No Sew Fabric Tutorial

I wanted to make a headband for Bug to match her zebra print "wild" onesie and I found this tutorial for a no sew fabric flower. It looked easy enough and I had a l the materials on hand so I decided to give it a try! Here are some pics to show how I did it:

I used a glue gun, zebra print fabric, a button for the center, felt, and fabric scissors. (You can also make this a pin)

Cut about 6-7 circles out of your fabric and two smaller circles out of the felt. (I used the top of a jar to trace mine)

For each circle you are going to fold it in half and use a dab of hot glue to hold.

Then you are going to fold into thirds to form sort of a cone shape. Here is the first fold. (secure with a dab of hot glue)

And the second fold. (secure with a dab of hot glue)

Take one of your felt pieces and glue it to the center.

Repeat around, slightly overlapping each piece.

Glue on your center button (or whatever you choose to use)

It's a little hard to see but I added a layer of tulle in the back for some extra pzazz!

Bug didn't really like wearing it. :( All that work for nothing! Maybe one day soon she will like headbands.

To attach it to the headband I just placed the flower where I wanted it and glued the other piece of felt to the other side of the headband behind the flower. I forgot to take a pic of that part. Oops.

This is the onesie I wanted it to match:

She was not in the mood to model both at the same time.

Please let me know if you make one! I'd love to see it!

Trying something new!

Today is our anniversary and I just wanted to quickly share the card my sister helped Bug make for us:

 

How cute is that?!

To celebrate my anniversary, today only, you can use coupon code HAPPYANNI2 for 20% off any order from my Etsy shop!

Now onto what I want to try out:
I made this book sling with my mom a while back for Bug but didn't have anywhere to hang it. Now that we are in our new place I finally have a spot for it! I am thinking about making some to sell in my Etsy shop and I would love to know what you think about it. it is about 48" wide and about 7.5" deep. It holds a good amount of books and would be perfect for small spaces in place of a book shelf or to hang over a toddler bed for nap/bed time books. Hopefully I can start making some this weekend and get to listing at least one to see how it does.
Here are some pics...they aren't great but it will give you an idea.

My Crochet Garden Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to all who entered the Stationery Sisters Giveaway! 

The winner was chosen using random dot org.

The winning comment is #9-MoonEyesDesigns! 

[The Easter bunny hat is just too cute! My daughter would LOVE it!]

Congratulations! 

MoonEyesDesign, I did not see an email posted to contact you. Please email me at totshop728@yahoo.com to claim your prize by Monday morning 
or I will have to choose another winner. 

Want a chance at winning another item? 
Here are some more giveaways to enter:

Gray Stitch Studio - $20 Certificate

TheSnootiePig - Pair of Hair Clips

Baby Button Tops - Winners Choice

 

 

Share & Care

I wanted to start something where we can all share and give some advice to eachother. I'm thinking of doing this on Saturdays as long as you all send in your questions. I will also post the questions on my Facebook Fan Page and post those answers in the comments as well. If you have any questions about parenting, dealing with relationships when you have children, or pretty much anything else you may need advice on please email me at totshop728@yahoo.com and be sure to write Share&Care in the subject line.

Our first question comes from a mom who gets her neice every other weekend:

My kids are all grown up now but I get my 2 year old neice every other weekend. How do I get her to eat?

Any tips for this Aunt? Post them below.

An Interview with Graystitchstudio and Giveaway!

Meet Etsy shop owner Bethany from graystitchstudio:

Tell us a little about yourself.
Well I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom) during the week which is when i work on my crafting and on the weekends i work as a nurse. I'm married to my high school sweetheart! We have been together for 10 years and we have been married for 5 years (6 in June). I'm very active with my mommy group. We have playgroup once a week and if there is a holiday .... well then there is a themed party.

What made you want to become an artist?
Well believe it or not Yo Gabba Gabba and my son did it. My family is all things Gabba to say the least and a great crochet artist on etsy had some Gabba dolls, so I bought the patterns and got a crochet book and taught myself.

What is your favorite item to create?
I love to create new hats for photographers and see them on the newborns. My playgroup helps support my habit with orders for baby shower gifts, and my beard hat is a fave too! It's my top seller, lol.

