Teach Me Tuesday

Today's "teaching moment," while it may not necessarily be a great tute for you, was literally a "teaching moment" for me.

I decided today that I would make some little bean bags for a class that I am going to start teaching, so I got out the fabric, the beans, the scissors, and the sewing machine and started to work when other smaller, less-experienced hands decided that they wanted to help. Ashlynn was too enthusiastic about learning how to sew to say no, so what probably could have taken me 30 minutes to do turned into a 2 hour project...but I think we had fun.

We decided how big we wanted the bean bags to be. I did a little demo for Ashlynn. I showed her where to put the presser foot, how to guide the fabric through the machine, how to do a regular stitch and backstitch, and then how to clip corners and turn the bag, and then set her loose to make 9 more bean bags. I cut out new bean bags as she sewed. There were a few snags along the way, but for the most part, since she was just sewing straight lines, once she got the hang of the machine she did pretty good.

I can remember my grandma teaching me everything about sewing when I was younger...and I'll just say, "She was a better woman than I am!" I definitely like to work at my own speed and do my own thing, so trying to teach Ashlynn to do what I wanted just about drove me nuts! BUT...I'm glad we did it. She had fun, and learned a little (I think.) It's probably an important skill for her to learn. Maybe next time we'll try something a little more complex.

Anyhoo...

For those of you looking for a simple project to do with the kiddos, here's Ashlynn's instructions for making bean bags:

1. Cut out the fabric to the desired size and shape. (We made our 5.5 inches square) Cut 2

2. Pin right sides together.

3. Straight stitch (and backstitch) 3 and a half sides of the bag.

4. Clip the corners.

5. Turn the bag right side out.

6. Fill with beans.

7. Top stitch closed the opening left for the beans.

DONE!!

Good job Ashy!

Tuesday Tute

I'll admit it....

Ashlynn showed me how to do this.

So, if you're looking for an easy peasy lemon squeezy, artsy, craftsy, environmentally friendly, thing-a-ma-bob that even the kids can do...

You've found it!

Background:

Ashlynn went over to a friend's house the other day, and came back with this little project. (Is it sad that my kids have to go over to other people's homes to learn how to do things?) Now, this friend's mom is much, much more creative, and talented than I am in the craft department so her stuff looks a whole lot cuter, but I thought this was a pretty good first try (or 5th or 6th try.) Ashlynn was so smitten by the project that she opted to do them at her birthday party...where, of course, they received rave reviews! So, I'm passing this little gem of a project on to you because, 1. It's easy, and 2. It's cheap.  Can't get much better than that.

Fused Plastic Tote Bags:

You will need:

Several plastic bags (they can be trash bags, grocery bags, etc....anything plastic)

Iron

Parchment Paper/Wax Paper

Sewing Machine (although it's really very minimal sewing!)

Embellishments (flowers, ribbon, buttons, etc.)

Instructions:

1. Take your plastics bags.  Cut the handles (grocery bag) or pull ties (trash bag) off of the bag.  Don't worry about making things even.

2.  You want several layers of plastic to fuse together, so if you're using grocery bags, just layer several bags on top of one another.  If you're using trash bags, you could fold the bags until you have the desired size you want.  I would recommend 6 to 8 layers.

3.  Turn your iron onto a low setting (start on low, but you may have to increase the temp.)

4.  Place a layer of parchment paper on your ironing board.  

5.  Place all the layers of your plastic bag on top of the parchment paper, and then cover it with another layer of parchment paper.

6.  Move the iron over all of the plastic until it is completely fused together.

Bad Fuse:  If you can still separate the layers of plastic (like when you open a trash bag) then the plastic is not completely fused together.  You probably need to turn up the heat on the iron a little bit.

Good Fuse:  None of the layers can be separated.  The plastic will be all crinkly, and have a look similar to wrinkled patent leather.

7.  Once the plastic is completely fused together, it can be cut to the size and shape you want.  For my purposes (and to make it really easy) mine was just a large rectangle.

