Preparing for Sweet Emery

Well, I am 26 weeks pregnant and we have officially decided on naming our future baby girl Emery Jane Kelly.  It feels so exciting to get the name picked out and start rounding up all the things we will be needing for her in October!  My first personalized project I wanted to do for her is this fancy Infant Car Seat Canopy:

My friend, Mariah, made one for our girl Jenny when she had her sweet baby Harper.  Jenny just couldn't stop raving about how great it was and used it all the time (still does I think).  So I found this tutorial online and tweaked it a little (used snaps instead of velcro, embroidered it, and lined it with minky on the inside).  I was so excited about how easy and fun it was to make.  It can be made with thinner material, but since she will be a fall baby, I wanted to keep her extra cozy and warm...

Pic of the very top: 

The super-soft minky lining: 

Her official, embroidered name!!! 

And finally....the original canopy made by Make it Do 

I love to come up with original ideas, but sometimes it is more fun to follow someone's great tutorial....especially when they have made it so cute you don't even want to try to top it!!!

 

Lil' Chef Set....and future project....

I am still sewing over here...I got the bug and can't stop the projects!  My friend Becca ordered this from me:

I love the fabrics so much that I am going to make this:

for my sweet little girls out of that fabric.  Please click on the picture to go straight to Angela Yosten's etsy shop where you can buy it or some of her other awesome patterns!!  I'll keep you updated on my progress!!  Thanks Becca for the order!!!

 

I'm Back!!!

 

So....I have been pregnant and not in much of a sewing-then-blogging mood.  I have made some baby items and aprons for friends lately, but have not whipped out the 'ole camera.  I also haven't done a give away in FOREVER!!  I am going to host a giveaway soon, but for now here is what craftiness I have been up to:

I made my first EVER tooth fairy pillow for my friend's little boy...I made the pocket big enough to fit LOTS of money!!

Then I got a recent Baby shower gift order and thought I would showcase that!  It is an embroidered burpcloth and a Diaper Clutch.  It turned out very boy and kind of sophisticated I thought...

Finally, we I did a little fun preschool crafting with my kiddos...we joined Jenny Garland's girls and did this project I found linked on One Pretty Thing.  I would suggest it for the 5 year olds in your life, but our 2 little 2-3 year olds and 2 month old baby kind of made it hard to manage..

Our Big Girls Starting the project

Kyndall carefully "braiding" (twisting) the Octopus legs:

Kate doing the same thing with Avery (the 3 year old getting all up in her business)

Do you see what I am talking about here with the little ones???

After adding eyes and tying the legs off, they seem to love their little guys!! 

Then we modified for the little girls (notice no "legs")

But Avery loved hers anyway!!  Whew...we have been really enjoying the summer and spending time relaxing and crafting!! 

Minky Crib Sheets....Oooh La La....and some Damask Key Fobs too

Hi Everyone!!  Well, I have been sewing a LOT lately.  It has been fun doing different kinds of projects.  One of my favorites (even though it costs a little more) are these super cute, super soft, custom minky crib sheets.  This one is $35 and I have decided all the rest of the crib sheets I ever get (view this link to see why I would be getting more crib sheets for my family...a fun little announcement on my family blog), I will just make for myself.  I got the pattern from Dana who has a wonderful crafty blog, Made.  If you want to make your own, click on the link and go directly to the tutorial.  If you want to order one from me, just email me at info@kristikelly.com and I would be happy to make them!!!

I also just finished some Damask Key Fobs for my sweet virtual friend, Jill, we met on FB through a mutual friend during my give-away week with Renee, and she ordered the crib sheet and key fobs!!!

I am having so much fun with all these custom orders and can't wait to show the other fun things that are coming up!!  Stay posted!!!

 

Sewing some Fun Projects

I have been getting some very fun requests from friends lately.  I have a friend who is having a baby girl today!!  I just finished her order for custom minky sheets for a round crib mattress.  Those were super fun to make and we had fun picking out specialty minky fabric from http://www.minkydelight.com/ .  I made three:

Then, she wanted a custom minky blankie with "Madeleine" on it (cute name huh) and a satin ruffle around it:

It was 35" square and minky swirl on one side:

And this super cute girly print minky on the other:

Congrats on your sweet new bundle of joy Melissa!!  I had so much fun making these for you:)

 

Harper's Baby Gift

One of my best friends is about to have a new baby!!  I LOVE making baby gifts for friends....so here is what she got:

A Diaper cake (the H is for Harper...super cute name huh)

Next I wanted to make a wipes case so my sweet 4 year old and I came up with this:

Findally I made and personalized some burpcloths for her.  These are made with super soft (and absorbable) chenille with Minky trim.  If you aren't familiar with minky it is the softest, cuddliest, best baby fabric there is!!

 

And now the count down begins....come on baby Harper, we can't wait to meet you!!!

We have been Craft Crazy over here:)

Made a new Knotty apron for my neighbor and put one up in my Etsy shop!

