Wet Bag

Wet bags are great for people who have kids. They hold wet or poopy clothes (what baby doesn't have blow outs?), dirty cloth diapers, or any other messes that kids leave in their wake! The also make great snack bags (although you may want a much smaller size!) We cloth diaper 95% of the time, but still use disposables while we're out. I'd like to start using cloth when we're out and about more often, especially once I have TWO kids in diapers, so I made myself a wet bag! It turned out to be pretty simple and quick to make. Most small wet bags I see have zippers, but I figured snaps would work just as well. If you don't have either, you can also use velcro. (Please excuse the blurry pictures!)

Start off with 2 pieces of fabric that are the same size. You'll need one later of PUL, and one layer of a cotton fabric. Our small Joanns carries plain white PUL (in the utility fabric section), but some of the larger stores have colored and patterned PUL. The cotton fabric actually isn't necessary, but I didn't want a plain white bag, so I used it. If I had some patterned PUL though, I'd only be using one layer.

The size of the layers will depend on how large you want your bag. Mine is meant to accommodate wet cloth diapers, so I made it large enough to hold 3-4 diapers. The measurements were roughly 12 x 25 inches.

If you're using a zipper, I can't help you! I've never sewed a zipper on an item before, since I'm still relatively new to the sewing world. For velcro or snaps, you'll need a fold over flap. I cut the corners of my flap, but that's a matter of preference.

Lay your pieces of fabric so the pattern side of the cotton is facing the shiny side of the PUL. Sew a seam along the top and bottom.

Flip the fabric pattern side out and sew a top stitch. 

If you're adding velcro, sew it on now. You'll want the sticky side of the velcro on the inside of your flap, and the soft side on the opposite end on the patterned side of the fabric.

Fold your fabric in half, so the pattern side is on the inside. My flap ended up being about 2 inches longer than the body of the bag. Sew a seam along the two sides. PUL can be tricky to sew with, because it tries to stick to the foot of your sewing machine! To avoid this, guide the PUL through your machine by pulling from the back, and guiding it through with your other hand. 

Flip the wet bag right side out. If you're using snaps, add them now. 

Run your wet bag through the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to seal the holes you made with your sewing machine and thread. Your wet bag is now water proof and ready for use. These materials hold up great in the washer, so don't be afraid to wash it after every use.

Weekend Highlights: Mini Christmas Tree edition

I've been seeing so many of these cute mini Christmas Tree topiary's! Here are some projects that caught my eye this past week!

This gorgeous Pearl Christmas Tree from Blooming Homestead.

These sparkling Glitter Christmas Trees at Military Martha.

How great are these eye popping Beaded Christmas Trees at All Things Heart and Home.

And this knock off Pier One Glittery Christmas Tree at Joy Is At Home. I like it better than the Pier One version!

And last but not least, these adorable Tissue Paper Christmas Trees at Spunky Junky.

Feel free to grab a button from the right hand side of my page if you were featured!

Glass etching

I found this great tutorial over at Gluesticks a couple weeks ago, and I finally got the chance to try it out! 

Glass etching is such a great way to make unique gifts for Christmas! In Brandy's tutorial, she made personalized glass jars to fill with candy. You could also fill them with hot cocoa mix, all the ingredients for cookies in a jar, ect. I'm currently on the look out for some plain glass bulbs to make Christmas ornaments! The ideas are endless.

What You'll Need:

A glass surface

Armour Etch

Paint brush

Vinyl or contact paper

Scissors or Cricket (or a Silhouette machine)

If you've got a Cricket or Silhouette machine, print out your stencil. If not, do it the old fashioned way! I printed off my words and pictures.

Trace your design onto your contact paper and cut it out. I'm doing a reverse stencil (just cutting out the words, and etching around them). 

Pull off the backing to your vinyl or contact paper, and carefully place it onto your glass. Make sure to squeeze out any bubbles. 

If you're doing a reverse stencil, make sure you make boundaries. I cut out strips of the contact paper, and put them around the top and bottom of the jar to make neat lines.

Put a nice thick layer of Armour Etch onto your glass. The thicker the coat, the better the outcome. I ended up having a couple spots that were missed, so I went back and touched them up. 

After the designated amount of time (about 5 minutes) wash off the acid (I scraped some of the acid etching cream back into the jar before rinsing). It'll look kinda funky while it's still wet, but once it dries you can see where the the foggy glass is. 

I love how it puts designs on the wall!

Here are some other GREAT ideas for glass etching!

Personalized cook wear (great for wedding showers!)

Cookie jars

Christmas ornaments

Drinking glasses

Shot glasses 

Candle holders

Wine glasses (would make a GREAT wedding gift!)

