Make It Monday: Recycled Coffee Cup Post-It Notepads

I did a "guest post" over at my mom's blog for a tutorial for making her Post-It notepads using recycled coffee cups.

She has so many cool, crafty ideas, but she "hates blogging" because she never knows how to format the posts... so she gave me posting access to her blog...so I kind of act as her "personal blogger" sometimes! (and write the posts as if I'm her) But even though I wrote the post, the work, directions, and most of the photos are all hers. I just tweak the wording a bit, take a couple extra photos, and edit it all together into a comprehensive blog post!

Anyway...please go check it out and leave her some nice comments! And if you make your own coffee cup Post-It notepad, be sure to take some pictures and blog about it, or put them in your Flickr, and post a link in your comment!

Bustin' Out the Glue Gun...

I busted out the trusty ol' glue gun the other day and made some pretty hair accessories.

I used to make flower hair barrettes all the time as a teenager. I would buy fake flowers at the dollar store, deconstruct them, then reassemble them onto a hair barrette with hot glue. I did make a few of my "old" style barrettes this weekend, but I also made a few out of fabric, which I like even better!

I cut petals out of fabric swatches (the kind you find in the home decor fabric section at Joann's)
(Terrible picture of this flower. I'm sorry!)

I was inspired by a video tutorial from Threadbanger about making fabric flowers. Again...I didn't follow the tutorial exactly...but I used it as an inspiration point.

A tip I took from the tutorial is "scorching" the edges of the fabric petals carefully with a lighter or candle so that the fabric doesn't unravel or fray. (you can kind of see the scorching in the close-up pic)

This red flower I made out of fabric left over from my bridesmaids' dresses from my wedding. (to clarify, the dresses were made by a friend and I had leftover fabric...I didn't cut up any dresses!)

"Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts" and Sock Dogs

I heard about "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts" book via the Craft: blog, and actually entered the giveaway they were having for the book (which I sadly did not win). I was ecstatic this week to find that my local library had it in their "new books" section! Can I just say right now... I WANT THIS BOOK FOR MY BIRTHDAY! (June 21st...hint hint!)

Oh Martha, you truly have sucked me in. I just can't escape your crafty grasp.
You know my favorite part about this book?...

...the SOCK DOGS!!!

The dachshund is my favorite (of course!)

It's such a simple project. You know I just HAD to make one!

It took me less time than when I typically make my monsters because I didn't have to come up with a design since the design was already there for me. Making it Martha's way involved more hand sewing, but it was okay. And of course, I don't think I made mine exactly like the books says. (what can I say...I'm a rebel!) I made this one from a pair of socks my mom recently gave me because they had a hole in the heel.

Not bad huh?

I liked making this one and want to make more! My monsters are all going to have pets soon!

You know I'm going to have to make a Luna sock dog soon!

Nancy's Baby Shower

The baby shower I went to last night was lots of fun! I went an hour early to help my friend Kim set up and decorate. I'm all about decorating and so is Kim, so we had lots of fun. She and her sister Tricia had made these lovely tissue paper balls...

And they are so simple to make! You just accordian fold the layers of tissue paper (sorry, I don't know how many layers), cut the ends if desired (that's how they got that flowery look) put the wire around the middle and make the loop to hang the ball, then fluff the layers out to make the puff/flower. (I helped fluff them out when we got to the coffee shop).

The shower was at a local coffee house, The Shirt Factory Cafe`. The building used to be, guess what!...a shirt factory! My hubby came along too for the set-up and was instumental in hanging the puffs. We only had a short ladder, so it helped to have a tall (and artisticly inclined) man to help!

And this is how it all looked when it was done! (I want to have a party just so I can make more of these pretty puffs! Housewarming party maybe?...)

It was nice to see some ladies from the Rochester church who I haven't gotten a chance to talk with in a while. Nancy (the girl the shower was for) was completely overwhelmed. She was in tears when she walked in and saw the place! I was glad we were able to be a blessing is such a simple way.

It was cute how all the little girls swarmed around Nancy as she opened her gifts!

The obligatory "pregnant women" baby shower picture! Lined up by due dates left (most pregnant) to right. It worked out well, because it just happens to be that Nancy is in the middle!

The woman at the far left with the baby is Nancy's sister, Karen, who was included because she just had her 4th child a few weeks ago. (some may alrady know about it, but check out her blog for the amazing story of her 3rd child, Jacob).