(sponsor spotlight) Ooh Baby Designs

Jen and I are so grateful for our sponsors!  I thought I'd give a little shout-out today to one of our sponsors, Ooh Baby Designs!

You remember her infinity scarves?

...and her amazing chevron beach totes?

Well, I happened to receive one of her Extra Large Beach totes for my birthday from someone really fun, and I just thought I'd share how much I love it!

i really love it.

exhibit A:

I went to the beach yesterday with what turned out to be an entire beach's worth of friends...36 kids, and I don't know how many moms...it was so fun to sit and chill on the beach with my friends, while my kids had constant fun for HOURS.  (Noon to 5:30 to be exact)  

So, remember that I have a newborn plus my other two kids...which means that if I'm going to be at the beach all day, I have to have everything...including baby stuff.  

My tote is my go-to bag for everything non-food related.  I have my food bag that's insulated...and then this one...and this one is huge, which is what I love about it. It holds my 3-4 beach towels, my placemat summer-essential kit (which we guest-blogged about {here} plus my diapers, wipes, camera, etc.  

 Exhibit B:

I've gotten so, so, so many compliments on this particular bag, which is so fun!  I take it to the beach and the pool every time we go, and to be honest, when it's not beach/pool season, it's gonna be my bag for my son's flag football and baseball games/practices, etc.

The vinyl lining is a dream to keep sand out of the little nooks and crannies of other bags, and I can just wipe it down if anything were to get on it.  It's my fav!  

Go check out Ooh Baby Designs to get one for yourself!

and I so hope you're enjoying your summer as much as I am!

(iCandy) an oops project: vinyl tablecloth and bunting

Here's my oops project.

Do you ever buy something on super sale and get caught up in the brilliance of the price so much that you fail to read the fine print?  Well, I was gifted this vinyl tablecloth for our patio table.  I was so excited to get it because I'd been wanting to play Play-doh outside (way less clean up) with my daughter, and this was just the thing that I wanted to use on our table.  I shoulda read the fine print, though because when I busted it out, seconds before the Play-doh pandemonium was to start, I realized that I had opened up a tablecloth that was completely the wrong shape.  Square peg/round hole situation here...sorta.

Fear not, we still played, but had I read the fine print earlier, I could have just gone and exchanged it.  Dang!

But, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right?  

I thought I'd try out my serger on flannel-backed vinyl...and just make 'er work.

 So, using a yard stick, I measured around the shortest edge of the tablecloth...it happened to be exactly 36 inches.  and I drew a line every so often marking a circle all the way around...

 ...and the serger took it like a champ.  

perfect Play-doh station!

but, I had soooo much wasted tablecloth left-over, that I thought I'd give another little project a whirl: a weather-friendly bunting.

Not that I love this print the very most, but it's bright and summery and cheery...and if by chance you saw a really fun printed one on sale, this might be a fun party decoration idea for cheap...and it really was a fast project!  I thought I'd try out a bunting with the extra yardage, since the fabric serged so nicely.  

 I cut several 5 inch strips using my rotary cutter.

 and using the 45 degree edge cut eight-hundred-bazillion triangles. 

  I layered several strips on top of each other, and literally had so many triangles in no time. 

 Next, I paired 2 triangles together, and serged down two of the sides

 like so:

After I had them all trimmed and ready, I pinned them under neath a length (actually several packages worth) of white double-fold bias tape that I had in my stash and stitched a straight line down the fold to hold them all into place.

 Sort of a silly project, but it was free-to-me, and a fast project...and like I said, if you find a cute print, it just might be a fun little outdoor, weather-friendly decoration...

and now we play Play-doh in style!

(eyeCandy) Reader Project

Have I mentioned how much we love it when readers 

send pictures of iCandy inspired projects?

It is so fun to see your creations!

Today's reader project is a version of the Winter Rose dress.

Chrystie made a navy version with white trim for her sweet daughter.  