Super divine, homemade hot chocolate

I've been looking for a good hot chocolate recipe lately, and was so unimpressed by what I saw. If I use cocoa, I need to add a ton of sugar. I wanted some REAL hot chocolate. So of course I had to use REAL chocolate. I fiddled with it a little, and here's what I came up with.

What You'll Need:
8 oz. hot milk (I used whole milk, it was SO rich and creamy)
1/4 cup of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (a mix of semi sweet and milk chocolate is the best!)
Peppermint mocha creamer (Coffeemate brand)
OR
A shot of peppermint Schnapps
Whipped cream
Candy Cane
Peeps Christmas marshmallows!

Microwave your milk for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until it's nice and hot. Chop your chocolate into small pieces (smaller than chocolate chips if you can, but it'll melt eventually if they're bigger too). Stir your chocolate into your hot milk until it's melted and combined. Add a dash (about 1 Tbsp) of peppermint creamer. Top with whipped cream, marshmallow, and candy cane. Enjoy!

Tonight we're headed to a candle light walk in town. Candles, Christmas music, lights, gingerbread houses, horse drawn carriage rides, so much fun! I'm taking along some hot chocolate in a thermos, and some Little Debbie cakes! The perfect way to kick off the Christmas season. Happy Holidays!

Weekend Highlights

Here are some things that caught my eye at the link parties this weekend!

The adorable Pilgrim hat cookies at Craftily Ever After.

Check out these so simple to make Recycled Magazine Bows at See Kate Sew!

And how about this adorable Cornacopia full of candy! At A Girl and a Glue Gun.

Last but not least, this beautiful Pinecone Wreath at Crafty Sisters. I hope to be making this one soon!

Nursing Cover

This ended up being such a simple project, and a pretty cheap one too! It helped that I won a giveaway at Somewhat Simple, and got $50 worth of free fabric from Ribbon Retreat! I had an old nursing cover laying around that was pretty beaten up, so I just took the boning and D rings out of that. This project didn't cost me a dime!

What You'll Need:

3/4 yard of fabric

Boning (about 12 inches)

2 "D" rings

Sewing machine and thread

Cut your fabric into 3 pieces:

23 x 31 inches

3 x 25 inches

3 x 4 inches

Take your largest piece of fabric and hem 3 sides of it (the bottom and sides of the nursing cover). I double folded all my edges to keep it from fraying. 

For the fourth side, make a pocket for your boning. Take the top edge of your fabric and fold it down about an inch (again, I double folded it). Sew along the edge.

Insert your boning into the pocket, and make sure it's centered. Sew on both sides of the boning to keep it from moving around.

Take your 3 x 4 inch strip of fabric and hem the two sides in like this. No need to double fold here.

Insert the fabric through the "D" rings and fold it over, like this.

Fold down the bottom edges, and sew onto the cover. If you're right handed, you'll probably want it on your right side (left if you're looking at the cover). I sewed 2 lines to make sure it's secure.

Take your last strip of fabric (3 x 25) and fold it in half, pattern side in. Sew along the edge, and then flip it right side out. 

Sew a top stitch, and close in one end.

Take the other end, fold it over, and sew it on the left side of the cover (right side, if you're looking at the cover). I did two lines of stitching here, too, to make sure it's secure.

That's it! How simple was that. And so much cheaper than buying a nursing cover! Add ribbon or embellishments to make it cute and stylish.

Fancy Pillow: part 2

I made this gorgeous pillow using the tutorial over at Thrifty and Chic.

I made my pinches every 2 inches instead of every 3, and I love the way it turned out!

Car Seat Canopy

What You'll Need:

1 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics.(If you only want it to be one sided, you only need the one fabric)

Velcro

Thread and sewing machine

Cut your fabric pieces to be 33 inches by 45 inches. For mine, I kept the edges squared, but if you want rounded edges, you can use a plate to trace.

Lay the pieces of fabric pattern side together. Pin the edges together. Sew around 3 1/2 sides, leaving at least 8 inches un-sewed to flip the fabric right side out. 

Flip the fabric right side out, and sew the last 8 inches. Add the top stitch. 

With your fabric scraps, cut out 4 pieces that are about 10 inches long, and 3 inches wide. The length will depend on how you sew your velcro. I planned to make my straps longer so the velcro overlaps more. You want 2 pieces of each fabric.

Sew them pattern side together, leaving one end open to flip it right side out. Add the top stitch.

Sew your velcro on, making the soft velcro on one side, and the hook velcro on the other.

When you have your straps made, pin them on the canopy. I positioned mine to be exactly in the middle (lengthwise), and with about 5 inches between them (width wise).

Place your pins about an inch apart, and sew across the straps where you pinned. 

Make sure you try it on your car seat before sewing! Each car seat (and their handles) are made differently, and yours may fit a bit different than mine.