Glitter Heart Valentine's Day Shirt Tutorial

I often find myself making seasonal shirts for the girls. I can often make them for much cheaper than I can find in the stores, and I can make them so that they can be worn a bit longer than the actual holiday. And now with two girls (maybe three?) I always have one from other years to pass on.
This year, I was inspired by this shirt from Old Navy. Of course you can no longer buy it because it has long sleeves and who on earth would wear long sleeves past January??! (Okay, I am being sarcastic. When you live here, Up North, it is a bit amusing to see flip flops out when it is still in the negatives outside.)

Anyway, I used my Silhouette to cut out hearts from freezer paper to make stencils. (If you don't have a cutting machine, a punch or even free hand would work as well.) Just make sure to leave enough of a border around each heart (or other shape) so that your paint doesn't get outside of the stencil. Once the hearts were cut, I ironed them on to the shirts. (Old Navy did redeem itself when I was able to score shirts for both of the girls for this project for around $3 a piece. Go clearance!)

Once you have the stencils ironed down, you are ready to paint. I went with this Tulip fabric paint that I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. (I ended up using a regular paint brush instead of this sponge dauber.)

I painted two coats on each heart with a dry time in between.

Once the paint was dry, I peeled off the stencils. (I think because of the glitter paint, some of my freezer paper was left around the edges. I probably could have pulled it off while the paint was still a little tacky. However, the freezer paper will come off with washing.)

February: I'm Loving It

Another month, another list of some of my current favorites.

1) The 2014 Olympic Games: I LOVE the Olympics. They are my sporting event. In our house we didn't even tune into the super bowl at all this year, but you better believe we have been tuning in to ever moment we can of Olympic coverage. Here is a fun little fact, my husband proposed to me during the 2004 Olympic opening ceremony.
2) Juice Cubes: In true Kristi fashion, I avoided jumping on the Candy Crush bandwagon. It always takes me a little time to warm up to new trends and I don't like to do something just because everyone else is. Well, a few weeks ago, I stayed home from church with a sick Peachy. While she napped on the couch I downloaded the game Juice Cubes to my Nexus. Apparently, Juice Cubes is just another version of Candy Crush, and I can say that I have a bit of an addiction. This is odd for me since I am not a gamer by any means. I figure it will give me something to do during those late night baby sessions.
3) Sherlock: I have always love the Sherlock books. I have read a few of the originals, thanks to being an English concentrate in college and I also like reading the Laurie King series. This summer we started streaming the BBC modern adaptation of Sherlock and we both loved it! We quickly made our way through the first two seasons. (Not all that hard being each season is three hour and a half episodes.) And now have been catching season three as well.
4) Resin Cheese Knife: Have you ever used one of these cheese knives? At first glance they don't seem like all that much, but once you use them and realize how nicely they cut, you will be a convert. I actually had used one at my parents' house and a friend's house, but didn't have my own until I received one at Christmas. Try it, you will like it! Here is a link on Amazon, but I know you can get it many other places.

Self-Binding Baby Blanket

While we pretty much have everything that we need for baby #3, I always like to make something special for each of our children before they are born. (You can see some of the things I made for Peachy here and Cream here, here, and here.) This time I decided on trying a self-binding baby blanket.
I went to the new local fabric store and picked out this great Daydream Girl Flannel Clouds for the backing and the binding. And a great print from Riley Blake Designs called Wheels for the front. (I can't fins a good source for this particular print online.)

I was told to check out this great tutorial on You Tube from The Missouri Quilt Company. It is very helpful especially if you are a visual learner. There are lots of other great tutorials out there, too.

I totally got the concept, except I messed up my corners and cut them and then what was I supposed to do? I ended up piecing in a square of a coordinating fabric. And it worked! And as a bonus, I now have a very unique baby blanket. I finished it with a fun stitch on my machine.

Cream decided that her friend, Norberg, should make an appearance with the quilt.

This blanket is now packed in the hospital bag awaiting its new owner!

Foodie Friday: Valentine S'more Treat Plate

This treat is the combination of two Pinterest pins. It started with the S'more bars. You can find the recipe at The Happy Baker. I then put some of the bars on a paper plate that I punched holes around and wove a ribbon through. You can see some more ideas at Make and Takes.

I tossed in a Thank You note and brought it to a friend's house who watched the girls for me while I got the important pre-baby task completed of getting a fresh hairdo!

This is a great way to bring a little treat to someone sweet without them needing to worry about returning a container. And if you are like me, you have everything you need on hand.

Paper Straw Heart Garland

When you first see this heart garland, it is hard to tell that it is simply paper straws bent into the shape of hearts. Totally simple and totally cute! One of the best combinations for a seasonal craft in my opinion.

Stop on by the blog Living Locurto to see Amy's simple tutorial!
I even had all of the supplies on hand, which is a bonus!

Some Great Matryoshka Creations

So, if you saw my post yesterday, you know that my Matryoshka obsession hasn't yet ended. There is just something so fun and whimsical about the Russian nesting dolls. Here are a few Matryoshka items that have me drooling on Etsy right now.

1) Wood Block Printed Russian Nesting Dolls from Laura Frisk
2) Babushka Nesting Doll Sterling Silver Necklace from Fingerprince
3) Personalized Wooden Nesting Doll Puzzle Set from manzanitakids
4) Modern Matryoshka Inspirational Print from moderngenes

If you love these items, you should check out the remaining items on the Matryoshka treasury on Etsy.

Matryoshka Dolls

I recently had a request to create some matryoshka dolls. I have actually been planning on sewing some of these fun gals up, so I was really excited to get started on this project. (If you can remember back to Halloween, you know that I already love matryoshka dolls and dressed the girls (and the baby) up as the Russian nesting dolls for their costumes.)

I made three of these cuties with a deep purple wool base. The scarves, faces, and aprons are all machine appliqued on top with a quilt-weight cotton. The face details are stenciled on with a freezer paper stencil. I also added some ric rac as a fun accent touch. And the hair is wool felt also machine appliqued on top of the faces.

Now that I have the technique down, I can't wait to try some more!