8.30.2011

Tutorial: Birthday Banner / Birthday Bunting

I always hear the word bunting now instead of banner and perhaps I've just lived in my bubble for too long as I really didn't know what a "bunting" was, a fancy name for a banner? So I looked it up on Google. It is "flags and other colorful festive decorations". So I guess this birthday banner is a birthday bunting. Either way, these are my steps for how I made The Bubb's first birthday sign decor.


Supplies:

1 1/2 yard of EcoFelt (from JoAnn). I used many different colors but all in all including the backing it was less than a 1/2 yard. (you could easily make them with regular cotton fabric, etc.)
2 Lite-steam-a-seam 
3 Twine/Rope/ribbon/etc. I got 5 feet of this cotton tape stuff at JoAnn. I liked the look of it as opposed to a round rope type.



I know there are many ways to put these together, but this is how I made mine :)


Step 1 Print out your letter (or hand draw). I used Century Gothic size 475. I printed them on binder paper and in outline form. Now originally I cut them all out, as shown below, as I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing and was thinking felt numbers. BUT you don't need to cut them out if you are going to applique them on - which is what I am about to do :)


Step 2 Trace the letters backwards onto Lite-Steam-A-Seam or similar. This will make appliqueing much easier. This is also why you don't need to cut them out, as you can just trace them from the paper straight on. If you have a hard time seeing the letters backwards through the paper, just trace them with it held up to a window or light-box.



Step 3 Place each letter onto the felt color that you want. Peel off the extra paper so that the sticky side is now on the felt. If you are using regular fabric you'd need to place them on the wrong side of the fabric, but for felt it doesn't matter so much.


Step 4 Iron them down.



Step 5 Cut out the letters (this has always been one of my favorite steps for any applique project)


Step 6 Cut out the rectangle backings (or pennant shape backings). Mine were 6.25 x 7 inches.

Step 7 Place and center the letters onto the backings. Peel off the other paper side of the letters and now you have a sticky side again, and press them onto the backs. Then iron them down. At this point they will stick forever pretty much if you do a good job ironing.



Step 8 But I decided that I wanted to top stitch them for a more professional look.



Step 9 Place the letters onto the twine/string/ribbon/bais tape/etc. and pin down. I found the center of the 5 ft and started there and worked out, as I didn't know how much extra I wanted on each end for hanging. I placed them pretty much right up against each other - that way when they are hung in an arc, they will separate a little and won't have additional space in between them.


 

Step 10 Sew them down. I didn't wrap them around the top or anything like that, just lined them up to the top of the cotton tape and then sewed a 1/4 inch down from the top.



And you're done! I also inserted a "blank" square inbetween Happy and Birthday. Then I opted to add a cute a little party hat, made out of felt, to make it more interesting.


Right now it is hanging up in The Bubb's room but I really made this to hang at the party, but I figured he could use a little decoration in his room (since I still haven't gotten around to really decorating...at least it is painted and has felt garland :) )

8.29.2011

You're Invited


This week The Bubb turns one, yes ONE. Amazing how fast the time has gone, so much has happened in the past 365 days. They change so quickly at this age and it seems that every hour he is learning and doing something new and different.


We decided to have a little party for him next weekend and theme it after the card game UNO. In order to accomplish this the first thing we needed was to have invitations. Using a classic UNO card as my model (not those new fancy ones, but the vintage kind) I scanned it and then changed it up in Photoshop so that the back of the card would be like the back of the playing cards and then the front is the same as the 1 card for the game.


I shifted the 1 away from the center and added all the party information. I had them printed on cardstocky paper at Kinkos (or are they called FedEx now?) as our 15 year old home inkjet printer wouldn't have been able to produce the quality that I wanted. They were printed so that when cut the front and back image would line up resembling the playing cards. I cut them myself and then round the corners so that they looked like the cards from the game.



Then I sealed them up in some brightly colored envelopes that I found in the clearance section at Michaels, cause they get tossed anyway!

8.26.2011

Fabric Bubb :: My Very Own Fabric Shop

So excited to share with you that I now have a fabric shop, called Fabric Bubb :) Named after The Bubb of course!

Right now I am using Etsy but at some point soon I'd like to get my own "dot com" site going. We are just starting with a few fabrics but more and more are coming in every day. Designers that we have in stock include Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman, Timeless Treasures, Birch Fabrics, Shannon Fabrics (minky), etc. I am happy to cut any amount of yardage that you need so feel free to check it out!



8.22.2011

The Last Crib Bumper


For the past few weeks I've been working on a custom crib bumper. It is actually the last one I'm going to make due to The Bubb's decreased napping times and thus the general lack of time I have overall now. Working together we picked out a color scheme based around Michael Miller's Zoology in Lagoon fabric.


We wanted the bumper to be made from the Zoology in Lagoon fabric and I used black fabric ties so not to distract from the print. I love the bold and bright colors.




To match I also made a crib skirt in Play Stripe in Lagoon and two coordinating crib sheets in Dumb Dot in Citron and Ta Dot in Teal. I love having vertical stripes for crib skirts.




It's probably a good thing that The Bubb no longer uses a bumper otherwise I'd have a hard time not making him a new one every month or so!

8.18.2011

Oh Deer!


This past weekend we headed up to Mount Shasta for a little sun (there is sadly hardly any where we are living, silly fog...) and outdoor adventuring. Instead of camping this time we got a little 2 bedroom room with a kitchen to allow us to cook meals for The Bubb. It is strange but it seems like we took the same amount of stuff here as we do when we go to my parent's house. That kid has stuff :)


The Bubb did great on the car rides and learned how to turn the TV on. And he actually flipped it to Curious George before he went up and plastered himself to the TV. It was then turned off for the rest of the trip.



We did some hiking, flower picture taking, relaxing, etc.



And it seems since we come up here every year that we take pictures of ourselves in front of Mt. Shasta, as it wouldn't be a complete trip if we didn't...



The Bubb also got his first deer encounter, it was a momma deer and her two little ones. They even still had their spots. And were really not concerned at all that The Bubb was banging on the window or that we were there when heading out for the morning.



I wish it could have lasted a little bit longer, but back to the normal daily activities.


8.16.2011

Owl Friends


Ever since I purchased this fabric The Bubb has been obsessed with it. He sees it from across the room and just bolts for it. I don't know if it is the owl eyes or the bright colors or what but he loves it and he has seen a lot of fabric. The fabric is by Timeless Treasures and it comes in both green and cream. Both are super adorable. I had a small piece left over and The Bubb would not stop playing with it; so I made another lovey.


Pretty basic, I used the cream owls on the front and backed it with organic cotton fleece. On two of the corners I made loops with the green owl fabric to let him play with it or clip it to the stroller, car seat etc.



He was napping when I took these photos so sorry I don't have one with him in it, but he likes to sit with it in his lap and point at the owls. Its pretty adorable. But I guess everything he does is adorable to me. Oh and good news! He is now drinking from a straw sippy cup, I cannot tell you how excited I am about this!
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