Lana Lulu Creations

Crafts: Halloween

2011-10-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

This year I had a little help decorating for Halloween. I wanted to keep it simple and yet a little spooky for the kids this year. Since joining Pinterest, I have found so many great ideas to help me find just what I wanted to do.

Here are the list of Halloween finds, with tutorials that I used, from Pinterest.

Bird Silhouette for the pillow from BHG

Pumpkin Decor from Urban Comfort

Halloween Burlap Bunting from Dream Book Design

I just LOVE Pinterest! Its such a great source of putting all your creative finds in one simple easy to use place. If you haven't joined Pinterest already, what are you waiting for?

Cooking: Thank you Jessica Seinfeld!

2011-10-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

I believe it was last year for Christmas, my sister gave me a book called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. Let me tell you, my daughter is one picky eater. This book has helped me to help my daughter get her nutrients one way or another.

Here are a few of the things I have made from the book. Some were winners and some were not so lucky.

Brownies (with carrot and spinach)

Not surprised this was a winner. She loves anything chocolate. Ha! Just like her mama.

Macaroni and Cheese (with cauliflower)

This did not pass the test. Although I did enjoy it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip (with carrot)

My daughter ate the entire apple and put the dip aside. But again, I liked it. Not so bad.

Pancakes (with sweet potato)

This is a winner. Her absolute favorite! She request this almost EVERY morning. Yeah! What a great way to start the day.

French Toast (with sweet potato and blueberries)

She didn't quite like this one but she did enjoy eating those blueberries!

We've been doing this for about a year and we are slowly, but surely, eating our vegetables one spoonful ate a time. :)

Sewing: Juliana's two very talented Grandma's!

2011-08-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my sister spotted one of Juliana's shirt and said she loved it so much and insisted that I have my mother make one like it for Juliana, since she is such a great knitter.

Here is the original shirt.

Here is Grandma Christiansen's version.

The details.

My sister even bought some labels for my mother since she has been making all sorts of stuff for her grand kids. This piece will be staying in the family for sure.

I think she loves it Grandma!

Juliana is very lucky to have another VERY talented grandma! She loves to make quilts and is sooooo very good at it. This Quilt she made was a Valentine Day quilt.

Here is a full length shot.

Sorry, the only pic that came out was this upside down view.

Juliana enjoying the beautiful valentine's print and colors.

I think she likes this one!

Sorry Juliana but this Quilt was made for ..... MEEEEE!

Sewing: Nautical White Dress with frills

2011-06-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hello summer! I love summer. Technically the California summers. Its where I grew up at. Summers here in Vegas is a little different. Its where I live now. Vegas summers is more like having to stay indoors to survive the deathly heat and hoping the 3 long months would go by quickly. But in California, the place to stay cool was near water. Whether it be the pool, lake, river or at the beach that's where I was at and wishing the summers never end.

A couple weeks ago I decided to make a Nautical theme dress to get in the spirit of summer. White and Navy blue are the colors that came to my mind when designing this dress.

I bought a bundle of white frills, when I last went to the garment district in LA and decided to use it for the skirt. I like it. And I think my daughter likes it too.

I added a polka dotted fabric in the back of the skirt to fashionably hold the elastic in place.

Unlike my daughter, I'd rather be near the water and she rather be near the horses. Hence the cowboy boots. She insisted on wearing this. She's my little cowgirl and not my little beach bum.

Wherever we might be this summer, let's stay fashionably cool!

Sewing: Summer dress

2011-06-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I bought a pattern, Butterick B4718, from Joanns. I didn't realize until after I bought it that it was 3 sizes to BIG! Oops! I had started it but just never got around to finishing it. I just wasn't motivated to finishing it because it would be awhile before this dress would get some use. So I stored the half finished summer dress in my chest of fabrics.

Yesturday I pulled it out and noticed that all it needed to finish was putting on a zipper and hem the dress and it would be done. Maybe thats why I never got around to finishing it. Zippers scare me! I just don't like putting one on.

But I tackled it and voila!

A completed summer dress. I decided to give this one to my 5 year old niece in Wyoming. Hope she likes it!

Note: I couldn't send one to her without giving one to her little sister! This happen to be another one of those projects that never got finished. A white lace trim was all it needed to finish this Mary Engelbrit skirt. And by the way, this was scraps left over from the ME quilt I made for Juliana. Here is the front and back of the skirt. I have no idea which is which.

Sewing: You are my Sunshine...

2011-05-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

We have been having beautiful weather here lately. With all this sun I decided to make a skirt that reflected the moment. I call it the "Sunshine Skirt"

I used McCall's pattern M5696. I then added an additional layer and sash around the waist. I also gave it some piping and added white binding to make it pop.

Sewing: Refashioned Nautical Shirt

2011-05-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

My husband's shirt before...

and after....

Can't wait to see the look on his face when he gets home and see's his daughter with her "new" shirt.

I wonder if he'll notice something familiar?

Here she is giving her new shirt a hug.

We are ready for summer!

Note: I used the 90 Minute Shirt Tutorial from Made for inspiration for this shirt.

Crafts: Craft Hope Project 12

2011-05-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

One of the most heart warming, charitable website I love to visit and participate in is Craft Hope. They help spread Hope across the world by donating Handmade items to give to those who are needy. They are currently working on Project 12 which involves making bracelets for the orphans girls in Russia. You can learn more about the project on their website here.

So I decided to participate and make some Fabric Bracelets using the flowers I made, remember those pretty little things?

I've also made a few Braided bracelets...

and a few Friendship bracelets as well. I've bought quite a few colorful threads so this will keep me busy until June 15th, which is the deadline to have these done and mailed.

I've also bought some beads and trinket's that my Activity Day girls will help make next week.

Hopefully this will put a smile on a child's face.

If you want to participate please visit Craft Hope: Project 12

The deadline for this project is Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sewing: April showers bring May 'Fabric' flowers!

2011-05-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about May are the many flowers I see blooming everywhere! I think they make the world so much prettier to live in. I love having flowers in my home, flowers in my yard, flowers for Mothers Day {with Dark Chocolate of course!}, and most especially hand picked flowers from my daughter who picks them at random places.

So I thought I'd have a little fun and make my own flower using scraps of fabric I have that are piling up in my home.

Well, I have been doing a lot a sewing recently as you've noticed. It could be the nice weather we are having here and it gets me in the mood to create something new. Now on to my next project... Happy Sewing!

Sewing: Binding Swirl

2011-05-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Working on some binding today. They kind of remind me of candy. Doesn't it? We have Peppermint, Caramel, and Blueberry twist.

I am using the peppermint roll for an upcoming project I am doing for one of my cousins. She is having her first baby, a girl, this fall! Hope she and baby enjoy this yummy gift.

Sewing: Pleaded shirt

2011-05-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

The other day I sewed a cute little shirt for my daughter using Butterick B4176 pattern.

I couldn't resist so I made three!

I had bought these buttons awhile ago when they were on sale. I absolutley love the Mother Goose button!

Three summer shirts already for wear. So simple I think I will make three more!