What advice would you give to new artists on Etsy?
DON'T GIVE UP! It will be slow at first and sales come in spurts too for me. The best thing I did was join teams and make treasuries.

How do you promote your work?I promote mostly by word or mouth. I have done a couple of craft shows my girlfriend Jennifer Laws has done. She also has a great blog The Laws of my life and she blogged about how to set up a party bazaar at your own house. I just started a fan site on Facebook so check me out: Gray Stitch Studio.

Do you have any websites connected to your shop?
I have my Facebook
www.facebook.com/pages/Gray-Stitch-Studio/183482938329106

What is the inspiration for your work?
My son for sure! His name is Grayson hence the shop name Gray Stitch Studio. My son is my everything and yes I love my husband lol, but in the 2 years that I have been blessed to have him in my life, everything has looked up for me. I wake up every morning to him saying "milk mommy" and I know its going to be a good day!

Do any of your items go toward a special cause?
Not as of now all though I'm a big supporter in American Heart Association. I'm a nurse in my spare time…. that's a joke. I only work weekends but I love all things cardiac. I have worked with heart transplants…. talk about amazing.

Do you have a job outside of Etsy? How do you handle both?
As I stated above I'm a nurse on the weekends. I work 16 hour shifts from 6 am to 10 pm which makes for a long day =( but worth it so I can stay home with my Gray all week. Well it is a well balanced mix of nursing on weekends and crafting during the week with Gray.

Where do you create?
Sadly enough I do most crafting on my couch. I wish I had a work space, although my poor dining room table has seen its fair share of crafting.

What are your goals for your shop?
My goals for my shop is to grow to where I don't have to work on the weekends. I love to craft and always thinking of new ideas to make. My brain is always going.

You can win a $20 gift certificate to graystitchstudio!

(there are lots of items $20 and under!)

If you don't want to wait for this giveaway to be over you can shop here now!

Here's how to win!
(please read all instructions before entering) 
 

Mandatory Entry:

Visit graystitchstudio's Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item is!

Bonus Entries:

Each one of these is a contest entry. 

Please post a separate comment for each that you do with your email address.

Become graystitchstudio's  facebook fan.
Subscribe to gratstitchstudio's Etsy rss feed.

Heart graystitchstudio's Etsy shop.

Blog, tweet or post on Facebook about graystitchstudio's Etsy shop.
Blog, tweet, or post on Facebook about this giveaway.
Become a follower of my blog.
~*For any entries requiring you to blog, tweet or post on facebook please leave the link where you did so with your comment. Thank you!*~

Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Friday, March 25, 2011. 

Sunday, March 27, 2011 a winner will be randomly drawn from eligible entrants  using random.org

and notified by e-mail. The winner's name will also be posted in a separate blog post. If no email is listed I will choose another winner. Winner has one week to respond to my email to claim his/her prize after initial contact. 

Contest open to U.S. residents only. 
This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered and congrats to the winner!

Messy Fun - Magic Mud!

If you don't mind cleaning up a mess here is a fun sensory mixture to make for your kids! In an unbreakable bowl or sensory table (if you have one) mix cornstarch and enough water until it is the consistancy of bread dough. When you roll the mixture it is stiff but when you let it rest it disolves to liquid! I had it in a upperware for Bug but she dumped it out onto the highchair tray. She made such a mess but it kept her occupied for quite a long time!




What a mess!



I've been a busy bee!

It figures that the weekend I am moving I get lots of orders. More at once than I ever had before (with the exception of Christmas time). I have been unpacking and painting necklace tops up the wazoo! Good thing we got a big dining room table for me to work on!

Bug spent the weekend with her Mimi & Grandpop (and her Aunt Jess) while we moved and unpacked. We took her to the new place Sunday night and she went nuts! She loves all the room we have now...and so do we! I will post pictures soon and give you all a little tour...once I get to unpacking the rest of the things!

I want to let everyone know that the total donation going to my cousin's walk for the cure for the month of February is $12.90! Keep on shopping and I will keep on donating 10% each month until the walk! Thank you all!

PS- I was featured on By the Book Paper's blog so stop by, read my interview and followe the blog if you'd like! (There is also a coupon code for my shop in the comments!)