Skirt week

It is skirt week at the blog Crafterhours. I added this skirt I recently made hoping to win something.. Wish me luck!

I made this pencil skirt for a semi-formal dinner party that I'm going to. In the front it has all the normal 'pencil skirt' seams...but in the back I added a bustle.

Side view

Back bustle view

Front view

My recent projects!

I am back.. for now at least I know I haven’t posted anything in forever, but I will get some tutorials up soon. I just wanted to leave you with a few sneak peaks!

Makella’s Valentine outfit! An seen from this awesome blog.. No tutorial from me since Kelly is the creator of this awesome outfit and her tutorials are amazing anyways!

Princess Dress-up dress… A refashion from a bridesmaid skirt into princess dress

Tutorial in the works!!

*Fully lined Violet Dress! Tutorial in the works- and final picture of this dress has not been taken yet as you could probably tell!

I will be back to our regular program soon…

I know I have been MIA for way too long. I have been involved in the Music Man that my Church Stake is doing. I have been at rehearsal almost every night, and when I have spare time I am spending it with the kids. The play performance is March 17th – 19th. Once this is over I promise to post a tutorial I have been working on! Talk to you soon.

New Valentine Tradition!!

I have decided to make a new tradition for my family this Valentines! It’s something fun for the kids, and so they fell involved in this somewhat adult holiday!
I found these cute mailboxes at the dollar section of Target. We brought them home..and my 4 year old helped decorate them! I do have to say it’s extremely hard to decorate these for a boy..trying to make them not girly looking was challenging-but it turned out ok!
My goal is to do the ‘14 days of Valentines’. I plan to put little notes, snacks, treats and even little dollar toys etc in each persons mailbox. I don’t want this to be expensive, but fun for the kids! Each day they will have something new in the mailbox and hopefully a tradition they will enjoy!!

One side has our initial so we can remember which mailbox is ours!

and a close up

SO….. I need to run to the store to pick up little things to go inside these mini mailboxes… Any ideas are more than welcome…………… Hope you are all ready for Valentines since TOMORROW is February 1st!!!

Can you believe it?

I know I can’t… but in all honesty I am excited Jan. is over because I am counting down to summer and it can’t get here soon enough!

UPDATE: I just entered so go check out all the fun Valentines craft ideas!!

The completed projects

As I promised over the weekend, I did finish the baby boy gifts for a friend! They were so fun, but time consuming. I do have to say I was happy with how they turned out!

 

First up….

I bought this plain onesie. I cut the saying out of freezer paper with my Cricut and painted it on! To match the onesie I made some comfy lounge pants minus the draw string part. The pants are made out of a soft minky type material.. I only wish I had enough fabric to make some for me

Second….

As I said before this couple friend of ours is having their 1st boy! The husbands nickname is El’ Capitan.. so I thought for their little boy it was only fitting to have a little bib with the same nickname as Daddy!! (this was made to be a joke, but also something they could use down the road)

Last up…. and my most favorite sewing project to date!!!

I saw this blanket idea from here. Dana has an AMAZING blog which I follow daily! I have bought some super fun patterns from her as well, so go check out all her amazing tutorials etc!!

So this blanket is really fun to make, especially to see it come together. It takes A LOT of time FYI, but looks stunning when it’s complete! I will for sure make more of these down the road..but for now will give my eyes and fingers (which I snipped a piece of my pointer finger off in the process of making this) a rest!!

Isn’t this just amazing. If you can’t see I used 3 colored fabric’s to make the ‘chenille’ looking side. A solid brown, green and yellow!! Love Love love this blanket!

Happy Friday everyone…..

I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday! I am SOOOOOO glad Friday has come. This week seemed to drag on F.O.R.E.V.E.R! I stayed inside with the kids mostly and went totally slightly crazy! Anyone else ready for summer?? I know I am desperately waiting for it to arrive.

However, we have survived and I do have some fun projects to show you. It will have to wait until Saturday or Sunday since I am still in the process of finishing them. I better hurry and finish since they are for a friend who’s having her FIRST boy (after already having 2 girls) and we are planning to get together with them Saturday night!!