Sewing: Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Skirt

2011-04-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

My daughter Looooves Strawberry Shortcake. Almost every night (ok, every SINGLE night), she request to watch Strawberry Shortcake after her bath. She knows the songs, the dance moves, the characters, and even the lines. She is SS biggest fan!

So for her 3rd Birthday I decided to make her a Strawberry Shortcake skirt. I used a SS fabric that I had leftover from a quilt I am making for J. My plan is to finish her SS quilt by summer.

I am telling you she loves Strawberry Shortcake.

I also decided to make a matching top. To make it easy on myself, I bought a simple white tank top and appliqued SS on top.

Viola! A SS skirt with a matching top.

Sewing: Refashioned dress

2011-04-23T15:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I finally got out my old skirt that use to fit me 10 years ago. Can't believe I carried that thing around so long. But it was still in very good shape and still very clean and I knew I wanted to make a dress for Juliana out of this last year.

I really did not have to mess with the length at all. Just needed to be tucked in on the sides and it fit perfectly.

It really only took me less than an hour to do. I have three other skirts ready for a transformation as well.

Cooking: Lemon Curd

2011-04-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

So my mom came over for a visit a couple of weeks ago, which means bags full of fruits. Avocado's, lemons, and oranges. This trip she had brought an extra bag of lemons. Oh boy. What to do with all these lemons!

Hmmmm, make lemonade of course.

But I wanted to try something new with lemons. So I searched online and for some reason Lemon Curd just sounded so tasty to me. I actually never tried it before and it looked so yummy in the cute little jars at the market so I thought I'd give it a world and try it out.

I used this Lemon Curd recipe online and was actually not to hard to make! I spread some Lemon Curd on my piece of toast the next morning and MMMMMM was it good!

My daughter wanted me to take a picture of her toast(with strawberry jam) too.

I then stored it in a container and labeled it with the date I made it. It is good for up to 3 weeks. Enjoy!

Hmmmm, what else can I make with Lemons?

Juliana's latest creations

2011-03-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

Mommy by Juliana
March 31, 2011

The Sun by Juliana
March 2011

The Elephant by Juliana
February 2011

Veggie Muffins by MADE

2011-03-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

I found this awesome recipe from MADE the other day. It was veggie muffins. It was filled with different kinds of vegetables and I saw how happy her kids looked eating them and I thought to myself I just had to try it for my very picky eater. So I made her a batch that very day and I told her I was making "cupcakes" and she was super excited. Here she is with her piece.

Well, instead of devouring the cupcakes like I hoped she would she just picked at it and was taking out the carrots. Oh brother. Well, I am off to the Internet to search for more ideas on how to get my 2 year old to eat her veggies. Any ideas???

I decided to add a little bit of powder sugar on mine. Mmmmmm. (its was good with or without it). Seriously, these are so delish!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

2011-03-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

A big Thank you to Joy the Baker!!!!

When I saw this post

I thought to myself.... Please! I hope someone comes by for a visit so I have an excuse to make this! A week later my mom calls and tells me that her and my Aunt want to come and visit me for a few days.

Happy dance!!

I asked my Aunt to help me since she loves to bake bread. Let me tell you this was a long process but so worth it. This is how my turned out.

I didn't have enough room to fit all my bread slices in one single row so I had to squeeze them in the sides. It looked alittle wierd but...... Mmmmmm, it tasted soooo goooood:) I think a little vanilla ice cream would have complimented this very well. Next time!

Mod Podge

2011-02-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

My Grandmother turned 99 years old on the 18th of this month and we were all getting together to throw her a party. What do you get a person who is turing 99 years old? I had no idea. Then I remembered that I had downloaded a templete last Christmas called Heritage Blocks.

I went to Michaels and bought a block. I had to wipe out my coupons because $8.00 for a piece of block is too expensive for me! I then sawed it to the templates measurements, also painted and sanded the edges of each blocks.

I was ready to Mod Podge my blocks. So easy!! But before I did that I had used distressed ink around the edges of each print to give it that antique look.

Here is an AMAZING video from How Does She on how to Mod Podge blocks.

Here is my first attempt at Mod Podge.

Now put it in a box.

Wrap it up pretty and ready to give!

A little thank you gift.

2011-01-15T16:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a little thank you gift I made for someone who did something kind for me the other week. I found this cute label at Lolly Chops and printed it out and attached it to a little bag of treats. Who doesn't like treats?

Juliana's magnum opus

2011-01-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

Mommy is not the only one who is creative around the house.

Brownies in a Jar

2011-01-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

I am in charge of Activity Days at my church and we meet twice a month at my place to do some fun activities. At least I try to make it as fun as possible so the girls would always enjoy coming. Well a few months ago, one of the girls had a birthday so I decided to give her Brownies in Jar. I then decided that these were too cute and yummy that it would make all the girls jealous. So I decided to make all the girls one to celebrate everyone's birthday for the year. YUM! How fun is that!

The normal recipe says to follow all instructions, then fill the jar 1/2 way full with the mix, bake as directed. This took me an HOUR for the brownies to bake. But it tasted so good!

I also found these adorable labels from a website called Lolly Chops. These labels are too adorable and you can download them for free! I just added pretty little ribbon for the finishing touch.

Baby gifts

2011-01-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a set of baby items I made for family and friends who had baby's these past months.

I started off by making baby burp cloths by using this tutorial from Michael Miller.

I also made baby blankets to match the burp cloths.

And of course I couldn't resist making these cute little stuffed animals!

I also had made a rosy pink cutie for my sister's friend, who had been trying to have a baby for a very long time and finally had.

All wrapped up and ready to be delievered.

Christmas Quilt 2010

2011-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

I have 5 siblings, 2 in laws, and 5 nieces and nephews and to make Christmas easier on our checkbooks we decided to pick one name "out of a hat" and give a gift to that person, instead of every member in my entire family and their kids. So this year I picked my oldest sister and I decided to make her a quilt.

Luckily we picked names in the summer so this gives me plenty of time to start quilting.

The pattern that I used was from Moda Bake Shop, called "Off the Grid" Sliced Nine Patch Quilt.

I absolutey love it! The only complaint I have about it was that I wish I had more material to make it bigger. But my sister said she loved it and thats all that matters.

Fabric, fabric, and more fabric

2010-10-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I. love. fabric.

Michael Miller
Anna Marie Horner
Mary Engelbreit
Amy Bulter
Heather Bailey
Portabellopixie
Sarah Jane Studios

These are just some of my favorite designers.

Nancy's in Las Vegas is having a HUGE sale. $2.00 a yard, on everything! EVERYTHING! So Juliana and I made our way their this morning and bought a few pieces. This is what I bought.

Side note: There was hardly anything on the shelves when I walked in so my selection was pretty limited.

I am so happy with what I bought! SO many cute baby stuff I can make! But I really need to STOP buying fabric and start sewing!!!!

But if there is another to die for sale... I am there! :)

Christmas food gift ideas

2010-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

Every year in early December I start making yummy goodies that my husband delivers to his clients during the Holidays. His clients always love them and this year I am on the hunt again for a cute homemade food gift idea. Here are some ideas I found on the Internet thus far...

