Mommy Crafting

DIY Shabby Mirror Project

December 15, 2013 By Valerie Mcclintick 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve tackled a “Mommy” project.

The weather has been cold, and it limits how much I can really do.

However, last month I picked up my very first jar of Chalk Paint.

American Paint Company Â (color: Home Plate)

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try some, I’m just so frugal at heart and Chalk paint isn’t on the cheap side.

It is however on the quick drying side, and non-fume side, so I can use this paint indoors during the Winter.

So I forked over Â a few extra dollars per ounce so that I would be able to continue my painting ~~addiction~~ hobby over the next few months.

I also decided that while I was shelling out the big bills that I would finally hit “purchase” on some other paint items that have been on my Amazon wish list.

Modern Masters Metal Effects Â (Metalic Paints w/ Antique Patina)

I immediately fell in love with these paints. Â I tested them out on a few boards and came up with some quick wall art.

And look what they do to my boring old clay pots:

Anyway, armed with these paints I decided to get to work on something that has been bothering me for the past year.

My black plastic wall mirror.

photo credit

I forgot to take a before shot, but that is pretty much what it looked like.

Black. Â Plastic. Â Man Cave style.

I bought it on sale because I needed a mirror, but I never quite liked it very much.

And it definitely didn’t fit in with ANYTHING.

Well, today I went to work on it.

Â I started with one coat of Home Plate from American Paint Co.

TIP: When painting a mirror I always use computer paper instead of painters tape, it’s the lazy way but it works better for me, I can never get the tape to go on straight and you can usually wedge the paper under the sides so that there isn’t any paint seepage.

After I painted the entire thing, I gave the middle groove a second coat

Next I went around the outer edge, using a dry brush with Copper Paint.

I did it pretty splotchy, I want some white and black to show through.

I decided to paint the inner edge with Silver, I had some Martha Stewart Metallic Glaze Â and that did the trick.

Then I took some Turquoise Paint and dry brushed it over the Copper.

(color: Beach Glass by American Paint co.)

Bronze Dry Brushed on the sides of the Mirror.

Are you keeping track, that’s silver, copper, bronze

Did I say Two Tone? Â I meant Three.

Three Toned Mirror.

I then went around the white area in the middle and rubbed in color that was left on all my brushes.

Since they were dry brushes, there wasn’t much paint, but I focused the turquoise in the corners and some bronze to darken up the white a bit.

(You can tell this isn’t an exact science right?)

I also used a rag and wiped away the paint in some areas to expose some of the black plastic.

It’s hard for me to capture a photo of the different tones in the mirror.

Here is a shot with lighting where you can see the different paint colors.

And here’s my Shabby mirror all ready for business

Much better then black plastic don’t ya think!

Be sure you check out all of our Shabby Projects Here:

Gifts Kids Can Make….

December 14, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 12 Comments

Okay, so I don’t know about you,
but finding gifts that children can make can sometimes be troublesome.

Especially, when you wait until a week before Christmas to get started.

Ahem.

Anyway, if you have a child who is interested in making gifts for family members,
next week is a great time to put the Christmas break to good use.

Especially when they can create something like this:

My nine year old made these.
Trust me, they are simple!
And Cheap!

This would be a great project for young tweeny boppers too!

So here’s the deal:

Materials:
Wood
Stain
Paint
Sandpaper

And here’s how to do all that on the cheap:

1. Visit Home Depot and head to the back of the lumber aisle. They should have a discount bin, where you can snag a board like this for practically free. Actually 51 cents, but if your kids flash a pearly grin, and ask adorable questions like, “What kind of wood is this?,” and “Do I need to sand with the grain?” then you might just score them for free.

NOTE: I have only seen the discount bin empty one time. You may not score the same size board as we did but there is usually always something to work with. Try to take the STRAIGHTEST board with no SPLITS.

2. Cut your board. HD will do this for FREE! or if you have a saw at home, that works too. We cut our boards at about 14 inches. We got FIVE signs out of one board! SCORE!

3. Paint your background color on your board. Use a lighter color paint, as we will darken it up a bit a little later. (Sissy’s signs were painted white and light blue to begin with.) TIP: While you’re at Home Depot, check their paint department for the “Mess Ups” rack. I often find a small tub of paint for 50 cents!

