Perfect Pom Pom Tutorial

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Here's an easy one for you all-- the Perfect Pom Pom tutorial!

Long before I sewed, or knit, or attended middle school, I crocheted. In fact, (and  I'm aging myself here), I crocheted before the Internet. I crocheted shawls and blankets and little hats for years. And all that time, I made crummy pom poms.

Pom poms that would fall apart, where the yarn would pull out, that would  fall off the hat, and pom poms that just generally looked scraggly. After a while (somewhere around the 7th grade), I became discouraged and decided that pom poms were childish and a waste of good yarn, and I never made them again.

Until... A few months ago a friend of mind mentioned that she might appreciate a few crochet pom pom hats for her impending arrival. I was nervous, but I decided to face my fears and figure out how to make the perfect pom poms! After a few hours research and trial and error I think I've come upon the perfect pom pom method-- and I want to share it with you!

The 20 Minute Reversible Apron

I'm cheating a bit here-- I actually whipped this project up on Christmas Eve this year! (I know, I love cutting it close!) Remember my 'no-handmade-gifts' mantra?

Well, on Christmas Eve I was hit simultaneously with a wave of mommy guilt and an offer to babysit. A short hour later, I had these reversible dishtowel apron's sewn, wrapped up, and under the tree.

There are lots of apron tutorials out there, but I especially like these since they are reversible and extreamly thick and wash up well.

Two Minute Ribbon Hair Bows

I'd hoped to be back with a sewing tutorial today-- but I ran into some issues. Hopefully I'll get it done soon! For today, I'd like to share a post I did for Ribbon Retreat ages ago. It's a cute little hair bow that you can make in just minutes.

Have you ever had the perfect ribbon to match that dress-- but you are already late for the party? These little no glue, no sew bows can literally be made in the car on the way to your destination. Believe me, I've done it!

The trick are these little latex rubber bands. If you have a little girl, you can probably already have these. If not, you can find these at any megamart (or even the dollar store!).  The only other thing you need is ribbon! Any type or size will do. I used 7/8 and 1.5 inch ribbon from Ribbon Retreat.

Let's get started! The ribbon I use is about 7.5 inches long. 

 Instead of heat sealing, just cut the ends at an angle to control the fraying.

 Overlap the edges as shown. The overlap will be the back of the bow.

 Pinch or accordion fold the ribbon.

While holding it tight, wrap a latex rubber band around it. And you are done! You can also make these with scraps of fabric, as shown in my two minute bow tutorial.

To make a double bow, use two lengths of ribbon pinched together. Accordion fold and rubber band just as before.

 I overlapped the pink ribbon a bit more, so the orange ribbon would show through the back.

I use these bows as is, by wrapping the rubber band around a ponytail. But what if your little girl doesn't have enough hair to put in a ponytail? (We waited a long time for that, too!)  Simply slip a snap clip into the rubber band to make a clippie.

If your little girl is very young and has very little hair, you can always use one of these baby hair bands. Make  a small slip knot with a rubberband as shown.

Put one side of the rubberband into the other to form a loop.

Then, wrap that loop around your hair bow.

And you are done! All of these took me just a few minutes and no gluing or sewing. I'd love to see if you make any of these for your little one!

Sew What's New?

I have to apologize for the pun! Between knitting and crochet, I feel like I haven't touched my sewing machine in months! I've been trolling the internets for inspiration-- and I definitely have not been disappointed! Here are a few picks just in case you're in need of motivation too.

First off is, of course, Dana and Rae's Celebrate The Boy Series... I've been looking forward to this for weeks! As a mom of a little boy, it's one of my favorite series ever. And it starts next week!!!!!!!

I love Me Sew Crazy's Kid's Design series-- especially now that my kids are old enough to participate in my projects. I'm looking forward to getting so many ideas from the second installment of the series.

Project Run and Play wrapped up another season last week. They had so many fabulous kid's clothes submitted! Don't forget to check out the flickr group too- there are some incredibly talented ladies on there! This is the winning look by the amazing Max California.

Rikka's come up with a new challenge for March-- using a new sewing machine foot! We all know how  much I love gadgets. I'm sure my Amazon wish list will be a bit longer once all the challenge posts are up. I wonder if serger feet are allowed?

And this takes the cake for most adorable-- Melly's back with her Sew In Tune Series. This Little Lumineer's outfit just melts my heart. (Plus now I have the song stuck in my head!)

Ack!!! Now my fingers are just itching to cut into some fabric! Now I just can't decide what to make first!

Greeting Card Flat Marble Magnets

I finally joined the rest of the craft world in making these flat marble magnets! These have been done all over the place-- you can find tutorials here, here, here and here. I do have a tip that makes the project go much faster, though!

