Catching Up (Popsicle Holder tutorial)

   I want to start by saying I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to list any new designs. I started on this last group of designs over a month ago I know you haven’t heard much if anything at all from me, my little boy has bad allergies this time of year which causes ear infections, two sets of tubes and still a busted ear drum then a patch put in and finally he is doing better! Never a dull moment, lots of activities with the girls and I feel like I’ve been behind since Christmas and just can’t seem to catch up so I had to step back, take a break, a breath, and breathe so I could refocus! So your patience is appreciated!!! 

   I can’t believe it’s summer already, this year has blown by at least it feels that way now but I’m sure there were days that I didn’t feel that way! SCHOOL IS OUT!!! Love the kids being at home (not so sure about everyday ;) but I have lots of things planned to keep us busy!

   My children love the flavor ice Popsicles and they are great for outside on a hot sunny day but they are so cold to hold so we have always wrapped a paper towel around the end and taped it so they can hold on to it without any problems.I made an in the hoop design for little holders to slip on instead of the napkins and they work like a charm! I actually saw this idea in a magazine but it was hand sewn so it' not my original idea by any means but its VERY simple and easy! You can find this design on my website in the free category!

A quick tutorial on making a popsicle holder (made to fit the flavor-ice popsicles)
You will need:  felt, tear away stabilizer (if you are stitching the word popsicle or a name you should probably double your stabilizer, thread, machine and a way to transfer your design to your machine

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This step you stitch the word POPSICLE (I didn't because I didn't think it would show up on the felt I was using) you may want skip that step and add a name in its place. So if you do add anything this is when you would do it, before this next step where you add the back. Since I skipped that step I'll be going straight to covering the back with felt.

I now have a kindergartner & second grader. My Madison was on the honor roll the whole year so I couldn’t be more proud of her it also was a little surprising to me. I knew she was fully capable of it but she is easily distracted and easily bored but her teacher was great and kept her engaged which I know first hand was challenging. My Miranda just completed Pre-K and she loved it, everyday of it & learned so much so we were definitely blessed with teachers this year!

When I was little I remember my Grandmother always saying she wanted to put a book on my head to keep me from growing anymore..I think I finally know what she meant :) 

   I gave these aprons as end of the year teacher gifts, what teacher doesn’t need an apron?? So they loved their gift and I personalized it with a design and sentiment. 

   The aprons came from Hobby Lobby if you aren’t close to one they are online too they comes in Adult or child size and they are durable ( I have had one for at least two yrs that has endured plenty of washes, I love my apron I tend to be a little a lot messy, so I’ve been told J it actually drives me crazy because I’m very OCD about messes but regardless of how hard I try not to make a mess there is just no avoiding it, my Mom on the other hand could paint a building in her Sunday best & not get a drop on her. Okay I realized I just got off track so back to the aprons, for stabilizer I used fusible poly mesh & covered the stitches with comfort cover and that was it! 

My parents just celebrated their 50th Anniversary last month!

I made their gift so I thought I would share....

   I know this isn’t the best picture but it was the best one I could get at the time. I used a linen (from Hobby Lobby) to stitch on and medium cut away stabilizer. The frame came from Hobby Lobby too, they randomly put their frames on sale for 50% off so I got a good deal J !

   Since I posted about our newest additions to the family at Christmas time (the ferrets) I've had a few people ask questions about them. So I will answer those questions to the best of my ability & give an update on our 3 little fuzzies.

   In case you don't know OUR story I will try to make it short. Madison (my oldest which is 7) asked Santa for a puppy or a pet for Christmas and as much of a pet person we all are, I just couldn't even swing the idea of anything that would be "involved" (like a puppy, which is what she originally wanted) because our animals are our family and with the amount of or lack of time I should say that I already have for everything I try to fit in one day it didn't seem possible to add to that load but I do want them to have a pet (we have a cat, inside cat but he stays to his self) I thinking you learn a lot from having one but at least until my youngest starts school I knew it couldn't be anything that would require a lot of work so after some research Santa decided hamsters were great starter pets....Madison we'll all 3 of the kids were thrilled with them but as the days went by in my opinion these things are not remotely close to a "pet" I wanted them to have something they could actually hold and really take care of (for some reason Santa got Dwarf Hamsters, you can't even hold them they're small and jumpy).

     A few days after Christmas we decided to take her to the pet store and just let her pick what she wanted. She decided she wanted a ferret (I did some quick research to make sure they were children compatible & good pets) I don't have much experience with ferrets at all other than a few friends that had one and said they make great pets so we agreed on a ferret. The pet store had 3 to choose from I had a lot of questions, like age, sex, etc...they said they always have 3 at any one time and they just got a new baby which was adorable but that made me ask about the other two she said they have had them since they opened in April so they were about 6-8 months old so no one ever picks them its always the baby that's gets adopted every time, and of course the kids wanted the baby (he was so tiny & cute) but I couldn't get the baby over one of the older ones at that point (AND THIS IS WHY I DON'T GO TO PET STORES) and after playing with them for a few minutes you could see they had definitely bonded so I couldn't just leave one behind so within an hour and a small fortune we had 3 new additions to our family (YEP I SAID 3)...another one of my moments of insanity (in the research I found it said they were not as much work to take care of as a dog but more than a cat so I thought I could handle that (this comparison was one ferret not 3 my brain didn't make it to that reasoning at this point yet) but I will say other than my house smelling like rodent (we also still have the two hamsters as well) they are incredibly sweet and ridiculously playful and have been great with the kids! Now as far as my time goes I guess I thought I needed a challenge. 

