TEACHER APPRECIATION GIFTS #1 & #2

The boys' Elementary school is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week this week.  Our fabulous PTA sent out a theme for each day to help parents with ideas.  Monday was 'bring your teacher flowers' day.  Typically I would jump right on the flower bandwagon, it is Spring after all, but this year a veered off the path a little. 

I found these colorful watering cans at Target and couldn't resist them.

Although they are quite cute on their own I decided they needed a little something.  I used my Silhouette to make some vinyl letters, added them to the watering cans and presto! 

Now they have something cute to water all of the beautiful flowers they received (and this won't die).

Today is 'bring your teacher supplies' day.  Since I am all about giving the teachers things that are cute and useful, these stamps were just perfect.

These cute stamps came from Pick Your Plum.  I added an ink pad and some blank note cards to complete. 

You can see the Teacher Appreciation gifts we gave last year

here, here, here, here, here.

Smiles~Beth

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

Today is the 100th day of school for my boys.  To help celebrate I made my littlest monster a simple little shirt, using my Silhouette (of course!).

I used white heat tranfer vinyl and the font is called Applause.  If you haven't ever used heat transfer vinyl before I highly recommend it.  I was able to whip this up this morning in less than 10 minutes!

Happy Friday!
Smiles~Beth

DIY CANVAS PRINTS

Some of you know that I watch 2 little boys a few days a week.  They are 2 very sweet little guys.  I starting watching them when they were only 10 weeks old.  We consider them family, along with their Mom & Dad, and are very blessed to have all of them in our lives.  Luke & Cole's parents always treat me so well around the holidays and this year I wanted to give them something very special in return.  It took me a while to come up with something but once I saw this tutorial on Pinterest by The Sassy Pepper I knew it would be perfect.  Actually, I am so happy with how they turned out that I am going to make some for myself. 

I used my Silhouette, some vinyl & black acrylic paint to make the "a few of our favorite things" canvas. I want to note that although she recommends using matte mod podge I used a gloss.  It was what I had on hand.  When I make more I will definately take her advice and use the matte.  Don't get me wrong, they turned out beautifully, they are just a little shiny and in certain lights show imperfections.

A big thanks to The Sassy Pepper for this easy and fabulous tutorial!

Smiles~Beth

LOTS OF JAMMIES (CHRISTMAS GIFTS)

Every year since I started sewing I have made the boys Christmas jammies/pj's.  They are always made of snuggle flannel.  This year I discovered some fabulously soft flannel at JoAnns called Plaiditudes.  It washes up wonderfully without balling and somehow gets even softer after each wash (so soft that I even bought some for myself!!).  And they just happened to have a perfect plaid for Christmas jammies...yay!  In addition to those I had a few special requests by my nephews for their own pair. Some even asked for matching shirts :)

You can't see them but those Christmas jammies looked great paired with these plan tees (can't believe I didn't get the jammies in the pic...geez!)

For Logan
I made the soccer ball with Silhouette soccer_C00212_20387 & Silhouette fabric paint

For Zach
I used Silhouette skull_C01416_17986 & Silhouette fabric ink

The jammies were all a hit. I have another pair on my list for one of my nephews who has a birthday coming up in early February (he had requested a monster shirt for Christmas but immediately knew he wanted some jammies for his birthday after seeing his brother Zach's set).  It always amazing that these boys look forward to their handmade Aunt Beth gifts.  It makes my heart happy :)

Happy Tuesday!
Smiles~Beth



EPIC MONSTERS ROBOTS & MORE {FOR CHRISTMAS}

I hope everyone is having fun so far in 2012!

I had wanted to get pics posted of these before Christmas but just getting them done was a big enough accomplishment for me...ha! 

For Connor

For Brandon

For Kyle~made with my Silhouette and Silhouette fabric ink

For Luke

For Patrick (he specifically asked for a robot shirt)
Made with Silhouette orange_robot_C00080_31857
& heat transfer vinyl

For Gage
made with my Silhouette & Silhouette fabric paint

For Logan

For Cole

For Owen

For the hubs :)
Made with my Silhouette & Silhouette fabric ink

I will be posting more Christmas gifts this week!

Smiles~Beth

SIMPLE {SILHOUETTE FOOTBALL SHIRT}

I am still working on those flower applique' and monster shirts. I don't know about you but I get a little bored when I am making several of the same thing (in this case, about a dozen of each).  I needed a quick & simple project to make me feel like I accomplished something.  So, I took a small break and turned this plain old brown tee...

Yeah, I know it's backwards.  I forgot to take a 'before' picture...oops!

Into this cute cool football shirt for my littlest monster, Adam.

football_stitch_border_C00372_19547
6/08/2010

You probably won't be surprised when I tell you that I used my silhouette (along with some white flocked heat transfer vinyl) to create this simple football shirt.  It took me less than 10 minutes to make, from picking the design to ironing it on...now that's fast!  But you don't need a silhouette to make your own.  You could easily cut out the design yourself using an exacto knife (found at most craft stores).  Now it's back to sewing!

Happy Friday!

Linking up to~

Smiles~Beth

4TH OF JULY SHIRTS & A PAIR OF SHORTS {SILHOUETTE}

.
I know, it's a little late to be posting these but I still wanted to share.

The red words are subtle but I am still happy with the way it turn out.

Complete with a flat front and side pockets.  Adam was proud to tell people his Mom made these just for him:)

 I picked up the shirts at Old Navy for $4 each and used my Silhouette along with some heat transfer vinyl to make these fun 4th of July shirts.  For the shorts I used some patchwork fabric from Joann's.  I followed a great tutorial from Make It Love It (thanks Ashley!).  The pockets were much easier to put it than I thought they would be...whew!

