Back to Crafting

Man, where does the time go? It has been a while since I have posted an actual, useful post, I may not know how to do it any more.

Hopefully it is like riding a bike.

It is cold in Iowa. Very cold. Cold enough to make me want to play with wool again. In fact, I just got a shipment of sweaters in today. I have to say, when it is this cold and yucky out, I love that I can visit Resweater to order thrifted sweaters. Yes, the shipping does take away a little from the recycling aspect of my chosen 'sport', but man is it so much easier! Besides that, the three closest thrift stores are still about 30 minutes/ 40 minutes away. The closest one is only open 2 days a week for a total of 8 hours.

Instead of taking my chances with the weather, and the possibility of not finding anything after all that driving, I just visit Kris and order what I want. (Resweater is having a giveaway!! Just stop by her site, Resweater, and enter for a chance to win!)

Anyway, the order of sweaters I just got was full of lovely sweaters in shades of white. White because my friend Lisa, who owns a beautiful shop in NH called Kaza likes my felted flowers so much she has ordered more. In a white color scheme.

I have a few made up, so here is a picture.

4-4" white felted flowers, 2 sets of 2-1" felted rolled flowers on clips, 1-1" felted rolled flower on a headband.

I then remembered that Lisa had mentioned that she wanted some pillows. I don't think the one I had is what she has in mind, but I thought the flowers looked gorgeous against the pillow.

Here are some close-ups of the three I added to the pillow.

Emma and I have been up to some other things here and there, but until 2 days ago, I didn't have a camera so I have no photos to prove it. 

When I get back from AZ (I know, I need to just stay home for a while), I will get caught back up on photos. 

Oh, I can leave you with this fun little creature that just had to be born the other day. I was busy making flowers and for whatever reason, I started goofing around with my fabric, and I created this:

We both hope you have a great weekend!

High-Five T-Shirt Pillow Tutorial

So, here is my tutorial for making a t-shirt pillow. This can be machine or hand stitched, so it is really great for anyone who wishes to give it a try. It could even be a kid friendly project.

Items Needed:
-Smaller t-shirt (the ones pictured are 2/3T)
-tie dye (kits make this pretty user friendly)
-2 scraps of fabric, one hand print sized, one big enough to close up the neck opening.
-marker
-fabric scissors
-sewing machine or thread and needle

Instructions:
*Wash and dry the t-shirt

*Follow the tie dye directions
While you are letting your shirts sit, why don't you check out some of the other fun things I have on my blog.

*Trace the hand print directly onto one of the scraps of fabric (or onto a cereal box or other stiffer paper, then onto the fabric).

*Cut out the fabric hand print

*Stitch the hand print onto the t-shirt wherever you like it best. (If you are doing more then one shirt for more then one child at the same time, just write the child's name on the inside of the hem at the bottom of the shirt.)

*Use the other scrap and sew it to the inside of the neck opening. I have no great advice on how to do this, just wing it till it works :)

*Sew up one sleeve and the bottom hem. I sewed right over the stitching that was there because I liked that the sleeves "opened" a bit.

* Stuff the t-shirt through the open sleeve, then stitch the sleeve up when you are happy with it's fluffiness.



Take a picture of the happy child holding their cool, upcycled, one-of-a-kind t-shirt pillow, and send it to me. (just kidding, you don't have to send me a picture if you do not want to, but I would love to see them!)

Almost forgot, if you love this pillow but are unable to make it yourself, I would love to make one for you! Check out this page for how to order.

Hand Print Gift Ideas

I don't need to remind anyone that times are tight right now. Lucky for me though, I love crafting and giving. Even better for me, most things I make I created from recycled items. A great way to cut costs even more.

Holiday gifts will be handmade this year. I even convinced my sister to jump on my band wagon :)

I have to tell you, I love my daughters hands. Ever since she was a baby, my favorite thing to do with her, is trace her hands or paint them and make hand prints. It is a great way to follow her growth in a fun and different way.

So, here are a few projects we have made. I have added a link for where I found the idea, and they all over tutorials, so go on over and check them out!

Hug Pillows (found here: From An Igloo)

This will be a pillow for one of the grandparents (if you happen to be reading this, pretend to be surprised at Christmas). We have 4 of the 6 grandchildren on here.
For this project, I actually purchased fabric. I really try not to purchase fabric, but if I do, I make sure to shop in the clearance section and use a coupon. Some of the fabric for this pillow did come from clothes destined for the thrift shop, so I guess it can be considered partially upcycled.

For the hug pillow, I also created some less...formal ones.

These are made from upcycled clothes. The stuffing and thread are new.

High Five Pillows (just a slightly different take on the hug pillow).

These are my nephews pillows. Emma and the boys had great fun using them for a pillow fight.

This project came about due to an oops. A few weeks ago I had Emma and her 3 cousins make some tie dye t-shirts. In a moment of laziness, I bought each of them a package of 5 plain white under shirts. Apparently, they run small :( The shirts for Emma and her youngest cousin, T-Bear, didn't fit. We were able to use the shirts from Emma for T-Bear, but I wasn't sure what to do with the shirts from T-Bear. My sister suggested making them into t-shirt pillows. I loved it! Having 5 t-shirts, and 4 kids, I made a t-shirt for each. I thought adding their own hand print to their shirts would be fun.

Hand Trees (found here: At Second Street)

My oldest nephew didn't want to make one of these so it was just Emma and two of her cousins. I was a little frustrated that Emma and G-Man didn't want to add more leaves, but it is their trees, so I decided to butt out (and not add more after they left the table).

