Confession #32: Wall decals are worth making

Since most of our family is so far away, I wanted to make Liana a family tree with photos of everyone on it, so that she can see her family everyday. I have seen many lovely wall decals that would work but they are pretty pricey. So I looked into making my own. I already had double strong Heat n Bond so all I needed to do it cut out the pieces. I started with a tree truck with branches.

Once it was all ironed onto the wall, I added the leaves. I cut everything out free hand but I did use some blogs as inspirations: Brittany's Budget Crafts and Curbly.

 

At this point I wanted to add some animals so I cut out a few owls and ironed them onto the tree. If you don't want a family tree, and just a cute tree, you could stop at this point and leave it.

 I actually like the look of it allot without the photos. But that would defeat the whole purpose of this project. So I cut out everyones photo and glued them onto each leaf. 

Here is the finished result. What do you think? Liana loves it. She likes me to name everyone over and over again. I hope that by the next time we go up with Washington or over to Hawaii she will know everyones name.

 

Close up on the owl and leaves

 

Close up on the photos. Notice one empty leaf....that's for Liana's new sibling due in Feb.

 

This project was rather easy. The only problem I faced was during the ironing process. Since you need to iron each item on with a towel over it, I felt like I could have benefited from a having a third hand. But I did successfully do this shoe free, as usual. I got everything cut out and ready for the wall while my daughter napped and was able to iron everything on while she played with blocks on the floor. Not bad.

 

Easy to follow steps:

1. Pick your fabric and trace or free hand your pattern onto the back of the Heat n Bond.

2. Iron the fabric onto the Heat n Bond. Fabric right side up. Follow instructions of the Heat n Bond.

3. Cut out pattern.

4. Peel off paper from back of Heat n Bond.

5. Place finished fabric on wall (one piece at a time), place a towel over the fabric, and iron it onto the wall. 5 second count.

6. Make sure it stuck but don't peel it or it will come right off.

7. Repeat until all your pieces are on the wall

8. Glue on photos as desired. But make sure to only glue onto the fabric and not your walls.

9. Use a fabric pen if you would like to write the names of your family members by their photos.

10. Step back and enjoy your handy work.

 

 

 

Confession #31: Blocks don't have to be plan

All Cut out and ready to sew

I came across a felt block from pinterest that was too cute not to repeat. It didn't provide a link so I just looked at the photo and tried my best to copy it.

I cut out 6 3x3 squares of different colored felt. Then cut different shapes, eyes, ears, noses, etc. for each animal face.
Next step was sewing it all together. I hand stitched it all so they took a while. Then sewed the squares together, stuffed them, and sewed them closed. Done! Only took me three evenings to make 9 animals blocks. Animals don't wear shoes either!

They stack up

The tails

Giraffe, Lion, Owl, Fox, Pig, Monkey, Polar Bear, Elephant, and Hippo. I'm thinking of adding some: Mouse, Frog, Panda, Bunny, Penguin, and Dog.

Confession #30: I just love making ALL things

I love our local MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) and all the ladies who I have met through it. last year they introduced me to interfacing. I had a blast cutting out fabric and ironing it on onesies for my daughter. I have made a few sense but it's my latest project that I wanted to share with everyone.
It comes with a little back ground info, a few months back my husband and I were off to give blood. However, we found out that I was no longer eligible to donate. This actually came as a relief, not because I am afraid of needles or pain, but because I was actually excited about the diagnosis.
But I needed a cleaver way to tell my loved ones. So this is the reason for this particular interfacing project.
Interfacing is rather easy. All you need is the interfacing, an iron, a pen, fabric of your choice, and something to iron the fabric onto. First I laid out the shirt that I was going to iron the fabric onto and cut rectangles of corresponding fabric out so that all 6 of my rectangles would fit the shirt. 3 on the top and 3 on the bottom. Next you want to iron the fabric to the interfacing (follow the instructions that come with your particular type), Then cut out the letters and iron them onto the shirt. Its literally that simple. I ended up sewing around the letters to add some pretty detail. The whole project took me less than an hour and I was pretty happy  with the result.
And the diagnosis is....


Liana's going to be a big sister!



Liana modeling her new shirt



On the Whidbey Island ferry about to tell her
family about her baby sibling
 

I haven't taken many pictures of me, but here you can see the over growing belly. I'm around 3 months here.

We are super excited to expand our family. I'm due Feb 20th, I'm a little over 3 months along and already feel like a whale. But in a good way! I can feel him or her kicking more and more and Liana when asked "wheres the baby?" will run over and say "right here" and kiss my belly.
I love making things from toys to clothes, but babies are by far my favorite things to make. You heard it here first! More news to come.