Free Autism Print - Love you to puzzle pieces

Something a little different today.  No blanket post, instead I have something to give to you! 

April is Autism awareness month. 

In case you didn't know ...

This is what Autism looks like.

I'm so blessed to be his mommy!

{And here's another one -- just because he's so darn cute}

Ok. Ok.  You guys don't want to look at my little guy all day --- you want the freebie!!

You can copy and paste it OR if you want the pdf file you can email me amandablogs (at) yahoo

You can print and frame or do like I did and print it on fabric. (Your craft store sells special fabric -  it usually comes 3 sheets in a pack.  Mine was print and iron.  SOOO easy!)

Make a bag and voila!  PERFECT gift to therapists, teachers, helpers - YOURSELF! :)

Enjoy!

Look HOO's Ready For Easter

The Easter Bunny has been busy

getting things ready for baskets and decided

that something was missing.

I decided to join in and help, by making

this cute little plush owl.

I found some inspiration online,

and made a pattern in Adobe Illustrator.

I used scraps from previous projects

so it was 100% free!

I used flannel for the body, and felt

for the details. I simply glued the felt

details on to make it quicker and easier,

but you could also sew them on for a

more professional look.

It's the perfect addition, and the

Easter Bunny was very pleased.

I think that my little 2 year old will also

be pleased when she sees it sitting in her basket!

If you'd like the PDF pattern simply become

a follower and leave a comment on this post

with your email address and I will email it to you!

Backpack Plus a Zipper Tip

I was at my local fabric store when my little boy excitedly spotted some Buzz & Woody fabric (He is close to obsessed). I thought it would be fun to make him something out of it so I bought some. Here's what I ended up making:

I thought it would be something fun for him to pack his clothes in for when we go visit his grandmas & grandpas.

When I got done with it, he was really excited that it had Buzz and Woody on it, but was in no way excited to have it strapped to his back, otherwise I would have pictures of my little guy modeling it.

I considered making up my own pattern but then spotted this pattern at the same place I got the fabric at for only $3. Why not? It's the Butterick See & Sew B5346. I actually altered it a little for the straps because I wanted them to be adjustable and have a little more padding. I'll admit, I am not an advanced seamstress--it took me a while, but seemed pretty easy to follow.

Image from HERE

Well, that's not all I wanted to post about. Here is a little zipper tip. My mom is a seamstress. Much better than I am. Well, the sewing skills were actually mostly inherited by my sister Lizz. She can sew just about anything and totally makes her own clothes and handbags all of the time, and they are impressive! I was recently talking to her on the phone, and she told me that she saves the plastic bags that her pillows, bedding items, etc. come in and uses the zippers from those--they are usually in great shape and easy to use a seam ripper to remove. Come to think of it, maybe that's why my mom always had a box full of zippers handy for any sewing project (apparently I am not as observant as my sister is--maybe that is why she ended up with all the skills). So that is what I did for Tucker's backpack when I realized I forgot to buy a zipper.

Thank you Boppy Pillow Plastic Case for contributing your perfect zipper for this backpack and saving me a trip to the store to get one because I forgot to buy one earlier. Look! I even have 2 more black zippers for a future project from our Beautyrest pillows purchase! I am now a collector :)

Kiddie Picnic Table

Have you guys seen Ana White's website?

Well... it's awesome, and she has free plans

for TONS of furniture!

My husband and I tried our hand at the

preschool sized picnic table.

We started it MONTHS ago, but ended up

not finishing it, well the weather has been nice

and the hubby had some extra time for once,

SO...

he finished building and I got to painting!

It's the perfect size for a little one

And so cute!!

It was also less than $30 for the wood, screws,

and wood glue.

And I know it will get LOTS of use!

She already wants to color and eat on it everyday!

Ana's plans were easy to understand,

and it was a pretty good beginner level

project to tackle.

Trust me... if we did it, anyone can!

Recycled Suitcase Chair

I'm in the process of creating an airplane room for our little boy--

he'll be 2 next month!

We've had this old gross dusty cobwebby Samsonite suitcase in storage forever. I don't

even know where it came from. There were a few things in the storage room when

we moved here. Maybe it came with our house?

Anyway--I've held onto it, even though it honestly was disgusting. I did consider

throwing it away. But I knew something good could come from it. And then

I had this GREAT idea! And I totally thought of it all by myself.

This is somewhat of my thought process, "Airplanes...suitcases...go together.

If the suitcase was open and secured...add some cute legs to it...it could totally be a chair!"

Then I Google searched it and found out that I am not the first person to think of it,

but that wasn't going to stop me. Katie Thompson, the designer behind Recreate, makes tons
of these, and they are amazing! (Does that put me in the same category
as hers because I totally thought of this too? I wish!).
But, I wanted mine to be a little different because I wanted my chair to
have a little compartment for Tucker to put his books and stuff in
so it could be a little reading chair.

Here's how I did it.

Yes, that does resemble a bunched up cobweb coming out of the side.

 I ripped all the lining out--check out all that dust! The whole time
I had to cover my face, because of all the dust. Then I scrubbed it down

and "Lysoled" it like crazy.

I found some small chair legs at Lowes for about $1.50 each. They came 

with bolts on them where they would connect to the furniture. I drilled

holes in the suitcase where I wanted the legs to go. Then I screwed them

on and fastened them with nuts.

Hey! Even at this stage it could be a cute little end table or something!