I found this lovely Christmas idea at Spoonful of sugar. Isn't that milk carton too cute?

I was thinking of filling it with Snickerdoodles. I have never baked them before but I found this great recipe at Brown Eyed Baker that I will try.

I also came across this lovely decorated tin filled with popcorn that I found at Martha Stewart

Also found this Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Sticks which I found at Country Living.

So many cute gift ideas out there! But these three are what I am centering on. Now I have until beginning of December to narrow it down to one and start baking!

Craft Hope Project 9: Pillowcases

2010-09-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

I first heard about this project at MADE and was so excited about it that I decided to join in! Here is more info on the project found at Craft Hope.

I have been collecting fabric for a while and they have been piling up and I just didn't know what to use them for. But when I heard about this project I thought, "perfect!" So here is what I made for these children.

They were so easy that I decided to make some more!

They are all folded up and ready to go to a special child! :)

My little Jane Austen dress

2010-08-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

I love Jane Austen and love the dresses they wore at the time. I mean look at them...

Here are some more photos from other films that are not from Emma as above.

So I decided to make one for my daughter. This is what I came up with.

I had fun with this and will make some more in the future.

I think I will try one with this kind of sleeves.

Peasant Shirt

2010-08-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a peasant shirt I made for my daughter a few months back but never posted. I added a black with white polka dot fabric for the trim and sash. The strap I made extra long so I can wrap it all around her waist and tie in the back. I think it looks cute!

Girls vest

2010-08-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

I made this vest for my daughter a few months ago and wanted to share it here on my blog. I found this b/w checkered fabric for half off at Joann's and it reminded me of Chanel.

and yes, she is sitting on her favorite stuffed animal she calls "meow". She takes him everywhere she goes, even at this little photo shoot outside.

So I made my own version, using Simplicity pattern 2534.

Pin cushion

2010-08-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I made this pin cushion using a cute little flower pot I bought for 60% off at Michael's last week. I also used a scrap of ME fabric for the top part.

A new home for my pins.

Mary Engelbreit Cake Stand

2010-07-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

I was at Michaels a few months ago and found this darling Mary Engelbreit Cake Stand. I know just what to use it for. Check out my family blog to find out!

Here are some darling ME cakes I found on the web just for fun!

photo courtesy of Susie Haz Cakes.

And she made a cute cake box to go with it.

photo courtesy of The Good Apple.

photo courtesy of Sweet Babe.

photo courtesy of Cake Decorating Corner

photo courtesy of Devany's Designs

photo courtesy of Mary Engelbreit

The other 2 I found on cake central.

Chocolate Soufflé

2010-07-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was looking through a Good Housekeeping cookbook a few weeks ago and found a mouth watery recipe for Chocolate Soufflé. I look at the ingredients and instructions and thought, ok I can do it. So I tried. But before I did I wanted to look at videos of how people baked Chocolate Soufflé just to make sure I was going about it correctly. Well then I came across this video of Mark Bittman preparing this dish and he made it look so easy that I copied him and used his recipe.

This is what you need follow by his instructions:

About 1 tablespoon butter for dish

1/3 cup sugar, plus some for dish

3 eggs, separated

2 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted

Pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 2-cup or one 4-cup soufflé or other deep baking dish(es). Sprinkle each with sugar, invert it and tap to remove excess sugar.

2. Beat egg yolks with all but 1 tablespoon sugar until very light and very thick; mixture will fall in a ribbon from beaters when it is ready. Mix in the melted chocolate until well combined; set aside.

3. Wash beaters well, then beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until whites hold soft peaks; continue to beat, gradually adding remaining tablespoon sugar, until they are very stiff and glossy. Stir a good spoonful of whites thoroughly into egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then fold in remaining whites, using a rubber spatula. Transfer to prepared soufflé dish(es); at this point you can cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

4. Bake until center is nearly set, 20 minutes for individual soufflés and 25 to 35 minutes for a single large soufflé. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings.

Warning: Very chocolately! Milk may be required!

The Vogue inspired dress #2

2010-05-27T15:13:00.001-07:00

Remember this dress I made last year? I had seen a Vogue pattern at Joann's and fell in love with this dress and decided to remake it for my daughter. This is what I came up with last year.

I decided to make another dress using the same style but tweaked it a little. I made an A-line skirt this time instead of gathering it. I think it came out so much better. I also added a button in the back instead of a zipper. Again, I like this better.

So, what do you think?

I really still do love that ribbon in the back. Next time I think I will try it without the ribbon and see how that goes.

Mary Engelbreit Quilt

2010-05-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Remember the pillows I made when I made this chair cover awhile ago? Well now it has a finished quilt to go with it!

My mother in law is a very talented quilter and has made numerous goregous quilts for many years. Last summer she was kind enough to give me a generous stack of her Mary Engelbrit fabric. :D

So I decided to use the ME fabric to make a quilt for my daughter.

I wanted to make pinwheels and have it wrap around the center block. Which by the way was the challenging part of making this quilt, getting the pinwheel blocks the correct size to fit perfectly around the center block.

Here is the finished ME Quilt! Tada!!

It was very hard to take pictures of the quilt because all my daughter wanted to do was just hangout on her quilt.

I used a tulip pattern to quilt it all together.

Here is a better shot of the tulip detail that I quilted.

I made this big enough to fit her full size bed when it is ready to transform.

J's Birthday/Easter Dress

2010-05-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I went to JcPenny to get J's pictures taken. I wanted her to wear her birthday/Easter dress I made for her for the photo shoot. Problem was I wasn't done with it. I was still sewing on the zipper minutes before we had to leave. I didn't even get to hand stitch it closed. So I brought a backup dress just in case. She did ended up wearing it and luckily I brought my little scissors to trim off some of the dangling thread. Here are some of her photos from the shoot.

So that was March and last weekened I finally finished the dress and I even sewed on a couple of pockets. The dress is now finally done!

A beautiful mess

2010-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs, Simplify, posted a photo of her messy sewing room.

Wish my sewing space could look this good.

photo courtesy of Simplify

I think this is the most beautiful mess I have ever seen. To me this room has exploded with vibrant cheerful colors and is screaming to me to go create.

Love it!

Rocking Chair makeover

2010-04-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

When I bought this rocking chair for the nursery, I wasn't to thrilled about the color. Too pink! But we got it for dirt cheap and we just couldn't past it up. That was 2 years ago and last weekend I finally got around to giving this chair a new look.

I made a couple of cute Mary Engelbreit pillows to go with the chair. The ME fabric were left overs from a quilt I am making for Juliana, which I will post in the near future. I am super excited about this quilt btw!!

I picked a orange polka dot print for the backside of the pillows.

Now time to grab a good book and relax in this cute comfortable chair.

Basket lining for a bike

2010-04-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Summertime is almost here and what better way to stay cool this summer but by going for a bike ride and feeling the cool breeze. This is what my sister will be planning on doing anyway. She bought a cute pink beach cruiser last summer, something similar to the one shown below.

photo courtesy of Gossip Girl

So my sister asked me to make her some basket linings for her bike.

So this is what I created.

Now she can enjoy a bike ride to the park, along the beach, or where ever she wants, in style.

