Bed Rest Buster: Headband Headquarters

Well guys, it appears that my little lady is determined to make an early entrance, at least earlier than planned. A few weeks ago when I was about 33 weeks I started to go into pre-term labor and the doctor has been trying to hold the baby off from coming ever since. So yep, as you might have guessed given the title of this post, I've been put on bed rest.

Oh the dreaded phrase Bed Rest!! It is certainly not the worst thing in the world, and I am obviously happy to do whatever it takes to keep our little girl safe and healthy. But unfortunately it has arrived at the exact time that my nesting instinct has kicked into high gear. It's all I can do to keep myself firmly planted on the couch when these urgent messages keep popping into my head, "You don't have any pacifiers! You need to sterilize the breast pump! You need to borrow someone's Boppy Pillow!" and on and on it goes.

So what does a typically multi-tasking girl do in those non-napping hours of bed rest-ing, to try to keep her hands busy and mind occupied enough to stop making list after list of things to do?

Yes. Make baby headbands. Lots and lots of headbands.

I have been bookmarking various tutorials that I come across for fabric flowers, knowing that little headbands and hair clips would be in our little girl's future. It turns out that if you must camp out on the couch for hours at a time, this is a great project. Particularly if paired with some sort of all-day marathon of a good brain candy tv show.

You simply need a little headband station with a variety of supplies. Prepare for your husband to make comments like, "It looks like a sweatshop over here!" And prepare to ignore him. Or just ask him for more snacks or ice water.

At your station you'll need sharp scissors, various types of fabric, lace, felt, needle & thread or glue gun, elastic, piece of paper to use as a template, and something round to trace for a template.

I'm not actually sharing a tutorial today, just a collection of tutorials that I've come across and the fruits of my labor. These ladies have already spelled everything out perfectly and you don't want to try to make sense of my crazy pregnant ramblings!!

First up is this lovely fabric flower, tutorial from Simply Vintage Girl here. Love it. Newborn baby photo prop? Definitely.

I made these headbands with a similar technique as the example shown above. I just cut the fabric into circles, burned the edges, and glued them together. Easy and elegant!!

Next I made this felt dahlia flower from KoJo Designs here. I will probably be switching out the pearl on this for a string of beads once I can get to the store to get beads, but I just love the bright red and white! It makes me think of Christmas, Valentines Day or 4th of July. She'll be ready no matter what!

Next up were these no sew flowers from Ruffles and Stuff here. I simply went through my fabric stash and started cutting different fabrics into circles. I tried to mix it up a little by using different colored stretchy bands, and adding a bit of lace as well. These were easy and several have already been used for other baby clothes projects, so I know they'll match perfectly!

I found this lace flower at Aly & Ash Creations here. I was so excited that I actually had the exact lace and brads that she used in her example. Love it. This one will be a hair clip. That is, once I get some hair clips it will be. :)

There are lots of tutorials for rolled fabric flowers, and I found mine at Hello Friend here. Whether these will be a big cluster on a headband or made into little clips is still to be determined. But they are the same color scheme as in her room, so I couldn't resist keeping them together for a picture! :)

I also made up a few other bows that I left un-attached for now. Will they be hair clips, headbands, attached to onesies or some other clothing item? Only time will tell.

I will also be trying out Patrice's Quick and Easy Hair Ribbon tutorial as soon as I can get my hands on some ribbon! I'm still stocking up on my "girly" supplies around here! :)

Well, that's it for now!! It was fun to have one thing I could scratch off of my "to do before baby arrives" list. And my husband is happy to have back the section of the couch that was dedicated to my supplies. :)

Okay, now you have to tell me, have I missed any essential baby hair thing-ys tutorials? If so, please link up in the comments.

And have any of you been on bed rest yourselves?! How did you pass the time without going crazy?! Aside from sleeping, which I promise I do! I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions!!

Have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!!

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It's a "Felt" Friday

You may remember my Paper Tree a while back. Felt is so versatile and such an easy throw together project when you are looking for a last minute table decoration idea. So I decided to use my old paper tree project and turn it into this cute Valentine Tree!



All you need is tons of felt, some pins, and of course some styrofoam. (A wreath would be super cute as well)



Depending on the size of your tree (mine is just a little guy) I cut my circles approx. 2". Folding them in half and once more, then simply putting the pin in the end and placing them in no particular order on the tree.



Just keep going...



And going...you are almost finished!



Voila! Add your tiny cute tree to the rest of your festive decor. Place a felt rosette inside serving piece, topped along with some awesome houndstooth frames, which I found for super cheap and of course added some felt to them.

Ever feel like a "Felt" Friday?

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Gift Idea: Pizza Shop

This week on Lemon Tree Creations we're sharing some of our gift ideas. I wanted to share this little gift that my 2 year old son will be receiving this Christmas, a pizza shop.

My son just loves pizza. (It's a good thing too, because pizza nights have been a tradition between my husband and I since the old days when we they were pizza and Arrested Development nights.) Anyway, this summer we found Jayce a little kitchen with a bin full of dishes at a yard sale, and the first thing that he decided to make and serve to us all was pizza. Ever since then I've had in my mind that I need to make him a little pizza shop, and I finally did.

First off, I bought a plain red kid's apron at JoAnn's and decorated it with Silhouette's heat transfer material. Now he is officially the pizza shop chef.