We had fun with our simple, low key celebration at home.  We couldn't handle much more after our busy weekend and drive back from Iowa (thanks to the Husar's for your fabulous hospitality!).

Hope that those of you in the States had a fun & safe 4th of July!

Hey, I just realized that I have posted my 100th post...WOW!  I think that calls for a giveaway.   I will post one soon so be sure to visit again this week!

Smiles
~Beth

A WELCOME GATHERED PILLOW {FOR MY MOM}

I took a little break from quilting my Grandma's quilt (I didn't end up using any of those quilting lines but that story is for another day) to make my Mom a sweet ruffled pillow for her birthday (coming up on Tuesday).  I just had to share some pics before we are off to another, you guessed it, baseball game (GO SAINTS!).

I followed a wonderful tutorial by Suzanne over at Just Another Hang up...thanks Suzanne!  The only difference between mine and hers is that I used Robert Kaufman quilter's linen instead of muslin and I added a few little touches by using vinyl heat transfer (all words cut out with my good ole' Silhouette).

You can bet I will be making one for myself as well!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up to~
Tatertots and Jello!
Blue Cricket Design
Smiles
~Beth

ANOTHER {SILHOUETTE} SHIRT & BASTING A QUILT

I just had to share this little shirt I made for my nephew.  My brother-in-law came up with the saying.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the words.  I think it turned out pretty cute...

I really am going to work on some sewing related projects this week, I promise.  Today, I am basting a quilt for my Grandmother (her birthday was WAY back in February!).  I really dislike basting quilts.  Hopefully I will enjoy the quilting process better.  Lots of straight lines (drawn on the quilt already) and finagling that quilt in my sewing machine in my future.  Wish me luck!

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

Smiles
~Beth

A FEW HEAT TRANSFER VINYL T~SHIRTS {SILHOUETTE}

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend here in the States.  We were fortunate enough to spend time with family and enjoy lots of baseball.  Our oldest had a tournament and his team took 1st place...way to go FIRE!

Baseball seems to be taking up most of my time lately so not much sewing has been going on.  I have managed to squeeze a few t-shirt projects in though, using my Silhouette (of course!).

First, I made this shirt for Adam's soccer coach.  Their team is the Fireballs but their uniforms have a sponsor logo on them.  We love our sponsor but I thought it would be fun to make a special shirt for Coach.  It was hit with the team and it seems I will be making more of these for our Fall season.

The second shirt I made for a friend.  She designed the shirt with a program she has and I recreated it (not exactly but close) using my Silhouette. 

I made this next shirt for my littlest nephew, Connor.  Little guys want to cheer on their big brothers too :)

This last shirt I made for Adam.  I figured I could still get away with making him one that says "my mom rocks" since he is only 5.  Funny thing, when I finished it my 8-year asked me to make him one too & he even wants it to say the same thing (such a sweetie!).

He wears it so proudly...melts my heart.

Well, that's it for now.  I am detertimed to get some sewing time in so hopefully I will have something fun to show you soon. 

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Smiles
~Beth
 

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK: GIFT 4

Happy Thursday!  We are still celebrating our Teachers!  Today's theme is "donate a book for the classroom".  Such a great idea!  I wasn't sure what kinds of books the teachers needed to I was going to get them gift cards.  The boys weren't happy about that idea so we headed to the book store and I let each of them pick a new book to donate.  It was so much fun watching them pick out books for their classrooms.  They were so excited.  You woulda thought I took them to the candy store! 

Although I really LOVE the idea of giving a book to the class I still wanted to do a little something just for the teachers.  I have also been wanting to try my hand at etching glass.  I put both thoughts together and came up with this...

I had to put some fabric in the glass so you could see the monogram better.

I bought a 4-pack of glass tumblers at Target, grabbed some glass etching cream at Michael's and put my Silhouette to work for me once again.

Paired with a favorite drink, I think the boys' teachers will enjoy this little something.

You could also make these for each member of your family or give a full set as a wedding/shower gift.  Oh, the possibilities!

Smiles
~Beth 

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK: GIFT 3

Today the boys were asked to wear their teacher's favorite color to school...green. 

A fellow 5th-grade parent came up with the idea of making a shirt for Mrs. T to wear as well (thanks, Patsy!).  I absolutely loved the idea and happily offered to make a shirt for her.

I loved the way it turned out so I made one for all of the boys' teachers!

I purchased the shirts at Hobby Lobby and prewashed them before I got started.  I used heat transfer t-shirt vinyl that I had on hand (ordered from Expressions Vinyl).  And, of course, I use my Silhouette to cut the vinyl shapes.  I hope they like them as much as I do!

Don't worry if you don't have a Silhouette, you can still easily make a shirt like this by using printable heat transfer sheets (also found at your local craft store), scissors and some clip art. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Smiles
~Beth

*So happy to have received an e-mail from Sam's 2nd grade teacher this morning saying "I have to tell you - I LOVE my t-shirt.  It is my favorite shirt of all time.  I am changing into it my first chance today and I will wear it until I wear it out!  Thank you so much!".  You're welcome, Mrs. W!  You deserve SO much more!

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK: GIFT 1

There are lots of great gift ideas out in blogland for Teacher appreciation week like this, this and this.

The head room rep from our Elementary School sent out some ideas for each day of the week.  Monday is "bring your teacher a flower" day.

Very simple to put together.  I got the Gerbera daisies and cute striped pots at Wal-Mart.  I had the ribbon and colored card stock on hand.  I used a 3" hole punch for the circles and my Silhouette for the "thank you".

I will be back tomorrow to share gift #2.  Do you have any fun, easy Teacher appreciation gift ideas?

I hope everyone is enjoying their Monday!

Smiles
~Beth