Christmas Gifts

Here's a post I did from last year. I thought you may be able to use some of the gift ideas.  Speaking of gift ideas, I'd better get busy creating.  Christmas is less than two weeks away.  YIKES!!!!

'Tis the season to be busy.  Busy, I have been!  I have played nurse, baked, blogged, shopped, crafted, cooked, cleaned, decorated, wrapped, and played hostess for the past month!  My oldest daughter had her tonsils, adenoids, and a lymph node removed on December 9th.  She did wonderfully!  She's a tough one!  Anyway, that's where the nurse role came on.  The rest, just goes with Christmas.

Jill and I started this blog during the busiest time of the year!  This year was certainly no exception with the two weddings I went to, out of state, at the end of November. Then, the giveaways.  They sounded like a great idea at the time, and we had fun doing them, but wow... that was just another addition to our overflowing plates. No worries.  We've already begun thinking about our giveaways for next Christmas.  Woah... I guess I should let you in on a little secret.  The giveaways will continue throughout the year... just not on a daily basis.  We'll do our best though.  Giveaways are great fun.  I won four puzzles for my girls, on a blog, this Christmas!

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the Christmas gifts, I managed to make this year.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them all.  Have I mentioned my sleep deprivation?  I am not at my sharpest without sleep. Hopefully, I'll get those folks to send me pics and post them later.

Some of my gifts were copy crafting!

I made a pair of these for my mom and myself.  Notice I made my snowman one block taller.  I liked him better this way!
 http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/2x4-snowman.html

Copy crafting at it's best http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/photobucket.html

For teacher's gifts I attached clothespins on the back for their gift cards.  Such a cute presentation!

I made 10 of these for friends. You would have thought I would have taken some pictures of the unwrapped gift!

Here's the first one I made for our family.
It's a HowDoesShe craft. http://www.howdoesshe.com/2x4-to-birthday-boardtutorial

Then there's the wreath I copied from Jill.  I added some bells and a ribbon and voila I have the perfect UK wreath for my brother in law, Jim: a huge UK fan. http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/sparkle-wreath-tutorial.html

Then, there are the coasters.  I made a set for my daughter's teachers, a set for my mom, and a set for my mother in law.  She's retired Navy so I made hers with great Navy scrapbook paper.  I just forgot to take a picture of them!  Grrr... Here's a tutorial Jill did on the coasters.  http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/gift-idea-inexpensive-coasters-tutorial.html

And then folks, I got creative on my own....

For my daughter's teachers' gifts I put a few handmade items together to come up with:

A tshirt, four kinds of homemade treats, and coasters, all in a decorated, reusable, plastic bin.

Stay tuned for a tutorial on these easy shirts.

We'll do an embellishing with vinyl tutorial soon!

Seven layer bars and Brickle cookies http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-1.html and http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-2.html

White candy bark and peppermint bark (recipes coming soon).

Then there were photo boards:

These things are so versatile and amazing.  Remember the "We Believe" one I did? http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/making-photo-board-tutorial.html

I made some changes and a variety of gifts!

Another present for my UK loving brother in law.  Skeeter is his dog.

The glare so takes away from the cuteness of this.  My father in law is retired Navy so I thought this would be a great place for him to put Navy memorabilia.

This one is for my Daddy.

This is for my brother.  My girls will tell you, he is the best Uncle Ever!  They're right!

Here's another "We Believe" for my friend, Amy.



Remember the "Grateful" subway art?

http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/11/making-subway-art-tutorial-2.html

I made this for my sweet, sweet, Aunt Esther.

Then there's this calendar creation I came up with. (I'll do a tutorial soon...)

For my Mother-In-Law.  Notice the Navy paper on the date blocks?  She's retired Navy, so fitting.  Then, to keep with the patriotic theme, I did white and red stripes.  It looks "flag-y" to me.

My brother's.  I used the same paper on his numbers that I did on his "We Love Uncle Darren" board. Matchy Matchy!  I also did themed paper for each month. 

My Dad's is sideways.  I still haven't learned how to flip pictures, sorry.

This was a gift to my daughters, from my friend, Lesli.  She got the idea from HowDoesShe.  So cute!http://www.howdoesshe.com/bucket-o%E2%80%99-chalk

Here's the inside of the bucket!

This is the burlap pillow Lesli made me.  I LOVE the font she chose.  Too cute!

As you can see, it's been a busy time for all of us crafty gals.  There's still pictures of my handmade gifts, I didn't post, because I forgot to take them.   Still, I hope you're inspired to get your crafts on!

Freezer Paper Turkey Shirt Tutorial

I made these last year, but they were such a hit I wanted to share them again with you.  It isn't too late to work these up for Thanksgiving!  I'm sorry not all the pictures are here anymore.  They have disappeared.  I tried to get as many as were still available.

Making your own personalized shirts is very easy and can save you a ton of money.  I love all the personalized items you can buy from Chasing Fireflies, but I am not willing to spend $50 on one shirt.  Instead, no matter what the special event or holiday, I make a personalized shirt or bag.  I've made shirts for Easter, birthdays, bags and now Thanksgiving Turkey shirts.