4. Choose your word. Pick a font that is crisp and easy to paint. Print it at a size that will fit your board.

5. Follow this chalk tutorial for transfering your word to your board. Or use graphite paper, we’re cheap and there are ALWAYS little chunks of sidewalk chalk around our house.

6. Paint your word. This is the longest part, go slow, don’t fret over mistakes, we can sand them off…and we want it to look shabby anyway right? We have a basic paint brush set from Wally World that included a slanted tip paint brush….this helps quite a bit.

7. Shabby your board up a bit. Use sandpaper to rough up your word. Hammer in some dents. Rough up the edges…ect.

Don’t be afraid to take out some big gouges!
Where ever there is bare wood showing, the stain will soak in.

8. Use a wood stain over the paint. This is the most expensive part of the project. Wood stain is about $8 at Home Depot, but it will last you a lifetime! You literally use a dab of this stain for each board. I love Minwax Jacobean for most projects.

To stain your board: Wear gloves, dab an old rag into the can, and then wipe it over the whole project, let it set for a few moments, then wipe it off. Throw away your rags. (I read somewhere that staining rags can self ignite…and that is not good right? So toss them!)

Mom or Dad can do this part too, if you’re nervous about the kiddos handling such a noxious product.

9. Let it dry. We move ours indoors because it sets quicker. Afterwords you can spray a poly coat on if you like, this is just an extra step to protect the sign if say you needed to clean it for some reason. Not necessary, but if you have the spray anyway, give it a quick shot.

10. If you want to be fancy, hammer a hook or a picture holder into the back.

All Done!

Total Cost
$.51 wood
$8 stain
_________
$8.50

On Hand:
Sandpaper
Paint

$8.50 makes about 5 signs….so that’s about $1.70 per gift!

Not bad.

Maybe Mom can make a few too?

Now that I think of it,
This would be a great project for the entire family,
you could easily make words like JOY and Peace…

or maybe Welcome!
This sign literally cost me about $1.00 in materials.
(board, stain, paint)

Stay tuned for some more shabby projects,
my camera is full of photos to share!

Shabby Adventures

November 4, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

Hey.How are ya?

It’s been a while…

I know.

I’m sorry.

You see I recently bought one of these.

That’s where I’ve been.

Well, actually….this is where I’ve been:

Reading my newest book:The Handbuilt Home by Ana White.

And I’ve been pinning all sorts of things here.

I’ve really been very busy doing things.

Non-computer things.

It’s good for me I think?

To prove that I didn’t just ditch you,

that I was actually doing SOMETHING….

Here are some Recent Projects I’ve tackled
(with inspiration/tutorial links)

I heart Oregon HOME Sign
(Inspiration via The Vintage Lemon and Shanty 2 Chic)
(Painting on Wood Tutorial: My Wonderful Walls)

Wash Your Hands Printed Fabric Bathroom Frame
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: 4 Men and 1 Lady)

Photo Collage
Frames were repurposed from garage sales or goodwill.
I did this in our mudroom bath,
the lighting is horrible, but it really helps
that tiny little room feel a bit more cheery.

Glass Knob Wreath Decoration
Scroll wood from Home Depot and
The rest is just a piece of walnut stained wood,
with a knob and a wreath….simple but pretty!

Printed Fabric Shabby Pillow
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: Graphics Fairy)

Repainted my Mirror
(Inspiration Color via The House of Smiths)

Cedar Planter
(I need like ten more of these!)
(Ana White)

Gallery Shelf Ledges
(Ana White)

And more gallery shelf ledges….

The gallery shelves are simple and cheep. I love them!

Storage Crate
(Shanty 2 Chic)
This turned out HUGE and fits all of our floor pillows,
and even a couple of babies.

Fireside Bench
(Ana White)
Love this one! I still haven’t coated it with poly,
just enjoying the rustic look.

And finally my VERY FAVORITE project this month:

Framed Wall Maps
(Frame Tutorial via Shanty 2 Chic)
I cut my boards with my miter box and a hand saw, just like the tutorial above,
but I actually used this video tutorial from Kreg, for assembling the boards.
My frames were done in a few minutes.