I love how it turned out!

Keep 'em coming!

:)

(mini-tut) Downeast skirt-dress knock-off

I've been eyeing this ruffle skirt in the Downeast Basics catalogue.  

{Optional Skirt Dress}

I've been putting off making it because I thought it would be a big project, and big projects just aren't happening around my house right now!  But when I saw Jen's pattern for her everyday skirt that she posted this week {here}  I just used her pattern as the base, slapped a few ruffles on top and called it good!  

lemon-squeezy, as they say.

 I loved the way it turned out, but when I was all done, and put it on me...having just turned t-h-i-r-t-y, it made me feel like I was trying too hard to be...well, younger.  It was cute, but really, would look way cuter on...my cute niece who's in High School.  And, yep...stinkin' so cute on her, right!?!  She makes everything look cute, but this was just the right fit!  Thanks, Aimee!

 So, if you want to make your own, here is the info you need to slap some ruffles on!

(tutorial and pattern) Everyday Basics 1: The Everyday Skirt

I've seen these types of skirts in Old Navy and Target, and they aren't very expensive.  But I thought I would try to make one myself and see how fast a project it turned out to be.

Goodness knows I have enough fabric. 

P.S. I went to LA again this past week...and bought some more amazing knits.  It was so fun.  And I met Dana of MADE  {we were wearing the same outfit...ha} and Ashley of Lil Blue Boo.  Randomly.  It was so much fun.

I made mine a little more fitted than the ones at Old Navy, but if you wanted it looser, all you would have to do would be to angle the sides out a couple inches more on each side.  When trying mine on, I liked the midi length, but you could make any length you like.  So versatile.

And so comfortable.

I made a pattern for those of you medium sized girls.  If you are smaller or larger, just adjust the pattern a bit.  It is a super simple pattern.  Just know, that this skirt would need to be larger if your knit is a 4way stretch fabric or super thin and clingy.  

Want to make one?

(tutorial) Wrapped Up Dress

This last season, Autie and I were asked to be judges on Project Run & Play.  So fun.
Here is the guest post I did, in case you missed it!
*****

Out of everything I make for my daughter, I find everyday dresses/clothes to be the most rewarding.  Especially when she likes what I make! (Which is hit and miss....)

It is so fun to see the handmade clothes be worn over and over!  

For the everyday clothes that I make, I use a lot of knit.  The clothes are more comfortable, and (once you have had practice) easier to make.  

Thanks to our blog, last June, I was able to conquer my fear/intimidation with knits with the Three-Part Harmony dress:

I had tried sewing with knit a few times before, and failed every time.  I had NO clue how to sew with them.  Inspired by a cute undershirt I saw, I was able to ease into sewing with knits using a variety of finishing techniques.  I also bought a serger, a Brother 1034D off of Amazon for less than $200!  It works like a champ and really helped me get over my issues.  Now I use both my machine and serger for each design I sew.

(Update...the presser foot arm broke on that machine, and would have cost almost as much to fix it as a new one, so I bought a Juki MO-644D and love it!)

Once I successfully completed a project with knit, there was no stopping!  Autie joined in the fun too.

Here are some of the fun sportswear pieces we created:

This week's challenge here on Project Run & Play inspired me to come up with another everyday dress for Emily.

It is inspired by an adult dress I had pinned on Pinterest.

I showed Emily a little sketch of the dress, and let her pick out the fabric (from my stash).  

She was very particular.

She wore it to school yesterday, and at the end of the day, when she was getting ready for bed, she said that she wanted to wear this dress every day!  That made me feel SO good.

The other great thing about this dress, is that is a very quick project.  I made it in about 3.5 hours.

I used my Racer Tunic pattern (you can download it there-it's size 5), and just made a few adjustments.

Here is how to make one:

(guest blogging) converted sand-toys bag

Hey Guys!

