Cherry blossom hair clip

I was inspired by the movie Mulan to make this gorgeous-- I think-- hair clip. I love the simple, beautiful look of cherry blossoms, and I think what made this clip was the, dare I say it, delicacy of the felt and the wonderful colors.

Felt is not normally a delicate material, at least not the felt you find at the craft stores, especially with consideration to the colors. However, these beautiful felt colors are courtesy of pixiexrose on Etsy.

I did have a few problems, but in the end, I think it turned out beautifully. I'm obviously not the best at embroidery, and although I've tried many times, I cannot make a French knot stay, well, knotted. In the end, I just made a knot close to the fabric. Not as fancy, but just as cute!!

Sunday Afternoon Laptop Sleeve

A Sunday afternoon all to myself, and what to do? Make a laptop sleeve of course!! This excellent pattern came in the form of a free PDF download from Sew, Mama, Sew! The pattern is customizable to any laptop, which is really helpful as I have an older MacBook.

I think my case turned out beautifully, and I made in the span of one Sunday afternoon. I do love the accomplishment of a project that can be finished in one setting, made and enjoyed in one day!

I did have a few problems in making this case, but in the end, it was my own fault. I bought a double-sided fusible quilting batting, instead of the fusible fleece called for in the pattern. I thought this would eliminate a few steps, but in the end, it took longer because it would NOT stick.

I also added some double fold bias tape to the front flap to break up the small argyle pattern. This just added an extra step and a lot of careful sewing to the project. I had done bias tape before on a skirt, and it turned out really great.

However, sewing is not like riding a bike. I hadn't sewn for a while before this project, and while I thought I would still be able to sew just as well, I was mistaken. I ended up sewing the bias tape on at least twice.

The end project, however, is beautiful and fits my laptop like a glove, unlike the one I bought before! So, thank you, Sew, Mama, Sew! for the free PDF pattern!

Birthday Bash

I don't know what to say, except... it's been a long weekend. And part of the week... I had two cheesecakes, a cake shaped like a cupcake-- courtesy of the bf-- and a cookie cake. But now, hopefully, I am getting back into the routine of things and will be able to think again. I have several finished projects to post, but little time in which to post them. Hopefully, I can have something posted by Friday at the latest!

First attempt: Ruffled headband

Hello dear readers! I know I have been absent for a while, and it is not that I haven't been crafting. I have a few things under my belt to show you, but the weather has been so temperamental as to make taking pictures quite a chore.

However, the weather and my schedule have finally coordinated as to allow me to take pictures! So here was my first craft for the week: a ruffled headband.

I found the tutorial for this cute headband on the wonderful Heart of Light. I decided to alter it a bit and not have the ruffles cover so much of my head, as my hair is rather flat and not as cute as the hair in the tutorial, and I thought it would look strange.

I also used a wider ribbon that I had lying around-- another bad idea for my hair. I love the color of the ribbon, but the width did not work with my head.

Instead of simply letting the ribbon tie around my head, I added a piece of elastic to make a stretchable headband. To do this, I just folded the edges of the ribbon around into a cone shape--after applying some fray check-- and inserted the end of the elastic into the whole, then sewed the elastic into the ribbon.

I like the idea of tapering down toward the elastic, as it would decrease the amount of width behind the ears-- which can cause funny hair poufs in the back.

I do think the finished project turned out beautiful, but not beautiful for me. The wider ribbon would probably work better for a person with more volume in their hair.

Next time, I will definitely follow the directions--instead of going for convenience-- and use a smaller ribbon! I do definitely recommend this project, and you can check it out at Heart of Light.

Button Love

I always feel like I am talking about "'stache" like "mustache" when I use the word "stash." But, for today, I am talking about just a collection of like items, namely, vintage buttons.

I honestly love buttons. So many projects can be made special with just the right button. And I love my button collection, and yes, I do admit that I have them color coordinated!

This vintage collection of buttons came from several places, mostly my grandmother's collection of old buttons, which I painstaking went though to find the most unique pieces.

You can also check out a beautiful vintage button collection on How About Orange.