Quick & Easy DIY Baby Blankets

I have exciting news! I'm going to be a Mimi!!! That's right my first born is becoming a mother, so soon in fact, today is her actual due date [eek!] but of course here we are still waiting, she hasn't dilated any and hasn't had much pain at all so, we are going in for another ultrasound tomorrow and they are going to schedule an inducement date. They are estimating the baby weighing close to eight pounds, but we shall see.

 In preparation for the arrival of our first grand baby, I've been looking up easy baby blankets to make and came across a few great ideas that I wanted to pass along to you, I am also currently working on a hand crocheted baby blanket, but it is taking me some time. I wanted to find some projects that I could make quicker and the internet did not disappoint, all of these use the same principle, just some different sizing and of course different fabric ideas, whether you are looking to make a cotton, fleece or minky blanket there is easy step by step instructions that even the most inexperienced person behind the sewing machine should be able to make one of these. 

Give them a try and if you like, send me a picture of your finished blanket, I'd love to see what fabric choices you use.

This blanket is super cute, I love the woodsy design, perfect for a little boy. This receiving blanket is the perfect blanket for swaddling your little guy, visit Shelly at Coral + Co. Modern Sewing to get the tutorial to make this cute blanket in 10 minutes!!!!

This image is property of  Coral + Co. Modern Sewing

 How stinking cute are these? 

Kate over at SeeKateSew shows us how to make these adorable blankets in no time at all and she adds a little extra something special with extra fabric that she ties them up with in a bow and has a handmade little tag that just finishes them off perfectly...

what a great gift to make and give.  

To get a step by step tutorial and see more from Kate, give her a visit at SeeKateSew

Image Courtesy of seekatesew~all rights reserved

Those tags add the perfect touch!

Image Courtesy of seekatesew~all rights reserved

 

 

 

 

Minky Baby Blankets are one of my favorites, because they are so soft and warm and are the perfect blanket to lay over your infant's car carrier when taking them out of the car and into the store or house to keep the cold winter wind off of them or a great blanket to lay them on for some tummy time, they are just super soft and cuddly and wonderfully warm. 

To find out just how easy it is to make your own minky baby blanket, head on over to suzyquilts 

to get a detailed instructions! 

I hope that you visit these lovely sites suggested and make your own baby blankets, either for your little one or to give as a gift, now, I've got to get busy making my soon to be grandson his first blanket from his Mimi.  

See ya soon,

Brandy

DIY Shirt Using Silhouette Cameo & Heat Transfer Vinyl

I finally broke down and purchased myself a Silhouette Cameo and I must say, it is one of the greatest purchases I have ever made, you can make just about anything that you can think up. I am still learning of course and still consider myself a newbie by every means of the definition, but if you are wondering if it is worth the money, let me just tell you now...it is! I purchased mine as a bundle deal on Amazon and was able to get the Cameo and a bunch of tools, vinyl and supplies for the same price that the local craft store had just the cameo machine listed for, so do your homework, be patient and find the best deal!

Now, this is my first tutorial for a Silhouette Cameo projects, so  bare with me...it might not be perfect, but you will get the idea (and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them for you) 
Let me apologize now for the low quality pictures (my digital camera is under the weather, so I did the best I could with my cellphone)
Okay here goes...

Step One:
 I like to measure about 2" from the bottom of collar then measure just how big I'd like my quote using the space below those two inches to center my design. You want to use HTV (Heat Transfer Vinyl) for this project (Stay tuned for how to cut HTV properly to make it adhere to your shirt)

Step Two: 
I selected the font I wanted to use and typed out my quote as shown in the picture. (The font I used for this was Magnolia Sky) I used the color fill option to color in the blank spaces in the font, just to give myself a visual of what it will look like once cut out in black vinyl. You do not have to do this, but I like to

Step Three: 
This is very important! When cutting HTV you must always "Mirror Right" your image, because you place the HTV shiney side down, so you must cut it in reverse, if you don't do this, your image will cut out wrong and you wont be able to use it! Once I mirror right my image, I delete the image on the left and move the "backwards" image to the cutting area of the mat.