I didn't have any pretty scrapbooking paper around, so I cut shapes from a few of the greeting cards we got at our wedding. I was thinking that this would be a great use for those Valentines Day Cards that we are going to get  tomorrow! Much better to see them all year round, than stash them away in a shoe box.


I picked up the marbles at  the dollar store. The magnets and mod podge came from Consumer Crafts. Become a fan of Darice Crafts on Facebook!  I love the extra strong magnets. They are a bit more pricey but they are very thin and barely visible when you look at the magnet from the side.

I also made an alphabet marbles set for my little ones. I stole the idea from the fabulous Kristylee and Cassidy at Mom's Have Question's Too.  1 package of marbles from the dollar store had enough for 2 sets of alphabets and quite a few magnets. 

To make these, I used the this printable from Confessions of  Homeschooler. I had to reduce my copy by 45% to fit on the marbles. To make them a bit more sturdy, I mod podged each letter to card stock. Well, I used another greeting card since I didn't have any card stock laying around.

Here's my big tip-- It is so, so, so much easier to cut the paper after the marble is already glued on. It took me about 20 minutes to make a little over 60 alphabets.

I spent 10 minutes gluing the marbles onto the letters, let them dry overnight, and then trimmed them in the morning. So easy! Although my kids aren't spelling yet, they like to hold them and say the letter names and sounds. It's a neat alternative to flash cards and works well with our Letter Factory DVD.

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and crafty!) Valentines day!

Keep Warm-- Valentines Hat

I thought I would pop in today to show off a few 'heart themed' knit creations. Of course-- they're hats! I ended up taking my own advice and appliqueing a few hearts on this ear flap hat for my daughter.

It ended up looking really sweet in this pink bulky yarn. I simply followed the crochet heart tutorial and used the magic hand applique stitch with a sewing needle and sewing thread.

I also attempted fair isle for the first time! I have to admit I fell in love with this hat. Since each red stitch is just a simple knit stitch, it looks like the hat is dotted with tiny hearts.

I used a variegated yarn so the 'hearts' fade from dark red to light purple. Perfect for Valentines Day-- I need to make one for myself. See you back here on Wednesday!

5 Ways Use Your Crochet Hearts

These little crochet hearts are addictive-- once you start making them you just can't stop!

Since no one needs that many magnets, I thought I'd round up some other ideas for crochet hearts-- either the tiny size or the bigger size. This way you can make as many as you want without any guilt!

1. These Heart Hairpins from Lorraine at A  Grateful Prayer and A Thankful Heart would be great for those little girls in your life. She made them into Valentine's Cards, but you could also just make a few to wear on the big day - for you or your daughter!

2. I love softies, and heart softies would be the perfect thing to slip into your sweethearts mailbox, briefcase, or lunch pail. You could sew two crochet hearts together, or use this Amigurumi Heart pattern from Owlishly (pictured).

3. If it's cold where you are (I turned my car's AC on yesterday-- sorry!), what about doing a heart applique! Posh Patterns used an applique on her Sweetheart Flapper hat; but you could sew your heart on almost anything. Check out the magic stitch tutorial for an invisible applique technique.

4. Although scrapbooking and cardmaking is not my forte, I love these cards from Little Birdie Secrets. She also has a heart pattern-- with video on her site.

5. And lastly, (I have to admit that this is my favorite) Noodlehead's window garland. She uses pom poms, but you could easily substitute tiny crochet hearts!  

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! See you next week with some more Valentine's ideas!

Crepe Streamer Curtain

I love making crepe paper curtains for birthdays and graduations. I hang the them over a bedroom doorway so the person gets a blast of "Happy Birthday" each time they walk through. My littlest little bit just had a birthday, and I found myself up late decorating.

I normally tape up each streamer individually, but this time I thought I would get smart and use the sewing machine. I was impressed with how fast it went, and also how sturdy the finished product was. It was much easier than standing on a chair for half an hour, juggling streamers, tape and scissors. And, the curtain can be used again at the next birthday, photo session, or Valentines Day! Here's a quick tutorial.

3 Newborn Hats

There are scarf knitters, sock knitters and sweater knitters. I am a hat knitter. Knitting a hat is the most satisfying knit for me-- it takes the perfect amount of time, yarn, and brain power. Knitting newborn hats is another story all together. They are like potato chips-- you can't just make one! These are a few hats I made for the baby of a friend of mine.

I had this wonderful single ply white yarn on hand so I first made a knit hat...

I just love the double pom poms on top! Then I dyed some of the yarn pink and made this cute tassle hat. This one has a squared off top that makes it look like ears when worn.

And finally,  a simple crochet one! This I whipped up in white and dyed afterwords.

These are all pretty straight forward, but I'll be sharing more about the dyeing process and hat patterns later! Does anyone else have a craft that they just have to make in multiples?