"Miss Hootie" Fleece Pillow PDF Pattern and Tutorial...

Hi, friends! As I promised earlier this week, below you'll find the PDF pattern and tutorial for making my cute "Miss Hootie" pillow. I made and gave this sweet "Hootie" to my favorite 9 year old friend, Heather F., whose room just happens to be decorated in owls!! :)

Begin by clicking on my pattern link and printing it off on a piece of 8 1/2" x 14" paper:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Y8wDV7XV3tU0xFc3FkNTY2NWozb25mSjFpUFAyVkZrcHZj/edit?usp=sharing

Cut your pattern pieces out:

Gather your materials...you'll need the following items:

• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• "Hootie" pattern
• Thread
• Pins
• Fiber fill
• Fleece (I used a pink polka dot and chocolate fleece for my "Hootie")
• Misc. embellishments as desired

Pin the pattern to the fleece and carefully cut out the pieces. I used a pink polka dot fleece for the front of my owl, and a chocolate brown fleece for the back...but the sky is the limit on the way you want your "Hootie" to look!

After all of your pieces are cut out, you'll begin sewing everything together on your sewing machine. With the right sides of your wings together, stitch around the edges, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance and a small area left unsewn so that you can turn the wings right-side-out after stitching. Pin the beak in place on the front of the owl, and stitch across the top to secure it. Place your eye circles over the stitched top part of the beak, pin in place, and sew. (NOTE: You can use all 3 graduated circles that I've provided in the pattern for the eyes; or you can use just 2 of the circles and buttons like I did...the choice is yours!) As you can see in the close-up photo below...I sewed a spiral inside each of the blue circles on the eyes for a little extra detail.

NOTE: If you want to add eyelashes like I did, (because my "Hootie" is a girl!), then simply free-hand cut half-circles from brown fleece and then snip the outside edges to form the lashes. Place these under the white eye circles before stitching them down and TA-DAH! - you'll have eyelashes!

 Carefully stitch the owl feet to the bottom edge of the brown body fleece.

Lay the stitched and turned wings on the brown body piece; lining up the edges of the wings with the edges of the body. Place the pink body front of the owl face down on top of the brown body back, with the wings sandwiched in the middle and the feet laying where they are inside the body. Leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, sew around the edges leaving the bottom of the owl open to allow for turning inside out. Your "Hootie" should now look like this:

At this point I decided that I wanted to add a felted heart, crocheted flower and beads to my "Hootie's" tummy...so I carefully hand stitched it together and then stitched it to the owl:

 

Since my "Hootie" is a girl, I also thought that she needed a bow on her head...so I made this bow and hand-stitched it to the top of her head:

Here's a close-up shot of her face and hair bow:

Carefully stuff the "Hootie" with fiber fill through the opening at the bottom, using the handle of a wooden spoon to get into the crevices to make sure they get filled out evenly. Once the owl is stuffed, hand stitch the opening at the bottom of the "Hootie" to close everything up. (NOTE: If you want your "Hootie" to smell extra good, add a few Downy Unstoppables laundry freshener pellets to the inside when you stuff it with fiber fill!)

Here's another look at my completed "Miss Hootie". I hope that you enjoy making these and much as I have...they make perfect gifts for the kiddos in your lives!

Have a WONDERFUL day!

Hoosier Cabinet Love...

 

Good morning! For many years I have wanted an old Hoosier cabinet, so when I recently came across this one, (which dates to the early 1930's),  at a local antique shop, I knew that I just HAD to have it!! My sweetie picked it up for me on Friday afternoon, and it now has a new home in my craft room. It is being used to house my old canning jars and crocks which hold crafting supplies such as buttons, brads, baker's twine, etc. (My Big Shot die cut machine fits perfectly under the roll top section of the cabinet, and the enamel top makes a fantastic work space for cutting out dies.) This Hoosier has LOTS of storage space and is the perfect addition to my craft room...I just love it so much!!

