Make-up Bag

For Christmas last year I used this material to make a wallet and loved it.

I had some extra so I made a make-up bag to go with it.

I think my new projects always include bags.  Its nice that they always "fit" and aren't too big or too little.  And they're super simple but very useful.

Stamped Necklace

So between my sisters and sisters-in law and mothers...I have lots of girls to get birthday presents for.  It would break the bank to buy big presents for everyone.  So each year I've tried to think of something I could make all of them.  This year was the year of necklaces.  (Last year was aprons.)  So I've made lots of necklaces this year and this is the only one that I've gotten a picture of. 

When I went to make this one, I couldn't find my "E" stamp.  Everything that I could think of stamping had an "E" in it.  I was bummed that I couldn't do what I had in mind.  I had this rectangle already stamped so it was my only option...but I like how simple it is.

It's what a really feel for my lil' sis.  I guess sometimes simple is better and makes a statement.

I used this for the back closure.  They're a little hard to get on but I think they look neat.

Happy Birthday Whit.  Love you and Miss you!

Crayon Roll

I've been wanting to make a crayon roll for awhile now.  One of my friend's little girl had a birthday so I decided to try coming up with something for her.

 I like that every crayon has its own little place.

And its easy to roll up...

And ties shut with some elastic and a cute button so little hands can do it all by themselves.

Ruffled Clutch

This little clutch has been my go to for a quick and easy present or just something to sew when time is short but I feel the "need" to sew something.

You can add pockets, dividers or leave it blank inside and they are still great.

I made them a couple years ago for my Moms for Mother's Day.  (here!)

I've filled them with essential baby medicine and given them as baby shower presents.

I've even given them with nothing in them and they are still just great.  If you haven't made one, you really should. :)

Go here for the tutorial.

Sequin Shirts!

Every year in July we have to have matchy outfits for all of the cousins for the 24th of July Celebrations.  Here's a flashback just for fun.  :)

July 2007

(Had to steal this picture from my sister's blog because I can't find any of mine...still in boxes I guess.  This is Hadlee...so little and cute.)

July 2008

July 2009

July 2010

(Go here for tutorial on last years outfits.)

July 2011
(missing little Mylee)

I will say that it is gettin a lot harder to get a picture with all of the kids happy and looking in the right direction.  Cute kids though!

I got the idea from Brassy Apple.  Go here for a tutorial.

It was simple and easy.  Andy found the little jean skirts at a thrift store for SUPER cheap and they are so cute.

Here's an up close look at the design we did but you really could do just about any kind of design.

Just cause she looks so cute.  :)

Look at my girls...yep you're right...they really look nothing like me.  They do look just like my husband.  :)  Sure do love my girls though and feel so blessed to have them.

Oh, and we also tied material around flip flops for the big girls.  They looked super cute and got super dirty in all the dirt.  :)

Washer Keychain

We've had a wild month but who hasn't.  We made it to New Mexico and found a place to rent.  (If any finds are arms and legs that we are paying for rent, please send them back to us.)  I still have some boxes left to unpack but the motivation or the desire to finish is lost.  Kevin says that I can't get my sewing machine out until we're in a permanent house and everything is all packed so I guess I'll be taking a year off from sewing.  (Hopefully not!)  He did say no sewing but he didn't say anything about stamping.  Hahaha. 

I made this keychain for my sister Whitney.  She just bought her first car. 

As soon as I get the pictures from Hailey's blessing off of my mom's camera, I'll post pictures of the dress I made her.  :)

Janette's Diaper Bag

This was my first diaper bag/purse I've made...well finished I should say.  I didn't have a pattern so it was a work in progress but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I gave it to my sister Janette who had her first baby in February so this post is a little late but here none the less.  :) 

There are big pockets on the outside on both sides.

I put a zipper pocket to keep things a little more safe from little hands...(Janette: Once little Jayla gets a little bigger, she will be going through your bag....trust me!)

A few more pockets on the inside.

I also made a changing pad to go with it.

With a pocket on the outside to hold a wipe container.

And plastic on the inside so it cleans easy.  I learned quickly that it's not the easiest or enjoying to try to sew this stuff.  I put some wax paper between the plastic and my sewing foot and it sewed much easier. 

Now I just need to get me a diaper bag made.  That is going to have to wait until we get settled into our new place...hopefully before Hailey is old though.  :)

We're Moving! (again) Yippee!

Its finally time for us to move.  We are so excited for this move and can hardly wait to move in a 2 weeks.  We're starting to pack so the house is a disaster...a COMPLETE DISASTER.  I'm trying to finish Hailey's blessing dress, and shoes and headband before my hubby packs up all of my crafty stuff.  :)  (Pictures of those coming soon.)  I was hoping to get a lot done today but after going to the doctor 3 times and my husband going once...7 prescriptions later...5 cases of strep throat (including little Hailey), things just didn't get done.  Wish me luck that tomorrow will be a better day. 

Whitney's Prom Dress

It seems like all of my posts lately have had something to do wit my little sister.  (I better be getting the favorite sister of the year award. Hint! Hint!)

Last summer my sister bought this dress on sale because someone told her that she could put sleeves on the dress and that it would be easy to find material to match.  Even though a certain mom said that it was a bad idea and wasn't happy about the idea the dress was purchased.  After hours of searching for matching material, 2 girls realized that they're mom knew best.  Something had to be done with the dress though so I tore the top apart, took out all of the bustles, took beads off and then gathered, pinned, cut, spoke mean words...you get the picture.

I finally finished it and here's how it turned out.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Of course with a body and face like my sister's, you look good in just about anything.  (I stole these pictures from her blog because once again, I was a slacker and didn't get pictures taken myself.)