Happy riding!

Just Because...

2010-04-16T13:20:00.001-07:00

When you have this...

plus this...

it equals this...

I saw this on a blog months ago and thought about it every now and then. And today I had to try it.

Maybe if I eat it in the dark the calories won't find me?

Honey Walnut Shrimp

2010-04-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love Honey Walnut Shrimp! My husband was craving this last night and suggested we try making it. My first thought was its 7pm and its time to put DD to bed and I am in no mood to go the store, buy everything we need, come back and cook it and finally eat it at around 9pm. I was thinking more like take out instead. But I am married to a very passionate guy who if his heart is set on something he will try everywhich way possible to make me agree with him. So that is what ended up happening. Thankfully he found an easy recipe on the internet and luckliy we had everything in stock. So no need to go the store. Yeah.

So we attempted this recipe and here is what it looks like.

Mmmmmmmm. I am so glad we made this because it was sooooooo good! It was so easy as well! Here is the reciepe we followed.

Ingredients:

1 cup water
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
4 egg whites
2/3 cup mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoon canned sweetened condensed milk
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. Stir together the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the walnut. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a cookie sheet to dry.
2. Whip egg whites in a medium bowl until foamy. Stir in the mochiko until it has a pasty consistency. Heat the oil in a heavy deep skillet over medium-high heat. Dip shrimp into the mochifk batter, and then fry in the hot oil until golden brown, sbout 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3. In a medium serving bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey and sweetened condensed milk. Add shrimp and toss to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle the candied walnuts on top and serve.

There is one thing that I must admit. We cheated and had a pre-made bag of "Honey Glazed Walnuts" that I bought a couple weeks ago for a future salad. We deceided to use it for this receipe instead which saved us time and it came out delicious!

Stuffed animals

2010-03-30T10:35:00.001-07:00

Awhile ago I bought this pattern at Joanne's for only .99 cents! I am so glad I did because it was Sooooooooo easy! I thought it would have taken me all year long to make this but after the first one....

I decided to make some more!

The soft baby blue giraffe shown above has found a new home last week. I sent this one over to my sister who just had a baby boy.

I also added a cute little lanalulu label on each one.

The red polka dotted bunny was my first ever attempt in making a stuffed bunny using a Mary Engelbrit pattern from this book that my mother in law gave me for Christmas. So I thought I'd showcase him here.

I almost forgot....I went to Patchwork Pottery and followed their tutorial to make my labels. Aren't they adorable! This tutorial is also on the right side of my blog so that way I can easily go there for future references.

Iron on appliques

2010-03-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

This month was my sister's birthday so I decided I wanted to make her something and decided to try the iron on appliques. I have never tried this before and wanted to see how easy or hard it was. Well, it was both. The process was very easy as long as you pick a simple design to cut out and iron on. My sister is a marathon runner so I chose a runner for one shirt, the number 26.2 on another shirt, and really wanted to put an image of a really cute little chick on the other shirt with the words underneath "running chick", but there was so many letters and so tiny so instead I put another runner on that one. So this is what I ended up doing.

so what does 26.2 mean? I guess only a marathon runner would know what that means.

Hooded Shirt

2010-03-18T16:00:00.001-07:00

This is my attempt at trying to sew a hooded shirt, with no pattern!

This is the view from the back.

This is the front view.

Yeah, I think the hood is way to big. Opps! Kind of reminds me of that little green character from Star Wars. Yeah, my husband (HUGE star wars fan) would be a bit disappointed that I don't remember his name. Oh well.

Three Little Pigs

2010-02-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

I have found so many cute stuffed animals on the internet that I wanted to try to make one. But I have been so intimidated by it that I kept putting it off. Finally, after seeing so many cute stuffed animals that I just had to go for it no matter what the outcome would be. So I found some great tutorials and finally made Juliana some new toys to play with!

Here are some great tutorials for making your very own stuffed toy! Enjoy!

Make and Love It
The Purl Bee
Martha Stewart
Spool

Blankets for Twins

2010-02-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Last month we drove down to California to celebrate my niece and nephew's birthday, they are the cutest twins! They turned 2 years old. Oh my! My little one is not far behind and will be turning 2 in April.... The terrible 2's...

So I wanted to make something for them and I decided to make them their very own blankets. It was very simple. I just grabbed 18 fat quarters, 9 per blanket. So glad there was a great sale at JoAnn's! Sewed them together and then sewed a soft colorful felt fabric for the backing with a bold black binding to bring out the colors.

a gift for baby boy

2010-01-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

My sister is having another baby boy this spring and I thought I'd surprise her with this cute little baby burp cloth and a soft stuffed ball.

Each piece has a red plaid ribbon sticking out because I remember when my daughter was a wee thing she use to love putting tags in her mouth. So I thought I would add tags to both the toy and burp cloth.

It was so simple to make.

I choose pieces of scraps I had from my other previous projects. So this didn't cost me a thing to make, just time.

I then cut out squares and pinned the ribbon on all sides.

I then laid the other cloth on top of the printed cloth and sewed all around but making sure to leave an opening so that I can pull out the fabric inside out. But before I pulled out the fabric, I clipped the edges on each cornor.

Once this is inside out, I start at the opening and start sewing again all around the edges. And thats all!

For the ball this is what I did. I cut out four pieces of each material (total of 8) this might be to much and you can cut to 6 pieces instead. What ever you want.

and then I sewed on the one side of the edge for each piece like this...

Then I pinned the other pieces together and sewed the rest up and again making sure to leave an OPENING!

I added a polka dotted circle to finish this off and hand stitched closed.

Here is a thought... instead of a circle, cut out a heart and sew that at each end of the ball. I think that would be cute. Too bad I already sewed on the circles. But next time!

Now it is ready for a little baby to play with.

Note: You may also add a little jingle bell inside for some little noise for the baby. I didn't have any around so this one didn't have one.

Here are a couple of great tutorials on how to make a Baby Ball.

Craft ideas
Grand Revival Design

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

2010-01-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

I had some very ripe banana's sitting on my kitchen counter yesterday and instead of throwing them away I decided to make some banana bread. So I searched the internet for a simple recipe and I came across this recipe from Cooking Light called Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze. With a name like this I just couldn't resist trying it.

Note: Instead of rum I used apple juice to make it non alcoholic. I also added extra coconut and sprinkled it on top soon after it came out of the oven and then added the glaze over that.

Mmmmmmmmm.

We devoured it last night and my husband is requesting me to make another loaf for tomorrow. Um, oh yeah! Luckily it was super duper easy to make! Hope you enjoy this one!!

Ironing board cover makeover

2010-01-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

My Ironing board cover needed a serious makeover. Everytime I went to iron my fabric or clothes, it would just be really ugly to look at (I meant the cover not my pretty fabric or clothes... well maybe my clothes too, anywhoo..) and the sides of the fabric would always start creeping up to the top of the board. So I browsed the internet for a how to make an Iron board cover and I found a couple of great tutorials.

Lists of tutorials...

U-handbag
jonag
vain & vapid
purl bee
instrutables

Then I grabbed my daughter, hopped in the car and off to the fabric shop we go.

and voila!

