once your washer is painted and dried, you will apply this--

Slowly outline and then fill in your washer. Make sure to follow the instructions on the Diamond Glaze...allow for proper time to dry...it will take a couple of days.

With your t-shirts scraps, take a strip about 1 inch by 14 and roll into a flower...

here is a tutorial I recently did for this technique.

Now that you have a rolled t-shirt flower, hot glue it onto the center of your washer.

To make the cuff, measure the length you need to go around your wrist. Cut two strips out of felt measuring that length by the width of 1 1/2".

Pin the two pieces together and sew around the outside edge. Then "quilt" it by sewing every 1/4". It will look like this--

To attach the snap, figure out where the closure will need to be.

Mark that spot. Make a small slit with an exacto knife for the snap pieces to go into, and then follow snap instructions.

Once the snap is in place, hot glue your washer onto the felt cuff.

Now you have a great and original piece of cuff jewelry. So easy to make and so cute.

Monday Made by you-Skip to my Lou

Upcycled Awesomeness- The Tshirt Diaries