Top: I changed the angle of the pleats on the top and made sleeves that matched the pleats.  I put more beading up the sleeves.

Middle: She wanted it to be gathered across the front.  The dress had 2 seams going down the front of the dress so I had to gather the dress across the middle and then adjust the seams in the front so that they still went down the front and not down the side or the middle.  This was a pain in the butt.  It took me forever.

Sides:  I gathered the sides and put more beads down the sides and then this flower bead thingy on both sides.

Back: I cute the material to make the sleeves from the back of the dress.  I had just enough leftover to make some small bustles and then I put some sequins in the center of each bustle.  (It's kind of hard to tell in this picture.)

I also put some more netting in the dress to make it poof more.

 

There you go though.  I was so happy to have the dress out of my house.  Oh, I did make my mom hem the dress because my belly was huge and it wasn't fun crawling around on the ground while being 9 months pregnant.  Thanks mom for hemming.

So what do you think?  Does it look horribly homemade?

Flower Ring

I made this flower ring for my little sister too.  I wish that I had pictures of the back but I just glued the flower onto an adjustable ring.  So easy.  Minimal burning from the glue gun but well worth the pain.  :)

Whitney's Wallet

Every year for Christmas we draw names between my brothers and sisters.  We've done this for as long as I can remember.  It's fun trying to figure out something to get your "Secret Person" without asking what they actually want.  This past year I had my little sister Whitney.  As part of her present I made her this wallet.

With lots of places to put random things that we all keep tucked away.  Plus lots of slots for all of those frequent shopper cards.  I know she'll have lots of those coming because this girl loves to shop.  :)

It came together pretty easy.  (I used this tutorial.)

Past Projects

I'm so bad about getting pictures taken and posting about projects that I've been working on.  I have pictures way back from a year ago that I still need to find time to upload.  (I'm a slacker.)  I've decided that I'm not going to worry about editing any pictures and to forget about posting projects from a year ago.  :)  I'm going to start with Christmas.  (Even then I forgot to take pictures of some things I made.)

Aren't you excited to see what I've been working on the last 4 months?  :)  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll get some posts ready.  :)

We have a BABY and a WINNER!

Our sweet baby is finally here.  And it's a.......................

GIRL!

Hailey Jo McCarroll

April 14, 2011

7 lbs 6.7 oz

20 1/4 inches long

So we now have 3 sweet princesses in our home (and one Queen bee).  The girls LOVE her and can't get enough of her. 

I had a doctor's appointment on the 13th and I was only dialated to a 2 and 65% thinned so I was just sure that I wouldn't have the baby for another week or so.  So when I started having consistent contractions I was a little surprised.  My contractions were every 3 minutes for about an hour and Kevin finally convinced me that we should probably get to the hospital.  When we got there I was still at a 2 and 70% thinned so they sent me to walk the halls.  (not a fun thing to do) I came back 2 hours later to a 4 and 95% thinned so they admitted me.  We had her at 8:40 am and everything went so smooth.  It was so relaxed and calm.  I absolutely love my doctor and am so happy with him.  I feel great and happy to finally be able to see and touch my toes again.  :)

So the winner of the ruffled notebook goes to my sister Andy.  Both her and my mom guessed the 14th but Andy was closer in weight.  (Thank heavens.  My mom said 8 lbs 1 oz...ouch)  Congrats Andy...you were right...you just kind of were wrong on the gender.  :)

Thanks everyone for entering my little contest.  In the next couple of days I have some projects that I've been working on to post.  Just gotta find time to upload the pictures. 

My first Contest!

So as I was laying wide awake at 5:00 this morning, random thoughts kept coming.  Thoughts about what cleaning needs to be done and of what I want the girls' Easter dresses to look like (and that they will hopefully get done in time) and what we should name our little one and ...just lots going on in my head right now.  I blame it on being super anxious for this little baby to come.  So the crazy idea came to mind that it would be fun to have a contest on my blog to see who can guess when this baby will come.  What is a contest if you can't win anything...other than having the bragging rights that you guessed right.

So this morning I made this little notebook cover. 

Of course there needed to be some ruffles and a bit of pink.  :)

The book is simply a composition book inside. 

To enter the contest you just need to leave a comment with the following:

1. What date the baby will come.
2. What gender the baby will be.
3. And just for fun, how much will the baby weigh.

I'll give you a few hints so that you're not completely in the dark.  My due date is April 27th.  I've had 3 ultrasounds and we have no idea what the gender is.  The baby moves like crazy if that makes a difference.  (?)  My girls weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and 6 lbs 9 oz.  I've gained exactly the same amount of weight (but feel like my belly is stretched more than ever.)

I'll close the contest on Wednesday, April 13th at 9 am. Oh and don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

So there you go.  Good Luck!



Newest member of the family...

I can't believe that it has taken me so long to introduce the newest member of our little family.  Her name is Lucy and she has been my best friend the last week.  My husband gave her to me for Christmas and I was extremely excited and so proud of him to remember that over a year ago I mentioned that I would like one someday.  (He's so keeper.)

I'm so excited to get to use her more when I don't look like a huge barn.  It's motivation to see her standing there looking slim.  I keep telling myself that someday I will look like her...minus the cut off head, blue body, no arms...you get the point.


I have been working on my sisters prom dress and it has been so much fun....not!  I'm not making it from scratch.  She bought a dress last summer and I'm putting sleeves on it and changing the skirt a bit so I shouldn't complain.  I just don't have much patience right now.  I'm almost done and I will post pictures soon.