Music Apron with Pockets

Hi there!

Last week I had an opportunity to participate in a class that shared ideas for teaching nursery age children. I made an apron to share with the other people in the class, filled with objects that go along with songs. 

I was inspired by my friend Monique's apron, that she made several years ago for our church nursery.  She made her apron out of oil cloth with large pockets.  I have wanted to make one ever since, and the class gave me the perfect opportunity. 

I had my 5 year old son model the apron for the pictures, he was willing for about 5 seconds to sit still! He did not like wearing a "girly" apron!

We filled our pockets with star wands, rubber frogs, farm animals, flower petals, and monkey erasers.  The options are endless! If you are using this for church music, you can add pictures of Jesus, for example.  Anything little that the kids can hold will work.  I had a hard time finding finger puppets, but those would be cute too.  

Here are a couple of our song choices to go along with the objects:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Old Mac Donald Had a Farm

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

The fabric and the pre-made apron came from Craft Warehouse.

Using a pre-made apron made this project really simple and it was a bonus that the apron was long and could hold several large pockets. I also used several different pocket sizes ranging from 8x10 inches to 4x8 inches, they just need to be big enough to hold your supplies.  To make the pockets easier to sew on the apron, I first ironed the edges over by 1/4 inch, then I lightly glued (with fabric glue) the pockets to the apron.  After the glue set, I sewed each pocket on with my sewing machine.

I love the bold color and pattern and I think the kids do too! The apron is a hit with small children, they love holding things as they sing.



Ella Claire Blog ~ Vintage Napkin Pennant Banner

We would like to introduce you to our talented friend,

 Kristen of Ella Claire Blog!

She has an amazing eye for all things vintage.

 Kristen creates the most beautiful decor and crafts with second hand finds.

  Kristen created a pennant banner

 made from vintage napkins and hankies.  

How unique! We love the detail in the napkins and the folds. 

Kristen also created a book page pinwheel banner.  So pretty!

Kristen has a super cute baby girl named Ella,

 that she sews beautiful dresses and hair accessories for.

She recently made hair bows with vintage seam binding!

We look forward to running into Kristen at the local craft boutiques, so we can oooh and awe over her beautiful vintage creations. This is just a little peek of what she does. She is new to the blogging world, so go on over to Ella Claire Blog and give her a BIG welcome!  She is one talented gal that you will want to keep your eyes on!

wood you like to craft

Just in case you guys missed our post over at Wood You Like To Craft
we thought we'd re-post it here.
Make sure to head over and see all the fun ideas for this month's theme
"April Showers".
Maybe it's the fact that I watched a couple of episodes of
Hoarders and Animal Hoarders over Spring Break,
whichever the reason Candace and I are both
in full Spring cleaning mode this week.
I mean serious gutting of our houses, bags of stuff to be hauled
away and an actual resemblance of a home remaining.
So until the crafts start coming again.....Enjoy!

Today we are getting a bit sentimental

with this month's theme.

When Wendy showed us her super cute Umbrella idea

the only thing that came to mind was the beautiful quilt block

from our childhood.

So while Candace has been so busy finishing up her Master Bedroom reveal

I of course couldn't pass up a fun opportunity to work with wood

Our Grandmother made everyone a quilt when they were married 

and the one she gave our parents we called

"The Pink Lady Blankey".

I snuck some pictures this weekend of the quilt while our parents

have been out of town.

We loved this blanket~I mean what little girl wouldn't?

All the pretty fabric's used on the dresses, bows and parasols!

Against my mother's wishes I snuck it away with me to college

where I'm sure it got most of it's damage.

I've always wanted to recreate it and I have great plans to this summer,

but until then I thought this would be a fun way to do it.

This can of course be done with any favorite quilting block pattern.

I traced a pattern as best I could and sketched the rest out on paper.

Then I made a copy so I still had the original to go off of.

Using a glue stick you can glue it right to your wood.
It makes it really easy to cut out instead of tracing each individual piece.
Plus the paper just peels off when you are done or can
be easily sanded away.

