Heart Banner

Today, I will show you how to make a very simple banner for Valentine's Day, or even a little girls room. It is probably the easiest craft I've ever made, and everything I used is from the dollar section at Target, so definitely try it out.

You will need a roll of clear tape, scissors, white yarn/string (from the dollar section at Target) and foam hearts (from the dollar section at Target). If you can't find any, check the Dollar Tree, and your local craft store, or just buy craft foam and cut your own hearts out. To make your own sparkly hearts, cut it out on craft foam, then coat it in mod podge, then sprinkle sparkles on. Let dry, then shake the excess off. If needed, paint another layer of mod podge over the glittered heart to keep it from falling off.

Now is the easiest part. Lay out the string to about the length you want the banner to be (don't cut yet). Now lay the hearts over the string and decide how far apart you want them. Cut the string a little longer than you need it, because when it dips down it the middle, it looks cuter. Now lift each heart upside down (switch it from front to back) and slide it under the string and tape the string to the back of the heart. Make sure it's straight so it doesn't hang lopsided. Do that for all of the hearts. If you have other shapes, like XO's, make sure that when you flip it around, it reads the right way.

That is all to this easy decoration! Seriously you all need to do this because it's so easy, even a beginner homemaker can make it.

Half Up Bow Hairstyle

Today, I am going to show you how to do a really cute hairstyle, making the hair in the shape of a bow. You will need one elastic, bobby pins, and a TopsyTail. If you don't have a TopsyTail, you'll need an additional elastic. It is an easy hairstyle for someone else, and an average braiding skill level to do on yourself. Also, I'm having some technical difficulties right now, so to see the photos, just go to my Facebook page. The link is in the contact part of my blog. I'll try to upload them later. Thanks for making due ;)

To start, divide the top section of the hair up, starting between the eyebrows and ears back near the crown of the head. If your hair is curly, it will be easiest to work with if it is straightened and/or wet. Pull the top section of hair into a ponytail (not looping the elastic at all), then twist it and pull the hair somewhat through (the size of the bow thing) and pull it out to the side. Then, twist the elastic once, and pull the hair partially through (the same amount as the other) but pull it out to the other side. Now, bobbypin the loops down to the head to keep them in place, by starting below the loop and pinning upward, just the back part of the loop, so nothing covers the front. It should look like this.

Lastly, take the tail of the hair and wrap it up the center to cover the elastic and bobbypin it to the top of the elastic/the hair behind the elastic. Now you need the TopsyTail. If you don't have one, grab your additional elastic. Pull the elastic up the middle of one of the loops (while still keeping a hold of it on both sides) and slip the tail through the elastic. Then pull the elastic down through the loop, bringing the hair down too, then bobbypin the tail down right where the bottom of the loop is, so it remains hidden. 

There you go! If you have any other spots not looking right, just bobbypin! Adiós! 

Dutch Side Braid

Today, I will show you how to do a Dutch braid. It's one of  the more simple hairstyles, but that's why it's a good one for everyday. Of course it's easier to do on someone else, but it's my favorite out of the ones I can do to myself. 

To start, part the hair off to one side, and sweep all of the hair over the shoulder, on the heavy side (the side with more hair). Section off a section of hair, so the line is parallel with your part line, but on the heavy side, and divide it into three sections. Now for a regular French braid, you would take the pieces on the outsides and pull them to the middle, but that way makes the braid flat against your head. A Dutch braid makes it more 3D and pop up more. To do this, take the strand that's in the middle and cross it over the left piece, so now the original middle piece is the new left piece, and the original left piece is now the middle strand. Then cross the piece that is now in the middle over the right strand. Now we begin the 'adding in hair' part. Pick up a piece of hair to the left of the farthest left strand and combine them, then take the middle piece over. Now pick up a piece right by the forehead (so if you have bangs, take a section of that, or from where the bangs would be) and add it to the right strand, and take the middle strand over that. Continue those steps, constantly adding in hair, until you get near the neck, then take big pieces of hair to get all of the hair into one of the three strands by the time you get to the neck. If at times you need an extra hand, I reccommend you use these long alligator type hair clips to hold a section of hair while you work with another.

Now, hold all of that hair in one hand, while you pancake the pieces. This is hair talk for pulling the sides of the braid out, so that it looks fuller. This is my models' favorite part! It works better to hold the braid with your hand instead of an elastic, but while you are learning to do this braid, it will still look good. Once you've done a little of that, (we will go back and do more after) go back to the three pieces and continue braiding all the way down, continuing the middle strand going over the side pieces. If you want, a helpful way to make the edges pop out a little more is to twist each strand outward before you cross it over.

