Non-Obnoxious Alphabet Magnets

I was inspired by this blog post to make some non-obnoxious alphabet magnets. So simple! So cute! So, why hadn't I thought of this yet?

I drug the kids out to the craft store with me and purchased my supplies. I even found the perfect color of yellow spray paint, on clearance for $2. Excited to get started, I sprayed one side of the disks as soon as the kids went down for a nap.



I used a black metallic spray paint that we already had, leftover from another project I hope to someday finish and then blog about. Then I flipped them over and sprayed the other side yellow.





Once they were dry, I pulled out my rub on letters and got to work. I had never used rub on transfers before and was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to work with. I've been dreaming up all sorts of projects where I can use rub on transfers. The next night, I glued magnets to the back of the disks, and they are done! I used a stronger magnet than the tutorial called for. I'm tired of our fridge magnets sliding down and I am going to replace them all with these nice strong ones. How do I feel about our new alphabet magnets? I...



I'm going to give these to one or both of the kids for Christmas. I haven't decided who gets what yet. They might each get a set in their stockings. I did both upper and lower case and made a few extras of the letters in their names. My transfers came with lots of E's but not many O's. I bought an extra sheet so they can both spell their full names at the same time.

I did not distress mine like in the tutorial, but they still have a rustic charm about them.  I didn't spray a protective coating on like I thought about, so I expect that they will become distressed with use soon enough.  I didn't do anything special to the edges.  They are a bit uneven from whatever spray paint happened to reach them, but I liked how they looked, so I left them alone.

Car Shirts, Take 2

I wasn't happy with how the car shirts I made for a friend turned out.  I got the pattern from a different site than I typically use, and it stitched out very differently.  When it tacks down the applique pieces, this pattern uses a very narrow, very tight zig-zag stitch and it pretty much just pulled the threads from the edge of the woven fabric I used.  This time, I used fabric that won't unravel and used a more substantial stabilizer on the applique pieces and on the back of the shirt.  It seemed to help and this time, they stitched out much better.  I normally would not have chosen the bright orange and lime green to go with the brick red shirts, but they really turned out cute.  I hope her boys like their new and improved shirts.

Sorry about the lighting glare.  The colors show better in the close-ups.

Lime green car.

Orange car.

How I am Turning My Son Into a Nerd

Those who know my husband and me know that the chance of our children becoming nerds is astronomically high.  I recently made two new shirts for Malcolm that simply hurl him into nerd-dom.  They both break my personal "no characters" rule, but I suppose when they are ones that mom and dad like a lot, then we can just ignore that rule.

I am a terrible mother because I wouldn't let him watch TV until I took a picture of the shirt.

Close up of Kermit.  Gonzo is actually Malcolm's favorite Muppet, but I made this to match a sweatshirt I bought last year.

Here is the sweatshirt I was trying to match (he's wearing the shirt underneath).  The back of the sweatshirt has The Muppet Show logo.

He has watched a few episodes of The Muppet Show and likes it OK, but it isn't one of his favorites.  I fully admit to this being mostly just for my husband and myself.  When he wore it to school, the teachers were excited about it, and who wouldn't be?  Kermit is awesome.

Malcolm has no idea who Dr. Who is, but when I found the pattern for the TARDIS, I had to have it and put it on something. Luckily, Malcolm had a sweatshirt and pair of pants that needed a matching shirt, and the TARDIS fit the bill perfectly. 

He's going to be the coolest kid in preschool. 

This stitched out fine, but trimming the extra threads on the lettering was a real pain.  They were so tiny and because some were going the same direction as the black thread underneath, it was hard to trim only the white thread. 

Pumpkin Shirt

I found an adorable pair of orange velour pants with polka-dot cuffs on clearance for a couple of dollars last fall and of course, I couldn't find a shirt to match, so I made one.  I opted for a plain pumpkin design so that it could be worn in October and November.  She has a wintery sweater dress that needs a shirt underneath and this shirt will be perfect for that too.  The pumpkins won't show, but the sleeves are the right color.  Yay for getting to wear a seasonal shirt all winter.

Cute, simple pumpkin design that was a freebie. 

Here you can see the pants a little bit.  It is really cute, but more "Fall" than "Halloween."

