Pee Pee Tee Pees

I saw these at the Baby Expo the other day and just had to make some of my own just because they were so funny! Apparently the Tee-Pees serve as a little shield to keep you from getting sprayed when you change your baby boy's diaper. :)

You Will Need:

• Fabric strips (I have seen flannel and terrycloth used) at least 7" wide and length depending on how many you plan on making.
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Paper and scissors for making pattern
• Cup or small bowl for making pattern (circle should probably be at least 4" across)

Making the Tee Pees

• On my pattern, I have the diameter as 4 1/2" across, but another blogger found that a 6" diameter worked better, so you might want to find a cup or bowl about that diameter.
• Use the cup or small bowl to draw a circle on your paper and cut it out.
• Fold circle in half and then in half again to make an "x" marking the center of your circle
• Draw a line from the center down the middle of one of the quarters of your circle.
• Now cut out half the circle plus the little half-quarter piece, and this is your pattern.



• Use your pattern to cut out two semi-circles.
• Sew the two pieces right-sides together leaving one straight edge open for turning.



• Turn right-side out, tuck in the open seam (so raw edges are inside) and press.



• Sew the two straight edges together, and you're done!

Felt Cookies

What you will need:

• Cream or Chocolate colored felt squares (5 for $1 at JoAnne's fabric) for the cookie, pink, purple or other pastel colored squares for the frosting.
• Ecru or Chocolate colored embroidery thread
• Polyfill batting
• Puff paints in colors that coordinate with the frosting colors chosen
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Quilting needle

Making the Cookies

• Find a cup or small bowl that is the desired size of the cookie you want to make and trace circles onto the Cream or Chocolate felt squares, and cut out.
• Find another cup slightly smaller than the first, and trace circles onto the pastel squares.
• Staying within the lines of circle on the pastel squares, cut out a wiggly-lined circle for the frosting.
• Use the puff-paint to put "sprinkles" on the frosting and let dry.
• With the hot glue gun, glue the outer edges of two cream colored circles together (leaving the middle and a small edge section unglued for stuffing.
• Stuff cookie with batting to desired puffiness, then glue shut.
• Once dry, glue frosting to top of cookie.
• Use a blanket stitch to stitch the outside edge of the cookie all the way around.
• "Serve" and enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Primrose Design embroidary tutorials

ABC Quiet Books

We're always looking for great ways to keep our kids entertained and quiet during church. Hopefully this next project will do that while teaching them at the same time. The idea comes from The Idea Door. It is an ABC book with a page of pictures and words for every letter of the alphabet. All of the pictures are gospel based, so it's great for Sundays! They provided a pdf document with the graphics in 8 1/2 x 11 size. I imported them into a word document and made them smaller so they will fit in little photo protectors and make a perfect size book for little hands. The pages are about 4x5. The file can be emailed to anyone who would like to use it.

Here's what you need:

• Printout of pages-get from email. Print in color on white cardstock-there are 8 pages including title page.
• Paper cutter or scissors
• Adhesive (glue stick, rubber cement, photo squares, etc.)
• 27 Photo Savers-laminating pouches. Or plan to laminate book before binding. You can get these at Staples or any office supply store. If you have a hard time finding them, I think I could get some for you, but they might be kind of pricey :)
  
• 
• Pictures: I just printed these out with my printer onto cardstock, but you can use pictures that you have developed. See instructions below.
  
• A is for Angel (optional)- this page has its own pictures, but I had one of Lydia dressed up like an angel for our nativity program, so I used that.
  
• D is for Daddy- I printed 2 pictures of Daddy to cover the ones already on the page.
• E is for eternity- 1 or 2 pictures of you on your wedding day or the family at the temple.
• F is for family- 1 or 2 pictures of the family
• G is for grandparents- pictures of all grandparents
• I is for I am a child of God- 1 or 2 pictures of your kids, I put one in of cousins on this page.
• M is for Mommy- 1 or 2 pictures of Mommy
• P is for prophet- I changed this one because it had two pictures of President Hinckley. I put Joseph Smith and President Monson. I also changed the text. If you want it to be different than the way I did it, print out whatever you want :)
• W is for wisemen- (optional) 1 or 2 pictures of family members dressed like wise men (maybe from Christmas).
• Y is for you- 1 or 2 pictures of your baby/child or both.
• Graphics are provided on all of the pages.
  
