Random, But Fun Crafting!!

You know, life is just busy, busy, busy!  But on the same token it is fun, fun, fun!  ( Minus back problem and other kinks thrown in.)  Our weather has been pretty great these last few weeks and we have tried to enjoy every moment of it.  Of course, I have incorporated time to fill my need of creating fun crafts! So here are a few of the fun crafty things I have created along with the blogs that inspired me! Thank you to all of the wonderful crafty bloggers out there in blog land! (Yes, I love exclamation points!! Especially when it comes to my God, my family, and crafts!!!!!!!)

Project 1:  The Playful Knot Dress
After I made a pair of ruffle pants for a dear friend's daughter she gave me this adorable fabric. So exciting!!! I had been eyeing this cute knot dress tutorial over at
Everyday Chaos http://bridgetbaxter.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-anniversary-to-you.html  and an Etsy listing at Kissing Kumquats http://www.etsy.com/people/kissingkumquats?ref=ls_profile  I am not a seasoned seamstress so I did it "Ashley style," meaning not always following all of the directions.  I did not do crisscross  back, I just did a bib like the front so that it would be a closed back.  This tutorial was very detailed with its instructions so it was easy to follow.

Project 2:  The Pearl and Ribbon Necklace

I saw one of daughter's friends wearing a bracelet made like this.  I fell in love with it and searched the blog world over to find a tutorial.  It has been on my to-do list for months and I finally got around to making it!  The tutorial can be found at Blue Cricket Design http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2010/01/craft-1-ribbon-and-pearl-neclace_04.html This tutorial was awesome!

 Project 3: The Decoupage Initial
I have always loved these letters!  I always thought that it was too hard to do this technique, so I have never tried it.  After listening to others talk about how easy it was I decided that I too should learn how to do this!  The inspiration was actually just a need for a decoration to hang between two windows in my mom's "purple room" as my daughter calls it. (The quilt has purple in it and that is my daughters favorite color)  I found a decoupage tutorial here at Heart Of The Matter Online http://heartofthematteronline.com/how-to-decoupage-letters  The tutorial has great pictures and directions.

 Project 4: Ruffle Shorts
I decided that I must  make these shorts for my daughter after seeing them in various direct sells children's clothing catalogs and on Etsy.  I made her a couple of pairs of ruffle pants for the winter and early spring, so it's only fitting to make them for summer too!  I used this amazing tutorial from Simply Annie Kate  http://simplyanniekate.blogspot.com/2010/06/learn-to-make-boutique-style-ruffle.html.  She posted a two part tutorial for ruffle pants on You Tube. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74s7ealQlVc  Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZFK0zJN6hQ&feature=related You can also access these tutorials on her blog.  For the shorts I just did the same thing using a pair of shorts that fit her now to make the pattern.

 So as you see I have been trying a few new crafts.  It is so exciting to try new things!  I hope that you have a chance to check out all of these fantastic bloggers.  It takes a lot of time to create tutorials and I thank each one of you for doing this for those of us who like to try new things! With that said...Happy Crafting!!