The longest part was beating them up a bit and then waiting for the stain to dry.

Aren’t they wonderful?
Here’s what I used:

Boards: 1 x 3’s
Stain: Minwax Walnut
Maps: US and World (though I might replace with these antique looking ones)

Phew.

That was a lot of work!!

See, it wasn’t you.

It was just me being busy.

And believe me, I’m just getting started on my “list”

I am always finding new links for fun projects on Pinterest!
so if you’re starting to miss me, follow me over there too!

The Power of Wax….

August 7, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

So yesterday I posted all about my crazy yellow dresser.

It just turned out WAY brighter then I had intended:

Yowza Yellow Dresser:

Well today, in an attempt to rectify the screeming yellow,
I tried adding in a little wax.

So here is the stuff I picked up.

It’s called Fiddes and Son Supreme Wax Polish
and the color is Jacobean

It’s really thick and kinda looks like birdy doo

But that’s okay, because it’s going to rescue my dresser from a classic craft fail.

And it’s super simple to use:

All you have to do is rub the ~~birdy doo~~ wax into the wood,
in all the areas you want a bit more shabby.

Which in my case is like the entire thing.

We are using gloves and doing this outside because,
the wax stinks…….not like birdy doo,
but like the kind of stuff that
will make you THINK you can FLY like a birdy.

And that is certainly not our intention this afternoon.

So here is a side by side shot of the drawers:

You can see the bottom two have been waxed.

The color is toned down just enough that it’s not giving me a headache anymore.

Looking much better,
tons more depth!

Here is the BEFORE and AFTER shot:

It’s hard to tell in the photo, but in person it makes a huge difference.

When you look closer you can see a whole new tone to the piece:

Before and After Close UP:

It’s just the color that I wanted!

I will be using birdy doo on EVERYTHING from now on!

Love it!

Shabby Summer

August 6, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 2 Comments

Okay, I know I haven’t posted much Shabbiness this Summer.

I’ve been SO busy this year,
but the NEED to paint something finally overcame me
and I did squeeze in one little project this week.

I have had this dresser sitting in my closet for a couple of years,
just waiting to be shabbied up.

Or down.

I’m not really sure the proper verbage there.

But the point is that I scored this baby for $15 at a yard sale,
and have had big plans (in my head) for it over the last few years.

Well, today was the day!

Here’s how it all went down.

Wash.

Light Sand.

Undercoat….

I did a quick spray of all the areas I wanted the color to show through.

Time to paint!

Three coats latter…still not the exact color, but I’m pooped.

Time to start sanding….

and sanding….

and even more sanding…

Adding some pretty hardware to the top drawers….
(Keeping the old hardware for the bottom.)

It took about 2 1/2 hours, but here she is all gussied up!

Yikes that is really YELLOW!!

Going to take some getting used to…

Loving the glass knobs, so girly!

Overall cost:
Dresser $15
Paint $13 (though I only used half)
Spray Paint $5 (again, over half left)
Knobs $16

Total Cost $49
(or $40 if you count the leftover paint for another project)

Not to ~~bad~~ shabby!

But, I’m wondering if there is an easy way to tone down the yellow a bit?
I was thinking a tad more golden brown….

Check out a few shabby projects from the past!

How to Bind your Notebooks…

July 17, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

This week I made a big purchase.

There has been something on my homeschool “wishlist” for quite some time.

I’ve spent the last year rationalizing away the cost.

Quietly planning all the different projects that I would use it for.

Promising myself that I would get my monies worth.

Do you know what it is yet?

It’s a binding machine!

It does things to my e-books that a stapler NEVER could.

(Oh sweet notebooking heaven)

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get one!

So wondering how it works?

Here’s the deal:

Step 1: Print up your e-book.

Make sure to use cardstock for a cover page, and a back page.
(note: you can get special coverpages at the store if you want)

Step 2: Load your weapon:

This means you put your curly binding comb between the prongs,
pull the special lever to open it

Step 3: Poke all your holes:

For my machine that means entering the paper like so

And pulling down the big handle.