8.  Fold over and stitch the top edges of your plastic to create a clean edge.

9.  To make things easier, I sewed the decorative ribbon, and ribbon handles on prior to sewing up the sides of my bag.

10.  With right sides together, sew up the sides of the bag.

11.  Trim the seams and clip the corners.

12.  Turn the bag right side out.

13.  Add embellisments.  I used a glue gun to glue on the bow and flowers, but they could also be stitched on.

FYI:

A.  If the iron is too hot, or you don't have enough layers in your plastics, then you will just end up will holes in the plastic bag SO....turn down the iron or add more plastic layers.  

B.  If the the sewing machine stitches don't seem to be holding, then the bag probably isn't completely fused...try sticking in back under the iron to fuse it more.  Just make sure you use your parchment to separate the sides of the bag if it's already sewn together.

C.   Try using different color plastic bags (cut in different shapes, sizes, etc.) to add decoration to your tote...just continue fusing different layers of plastic on until you have the desired look!

There you go.  Have some fun.  Do a little experimenting...and wind up with a cute little tote bag.  I keep thinking that it would be fun to do a little scripture bag with the fused plastic.  Maybe next time!!

Tuesday Tutorial

The end of school is quickly approaching.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad?? 

This is the time of year I always find myself stressing over teacher gifts.  Is it just me??

  

Kenny would say, "It's their job, why do they need a gift?" (maybe it's a guy thing) but my mom always made sure that we gave something to give our teachers both at Christmas and the end of the year.  (Maybe it's a teacher thing.) 

Regardless, I think it's nice for the kids to give a small token of appreciation to their teachers at the end of the year, but I have the hardest time trying to figure out something to give.  Add that to the fact that it needs to be relatively inexpensive because I have multiple children...which means multiple teachers, and the pocketbook is only so big...

So, I was sitting here stressing about a silly gift again and an idea came into my head....don't remember if I was blog surfing looking for ideas or if I saw something that made me think of it or

 what (so I apologize if I'm not giving credit where credit is due) but here's a quick and easy teacher gift that your kiddo's can make themselves:

Supplies:

*Small container (bucket/pail/etc...I got a few at the craft store for about $2.50, then I found the little pail at Target for $1)

*Teacher stickers/ABC stickers/Vinyl Lettering - whatever you'd like to decorate the container with.

*School Supplies - I chose pencils because what teacher couldn't use pencils, but you could use crayons, glue sticks, erasers, markers, pens, stickers...need I go on???

Instructions:

Let the kids decorate the container with whatever stickers/vinyl they want.  Fill the container with the school supplies.  Attach a nice little thank you note.  Voila!  Cute, useful teacher gift with minimal effort!

Here are some other ideas via Tip Junkie!!

Tuesday Tutorial

Finally!!!

I always feel like I've accomplished something when I have something to show for it...no matter how difficult or easy the project may be.  This week (actually for the past several weeks) I was looking at our FHE chart, and I must say it looked pretty pitiful.  Seriously!  It was too the point where I'd ask, "Who's conducting this week?" and someone would answer, "The invisible monkey!" or "The one eyed tiger." 

 Now, we all knew who those animals were, but that's not the point...the fact that our chart was so worn out that we had to say something like that just gnawed away at me.  It was time for a new FHE chart.  

Luckily I got a sale flier for Roberts Craft, and they had a great deal on their magnet boards so...I hit the sale, got everything I needed and more, and went to work.

Here's what you'll need for the board:

*A magnet board (any size will do...whatever works for your fam)

*A 2 oz. bottle of paint (your color choice)

*Modge Podge

*Craft Paper (to coordinate with your paint...opt.)

*Paint brush or sponge

*Letter Stickers (regular or vinyl...I really wanted that cool Crikcut Expressions machine that you can program in what you want, throw the vinyl through, and voila, instant gratification, but at $250+, I settled for the stickers...maybe one day, *Big Sigh*)

*Any crafty embellishment you want to add.

