Pixie Dust Necklaces

Just had a fabulous vacation in Oregon, visiting my husband's side of the family.  My little sweeties got to spend time with their two cousins (this was about the longest they all stood still :) ).
For fun, I brought along supplies to do this little craft.  They had a great time!!
The full tutorial can be found here - at the Mommy Blessings blog. 

I went to Whole Foods, and the woman at the floral counter gave me a few of these flower water tubes for free!  That made the entire project cost $0, because everything else I scrounged from around the house. 

I ended up gluing them shut entirely, so that they couldn't be opened and leak glitter everywhere :)  The kids absolutely love them!
I also think this would be a great birthday party project...

Fabric Camera Strap Covers

This is one of those things that has been on my list for a long time - to make a few camera strap covers.
My husband lovingly teased - "you are even going to make our camera look girly??"
Yes.  Yes I am.
I made one for myself, and a couple relatives with SLR cameras.  They turned out GREAT, and they are comfortable and stylish!

Nursery Rhymes and Sweet Times has an excellent tutorial!  I would suggest using the fusible fleece.  Her tutorial shows you how to do it with or without, and I so much preferred the one I made with the fleece that I seam ripped open the one I did without, so that I could redo it!  The cover slid around a lot less (which I thought was good, because I like it to stay in place), and it was much more comfortable on the neck.

Another tip: if you are making the ruffles, the tutorial tells you to zig-zag stitch the edges to keep them from fraying.
At first, I tried sewing so that the entire zig zag was on the fabric.  This made the edge of my fabric fold and curl - horrible!!
It took me a few tries to figure out that I needed to sew the zig zag half on and half off the edge of the fabric.  So, only HALF the zig zag is being stitched through.  The middle of the presser foot is right on the edge of the fabric.  The thread still turns out tight, but it does not make your fabric fold and curl.

If you can't tell, the red one here is for a boy.  I wasn't sure if the idea of a camera strap cover in general is simply too girly, but I think this one turned out very suitable for a guy :)  He is a mature, secure in his masculinity kind of person too...so that helps:)

Very fun project with a satisfying result!!

Check out these parties I often link up to!

Notebook Design Snap Bag

Made a cute little snap bag...quick and easy.   This little guy is called a "snap bag" because the top three quarters of an inch are stiff from a piece of tape measure sewn into the fabric!  Very cool.  When it opens, the tension in the tape measure makes it want to snap back shut...

I followed this tutorial here...
It is a bit of a tough tutorial, so you ought to have a little sewing know-how before attempting to follow it.  Some improvisation may be required. 
The bag is much smaller than I originally thought when I saw the picture over at the Tolen Family Fun blog.  You can see in the picture below that it is just about the size of my hand - and it is so cute!
It would fit perfectly into a larger purse to hold things like chapstick, gum, lipgloss, makeup - etc. etc. - all those things that can get lost in the bottom of the bag :)

The back is a continuation of the notebook design.  You could, of course, stitch any words onto the bag - which makes it so personalized and fun!!
I particularly like this saying...I have a feeling I will be using it for a future project....hmm.... :)

By the way...this is one of many projects I found and pinned on Pinterest! 

Come follow me if you want - it is amazingly fun!

Check out these parties I often link up to!

Lamp Shade Bow Holder

This has been such a handy and eye pleasing craft -- I am really happy with it!
This lamp doubles as a bow holder, and I used ribbon to match the colors in my girls' room - so it fits right in with the decor!

After seeing this post at This Present Life, I immediately kept my eye open for a lamp shade and lamp base that would work....

Tada!! 

Ugly, right??  I picked this beauty up at a garage sale for $1 - because it had just what I needed - a metal framed lamp shade.  These are actually rather hard to find in regular stores.  You might have to go thrifting to find one... 

After ripping off the fabric, it required a good long scrub with some steel wool to get the rust off, and then a couple of coats of spray paint.  The lamp base got the spray paint too, and some sand paper distressing:

The Present Life has a good explanation on covering the metal shade with ribbon.  I had wanted to put my ribbon on horizontally, but that does not work very well.  Best to keep the ribbons running vertically - but as you can see here, I used 3 different kinds of ribbon, and spaced mine pretty close together...

All these bows clip right onto the ribbon.  It makes for really easy access, the bows are really easy to see (in order to pick the exact right color!), they are easy to put back, and the lamp actually works if I want!

I have tried out quite a few different bow holders - and I really think this one is going to stick! ;)  It is working great!

Check out these parties I often link up to!