It was so easy! I picked out a pretty pale green butterfly print and followed the simple instructions. Thank you bloggers!!!

Now I can't wait to use my ironing board! .... well at least for now.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

I went to the Quilt Shop today to see what goodies they had on sale and I found these cute xmas fabrics!

So this weekened while I am at the cabin celebrating xmas, I'll be starting on a new xmas quilt! I wonder who this one will be for???

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Quilt giving card idea

2009-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I think this is a darling message to add to your card when sending your quilts as a gift to someone special. I found this saying at The Quilt Rack and thought I would share this with you.

Baby Blue Flowers and Cream Quilt

2009-11-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

Last month my sister mailed me a huge box of material she bought 10 years ago that she wanted to make a quilt with but never had the chance. I finished the baby quilt and the final result is showcased here. So for her second quilt she wanted a lap size quilt. These pretty fabric were all ready cut up into squares and I chose do a nine patch quilt as well. Just like I done with her other one. But this was just rearranged different.

Now all it needs is to bind the edges. Just need to pick the perfect fabric to go with this cute quilt and it will be already to snuggle in for winter.

Hope you like this one sis!

Bumble Bee's for Halloween

2009-11-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

I had bought this Bumble bee top for my daughter for Halloween this year and my husband thought that it would be cool if our whole family were bumble bees. So I went to the fabric store and bought lots of yellow and black felt fabric. I cut them in strips and sewed and sewed and sewed them together to make this....

It was quite simple. after sewing the strips together I folded and sewed the piece together and put elastic for the arms and neck and voila.

We are now Bumble Bees. I was afraid it being to small so I made it extra big and just tucked in the bottom of the top to my skirt. Only took me one night to make.

Pay It Forward - Thank You!!!

2009-11-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Back in August I came across this pay-it-forward theme at Tragically Ordinary. I just fell in love with this idea so I decided to join in. I am so glad I did! I have been very busy with life here at home and with our family business and I just needed a break from blogging and needed to turn off my sewing machine for a little while until I get things back in order. So was not happy about that.

Well, last week I received a wonderful surprise in the mail from Stephanie from Tragically Ordinary. This was just what I needed!!! Seriously! What a wonderful surprise this was. And very thoughtful as well! I couldn't wait to snap some pictures to share with you of what I received!

A wonderful handmade scarf

A beautiful sign that spells out "create". I know exactly where I am hanging this. In my sewing space of course!

and also some tasty goodies! YUM!

Just when I was about to take a picture, my daughter quickly sneaked her hands in the bag to grab some cookies. She just couldn't resist.

She loved them!

...my whole family did!

Thanks Stephanie! I loved it!!! This totally made my day!

And for those girls who made comments on my pay it forward post will be getting their surprise soon!

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-10-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

This lady is at it again. Another fabulous giveaway. Last year's Halloween costumes were amazing and this years..... Oh My!!! Of course I have to enter! Just look at these!

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Spicy Black Bean Chili

2009-10-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

Love this time of year. The summer heat is finally over and the cool brisk weather outside makes you want to have a nice warm bowl of soup. That is what I did yesterday for dinner. I got out my MIL's famous recipe ....

Here is what you'll need.

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (10oz) can Ro-Tel Diced tomatoes with chilies
2 large yellow crookneck squash, diced or sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 can corn (or frozen)
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 large cloved garlic, minced
1 lbs ground turkey, beef or ham (whatever you prefer)
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs chili powder
1 (10 oz) can of water
1 can black beans

How to Prepare:

In a skillet saute lightly, onion and bell pepper in a small amount of olive oil. Add your meat and minced garlic and cook until meat is no longer pink.

Add all the remaining ingredients and water and simmer uncovered for about 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with grated cheese, sour cream and tortilia chips.

Quilt Festival - Raggedy Ann & Andy Quilt

2009-10-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Amy over at Park City Girl is holding the annual Bloggers Quilt Festival over at her blog. So I decided to showcase my latest quilt. My latest meaning I just finished binding it today! Whoopee!

This quilt is for my sister who had mailed me a huge box of fabric 2 weeks ago that she had bought and cut up into squares and wanted to make..... wait for it....10 years ago! Yes, these cute little cut up Raggedy Ann squares were already to be sewn together but no one had the time to do it until now! I just learned how to quilt a couple of years ago and have 3 finished quilts under my belt and so I was happy to take these squares and make them into a cute little baby quilt.

Since my sister had this fabric all cut already into squares I chose to do a nine patch quilt (she said I can chose any pattern I think would look best), which a handy tutorial is on the right side of this blog.

I zig-zag stitched it together. This method reminded of "zig-zag stitching" the dolls together, which to me had a vintage feel to it.

I chose a red binding to bring the colors together from this darling fabric.

My daughter just couldn't resist snuggling up to the quilt as I was finishing up binding.

Hope you like how it came out sis!

My First Blog Award!

2009-10-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to find out today that my blog received my first ever Blog Award! Woohoo!! Thank you Teresa/MarieSews from Sewing Trials for awarding this blog with the Blog De Oro award (Blog of Gold). You can see who gave her this award by visiting her blog. By so doing, I actually found some new favorite blogs to add to my list along the way!

I now have to choose 10, out of all the wonderful blogs that I follow, to pass the award on to. I hope you take the time to browse through these as I have chosen those that have truly inspired me to create and learn new things. So here is a BIG THANK YOU from me to you!

In no specific order:

1. Made
2. V and Co.
3. Opal petit clothier
4. creative little daisy
5. tall grass prairie studio
6. Camille Roskelley
7. Joys Of Home
8. 4 Little Men
9. All things nice
10. connecting the dots

Nothing that a little heart won't fix

2009-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

My daughter's new favorite thing to say is "Oh-Oh". When she has an accident its "Oh-Oh", or when she drops something or even throws something we hear "Oh-Oh". Well it is now getting cool around here that we need to get out our pants and sweaters and one of her pants has a whole in them from the last time she wore them... "Oh-Oh".

Well its nothing that a little heart won't fix. Just cut out a heart shaped fabric and match its size to the size of the whole on the pants and stitch them together.

And viola. The pants were ready to be worn again and she was all ready to go outside and play.

Plaid skirt and white top

2009-10-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago I pulled out my M5696 pattern and some left over fabric and made a skirt for my daughter. I also made a simple white peasant shirt to go with it. I have a huge stash of white lace trim I wanted to use so I added it on the skirt and collar of the shirt.

Here is a look from the back

And here is a simple belt to match.

Okay..... So after a while of looking at this skirt, that white trim in the bottom of the skirt was bothering me. It seemed distracting and I decided to take it out completely and add a black and white polka dot trim instead.

I think it looks so much better. Also as you can see from the back, instead of adding a zipper to it as the pattern says to do I instead sewed on elastic so that way she can where the skirt as she grows.

I made a gray version of it here.

My apologies for the blurry photos. I have a digital camera that is slowing dieing and a daughter that never stops. Add these together and these are the photos you get.

I WON!