I followed this tutorial for making a Lily Bean felt pizza. The only thing that I did differently was make my toppings a single layer that did not need to be sewed. (I tried to do it the way that she instructs, but I just couldn't pull off sewing little circles. I decided to let myself off the hook.)

Next I made him some uncooked pizza dough. I traced a salad plate (8 inches in diameter) onto the felt with a sharpie to get a nice circle, and then sewed around the line. I left a 3 inch strip open, trimmed the fabric around the circle, turned it inside out and used fabric glue to glue the opening shut. I would DEFINITELY recommend sewing before cutting out the circle. I tried it both ways and it's much easier to guide the fabric through the sewing machine when you have some excess to hold onto.

Next I got some mozzarella-colored yarn and made some shredded cheese.

I cut two 6 inch circles out of red felt. These would be the sauce. I also picked up 2 of these tins, perfect for my little chef to cook his pizza in! (I found these at the first thrift store that I went to, so just keep your eye out if you might make a little pizza shop someday. There are still plenty of days before Christmas!)

Next up was the pizza toppings. I went pretty basic: pepperoni, mushrooms, and green peppers. I found a small cupcake pan at the thrift store that was perfect for housing the toppings and made them easily accessible to the chef.

I had a few empty spice containers which quickly became pizza shop spice containers! I simply peeled off the old labels, made a few very basic labels on my computer, and printed them onto 2 inch by 4 inch shipping labels. It was the perfect fit. I filled the olives jar with some large wooden beads that I had on hand, and the spices jar will be filled with some small beads and the top taped shut. Just enough to make a fun rattling sound when when the chef is spicing up his pizza.

The final touch? A pizza box!!

No, I did not make this, but I'm sure that if you tell the pizza person at the drive through window that your kid loves to play pizza shop, and could you please have an empty pizza box for him to play with, that he'll oblige as easily as ours did. He will likely oblige more quickly than your husband will when you send him out for pizza and explain this scenario to him right as he's going out the door. I'm just saying.

There you have it! A fun little pizza shop for your little one to enjoy.

Also, Tiffany is contributing a tutorial today over at KoJo Designs "Gifts for Guys" series, so head over and check her out! You're sure to find some inspiration for the big and small men in your life.

I'll be linking to these great parties this week! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

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No-Sew Cupcake Costume, and a WINNER!

I am pretty excited about this project. I fell in love with this Pottery Barn Kids Cupcake Costume a couple of months ago, but my little bean was too small for it. Also, it was priced right around $60, which was just more than my costume budget could handle. So, I decided to give it a go myself. I didn't sew even an inch of it, and I am pretty happy with the results!

All you will need are these simple materials:
1) 1 yard of pink fleece
2) 1/2 yard brown felt
3) 6-8 pieces of small felt sheets (red, white, brown)
4) ruffled edging
5) scissors
6) hot glue
7) ribbon
= $18.67

The first thing I did was pull some of my daughter's clothes from her closet to get an idea of sizing. I cut the neck outline using the outline of one of her shirts.

Next, I scalloped the edges of the neck piece and added red, brown and white polka dots (with hot glue of course!)

Then I hot-glued the ruffled edging onto the neckline, in a double layer to create the 'topping.'

After I added the ruffle edging, I realized it would be harder to stretch the top layer off and on my daughter's neck. So, I cut a straight seam down the back, and hot glued simple thin ribbon to create a tie.

I made a second neck layer, slightly wider, following the exact same steps. However, I did not glue any ruffled edging on the bottom layer, so I didn't need to create a seam or tie.

The next step was to create the skirt, or 'cupcake and wrapper.' For this piece, I pulled out one of Lola's dresses to figure out a good width and length. I then cut a piece of the brown felt to size, and hot glued the edges together to create a skirt.

I don't have very many pictures of the process, but I cut 7 inch light brown felt strips to glue onto the skirt. These created the wrapper. I glued them on, side by side, in sort of a picket fence pattern.

To finish the skirt, I added a pink trim to the bottom to make it look a little more finished, and added ruffled straps to make it a jumper that Lola could wear, under the two neck pieces. (All pieces were attached with hot glue, of course!)

For the finishing touch, or 'cherry on top' if you will, was a cherry headband. I am still looking for the perfect 'stem,' so if you have any ideas, let me know! For the part I do have, I created a stuffed red felt ball (sealed with hot glue), and wrapped a double ruffle layer around the outside. I then hot glued both pieces to a thick brown headband we already had.

And, wait for it, wait for it...

TA DA!

Our little cherry cupcake. Isn't she a sweetie? I am a little worried that maybe the 'cupcake' part is a little much for the wrapper, but hey, who doesn't like a little extra frosting right? I might be trimming this part down if the perfectionist in me gets a little too loud.

It was hard to get a good picture of the little cupcake, because she was way too busy. But I wanted you to see the little costume in action, so I hope you enjoy what I did manage to capture.

I'll be linking to these parties this week. Hope you will come and link up with us!

NOW, ONTO other news... The Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway...

And the winner is...

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 140 Result: 17 :
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Jade Cook September 17, 2010 8:07 AM

"LOVE the Diamond Damask & Hourglass Allover. I need something like this for our Master bedroom! This would be perfect!!!!"

Congratulations Jade! Please send me your email address so I can get you in touch with the great people of Cutting Edge Stencils.

Happy Thursday!

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