I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great [...]]]> My daughter’s friend Mason loves Batman. We got him some superhero books for his birthday, but they didn’t seem fun enough. I thought maybe a special cape would make his gift more exciting.

I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great for this project — wrinkle resistant and durable. Apparently, it’s Ultra Heat’n Bond proof, too. I wound up stitching on the appliques and gunked up my needle in the process. Bah!

The cape is reversible and I toyed with the idea of adding a Husker N or Mason M on the other side. His mom suggested Spiderman. Of course, it wasn’t until after I finished that we both realized Spidey doesn’t wear a cape. Oops! I spent a lot of Saturday mornings watching Super Friends. I should have known that!

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to make a cape and now I have. And of course, after all of that, he was more interested in the books. Kids. Gotta love them!

cape tutorial: I used Georgia Leigh’s free cape tutorial and freehand sketched the pattern onto my fabric. She also has applique stencils available. I traced my own because I wanted the Batman logo to match the new Dark Knight logo that was on one of the books.

Think of how much paper we [...]]]> I was headed to the craft store this morning and realized I forgot to print my 40% off coupon. I really didn’t want to drive all the way home so I asked the cashier if she could just use it from my phone. “No problem!” she said. Awesome.

Think of how much paper we could save if everyone who had a smart phone gave up printing coupons!

I don’t like posting without a picture, so here’s the little frame I bought today. Isn’t it cute? Perfect for a little girl who likes pink and little purses.

I love looking at photos of Japanese craft books online, but I’ve never really felt compelled to buy one. Then I got sick, slowed on the crafting front and spent way too much time on ebay. (I’m feeling MUCH better, by the way. Thank you for all of the well wishes!)

I saw this book and immediately fell in love with the cover. Isn’t that blanket motif beautiful? I got even more excited as I scrolled through the sample pages. Here are some of my favorites. (All photos from the ebay listing.)

Now comes the waiting for shipping from Japan. I’m already impatient!

resource: There are lots of places to buy Japanese craft books online: etsy.com, ebay.com, yesasia.com and amazon.co.jp. The best site I’ve found to track down ISBN numbers is Crafting Japanese. If you’re just interested in browsing, search for “japanese craft book” on flickr for tons of eye candy.

Honestly, it felt like my stash would never be gone. [...]]]> After my daughter was born, we had a huge supply of gift bags. Most of them were pink, but we had our fair share of gender neutral and holiday bags, too. It’s been over three years, but I’m almost finished using them for gifts.

Honestly, it felt like my stash would never be gone. When I got close to the end of my pile, I started thinking about how I would wrap presents in the future. I did a little bit of research on the web and found some startling statistics about gift wrap.

Wrapping paper, from an ecological point of view, is a pretty worthless use of trees. Each year in the United States, 4 million tons go from logs to landfills to make wrapping paper and holiday shopping bags, according to the Clean Air Council, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization.

Once I got past the shock of 4 MILLION TONS EACH YEAR I read something even more unsettling. You know how some people throw wrapping paper into their fireplace?

Decorative wrapping paper, much of which is made in countries such as China that have looser environmental regulations, can contain lead, synthetic inks, plastic film, chlorine or metal-based foils, which release toxic and carcinogenic compounds into the air when burned. Metallic paper may or may not have a greater environmental footprint than other types, but it’s certainly not meant to be inhaled. Who’s most vulnerable to this indoor pollution? Children, whose systems are still developing.

You may be able to recycle gift wrap depending on where you live, but metallic accents, glitter and too much tape can make them un-recyclable. Plus, if it’s unsafe to burn, is it really safe for your child to be tearing it apart?

So, I’ve resolved to only use fabric gift bags and plain recyclable paper going forward. I really like how my first fabric birthday bag turned out. Does anyone want to make this resolution with me? There are some great ideas to inspire you over at That Little Bit Greener.

resource: Quotes taken from this Washington Post article.

Usually I just handwrite this message on my packages, but sometimes I forget when I’m rushing to get things in the mail. Now I have labels! I printed them on the back of already used paper and just slip them under the packing tape. I suppose you could print stickers, but that’s [...]]]>

Usually I just handwrite this message on my packages, but sometimes I forget when I’m rushing to get things in the mail. Now I have labels! I printed them on the back of already used paper and just slip them under the packing tape. I suppose you could print stickers, but that’s too involved for me. Until I find a way to seal packages without packing tape, this will work just fine.

The image is a striped, felted sweater. I’m thinking of making some with holly leaves and berries for the holidays.

resource: I also made a template for you! Please download it and use it often!