 Step Four:
The "Weld" option is used when fonts or images have lines that overlap each other, you want to "weld" them so that when you make your cuts they cut it all out as one word and not individual letters.
(Hope this makes sense) To test it to see if you need to use the "weld" option, you can click on the "cut" option (top right of your silhouette screen) and see if the red cut lines are cutting through the font or not, if it is...weld it!

 Step Five:
Place your HTV shiney side down on your cutting mat (lining it up to the left side of your mat) then place your mat in the Silhouette Cameo machine (lining the mat up with the blue cut lines on the left side of machine (shown in picture) then click "Load Cut Mat" Click your cut option on your Silhouette software, place your setting on Vinyl and click "Send to Silhouette" It should start automatically cutting your image out.

 Step Six:
Once it is done cutting, click "unload" Peel HTV off of the cutting mat and cut around image, unless you are using a full sheet or a sheet already cut for the exact size of your project. This is what my image looked like once cut (this is the opposite side, it cut the image out on the backside, so this is what it looks like once you flip it over)

  
Step Seven:
Time to "weed" 
Weeding is when you remove the vinyl you don't need! Take away everything that you don't want stuck to your shirt. This process can be very therapeutic (when it goes well) I use my Silhouette weeding tool for this step.

  Step Eight:
I use an iron for my applications, however I am planning on purchasing a heat press, because it is easier, if you are doing a lot of heat transfer projects, pressing them with an iron is a lot of work and will wear you out, so I suggest a Powerpress heat press or a Sunie brand, those have come highly recommended by owners! I place Parchment paper (Not Wax Paper) over my shirt and press really hard with the iron for a few seconds all over, then I remove the Parchment Paper and slowly begin peeling up one corner of the transfer sheet (the clear sheet over my HTV image) if it isn't releasing the image I lay it back down and repeat the process until it comes off cleanly and sticks to the shirt

  
 Step Nine:
I then place my Parchment paper back over my image and begin pressing very hard for about 8 seconds, moving it from side to side and up and down. You want to press it until you can see the lines in the shirt pressed into the HTV

  
Step Ten:
Turn the shirt wrong side out, lay the Parchment paper over the back of image and press again, firmly, then turn right side out. If you can't see the lines (grains) of shirt pressed into HTV. Press until you can. Careful not to melt the HTV.

  Step Eleven:
Confession Time! Do you see my mistake?
I forgot to weed the bottom portion of the "L", but it's just for me, so it's all good! If I was going to sell this however, I would redo it...even though it's a simple little mistake that most wouldn't notice. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my paying customers!

And here is the finished product!

 I can't wait to wear this to the lake this summer!

I hope this tutorial is somewhat helpful, again I am still learning myself and to some that have been doing this a while, it may seem silly, but everyone has to start somewhere and I know that I have learned a lot from tutorials that I have found on the web. 

If you have any question, please leave them in the comments and I will try to answer them the best I can.

Happy Crafting!

Brandy

Lemon Sugar Scrub Recipe

I have been wanting to try this for some time and well, with colder weather moving in and dry skin starting to happen, I thought now is as good of a time as any. This is a really simple recipe and would make a great gift, this recipe makes enough for two batches or a pint. I put it in two half pint jars and made labels for them, here is the recipe:

2 Cups of white granulated sugar
1/4 Cup of do-TERRA brand fractionated coconut essential oil
5 Drops  do-TERRA brand Lemon essential oil

In a medium glass bowl, I added 2 cups of sugar and the fractionated coconut oil and mixed really well with a spoon, pressing it and stirring it until well mixed and fluffy, then I added my Lemon essential oil and mixed well again, then I divided the sugar scrub into two half pint jars, one to enjoy and one to give as a gift. Give it a try, it is super easy and yes, the do-TERRA is the best essential oils that I have found and last a good while! Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

FREE SUBWAY ART - KITCHEN

     To download this cute freebie, click on the link below, you can then select which size you'd like and save it to your computer. This is free for personal use only. Please Do Not alter or reproduce for profit. Thank you! Brandy Jones.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Patron Terrarium

If you like my Patron Terrarium, pin it on pinterest. :)

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Supplies needed to make this project  are: 
*Old bottle
* Pea Gravel
* Charcoal
* Peat Moss
* Top Soil
* Plants ( I used Ivy)

Directions: 
Wash and dry old bottle, then layer pea gravel, charcoal, peat moss, and top soil. then add your plants, mist with water and place cork in bottle. Set your terrarium in a well lit area (not in direct sunlight) and soon it will be watering itself through condensation. :) Enjoy!!!

