Alphabet Magnets

First, off, we hope you like the make-over! It was about time! What do ya'll think? I got all the elements as freebies from Digi-Scrap Depot---love them! Don't forget to Grab our Button and become a follower! Now--- onto the Alphabet!

I finally finished a Christmas present to my kids this past week. ALPHABET MAGNETS!What you need:

• 6 pages of felt
• Embroidery Floss
• Needle
• Basic knowledge of blanket stitch (great tutorial HERE)
  
• Small baggie of poly-fil
• Glue Gun & Sticks
• 3/4 in magnets

DISCLAIMER: When using the finished product, remember, if the magnets are removed from the felt they could be a choking hazard. As with all toys, supervise your children! :)

Here's what you do:
1. First find a font you like and type up the alphabet. I used Grilled Cheese sized 250.
2. Cut out the letters and use them as a guide to cut out on felt. I just held the letters in place, as to save time from tracing onto the felt. (NOTE: I cut out enough multiples of letters for my kids to spell their names i.e. Bob needs two B's instead of one).3. Use the floss to blanket stitch around each letter. Sounds simple, but it's time consuming. Just take the letters with you whereever you go. Save yourself a little hole to stuff in some poly-fil; stuff and sew the hole closed. Repeat with all letters.
4. Use glue gun to attach one magnet to the back of each letter. Repeat with all letters.
5. Put on fridge or other magnetic surface for child to find after nap. Watch and Enjoy!

Mini Ami Dude & Contest

I found my ball of string by chance yesterday and decided to make an amigurumi out of it. This is what came of that. I didn't really have a plan when making him. I like the color combinations of the embroidery flosses and the string. I wanted to do something more with it but this is what came out. I guess that's what I get for not planning ahead. xD He's a little over 3" tall.

And recently I was e-mailed something interesting by JoAnne's. JoAnne's and Red Heart Yarn are teaming up to do a contest. If you use Red Heart's eco-friendly yarn and either crochet or knit your own design then you can enter. The prizes are pretty cool too. A $1000 JoAnne's giftcard for first in both categories and a $500 JoAnne's giftcard for the runner-ups. They are judging mainly on originality, use of color, and technicality. I'm think of making an amigurumi for the crochet half of the contest. I'm going to try to use as many techniques as I can and give it a shot. Wish me luck

Headband Holder

After I made my daughter's hair clip holder, I suddenly found that her headband storage became the problem. I knew where the clips where, but not the headband. Whoops. So I made this:


All I did was stain the board from JoAnn's. Then I used extra fabric from a previous project for her room to cover a few extra clothespins (I used fabri-tac, but mod-podge can be used too). Then I hot glued them all to the board and added a couple of sawtooth hangers on the back.

Cute headband storage. Done and done. Now I'll know where to find them.

Birthday & Zombie

Since my birthday was last week I decided to make a charm that I could wear as a necklace. I figured that the best way to say that it was my birthday with one look would be a cupcake with a candle in it. I think that this turned out nicely. ^^

The whole weekend I worked on a new amigurumi. I've wanted to make this one for a while but I finally got the time to make it. I really like creepy and cute things. I believe that this guy fits. He is a Zombie Bunny. And what better way for a zombie to live than to have access to his own brain. It's also of good quality since some of the brain stem is still attached. xD

MAGNETIC Calendar Central

I've been wanting to take a crack at my own homemade calendar since I first saw it in the blog-o-sphere HERE. So, I took the new year as my opportunity. Instead of just making it dry-erase I also made it magnetic. All you need is: a large enough picture frame, fabric of your choice, a permanent marker, and sheet metal (we got ours from Lowe's).Then, I made magnets to differeniate Holidays, Church meetings, Dr. Appointments, etc. For those you just need Mod-podge, heavy duty magnets, and whatever you want to back your magnet with. I created ours in Word with images relating to the holiday, etc.It won't be complete until I have vinyl for it, but such is life.

I know--some of you out there are saying---I wouldn't make this because I don't have anywhere to write down future information. I solved that problem by creating a Family Planner/Journal for 2010.
All I bought for this was the book and divided it into 12 sections. Then I printed off the ONLY monthly calendar template (click HERE-projects page 3) onto full page of shipping labels and stuck it to the first page of the section.

The idea is to use the rest of the section to write down little (and big) things that happen in your family over the month. A really simple way to get some kind of family history done. Over the year, I'm really excited to see if the system works, I'll keep you posted!

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

Our playroom caught the bug:


It's seriously so cool and inexpensive. You just need to know your way around Lowe's and some minor power tools. Little Knight used to throw books on the floor to find the one he really wanted to read; it doesn't happen anymore. He even puts them back after he's done! Oh, how I wish it was that way with all of his toys!

Click HERE for the full tutorial.

Christmas Presents

Now that I finally have the time I can write about the Christmas presents that I made for the family. I wanted to post them earlier but the end of break came so fast and then school started this week. I'm getting used to this weird schedule of mine.

I stared with my Mom's present first, the kokeshi doll. I made the pattern pretty easily and then used that same pattern for the rest of the family's gifts. Dad got the golfer; Zak got Indiana Jones; and Parker got the missionary.

I also made another ornament for mom going with the cowboy flare. She really liked the fact that it was a penguin and suggested that I made more in the future because it was the only one she had. xD Then I made Dad the Y keychain since he's big football fan. ;)