• Plan to bind book at copy store, or
  
• Hole punch and multi-purpose rings

To print the right size pictures in WORD:

• Import the pictures into document(Insert, Picture, From File OR copy and paste)
  
• Crop them using the image tools.
• To make them the perfect size, double click on the picture, select the size tab. Type in the size that you want the picture to be. I measured the space I wanted to fill in the book and chose sizes accordingly.

Instructions:

1. Take page printouts and cut each page to 5 1/4 x 4 inches.
2. Crop pictures with scissors or paper cutter.
3. Glue pictures to pages with adhesive
4. Take laminating pouches and position page inside. ***Make sure you line it up so that the crease is on the RIGHT side of the page-this will keep your book together. The binding will be along the side of the laminating pouch that opens. *** Make sure it's right before doing next step.
   
5. Peel off grid liner and firmly seal around page.
6. Take to copy store to have spiral bound OR punch holes and use multi-purpose rings. It cost me 3.99 at Kinkos to get my book bound. I would recommend calling elsewhere to see if you can get a better deal.
   
7. You're Done! If you have a highly destructive child (like mine) don't leave her alone with it in the back seat, or your pages will be bent before you even get home from Kinkos.
   

Bag-A-Lopes

Next Project: Bag-A-Lopes
It's a gift bag made out of an envelope! These are inspired (aka copied) from my FAVORITE website: splitcoast stampers. Each week they have a new little tutorial that teaches you how to do something fun with stamps. This one is from a while ago. If you don't use stamps, you can modify just about any project on the webpage and just use printed paper or stickers or other embellishments.


This is what you need:

• 9x12 White Catalog Envelope (I think the envelopes I found are larger, just get the largest you can find)
  
• Paper Trimmer with Scoring Blade


• Bone Folder (it's okay if you don't have one, or if you don't even know what this is-I never use one)
  


• Extra-Strength Adhesive like Terrifically Tacky Tape (TTT)
  


• Ribbon


• Stamps & Embellishments to decorate


• Corner Rounder optional
• Optional:
• Patterned Paper
• Punches
• Colored Card stock

Step by Step instructions:

1. Step 1

   Trim 3” from envelope off of the open end.

   

2. Step 2

   Remove orange cutting blade from trimmer. With the opening of the envelope at the top, score in 2” from the right, left and bottom edges of the envelope.
   

   

3. Step 3

   You will have a 2” square in each bottom corner, score from inside corner to the outer point.
   

   

4. Step 4

   This is the point at which you decorate the front of your gift bag, staying inside the score lines.

   

5. Step 5 (Optional)

   If desired, use decorative scissor or corner rounder to scallop the top of your gift bag.

   

6. Step 6

   Crease the score lines and pop the envelope into a bag, carefully bringing the bottom corner squares into a point on each side.
   

   

7. Step 7

   Use bone folder to give points a crisp fold.

   

8. Step 8

   Apply extra-strength adhesive to flaps that will fold in to the bottom of the bag.
   

   

9. Step 9

   Fold flaps in to form bottom of the bag. Bottom will measure 5” x 4”.
   
   

   

10. Step 10

    Punch holes through all layers of top edge for ribbon closure.
    
    

11. Step 11

    Embellish the front of bag for gift giving.
    

    

Toddler Aprons Continued...

You Will Need:

• 1 yard of fabric. Get 1/2 yard of each coordinating fabric if you want 2 fabrics on your apron (like the one pictured)
  
• 2 yards of ribbon (I used 2 different colors of ribbon and bought 2 yards of each)
  
• Thread
  
• Sewing Machine
  
• Any embellishments you would like to use: Buttons, silk or felt flowers, etc

Getting Started:

• Put your fabric wrong sides together, pin on the pattern and cut. Do this twice (for front and back panels)
  
• If you would like pockets, fold your fabric in half and cut your desired pocket shape out of both layers.
  
• Ribbon: cut four 6-inch strips, and two 24-inch strips
  

Sewing the Pocket:

• Put your pocket fabric wrong sides together and sew around all sides, leaving a small gap open.
  
• Turn right side out, push out corners, press with iron and close gap.
  
• Select apron panel piece that you would like to be the front, and pin pocket(s) into desired location.
  
