I'm Being Featured on Ucreate!

That's right!! My vinyl wall art is being shown off in Ucreate's October "Create With Me" Gallery!!

I love Ucreate! And I'm so excited to have my project featured!!

You can see it here. YAY!! :o)

Travel Changing Pad

That's right! More baby stuff! But can you really blame me? I'm getting a niece!! Actually, I'm getting two nieces!! :o) Can you tell I'm excited?

And babies need a lot of stuff anyway, so I'm just doing my part to help out :o)

So this latest project was one I found at Cluck Cluck Sew. How genius is this?? A diaper/wipes carrier that is also a portable changing pad?! (Cuz who really knows whats on the changing tables you find in the restrooms?)

I followed this tutorial and created this:

The tutorial calls for chenille, minky, or heavy flannel. Minky is nice, but it was a bit too expensive for me. I couldn't find any chenille (at least at the small fabric store that I went to), and I didn't really see any flannel that I thought would really cushion the baby.

So I found some quilt backing and got that. It's soft and cushy and perfect for baby!

 Did I mention it holds diapers and wipes? ;o)

Then it folds up and off you go! Great for a family on the move!

Wet Bag

OK . . . I know some of you are wondering. What is a "wet bag"? I asked the same question when I first heard of it. You're not alone.

A wet bag is a bag lined with a water proof fabric to help contain wet things (i.e. swimsuits, extra drooly [is "drooly" a word? If not I'm making it one!] baby clothes, etc.) and help minimize the mess.

Babies are messy! The get drool, spit-up, baby food all over themselves! So I decided I'd make a wet bag to go along with all Sister's other baby gifts. She could probably even use it to hold a dirty diaper she can't dispose of just yet. (Yucky! But it could happen!)

So I whipped up a regular old zippered pouch, but I lined it with (get this!) a shower curtain liner I bought at Dollar Tree.

Now Sister has her very own wet bag to help with whatever life (and Maci) through her way!

Baby Ribbon Tag Toy

One day during my bloggy travels, I came across a blog titled Chez Beeper Bebe. I don't remember what lead me to this blog, or this particular post, but I stumbled upon this little cutie.

Awwwwww!

This post holds a "little fair[l]y [ugly] tale about patents" (which really just makes you mad) and a tutorial on how to make this little plush toy.

So I decided to give it a try and make a plushie for my (not yet born) baby niece.

Here's how mine turned out.

He's not perfectly round and his ribbons don't wanna all go in the same direction . . .

but I sewed him with love for Maci ♥:o)

Painted Pillowcase

Wow! This post is late!! Sorry it's taken me so long to post this. Too many baby projects I want to share!

Anyway, last month, I had a bunch of my mom's family fly into town for the big game!

What game is that? The University of Arizona vs. the  University of Iowa football game!!

Last year my parents' flew to Iowa for the game. This year the game was here, so the gang came down to root on their team (and get their butts kicked!!)

One of the things my parents said about their trip up there was that the room they stayed in at my aunt's house had been covered in Hawkeye stuff! The sheets, the towels, the wall art, etc. My uncle (the big Hawkeye fan) thought it was hysterical.

This time the tables turned!! As my parents prepared to retaliate, I helped them out a bit. We saw U of A pillowcases being sold for $8 each, but being that they need 6, that $8 quickly turns to almost $50! So we went to Ross Dress for Less and bought a couple packs of pillowcases (about $6 for 2 pillowcases) and I took them home to paint them!

First I cut out my stencil on some freezer paper (it can be tricky to find. I bought mine at Wal-Mart). Then, you apply the stencil to your fabric, waxy side down, and iron it on. This creates a temporary bond between the paper and the fabric. Make sure to place newspaper or something underneath your fabric (or inside your pillowcase) because the paint will bleed through the fabric onto whatever is underneath.

There's always a chance that your paint my bleed outside the stencil, so I took some white paint (since the pillowcases are white) and applied that around the edges first. That way, if the whit paint bleeds, it would be noticeable and it seals the edges so the red and blue paint won't bleed.

Then I stippled on my red and blue paint. Don't put too much paint on at one time. It's better to do multiple thinner coats.

Once I was happy with the coverage, I removed my stencil.

I carefully used a regular paint brush and filled in the gaps in my stencil.

Wa la! U of A pillowcases to torture the enemies!

I didn't want my "enemies" to be able to escape the Wildcat pride by turning over their pillowcases, so I made sure to decorate the other side as well!

I really wanted to put an image of the Wildcat face on the pillowcases, but didn't have the patience to cut out the stencils and try and paint him on. So I hit up my local Wal-mart and bought some iron-on transfers. Then all I had to do was print him out and iron him on!

Go Wildcats!! :oD