Crunch.

All the papers are stored in a drawer inside the machine. No mess.
(note: my particular machine can handle up to 10 sheets at a time)

Step 4: Start assembling your book.
Slide your freshly punched papers onto the open prongs of your binding comb.
(the black curly thing you opened in step 2)

Step 5: Continue until you have all the pages you want included.

Step 6: Release side lever and the binding comb closes back up.

Step 7: Enjoy your fancy looking notebook!

If your interested here is the machine that I purchased.
It’s called Fellowes Star Manual Comb Binding Machine
I also picked up some different sized combs:

Fellowes Plastic Comb Bindings
Note: Combs come in different capacity…
Some do up to 55 pages, some up to 150 pages.
You want to get a variety, but I use the 55page and 90pages the most!

Pssst: Like my garden notebook?
STAY TUNED!!

Sewing for the Birthday Boy!

February 1, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 7 Comments

Someone very special is turning 1 this month!
Someone cute, and adorable,
and someone who’s diaper I don’t have to change!

Someone who made me an Aunt for the very first time!
Someone who deserves an AMAZING 1st birthday gift,
(you know…..to remind him who his ~~favorite~~ Aunt is)

I found (via Pinterest of course)
this wonderfully simple tutorial for making a drawstring bag.
I just had to make one!

…..with a little more color!

For the outer fabric:Celebrate Seuss Squiggle Stripe Multi

dr. seuss fabric

And for the inner fabric:Celebrate Seuss Book Titles White

You can purchase these by the 1/2 yard at Fabric.com or by the yard on Amazon here.
(they have TONS of other Seussical prints too….be careful!)

I’m using a Fat Quarter of each.

As far as constructing the bag
I pretty much followed the tutorial here on Mother Huddle,
Since I was using a lining fabric, I just put them wrong sides together,
and followed the pattern step by step as if I was just working with on fabric.

HOWEVER:
Before I sewed up the sides of the bag,
I decided it would be fun to add in a little peek-a-boo window
(another idea spawned from Pinterest)

I just cut out a rectangle (through both fabrics)
and then used a plastic scrapbook page protector (both layers)
as the window.

Note: I have never done this before,
it sewed just fine, and makes a nice crinkly sound,
but it already has “folds” and “creases” in it.
I would suggest that you use a clear table cloth or something more sturdy.

However it was thin enough for me to use two layers
so I made it into a pocket and inserted some foam numbers
before sewing up the final edge.
(This is just a very tight zig-zag all the way around)

Then I decided to make a pocket from the scrap rectangle I just cut out.
I just ironed and folded the edges and then added a bit of bias tape across the top.
I also added ribbon to the sides (using this method)

At the end of the ribbons I wanted three little fishes:
So to make them I just drew a rough template, cut out a few sizes,
sewed them back to back with some chenille,
and made them “crinkly” by stuffing them with old
baby wipe packages. (tutorial here)

I love these little fishies!

Note: Button eyes would be super cute…
but I’m super paranoid and since it’s a gift I’m keeping it extra baby friendly!

Then I went back to following the tutorial.
I sewed up the sides, squared off the corners, and added the draw string.
(mine is actually a cord)

The bag was complete and ready to fill up with goodies:
Note: Those are just little plastic balls, like from the ball pit at Mickey D’s.
I have not idea why photoshop is turning them into crazy psychedelic orbs?

Anyway, I stuffed in an adorable Dr. Seuss baby book,
filled with interactive pages that squeek and rattle.

Some colorful balls, one for each color of the rainbow,
plus a super Seusical pink tuff ball

And then I finished it off with a set of dollar store preschool flashcards,
which I laminated and then tied together with a matching ribbon.
(they look so much more adorable this way, and baby can drool away!)

All packed up and ready to go!!

Sure wish I could “hand deliver” this one!

A Blank Canvas

January 24, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

The story of my first canvas experience:

What Fun!

Sewing Baby Boots

December 13, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 8 Comments

Recently I decided that I needed to make my little nephew something for Christmas.

I found these adorable baby boot patterns from a website called I Think Sew.

I’m in love.

