E is for... Envelopes

Once you have made one, you might as well make all 14 for a countdown to Valentine's Day. These fabric envelopes are charming.

What I Did: I rounded up all the reds & pinks & whites or cream color fabrics I could find in my fabric stash. I also selected a few buttons from my stash. Then I splurged and bought some seasonal Valentine's fabric from the store, and a few more buttons. I used a stiffer fusible interfacing that I already had rather than the fusible fleece that the tutorial suggests (see tutorial details below). And then I went for it. Any time there is a project where you make the same thing over and over again, and whatever it is, is "soooo cute!" I seem to really get into it, and I begin to imagine grand schemes of making what ever it is, for every sister-in-law and friend or neighbor I know! Usually I do not get that far and am mighty proud of completing one finished project. So here it is!

Inspiration & Tutorial Details: Thank you, Bev, from Flamingo Toes who is the featured sewing contributor to Kristyn's blog, Lil' Luna.  Click on either blog link to take you to Bev's tutorial and beautiful photos! I love the ideas Bev shares for love notes or acts of kindness ideas to place in each envelope!

By the way, here, Martha Stewart also shares a version of a fabric envelope tutorial. However, it does involve decoupage, which may or may not suit your fancy!

D is for... Diaper Stacker--A Gift in the Guest Room For Only One Yard!

We had a lot of family in town last summer. I made this diaper stacker for my brother & sister-in-law & their Little One, who occupied a tiny guest room. This was a perfect space-saver to hang from a hook on the back of their bedroom door. I found the dimensions for the project from my "new favorite" library book: Little One Yard Wonders (see details below).

Little one-yard wonders : irresistible clothes, toys, and accessories you can make for babies and kids
By Rebecca Yaker & Patricia Hoskins
ISBN: 9781612121246
Physical Description: 359 pages : color illustrations ; 22 x 23 cm + 6 sheets of patterns.

The instructions were easy to follow. And what's amazing is this only took one yard of fabric!

C is for... Candy Corn Costume--Sew A Halloween Costume For A Child

Baby was born in the fall. I could not pass up the opportunity to dress her for Halloween. And what is more special than making the costume yourself? I loved that her little white hospital hat was "the icing on the cake" to complete Our Little Candy Corn.

There are several images out there for baby/toddler candy corn costumes, but the resource and tutorial I found most helpful came from Jenni at Snippets Of My Faith, Family, & Crafting, here.  Thank you, Jenni!

What I Did: Baby wore a long-sleeve white onesie underneath. Then I used materials I already had--white, low pile, soft, knit fabric left over from a baby blanket, sewed a casing on the front piece & one on the back piece for the ribbon ties, and clean-finished the arm holes so the fabric would stop shedding the little pile fuzz; orange felt; yellow felt; and some orange and yellow embroidery floss to add a blanket stitch for a little extra detail. And as I mentioned before, we had her wear her little white hospital cap she wore in the nursery.

The grandparents LOVED the costume!

C is for Card Table Tents--Sew Your Own "Princess Palace"

Good old fashioned card table play tents have made quite a come back in the last decade. You can find really any theme you can imagine out there, from castles & pirates, or carnivals, to quaint little shops & home designs, or even a car wash!

Favorite Tutorial For Card Table Tents: My absolute favorite online resource for card table tents is found here at Old Days Old Ways blog by Wendy. She gives measurements for walls, and shows you how to create the roof, along with several ideas for variations.

What I Did: Inspired by the second tent Wendy features on her Classic Card Table--With Variations blog post, I up-cycled an extra shear curtain I already had, and some scrap fabric--leftover eyelet from another curtain for the trim, and some pink satiny remnants for the roof, to create what we, at our house call "The Princess Palace." You can use a dowel or a paper-towel roll, or cut down a wrapping paper roll to the correct height to make the roof stand up. The photos here show our tent, indoors, but I loved taking it outside in the summer and watching the shear walls wisp around in the breeze.

I love how quickly a space can transform into imaginative play with a card table tent. Simple card table tents sew up relatively fast and make for great gifts too! They are a great project to use up your fabric or up-cycle other pieces if you have quite the stash!