Vera Bradely Diaper Bag Knockoff--how'd I do?

bThe completed Vera Bradley knockoff! I love the way it turned out!!
This is my friend Renee's bag that I copied. What do you think? Does mine look pretty close? This one runs close to $100. My fabric and supplies cost about $25.


Looking down into the bag, I sealed the seems with binding. I wish I had done brown but the blue works.I added 2 pockets on both sides of the inside of the bag.

I had enough fabric to make a changing pad too. It's super thin, so it can be folded in 3rds or quarters.
It's hard to see, but on the inside (the blue side) I spray adhesived vinyl onto the fabric to make it wipeable. I was going to use iron on vinyl, but the Joanns I visited was out. I don't know when this baby is coming, so I just wanted to get it done. My spray glue is washable though, so it should not be an issue. I then added binding around the edges to seal them off.

Valentine's Day Bags

I saw this tutorial for Valentine's Day bags:
http://ourscoop.blogspot.com/2009/01/valentine-chair-backers.html

I loved the idea of creating bags for the kiddos that they can use year after year--for mail, a special treat, a book...whatever we decide to put into them. Our chairs don't have slats in them, so I changed the pattern a bit. I added elastic to go around the chair instead of slats. I also did mine with 2 layers of felt. The tutorial called for felt on the outside and cotton/interfacing on the inside. With 2 layers of felt it didn't need to be interfaced. I did the ric rac one with red felt on the inside, and the ruffle one with white on the inside. I used felt since I had tons left over from advent calendar making. The tutorial was easy to follow. I love the way they turned out, and Andy seems to as well!

Toddler Back Packs--completed!

Last week I posted about creating a backpack for Benji. I decided to use one of the tutorial links from that post. I love the way it turned out. It's small enough to fit him well, but big enough for some cars/trucks/books etc. I made Benji's out of plaid corduroy. Benji's also modeling one I secretly made for my friend Penny's daughter. Penny, if you are reading this, surprise! Can't wait to give it to Molly when you get back!

Toddler Back Packs

My toddler is obsessed with backpacks. He points them out all the time if he sees little kids wearing them in his books. I think I'm going to try one of these tutorials:

http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/10/toddler-backpack-pattern.html
http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2010/01/snack-backpack.html

Although, maybe I'll make my own!

I Spy Peek-a-boo Bags

Looking for ways to keep a toddler busy while you are out and about? How about an "I spy" bag? This bag is about 8x6. It's filled with about 20 objects for kids to find. I bought a whole bunch of buttons from dinosaurs to ladybugs to stuff inside. The clear part is a heavier weight vinyl. I can't wait for Benji to play with his! My friend Kim and I created 9 of these last night for some friends. Hope they enjoy them too.

Here are a couple links to tutorials if you want to make some of your own:
http://www.thepreciouspresents.com/Peek-A-Boo.html
http://www.according-to-kelly.com/2008/05/i-spy-with-my-own-eye.html

I think next time I would make one that is maybe 4x6 so it's a little smaller.

Activity Bags and Peek-a-boo bags

I'm really excited. My mommy group is getting together to create activity bags and peek-a-boo bags for our 2 year olds.

What's an activity bag? Ever been sitting in a restaurant with a toddler and you are desperately trying to entertain them until the food arrives? I have! So--how about a bag you just grab and go that is filled with all sorts of tricks to entertain. Each person in our group is contributing 1 item so we'll have a bunch of different things in our bag for our little one to enjoy. I'm going to sew a zippered bag to hold all the items with some scrap fabric. So excited about this one!

What's a peek-a-boo bag? http://www.thepreciouspresents.com/Peek-A-Boo.html I'm going to use a version of this tutortial to make a peek-a-boo bag. basically it's a fabric pouch with a see through window. The kids play "I spy" trying to find the objects in the bag. I thought it would be fun to put it in Benji's activity bag.


I'll take pictures when we work on them Wednesday (activity bags will be completed in a couple weeks---not sure how much I'll be able to participate as we aren't sure when this baby is arriving). Stay tuned!

Valentine's Day Shirts

Here is a sampling of the 13 Valentine's Day Shirts I made for friends.

St. Patrick's Day Shirts

Here is a sampling of the 17 St. Patrick's Day shirts I made for friends!

Christmas Gifts

I finally had the time to upload christmas gift photos. There are a lot of them so keep scrolling down to view them all! You know you've reached the end when you get to the cape I made for a friend a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoy a glimpse of our homemade christmas!

Christmas Gifts: Matching Family Pajamas

This is an awful picture of us, but you get the idea of how cute we looked!

Christmas Gifts: Bean Bag Chair

I made Benji a bean bag chair to go with his planet themed room since the big rocker will be moving into the baby's room.

Christmas Gifts: Planet Quilt by Grandma

Blurry as he is jumping like crazy!

My mom made benji this awesome quilt for his "big boy bed". He loves it already!

Christmas Gifts: Farm Mat

My SIL made this AWESOME farm mat for Benji...I had to post it here. She created it off the top of her head. He LOVES it and it goes perfect with this barn and animals that I made for him.

Christmas Gifts: Cloth napkins

Pretty simple gift. My mom requested cloth napkins. I made them in colors to match her decor.