It was hard to decide between all the adorable little booties they had,
but I finally settled on the “Charlie” pattern.

The Charlie patterns is usually $4.00,
but they are having a holiday sale until Jan 8, 2012
and you can get it for $2.00!!

The pattern was super easy to follow,
I didn’t even mess up once.
(That means easy peasy because I almost ALWAYS have to get out my seam ripper)

I love that for each age group there is a different pattern
(none of this “add an extra inch for a larger size stuff)

I made the 9-12 months size
and here’s how my little charlie boots turned out:

I used wool suiting for the outside,
and a plaid flannel for the inside.
I love that I can fold them down too!:

My favorite part was the little ribbon tag,
I think I’ll be adding a little checkered tag to everything from now on!

And best of all the bottoms have the No-slip grip fabric (Joann’s):

I can’t wait to see these on my little nephew.
With the way he grows I’ll be lucky if they still fit him by Christmas!

The Stockings Were Hung….

December 11, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

Do you have a “Crafty” To-do list?

There are so many amazing projects out there,
that sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the inspiration.

Sometimes I’ll bookmark and idea, sometimes I’ll pin it on pinterest, and other times
I’ll just quitely mull over it in my head until the perfect moment.

~~For Years~~ Lately, I’ve been mulling over two different projects that I’ve wanted to do:

These beautiful drop cloth stockings from Shanty 2 Chic:

And these precious children’s silhouette pilllows:

Well finally it struck me that I could turn these two projects into one!

So here’s how it all went down:

I used the same freezer paper stencil technique that I used for these baby onsies.
I’m using some cheepo painters drop cloth from Lowes,
and I simply traced our old stockings (plus one inch all the way around)

Once they were dry I started to sew them together.

I followed the tutorial on Shanty 2 Chic, and then added in my own embelishments for the heel and toe.

Ruffles for the girls:

And wool edging for the boys:

And buttons aplenty:

I Just LOVE how they turned out!

TIP: When you’re cutting out your freezer paper stencil, if you’re careful you can use the “negative” for another project.

I simply ironed them to the canvas, and painted around them.

I’m thinking of stretching this across a canvas for some family wall art!

Makes all that tedious cutting worth it!

Now, If I could just find the time to make a matching Tree Skirt!

My First Handmade Purse!

November 27, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 14 Comments

I did it!

I made a purse.

WITH a zipper.

This is my first Official Purse.

Actually…..
I did make this handbag a couple of years ago,
but there was no zipper
so I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t count.

This time there IS a zipper,
and let me tell ya,
there were a few times I almost threw
this little purse out the window.

But I’m sooooo glad I didn’t.

It was worth it ALL!

I used this pattern I found online
(It’s an Amy Butler of course!)

And I chose these fabrics:

And after 3 NIGHTS OF HARDCORE SEWING
read: seam ripping, how to video watching, and even some yelling.

I was finished!

So let me take you on a little tour of my new little bag:

Here she is sitting on my purse table:

The side detail of the straps
(This is my favorite and……second most frustrating part)

The front flap has a magnetic closure:
(These are super easy to install by the way)

And now for a look inside!

Glorious Zipper!
(okay, not perfect but it works so I’m happy!)

Packed up with goodies:
(Two diapers and wipes fit perfect in the middle!)

And ready to GO!:

I HEART this purse!

I even pinned myself on Pinterest.

Is that allowed?

Yo Yo Hairbows

August 6, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Last night, I dared to look into my craft closet.

I know what your thinking…
and YES the entire closet if filled with crafts

It’s nothing special, just a simple linen closet completly devoid of linen.
I love my Craft Closet.
There is a scrapbooking shelf, a sewing shelf, a knitting/yarn craft shelf
and then a shelf of “Open Projects” as I like to call them.

(One shelf actually has linen on it, with a few bedsheets smushed in between a serger and a sewing machine)

Oh, and as you’re reading this You might be noticing
that I haven’t included a photo of these lovely shelves,
It’s not because I forgot.

But Anyway, perched atop the “Open Project” shelf
I found my bag of Yo-Yo hairbows:

yo yo crafts for kids

And like a child who just found a bag of candy treasure,
I got all giddy and excited about this long forgotten project!

