Current Projects Using my Favorite Things

So you all know my healthy, long standing obsession with fabric and paper. I can never get enough of them, and I can't resist trying new projects that use them! In the last month I've tried a few new crafts using beautiful papers and fabrics that I love, love, love.

Last month my friend Michelle hosted a "Forever Pink Party" for three friends, all pregnant with their fourth child and fourth boy. Instead of the traditional baby gifts, we were instructed to bring a girlie, gift (~$5 each) for each mom. I spent hours and hours trying to think of just the right gift. I knew lots of lotions and bubble baths and chocolate, etc. would be given, and so I wanted to give something beautiful, but different. I had lots of ideas floating around, but settled on this one:


Composition notebooks I covered with scrapbook papers -- notice the stripe and dot theme? The inside front and back covers are also covered in coordinating papers that have pockets sewn in them for keepsakes. I LOVE this project and have made three more notebooks since ... one for myself, one for a dear friend birthday and one for ... humm ... I'm not sure. I've considered selling them on etsy as journals for recording the cute things your kids do and say as they grow ... but we'll see.

The day after I got back from Nevada, a friend came by the house with a large box of fabric. Someone she knew, knew someone who died and this box of fabric scraps was from her stash, and chalk full of vintage fabric from the 50s-70s with a few more contemporary prints. Some really ugly stuff got made during that time frame, but there's also really cool prints.

This box of vintage fabric has been the source of lots of inspiration.

Our Stake Women's Conference is coming up at the end of the month - April 28th and I spent all of Thursday last week creating the posters ... I wanted to use paper dolls as the graphic and found this image -->

To save time - the thought of cutting all those pieces made me cringe - I scanned some favorite fabrics from the box, all in shades of purple and created this little number in Photoshop (if you click on the picture you should be able to see a larger version):

I found directions online for making the cover button pony holders. And put a few of the smaller scraps to use making large (1.5") covered button pony holders (pictured top). I also found a tutorial for making fabric yo-yo's. I put the covered button idea and the yo-yo's together to create these cute as a button flowers for the girls hair.




I made some to coordinate with the girls Easter dresses - a pink gingham yo-yo with white button for Emily and a white yo-yo with beige button for Becca hand sewed onto hair clips - oh so cute! I'm planning on making a few more with some bright vibrant fabric scraps for the girls summer outfits.

Next, I want to figure out how to make this. I know, I know, it's a little wild, and a little funky, but oh so cute!