I used 1/8" MDF to cut it out of.

I cut a plaque out of 3/4" MDF that was approximately 18" in size.

After you cut them out, lightly sand.

It's like putting together a puzzle~my daughter loved it!

I gave everything a quick coat of white paint

and then Modge Podged some cute papers on.

Then you just glue the wood pieces onto the plaque and it's ready to hang!
I'm going to make 2 more to hang up in my daughter's room.

Pretty simple and pretty fun!

Thanks for great inspiration Wendy!

Master Bedroom ~ Reveal!

Hooray!  It's finally done!

Last year I hired Autumn from Design Dump (Nicole's Sister In-law) to create an e-design for my master bedroom.  Ever since Nicole introduced me to Autumn several years ago, I have admired her classy style. My master bedroom has been baby central for eight years and was in need of big change. I knew she would be the perfect person to help make our bedroom a pretty and peaceful place to be. I think it worked, because I keep finding my hubby in there relaxing. 

My request for the e-design was to keep the cost low by diy-ing most of the projects,  But to be totally honest, even when diy-ing,  it's still expensive to decorate a room when you are starting from scratch. I started with two dressers and a bed, that's pretty much it.  I stretched the expenses over a year, buying items and materials monthly to make it affordable for me.  I love that these projects pushed me to sew and build way beyond my comfort level, and save a few bucks in the process. I have learned a lot over the year!

Here are some of the changes we made to the room-

I had to throw in a couple of before & after pictures!  The changes even shocked me!

What I love about Autumn's designs are the details.  She has an amazing eye for detail, from the trim on the pillows and curtains, to the contrasting fabric in the bedskirt. I really love everything about the room! 

Here is a list of all the diy projects from the past year.  Hopefully they will get your wheels turning and help you make a room in your house a place you LIKE to be! Thanks Autumn!

(And thanks Nicole for your hard work on the ikea dressers, they are definitely the highlight of the room!)

Bedskirt With Constrasting Box Pleats

Re-upholstered Benches

Sunburst Mirror

Fixed Roman Shades

Ikea Curtains with Trim

Plant Stand

Paint Choices

Ikea Rast Dresser Makeover

Ballard Designs Headboard -Knock-off

Pillow Shams with Trim

Greek Trim Pillow

 

Mini Sunburst Mirrors

I know, I know...I bet you're wondering when I am going to get to that room!  My excuse is, it rained all week long.  Today was our first day of great sunshine and hopefully it will continue so I can get some good pictures.  Plus it was spring break and I couldn't torture my kids while I fluffed my room!

I have been wanting mini sunburst mirrors for a long time. I love the sporadic look of the small mirrors on a wall.  Sadly for me, the mini mirrors are hard to find and expensive.

I stumbled upon tiny convex mirrors in the auto section in Wal-Mart!  You know, the mirrors that go on a bus or a RV, or the mirrors that catch people stealing in a convenient store? :)  

There are a couple different varieties, the mirrors pictured have a slant to them and were difficult to get out of the casing. The best mirrors are the rubber rimmed, they pull out easily. 

I traced some of my favorite sunburst images onto paper...yep, right off the computer screen!

Then I traced the shapes onto mdf and cut them out with a scroll saw.  I didn't take any pictures of the cutting process, because this was REALLY impulsive and I wasn't sure if it was even going to work. 

I had to break off my plastic slanted casing, so I replaced it with cording. 

On the "spikey" mirror, I drilled holes and added skewers. 

Then I covered the mirror part with paper and gave them all a good spray of gold paint.

For any over spray I found that finger nail polish remover cleaned it off easily.  I was surprised that it didn't ruin the inexpensive finish on the mirrors.  The mirrors do scratch very easily.

They turned out fun- for an impulsive, sidetracked craft.  I was able to use scraps and paint I already had, so the only cost for me was in the mirrors, about $10.00.

I will be back soon...(I promise)...with the room! :)