Another Rag Wreath

Supplies Needed: Three or more colors of fabric, Sharp scissors, a wire hanger and a wooden, decorated initial [optional]

Shape your hanger into a circle and cut strips of fabric, tie around the hanger, alternating fabrics.

Keep adding more fabric until your wreath is nice and full, Add a wooden letter if you like. I had my hubby cut our letter "J" out of scrap plywood that we had laying around and I Mod Podged scrapbook paper onto it.

I think it turned out rather nice.

I loved the idea of this wreath using a wire hanger, because it is inexpensive and who doesn't have too many of those darn things hanging around? also, my wonderful Mother-in-law donated me the fabric as her fabric closet runneth over, and as I mentioned my great hubby cut me out some letters out of some scrap plywood that he had left over from a previous project and I fancied it up with some scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. Tell me what you think! 1.

Happy Crafting!

Inexpensive Fall Wreath [Less than $5!]

I already had the styrofoam wreath form and "welcome Fall" sign, I purchased 2pkgs of "leaves" from The Dollar Store [$1 each] I hot glued the larger leaves around the outer ring of wreath form, then I hot glued the smaller ones around the inner ring and glued my "welcome fall" sign at the bottom to add texture and weight. This wreath was super easy to make and super inexpensive and best of all it looks great on my front door and I have gotten a lot of compliments on it.

  

Bathroom Subway Art

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I love subway art, I wanted to make something for my bathroom at home so, I used PRINT ARTIST and typed up some "bathroom" words using different fonts and colors that match my decor, framed and matted it and that's it. I have gotten so many compliments over this print and it was super easy. Everyone who visits our home always asks where I bought it at...I giggle and say "I made it" It has been so much fun making alot of the decor for our home. Give it a try!

A little bit of nature indoors

I made this by first gathering up a bird's nest and some lost feathers that was no longer in use, I place it in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer for 24 hours [just to make sure that there were no critters alive in it] I then took a glass cake stand [that I no longer use for food] and sprinkled carefully with pea-gravel, then placed my nest to one side and put some faux birdies in it [available at craft stores] placed the feathers inside the next, covered and enjoyed! It's always fun to bring a little bit of  nature indoors.

Happy Crafting!

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DIY COASTERS





  This is super easy and makes a great gift, you can use scrapbook paper, black and white photographs, gift wrap, tissue paper, holiday napkins, etc... This is what I did....
I picked out what scrapbook paper I wanted to use, layed the tiles on the back side of the paper and traced around, cut it out; mod podged it onto the front of the tiles, allowed it to dry, then sealed it with three more coats of mod podge (allowing each coat to dry before the next coat is applied) This is super easy and super inexpensive, the tiles can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depo for just a few cents each!

Here is my finished coaster holding my favorite drink!

Happy Crafting!

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Inexpensive Monogrammed Print




Monogrammed Family Print

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 I made this print for my own home and had several request from people who wanted me to make them one so, I wanted to share how easy it is to make this for yourself or for a gift for some one. all you need to make this is:
*Shadow box that is size 8x8 [I purchased mine at Walmart]
* Scrapbook Paper [I used Martha Stewart brand] already cut to 8x8 in beige
* 2 different fonts of your liking.
Directions: using a printing program of your choosing, lay out the design, making the Last name letter larger and centered, using your second font, select the family names and shape into a circle ( I used Print Artist to do this). next print out directly onto your beige scrapbook paper and place in shadow box frame. THATS IT! It's that easy!!!!