The giant letter "B" was also purchased at the same antique shop...I plan on decorating it at some point, but for now it has a place of honor on top of my Hoosier! :) If you are ever in the Tulsa Metro area, I highly recommend that you take a little side trip to Bixby, OK to Bird's Eye Treasures antique shop. It is located just south of 151st on Memorial. They are open:

Thursdays: 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Fridays: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Saturdays: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sundays: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

 

Every time that I pop into their shop I find the most unique things...it has become one of my new favorite stores! (You can check out their store on Facebook by clicking HERE.)

Thanks for dropping by my blog today! Be sure to check back in a couple of days, as I'll be sharing a pattern that I created to make a "Miss Hootie" pillow...here's a sneak peek of this cutie:

Have a blessed week!

Quote Sunday

(Image found on the Internet)

Silly Saturday

(Image found on the Internet)

Hee! Hee! Have a GREAT weekend!!

Scrap Fabric and Clearance Frame Message Board

Hi, Friends! I know, I know...lately I've been a big 'ole blog slacker - sorry! Work has been really busy since going back after Christmas break, and then I came down with a stomach bug on Friday - YUCK! Thankfully the bug only lasted about 24 hours!

I had every intention of posting this project last week, but time totally got away from me! Anyhoo...check out the pretty message board that I made using a frame and fabric remnant that I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby. The frame didn't have a glass front, so it was marked down to $1.99 - sweeeet!

Here's how I made it...first gather up your supplies:

• 8" x 10" or 11" x 14" wood frame
• scrap of fabric that will fit the inside of the frame
• cardboard to fit inside the frame 
• spray adhesive
• clear drying glue
• fine grit sand paper
• jute twine
• mini clothespins
• staple gun
• lace
• button
• coordinating acrylic paint & sponge brush

Begin by laying your frame on a flat surface. (I like to cover the surface with a paper bag that I've cut open, which makes clean-up super easy!)

Carefully sand the surface of the frame and then wipe the dust off with a damp cloth. Dip a dry, sponge brush into just a little acrylic paint and lightly apply paint to the frame to give it a shabby-chic look:

Spray a piece of cardboard, (that has been cut to fit the inside of the frame), with adhesive and carefully stick the fabric to the cardboard, being careful to smooth out any air bubbles:

Using a staple gun, attach jute twine to the inside of the frame. Apply a light coat of clear-drying glue to the inside lip if the frame and place the fabric covered cardboard inside the frame. Allow the glue to thoroughly dry. Once the cardboard has securely dried in place, attach lace to the back of the frame with the staple gun. Tie a bow with a piece of lace, securing it to the lace hanger with a button:

By adding mini clothes pins to the jute twine, you can attach photos, notes, etc. to your memory board:

Simple message boards like this are really easy to create and would make a great gift for anyone! I gave this one to my pal, Megan F., who is one of the kindest & most thoughtful people that I know! She is always doing nice things for me, so I wanted to make something for her to let her know how much I appreciate her. :)

Have a WONDERFUL week!!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday: In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the Internet)

It's the weekend folks, so we should all be in a GREAT mood!! Have a good one!!

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

If only it were this easy to drop a few pounds!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Upcycled Old Window to Shabby Chic Message Board...

Hi, friends! Today I want to share with you some pics of an old window frame that I transformed into a message/photo display board. My co-worker, Jenny M., asked me to create a shabby-chic version of the Christmas card display board that I recently made. (You can click HERE to see that post.) Jenny knits beautiful scarves, so she offered to knit a scarf for me if I would make her a message board...needless to say I was happy to make one for her!

My sweet hubby removed the glass from the window panes and then stapled chicken wire to the backside of the old window frame. (The window frame was already painted a lovely shade of sage green, so I just left it as is...chipped and all...to add to the rustic look that I love so much!) I wrapped burlap and lace around one side of the frame, and created burlap and button roses as accents:

These burlap roses are SUPER EASY to make! You simply take a length of burlap ribbon, twist and roll it until you form a rose shape. I then used a generous amount of Tacky Glue on the backside of the roses to hold them in place on the window frame. A button can be added to the center of each flower, if desired.

