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fat quarter friday {baby doll accessories: part 1}

Baby Doll Accessories Tutorial
(Part 1: diapers, wipes and wipes case)

Materials Needed:

*Scrap pieces of fleece, felt or any other non-fraying material

*Cotton fabric scraps or a fat quarter if you want them to all match

*Minky fabric or flannel scraps

*1/2″ sew on velcro


Make your templet shaped like above. To find the right size for your doll, lay the doll down and wrap it with a piece of paper as if you were going to diaper it with the piece of paper. Just fold and work with the piece of paper to get it to the right size. These diapers are made to fit my little girls favorite lovely…bear. But I also made sure they would fit her favorite dolls. So just play with the size a bit. My templet is 8 1/2″ long and about 5 1/2″ on the width and about 1 1/2″ longer on the the tab side. And as you can see, I folded my paper both ways before cutting so that they were even on all sides and just trimmed the tabs off on the front of the diaper. Now you have your perfectly shaped templet.

Trace the templet onto the wrong side of the cotton fabric. If you want to add a little heart or label onto your diaper, add it now. Now take your piece of minky fabric and cotton fabric and place right sides together. Pin in place. Now sew directly onto your templet outline. Make sure you leave a 1 1/2″ space for turning right side out on the back of your diaper.

Trim off excess fabric and pull right sides out through the opening. Push all corners out and carefully push out the sides of the diaper so they lie flat. Iron.

Top stitch all around diaper.

The finished inside of diaper. Gather some 1/2″ sew on velcro and cut about a 1″ length.

Sew the hook part of the velcro onto the “diaper tabs.”

And attach the loop part of the velcro to the front of the diaper like so.

And that’s it. A new diaper for your little ones doll.

With a sweet little heart.

And because I couldn’t just stop there, I had to make up some wipes. I just cut my scrap pieces of fleece into 5 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ pieces. And that’s it. super easy right?

And since this momma couldn’t stop there I made a little case for the wipes.

Cut three pieces of fleece to the following sizes:

*3″ x 5″ (flap on top)
* little hearts if you want to embellish the flap
* cut two pieces at 6″ x 6 1/2″
Take one of the larger pieces of fleece and cut a small oval shape out of it. This is hole that the wipes will be pulled through.

Take the smaller piece of fleece and add some hearts to the flap if you want. Then cover up the oval opening with your flap and sew in place. Just make sure you leave enough room on the bottom of the flap to attach to velcro.

This is where my velcro ended up.

Now take the other piece of fleece and place it right sides facing with the top of the “wipes container.”

Sew completely around the “container.” Now pull right side out through the oval opening.

And there you have it! How easy was that?! And how adorably cute?!

Oh I already know this is going to make a little missy girl some happy, while keeping this momma very busy. I have a feeling I will be spending hours a day helping her put the wipes back into the container…over and over again!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my little missy girl!

**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo’s. Please be kind and give credit where credit is due.**
Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it and you just might see it featured on my blog one day!

fat quarter friday {giveaway winner}

First of all, the winner of the fat quarters and baby better bags is Elizabeth!
Congrats, I will be sending you an email shortly!

Thanks to all that entered, I loved hearing what you are all up to for Valentine’s Day. I’m sure we will spend it at home like every other night. Although I’m planning on making every ones favorite meal, Giovoni Shrimp. The kiddo’s are getting some special handmade goodies from momma and the hubby is getting a freezer full of homemade cookies, brownies and raspberry squares. Oh he is gonna be one happy daddy! I made some special gifts for the Grammies and we are making our cousins and the neighbors some Valentine’s Day trail mix. I’m not usually into this holiday, but I just LOVE those pink colors out there this year. And really, I will take any excuse to make some craft and goodies for others.

Sorry about that unfinished post in your reader last night, oops! That’s what I get when I’m trying to watch Grey’s, work on my orders and put together a tutorial all at the same time. I still have a little bit til the tutorial is finished. Until then, here is another little peek at what we will be making today…

Some baby doll diapers, wipes and a wipes case. Oh I LOVE these and so doesn’t a little girl! She let out the biggest squeal when I gave her a little peek at them. AWW, if that didn’t melt this momma’s heart!

See ya after the kids nap!

embrace the camera {trying to keep the kiddo’s busy}

This momma is working hard at keeping these kiddo’s busy during this long snowy winter of ours. So today we decided to paint some cardboard initials that we bought awhile back to display in their room.
She started off painting so neatly with the brush.

And it quickly turned into finger painting along with her paint brush.