So, this is some of what we have been up too. I hope to get more pictures, but it is slightly slow going as my camera eats batteries. I manage to take about 10 pictures before the batteries are dead. So, now I remove the batteries after each picture taking session. I hope that helps.

Thanks for reading, I hope you find some inspiration here!

So Much Crafting, So Little Computering

Not sure if computering is a word, but it fits. I have been crafting like crazy and the weather has been nice, so I have not been on the computer all that much. I plan to take a few hours this week to let you know about all the fun things I have been making.

Here is a quick list of what you can look forward to seeing later this week:

More book purses
Denim and wool cooler
T-shirt Skirt
Brick Pillow

and much more.

Thanks for stopping by, I promise there will be more interesting post before the week is done!

Kaotic be thy name

*Warning: This is a long post with lots of good stuff. You may want to get a drink or take a potty break before starting!*

I picked KaoticKrafter for a reason. When it comes to crafting, I never seem able to settle on one type of craft, or even one item within a single day, let alone a week! And with Emma being at Gramma's this week, I have been super busy trying to get a bunch of stuff done. When she gets home, I want to be able to spen more time with her. It feels like I have been neglecting her lately, so a week at Gramma's, spending lots of one-on-one time with both Gramma and Aunty Sara is just what she needs. It also gives me a much needed break and eases my guilt. I LOVE Emma, I LOVE being a mom. There is nothing I would rather be then Emma's mom, but sometimes just a few days to recharge is really needed. Makes for a happier family.

So, enough about me feeling guilty, on to the fun stuff I have made this week - though had Emma been here, her ideas and input would have made them better :)

I have no idea what order I made things in. I can't even remember what day of the week it is. But lets start with what I made today. This:


I am not sure if it is going to be a shirt or a dress. I will finish it when Emma gets home. I made this because on Monday, we got family photos taken by Paula at This Day Photography. Paula is an awesome lady and you can look forward to a separate post about her studio and all the fun things we have planned! For now, I just want to tell you that I made this for Emma to wear for a project Paula has in mind.

Here are a few more up close pics:


When I woke up this morning, I checked my normal sites and was delighted to see that Jen at Just Jingle had another awesome quick craft project. So, I made two.


And doesn't this one look awesome with Emma's new shirt/dress?


Let's see, what else? Oh, yeah! My sister, Melisa, and her hubby, Dave, had their baby on St. Patty's day. Her name is Friden. She was 6lbs 12oz and 19" long. She was a little blue at birth due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around her neck, but she is doing well now and should be going home tomorrow. Melisa is doing well also!

For the last few days I have been thinking about Melisa, Friden, and Dave a lot, and I knew they needed a few things, so I got to work.


I made 7 burp clothes and 10 nursing pads. I wanted to make a blanket for swaddling, but I didn't want to use anything to hot. Melisa lives in AZ, so flannel is out of the question. I stopped at Joann's today and picked up some jersey knit so I will be working on that tomorrow.

I have a question about the burp clothes. Which one do you like best? The white ones are made of t-shirts (4 layers for all white, 2 t-shirt layer with green fabric for other). The other 4 are made of a recycled towel smooshed between 2 pieces of cotton. I love the frayed edges, what about you?

Moving on...

I started a twitter account today. You can find me here: KaoticKrafter. I am slowly learning, so if you have tips, tricks, or advice, feel free to share!

What would I do with out my hubby? I am sitting here trying to remember what I have been making, and he is right there to help me out. He reminded me about this next item (I think it's his favorite).

I was laying in bed a few nights ago, crafty thoughts running chaotically (see, the name fits) through my tired brain, when my thoughts stopped on dino's. I got to wondering why there wasn't more clothes and other stuff out there for girls who love dino's...

My mother-in-law rocks (that would be Gramma). She bought a Cricket cutter thing a while ago. She let me play with it and I got hooked. Now she kindly parts with it when I ask to borrow it, which we are doing now. While shopping the other day, Emma and I discovered that the cartridges where on sale. We bought a dinosaur one, because, well, Emma loves dino's.

I ask you, what do you get when you mix a Cricket Cutter, a dinosaur cartridge, and some cute girl's clothes? I am not sure what you would get, but this is what I got:



I used the Cricket to cut out a few different dino's then I traced them onto some fabric. At first I was using a fading fabric pen that only kinda faded. I like the way the lines looked from the pen, so I switched to permanent marker. I also like the way the stitching looks.

I need to do a little research about stamping onto fabric. I want to add the words, "Chicks Dig Dino's Too!" to the front of the shirt, but I am to lazy to cut out all the letters then sew or fuse them on there. Plus, I think it might be neat to stamp, or let Emma stamp, onto the shirt. I have scrapbooking stamps, but I don't know if that will wash out in the washer or not. Do you know?

And yes, that is how I got the idea for dino's on Friden's burp clothes.

Oh, I almost forgot about these guys. I have to go take some quick pics, so now might be another good time for a drink/ bathroom break...

Ha ha, funny thing. As I went to take pictures of these two little guys-


I remember that I made these,


these,


this,


this,

and last, SWAG for Des Moines, IA's Swap-O-Rama-Rama (see side bar for info).


In the interest of not keeping you up as late as me, I won't go into much detail for those last items, but if you are interested, feel free to contact me!

Thanks for sticking with me throughout this entire, really long post!

(edited 3-18-10 11:00pm- I don't have much in my shops right now, but that will be changing soon!)