My craft cave is finally set up (pictures coming after I clean up the mess) and the projects have begun. Last week I made this adorable child’s apron.

I decided to use button holes and a ribbon for the neck strap. I think it turned out really cute!

Tutorial coming soon, I took pictures, but the lighting is not great so I need to do some editing.

You can find more DIY projects at A Soft Place to Land.

Before bed rest, or should I just start calling that time in my life bb,  I planned to make a baby sling for our new baby. I searched the web trying to find an easy pattern so I could make a sling for significantly less than I could purchase one.

I found these instructions on the Maya Wrap website. I already had my fabric purchased and my rings ordered, but I had one little problem bed rest doesn’t really allow for a sewing project. Remember my friend that helped me organize my disaster of a room last month? Well this friend also happens to be a master crafter and offered to come over and sew for me!

She came over yesterday and set up shop in my bedroom. I don’t have any pictures because that would have meant standing over the sewing machine and she didn’t want pictures of herself anyway. Even though I don’t have pictures of the process, I will say that this sling was so easy to make (especially if you are a spectator). Seriously though, we had numerous interruptions, children, husbands, chatting, and she still finished the project in under an hour. We decided that the project really only takes about 20 minutes. The instructions are easy to follow and even a beginning seamstress could make this wrap.

I spent about $5 on the fabric (I had a coupon) and $4 on the rings. So for under $10 I have a cute baby sling, just waiting to be filled with our new baby. I priced baby slings before I started this project and they can cost as much as $65!

I will try to post a picture of the wrap in use once we have a baby to put in it. I tried yesterday with a doll, but since I was sitting, and have a belly, and didn’t really know what I was doing I decided it was better to wait on the pictures!

You can find the instructions here and I ordered my rings from Sling Rings.

By the way, doesn’t that hot pink look great with my brown quilt? I am thinking I need to make some pink pillows for my bed once I can sew again!

This post is linking to Talk about Tuesday, Tackle it Tuesday, and Tightwad Tuesday.

Lisa has written an excellent piece on my other blog Happy to be at Home. If you haven’t heard about a new law that has been passed that will affect everyone who sells children’s toys you must read this post.

As if the horrible economy wasn’t enough, if you sell products targeted for children ages 12 and under, be prepared to THROW AWAY these items, as you will no longer be able to sell them unless you comply to this law.

You read that correctly. Thrown. Away.

I don’t know about you, but I feel ill just typing it, let alone imagining it.

Oh, and if you plan to sell and make a little money from your children’s old items, be forewarned, local yard sale groups and places like Ebay and Craigslist will no longer allow sale of those items, either.

No joke.

Let me back up a bit, as I’m pretty sure this might be the first time you are hearing this.

You can read the rest of the post here.

Did you know that most wrapping paper cannot be recycled? Because of tape, dyes, and the poor quality of the paper most recycling plants do not accept wrapping paper. Fabric gift bags are a wonderful alternative.

Fabric gift bags are so easy to make. They are also inexpensive and can be used over and over again. Here is a quick tutorial on how to make one yourself. If you have basic sewing skills this will be a snap.

Choose your fabric, wash and iron it. Decide how large you want your bag to be. I wanted a bag that was 12 inches wide and about 15 inches tall. I folded my fabric in half and then cut, adding an extra 1/2 inch for seams.

Putting right sides together sew up your sides.

If you want to finish your bag serge or zig zag along the edge of the seam. This will keep the bag from fraying if it is washed. You could also use pinking shears and cut along the edge.

Fold the top of the bag down 1 inch. The bag should still be inside out. Press, so it stays in place and you don’t have to pin anything. You can also fold it once and then again which will give you a nice finished edge as well. I was lazy so I used the overlock machine.

Stitch around the fold.

Turn your bag inside out, actually I guess it is right side out and press one more time.

Put your gift in the finished bag and fold over the top.

Tie a ribbon around the bag.

This project took me about 15 minutes and that included taking the pictures. It is truly a beginner project. Remember you don’t have to use this tutorial for Christmas, you can wrap gifts in fabric bags all year round.

For more tackles visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Have you entered my giveaway for the Motivated Moms 2009 Planner? Click here to enter! The giveaway ends Sunday.

I posted this tutorial about a million years ago, okay not really, but before Mother’s Day. If you are a beginning sewer and need a last minute, cute idea for a gift try making a place mat purse.  A place-mat purse is an easy, inexpensive gift that you can make even if you have little or no sewing experience. I noticed last night that cute Christmas place-mats are already on clearance at Target.

A fellow blogger read this tutorial and made a similar purse without using her machine. Click here to see her great purse!
I posted this tutorial before, but here it is again for those who missed it the first time.

