Bad Blogger, Bad!

I've been a terribly negligent blogger since little Asher was born! Here are just a few things I've been creating since my last post:

Crinkle Toys

Custom I Spy Pillow

Custom Change Pads

Crinkly Teething BonBons

Custom Bandana Bibs

Teething/Nursing Necklaces

Custom Doll Wraps

Gnome Stackers

See?!? I've been busy! If you're trying to keep up with Bug & Bird, come find me on Facebook. I'm less negligent there!

Back to Work and Baby Bibs

Mat leave sure has some grey areas when you work from home! I've been slowly getting back to crafting after the arrival of little Asher. He's a pretty drooly guy, which has inspired me to whip up a big stack of bibs for him.

DIY Mother's Day Flower Pots

Here's a pretty, handmade gift for the mom in your life this Mother's Day. It cost us under $15 and can be finished in a lazy afternoon.

Supplies:
Clay Pot; big enough to hold your herbs or flowers
Dirt
Permanent Marker
Chalkboard Paint 
Masking Tape
Optional: acrylic paint for a border

We taped off a rectangle with the masking tape and painted it with blackboard paint according to the directions on the bottle. When it was dry, we peeled off the tape and wrote on the opposite side with Sharpies. Once we had planted our basil, we added the white border and left it to dry.

First I Spy Quilt for Sale

I finally got the nerve to list my 'Cotton Candy' I Spy quilt. I'm not sure why I was worried about posting. I think pricing quilts is just challenging! I'm hoping to have the boy quilt finished sometime this month, it's going to be adorable.

Adorable New Hat for the Winter

Giddy Up and Grow has so many beautiful things. I've been drooling for quite some time, but I don't usually wear hair accessories, so I've been waiting and watching. When I saw this bow, I couldn't resist any more, especially since I knew exactly how I wanted to use it: as perfect embellishment for a crocheted hat!

Vintage and Salvaged Frames into Chalkboards: Tutorial

I ended up with an extra table to fill in a week at my last craft sale (don't ask...) and I wanted to make grown up things for a change. I went scouting at a few thrift stores and found some awesome frames. The plan was to spray paint the frames in nice lively colors and spray paint the glass in chalkboard paint, but as you know, something always goes wrong when I'm crafting something new!

What you need:
Frames
Chalkboard paint (spray or paint on)
Spray paint
Drop Cloth

It turns out that vintage frames are often made a lot differently than modern ones, which mean ripping out nails and hammering them back in and accidentally breaking glass that was seemingly permantently affixed. On one frame, it seemed that the glass was actually trapped in the wood somehow. On that one, I taped off the frame and painted, rather than spraying.

On the ones without glass, or where I broke the glass (wah!) I tried many things. First I called Michael's to ask about custom cut glass, but it was super expensive. Then I went to Home Depot to look for small cuts of sheet metal (magnetic!) or plywood, but no one could help me troubleshoot. I eventually came home and used some fiberboard/poster board from my office supply stash and it worked like a charm.

There was lots of troubleshooting, but the results were great, and people loved the big ones! I think I'll try it again, now that I know what I'm doing!

Baby Gift: Twin I-Spy Mini Quilts

 Look what I made for some darling twin boys! Mini I-Spy quilts, perfect wiping drool right now and for tummy time, strollers and car seats later. It could even be used as a tic-tac-toe mat when they're older!

 

I love I-Spy quilts for kids. So much too look at! When I was little I had a scrap quilt from my great grandmother that I still remember. I used to spend hours looking at it, and I remember my favorite part was a snoopy scrap. Hopefully these little ones will have fond memories of their little quilts too.

And a couple of little wooden teething rings to match! Not how I usually make them, but they sure are cute!

Craft Kit: Creative Birthday Gift

Daniel had a party to go to this weekend, and I wanted to send him with something useful, that the parents and child would be glad to have!  I found a cardboard suitcase at Homesense and filled it with craft supplies.

Here's what we put inside:
Ruler Box with pencil crayons inside
Unfinished wooden box
People Pegs
Beads
Mini Easel and Canvas
Scissors
Paint
Alphabet Stickers
Craft Foam
Glue Tape
Clothes pins
Notebook


I personalized it by stamping "Aubrey's Craft Kit" on paper and sticking it to the inside of the lid. There are all sorts of more fancy ways I could have done it, but we were short on time!

Easy Wooden Alphabet Blocks Tutorial

Here are a few lost photos of some ABC blocks I made for Daniel when he was learning his letters. He still loves them and now he's using them to spell. They're so easy to make!

Supplies:
Jenga Blocks (I used a no-name brand and saved a few dollars)
Permanent Marker, preferably non-toxic
Paper
Optional-Stencils, if you don't like drawing!

1.) Plan your simple drawings for each letter on the sheet of paper. Simple is best. Here are the objects I used, in alphabetical order:
Apple, Balloon, Candles, Duck, Egg, Fire, Gingerbread man, Hat, Ice cream, Juicebox, Kite, Leaf, Mittens, Nose, Oven, Pencil, Queen, Rabbit, Stars, Teepee, Umbrella, Vacuum, Watermelon, Xylophone, Yarn, Zipper.

