Beauty begins on the inside. What does that have to do with sewing? Check out this sewing tip from Make It and Love It and learn why a little trimming on the insides of your project will make it even more beautiful on the outside!

* Image from Make It and Love It.

One day when my husband was cleaning out his closet, he accumulated a pile of button-down shirts that he no longer wears. They were either really old, out of style, or didn’t fit anymore. It got me thinking of what I could do with all that fabric! I came up with the idea to make a blanket for my son – it would definitely be one of a kind and be extra special…made from daddy’s button-down shirts. Here’s what you need to get started:

Materials:  1) A bunch of daddy’s button-down shirts, low loft batting (you don’t want anything too thick), fabric for the back side (about 1-2 yards depending on the size of your blanket)

Instructions:

1) For each shirt, lay it flat and start cutting out 8″ X 8″ squares (NOTE: you can make the squares any size you want, but the smaller you make them, the longer it will take to sew them back together!). I used all parts of the shirts: the pockets, the cuffs and even the front of the shirt with the buttons fastened. It makes each square unique with the different textures and design.

2) Once you have all the squares cut out (the number of squares depends on how large you want your blanket), start playing around with the color/pattern scheme. My husband had lots of white and blue shirts so that was my foundation and used striped and plaid squares as accents throughout the blanket.

3) Once you have all the squares laid out how you want it (I suggest laying them out on the floor), divide them by row and start sewing the pieces 1/4 inch together. Once you finish all the rows, then it’s time to sew each row together.

4) Next, iron out the seams of each square. You might think this would be tedious (and it is!), but it will be worth it. It will look more professional and the lines cleaner. This will be the top side of the blanket.

5) Now it’s time to put the top side together with the batting and the back side fabric. This can get a little tricky but the key is to baste all three pieces together. Basically, this means hand-stitching all three pieces together using thread and large stitches. This will ensure that the pieces will stay in place as you work.

6) With all the pieces firmly in place, it’s time to finish the edges with bias tape. What I did was cut 1 1/2″ fabic strips with the same fabric as the back side but you can use store-bought bias tape as well.

7) Give the blanket a wash and you’re done!

Bonus idea: Use fabric glue and foam letters to add your child’s name to the top side for that extra personalization!

I have a ton of shirt squares left over so I plan on making my daughter something unique as well that she will cherish for a long time.

When I saw this tutorial on … is five I was instantly drawn in. First not only do I love how she embroidered the book marks I also love the colors and the practicality of it!

When I was younger I was a huge reader. My favorites started out with Beverly Cleary Ramona series then as I grew older I moved on to Sweet Valley Twins & High by Francine Pascal. Eventually I moved on to the classics of Shakespeare and Dickens then into the fantasy realm of elves and magic with R.A.  Salvatore.

Lately though I have less time for reading but do carve out time for my favorite author- Nicolas Sparks. Seeing these bookmarks makes me want to hit the bookstore and curl up on the couch with a glass of hot chocolate and escape into another world.

Click here to go to … is five and learn how to make these fun bookmarks.

These would be great for party favors or a “just because” gift for the reader in your life. I’m imagining making these for my girl when she gets older with her favorite characters on them!

While doing some spring cleaning I came across a box of candles and some craft supplies that included some glue on jewels. I remembered my sister’s wedding favors and how she slaved for hours gluing on beads and pearls in flower shapes to candles and thought it would be fun to try it out with the jewels I found.

It was fun trying out different designs. I used a silver sharpie on the dark pink candle, the light pink has flowers and the red candle is random sparkles.

It was two easy steps!

1. get yourself some candles and jewels (from the beads section of the craft store).

2. glue on the jewels either randomly on the candle or in a design.

It did take a lot longer then I anticipated because I couldn’t find any glue in the house. The glue stick failed miserably, the rubber cement I had was almost dried up, the super glue wouldn’t even come out of the bottle. In the end I was able to find some Elmers glue that worked perfectly.

Note: I have not lit the candles yet to see how well the jewels hold up to the heat and when it’s burned down.

Buying art can be expensive, but if you have a picture frame and scrapbook paper you can create fun affordable art.

This is a personalized piece by creating my name using the alphabet instructions. Great for a baby’s room! The possibilities are endless though with origami-club.com’s great diagram or animated instructions. You could make flowers or animals or even landscapes.

How to make it?

The frame is a 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 from Ikea. The letters were made from 2 x 2 squares. After making the letters I taped them to the background to hold them in place and put the frame back togehter.

This is one project I wish I had thought of myself.

I saw these adorable heart-shaped paperclips from How About Orange… last year. The best part is you can do it yourself bending the paperclip at the midpoint.

Visit the original blog post for the photo tutorial.

Perfect for Valentines day!

One of my first Amigurumi's - mama and baby turtle

As a newbie knitter I had learned about craftser.org, a forum for crafters to share their FO (finished objects) and patterns. While browsing I fell in love with these little crochet animals called amigurumi.

I immediately wanted to learn how to crochet and went about searching for online tutorials. I quickly learned how to sc, increase and decrease. But the most useful tutorial I found was this one on making a magic ring.

A magic ring is used to start the circle and allows you to pull the tail tight so that you get a nice clean top without holes.

Some of my other favorite tutorials are at these sites:

- hooksandneedles.com

- lionbrand.com – learn to crochet

If you’re wondering what amigurumi look like there’s a ton of adorable ones in the Flickr amigurumi group!

When you’re in need of an activity for the little ones (or big ones) pull out those twist ties and exercise your imagination by making people, animals, buildings – anything! Not to sound cliche, but the possibilities are endless and you’re only limited by your imagination.

I discovered this art when I was setting up a computer at my old job. While waiting for software to install I started twisting them around my finger and thought, “Hmm, this looks a little like a person” and the man twist tie was born (on the right).

Always looking for a challenge, after making people I thought why not try an animal. Silhouettes were a little challenging for me so I ventured into 3-d and ta-da – little puppies!

This one is my favorite though. I like the simplicity of the curves and how they form a flower. This was formed purely by accident. I just started twirling the twist tie around my finger and then pulled the long end out. Instantly I thought it looked like a flower and did the same to the other end.

And just in time for the holidays I found this Twistie-tie Pompom Gift Toppers tutorial (from Nice Package blog) for those of you who need a job for the little helpers in your house. It’s a great way for them to feel involved with the gift wrapping while staying (a little bit) out of your hair!