I picked up a wooden letter "M" at Hobby Lobby and spray painted it, along with 16 wooden clothes pins, with a flat white paint. After the paint dried, I tied 16 jute bows and glued them to the clothes pins with Tacky Glue. (The "M" is also glued to the top of the window frame with Tacky Glue.)

For a final touch, I added some neutral colored berry sprays that I picked up from the floral department at Hobby Lobby. I thought they added a nice touch to the burlap and lace texture.

Here's a quick photo of the beautiful scarf that Jenny knitted for me...it is soooooo soft and warm!!

Thanks for taking time to stop by my blog today! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Blessings,

Two-Sided Necklaces

Happy Monday, friends! I wanted to share with you a couple of photos of the necklaces that I made for a few of my co-workers for Christmas. Even though these pendants are a bit time consuming, they are really easy to make! The reason that they take several days to complete is due to the drying time of the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic which creates the shiny, acrylic effect on the pendant tops:

Click HERE for the link to the post where I shared the basic instructions to make these pretties.

You'll begin by purchasing metal washers from your local hardware store. Using various scrapbook papers and embellishments, adhere the elements to one side of the washers using Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. (I didn't cut out the center holes of the washers for these pendants, as I wanted them to be solid.) Continue to add additional layers of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the embellished washers, allowing each layer to thoroughly dry between each coat. Once you've reached the desired look you're going for, allow to thoroughly dry then flip the washer over and repeat the process using different papers/embellishments. (TIP: I cover a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil to work off of. The washers won't stick to the surface of the foil if some of the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic gets on it.)

To finish your necklaces, add a bale then run a satin cord through the bale to create the necklace. You can tie the cords in the back to slip over your head, or, if you prefer, you can attach jewelry hardware as I did. Here are the fronts of the necklaces that I made:

And here are the reverse sides of those necklaces:

Stay tuned for another jewelry project that I'll be sharing with you in the next few days...I'll use a large scrapbooking brad to create a 2-sided pendant!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

(Image found on the Internet)

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the internet)

Cupcake Pin Cushion Tutorial...

I hope that you all had a fun and safe time ringing in the new year. My sweetie and I just enjoyed a quiet evening at home, which was so nice! We are such home-bodies, so anytime we are home we are happy, happy, happy!

I've been on Christmas break from work for the past couple of weeks, so I have been cleaning/organizing closets and working on several craft projects to share with you. The first crafty tutorial that I'm posting for 2014 is to show you how to make this super cute cupcake pin cushion:

It looks almost good enough to eat, doesn't it?? Here's how I made it:

Begin by gathering your supplies...I started out with a yellow ramekin that I picked up at a discount store. I then cut a piece of chocolate colored fleece into a circle that would go around a Styrofoam ball. I had a piece of pink satin ruffled trim in my stash that I knew would form the perfect "frosting" on my cupcake:

Stitch the pink ruffled ribbon to the top of the chocolate colored fleece to create the "frosting":

I then hand-stitched a red pom-pom to the top/center of the pink ribbon to look like a cherry. (I mean after all, what is a cute cupcake without a cherry on top??) Next I stitched a running stitch around the outer perimeter of the chocolate fleece so that I could gather it around the Styrofoam ball:

To hold the cupcake in place, I applied E-6000 adhesive to the inside of the yellow ramekin before tucking the cupcake inside of it:

Once the cupcake was firmly adhered to the inside of the ramekin, I then added pretty, multi-colored, glass-topped straight pins to replicate sprinkles on the cupcake:
 

This is a perfect gift for the gals in your life that love to sew and quilt! I will be giving this cutie cupcake to my sweet sis-in-law Sandy this weekend. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Sandy is an avid quilter, so I thought she'd like to have this for her sewing room.

Thanks for dropping by today! Have a SUPER day!

Blessings,