2009-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe I won! My first ever win! Yeah! I won a Studio Tantrum sewing pattern from The Dizzy Daizy. She offered 3 very generous giveaways as part of her grand opening of her new website, which is stock full of cute fabric, patterns, ribbons, and trim. So go check it out for yourself.

I can not wait to start on this pattern. It looks so challenging with all those ruffles but I am going to try and as soon as I finish I'll post it here. I still can't believe I won! Thank you Dizzy Daisy!

Two Dreamy Giveaways!!

2009-09-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

My cousins just launched their websites at The Dizzy Daisy and the Flannel Queen. They both have lots of beautiful fabric choices that you will just drool over.

Here is a snippet of what they are giving away.

From the Flannel Queen

From the Dizzy Daisy

Here is how to enter...

The Dizzy Daisy Giveaway- visit her blog for more details. The 3 winners will be announced on Friday, October 2nd.

Flannel Queen Giveaway - visit her blog for more details. The 3 winners will be announced on Friday, October 2.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to their site now!

I hope I win!!!

Refashioned shirt

2009-09-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

I went to the thrift store awhile back and found this shirt.

It is a white shirt with very pretty white/blue daisy detail along the edges. It had no stains and I thought this would be a very pretty and simple dress to make for my daughter. I didn't really need to add much. I just cut the sides to fit my daughter and added elastic on the sleeves.

Also added elastic with casing around the waist.

Here is the finished dress.

Dress out of newspaper?

2009-09-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last night on project runway the designers had an interesting challenge of designing a garment out of newspaper. Hmmmm.... pretty interesting. Here is what they came up with.

Top (l-r) Althea, Carrol Hannah, Christopher, Epperson, Gordana and Irina
Bottom (l-r) Johnny, Logan, Louise, Nicolas, Ra'mon-Lawrence and Shirin
Click for a larger view. All photos courtesy of ProjectRunway.com

This is my favorite. I love this coat!

Wonder what I would come up with if I had to make a newspaper garment. I don't think I'll be making anything for my little daughter with this fabric choice. She will just end up eating it!

Can't wait to see next weeks episode.

Beautiful

2009-09-16T23:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I came across this website called Opal petite clothier. I am so glad I did. I am in awe with her talent. She definitely has an eye for beauty.

Love her fabric choices and oh my, look at all those ruffles! Her styles are so whimsical and beautiful.

Maybe one day I will be able to sew beautiful clothes like this. I guess I'm going to need more practice sewing ruffles!

Sailboat Quilt

2009-09-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

I so love sailboats and when I started quilting a couple of years ago I knew I wanted to do a sailboat quilt. I decided that I wanted to create my own design and so I created one using AutoCAD.

Well its been 2 or 3 years now and I am finally on my way to being finished! I am finally done sewing all my sailboat blocks (24 of them!) and am now sewing them all together which I started last week. I know my anchor red fabric and my yellow/blue print fabric have been eagerly awaiting this moment to finally connect with the sailboats and be one beautiful piece.

I found this cool blue and white wavy strip fabric that I will use as my boarder.

My daughter seems to really like the colors!

Just 3 more rows to go!

quilt update

2009-09-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

I was on a roll and got this much done since I started on Saturday. (This is a record for me!) But now everything is on hold. Why? Well, now I just need to chose my border. Dark blue (stay within the primary colors theme) or a lime green? Red, Orange, Turquoise? I am stuck. But I have a while before we change Juliana's crib into a bigger bed.

So for now I will put it aside and come back to it when I find the right fabric to finish it off.

116 days till christmas....

2009-08-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

As of right now there is only 4 months, 116 days, 3 hours and 38 minutes left till Christmas! Which means I need to get on the ball and start on my Christmas presents for this year.

We have a big family so I like starting early because that gives me enough time to make stuff for everyone on my list.

Here is a little peak of what I made over the weekend for someone.

This was actually pretty easy to do. I just ordered the watch face here and than added beads to make the band. My mother in law had an amazing assortment of beads which she kindly let me use. (Thanks Again!!!) This was pretty fun and relaxing to do. Now I just need to sew up a cute little baggy to store the watch in.

I have also started on this quilt that I am making for my DD.

I so love the vintage fabric I found at Nancy's. Can you believe it was in the discount area! They only had 1 1/2 yrad left and I am so glad I found it!

Is it just me or has anyone else started on their Christmas projects?

Sushi

2009-08-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

So for the last couple of weeks my husband and I have been craving sushi but not just any sushi, we have been craving our favorite, The Lisa Lisa Roll. We have been searching for places that had the Lisa Lisa Roll here in town and we found two places that we love but this could get pretty expensive after awhile so tonight my husband and I attempted to make the Lisa Lisa Roll for dinner.

So what make the Lisa Lisa Roll so good? Well here is what's in it...

Shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese w/ crunch. Served w/ eel sauce.

It didn't really look anything like it. We couldn't make the crunch part exactly right. It was a bit messy and it fell apart as we tried eating it but boy did it taste good!! We'll try again tomorrow.

My first tutu!

2009-08-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to make a tutu for Juliana for so long and was just nervous about it not turning out right. But when I saw that Joann's was having there huge sale on tutu fabric (can't think of the name right now, it is 11pm!) a few months ago I bought a lot of it ( in a lot of different colors). I figured it is only 49 cents a yard (I think?) and if I mess up it is only a couple of dollar mistake. So this past weekend I gave it a go and this is what I came up with.

What do you think?

I found a sash I bought a few years ago that was used to tie curtains together and I hardly ever used it and instead of putting it back into the drawer where it will collect dust or what ever, I thought I would use this as a waist band for Juliana's tutu. I think it came out cute.

Also be sure to visit Hooked on Houses to see what everyone else is hooked on today!

A new shirt for Jules

2009-08-25T12:14:00.001-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago Joann's had a sale on McCall patterns for $1.99. I just could not pass this up and so I grabbed a few patterns. This pattern I used to make this shirt was McCall's M5458. This was actually simple to make. I love the style of this pattern.

It was a bit to wide in the middle so I decided I wanted to gather it with an elastic. I sewed a piece of fabric around the inner middle of the shirt and then slide the elastic inside so that way it would be more comfortable to wear for Juliana. And it looks more finished and cute as well.

I think this would look good wearing with tights or a pair of jeans. This fits a size 3 so I am going to have to wait to see Juliana wearing it.

Red Polka Dot peasant shirt

2009-08-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

This week I wanted to learn how to sew with elastic thread. After watching this video on Martha Stewart website that featured one of my favorite designer Heather Ross, I saw how easy it was and I decided that I would give it a go. I used this technique on the sleeves of this shirt.

I also made a skirt to go with the top. I used McCall's M5696.

So here is another technique I learned this week! It fits a 3 year old so Juliana is going to have to wait to wear this one.

Watermelon cooler

2009-08-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

One way to beat the heat here in Vegas is to drink a nice tall glass of watermelon cooler. I saw this on Weekend magazine, September 2006 issue and tried it the other day. Boy was it delicious! It also smelled so sweet as I was drinking it. All you need is some juicy watermelon....

and this recipe....