You see, I’ve actually been making these for a while now,
(I even sold them in boutique store before we moved)
and now I’m passing the torch, and sharing my super secret
Yo-yo hairbow tutorial with the public.

(you’ll laugh at that later, because these are soooo easy to make)

In fact these are perfect beginning sewing projects for your little girls!
Which is exactly why I included the tutorials in our new Home Economic
Sewing Projects.

Yo-Yo Tutorial

Yo-Yo Hairbow Tutorial

Happy Sewing!

Cake Pops!

June 9, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

Have you ever heard of Cake Pops?
I see them at Starbucks everytime I get my latte
but I owe it to Pinterest for helping me realize that I too could make them!

So here is some eye candy for you today:

Rolling up the dough (Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting)

Adding our Sticks:

Dipping in Chocolate: (Milk Chocolate Chips)

And then of course Frosting! (More Cream Cheese Frosting)

Mine aren’t as pretty and round as all the amazing Pops out there,
but Hey, it’s a start!

Have you tried any good Cake Pop Recipes?
I’m interested!

Last Minute Easter Baskets

April 24, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

When I was a child, I had my very own Easter Bunny Basket.
It was handmade (in the 80’s) by the nursery worker at our local bowling alley.
It was a compliation of yarn, ribbon, and a plastic milk jug.

I’m pretty sure it’s long gone now, but here is a photo of the closest thing I could find online.

You can imagine how much I loved it.

And you can imagine how guilty I feel to admit that:

My children do not have Easter baskets.

gasp.

Why? you ask.

How could I have let that happen?

It’s a mixture between wanting their baskets to be keepsakes, keeping Christ in Easter, and just an overall lack of time.

(and a whole lot of procrastination)

…ahem

But that is all in the past, and this year, I was not about to let another Easter morning pass without baskets.

So I bought four identical baskets from Walmart,

And sewed little liners for them:

One for the girl:

And Three for the boys:

You can tell I din’t measure because they are kinda baggy

But for twenty minutes I’m pretty happy….All I did was sew the sides up a fat quarter and then make corners at the bottom:

Then I just added a strip of dotted fabric to make them all a bit similar:

And even though I didn’t have time to make them perfect, I’m glad we now have some!

Eventually I’d like to add a bit more customization for each kiddo,
maybe the first letter of their name or something to make it special for each child.

Any Ideas?

These would look really beautiful with the Naturally dyed Eggs we did last year!

Crochet Owl Hat for Baby

January 22, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 16 Comments

Okay, I need some opinions here….

I whipped up this hat this afternoon, and I can’t decide….

Is it Adorable or Atrocious?

It kinda has that, “I’m so ugly I’m cute!” kind of a feel to it.

I tried it on Freckles, and he’s pretty sure he doesn’t like the feeling of an Owl perched atop of his head:

Oh well…..least I got a couple cute photos:

So what do you think, would you take your child out in public like this?

BTW: I used this pattern on Ravelry.com and designer made it much more Adorable then I!

Snuggly Baby Goodies

January 11, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

I meant to post these before “Freckles” came, but time just got away from me!

This is a baby blanket that I made using a pattern from Amy Buttler’s, “Stitches for Little Ones.”

I used Chenille for the inside of the blanket:

And this adorable green print for the outside:

There is also a cute “Fun with Dick and Jane” print along the edges:

Then I decided that the fabric was too cute to just stop there!

I cut out some of the graphics and using this Onsie AppliquÃ©d Tutorial from Make Baby Stuff, I turned some plain ole’ white onesies into some adorable custom baby clothes:

I love that the sewing doesn’t have to be perfect, and it still looks cute:

We’ll have to wait to see Freckles in these, as they are all size 3-6 months ;( Darn.

Then of course I had to make a bib to match everything:

(I used the same Free Baby Bib pattern to make Monkey’s bibs last year)

And finally I decided that the rest of that snuggly chenielle couldn’t go to waste so I put it to good use!

So here is my crazy print Boppy Pillow that I scored at a Garage sale for $5.00:

Originally I was going to pick up a premade boppy cover for it, but they are so thin that the bright red just showed through.