Shannon and Lesli taught me how to utilize freezer paper and the wonderful things it can make!  Thank you gals! For all my friends who have seen my Facebook posts sharing new shirts I have made, here is your tutorial.  On Wednesday, Shannon came over and we had a craft day making these shirts.  Tip:  It is always more fun to craft with friends!  Get some friends together and make some shirts for the holidays!

Freezer Paper Turkey Shirt Tutorial

Supply list:
shirt or fabric of choice
Exacto Knife
cutting mat

freezer paper (found in the aisle with the plastic wrap and foil)

fabric paint or acrylic paint with textile medium

sponge paint brushes 

small fine tip paint brush (for touching up)

iron

ironing board

hair dryer

printed paper of your design (turkey in our case)

Note:  Shannon uses fabric paint as she loves the soft feel of the paint.  Lesli and I use cheap acrylic paint mixed with textile medium.  Fabric paint can be expensive and I am cheap.  I buy the large acrylic paint (Apple Barrel) which is usually under $2.  Then I head over to Hobby Lobby or Joann's (coupons in hand) and buy Textile Medium.  Follow the directions on the fabric medium and let the shirt dry 24 hours before washing (learn from my mistake).

Directions:

1.  Pick your design and print it out on paper.  This needs to be black and white (don't waste your color ink) and dark enough to trace through the freezer paper.  Here is our print out:

Shannon and I both have a Silhouette (love it!) so we bought the little turkey image.  It printed out in the pieces that is why the image is broken up.

2. Cut a piece of freezer paper that is larger than your printed area.  Cover your printed page with the freezer paper, wax side down.  Trace the main turkey body. Make two of these. On two new pieces of freezer paper, trace the body with the eyes, nose, and gobble gobble (what is the actual term?).  Make two of these.   

3.  Cut out more freezer paper and trace the body and feathers behind (place where you see fit).  Make two of these.

For every shirt you want to make, you need to make two tracings of the body with face on it,  two tracings of the body and feathers and one of the plain body.  It is quite a bit of tracing but you will thank yourself if you do it all to begin with.

4.  Using your Exacto knife, cut out the eyes and the gobble gobble.  Don't lose the cut out pieces (put them to the side). Then on a scrap piece of freezer paper, trace the nose and cut it out.  (Keep the inside of the nose.

5. Iron your shirt.  Cut out a piece of freezer paper that will cover more than the turkey image on your shirt.  Place wax side up and slide it inside the shirt.  Iron the front of your shirt so that the freezer paper bonds to the inside of your shirt.  This creates a barrier so that the paint doesn't bleed through.

6.  Turn off the steam on your iron and put it on the highest setting. Take the piece of freezer paper that you cut out the eyes and gobble gobble and position it centered on your shirt. (If you plan to put a name under the turkey, leave room for it).  Wax side should be down.  Press the freezer paper down with the iron, making sure the paper is fully adhered to the shirt.

7.  Now using your fabric paint or acrylic paint mixed with textile medium and a sponge paint brush, paint in the eyes and gobble gobble.  Be careful not to overlap the paint.  Use the hair dryer to dry the paint.  Take off the freezer paper once the paint is dry.  Using your scrap freezer paper with the nose cut out, iron it on the shirt (covering up the eyes and gobble gobble) and paint.  Then dry with the hair dryer and take off freezer paper.

8.  Using the Exacto Knife, cut out the turkey body from the freezer paper. (See picture).

9.  Using the freezer paper with the body cut out, iron it to the shirt like before.  Then take your eyes, nose and gobble gobble that you cut out and place them over the painted portion.  Then iron them on as well.
***Sorry I can't find the original pictures from here till the final pictures. ***

10.  Paint the body of the turkey brown.  Use the hair dryer to dry the paint.  Take off the freezer paper.  Use your Exacto knife to peel up the eyes, nose and gobble gobble paper.  Touch up any overlaps now with a small paint brush if needed.

11.  Using your Exacto knife, cut out the top and far side feathers from one sheet of freezer paper.   Iron onto your shirt, paying close attention to lining up the turkey.  Paint the feathers the color of your choosing.  Dry with a hair dryer and take off the freezer paper.

12.  On your other freezer paper sheet, cut out the two remaining feathers and iron the sheet on your turkey.  Paint the remaining feathers, dry with hair dryer and take off freezer paper.

 14.  I made three shirts.  Two were yellow for the boys since I couldn't find white long sleeved shirts anywhere.  I had a white onesie for my daughter.

15.  Shannon wanted to add her girls' names to her shirt.  I am too cheap and want to get multiple uses out of the shirts.  My daughter now has a turkey shirt for when she is 2 and 4!  To add a name, trace the printed name on freezer paper, use your knife to cut out the letters (or have your silhouette cut it out).  Iron on the name portion under your turkey.  Make sure to iron in the inner parts of the letters (example:  the letter "e" if you don't put the half moon shape back in, the e will be filled in). Paint, dry, peel off freezer paper.  Here are pictures of Shannon's shirts: (I love the added touch of gluing on a bow!)