So I didn't exactly follow this recipe. All I had was watermelon, water, sugar (I sub. with Splenda) and lemon (I had no lime). I just added a handful of ice in the blender and everything else I had and blended everything up. It turned out great! Maybe I will follow the recipe next time.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer with this drink!

Refashioned Stripped shirt

2009-08-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

Here is another refashion shirt that I created from my husbands stash that was going to the thrift store.

It was a simple dress to make. Here is what I did.

I guess you can call this the reversible refashion shirt. You can wear it with the buttons in the front...

or you can go for the chic look and wear it with the buttons on the back along with tieing the bow in the back as well...

Either way, I think it works.

I guess my daughter had enough of the camera for the day.

Refashioned Shirt

2009-08-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we did our spring cleaning and my husband had a bunch of shirts that he was going to throughout. Well, I got a hold of them and thought that maybe I can do something with this but didn't know what.

Then I saw these two tutorials on remaking clothes from men's shirts. This dress was way cute. Then I saw these pants and thought this was also way cute and creative way to use the sleeves. So I used both methods and created this ensemble using this shirt.

My husband was way impressed and happy to contribute to his daughter's wardrobe.

Just daydreaming.....

2009-08-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

If I had my very own sewing/craft room I think I know how I would like to decorate it. It would look something like this.

I mean look at that wall of frames.

and that couch!

I recently discovered Anna Maria's blog and fell in love with her style, and her booth! Don't you think this would be a fun place to create? What do you think?

... and I think I would add these chairs (taken from her last year's booth) too while I'm at it.

Whats for Dinner?

2009-08-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Peaches are in season! I love peaches. Now you can get them on sale just about anywhere! So I grabbed a bunch and went home grilled them up and served them with grilled chicken and steam veggies. Ooooooo, heaven! Its so simple and soooooo delish!

Its not all about sewing around here you know. A girls gotta eat too.

Now for dessert... more grilled peaches! Just add them to a sandwich bar and YUMMY!

Pay It Forward

2009-08-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this posting about this awesome giveaway, aka Random Gifts to Total Strangers. I have decided to participate! And now you can play too:

Do I have five readers?

Here's how it works:

The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something from me. But in return, you have to do the same thing on your blog and make something for five other people. The details are as follows, and if you want to play, copy the following onto your blog and leave me a post:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I send you. But you may be pleasantly surprised. It will definitely be sewing/craft related.
2. What I send will be made just for you, with love, by my own hands. See, I can go to your blog and read your posts and a really great idea will pop into my pretty little head.
3. I promise I will complete all 5 gifts this year - 2009.
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world, that you can touch and feel, and not something cyber.
Perhaps you'll send it forward to someone who will absolutely love it.
5. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
6. Send your mailing address - after I contact you to confirm.
Everyone is welcome. I guarantee that you will receive something from me providing you do the same for 5 other people in your blog post.

Are you game? Let's do this! I will be anxiously awaiting each of your fabulous comments! I can't wait to get started!! I can't wait to send you what I hope you'll consider a nice surprise!!!!!!!!!

The Fashion District in LA

2009-08-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last week I escaped the hot dry heat here in Vegas and headed to beautiful sunny So Cal to visit family. I had a wonderful time! I have an Aunt there who is an amazing seamstress. She once whipped up a beautiful wedding dress along with bridesmaid dresses in a week! She is truly amazing! While I was there she taught me some sewing techniques that helped. She also took me shopping at the Fashion District in LA. She knows what stores has the best deals and is a mean bargain shopper too. I was just astounded at all the goodies I got for super cheap!

Can you believe I paid 25 cents for invisible zippers! Also a HUGE roll of trim for $3.00! And pretty colored thread for 25 cents each! When can I go back!!!!

I love the Fashion district in LA!

Here are some of my goodies.

My Aunt was also nice enough to give me some of her colorful threads. Score!

Amy Butler circle skirt dress

2009-07-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

I love Amy Butler fabric! They are so bright and cheerful and so fun to sew with. I think it makes any dress, skirt, quilt or whatever you sew that much more cute! Earlier this week I took a break from sewing my pinwheels and headed to my nearest quilt store and found that they had Amy Butler in their discounted area. What! I was very excited and bought a couple of yards of several pretty prints. I went home and was just admiring my new fabric for awhile. Doesn't everyone do that?

So now what to do with this pretty fabric?

I've always wanted to try and make a circle skirt but didn't know how. So I hunted down on the web and came across this tutorial of how to make your very own circle skirt!

So here is my perfect cut out donut.

Instead of connecting the skirt with an elastic I created a bodice to make a dress instead.

Its a little big. I make sure I do that because I never know how long it will take me to finish sewing. Especially since I am still learning. But I think it came out cute!

Look, a perfect circle. Please ignore the play phone. My daughter would not sit still without her phone.

A look from the back.

And there you have it. Another dress to add to her collection.

My first pinwheel quilt.

2009-07-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Isn't this just the cutest room! Everything is so cute and tiny and look at that quilt. Amazing. When I saw this post from V and Co. I just fell in love with that quilt. It is so bright and cheery! I wanted to make one like it but I saw all those pinwheels and was intimidated. Luckily V and Co. has a tutorial on how to make pinwheels on her website. Thank you. So I went ahead and dove right in and started my pinwheels.

I bought cute fabric.

cut them up at 5"x5" each.

sewed them up using the pinwheel tutorial from V and Co.

And voila!

Only half way done!

Craft Hope - {spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time}

2009-07-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today I sewed my first baby blanket. It was quite easy and quick! I found a great tutorial on making a simple baby blanket at Tuesday with Molly. I simply used a cute flannel on one side and a nice soft sheet on the other. Aren't these cute and easy to make? I made two of them along with 9 baby cloths. This will all be mailed off tomorrow where it will go to newborn babies in India.

I am participating in Project #3 which consist of donating booties, blankets and beanies to a charity called Craft Hope. I found out about this cause on Made. I was inspired and excited to join the cause.

If you would like to participate please go visit Craft Hope. The deadline will end Saturday, July 25th.

Here Juliana is doing a final inspection before we box everything up and send it to the Post Office tomorrow.

Snuggle approve.

Give away!

2009-07-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Yes you read right. A giveaway!!! I just visited one of my favorite blogs V and Co. and read of a fabulous give away going on in her blog right now. A cute Esty shop named Sew Cute Shop is giving away one item from her shop to one lucky V and Co. winner! Isn't that amazing!

Here are some of the fabulous items in her shop...

60's inspired - Red Dress

2009-07-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

You could never have to many burp cloth!

2009-07-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

My sister in law had a baby girl, her first one, Tuesday on July 7th (which happens to be my birthday too)! So I decided to sew up some Baby Burpies for her! Because you know, you just could never have to many baby burp cloth, that's for sure!

I made one with a cat print because daddy Jeremy loves cats!

Itty Bitty Dress

2009-07-11T20:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I saw this tutorial from Made By Rae and was intrigued to read that this was a super duper easy dress to make so I gave it a go and Voila here it is. Just took me the afternoon to make!

There were a few things I learned while making this dress. One is that it is very important to snip along any curvy areas before you flip the fabric around.