…..but I will leave you with a sneak peak!!

Have a wonderful weekend and I know I will since the Man of the House in NOT out of town and we will be hanging with these little cuties!!

I sure love these two little ones!!

until next time….
Ashlee

Tought Decision... This is where I need your help.

I have a tough decision.... Ever since I have seen the new

Silhouette SD machine

I have really REALLY wanted it. It looks so awesome and I love the options it has!!

I have never seen one in person, but everything on it sounds so cool.

SECOND,

I have a personal Cricut machine with about 15 different cartridges..

I haven't been able to decide...... Do I sell all my Cricut stuff and purchase the Silhouette?

Or will I regret it later?

HELP.... I need your opinions people these are desperate times :)

Simple Valentine Frame (mini tutorial)

Are you in need of some Valentine’s décor for your home? Well I definitely am. I am slowly working on getting fun and simple Valentine decorations up in the house. This one is a fun, quick and simple idea so try it out.

I first cut the letters L.O.V.E with my Cricut machine.

(it could be so fun to try using different words too… Try XOXO, Feb. 14th, Hugs, Kisses) the options are endless

You can cut them by hand in you don’t have a craft machine that can cut letters. Next I found a frame I wasn’t currently using and glued the letters to black paper and fit it inside the frame.

Then I simply put the ribbon around the frame and then put the frame back together. It could be so cute on a shelf, counter or even mantel…. I made this to hang on my front door!

Don’t mind the HORRIBLE, AWEFUL picture… but you get the idea! This was a super fast craft and looks fun and different on my door!

Fabric Letter (Tutorial)

I have been in the mood lately of ‘everything in my house needs to change’! Do you have those moments too? Well here is a fun project that can be FREE.

To start off this tutorial you need the following:

1. Cardboard in order to make your letter (or you can buy your letter from almost any craft store)

2. Fabric

3. Mod podge

4. Spray paint ( not required but helpful.. you’ll see why)

5. Strips of a magazine or newspaper

6. Flour and water

Ready..Set… Here we go!

For my ‘W’ I cut two pieces.  One for the front and one for the back. Then I taped it together with pieces in between to make it 3-D and stand by itself.

The tape doesn’t have to hold it together perfectly because we paper mache over it to make it strong.

Cut strips out of newspaper or a magazine. Mix 1c. flour to 1c. water and blend well.

This is the messy part. Especially is you have a 4 year old helping you!

Dip your strips in the mache and scrap off most of it before you put it on your letter.

Apply the pieces over your letter until it’s completely covered.

Once you are finished let it dry.

Here is where the spray paint takes place. Once my ‘W’ was dry I put a coat or 2 of white spray paint over it. I didn’t want any of the writing to show through my fabric. If you are using a dark fabric this isn’t necessary. Onto the fun part. Take your letter and lay it on top of your fabric. Cut around your letter leaving a good inch or so extra in order to wrap around your letter!

IMPORTANT: when you start to apply the fabric to the letter make sure you cover the BACK side first. This will make it so any seems are toward the back of the letter and not on the front side.

Apply a good coat of mod podge to the back side of your letter. Lay the fabric over and smooth it out.

Now you need to cut where is needed (like in the last pic) in order for the fabric to go into the creases of the shape. At the bottom on the W I cut a straight line.

For the top of the W I cut it as shown below. Use more mod podge where needed make sure all the ends are down nice and tight.

On all the sides fold your fabric so it creates a nice corner seam.

For the middle crease sections I just added pieces of fabric in. It doesn’t have to be perfect as most of it will be covered when we add the fabric to the FRONT of the letter.

Now the back of your letter, and middle crease parts should all be covered! Repeat the same steps for the FRONT of your letter. Make sure all your corners are folded nicely, then let it dry.

Add any embellishments you want and enjoy your new décor!

Feel free to email, or comment with any questions!!!

This will be saved on the tutorial page for quick reference.