Thanks to Shannon for crafting with me and for the fun we have while doing it!  (Happy Birthday as well, Shannon!)

I hope you have fun making your own shirts and that our tutorial helps you in the process.  Start with a simple design (of one color) and go from there.  More freezer paper shirts coming up for Christmas!

Ruffled Candy Corn Shirts

It's no secret, I'm not a seamstress.  I'm just not good at it.  That being said, when I put my mind to something, I almost always succeed.  Well, I saw a beautiful candy corn ruffled shirt and was inspired enough to make 6!

These are our sweet friends, Zoe and Aubrey, sporting their shirts.

Read more »

Freezer Paper Stenciled Birthday Shirts

A few weeks ago, I sent this feature on Freezer Paper Stencil T-shirts to my friend over at Sarahndipities.  Sarah just had her fifth child and needed some guest posts while she was recovering.  I was more than happy to help her out and hopefully make some new friends for our blog.  Welcome to any new followers from Sarahndipities.  Our followers should check out her blog as well.  She has super cute crafts and crochet items!

Today, I will be sharing a tutorial for a Freezer Paper Stencil T-shirts.

Two of my children are having birthdays coming up.  Since I learned how to do freezer paper stenciling, I love to make personalized shirts for my kids.  They love showing off their age and/or their name and it is much cheaper than embroidery! Here is a picture of what I will be teaching you to make.

Needed Supplies:

• A T-shirt
• Fabric paint
• Foam paint brushes
• Freezer paper (found in the plastic wrap/foil aisle of any grocery store)
• Exacto knife
• Self-healing cutting mat
• Iron
• Pencil to trace number and circle
• Printed number and circle in your choice of font (I made a circle with the draw feature in Word).

Shannon and I both have a Silhouette and we love it!  Unfortunately, not everyone has a Silhouette, so I want to give you the tutorial for either way.  You can easily cut your letters on freezer paper using the Silhouette as well.  Shannon has done this many times and suggests selecting "Vellum" speed 3, thickness 25.  Make sure to use a mat that has plenty of stickiness left to it.  Rub the freezer paper down well to avoid any bubbles, which could cause the paper to tear.

If you don't have a Silhouette, here is the tutorial for you!

1.  Print off your number and circle or any design that you want to use.  Cut a piece of freezer paper larger than the size of your design.  With the waxy side down, trace your number or design.  

 2.  Here are all my designs ready to be cut out.  If you make the freezer paper too small don't worry, you can add more freezer paper to the shirt so that you don't get paint where it shouldn't go.    Also, don't stress if your tracing isn't perfect.  You can fix that when you cut it out.

3.  Now take your exacto knife and cut out the number and the circle.  Notice that I will need to add more paper to the five as I didn't center my 5 appropriately.

Here are the two designs I was working on.

I won't need the interior of the circle.  I am keeping this though as you never know what you might want to put a 5 on, right?

4.  Heat up your iron to the cotton setting.  Turn off any steam settings. Iron your t-shirt.  Then cut out a large piece of freezer paper that will fit the inside of your t-shirt. You want this piece to cover the entire inside so that you don't have paint bleed through.  Place the freezer paper waxy side up and iron your t-shirt again.  This will help the freezer paper to adhere to the inside.

5. Grab your circle.  Center the circle in the middle of the t-shirt.  Iron it down making sure it is flat and without any bubbles.  Then center the freezer paper with your number and iron it down too.

 I cut another strip of freezer paper as my one side was thin and I didn't want paint to bleed off the edge.

 Here is the shirt ready to add paint.

This is how your circle should look if you gave yourself plenty of space on both sides.  I did it right for the #3 shirt.

6.  Use a foam brush and fabric paint to paint your design.  Make sure not to use too much paint as it might cause the freezer paper to bubble and paint to bleed underneath.  Try to go with the lines of the shirt as well, not against the lines.  White paint is takes more than one coat to show up properly.  Most other colors can get away with one or two light coats. I did three coats for this design.  You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process if you get impatient between coats.  Just make sure that the first coat is completely dry before painting the second coat.

 After first coat of paint.

After second coat of paint.

After third coat of paint.  Notice the number has almost disappeared.

7. Again, allow the paint to fully dry.  Learn from my mistake on a previous project and let the paint dry for at least 24 hours before you machine wash.

8.  Peel off the freezer paper.  If you have any difficulty, use your exacto knife to get under the freezer paper.  You won't hurt the paint that is attached to the shirt.  Here are the finished shirts.

My little man Ryan loved his shirt and wore it proudly the day of his birthday.  He will wear it many more times throughout the year.  You can machine wash and dry without any problems.  Here is Ryan showing off his #5 shirt.  The second picture is of my little man Evan who turned 3 yesterday.  This was perfect timing to share the tutorial with everyone!

Shannon and I have made many gifts and other projects using freezer paper.  If you would like to see more, click here. Freezer paper stencils are fantastic and let you make inexpensive personalized gifts.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

Happy Crafting!