Once you go all the way down, pancake it, and secure with an elastic. For a more polished look, my favorite (and most secure) way to hair wrap the elastic is to take a section of the hair below the elastic and wrap it up and over the elastic, then once you're to the back of the braid, lift up a loop of the elastic and pull the end through. Also, if you have shorter hair, you can do this as an accent braid into a ponytail, etc! That's all to this easy hairstyle! I can do this hairstyle to myself in like two minutes, so keep practicing! It's a good one for beginners because you can practice on yourself on your own time!

Car Seat Blanket

Today I will show you how to make a blanket for your car seat, so it can't fall off. Since it's winter, I thought it was a good idea to share, especially since I recently made one for my sisters baby. Also, I'm not sure why all of the pictures are square, so to see them fully and clearer, go to my Facebook page

To start, buy one yard of two different flannel fabrics. If you want, you can buy two yards of one fabric instead, but then it will look the same on both sides. I think 2 different ones looks cuter. You will also need thread that matches the fabrics, an iron, and all of your sewing essentials such as fabric scissors, sewing machine, a bobbin that matches your thread, a seam picker, pins, tape measurer etc.. 

To start, take one of your fabrics and fold one corner up, so that it makes a triangle shape and cut, so that when you unfold it, it is a perfect square. Now, fold it into fourths, and curve out the one edge across from the fold (NOT THE FOLDED SIDE!) Also, if you want to sort of go in on the sides, do that too, because it makes it so it doesn't wrap around the baby until a little lower on its arms. It should look something like this.

Once you've found the shape you like, cut it out, and unfold it. Now lay out your opposite fabric right side up, and put your shaped fabric right side down ontop, so the good sides are touching eachother. Now pin the two fabrics together and cut the same shape out onto the other fabric on the bottom. Since they are already pinned, now you can just take it to the sewing machine! Sew all around the thing, except for one of the corners. We will need to flip it right side out, and we will finish off that corner as a little hood. Sew around and don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and end. Now, cut off the extra fabric on the outside of the seam so that when you flip it inside out, it won't be chunky in some places. Flip it right side out through that open corner, and fold the whole thing in half (more like a triangle, rather than a rectangle) so that the open corner is folded in half. Now sew a straight line across the open corner to make a hood. I recommend pinning that before you sew, so that you can see if it looks the way you want it. Also, make sure that the fabric that the baby will sit on is facing out when you sew. Backstitch at the beginning and end. Then, cut off the extra fabric on top.

Now, iron it at this step. If there is still an opening at the top, fold the material inside the blanket and iron to keep it in place. Once you've ironed all around, you will go back to your sewing machine and sew a decorative stitch around the perimeter of the blanket. This will keep the fabric straight and make it look nicer. If the open corner is still open, after you ironed, be sure to sew the decorative stitch over it to keep it shut.. Now you will need to get your baby's car seat. Place the blanket in the car seat and make sure the hat is in the right spot. Since my baby is a newborn, his hood is too big, but its better to leave room for growth. Now take a pencil and draw where the seat belt in the car seat is. There should be two long lines for the chest seat belt, and one small line for the buckle between the legs. Now sew around those lines. After that, take scissors and cut out the fabric inside the sewn areas. Lastly, sew on the edge of the openings with a zig zag stitch to hold it in place and prevent fraying.

That is all! I hope you loved this tutorial!!! I hope you can keep all of the babies you know warm this winter by making them some car seat blankets! And let's not forget the bigger baby in the small baby car seat! You could make one his size too, just with more fabric!

Coasters

Since last week I did a hairstyle, I thought that this week would be good to do a DIY. For Christmas, I made my family all home-made gifts, and one of them was a set of personalized coasters. It's really easy, so here's how to do it! 

For this project, you will need square 4x4 tiles (in the flooring section of Home Depot or Lowes. They are really cheap, each tile is about 16 cents), Mod Podge glue (from a craft store, or from the dollar section at Target), one picture for each tile printed on photo paper (from Walmart or printed at home), a paint brush, and Felt Self Stick Pads (that would go on the bottom of furniture, etc.) You will also want to have a cup of water to rinse out your brush.

First, cut out your pictures to fit onto the tile and decide where you'd like them (centered, etc.). Then, apply a layer of Mod Podge to the back of the picture and stick it onto the tile. If you stick it in the wrong place, it is ok to slide it around once you put it down, because the glue dries clear. Let it dry all the way, then paint over the picture and tile with a few more layers of Mod Podge. Be sure to have your brush strokes all going the same direction (I like horizontal). Also, the ink on the photos tend to smudge, so be really careful when going over faces, etc.. That is why I recommend to rinse out the brush often so the ink on the brush doesn't spread. Do a few more coats of Mod Podge to make sure the photos don't get ruined by the condensation on the coaster. 

Lastly, peel off the backs of the Felt pads and stick them onto the bottom of each coaster so it glides smoothly. I put four large ones on each coaster. When I gifted them, I stacked all of the coasters and tied a bow. That is all for your coasters! Enjoy! Oh, and as always, go to my Facebook page to see the clearer version of these photos.