Diaper Bag

I wanted to make something extra special for my sister-in-law for her baby shower. I came across this tutorial for a diaper bag from A Mingled Yarn click here for tutorial.
I was able to pick up some new "vintage" material at Beverly's for $5/yd, which I knew that would be my SIL's taste!
The tutorial was very easy and detailed. The one thing I would change is Step 4 (a). I would sew the front flap metallic snaps at the very end so they will line up exactly to its mate. Mine did not line up to the front pocket snaps, so I had to readjust.
One more thing that helped me was when I cut out my pieces of fabric. For my interior lining, rather than using a laminated vinyl, I created my own using the fabric of my choice and ironing it with the Heat N Bond Flex Vinyl. So, with all these pieces to cut out and to make the most out of my yardage, I created an Excel spreadsheet so I knew exactly how much to cut out without wasting any fabric. I've included those links here.
All squares are in 1-inch increments. For the blueprint for the exterior fabric, click here. For the interior fabric, click here. For the fusible interfacing click here.
The next time I make one of these bags, I'll skip the vinyl and just use regular fabric with interfacing for the interior.
Overall, I was pleased with the bag, although there were a lot of mistakes along the way and it's not perfectly lined up, but I was in a time crunch. SIL loved it, or else that's what she's telling me!

Felt House Car Play Mat

As soon as I saw pinned this project, I knew that I had to make these for my friends' boys. From Cook Clean Craft, she gave an awesome tutorial on how she made this, so it was easy to follow. I made a few adjustments and found one error in this tutorial.

In the part where she is giving measurements for her "blue roof", she says to cut out 2 pieces of 4 x 6", it should be 4 x 7". Also, it would be helpful to have instructions on where to cut. At the late hour, I couldn't think straight and made a mistake cutting one side. Luckily, my invisible thread patched it up! So, for cutting instructions, you're only making 4 cuts. You're cutting perpendicular to the 30" length. From handle to handle on both ends, you cut from the handle to the center of the base of the house. Don't cut anywhere else!

There's definitely room for creativity, but I only had one evening to get this done. I started at 9pm and got most of it finished by 1am. I got up at 5am and completed it by 7am. So, in total, I spent about 6 hours to complete this in its entirety.

I used a hot glue gun rather than Tacky glue or any other adhesive. Works really well. This is a present for one of my daughter's crib buddies, so hope he likes it!

Reusable Snack Bags

I love reusable snack bags! Even more so, I love shopping for fabric to make these. I am always perusing the fabric stores for fat quarters that catch my eye. I think I've become obsessed with this. I have started making these as gifts for friends. For an added personal touch, I've started adding fabric labels with their names on it.
I don't know about you, but in our household, everyone uses these, not just the little toddler! They're great for their intended purpose plus there's less waste in the landfill!

Materials for snack bag:
7 x 10" fabric
7 x 10" ripstop (nylon)
sew-on Velcro (about 4 inches, depending on the width of your snack bag top

Materials for fabric labels:
Cotton twill tape (ribbon)
Small letter stamps
VersaCraft fabric ink pad
(You will need to iron your labels after you stamp them to heat-set them so they are washable).

Directions:
Sew right sides together on the 3 sides of your rectangle (leave one of the short ends open)
I always use a chopstick to get all the corners nice and turned out as square as possible.
Turn out, and press flat with iron.
It's always best to iron your projects to ensure the best and precise work).
Press top fold of the open side and top stitch closed.
Then, on either of the bag, sew on your Velcro.
Fold bag with RIGHT sides together. At this point, you will need to add your fabric label on one side.
Sew sides together.
Turn out and press.

Happy snacking! I will hopefully post photos to go along with the instructions soon. Enjoy!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Invitations

After doing some extensive research (aka OCD), I wasn't too happy with TVHC ideas for birthday invitations. Since we didn't have a birthday party for our daughter's first birthday (where we invited friends, we had family celebrations), we decided to go a little big this year and have one.

Apparently, these theme-related birthdays are the thing, so being an avid children's book lover and former elementary teacher, I had to choose TVHC theme. 

Plus, there were a lot of decorating and food ideas for this theme on Pinterest.

Here's what I came up with. This was done all free hand with some tracing of plates to get the oval shape and tracing of coins to get the circles. I am a scrapbooker, but do not have big circle punches!

Anyhow, this is what I came up with and I must admit, I was pretty pleased!

AARR Valentine's Wish For You!

The parents were asked to include a Valentine's Day card for all the kids at our daycare, which luckily there is only 6 toddlers in total. I originally saw this idea on Pinterest and tweaked it a little to put on a card rather than with a lollipop. This is also fitting because our high school mascot is the pirate, so what better way to receive a Valentine message than from a fellow pirate!

Out To Eat Placemat

Isn't it disgusting when you go out to eat and your poor toddler has to eat off the nasty table or vinyl placemat? We usually do not bring plates or bowls since they will end up on the floor. I searched online to buy something, but instead found inpsiration to make one! Here's the tutorial by Gwenny Penny.

So cute, so creative, and washable.

I went out and bought the fabric right away, but it actually took me a few months to sit down and make it! It was so easy and fun that I made three.