Disney prep sewing...

Our Disney trip is fast approaching (okay so there are still over 100 days to countdown) but I know it's going to fly.  So I got started on some projects I've been thinking about to make our trip easier.  I have read the "Unofficial Guide To Disneyland" and made lists, highlighted, made more lists.... of things we need to prepare for.  One of them is carrying our own water.  Sure we can buy water in the park (too expensive), or look for water fountains (too time consuming), so I wanted to bring our own water.  I have a husband who doesn't want to end up carrying the entire families water bottles or hauling a backpack full of water bottles, so I came up with individual water bottle carriers that even the littlest theme park go-ers can carry.

 I wanted a hands free way to carry them and I didn't want to fuss with getting them in and out of a bag or a stroller.  I bought everyone the same size water bottle that has a thick plastic straw coming out of the top (don't have to unscrew lids every time you want a drink), and measured around the bottle, made a bottom, cinched the top with elastic, made a strap (36" for little kids, 45" for middle kids, 52" for teenager kids), sewed it all together and we have handy water bottle carriers!  I think it'll work!

 I made the straps out of different fabric for everyone so they can distinguish which one is theirs easily.

We are driving on this trip and I wanted to not have 8 pillows cluttering up the already cluttered van.  So I decided to make everyone a neck pillow so they can still nap easily if needed.  I made the little boys slightly different sizes but the same fabric as their water bottle carriers.  The back of the neck pillows are minky fabric so they can use that side if they want a more cuddly feel.  I used this tutorial as a starting point but tweeked it a little for us.  I made the youngest one (age 2) a circumfrence of 10", the next child (age 6) circumference of 14", and all others 16". 

Check back again for more Disney projects to come!  I'm hoping to make 1. pillow bottom lap desks/magnetic boards
2.  Magnetic games
3. Car seat back organizers
4. Pin exchanging lanyards
5. Snack boxes

Recent projects

Blanket with minky back

A friend crochetted the top, I added skirt.

ANOTHER Wanna be a Cowboy puffy quilt.  Sadly the fabric has been discontinued so this will be the last one of these.

A patchwork minky back blanket.

My husband's favorite present EVER.  I hate spending money on fireworks so for his bday I just "let go" and gave him money to blow.

Another cute puffy quilt

The girl version of "Wanna be a Cowboy" fabric that is also discontinued.  Crib skirt, quilt, and sheet.

I love the color combination in this crib bumper, sheet and skirt.

A crib skirt and sheet

Crib skirt, minky sheet, and bumper

Having six kids home for the summer and a busy etsy shop made me put the etsy shop on vacation for awhile!  I've also been doing local sewing jobs and I'm just too busy.  I can't say no to projects my kids want to do too so we've been super busy and having a fun summer.

Disney preparation

We have been saving money and getting excited to take our six kids to Disneyland for several years now.  We thought it would be two years ago, but then we had another baby as a surprise instead!  So now our kids are 2, 5, 9, 12, 12, and 14 and we think it's a good time to take them!  We booked a condo several months ago and paid for it in full so we'd be committed.  Then my husband lost his job....but then he found a new one so the trip is still on!  Since it's summer I thought we'd make a countdown chart with fun things to do leading up to the big trip.  There are 187 days until we leave, so we cut it down a bit to 137 which we will start on July 16th (lots of math involved here).  Then I set my cricut machine to work (and my kids).  We cut out bunches of Mickey heads and saying from several characters along with "tickets" to Disneyland.  I will pick a few days and put activities on the back for fun during the summer and for preparation right before the trip.

 We numbered each Mickey head and double stick taped them on so we can pull them off easily.

 Here is the list of activities I've come up with so far.  Some of them are pretty specific to our needs and what I think will get us excited.  Several of them involve me being organized with supplies and then helping make the stuff.  Please give me more ideas!