I have never used worse thread than with this project. It should have been very straight forward and quick to stitch out, but the thread kept breaking and twisting and doing all sorts of other crazy things that would make the machine stop. It easily took twice as long as it should have and I was so frustrated when it was done that I threw away the thread when I was done. I had just opened it, but could not face the thought of doing another project with such a faulty product.

I have other thread from the same manufacturer, and while they all have some issues, this one was just crazy. I will never buy cheap thread again. When I first got my machine, I bought a large lot of thread, but I should have sprung for the better quality. Lesson learned. I have had good luck with Sulky and Medeira brands.

Car Shirts

A friend asked if I could make her twin boys shirts with cars on them with the cars being different colors. I didn't have any car patterns, but I found a cute woody applique that we both liked. The shirts turned out really cute, but the woven fabric I used for the cars is not holding like I would like it to. I have never had that problem before and feel badly that, while very cute, they aren't quite working out like we had hoped. I found two brick red shirts in her boys size at Target last night and I'm going to experiment with an idea and see if I can get it to work better.

Green car.

Close up view.  The "wood" part is tan corduroy.

Light blue car.  Yes, I took the photo before washing off my marking lines.  If I wait, it doesn't happen.

Close up of the light blue.  Sorry it is hard to see the color well, but it looks nice.

Birthday Gifts

I have not blogged in well over a month, but I promise that I have been very busy.  I'm a bit behind on showing my new projects, but I have also been doing a lot of mending which isn't very exciting and I don't take photos of the mended stuff.  I'll try to do a post a day (I hope) until I catch up.

Word of warning, if you might be inviting one of my kids to a birthday party this year and you want to be surprised by the gift, quit reading now. If you don't care, read on.





My son started preschool last year and the number of birthday parties we went to exploded. What I learned last year is that I am terrible at selecting a birthday gift for 4-6 year olds that I don't know very well and my son is no help at all. We enjoyed having a party with his school friends for his birthday, but were a bit overwhelmed at the volume of toys that resulted. So, I got to thinking, and while it may not be the most exciting gift a young child has ever opened, I decided to make personalized gifts this year. So that I won't get confused, I decided that everyone would be getting the same thing and this year it will be a beach towel with their name on it. I know I have done towels in the past, but I had only done them for family or friends where I thought it might be something they would like. I have no idea how these will go over, but I know that lots of the kids in his school do swimming lessons and I always loved stuff with my name on it when I was a kid.

We have already had two parties and here are the towels.

I love the color combo of the royal blue towel with the lime green turtles and orange letters for the name.  It's so bright and cheery.

My spacing could have been better, but it is a little hard to hoop it three times and get the spacing right each time.  I should have planned to have the turtles about an inch or so farther out.

I'm not as crazy about the turquoise color towel, but since I'm doing these out of season, I have to use what I have or can find.  I'm happier with my spacing on this one though.

I probably won't do turtles on all of the towels I make this year, but these little guys are quick to sew and were ready to go from the last time I did them.  I had planned on some cute little clown fish, but was running short on time and they take forever to stitch out.

I hope the kids (or at least the parents) liked them.

Toy Storage

I wasn't sure if this was more kid stuff or craft stuff, but since it involved me being at least a little creative, I put it here.  The kids' toy area has been bugging me for a long time.  I didn't have enough boxes and we had too many toys.  I pulled out lots of things that they never play with and made a list of all the things that still needed boxes.  I hit The Container Store and bought 6 more small boxes, one medium shoe box, 4 hooks, and a plate rack.  Here is the finished product:

Yike! We have a lot of stuff. Believe it or not, there is still room for at least 3 more small boxes and one shoe box is empty.

A slightly better look at more of the play area.

Where I used the hooks.  I'm thinking about adding one more between the hat and the dustpan.

For the labels, I found some stock images, sized them, then added the words.  I printed them on regular paper and attached them to the boxes by putting packing tape over the top of them.

Here are the puppets on their wood plate stand.  The stand is nearly impossible to see, but it keeps the puppets together and from spilling all over the place.

My other cleaver storage solution: the puzzles are in stacked paper trays.  It makes them much easier to get to and most of the puzzles fit well.  Some of the baby puzzles are too chunky, so they sit on top.

We'll see how long this stays nice and organized, but for now (just a few hours in) the kids are doing a great job of putting things back.  Part of the reorganization included moving some things that they were tired of up high and bringing some new things down low where they can reach them.