DIY Heart Pillow Cover

I am not one to go overboard for Valentine's Day. It's a fun day and the kids love it but I don't think I've ever decorated my home in hearts or anything like that. Until now. I'm a minimalist by nature but who can resist a little (or big) hot pink heart here and there? Not me.

This tutorial is SUPER easy and is a quick way to add some pop by dressing up a plain pillow cover.

What you'll need:

• A plain pillow cover (I prewashed mine). If you don't have one on hand and don't want to buy one, there are a ton of great tutorials online for sewing pillow covers (I'm not that ambitious).
• Pillow insert (both my pillow cover and insert came from IKEA but you can find them all over)
• Felt - I used Rainbow Classic eco fi felt on this one because I'll probably need to wash it
• Sewing machine (you could always hand sew it if you don't have a machine)
• Scissors, pins, and paper

Getting started:

My pillow cover measured 20 x 20 so I taped four sheets of paper together to measure the same. I hand drew a heart on the paper. You can  get a heart template online but I like the wonky style of a hand drawn heart.

Use your template and cut out the heart from your felt.

Place your heart on your pillow cover and pin it into place (be sure to pin it to just the top of layer of the cover).

Slide the opening of the cover onto your sewing machine arm and sew into place. This part was a little tricky because my pillow cover is really thick so I really had to maneuver it around the arm of my machine. Be extra careful to only sew it to the top layer of the cover.

Stuff your pillow inside and you're finished.

Super easy and fun. Quick enough and inexpensive enough that I'm happy to have it out for just a few short weeks.

Let me know if you have any questions. Cheers!

Six.

A few days after Christmas, my Finley turned six. The tiny baby with the giant head who could barely wait to make his grand entrance, is now SIX YEARS OLD! I didn't expect that six would be such a big deal for me but it is. It's as if overnight he has become more thoughtful, patient, mature, and caring. I am liking six very much (but I'll try not tempt fate because he's only been six for a couple of weeks). 

Love this little guy.

And on a totally separate note, I am starting to feel a bit crafty again so I'm thinking that a tutorial (or two) for Valentine's Day is in order. Until then, you can check out some tutorials from last Valentine's Day here, here, and here.

Hello! Remember me? I used to blog here once upon a time. I've been totally absent from the blog and I apologize for that. Just taking a little break from things to soak up my family and prepare for Christmas.

Wishing you and yours peace, comfort, love, and joy this holiday season. 

We have to wait a whole 'nother year

Finley is so bummed that we have to "wait a whole 'nother year" to go trick or treating again. We had an awesome time and I think the boys would agree it was the best Halloween yet complete with great food, family, crazy festive neighborhood, haunted house, and a boat load of candy.

Fall Break at Disneyland

The boys had their fall break from school last week so we took them to Disneyland for a few days. We waited until they were a little older so it was the first time for both of them. The experience couldn't have been any better for us. The boys totally rocked it - they were agreeable, patient, excited, happy, etc. They were back to their normal selves when we got home. ;)

We did have a few minor mishaps along the way including a mad search for deodorant (who forgets to put on deodorant before a long day at Disneyland??) and a wardrobe malfunction on Splash Mountain.

We had enough time that we were able to go on most rides and see the attractions that we wanted to. The boys loved every. single. bit. of. it. Each ride we went on was their favorite. One of the highlights was visiting the new Cars Land at California Adventure. You really feel like you're walking around in Radiator Springs (along with a gillion other people). Pretty cool.

Although the kids were troopers, we did a lot of resting and sitting around waiting for parades so that we didn't completely wear them out. 

Our last day there we had a Magic Morning so we were able to get into the park an hour early. We managed to squeeze in several rides and finished up our day with a butt kicking to the dark side.

Overall it was an amazing Disneyland experience for our family. Looking forward to doing it again in a few years.

Tap the Cask

We spent some time this weekend at our favorite little escape here in Arizona  - Page Springs Cellars. They hosted a "Tap the Cask" event for members and we were treated to a discussion about harvesting and fermenting led by winemaker Eric Glomski. By far, the highlight of the day for me was getting to spend time in their cellar. The lighting was definitely a challenge but I had fun photographing (and tasting) barrels upon barrels of some really remarkable wines.

