Martha Stewart Bunny Bags!

Last year my Grandma made the boys these darling Bunny baskets for Easter. She used felt and puffy paint for the face, but I love embroidery, so I decided to embroider the face with some button eyes!

Here's the Martha Stewart pattern and directions. And here's some of my advice:

Poke holes in the face template to mark dots where you will embroider the face using a disappearing ink. To do the nose, start with a triangle, then fill it in using back and forth stitches.

Try to make the smile as symmetrical as possible:

And CA-UTE face for the bunny:

When attaching the bottom circle, I honestly didn't think it would fit. But pin it really well and it actually will line up correctly. I sewed it inside out so the seam would be on the inside because I like the finished look of that better. Start and stop at the back seam just in case there is any puckering.

...and fill with some cute items from the Easter Bunny!

Click HERE for our our EASTER archive of ideas and highlights from the past years!

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Merry Christmas Tree Pillow

These Christmas Tree Pillows were featured on Lolly Jane Boutique last year! I love them so much I just had to bring them back again this year!

Supplies:

(2) 18X23 pieces of dark green flannel

Scraps in 3 different fabrics (red, white, green) for trees and brown for stems

1/4 yard Fusible Web or Wonder-Under

Red tulle

Green ribbon

Thread

1. Download template, cut out 1 large and 2 small Christmas trees from three different fabrics and 1 piece of brown for the stems. Also cut the same out of the fusible web.

2. Iron fusible web to the triangle trees, using the directions given.

With the stem piece, iron under 1/4 inch on long sides and cut in thirds (just eyeball this, it doesn't have to be exact and is kinda fun when the stems are different lengths.)

Fold under one short side 1/4 inch, then slip the unfinished edge of the stem under each tree and iron the trees to the flannel.

3.Sew around each tree and each stem, about 1/4 from the edge to reinforce the fusible web- I like to use contrasting thread colors on the trees!

4.Cut 10 inches from the green ribbon and sew down the middle using the longest stitch you have. Then pull on the bobbin thread to scrunch up the ribbon like this:

Fold under each edge and pin to the red tree. Sew down the middle of the ribbon again (with your regular stitch length)

5. Now we'll do the same thing with the red tulle. Cut a 6X6 square and fold in half long-wise. Sew down the center, using the longest stitch and pull on bobbin threads to get the tulle to ruffle

6. Place near the top of the green tree and sew down the center of the tulle, on top of the previous stitching.

7. Now you are ready to sew the pillow together! With right sides together, sew using a 3/8 seam allowance on all sides, leaving a 4 inch opening to turn fabric and stuff with polyester fiberfill!

And you are ready to place on your comfy couch or give as a wonderful gift to someone you love!

I am working on another very special Christmas project right now... Can't wait to show you!

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Felt & Button Ornament Tutorial & FB Giveaway

I'm stuck in a weird place; in between brown and orange turkeys and red and green glitter.

It's a week until Thanksgiving and all I want to think about is wrapping presents and picking out my Christmas Tree. I'm always excited to pull out my Fall decorations and this year I am especially excited to put them away. Not sure why, but it probably has to do with stuff like this:

How cute are these Christmas Tree Ornaments?

{Inspired by these cuties from our Pinterest Christmas Board}

I'm loving how easy they are to make and how darling they turn out. With just some scraps of felt & ribbon, a needle & thread, buttons & stuffing, and a few minutes to spare, you too can make some handmade ornaments that would be a great gift (or gift topper) for your special someones.

**I'm so excited: We now have 100 facebook fans! So to celebrate and thank all of you, I am giving away a felt ornament!! Go to our facebook page and comment with your favorite thing about Christmas here to enter. Giveaway Now CLOSED.**

Wanna make your own? Here's how!

Cut triangles with pinking shears and rectangles from brown felt for the base of the tree. My triangles measured about 3.5 inches across the base and almost 5 inches tall.

Sew on buttons using one piece of embroidery thread for all the buttons.

Fold 5 inch ribbon tab in half and place on top of tree, and tree trunk on bottom and put right sides together

Hand-stitch using embroidery thread of choice- I love using accenting colors all the way around, leaving a gap to stuff with polyester fiberfill or your choice of stuffing

Leave a tail in the beginning and square knot the ends

and you are done!! Easy, peasy and super duper cute!

In other (Christmas-y related) announcements, I will be featuring some FABULOUS shops and artisans starting the day after Thanksgiving... you know, the day you go out really early in the morning to buy stuff for a great price? Sleep in and shop online (that's my motto!!)

So come back and check it out! And if you have a great Christmas gift idea, email me to be featured.

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Recycled Jars= Glowing Jackolanterns

These cute jackolanterns were so easy and fun to make!!! They cost me $2.00 for supplies and I could make an endless amount of them in less than 5 steps!

I saw them featured on the cover of Woman's Day this month and just had to get the magazine and make some for myself (and my fall swap package!)

Materials:

clean jars, orange tissue paper, mod-podge, paint brush, scissors, black construction paper (or cardstock + glue dots)

Step 1: Begin by mixing up 3 parts mod podge to 1 part water. Measure height of each jar and cut strips that are 1 1/2 inches wide. You only need about 10 per jar.

Step 2: Paint on the modpodge/water mixture one strip at a time and apply the tissue paper on it. Smooth out the tissue paper as much as you can without tearing it. Apply the next strip so that it overlaps about 1/4 inch. Let it dry for a couple hours or overnight.

Step 3: Draw on the black paper some fun eyes, noses and smiles (or an oops mouth :)) and cut it out. I used cardstock because that's what I had on hand, but the magazine instructions called for construction paper and you paint the glue mixture on top to fix it to the jar. I used glue dots instead to adhere the paper because I didn't think the glue would be strong enough with such a thick paper. I think you could even paint black acrylic or tempera to make the face.

Step 4: Stick in a some battery operated votives or a yummy smelling candle- pumpkin scented, of course!

Turn off the lights, then ooooh and aaaaaw!

post note: A few days later and I found the author of this post from the magazine feature! Look at these darling monster jars from Emily @ Not So Idle Hands- She strung lights through the jars for an even spookier look!

And speaking of Halloween, our Complete Super Hero PDF pattern set includes full sewing instructions and packed with templates so you can create your own superhero costume in any size, and customize it with any initial and color scheme- available in my etsy store for $10 for a limited time (instead of $19.50!!)

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