Sharpie Decorated Plates and Mugs

 I have a perfect last minute project and gift idea for you. Sharpie decorated mugs and plates are easy to personalize for anyone, or any occasion.  Best of all, anyone can do it.  

Basically, you start with a blank white plate, mug, or bowl; and decorate away.  Regular colored sharpies are used to add the details, and then heat set in the oven. 

Clean and dry your plate.  Remove all paper labels from the back of the plate. You can then free hand your favorite image, or use some stickers and a stippling (dotting) technique to create a fun look.

If you mess up, no big deal.  Perfection is overrated, and a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol will remove the sharpie before it is heat set.

I picked up some alphabet stickers at the dollar store, and they were really fun to use. Place the stickers where you want the, start adding dots close together, and then space them further apart as you work you way out.  When your done stippling, carefully peel away the stickers. If there is any residue left behind from the stickers, bust out the rubbing alcohol.

Once everything is all decorated, pop them in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes, and  allow them to cool in the oven. If you remove them prior to cooling the ink will smudge.

Fill your mug with some hot chocolate, top your plate with cookies for Santa, and call it a gift.  Super easy!

All of our mugs/plates were picked up at the dollar store.

We've washed our mugs in the dishwasher without any problems.

An Apron...as crafty as our Christmas got

Christmas 2010 was filled with a number of handmade Christmas gifts, but 2011 was a bit different.  I was sewing up until the last moment, but with blessing outfits, bow ties for church, and a little something for myself as well (which I am really excited to share with you).  Handmade Christmas gifts were in short supply.  

 I did manage to pull off a cute little wrap around apron for my Mother in Law.  I really like how the apron turned out, but unfortunately the pictures just don't do it justice. I had a small window of time to take pictures, and unfortunately it was a very dark day.

 The apron features a box pleated skirt, with slightly fitted bodice.  You can tell that I didn't sew darts into the bodice, this because I wanted the bodice to be fitted, but forgiving.  My Mother In Law and I don't have exactly the same proportions, so I wanted it to give if need be.

Do you ever find that you give gifts that you really want, but never take the time to sit down and make. I need a full length apron, but do I ever get around to making one for myself....no.  Maybe next year.

Don't forget to enter the My Memories digital scrapbooking giveaway.

Children's Gift Ideas: Felt Cookie Sheet Puzzles

This is a gift that I made for Clark's birthday last month.  I hadn't posted it, and I thought that now might be a good time.

Do any of you ever run out of things to do with your toddlers?  Clark's attention span is pretty good for his age, but I seem to run out of activities pretty early on in the day and week.

He's getting to the point where he's pretty good with puzzles.  I decided that I'd make him a rocket ship puzzle.  He's obsessed with rocket ships and planets.

I didn't want to have to deal with creating interlocking puzzle pieces, so to give the puzzle some structure I created it the same dimensions of the inside of a cookie sheet.  Using the same dimensions of the cookie sheet allows Clark to have a basic format to work with.  At this point I took a piece of paper the same dimensions as the finished puzzle and broke it down into eight sections, or the same number of puzzle pieces that I wanted.  I designed the image of the puzzle in a way that each piece had part of the rocket ship, planet, or stars overlapping the edges of the puzzle piece-making it easier to see where the pieces connect.

  I  transferred the images to felt, and cut out the main  shapes.  I then sewed my image onto  two thicknesses of felt with a thickness of batting sandwiched  between them. If I'd thought through this a bit more I would have made the bottom layer of felt a different color and extended it beyond the border of the top layer by a quarter inch or so, that way Clark would be able to tell which sides are edge sides.

Once my image was sewn to the felt sandwich I took my rotary cutter and cut it into my predetermined puzzle pieces. Next I sewed around the open edges of the puzzle pieces.  If you wanted to make your own puzzle, and keep the puzzle pieces in place on the cookie sheet, you could consider attaching magnets between the batting and bottom layer of felt.  I'd suggest using the technique that I used for these number and shape magnets.

So what are your favorite activities to keep your toddlers busy (especially during the winter months)?  I'd love to know, I'm desperate for some new ideas.

Apple Picking Vest and Tips Tricks and Techniques

This year my dad made an early request for a Christmas gift.  I explained that he'd like to have a vest with deep pockets that he could wear when picking apples.  I've mentioned before that my parents have a small apple orchard on their property, and having such a vest would definitely speed up the apple picking process.

I made the vest out of a gray denim that I picked up at Joann's.  I used a double fold extra wide bias tape to finish off most of the raw edges.

I made it so that the vest was sewn together on one side, and snapped together on the other.  If I were to make another vest like this, I'd probably have it snap on both sides.

Obviously I wasn't in the mood to iron out the vest for the photo shoot.

The pockets were designed so that they'd remain open.  To create them I added extra material width to the pocket.  I created a pleat at the base of the pocket to account for the added material.  I then applied boning to the top of the pocket which made it free standing (or opening).  I figured that the boning would make for easier apple picking.  I added some reinforcement stitching in the upper corners of the pocket.  Without the reinforcement stitching, the pockets would sag down and empty their contents.  The stitching helps the pockets stay in place, and support their load.

There is a pocket on either side of the vest.  With the one side sewn shut, I am guessing that it is going to be rather difficult to flip the vest around when one side is full.  However, if my parents are picking apples together, my mom can just load her's into the back side of the vest.

Milton, NH Mackenzie Farms

Hopefully it will prove helpful next apple harvest.

Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Tips, Tricks, and Techniques is a little segment that I plan on starting.  It may happen on a weekly basis, or maybe randomly according to my posts.  It is a segment that I am starting in an effort to become a better sewist.  I feel like I'm learning everyday.  Most of my learning comes through trial and error.  Whenever I start a project that involves techniques that I haven't before attempted, I provide myself the opportunity to learn a bit more.

I would love to share the little bits of sewing knowledge with you.  .  My plan is to occasionally post tutorials on sewing techniques. I'd love to know if there is a specific technique that you'd like me to post on.  I'm open to suggestions. Some examples of techniques that I am referring to would be: sewing darts, creating pleats, sewing French seams, creating a blind hem, applying facings to a garment, ect.   Please let me know if there's a sewing technique that you'd like to explore together.

That being said, with this apple picking vest I worked with boning for the first time.  Boning is a wonderful thing.  It is often used in creating corsets, and fitted gowns.  It can be used to provide stability to everyday garments as well.  I've also seen it used on nursing aprons, which allows for the apron to stay open so that you can sneak a peak at your nursing babe.

I found a great video tutorial online that helped me apply the boning to the vest.  I thought that today I'd share that with you, rather than creating a tutorial of my own.  

Another great reference point is this article from Threads Magazine.

Thanks for reading.  I'll be linking here.