I started by painting the board.  You may have to sand the wood a little to get it all prepped for paint, but mine with just MDF and needed no prep.  As the paint was drying, I cut the paper to the size and shape that I needed.  If you would rather just keep the paint, that's fine too...you can

 just stick your letter's or embellishments on top of that.  After the paint was dry, I Modge Podged on the paper and left that to dry.  Then I grabbed my stickers and went to work on the various FHE jobs that I wanted on the board...Conduct, Prayer, Song, Scripture, Lesson, Activity, Treat.  I added Family Council at the bottom because once a month we've decided that instead of having a lesson we'll have a family council.  To

 finish off the board, I added a few little things to make it more personal...our name, a quote, etc.  Voila...board done!

You could use several things to show who's doing what.  I chose to use magnets with our picture on it because I thought it would be an easy way for our little kids to know who was doing what, but you could use wooden shape cutouts, wooden initial cutouts (this was my second choice), etc...I'm sure the kids would get a kick out of decorating their own FHE chart magnet.  Anyhoo..

Supplies for magnets:

*Decor Accent Marbles

*Glossy Accent Clear Glue

*A picture

*Magnets (make sure they're strong enough for the marbles...I'm gonna have to replace my because my magnets are too weak)

*Glue gun

Here we go...cut the picture so that it is approximately the same shape and size (or just slightly smaller) than the marble.  Use your finger to spread a little bit of the clear glue on the backside

 of the marble. Place the picture face down in the glue, smooth out any bubbles, and then use your finger to spread a little more glue on the backside of the picture.  When the glue is dry, use the glue gun to stick the magnet on the back.  Done!!  FHE board, complete with personal magnets!  Easy Peasy!! 

Wouldn't this be a great way to assign chores in your house too!  I considered buying a bigger magnet board that I could put both and FHE chart and a job chart on, but I couldn't decide where I'd want such a big board.  How about this...if you do a job chart, why not get some of those little magnetic containers (the ones that you can actually put something in), stick the kids names on them, and when they are finished with their chore you could put their reward (money, tickets, stickers, candy, etc.) in the container.  How fast would the chores get done when they can actually see an instant reward??? 

Tuesday Tip

With the dollar not stretching quite as far as it used to and also in trying to stay in the spirit of Elder Hales comments regarding wants and needs and staying out of debt, I've decided it's time to get creative with my wants. Easter (and spring) are around the corner...I hope! When I was a kid, we always used to get a new Easter Sunday dress. When I was little, my grandma would make them. As I got older, we usually just bought them. I really WANT a new dress but I probably don't need one and I really don't want to spend a whole lot of money on one. This year I've decided to try and save a little $$ and do it grandma's way.

After a few snags (so to speak) in my plans, I finally finished "my" new skirt.

It was actually very simple and easy to make (once I actually read the directions.) The best part is that I made it for under $10 (pattern and all.) The bad part is...(drumroll please)...it doesn't fit. This problem probably would have been eliminated had I actually read the pattern, but I figured that I would just make the size I thought I was. No go! (I'm a little miffed cause I made it to go with my awesome red shoes...oh well, better luck next time.) Luckily I have a skinny sister, and it just happened to be her birthday so, she ended up being the beneficiary of my new Easter Sunday skirt. I plan on making another one that will actually fit me soon...who knows? Maybe I'll get comfortable with sewing again and set up shop. Any orders? jk....(kind of)

The next items on the to-do list are for Ashlynn. An Easter Sunday twirl skirt and a dress. I found some really good deals on fabric at Walmart and I've inherited several pieces of fabric from my grandma, so these skirts are going to be extremely inexpensive. Skirts...probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5. The dress...$10. Not to bad! I have a pattern for the dress (and will post pics when it is done), but I'm just flying by the seat of my pants with the skirt. OK...not really. I don't have a pattern, but I have found a couple of blogs with some good tutorials on how to make them AND they really are easy (more math is required than actual sewing) so even you non-sewers out there could do it. Click here to visit the link at 30days. She has plenty of fun dresses and skirt tutorial links for girls and mom's alike. Be sure to scroll down the right sidebar because I haven't linked you up to all the patterns. Have fun!