Christmas Gifts: Sandwich Wraps, Lunch Bags, and Snack Bags

Above, sandwich wraps. The left one is open, the right closed. Below, one of the velcro bags I made. I made a bunch of various sizes as I wasn't sure what Erin or my mom wanted.

My friend Erin really wanted some homemade, waterproof lunch bags. So--I made some for her and my mom for christmas. I figured I would google search for tutorials to see if anyone had done the thinking work for me. I used these links and followed them pretty closely. The one thing I did change was I used cotton fabric on the outside and PUL on the inside so that they were waterproof. I've heard good and bad things about laminated fabrics, and I didn't want to deal with the chemicals in them...so decided to have a bit more work, but less worry. The pictures aren't too good, but you get the idea. The snack bags have velcro closures.

Links:
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/43227/how-to-make-a-reusable-sandwich-wrap
http://wewilsons.blogspot.com/2009/02/reusable-snack-bag-tutorial.html
http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/lunch-time/

Christmas Gifts: Lap Desk

You can see the flap for the "pillow case" above. Below the whole thing closes with a button. Next time I'd add 2 buttons instead of a center one. This does the trick to keep the whole thing closed, though.

My niece Anika is really into drawing/writing/creating. I saw this blog entry http://mermag.blogspot.com/2009/08/kind-of-sort-of-tutorial-of-sorts.html on creating a lap desk for a child. I really thought this would be a great idea. After reading the blog more closely, AFTER buying the fabric, I realized the tutorial, really wasn't one...it was just the girl's random thoughts. So--I sat down with my friend, Kim, and we created our own tutorial/pattern for these lap desks. We prayed that we did our calculations correctly as we cut into our fabric. Turns out we bought the right amount of fabric AND our pattern worked! We changed the original design too adding different pockets, a removal foam pillow and board so that the whole thing can be washed. I'm kicking myself that I didn't make one for Benji too! I'm adding this to my list for both Benji and Auden for birthday gifts I think. Hopefully with the baby I can find the time. Did anika like it? She used it the whole week, so yes, I think it was a success!!

Christmas Gifts: Splatt Paint Fabric Oven Mitts

Back in June, I hosted a splatt party. Basically the kids came and painted/splatted paint all over fabric, shirts, aprons, etc with various objects. We had a blast. I had benji splatt paint on top of a yard of fabric. It's been sitting in my fabric stash since then, when my friend Kim came up with this great idea to make oven mitts/pot holders. I chose to do the mitts. I bought used bias tape, left over denim for the inside, insulite and batting for protection and whipped these up. I traced my personal pot holders for a pattern. The result is a bit unusual but full of memories. My MIL and my mom both got a pair of these!

Christmas Gifts: Wine Glass Markers

This are ghetto fabulous--or maybe just ghetto? Andy bent the wire for me by wrapping it around a dowel to keep it really circular. I used 18 gage wire. I originally bought beads to go on the wire, but the wire ended up being too thick. So--instead of going back to the store, I had a thought to search through my crazy button jar...and these are the results. They were all connected together when I took the picture, so I apologize. I was too lazy to unhook them. Not sure if my MIL likes them...but they are unusual!

Christmas Gifts: Dad Picture Frame

For Andy, Benji and I did this "Dad" frame. I love the way it turned out. The first picture is really bad...sorry for the reflecting light! It's not really blurry!

Christmas Gifts: Wood Gifts by Andy

My hubby is pretty creative too, so I thought I'd post some of the wood projects he did this year. I didn't get a before and after picture of this table he refinished for his mom, but he did that as well. For my nieces, he did name plates. He carved the letters and sanded the blocks really smooth and then stained them. I think they look amazing!


For my dad, Andy did a display block for my dad's flies (flies for fishing). It turned out looking awesome!
Last, for Auden, he did a sensory game with nuts and bolts. The block of wood was super smooth and I think it turned out great!

Christmas Gifts: Travel Tic Tac Toe

For Auden, one of his gifts was this travel tic tac toe board. I made it out of felt and then attached a pocket onto the back for the pieces. I wish I had done a gathered pocket so that it would have laid down a bit better, but this was fine for the purpose. They travel a lot so I was thinking he could use this on the go.

Christmas Gifts: Art Case

For Anika's stocking gift, I put together this Art Case. It holds colored pencils/pens and has a large pocket to store a coloring pad/notebook. It also has a small pocket that she can stuff stickers/prizes inside. It closes up with velcro. I used a tutorial from www.thismamamakesstuff.blogspot.com. In her tutorial, she only adds velcro to the center. I didn't like the way the sides flapped so I added additional velcro to the corners as well. Anika seems to love it!!!

Christmas Gifts: Large Barn and Fences

For my niece, Rayna, and Benji I made large cloth barns. I made a small version of these last year for my nephew, but this year, I decided to enlarge my pattern so that more animals could be stored inside. I also did velcro closures instead of buttons and loops so that it is easier for Benji to open and close it himself. Andy, my hubby, also made some awesome fences to go with the set. My pattern was a bit off so the barn is a little lop sided, but Benji is absolutely loving it! I have to post the awesome farm mat my SIL made him to go with it...so stay tuned for that.