During the past week, this bag has carried my laptop through the airport, been my purse to a wedding, and toted stuff to the beach. That’s a lot of jobs for one bag. I’m happy to say it performed all of its required duties wonderfully. And it looked pretty darn cute, too. [...]]]>

During the past week, this bag has carried my laptop through the airport, been my purse to a wedding, and toted stuff to the beach. That’s a lot of jobs for one bag. I’m happy to say it performed all of its required duties wonderfully. And it looked pretty darn cute, too. Here’s how I planned the design:

Size
Most importantly, this bag needed to be large enough to fit my laptop, but small enough to meet airline carry-on luggage guidelines. I checked the FAA and NWA website and both set my limit at 45 linear inches. Mine turned out to be 13.5 x 16.5 x 4 inches, or 34 linear inches. Part of me wished I had made it a little bigger, but there’s less room for your bag under an aisle seat, so in the end, this size worked great.

Inside
I wanted a separate sections for my laptop and my other things. I created two pockets and added a tie to the laptop side. When I used this as a purse, the laptop side was filled with fun things for distracting my daughter, like coloring books, story books, stickers, etc. At the beach, it held my book and knitting project.

Outside
A zipper closure was essential. I didn’t want anything to fall out during airport screening and I didn’t want any sand getting inside. Durability was important, also. The outside is an upholstery fabric and the inside is a cotton canvas.

How-to
This bag is basically an oversized zipper pouch with handles and two inside large pockets. It seems silly to write up a tutorial when there are so many great ones already out there. For this project, I referenced the following:

• Sarah of My Spare Time has a really nice tutorial for a zipper organizer with pockets and a gusset.
• Anna of twelve22 has great detail pictures for pinning the zipper toward the lining.
• Florence of Flossie Teacakes shows you how to do zipper ends, which I think are a really nice touch.

Adding the handles was easy. I just sandwiched them between the outside fabric and zipper when I was sewing it all together. I reinforced the handles with a few rows of extra stitching.

stash: Fabric came from this remnant sale. Zipper was thrifted.

So you’d like to make a quilt, but you’re intimidated by all of those little pieces, right? I am, too. But you can make a quilt without blocks. It’s easy and looks just as nice! Here’s how I did it:

Materials
1 – 36×36″ piece of top fabric
1 – [...]]]>

So you’d like to make a quilt, but you’re intimidated by all of those little pieces, right? I am, too. But you can make a quilt without blocks. It’s easy and looks just as nice! Here’s how I did it:

Materials
1 – 36×36″ piece of top fabric
1 – 36×36″ piece of bottom fabric
1 – 36×36″ piece of batting
1 – 38×8″ piece for making the trim*
matching thread
bias tape tool
rotary cutter and ruler
walking foot (optional)

*even easier: use 4 yards (plus a few inches) of pre-made bias tape

Step 1
Lay your fabric on the floor wrong sides together with the batting in the middle. Pin baste from the center outward.

Step 2
Starting from the center and working your way outward, draw parallel lines every four inches with sewing chalk, water soluble pen or light pencil.

Step 3
Starting from the center, sew along these lines working your way outward, taking out the basting pins as you go. Here’s where a walking foot is helpful, but if your batting isn’t too thick, you should be fine without it. Square up your edges with a rotary cutter and ruler.

Step 4
Cut your trim fabric according to the measurements for your bias tape tool and make the trim. Even easier: open the package of pre-made bias tape.

Step 5
Fold the trim over the edge and attach with a zig zag stitch. Fold the ends over at the corners to enclose the raw edges.

I hope I didn’t oversimplify this, but it’s really easy. The zig zag trim takes a little practice. This was my first time, and I’m sure it will get a lot neater the more I do it.

resource: I was inspired by Soule Mama’s Beach Blanket To-go for this blanket. One day I hope to make something as beautiful as her daughter’s quilt, but for now, I’m going to stick with single pieces of fabric until I’ve got more free time.

I had a hard time coming up with a gift for my dad and father-in-law this year. We did our daughter’s hand print for Mother’s Day and wanted to do something Bella-related for Father’s Day, too. After surfing crafty blogs for inspiration, I decided on a photo booth bookmark. Both of [...]]]>

I had a hard time coming up with a gift for my dad and father-in-law this year. We did our daughter’s hand print for Mother’s Day and wanted to do something Bella-related for Father’s Day, too. After surfing crafty blogs for inspiration, I decided on a photo booth bookmark. Both of our dads like to read, so it seemed like a perfect idea. When we talked with them yesterday, it sounded like they were a hit. I’m sure they’ll get a lot of use!

inspiration: Bookmark idea from Make and Takes. Photo booth artwork from Sugarplum Paperie. Blue sparkly paper from my stash. Laminated at our local office supply store.