And then it became body painting. I probably should have stopped her, but she was having fun and for some reason, I loved seeing those little fingers all covered in paint.

And that little dot of paint on her lip.

This was her when she realized she had made one big ole mess and had no more paint.

While she is the messiest little girl, this little guy of mine takes his time and hardly gets dirty.

He takes his crafting seriously.

I can’t wait for them to dry and to be able to display them in their room. By the looks of things though, we may be waiting weeks for all that paint to dry.
Oh and Emily, this is how we roll in February, just sayin’!

Our home…the planning stage.

The plans for the other 1/2 of our house are underway. While the hubby was busy sketching and figuring out load calculations for the heating and cooling systems this weekend. I was busy picking out paint colors, furniture and accessories. The hubby kept reminding me that it would be close to a year (if not more) before we would be picking out such things, but hey, that is what gets me through this whole process.

Here is what the other 1/2 of our house looks like today.

On the right in front of the big picture window, will be the dining room with the built-in bench seating. To left of that, will be a little room for the kids playroom. There will also be a small doorway heading down to the cold cellar.

On this wall there will be a stairway heading upstairs.

This will be the main part of the living room.

More of the living room and there will be a doorway heading into the kitchen.

The last signs of the old knob and tube lighting. I know it is insanely unsafe, but I love the looks of the old knobs and tubes. Crazy how they did things back in the day!

This is where the stairway will be leading upstairs to the master bedroom.

On the other side of the stairway will be our second bathroom and a closet! Those of you living in an old home know how non existing closets are in these old homes.

Since the house is completely stripped to the bare studs right now, you can structurally see how our home was built. It still amazes me to see all the wooden pegs!

Now do you understand why I need to dream about paint colors, furniture and accessories?

fat quarter friday {giveaway}

Hope you all liked the cinnamon and heart garland tutorial from Modern Country Style this morning. Now on with the giveaway and it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s what I will be giving away to ONE lucky winner…

two baby better bags (aka, boo boo bags)

and three fat quarters from WHAT A HOOT! from Camelot Cottons.

To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what you are doing for Valentine’s Day and make sure you leave your email address.

Giveaway will end February 11, 2010.

fat quarter friday {guest post with Sarah from Modern Country Style}

I am so excited to have Sarah from Modern Country Style here today to teach us how she makes her adorable cinnamon and heart garland. She first made this garland for a Christmas decoration but it is equally as perfect to use for Valentine’s Day. Every time I look at this garland it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling of complete comfort. It makes we want to brew up a cup of warm apple cider, grab a book, and snuggle up in a cozy blanket in front of the fire.
So let’s all welcome Sarah to fat quarter friday and get started!

Hi there, I’m Sarah from over at Modern Country Style, which is all about renovating our English Edwardian home in the Cotswolds, inspiring interior design and creating gorgeousness. I love making one-off beautiful things that are the complete opposite of off-the-peg. I love the care and attention I can put into things that I make for our house that help make our house a home.

And now on with the tutorial…

Welcome to Christmas: Modern Country Style!

I’ve been wanting and wanting and wanting to share this with you and now I feel it’s respectfully close enough to Christmas that I can!! This is one of my favourite ever Christmas crafts:

Cinnamon and Heart Garland.

I’ve prepared a step-by-step tutorial so you can have a go too.

So…apart from a sewing kit. this is what you need:

jute twine, cinnamon sticks, fabric, ribbon, wooden spools, stuffing.

The fabric I chose was a fat quarter of tea-dyed red checks and ticking, and I had some Jane Means ribbon that matched rather nicely, don’t you think?

Step 1: Draw and cut out a heart template on a piece of card. Take the material for your first heart and fold it in half, right sides facing. Pin it to your material and cut out, leaving a 1cm seam allowance all around.

Step 2: Sew around the heart apart from an inch or so to leave a space for stuffing.

{Shown as the beautifully and artistically drawn purple bits in the picture.}

Step 3: Turn the heart the right way around and stuff. Hand sew the rest of the opening closed.

{Yes, this is open heart surgery….boom boom}

Step 4: Repeat this six more times (leaving you with seven hearts).

{I’m not ashamed to admit that I roped in some of my children to help with the production line at this point….}

Step 5: Take a wooden spool and glue one end of the ribbon onto it. Cut the ribbon to the right length, leaving room for a slight overlap. Fold over the other end of the ribbon for a neat finish and glue in place. Repeat eleven times to leave you with twelve reels.

It doesn’t take long, honest!