I'm currently on vacation in Arizona visiting my husband's family, and some friends along the way.  So, in lieu of my usual post this week, I thought I'd share how I lay out our summer weekly schedule and then also share the tutorial of how to make that awesome sand toys bag that I shared originally on Brown Paper Packages. 

So, first...Summer!

I think it's easy to let summer days come and go, especially when it's so nice outside, the kids enjoy just playing in the yard all day...but I want to make sure that we're out and about, hitting all of the fun things our little city has to offer, and take full advantage of the limited time I have with no school schedules and all of my kids.  I certainly don't want to wake up every morning and think: 'hmmm, what should we do today?' 

So, I made a little banner for Summer...and with the exclamation mark, there are 7 triangles...which equal 7 days of the week.  S-Sunday, U-Monday, M-Tuesday...etc.  It may not make any sense to anyone else, but when I sit down to figure out what we're going to do for the week, I enjoy having a visual representation of our plans!  (ha, we do a lot of beaching!)

I'm excited to be a part of Kierste's series this summer called 'What do we do in the summertime?'

at iCandy, we spend most of our days lounging in our beach chairs, drinking diet cokes and watching our kids play for hours at the beach!  So, my summertime craft for you is just a quick something that is making my life a little easier, and my car a little less sandy!

 I just needed a bag that would successfully store all of my sand buckets, shovels, rakes, and other sand accouterments, would be easy to carry, would allow sand to filter out, and still allow the wet sand to dry out. 

check, check, check and check... 

All I used was a cheap, mesh laundry bag from Target, and a clearance-d cut of utility fabric (you know, the kind they use to make re-usable grocery bags?) and I'm loving the results.  

This just might be genius!  :)

Want to make one yourself?

(guest blogging) Simple Simon & Co.

So excited to show you our latest skirt tutorial...

Come on over to Simple Simon & Co's 

series 

to see how to make one of these:

(Sponsor Spotlight & Giveaway) Delighted

I'm excited to be able to introduce you to a new sponsor to iCandy!  A new marketplace for handmade goods, independent design and craft supplies!

 Delighted's marketplace is a space where artists, crafters and designers can easily sell there work, and conversely, where shoppers can easily find what they are looking for!

For more information on how to grow your business with delighted click {here}

...and of course, to shop til you drop, click {here}

Delighted boasts everything from party decorations and baby accessories to decorating and weddings, and everything in between.  Fun!

Delighted has rounded up some swag so that 3 of you have a cahance to win some of the beauties that their site has to offer!

1.      Sterling Silver and Blue Lace Agate Earrings by Quiddity Designs (http://www.shopdelighted.com/shop/quidditydesigns)

2.      Hand Crochet Wire Bow Tie Adjustable Ring by PrayerMonkey (http://www.shopdelighted.com/shop/PrayerMonkey)

and 4 Hand Painted Frosted Glass Gems by Owl’s Keep (http://www.shopdelighted.com/shop/TheOwl68)

3.      Wizard of Oz Charm Bracelet by MammaDuke (http://www.shopdelighted.com/shop/MammaDuke)

To enter to win any of these items, here's what you have to do:

-follow Delighted on facebook! click {here} to do so

for additional entries, you can also:

-follow delighted on twitter {here}

-follow delighted on Pinterest {here}

-or sign up for their newsletter {here}

happy shopping!

(tutorial) One Shoulder Ruffled Maxi

Finally wrote the tutorial for this dress! 

 I had lost some of the pics, so it was a bit of a project to put together, but I did my best!

Guest Posting - Essay on Creativity

Have you been following the 2012 guest series on Whip up? 

Kathreen has asked fellow bloggers, makers and creators to write essays about Creativity - creativity and health, creativity and business, creativity and parenting and creativity and process.

Rather than posting another project, (which would have been fine, too)

it was an interesting challenge to think about how creativity (more specifically-this blog) has affected my life.

Click here to read my essay.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences, too.

How does creativity/or lack of

affect your life?