Then my husband and I cut some 2x4s down to fit inside where the seat

would be. We had two pieces laying front to back on each side, and one laying across 

the back. We glued these down with wood glue. We carved notches where the legs

were attached and cut some other areas so the wood would lay flat. 

 We then added some smaller thinner strips (glued them down) to the top of those 2x4s

creating a ledge for the compartment lid to fit on.

(Notice the "seems" on the smaller strips of wood are differentthan the wood below them--to help reinforce the frame we made).

We cut a piece the same thickness as the thinner strips of wood

that would fit as a lid,

 and added some hinges. The lid could now open and close.

To make the back of the chair stay upright, I started by drilling some holes

where indicated.

I fastened a ribbon from the back of the chair to the seat of the chair like shown

below with nuts and bolts where I had drilled the holes. I adjusted the

length of the ribbon to what would hold the back upright how I wanted before

fastening them. Do this to both the left and right side of the chair.

I wanted the lid to have a type of pull on it that would make it easier for our little

boy to open. I looped a ribbon and stapled it to the bottom front center of the lid piece.

Now we were ready to make the cushions. For the back of the chair I used some foam

that I had cut to the size of the opening of the back and added some batting to the top. 

The back padding of the chair needed to be thicker cushioned because I didn't

have it built up like I did for the seat part that had the compartment.

 I wrapped my fabric around it--similar to how I would wrap a present--and hand

sewed it to secure it. 

Then I covered 2 buttons with the same fabric

and secured them on the front to add little tucks to the fabric on the front.

I then just placed this cushion in the opening on the back--it was fluffy
enough to stay secure without any glue or anything. This would

not be hard at all to change fabrics--in case I ever have a little girl when

Tucker grows out of it. I can totally imagine it with a floral print of some type.

I did the seat cushion similar to the back cushion, but without as 

much batting added to the foam. I then hot glued the seat cushion

to ONLY the top of the lid piece and VOILA!

And I knew Tucker approved it when he said "Airpay chair!" and insisted that I sit

next to him on it :) I need to post a picture of him on it!

Linked up with:

Today's Creative Blog
Sugar Bee Crafts

Creative Spotlight: Becky's Onesie Extender

So...maybe we're all a bit Baby-Hungry at This & That Creative this week??  Here's my spotlight.  Apparently all bodies (even babies) aren't necessarily "created equal."  Having ridiculously long legs myself and having a sister with a ridiculously long torso (neither of us over 5 1/2 ft.) made for some interesting fashion challenges for our mother growing up (and even now as adults!).  My friend, Becky, over at good times :) came up with this great idea for her long-torsoed little one.


Hi!  I'm Becky and I truly am one of  the plainest janes out there.   I love being organized and clutter-free.   I enjoy being green.  I also love to create.  I love new ideas which is why I love sites like this.  I am not the type of person who can think of ideas on my own; I pretty much always see things and then come up with how I want to make it.  So here I am sharing one of my projects:

I have a long child.

As a result, many onesies don't fit her. See below.

(yes, I let my child play with garbage.) (often, in fact.)

So I created a ONESIE EXTENDER! (insert trumpet sounds here!)

I made it from a onesie that was pretty badly stained up the back so I didn't feel bad cutting it up. :) It is DEFINITELY not the prettiest thing and I was actually quite amazed at its ugliness, but it works and it doesn't show once she's fully dressed so it is just perfect!

Hooray for no scrunched body!!!

And here she is. All dressed and pressed and ready to go. (can any of you name where that is from?)

And one last pic of her goofy mouth! She is constantly playing with her mouth and tongue!

Becky's original post can be found here:

http://dontblink18.blogspot.com/2011/02/project-onesie-extender.html

Fabric-Twisted Rosette Tutorial

I love accessories.  I love accessories which can be switched out with ease even more!  I bought a package of plain headbands at Kohl's a few weeks ago and decided to spruce them up with some fabric flowers.  Except I didn't want them spruced up permanently (sometimes I like to be a bit plain-jane).

Take a strip of fabric about 12" long and 2" wide (obviously you can play with these not-so-precise measurements to make the rosette more to your liking).

 Fold the strip in half the long way with the wrong sides together.

Begin rolling the fabric around itself at one end.  Once a small "rosette center" has formed, begin twisting the tail of the fabric as tightly as you can.

Wrap the twisted tail of fabric carefully around the rosette center you made previously.  Note:  The fabric should be even with the rosette center on the top.  The bottom of the rosette center you rolled will hang out the back a bit unevenly.

If the rosette gets too large for you to handle (or your fingers cramp up like mine) just guide a strait pin through the twists to the center to hold it in place while you continue.

 **See the rosette center hanging out the back?**  

To put a clean finish on the back of your rosette (and to hide the rosette center piece) just leave part of the tail untwisted and hot glue it to the rosette's back side.  There are two options here:  You can cut the fabric to size after it's been glued (like I did with the pink flower), or you can leave the tail hanging off to look like a leaf (which is how I did the tan one in the first photo).

 Then, hot glue a little loop, just large enough for your headband to slide through (that way, you can wear it on whichever headband you choose!).  It could also be slipped through a pin and worn as a broach, on a chain, or string of pearls/beads.

 ...And since my husband is a jeweler/gemologist, we have hoards of stones around the house.  I stole three to embellish the center!  This is also a great craft for a girl's birthday party/church activity as it requires minimal sewing/crafting skills.  Plus, it's also a great way to get rid of the fabric scraps you've got just hangin' around!