    They have a cage but I let them out to play everyday for an allotted time and in a gated area because they are literally like 2 yrs old they will get into everything and can get hurt. They also have a short digestion track which means Yep they poop A LOT which again one wouldn't be a problem but that much poop times 3 (they do use a litter box but I'm cleaning it most of the day because I don't want them walking in dirty litter and then the kids handle them so I have a whole new BIG job (what was the reason I said no to the puppy again??) We do love them so its worth it but they can be a lot of work, the only real negative I will say about them for anyone who is thinking about getting one, they do stink, I had read that if they get descented they wont stink THIS IS NOT TRUE, their oil glands produce a musty smell but if u can get past that then you'll love them forever because they are so much fun and great with the kids, and again times 3 so you can imagine what my house smells like I don't leave often thank goodness so I think I'm immune to the smell now at least to an extent anyway. 

   They are trainable too, I trained them to use the litter box but I haven't got any further than that I think I could but I just haven't found the time especially with all 3 of them. here's a few pictures...

   Miles napping with Ozzy, (he’s the oldest) how precious is that?? The 3 works well since I have 3 children because they each have bonded with one so none of the "it's my turn" stuff so I guess that worked out for the better!

I was looking at Etsy and Ebay for bedding for their cage and couldn’t believe the prices for that stuff so I decided to make some myself. This was the first set I made, I have several now because I like to change their bedding several times a week!

Here’s the baby which that has actually became his name, we named him Gizmo but everyone calls him the baby. He loves to eat, he went from being the smallest to the biggest in about 3 months.

   This is Bandit/Mischief/Misfit, somehow he got 3 names….he always wants out to play! Oh and a very important fact about ferrets is how they love to dig, a widely known nickname for them is carpet sharks (I missed this fact when I was researching) but it didn’t take long for me to find out! Bandit likes to dig anywhere and he completely ripped up the carpet in spots in Miles’s room L.

   This is Ozzy, he's the oldest and he is very gentle & sweet.

  Bath Time!!! they (except for Ozzy) love bath time and they are pretty good swimmers & even better they smell good for a little bit anyway but you shouldn't bathe them to often because it will dry them out and make their oil glands produce more oil which means they will stink worse!

   In summary I think they are great pets, they do take a lot of care & time (they require a certain kind of food & litter which can be pricey) and if you are thinking about getting one you should definitely do some research, there is plenty of info out there on them. I hope I answered any questions you had if not you can email me. But YES they stink very badly (we were told they were descented which they were but they still stink ) blah

Flower trio Raggedy design tutorial

Supplies you will need: material, thread, machine, a way to transfer design to machine, scissors, stabilizer

I'm putting this design on a shirt so to find the center of the shirt I just fold it in half and iron at the seam to create a line down the center. Since this design isnt heavy and doesnt have much satin stitch I'm only using a medium weight tear away stabilizer.

I'm using 3 different materials for my flowers and cut a piece out for each flower so I have a total of 9 pieces and then a material for the leaves. I did not use heat and bond on the flower pieces but I did on the leaf pieces.

Stitch the first step, which is the guide line for the leaves.

Lay your material for the leaves. Then stitch the next step.

When you trim don't trim as close as you normally would leave a little bit of material. After you trim go around the edges with your fingernail (if your not sure heres a tutorial on that) to get that raggedy look. Then I use a sticky thingy to clean up the mess.

Now stitch the satin stitches (the stems) Then stitch the guideline for the flowers.

Then lay your first piece of material and after you stitch it do the same for it as you did the leaves.

Finish the other two flowers the same way.

Then finish stitching the next three steps (I mixed up my thread colors here).

There isn't a guideline stitch for this step (thats why I cut all material as large as the biggest circle for the flower. I double my material and put the larger piece in the back and then stitched the next step.

I did the same thing here as I did to the flowers & leaves but I trimmed the top layer first and did the edges then I trimmed the second layer and did the same.

Do the same for the other two flowers. 

Then stitch the last step I was debating leaving off the centers because its so cute just like this but I left them so that way you would have the option to have them ir not. :)

Click here for the link to this design.

In the Hoop door hanger tutorial

     Hello again! I know its been a couple of months but I've been super busy! After this tutorial on the door hanger I'll share a few pictures of what I've been up too :) 

In the Hoop door hanger Instructions

You will need the following supplies:

  ~ Embroidery machine and ability to transfer design
  ~ Material for the background of the door hanger & a small piece of  material for the applique part of the santa hat
  ~ Embroidery thread
  ~ Stabilizer (Med. tear away) 

  ~ Sticky spray adhesive or tape

  ~ Something for the back of the sign, I used a piece of foam (you can purchase at Walmart in the craft section) or felt, anything you would like as long as its a little stiff 

(Use your stitch map (included with each design for thread & color guide)

Click here for the link to this design.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask :)

I also just added a couple of in the hoop Christmas ornaments and they are super easy to do!

 

Click here for a link to these designs.