See the difference? Smooth on one side and ugly and stuffy on the other.

I also attempted to make my own piping! Was pretty easy. Just cut about 1 inch strip of pretty fabric and wrap it tight around the piping cord and use a zipper foot and sew closely to the cord. Thats it.

Now its your turn. Try it and have fun sewing! Tutorial is on the right under Made By Rae.

White dress

2009-07-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

I finally learned how to install a zipper last weekend and now all my little girls' dress has zippers and finally complete! Here is the lasted dress I made. This one I made last night.

American Girl dress

2009-06-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw this fabric it reminded me of sailing. With the heavy dark blue color and the little white polka dots, I fell in love. I knew I wanted to make a dress with a Nantucket theme to it.

I used McCall's pattern M5791 and just like my Vogue inspired dress, I played around with the bodice front and back. I also added a white trim to make it really pop. This was my first time doing this. I actually did a couple of firsts on this dress. Another first that I did was use a blind stitch. I wanted to not show the white thread on the hem so I tried this way. Loved it! The fabric itself was a bit strong and heavy so I thought pleats would be great to make. So I added pleats all around the dress. I think it came out cute! What do you think?

So why is my daughter not modeling this dress you may ask? I still have to figure out how to install the darn zipper! I don't know why but it is so intimidating to me! It is my last step in finishing this dress but for some reason I think I am going to mess it up and there goes the dress. I want her to wear it at church around Fourth of July weekend. I am just going to have to just do it! Wish me luck!

Easy peasy skirts!

2009-06-23T20:18:00.001-07:00

What I did this weekend.

I also made this from my husbands old shirt that he was going to through away. I decided to use the bottom part of the shirt and make it into a skirt for Juliana. What do you think?

This is why I started sewing.....

2009-06-19T13:29:00.001-07:00

My second quilt

2009-06-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

This is a second quilt I made. It is a BQ quilt and I love it because it has such an easy pattern to follow and so easy to make. I tend to mess up when there are a lot of little squares and triangles involved. Which is why I have not finished my sailboat quilt. This one I made for my sister for Christmas of 2008. She loved this one. She said it went well with the colors in her home. Good!

My first quilt

2009-06-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

This was my very first quilt that I have ever made. It is a quilt I made for my mother for Christmas in 2007. She loves music and plays the piano beautifully, especially classical. So I thought this would be a fitting piece especially for her. She loved it! My mother in law is an incredible quilter and offered to help me with my first quilt.

Here are some photos of the quilt.

Vogue inspired

2009-06-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

As I was at Joann's taking advantage of the pattern sales, I saw this and fell in love.

So I decided to go and make my own version for my little daughter. I used McCall's pattern M5791 and just played around with the bodice front and back.

I love the back of the dress with the cute bow placed at the top, so I added it on this dress. This took me awhile to figure how to do this.

I also loved the style of the front with the sleeveless bodice. It reminds me of the 60's. So I tweaked the pattern to create this style.

Now, all I need to do is add the zipper. I want to add an invisible zipper but I do not know how to do this yet. I will have to come back to this project later.

But so far so good! I still can not believe that I did this!

The polka dot dress

2009-06-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Since Memorial Day weekend I have been sewing non stop. Or at least trying to learn how to sew and trying not to get frustrated. I went to Joann's, used my coupons and bought some beautiful fabric (I love cute fabric) and easy patterns. I then went over to the library and checked out a few sewing books. I have also watched a lot of youtube videos on how to sew. So I guess I am ready to sew now. Maybe I'll be the next Vera Wang? I love her style. Or maybe CK, just love the simplicity in his designs. Who knows.... Hey, if you become my follower, you might be following the next superstar...!

Well since that weekened I have dove right into sewing. I have started lots of new projects. Whoohoo! I have only completed one though. Here it is.

I just love this lining I choose in this dress. I think it compliments the brown polka dot material well. What do you think?

Pan Roasted Spiced Apples

2009-06-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

I LOVE baking! Unfortunately I really can not do any baking in our household since my husband and I are both trying to eat healthy. The only time that I get to bake is either when we have visitors or I volunteer to bake for an activity. Well, last weekend, my brother and his wife and kids came by to visit. Yeah! Which means we were in for a delicious surprise! I decided to baked an EASY dish. Just my style!.

Pan Roasted Spiced Apples. This is so yummy!

What you need:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spray a cast-iron skillet or glass dish with a light film of butter-flavored oil or PAM.

Peel and slice apples.

Combine sweetener and spices. Sprinkle over apples.

Side note: I didn't have cardamon in my cupboards, no worries, I just added a little more cinnamon and sugar.

Roast for 10 minutes until sweetener and spices are bubbly and apples are beginning to grow soft.

Serve with not-fat vanilla ice-cream if desired. Serves 4-6.

Puff Sleeves

2009-06-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Remember when Matthew bought Anne of Anne of Green Gables, her dress with PUFF sleeves....

"That's a Christmas present for you, Anne," said Matthew shyly. "Why--why--Anne, don't you like it? Well now--well now."

For Anne's eyes had suddenly filled with tears.

"Like it! Oh, Matthew!" Anne laid the dress over a chair and clasped her hands. "Matthew, it's perfectly exquisite. Oh, I can never thank you enough. Look at those sleeves! Oh, it seems to me this must be a happy dream."

I love that Movie!! Well, this week I have finally sewed my first puff sleeves!I am so excited! It was so intimidating but I pulled out the pattern and directions and watch youtube "how to" videos and went for it and here it is. Ta da!!!

Lovely, don't you think?

Sometimes I just sit back and find myself admiring my work. It is only sleeves but I did it. It took me a couple of times to get this sleeve on right. I had to pull out my trusting friend, the seam ripper, once or twice. Ok like 10 times. Here are some photos of what I did. I'll also show you what NOT to do. I think in the beginning of my blog I will probably be showing you "what not to do" more often. I apologize in advance since I am still in that learning phase. So bare with me please.

What not to do:
Here is what happens when you get overly excited and start sewing your elastic on the back that I forgot to make sure the ribbon was safely away from the needle. Opps.

This is what it is suppose to look like.

When I finally got the elastic on right I just sew up the sides together and also hemmed the ends up.

Afterwards I gathered my sleeves and adjusted them. I then pinned them onto the bodice and sewed!

Now I can put sleeves on anything! I might even give these a go.

Lana Lu Lu creates!

2009-05-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog! It is called Lana Lu Lu Creations. Lana Lu Lu was a nickname that my father use to call me when I was young. Times back then were so carefree and I always seem to be creating something. I remember when I was 7 years old, I took an old cardboard box and made a house with windows, doors and stairs in it. It was then that I wanted to become an architect. Sometime later I was playing with paper dolls and started making my own paper doll clothes and then wanted to become a fashion designer. At another time I remember making my very own fashion magazine with advertisements in it! Now I really wish I still had that magazine. That would've been fun to see. Well, as it turns out I ended up studying architecture in college.

I hope you enjoy this blog and seeing the different things I make and the pretty things I find. I may even giveaway some of my creations! We'll see. If I don't mess it up that is. We'll just have to see. So come back often and tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you!