DIY kids play apron

(i made this post months ago and accidentally didnt publish it. . . so here it is) 

My daughter just fell in love with her first easy bake oven (thanks papaw), and so of course she needed a cute little apron (which just so happened I had fabric that matched the oven). I whipped her one up right quick and it turned out cute so I thought id share!

1st: cut out your pieces

The biggest apron part was about 21"x10"
The striped piece is for a pocket, its about 10"x10"
1 piece of ribbon about 12"  and another more like 35" (tie for waist)
smaller ribbon pieces to trim the pocket

First, make the pocket:
Fold pocket in half and sew around it, leaving a small opening for turning inside out. Making one rectangle about 10"x5", iron it.

Take the small ribbon for trimming the pocket, fold in half and iron. (making hem tape ;)

Fold your newly made hem tape around the top of the pocket and sew in place

this is how i finish the edges (just fold em under ;)

Do the same thing to the bottom of the apron, like so:

Then hem the sides of apron so its neat

and pin the pocket in place, i purposely made mine a bit sideways, thought it was cute

sew the pocket on (i chose to zig-zag stitch it) 

I also left a small corner on the bottom open (see pic below) and stitched up beside it to make a pocket for a utensil to hang in.

next Gather the top

do a very loose baste stitch across top hem. . . pull the bobbin thread easily to gather

continue gathering till it is to your likeing (mine was about 12")

 lay the gathered apron wrong side up on the middle of the large ribbon piece (make sure the ribbon extends a bit above the apron hem. . . were gonna hide it) pin in place

Take the smaller ribbon piece, folding the raw edge in, and cover the back hem up with it. . . pin it in place

should look like this

making sure ribbons are even. . . sew seam around all 4 sides of ribbon, over the apron hem

almost done!!

Sear the ends of the ribbon so they wont frey and you are done! 

a little chefs apron! how cute

 She Loves it!!

Handmade Clay Ornies

This post is just to promote my ornaments. I have been making clay ornaments for about 7 years now. For the last 5 years I have stuck primarily to polymer clays (such as sculpy). I do not use molds, i mold them all myself, bake them, paint them (if needed) and finish them. Also I personalize them with names free of charge.
I usually just go to craft fairs with them, but recently listed them on etsy. Stop by and see what i have left :)

My Etsy Shop : Heartfelt & Handmade

Play Kitchens and Felt Food

My little girl is about to turn 7, and she is tall. She asked this year for a "real kitchen". Her current dora kitchen is waaay too short for her! I scoured the internet and toy stores looking for a "big girls" kitchen but only found really high priced pieces with ages only up like 5. Sooo my plan is to build a kitchen her size. . . when looking for inspiration online i also found lots of people making felt food (and i have alot of felt) so i thought id give it a whirl.  Ill also be posting my diy play kitchen when its finished.

First Felt Food Project:  Strawberries

Step 1:  Make a pattern

I drew a pattern out on folded construction paper and cut it out. Usually when i do this the first one is too long, or too wide and i make a second construction paper pattern, or third, until i get one that works. . . luckily for me the first one worked fine this time ;)

Pattern pieces are I red strawberry body, and one green leafy stem piece.

Step 2:  Sew the berry

Fold the strawberry piece in half (right sides together) and sew up one end (leave top open for now)

Then turn the berry inside right

Step 3: Adding Seads

Starting on inside, use regular white thread and make tiny stitches around the berry bottom

Step 4:  Gathering top

Use same thread to make a loose baste stitch around top

Now stuff the berry bottom (you can use batting, I use chopped up pieces of felt too small to use for something else :))

Pull the thread at the top tight, gathering it closed, and tie it off.

Using hot glue (or you can sew it but hot glue works awesome on felt :)) glue the leafy part over top, covering the gathered stitches.

I also take a small rectangle and roll it up (gluing it together) and put a dot of glue on the end of it, and glue it to the center of the top, making a stem.

Showing the stem

Finished product!!! They are adorable, and realistic, and washable!!!! wow! lol! and best of all i made all 5 of these using only 2 pieces of felt that were only 23 cent each. . . so all these cuties for only .46 cent. :)

It is easy being green!