Then I found this easy peasy and Free Boppy Pillow Case Pattern online, and decided to give it a try.

Here is how it looked without the pillow inserted:
(I was a little worried)

But once I stuffed it full of boppy it fit perfectly!

And I was able to get some adorable shots of Freckles in his new gear:

And Even though I’m completely exhausted I’m loving all the snuggle time I get with this new little baby!

Freezer Paper Stencils

November 28, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

Oh man….

You are going to want to bookmark this site right here.

This has been my favorite website this month, as I get ready for baby….and baby cousin.

My latest crafty craze has been these fantastic freezer paper stencils. I’ve seen these all around the web, but I really love the tutorial I found here, because there were step by step photos, and a fantastic link to free stencils online.

Anyway, I’ve had this project “In the Works” for quite sometime. I’ve slowly been collecting cute clipart and images (from google image search) and this week I finally had a spare second to put it all together.

I’ll show you some pics of the process, but you’ll want to check out the above tutorial for all the details!

First I cut out my stencil:

Then I ironed him on just where I wanted him:

Filled him in with Fabric Paint:

Waited…..and Waited…..and Waited till he was dry.
(This is the hardest part!)

And then pealed off the freezer paper to see how the little guy turned out:

Once I realized how easy it was I couldn’t Stop!

I made a Moose:

& I made an Acorn:

Then I got Patriotic:

And then I got Silly:

And then I added in a Bear for good measure, cause what little boy doesn’t want a bear shirt?

Didn’t they turn out just adorable?

This is my new Fantastic Frugal, but looks like it came from a Boutique Baby Gift.

And needless to say my older kiddos are now bugging me to make them some, maybe I can double dip and make them a set for Christmas……

Diaper Cakes!

November 26, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

Did I forget to mention that I’m going to be a First Time Aunt?

Aunt Valerie has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

Or maybe Auntie….or AWN-tie….or even Nana V

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the little bugger calls me:

Anyway, here is the sign I’ve been working on, cause yes it’s a BOY!

And I wanted to try something different for this little fella, somthing I’ve never done before, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time searching online for cute baby crafts and eventually decided to try and make a Diaper Cake.

This was the video I found that made it look sooooo simple that I was convinced that I could do it.

I made Two different Cakes and Here is What I used:

Box of Size 1 Diapers. (two boxes of 96 = two cakes)
Some cute goodies to decorate the cake.
Trays in the Christmas aisle that could be the base. (or use cardboard)
Dollar discount ribbon from Michaels. + Some of my May Arts Ribbon

Here is what I did: (watch video above for specifics)

Decorating the Cake with the Goodies:

Blankets:

Bows:

Suckers:

Spoons:

Ribbons:

Wheels:

Topping it Off:

Elephant Friend:

Booties:

Final Product: Two adorable centerpieces for the shower!

I also had a couple packs of baby washcloths that I wrapped up, stuck some toys in and smothered with riboon.

Aren’t they just adorable!

Now……back to sewing with my friends.

Making Friends…

November 2, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

I know, I’ve been gone awhile….

Did you miss me?

Actually, I’ve been off making some NEW friends

(Don’t be jealous)

If fact, I’d like to introduce you to some of my newest playmates:

This is little Timmy

He is the adorable boy that caught my attention at the bookstore:

Timmy is a very sweet boy, and he offered to share his toys with me:

Then he showed me his Brand New playgroup shoes:

And this is Simon, he is still learning how to share:

I think we are all going to be great friends!

We can play together on the Playground

Explore the woods together:

And spend the rest of our time being silly and goofing off.

We’ll be spending quite a bit of time together over the next month,
so I might not have as much time to spend here with you,

but don’t worry we can all play together soon!

;)

Pretty Fabric Flowers

September 12, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

Sticks + Fabric = Beautiful Fabric Flowers

Remember the beautiful colors….

Here is the link for a tutorial. I read the tutorial for inspiration, but I just folded Jelly roll strips in half, used my Ruffler foot, then hot glued them into a rose shape.

Here they are all whipped up into everlasting blooms.

I think they turned out wonderfully…. & I almost hated to part with them….

Mommy Crafting

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