- watch a Disney movie we haven't seen for a long time
- Look at maps of Disneyland
- make car games
- make Disney princess dresses for American Girl dolls
- make water bottle holders
- write a letter to Disney character (they send an autographed picture back)
- dance to Disney music
- play Disney DVD Bingo
- play Disney character memory game
- make Disney shirt to wear on first day of trip
- make Mickey Mouse pancakes 
- make Disney autograph books/journals
- play Disney trivia game
- use Mickey Mouse ice cubes trays to make a treat
- watch Disney vacation planning guide DVD


I also happen to be making an Alice in Wonderland skirt/apron/costume for a friend whose little girl is turning one and having a "ONEderland" birthday party.  I think they turned out cute!  I am also making 5 Women's costumes for Cinderella, Step mother, step sisters, and Fairy Godmother right now for a family who goes to DisneyWorld on Halloween each year.  I'll have to post pictures when I'm done with them.  Fun times!  Hopefully I won't get sick of Disney anytime soon!

Baby, baby, baby

I have been busy sewing and sewing and more sewing.  Good thing I like sewing!  I've had lots of orders on my etsy shop recently for baby crib sets, puffy quilts, and curtains.  I love to see the different combinations people come up with for fabrics and love to help them find the exact right combination!

 Brown and blue is very popular for crib sets right now.  This is similar to another set I made with elephants in it.  We simply replaced the elephant fabric with some baby blue minky.

 Love this Joel Dewberry fabric.  My teenage daughter loves this fabric too so now I've got to come up with something to make for her with this fabric.

 This crib bumper is the first bumper I've made for an oval crib.  It was fun to figure it out!  I have yet to make a sheet for an oval mattress.  That sounds more tricky.

 I think this is the 5th different color of chevron curtains I've made.  I have yet to make some for myself even though it's my goal because I love chevron fabric so much!

My very own two year old got his own puffy quilt for his big boy bed.  I love this "All Star" fabric by Riley Blake.  Wish I was a little kid sometimes and could get a cool blanket for my bed.

Jungle animals in flannel puffy quilt

Almost this entire quilt size puffy quilt is made of flannel and it's soooooo soft! There is a white furry fabric thrown in and a cotton gingham. It's colors are subtle and it's going to match one little baby's nursery so well! Thanks for letting me make it for you!

Toddler ABC cricut book

So in the excitement of receiving my new cricut machine- OVER A YEAR AGO- I started making an ABC picture book for my little boy who was 10 months at the time. Now he's almost 2 and I finally am finishing! My problem is that I figure if I'm going to make one I might as well make 2 or 3 at the same time. Which actually adds that much more time. Time to cut, glue, arrange, etc. etc. But I finally finished 3 of these cute little ABC books and made covers for them. Good thing my little boy has 2 cousins who are almost the exact same age and they are getting them as late birthday presents.

I used smaller 3 ring binders because they are cuter for little hands to use. Turns out that just because they are smaller, doesn't mean they are cheaper. They are actually more expensive than regular size 3 ring binders, but I still go them because they are cute. I just browsed through the cricut cartridges I had and found pictures that worked for each letter. I like how they are not the typical pictures you find for ABC books- dog house rather than dog, fire hydrant rather than frog. Something a little different. I put the pages in smaller plastic covers (also more expensive than regular sized). I found some scrap fabric and made some covers for the books. I wanted to make handles so they could be carried around but I was going super simple and super fast so they don't have handles.

This was a great way to get me familiar with my cricut and learn how to do things faster and more streamlined. On to bigger and better projects with the cricut now!

Now we'll see if my little guy, and the cousins, likes it!

Toddler boy bedding

So I have a little toddler who loves to snuggle with the puffy quilts I am always making for others, so I actually bought fabric special for him and made him some new bedding for his toddler bed! After I was all done, I showed him and asked if he wanted to snuggle with it. An emphatic, "NO!" was the answer. So he could care less. But I think it's pretty cute and wish I was a toddler again so I could have such cool bedding.

I made a fitted sheet and a pieced pillow case. The back of the quilt matches the sheet.

Riley Blake "Allstar" fabric. Also white with green dots from the baby basics fabrics at Joann's. It's my most "go to" fabric because it matches tons of other fabrics and makes them all work great together.