We have been trying to be more "green" since my sister-in-law got the job as recycling coordinator in our county.  We've learned a lot, trying to reduce, reuse and recycle.  I recently started seeing a lot on pinterest about making your own cleaners and what not, and decided it may be nice to share with you what we make our self, and what we do to what we have to make it stretch!

These are the products i use daily, and for the most part i like them as much if not more than store-bought. The biggest bonus is not only being green, or saving money (which you will save a lot over time), but just the fact that the cleaners that clean my dishes, counters, and clothes are chemical free, and safe for my family to use. . . did you know that the simplest things as dryer sheets contain harmful carcinogens? Below i have Instructions for my fav household DIY supplies, and the printable labels i used on my bottles, incase you want some yourself!!

Laundry Detergent

 Ingridients Needed:

Borax
Washing Soda
Oxi Clean (optional but i think it helps)
Washing soap (fels-naptha, or lye soap)

Everything here can be found in the laundry isle at walmart, unless you choose to use lye soap (which smells and cleans better depending on where you get it, but its hard to find. . . my mom makes it tho ;)

1 Bar soap
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)
1 Cup Oxi-Clean

Directions:

Grate up the soap with an old cheese grater, and toss with all other ingredients.

I usually toss it in the blender in small batches and blend it a bit so it grinds the soap into a finer mix, you don't have to do this though.

Best part. . . you only have to use 2tbsp per load!! I use 3 Tbsp per load on my extra large loads.

Don't expect it to be sudsy, this doesn't mean it isn't cleaning. . . it took me a bit to wrap my mind around that too!

Above is a close-up of the texture.

Dishwasher Soap

Ingridients:
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup lemi-shine
  (or unsweetened lemonade powder)

Love this stuff!!

All you do is mix it all together, and let it dry out for 24 hours (stirring occasionally)
Then store in an airtight container. . . i put 1-2tbsp in both compartments.

Multi-Purpose Spray Cleaner

This stuff is the best!!  Doesn't stink like most vinegar based diy sprays, and still has the vinegar and lemon juice that not only clean. . . but disinfect!! yep thats right, you can disinfect with homemade household cleaners!!  If you want a nicer scent, just add a few drops of essential oils, or more cleaning power, a tsp or more of dishsoap!!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Borax

4 Cups hot water

1/4 cup white vinegar

3-4 Tbsp lemon juice

Dissolve Borax in hot water, add other ingredients and pour into an old 32oz spray bottle.  Shake well

DIY liquid Fabric Softener

6 Cups hot water

3 Cups Vinegar

2 Cups Conditioner

Dissolve conditioner in hot water and then stir in vinegar.

Coolest thing about this is that with all the different conditioners out there you can have about any scent you want!  and if you look below you can also make your own dryer sheets and wrinkle release spray / fabreeze out of you fav liquid fabric softner!

DIY Wrinkle Release Spray

You can stretch your fav fabric softeners use out A LOT!!  and your clothes will still smell great!

Just mix 

1 part fabric softener

5 parts water

in my 32oz spray bottle i mixed:

1/2 cup softener and 3 1/2 cups warm water

shake it up and spray it directly on clothes or onto strips of fabric like i do.

  the strips above are microfiber clothes that i cut in half. . . i spray about 10-15 sprays on each and then toss it in the dryer. . . homemade dryer sheet!! yes!! and the clothes smell great. . . its an awesome way to get rid of your commercial dryer sheets! And you get hundreds of loads from one bottle!!

you can take this same method and just dilute it even more (1 cap wrinkle release + fill rest with water) and you have homemade fabreeze!!!

if you like physical dryer sheets you can make them like so:

cut strips of felt, or cut cello sponges in half

pack in container

cover with mixture of 4 parts softner to 10 parts water

cover, shake, and let soak for 2 hours or more before using.

when ready to use, just wring excess out and toss in dryer. . . works like a charm

when dry just pack back in container and reuse!!

I used containers i have laying around the house, and ones i recycled :) .  I made my own labels in word, and printed them on regular paper. . . then glued them on with modge podge (you can also use regular elmers school glue)  I just smeared glue all over back side. . . pressed it on container. . . then smeared it over outer label to seal it.!! easy as pie!! lol!!

below are the labels i made. . . along with labels (for some) to go on the back of the containers too which include the instructions/ingredients for remaking it!!!

just click on it to bring it up full size. . . right click, and save it to your pc. . . then print it out!