2.) Start drawing! It only took me one evening for the whole project because I made everything as simple as possible. I drew the upper and lower case letter with a picture of an object starting with that letter on one side, and left the other blank. I repeated the capital letter on both ends of the block as well.

3.) I used a few of the extra blocks for simple sight words as well. Right after I gave Daniel his blocks, he saw a coupon (he had just turned 3) and said "Mommy, why does this paper say 'off'?" I just about fell over! I wrote one word on each side On/Off, Mom/Dad, Open/Close, Yes/No, Go/Stop, Hi/Bye etc.

This is a great gift because you can personalize it for your child with color, drawings and sight words that you think they'd enjoy!

10 Minute Piggy Bank

Who doesn't love a great "no skills required" craft once in a while? This little project reminds me that simple, re-purposed materials are usually the most intriguing for a child.

A few months ago bought some lovely organic cream that came in a glass bottle (it makes me wish I enjoyed home-coffee as much as store-coffee so I could buy more cream).  I just couldn't resist the container and when I was done I didn't want to put it into the recycling bin, so I gave it to Daniel to play with.

My Dad was visiting and watching Daniel 'plink' the coins into the bottle when he suggested we make it into a real piggy bank. He just cut a little slot into the lid with a utility knife and it was done. It's been a favorite toy for quite a few months now. Good call by Papa!

Quiet Book #2- Around The House

Bring something cool and handmade to a baby shower, and you can bet you'll be making it again! Here's my second attempt at a simplified quiet book. I just couldn't find another 9 hours in my schedule to make a second 8-page book! I made it in an 'Around the House' theme, since children love to mimic adults more than anything.

Since it was a smaller book, I added a memory matching game (the bag is sewn in) on the inside cover. I think it fits with the theme of household activities, and little one can pretend to wash them, or add clothespins for some extra fun. The flowers button off for practice buttoning, just like the button snake. It's a great time-killer!

A simplified version of the oven and cookies, and a new addition. I adore this little garden, with it's package of seeds and watering can! I used fabric markers all through this book to speed the process up. It's so much faster than embroidering, and more fun too.

I love this idea for practice with brushing or braiding. It's a bit girly, and I usually try to make them unisex so they can be passed down, but I couldn't resist! The back cover has a pocket to add pieces for any of the activities, or paper and pencil.

Sending it for a test run to make sure it's as cool to a kid as it is to me!

Handmade Wooden Block Puzzle: Adorable Animals

Here is part of the baby shower gift I made for my little peanut. I think it's my favorite because my hubs helped me make it!

Simple but not easy. All it took was drawing out the animal pictures and wood burning them. I drew and Michael did the wood burning. I finished it off with beeswax polish and voila! A beautiful, natural, handmade baby gift that will actually get used!

I thought about using 6 blocks, but even my clever four year old has trouble with 6 blocks, so I just kept it simple at 4.

Mini I-Spy Doll AND Tummy Time Quilt

Here is the mini I spy quilt I made for my goddaughter. Part of the Baby Shower gift basket. I made it big enough for tummy time, but small enough to use as a doll quilt when she's a little bigger, about 32"x 32".

I adore I spy quilts, but I really hate quilting, so mini is perfect! I decided to round the corners, use a zig zag stitch and embrace the quirkiness of my quilting skills. At least on the second attempt, the squares all lined up!

I've also finished my first I Spy crib quilt for sale. This one is not quirky at all! Just plain cute. I'm debating about listing it in my shop. I really love the cotton candy colors!

And last but not least, this little gem that's already been snatched up! I used a simple, self binding method and I think it may have won me over to quilting! It's so much easier.

Girly Baby Shower: Candy Buffet, Dolies and Tissue Paper Flowers

I finally organized the long-awaited shower for my little goddaughter! Our theme was "sweet" with super-girly decor and a candy buffet. I used glass jars, milk jugs and bowls to display the candy. The little sugar tongs were a nice (and sanitary!) touch.

I taped multiple doilies together (on the underside) in varying sizes to make runners for the candy buffet. I also cut small doilies in half and quarters to embellish the brown paper candy bags. I think they might be my favorite touch! The saltwater taffy, gourmet mini lollypops and cotton candy were some of the biggest hits.

I made the doily bunting with large and small doilies and craft string. I used two sizes, folding some in half (and gluing with stick glue) and leaving some round (either tape onto string or sandwich 2 doilies and glue) in a random pattern. I left about 4-8" between each. 

The tissue paper flowers were made from a Martha tutorial. Rather than floral wire I used white twist ties. For the bunting, you just cut down the tissue paper into quarters and tie them onto string before fluffing them out.

Here are our guests of honor; Mama and Little A, and the basket of goodies I made as the gift. I can't wait to show you what's in that basket, but this post is getting a little long!

Little one enjoying her teething ring. Babies LOVE these! They're my favorite shop item. I think...

My little Peanut and I. What a darling. I'm so lucky to be her godmama!