• Sew pocket(s) to apron on three sides, leaving top open

Sewing the Panels:

• Take 2 of the four panel pieces and place them wrong sides together (one of each pattern, if using 2)
• On each shoulder, place one 6" strip of ribbon between the pieces of fabric so only a little bit of the ribbon shows out the top, and pin in place (it will seem that you are sewing the ribbon inside the panels, but when you turn them inside out, you will have sewn the ribbon into the shoulder, leaving the majority free to use for tying)
  
• Sew completely around entire panel, leaving a small gap open
  
• With scissors, snip seam around curves of neckline every inch or so to add some give to the neckline.
  
• Turn fabric right side out, push out corners, press and close gap.
  
• Repeat all steps for second panel.

Adding the Waist Ribbon:

• Using one piece of 24" ribbon, mark center of ribbon with a pin, then pin across panel at desired chest height.
  
• Attach ribbon to panel by stitching along length of ribbon
  
• Attach ribbon to second panel (make sure both panel ribbon placements match!)
  
• Knot shoulder ribbons, joining the panels, and you're done!

Extra Tips:

• Stitching an extra line of stitching at the edges of the pocket opening and where the waist ribbon leaves the fabric will prevent future tearing.
  
• Treating the ends of your ribbon with "fray check" or "fray no more" will prevent unraveling.

The Pattern:

Ok everyone, I tried for MONTHS to try and figure out a way to post the pattern so that it would print "actual size." I drew it out on three separate sheets of paper so you could print it and then tape it together and cut it out. Sorry, but it didn't work! I finally had to just photograph the pages to post them. I included measurements on the pattern, so hopefully you can still create your own without too much trouble. Also, the pattern is only one half of the apron. You can use the dimensions to draw out a whole pattern on a big piece of paper, or you can just do the half pattern, fold your fabric, and place the long dotted line of the pattern along the fold of your fabric to cut. If you get stuck or need help, just post a comment and I'll try to answer you ASAP :)

Flannel Picture Books

You Will Need:

• One yard of fabric (1/2 yard of each fabric if you want two) One yard should make 3 books.
• 1/4 yard clear vinyl (available in fabric stores)
• 1/2 yard batting
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Ruler/tape measure or Cutting Mat with measurements

Making the Books:

• Cut flannel into rectangles measuring 18 1/2 " by 9 "
• Cut batting into rectangles measuring 18 " by 8 1/2 "
• Cut vinyl into squares measuring 6 1/2 " by 6 1/2 "
• On each vinyl square finish one edge by folding it over and creating a small "hem"
• Sew 2 pieces of vinyl to each piece of flannel along the 3 unfinished edges of the vinyl, keeping in mind that there will be a 1/2 inch "spine" for the book in the middle of the rectangle.
• Pin 2 finished pieces of flannel wrong sides together with batting between.
• Sew pinned pieces together at least 1/2 inch away from edges (to allow for "fringe")
• Take 2 sewn pages, and stitch them together down the center either with a straight line or a narrow rectangle
• Snip edges
• Wash & dry (be careful not to clog machine)

Extra Tips

• When preparing vinyl, it can be easier to cut a strip of vinyl 6 1/2 inches high along length of piece, finish one side of strip, and then cut every 6 1/2 inches to create squares. (It just makes the sewing go quicker)
• We sewed the vinyl pockets onto the flannel with the opening at the top, you can also sew it with the opening toward the spine or away from it.
• When joining finished flannel pages, make sure the pockets on the front and back are facing the same direction! (The same goes for when sewing the book together)
• On the book in the top photo, a flannel heart was stitched to the front, you can choose to do something similar to spice up the front or back of your book, but for simplicity's sake, we opted to make all our pages the same including the front and back.

Toddler Aprons

Ok, I found some really cute ideas for making aprons for our girls, but I don't know which pattern to choose. So, click the links to view the aprons and we'll decide at our next Diva Day which apron to make!

Traditional Apron This apron would be the most difficult to make but has the most potential for cuteness. Take a look at this other site to see the possibilities for a cute apron

Full Cover Apron This apron would be the easiest to make because it is all one piece and only requires ribbon and velcro (both easy to attach) for closures.

Dish Towel Apron This apron requires the purchase of 2 cute dish towels, and then we attach them to the tops. They are cute and wouldn't be too difficult to duplicate.