(Bean) Bag Lady

Well, Christmas preparations are in full force around the Ward household. I really, really hate to put Thanksgiving on the back burner, but this year I am feeling the need to get all of my Christmas stuff in order ASAP. For goodness sakes, I started my Christmas cards over the summer...

I have been working on these gifts for a few months now too. I originally saw the idea HERE and changed it slightly. Instead of painting on the letters, I opted to use the applique technique I have grown to know and love.

I have made three sets of names out of beanbags and am pretty happy with how they turned out. I wish I would have gotten these to Amelia before she learned to spell her name, but I know she will love them anyway!

Here's a close up of one of the A's in her name. I was having trouble getting a good shot of all the letters together.

I decided for Amelia's set that I would stick with her love of rainbow colors.

This is for a friend of hers, again I had trouble getting all of the letters together, so I opted to snap a picture of a few of my favorites. This set is in girly colors.

And last, but not least, is Emma's set (another friend of Amelia's). I decided to go patriotic with her set. She and the recipient of the set above are sisters, so I decided to make them very different since some of the letters in their names are the same.

I am excited to make some more of these--they are really, really fun to put together despite the many steps involved! Plus, they actually involve actual sewing, not just applique. AND, I did the whole thing BY MYSELF!

Stepping Up

My first attempt at making a step stool. This was a present for Miss Emma's first birthday. She has a lady bug room and had a lady bug themed first birthday party. I am hoping to make one up for Amelia too. She is in need of another stool for the downstairs bathroom. Here's hoping I can get it done by Christmas, although that list is getting quite long!

Latest Applique Project

My playgroup has a baby shower a few times a year for the current expecting moms in the group. This go around, there were 4 of us and I thought it might be fun to give a new applique project a try as a little gift for the other mommas.

I like how they turned out and they were again super easy! There are two girls on the way and one boy (hence the two swimming suits and the only super manly frog tie).

This was my first attempt at this project and think it will be fun to play around with all of the possibilities!

Applique: Part 2

If this project took me 10 minutes, then this next one only took 5! Seriously, it could not be easier. The shirt is an inexpensive, but fairly high quality selection from Target (check out the puffed sleeves). The material came from my mom's scraps. This will be part of a birthday present for a little girl who recently celebrated her first birthday! Hopefully I get the gift to her before her mom spots this post!

I would love to whip some of these up for the baby--something neutral, of course!

Hooray for Applique!

I've been wanting to try appliqueing for awhile now, but have been too chicken up until I spotted this post on Chasing Cheerios a few weeks ago (as you can see, I changed it a bit). I found some inexpensive bags at the fabric store (I had a coupon!) and used some of my mom's scraps. I am SO pleased at the way Amelia's new library bag turned out! She loves it too!

Amelia even picked the fabric for hers. Did I mention it took me about 10 minutes and involved NO SEWING??

In fact, it was so easy, that I've already ventured into my next applique project. Stay tuned!