{The first time I did this, I foolishly left them where my twins could get them….yup, every last one had the ribbon removed….}

Step 6: Cut the cinnamon sticks into six 3-inch pieces.

Step 7: Using a sharp point, make a hole in the middle of each piece of cinnamon.

{Um, yes, that is a knitting needle…if you have something sharper, please may I have it to save me gouging my hands next time?}

Step 8: Using a needle with a BIG eye, thread the jute twine and start the assembly.

Heart, reel, stick, reel, heart, reel, stick, reel, heart….

Just to warn you, you have to pull harder than you think to get the twine through the heart….

I can’t wait to share where I’ve put them….my first Christmas decoration!! Here’s a sneak peek, just for you….

Thank you SO much to the scrumptious Christina for having me over here. If you like this tutorial then I’d love for you to follow me over at Modern Country Style. Maybe see you there…? Oooh, I do hope so!!

Thank you Sarah for sharing this with us today. You already know how adorable I think your cinnamon and heart garland is and how much I swoon over your beautiful country home! I cannot wait to see what you work on next.

Valentine’s Day crafts with the kids.

This morning I did a little crafting with the kids. I know these are far from being amazingly inventive and there are yarn crafts everywhere way cuter then these, but that’s all I had today. And for some reason I have a hard time coming up with cute kids crafts. So if anyone knows of a good site, please pass it on to this momma.
All we did was wrap some heart shaped wooden pieces with yarn and then hot glued them onto the canvas. Like I said, not the most inventive craft I have ever done, but I just love the simplicity of it.

I’m pretty sure that once Valentine’s Day is over, the one with the 5 hearts on it will be getting a permanent home in my bedroom.





So what have you been crafting for Valentine’s Day?
Looking for a special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Then head on over to The O’Banions blog. They are the cutest little couple celebrating Valentine’s Day a sweet new way.

I *heart* organizing’s project paper challenge

I’m so embarrassed to admit that my paper filing system was horrendous. Really, it was so embarrassing I wouldn’t even let the hubby inside those bins. He would ask me where an important document was and I would jump up immediately to try to find it for him. A good 10 minutes later and I would have it in hand. Oh and there were times when I swore I knew where it was, but just couldn’t find it. I had all the little cute white matching bins, yet they were just filled with an unorganized mess. They may have looked cute on the outside but if you were ever to take the tops off those bins you would have seen it… pure madness!

My filing system usually changed a few times a year. I would start by filing all our bills by the month and then the other important documents would be split into their own categories. Within a short period of time I was no longer filing our bills by the month and they had their own file. I never seemed to have enough file folders for all of my documents so instead of buying more, my important documents just shared their home with one another. Oh and labeling, nothing was labeled, it was a guessing game on where to put things. I always had good intentions of getting it all organized, really I did. I just never took the time to do it.

So when I read about Jen and her month of organizing paper project I jumped on board without hesitating. Thankfully I didn’t have to buy a thing other then more file folders. I can’t believe how easy it was to do and how drastically it has changed the way I pay my bills and file them. My little command center is definitely not as cute as her but it is completely organized and functioning. There will be no more lost papers, late bills, or accidentally thrown out documents.

That little Dollar Store basket keeps all of my billing paying tools in one little spot.

Does this little coupon shopping list organizer look familiar? I use it all the time. I actually put a little monthly planner in there and use it for more then just shopping now. I love having everything in one place. Go here for the tutorial if you haven’t made one yet. It is the handiest thing ever!

There it is…complete organization!

Thank you Jen for helping me gain control of my paper madness. I cannot wait for next months challenge…project photography! This is definitely going to take me a whole month to complete. My pictures are a mess and in all honesty I do not have an organization system for them, and don’t even know where to start.

Destashing time again!

Look at what arrived in the mail the other day… some new fabric! Oh they are scrumptious! I don’t know about you, but there is nothing that makes this girl happier then a bunch of new brightly colored fabrics.


Unfortunatley, there was no more room in my drawers for them. So I had to organize that messy scrap drawer of mine and say good-bye to lots of fabric scraps that I love. So if any of you are in need of some scraps they are for sale in my etsy shop right now. I’m asking only $4 or $6 per bag, shipping included. I’m not looking to make any money off them, just looking for a good home for them.



One of the bags is full of little ovals that measure about 4″ by 3 1/2″ each. They are actually the little ovals that are cut out when I making my bibs. I have been saving them for weeks now with the intention of making some fabric bunting, but as you can see, I’m having to say good-bye to them.

Need some fabric scraps?

Head on over to my etsy shop if your interested.