Tuesday - Tutorial

So...I'm kind of late posting today because this took me a little longer to make than I anticipated. I've decided to get back to me roots (so to speak.) Now, this may come as a shock to you...but I actually used to be a pretty decent sewer. I don't know if you could go so far as to call me a seamstress, but I could sew. My grandma taught me. I used to sew quite a bit. In fact, at one point in time I even thought I would become a clothing and textiles home economics teacher. When I was in high school I even had my own little business making and selling gymnastics leotards at my gymnastics club. Then I came to BYU...all excited to begin my career. I took my first clothing and textiles class. It was a pattern making class. It was horrible! I hated it, got a terrible grade, and as a result gave up my venture into the clothing and textiles arena. Well, like I said, I've decided it's time to get back to my roots. At one point in time I actually did have a talent in this area, however, you know the parable about the talents....if you hide them away, they get taken away from you...it's true. It's been quite a while since I've sewn anything. In fact...Rylen's never even seen my sewing machine before, and Jackson commented that "...it's been a long time since I've seen you sew anything." as he stood gawking over my shoulder as I sat at the sewing machine. Needless to say, I'm a little rusty. With that in mind, here's the project for the day....


A tote bag.
I'm not going to give you an actual tutorial for this bag because I didn't come up with the pattern. However, you can find an excellent tutorial at Mama's Pocketbook, which is where this FREE pattern came from.
I'll simply tell you what I liked and didn't like about this pattern:


Likes -

It was fairly simple. (Given the fact that I haven't sewn in several years, and I was able to make this in a couple of hours, I'd say it was pretty easy!)
Love the boxed corners. (Sorry...they're hard to see with these pics, but the tutorial shows them well.)
Love that it is reversible. (As my kids would say, "...when it gets dirty on one side, you can use the other.")
Love that it was cheap. (I didn't buy anything to make this tote...I went scrounging through old boxes of fabric, however, if you did need to buy materials, it uses very minimal fabric.)
Love the top-stitching. (Since I didn't actually go out and purchase anything and I didn't have any matching thread, I decided that I would use some top-stitching to accentuate the fact that the thread didn't match...and I like how it turned out.)

Dislikes -

It's not big enough. (I wanted a bigger tote...at least big enough to carry a binder OR multiple coloring books and supplies to church in. This tote would be big enough to carry my scriptures and a small manual in...or about the size of a purse. Next time I make this I will definitely make it bigger. It really wouldn't be that difficult.)
I didn't put in any type of closure at the top...mostly because I just couldn't find the one I wanted, but it would look better with one.
Those are really my only complaints...other than the fact that my stitching looks horrible because I couldn't get the sewing machine to work correctly, but that has nothing to do with the actual construction of the tote itself.

I'll have to give it another try one of these days...tweak a few things, maybe even splurge and buy some cool fabric to do it, but if you're looking for a fun and easy little tote to make this is a good one. Have fun!

Tuesday Tutorial

Today's tutorial is on how to make an upholstered headboard. (I know I've posted pictures about it on my personal blog, but I don't remember ever posting any instructions on how to do it. A few people have asked how to do it, so here it is.)

Things you'll need:
*A piece of wood (MDF, hardwood, anything...) sized for your bed. Height and width depend on your preference.
*A drill
*A staple gun
*Fabric (enough to cover the wood with extra to wrap around the edges)
*High Density Foam (1" or 2" whichever you prefer)
*Batting (enough to cover the piece of wood)
*Adhesive Spray
*Buttons (optional)
*Washers (only needed if you use buttons)
*Needle and Upholstery Thread (again, only needed if you use buttons)