Step one- get a place-mat

Step two- fold the place mat right sides together and sew up the sides as close to the edge as you can, as a side note, start sewing at the opening of the place mat so you are sure it is lined up correctly

both sides sewn together

Third step- fold the bottom part of each side of the place-mat into a triangle, measure and mark each side. I usually make the triangle about 2 inches long

then sew across the triangle

Check both side to make sure they are the same size.

Admire your work so far…

I hope this picture helps show the triangle part a little better.

Time to attach the handles, I purchased these at JoAnn’s.

I use quilt binding to attach the handles. It is pretty strong and doesn’t fray.

Cut four pieces of binding the same length. Attach each piece to the loop on the handle.

Then attach the handles to the purse. Measure the purse so that the handles line up. Most place-mats have a seam that runs right along the edge of the mat. This a great place to sew your handle on because the stitching for the handle blends in.

I then tack the bottom part of the binding on the purse for more strength.

All done, your purse is ready to go shopping!

This makes a great gift, and to make it even more special, fill the purse with a book or some pretty cards. Or even better… coupons!

Here are some more of the place-mat purses…

This one was hand sewn by a friend. She used decorative ribbon to attach the handles.

This one looks a little lopsided because I have stuff in it.

You can fill your purse with fun Christmas goodies too!

Yesterday I cleaned up my room and put away my sewing machine. Then I came across this fabric headband tutorial. It looks really easy and you can make them with scraps of fabric. What a great stocking stuffer idea and is easy enough for a beginning sewer.

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My vacation should be renamed sew-cation. I have been sewing up a storm during my time off this week. Unfortunately I cannot show you the majority of my goodies until after Christmas. But I can show you this cute Christmas dress that is so easy to make! I think it took me about 1.5 hours to put it together and I added some extra steps and had a few mistakes. You can find the tutorial here.

I am able to give you a little peek at my Christmas concoctions… more coming December 26th!

I have decided that fabric is my new favorite way to wrap gifts! Soooo cute and you can reuse it again and again!

For more Friday Show and Tell visit Canada Girl.

For more Talk about Tuesday visit Lara.

During our Florida vacation I had the opportunity to recover some dining room chairs that I am taking back to Maryland. The chairs belonged to my grandfather and were very dated and in need of an update. I have never recovered anything before, but I decided that with the help of my dad, sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, we could figure it out. 

Here is one of the chairs before.

Here is the chair after.

For more tackles stop by 5 Minutes for Mom.

One of the reasons I procrastinated making the lion costume was because I thought there would definitely be a tutorial on the web. I figured I would google “how to make a lion costume” and many wonderful websites would appear taking me step by step through this process. I was wrong. The things that I found were either way too simple (a paper plate mask), or way too difficult (beaded paper mache) and neither were what I needed for my son’s costume.

So in hopes to help some other mom someday here is how I made the lion costume.

I found a pair of brown pajamas at the thrift store. In retrospect I probably would have purchased a sweat suit in a lighter color, but stores are not selling these at the end of April. I also purchased 1 yard of light brown felt, and 1/2 yard each of dark brown and gold felt.

I cut off the ends of the sleeves and also cut off the light part at the waist. I took out the elastic, made it smaller and folded it over and sewed a new waist.

I then cut out a hood. I had a hood pattern from another project, but I don’t think you really need a pattern.

I sewed the hood up the back.

Then I attached it to the shirt.

I then cut the felt into strips about 14 inches long.

I doubled the strips and sewed them around the hood. I started with hand sewing and that lasted about two rows. I then machine stitched the rest of the strips on the hood.

I realized something was missing…. ears. I cut circles out of the felt and then stuffed them and sewed them on to the hood. I also added a tail, which I made by cutting out a long rectangle, sewing up the side and stuffing with an old pillow. I used the felt strips for the end. I also added a small piece to the front of the shirt to give the mane more fluff.

All finished, and just in time for the play!

You can find more sew crafty at Shereen’s blog.

I am so happy I finished the lion costume. I didn’t realize how much this was stressing me until I sewed the tail on and was done!

I started with a pair of women’s pajamas that I picked up at the thrift store and a 2 yards of felt.

I finished with this

My daughter needed a crown for an event she is going to tomorrow night. Instead of making a tinfoil and sequined crown, we came up with this simple creation made from pipe cleaners, ribbon, and some flowers.

We also switched out the little girls’ winter clothes for summer clothes. Hopefully we will get to the boys’ room tomorrow.

I love the girls’ summer clothes. It will be fun packing all the sun dresses for our trip to Florida next week.

For more tackles check out 5 Minutes for Mom.