And the winner is....

I used Random.org
who told me the magic number was 23

Traci said...

I'm a new follower! :)

Horray!

Let us know what fun stuff you get!

Lighting and a Giveaway

So...

when we moved into our house

I was not the super star sewer I pretend to be now.

I carved out a little niche for myself

to put my sewing things and crafts and fabrics.

Well, I am maxed out.

Floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

{Did I really just post my sewing chaos for the world to see?!}

One of my problems is that I've begun covering up the lighting.

 I'm thinking of putting some task lighting nearer to the workspace

because hey, who doesn't like to see what they're doing?

I found a very cool 

(and possibly addictive website)

CSNlighting.com

Check out what I found:

Bright Under Cabinet Light

Murray Feiss Swing Arm Lamp

I think this one's my favorite.

Robert Abbey Pharmacy Lamp

What do you think?

CSN stores has tons of other stuff, too.

look at the goodies I found!

A great starter

This is my baby:)

I would LOVE one of these...

And wouldn't these be great activities for summer

First Knitter

Sew a Petal Purse

A first sewing machine

And this weekend they're giving away $60 

{to be used however your heart desires}

to one of you!

Leave a comment for Each Entry

Visit CSNstores and tell me what you'd do with $60 (one entry)

Follow That Crafty Mrs.V (one entry)

Blog about this giveaway and link back to me (one entry)

Giveaway ends Sunday

Kids' Travel Neck Pillows

I finally won the battle against the stuffed animals.

There is now a sweet little basket in the girls' room with their prized stuffies.

I kept two little Minnie Mouse dolls with this project in mind.

And TaDa!  Here it is:

Aren't they sweet?  

I enlarged the pattern about an inch bigger than

the template showed and I like the fullness.

I had the minky left over from covering the girls' car seats

{oh boy I forgot how much of a horrible MESS that stuff makes!}

I hope they get lots and lots of hours of use on the airplane!!!

Hair Bows

I love hair bows.

They are one of those girly things I swore off in my younger years

which I succumbed to after having two little girls.

So I've been busy making bows to go with the girls' outfits on vacation.

These are to match these dresses

I used the fabric from the luggage tags 

and put them on those cover-your-own buttons.

{so great, you only need a scrap of fabric!}

There are some great hair bow instructions at the ribbon retreat.

For the korcker bows I found pre-cut dowels in my wood section of our craft store

and I usually bake them in our toaster over.

I still have to make pink ones and I was thinking rainbow colors would be fun, too.

I was inspired by Grace at Little Pumpkin Grace

Jessica always puts the cutest bows in her hair!

So my goal is to have a set for each outfit.

We'll see if they actually stay in their hair...

Play Checkbook

One of the things I love to do when we go on vacation is

to bring fun, new things for my kids to play with.

When we went on our 3000 mile road trip a couple years ago

Chloe was 8 months old 

{were we insane?!?!}

And I brought a entire suitcase of surprises for the girls.

This trip won't have nearly as many miles in the car

but 5 hours in an airplane keeps getting longer and longer

every time we go.

Today I put together some checkbooks for the girls.

I found a download for the checks over at Just Something I Made

{I didn't sew the perforations, 

I have a perforating blade for my paper cutter}

Then I made a super simple cover using some matching material

from the girls' backpacks.

I hope this keeps them busy for a little while!

Mei Tai Tutorial

I love Mei Tais.

I made one for Chloe when she was a baby

and we used it all the time.

She loved to climb in and take a nap on my back.

Mei Tais are great to take on vacations.

They fold up small and take up very little packing room

and can be easily toted around while you're exploring.

So a few months ago when I put Chloe

in her Mei Tai and found she had grown too long for it

I thought I'd make her a longer version to take with us on our trip.

This tutorial is for either the smaller baby length

or the larger preschooler length.

If you use a heavy weight canvas and

heavy duty thread it will easily hold up to 35 lbs.

Click here to download

Luggage Tags

{We've got a trip coming up

and for the next couple weeks

I'll be doing projects related to traveling}

Lovely Little Luggage Tags

This is a really easy sew

and it's so cute to have matching ID tags

for the little ones' bags.

{or bright, noticeable ones for the grown ups}

Start with printing out the template here.

{There's three sizes to choose from}

You'll need:

Printer Fabric (I found mine at my craft store)

Fabric for backing

Eyelets or grommets, depending on how big your tags will be

The kit to put the eyelets/grommets on to the fabric

(sometimes they come together, sometimes they don't.)

Eyelets and the tools to put them together

So first of all print out your information onto your fabric.

{I put my daughter's names and two cell numbers}

Be sure that you leave plenty of room to sew-

at least 1/2 inch around the wording.

I like to test one out on a plain paper first to check the size is right.

Cut out your pieces,

one with the info

and one for the back

With the right sides together, sew 1/4" from edge.

Then go back and sew again closer to the edge.

{I sewed mine 3 time because the fabric was unraveling easily}

Clip the corners.

Carefully turn it inside out.

Push the corners out with a boning knife  or an eraser.

Tuck the edges in as little as possible

{I use the tip of a straight pin to manipulate the fabric where I want it}

Iron it flat

Top stitch close to the edge

{but not over your words}

Lay your eyelet or grommet on the fabric where you want it.

Mark the spot.

Make a LITTLE hole where you marked.

You can always make the hole bigger.

I make a small snip with my scissors

then push them through to widen the hole.

Push the eyelet through the tag

and place it on the holder

Put the flattening piece on top and hammer down.

{You should do this on a work surface

or you could do it on your sewing desk and hold your breath like I did}

TaDa!

I used a ribbon and sewed it on to the girls' backpacks

For the girls' suitcases I made

a double-layer tag.

I wanted the information covered for security

and so I made two tags

and connected them with one grommet.

Let's hope our luggage doesn't get lost (: