Lalaloopsy Themed Birthday

First off:  I don't know how i forgot it till now, but this is my daughters birthday party from March of this year (2012) lol, long long overdue for the blog, but thought some would gain ideas from it :)

My little girl LOVES Lalaloopsy, and I think they are pretty cool myself, so when she asked me if she could have a Lalaloopsy party, I didn't hesitate to say yes.  I do alot of our birthday party decorations myself, but usually go to local party stores for plates, banners, etc.  Now, there are lalaloopsy party decorations all over the place, but at this time, i scoured the internet and found only those on etsy which were a bit to rich for my blood.  So I put my thinking cap on and fired up the printer and sewing maching, and whipped up a lalaloopsy party, homemade style in just a couple days.

She had to have cupcakes. . . so, I found some free Lalaloopsy graphics online, and using microsoft word, made little circles and put the graphics and a few #6's on them.  I printed em out, and cut them out using my scalloped scissors to make em cuter, then did the same to slightly bigger circles of coordinating colored construction paper.

Glue a toothpick in between the graphic and construction paper with cheap school glue and there u have it, cute little lalaloopsy cupcake picks!!

Finished cupcakes, only thing i didnt like was the cute little yellow polkadot wrappers blended with the vanilla cupcakes (shoulda had chocolate :)

For the buttons on the cake I used fruit by the foot and fruit role ups, lol, i didnt have fondant and this worked, I cut out circle shapes with small objects in the kitchen.

very simple cake, the banner on second layer i printed out and cut out, then laminated it (covered both sides with packing tape and cut around edges ;)) and it just stuck on, the topper was one mini lalaloopsy and the handle off of the box of a larger doll. (im not a cake expert. . . never could get icing slick looking)

I used  my 1" circle punch to punch out construction paper "buttons" drew the holes on with black pen

I made a large banner from material and glued printed graphics on it, made the logo from a piece of white posterboard with glued on construction paper letters. . . trees were cardboard painted, taped to wall.

Here are the cupcakes and the cake

The outfit i did make using old material i had left from her bedding set (little missmatched flat sheets LOL)
I made the skirt using a tutorial i found online for a patchwork twirl skirt, and appliqued the shirt using heatbond sheets and the same material.

I simply drew the applique out, and cut each piece out, 

fused heatbond to one side of fabric, traced cutouts on it (mirrored) and ironed on shirt (I also always do a quick zigzag stitch around edges to hold it in place after washing)

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. :)