Instructions:
1. Cut the wood to the desired height and width (the store will do this if you ask)
2. If you're going to use buttons (for a tufted look,) decide where you are going to place them. Mark it on the wood and drill a small hole (large enough for your upholstery needle to fit through.)
3. Spray the adhesive on the front of the wood and carefully lay your high density foam on top. (I say carefully because with most brands of adhesive you'll only get one chance...it's super sticky!)
4. Once the foam is secured, place the batting down on top of the foam. Wrap it around the edges of the wood. Use a staple gun to secure the batting down on the backside of the wood.
5. Place your fabric down, right side up, on the foam (the front side of your board.) TIP: I actually laid my fabric right side down on the floor and placed my board with the batting and foam directly on top of it. It made wrapping the fabric around the board a lot easier!!
6. Wrap the fabric around to the backside of the headboard on 1 side. Start stapling from the middle of the headboard. Pull fabric TIGHT for the best look. Staple 1 entire side before moving on to the next side. Repeat for all sides. Wrap the corners like you would wrap a present. The key is to make sure that the fabric is always being pulled tight.
7. Once the fabric has been stapled down on all sides, you're pretty much finished...unless you would like to add buttons for decoration to the headboard. If you're using buttons, thread your needle, start on the backside of the headboard, poke the needle through the wood, foam, batting and fabric (leave a long thread on the backside.) Attach your button and bring the needle and thread back through to the backside of your headboard. Pull the button tight. Tie a knot around a washer (with both ends of thread) to secure the button. Don't worry...the washer won't be seen. It's on the backside of the headboard. Repeat this procedure for each button.

Ta-Da...you have your very own upholstered, custom-made headboard. I mounted mine directly on the wall (like a floating shelf) however, there are several ways to mount it. I like it, but it's kind of permanent and I like to move furniture around quite a bit. I could still move it, but it would take a lot of work...and some patch work on the wall. (My husband got a little drill happy when putting the headboard up.) I've heard of people mounting the headboard on the wall with heavy duty picture hooks. Not sure how that would work?? My personal preference...and what I will do next time; buy enough wood to stand the headboard on the floor behind the bed (all the wood could be upholstered or else it could just be left as wood) or put some sort of legs on the headboard and attach it to the bed frame.

Cost: I was trying to see how cheaply I could make the headboard...therefore, I used MDF, 1" foam, batting that I already had, made my own buttons, and I got a great deal on the fabric...SO, the grand total was right around $100. Obviously the cost would go up depending on the materials that you use, but I'm really happy with our cheap headboard.

Idea: You might find an old headboard on craigslist or at a garage sale. What a perfect project to upholster...you could cut a piece out of the headboard to upholster and then stick it back in. Easy! I think I might try this next time!

*Sorry for the lack of pictures. I made the headboard before I ever thought of blogging about it! If you have any questions or if my directions are not clear, leave a comment and your e-mail address and I'll answer them as best I can.

Tuesday Tutorial

So, today's tutorial is easy enough for even craft-impaired people such as myself.
In my blog surfing, I came across a few blogs (if I could remember which ones they were, I'd give them a shout out) that suggested to go to a specific web-site and try it out...that's what this is.

Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide (that's taken directly from their web-site)...and the cool thing is that it is totally free! Good news for all of us watching our budgets these days. So, here's what you do:
1. Head on over to the Wordle web-site (linked above)
2. Hit create
3. Start typing in your words. *Note: The greater number of times you type in a specific word, the larger it will appear in your word cloud. In my example provided, the word "family" was typed in 10x, but the word "work" was only typed in 1x
4. When you're finished typing in your words, hit "Go" and wordle will create the word cloud for you.
5. Once your word cloud is created you can edit the text color, layout, font, and language by just clicking on a few buttons.
6. Hit print and voila...your own personalized art! Easy, Peasy!!!

Here's my attempt. I used my family's names and wording from "The Family, A Proclamation To The World." Talk about easy...and what a fun and personal gift to give someone. (That's a hint to my sister's...don't do this, it's your Christmas present this year...LOL.)

Just think of the other things you could do with it. Create cute, personalized art for your kids room, print the wordle off on transfer paper and use it to create a fun headboard, t-shirt, etc. Just one disclaimer: use of the site is free for personal use, not for commercial use. Respect the creator's terms so that all of us can continue to create fun stuff for free!!!
Give it a try and let me know what you've created! It's pretty fun!