Made Valentime Heart Monogrammed pillows for my girls:

(Easy, cut 2 pieces of fabric in the shape of a heart 1/2 inch bigger than you want the finished pillow to be.  Pin the 2 fabrics together with the pretty sides facing each other (also called right sides together).  Sew around the entire heart (with a 1/4 inch seam allowance) leaving a space about 2 inches big.  Turn your fabrics inside out through the hole you left.... and stuff with polyfill (which you can find at Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Joanns...etc)  Finally I hand stitched it shut.  That's it...took 10 minutes a piece total)

 The girls and I made Valentine's Day Cards on Saturday:

We just took a pic of the girls holding their hands out like they were holding a big balloon.  Printed the pics off on copy paper and glued them to construction paper rectangles.  Then took an exacto-knife and cut little slits right above and below their little gripped hands.  Stick a sucker in the slits and Voila:

Then have your big girl 4 year old write her own name at the bottom:

 Kyndall helped me sass up these Clipboards for her teachers' Valentine's Day gift:

All it took was Mod Podge, scrapbook paper and a sponge brush.  We cut the paper to fit over the clipboard, sprayed it with a little water, then used the sponge brush to apply Mod Podge to the back of the scrapbook paper.  Place that on the clipboard and then layer as desired to get the look you want.  We tore the paper to make it look cool, then mod Podged the entire top of the scrapbook paper we had decorated it with.  Finally, I took Wax paper and clipped it on the board and stacked heavy books on it for a couple of hours while the mod podge dried.  Took all that off, tied a fancy tulle bow on the clip part and there you go:

After all that,  I had Kyndall write a Love note on the back and the date in Sharpie!!

Kyndall even got a little sewing kit from Joanns in the $1 aisle:

She worked really hard on it...we lost the final product though, before I could take a pic!  ha!

 I saw these cute dresses and thought I should try to make a sassy ruffle bib.  Hmm...just wanted to show you how the first time I sew things...they don't always turn out as cute as I want them to.  But that is okay.  I have learned from this  bib to make the ruffles narrower, shorter, and less crooked:) and I'll try again!!  I'll let you know how it goes...

Whew....what did your weekend look like?

Oh!!  and thanks, Janette, for the stylish blog award...I'll get my act together and post about it tonight or tomorrow morning!!  Love ya friend:)

 

And this folks, is why I sew.....

After a day of being stuck in the house with a sick husband and 2 sweet but energetic little ones.....I went to my sewing room and turned on my sewing machine.  I have a couple of projects I am working on right now, 3 minky crib sheets, 1 minky baby blankie, 2 adult aprons, and 2 little boy aprons.  I decided to finish my boy aprons first.  So I grabbed this fabric:

 And after a little cutting, embroidering, ironing and sewing....it turned into this:

 As I finished this project, I just thought about how fun it is to take a pile of rectangular fabric and turn it into any shape, size, and design I choose.  I am so grateful that I have this little hobby that can calm me down and remind me how fun it is to make something....

 

  Good Morning!!  Sorry I am late posting this, but I had to sing Happy Birthday to this little cutie!!

I can't believe my baby is 3!  We are preparing for her Butterfly Birthday Party here at the house...so this is going to be short and sweet:)

I had SO much fun this week doing the give aways with Renee:)  I cant wait until we do this again!!!  Now lets get down to business:

Wow!  It paid to be the first to comment this time!  Yay Christy you won!!  When all this crazy snow and ice starts to go away I'll mail you your Baby Gift Set!!!  I wish I had enough to give away to everyone who signed up, but I don't:(  I make these all the time, so if you are ever interested in buying one, they are $25 for the entire set!  I can customize them for boys or girls and pretty much any color you want!

Well, I am going to go so I can give my big girl 3 year old lots of hugs and kisses!!!

Last Day! Final Give Away!!!

  I started out sewing when I was about 5 months pregnant with my 2nd child.  She is turning 3 on Saturday, February 5.  The first thing I sewed was ribbons from my friend Kate's extra stash, on to cloth baby diapers to make cute burpcloths.  That is when the fever hit, the sewing fever.  I couldn't sew enough.  I scoured the internet for free tutorials, cheap patterns, and any kind of sewing advice I could find.  I realized that I LOVED it.  For the first 6 months or so of sewing all I did was baby items.  I would sew burpcloths galore (graduating from embellishing cloth diapers to making them from scratch using chenille fabric trimmed in super soft minky fabric), bibs, and covered babywipes cases.  I love to make all kinds of things..... but the cute, soft, and sweet boutique style baby items are definitely still my favorite to make.  So for my final give away this week, I am going Kristi Kelly Designs Old School and giving away a baby gift set.  I love to give these to friends at their shower because they are unique, and unique is fun right?   You will get one burp cloth, one bib, and one baby wipes case (the zebra set that is pictured)....boutique style.  All you have to do is leave a comment...that's it....pretty easy.  I would LOVE for you to become a follower of this blog.  I am hoping to be able to give ideas, tips, and inspiration to others like I have gotten.  Blogging is so much fun!!!

Now, hop on over to Renee's blog and become a fan because she is giving away the CUTEST picture frame block ever!!!  Check this beauty out:

 Love the lace, damask background, and super cute paper flowers...nice touch huh!!!

I have had so much fun doing this week of give aways with her!  The only thing more fun than giving away things I have created is getting inspired by the sassy things Renee makes.  This give away ends Friday night at midnight...same as the rest!  I'll post the winner on this blog Saturday morning, and on my Kristi Kelly Designs FB page!!  Good luck friends!!!