The boys even tagged along with us and spent the afternoon fishing, playing bean bag toss next to the vines, LEGOs on the deck, and reveling in the attention of the super friendly and welcoming PSC staff. As usual, we didn't want to leave but are looking to our next visit again in the near future.

Happy Monday.

DIY Superhero Costume

Finley wants to be a superhero this year and I know I could buy a superhero costume for him at the store (complete with built in muscles), but I knew this one would be fun to make and I couldn't pass up the chance to use the tackiest, shiniest fabric I could get my hands on. 

This costume was pretty easy to make and took me about 3ish hours total. You'll notice above that he is wearing a headband rather than the mask I made. He hated wearing the mask. He hated wearing his mask last year so I should have had a clue. Anyhow, I made him a headband instead. I'm including templates for both so you can choose which one floats your kid's boat. 

I broke this tutorial down into three different segments: the t-shirt, the cape, and the headband/mask. You can make just one part or all three. 

What you'll need for the superhero t-shirt:

• T-shirt in color of your choice
• Two sheets of felt in contrasting colors - for washability and durability, I recommend eco-fi felt by Kunin
• Fusible webbing - for this project, I used Heat n Bond lite
• Lighting bolt template (or you can draw your own) - download here
• Child's initial template. There are a lot of free comic fonts available online. I used comica bd. You can download the font of your choice and create your own template for the initial. (The initial template will need to be backwards because the image will be reversed once you've put your applique together).
• Sewing machine/thread

1. Take your lighting bolt and initial templates and place them under your fusible webbing. Trace them.
2. Iron them onto your sheets of felt following the instructions for your fusible webbing. If you're using Heat n Bond, iron them for a few seconds on the wool setting (NO steam).
3. Carefully cut them out.
4. Iron the lighting bolt onto the t-shirt following the instructions for your fusible webbing. Again, if you're using Heat n Bond, you'll iron on the wool setting (NO steam). I like to place a scrap piece of fabric over the appliques on this step just to be safe. Make sure the applique is firmly adhered. Machine stitch the lighting bolt to the t-shirt (I used a running stitch). 
5. Iron the initial on top of the lighting bolt applique. Machine stitch.

What you'll need for the cape:

• You'll need a cape. There are so many great tutorials on the web (like this one and this one) for making capes and I didn't feel the need to reinvent the wheel. Laziness on my part? Perhaps. Both of the tutorials I linked also include instructions for the applique on the back so you can go with theirs or you can follow below to make one that matches the tee.
• Three sheets of felt. One to match the color of your t-shirt and the other two to match the applique that you made for the the tee. Again, I recommend eco-fi felt by Kunin.
• Lighting bolt template - download here
• Child's initial template (use the same one you used for the t-shirt).
• Fusible webbing
• Sewing machine/thread

1. Just as you did for the t-shirt, trace your lighting bolt and initial templates onto fusible webbing. Iron them onto the felt and cut them out. You'll also want to cut out a circle large enough to fit your lightning bolt and initial inside. I did NOT use fusible webbing on my red circle since the shiny cape fabric I used cannot be ironed.
2. Iron the lightning bolt onto the red circle.
3. Machine stitch the bolt onto the circle
4. Place your initial onto the lightning bolt and iron. Machine stitch on.
5. Since I did not use fusible webbing on my red circle, I pinned it onto the cape and machine stitched it on.

 What you'll need for the mask or headband:

• Two sheets of felt. I used contrasting colors to match the applique on the cape and tee but they could be the same color if you choose.
• Fusible webbing
• Elastic
• Sewing machine/thread
• Template - download the headband here or the mask here. These templates are sized to fit my 5 year old's head - you may have to adjust accordingly. The instructions are the same for the mask and headband.

1. Place your mask or headband template under the fusible webbing and trace.
2. Iron it onto the felt.
3. Carefully cut it out. Iron it onto the second sheet of felt.
4. Carefully cut it out.
5. Machine stitch together.
6. Not pictured. Stitch on some elastic for the band (measure your child's head for best fit).

In case you were wondering, Oliver is going to be a bat. I made him some killer ears and a mask to match his wings but he won't wear them either (these kids!).

If you get hung up on any of the steps or have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know. Good luck!