Pillowcase Dress

I really really really like this cute little dress and the fact that it is made from a pillowcase. If you want to make your own pillowcase dress go here for the details. You could make a little girl verrrry happy with this gift.

Lunch Box Love

Want to give a little surprise gift? How about a lunch box love note? Click here to get the free printables to make somebody's day. Simple little surprises can mean the most!

Zipper Flowers

I'll never look at zippers the same. Check this out! And this! And here is another. These are really simple and can accent tons of things.

Baby on the Brain...

Nope I am not pregnant! Just loving lots of little baby things lately. Maybe it's because it's SPRING! I love this little framed fabric hand print display, don't you? Trace those little hands so that you can keep them forever. This would be great to give grandparents too! Especially if they are too far away to enjoy those little hands before they grow up.

Use scraps of fabric and a thrift store frame to make this project easy on the budget.

T-Shirt Fabric Flowers

I was inspired by this in making these fabric roses out of an old t-shirt. Check out the link for a great tutorial. They were easy to make even for me - just a little hand-sewing is all you need!

Sack Lunch

Inspired by this I decided to make my own version of a felt lunch sack set for a little girl's birthday party last weekend. I made a bologna sandwich with tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce along with a bag of ruffle chips and a chocolate chip cookie. This was my first "on my own" sewing project ever. I borrowed my friend's sewing machine (after she showed me how to thread it and wind the bobbin - sad, but true), crossed my fingers and went to work making templates and putting it all together. And it turned out to being a lot of fun. Felt food is a great way to begin sewing I think. So if you are looking for a fun little sewing project there are tons of tutorials out there for all kinds of food.

Shower Notes

Crayola Bathtub Markers sound fun for a children's birthday gift. But I would never think to give this to a spouse for Valentine's Day so that you can leave love notes in the shower. Kind of a fun idea don't you think? You can check it out here or order them here. Apparently they are hard to find in stores. But I haven't checked myself.

This would also be a very cute gift for a wedding shower.

Valentine Pillow Notes

Cute little Valentine pillows. Made from dish towels (simple sewing so even I could handle this one). With little pockets for "Why I love you" notes to your kids (or anyone special to you) for the 14 days leading up to Valentine's Day. I'll be starting this tradition next year for sure.

So click here for the details and the tutorial. And watch for the after holiday sales for those Valentine dish towels (these were 50 cents each). Aren't they cute?

A "Snappy" Valentine

You can print this cute little alligator out and put him together in a 'snap'! Then you can fill him with a fun Valentine treat. Just go here for the free download. And to think I grew up handing out boxed valentine cards. What was I thinking? These are so cool.

Felt Fortune Cookies

I like this idea for packaging a little treat found here. You can make fortune cookies out of felt and put little treats and notes inside.

Here are the easy peasy instructions (slightly modified from website)...

1. Cut a 4 1/2" diameter circle out of felt

2. Cut a piece of matching ribbon slightly shorter than 4 1/2" and cut a piece of wire slightly shorter than 4 1/2" with wire cutters

3. With a hot glue gun, glue the wire across the diameter of the circle and then glue the ribbon over the top of the wire (as pictured in the second picture above).

note: you can also use matching pipe cleaner in place of the ribbon and wire and glue it down with hot glue

4. Fold the circle in half with the wire/ribbon going along the inside of the fold.

5. Take the two ends of the fold and pull them back towards eachother (but not touching), bending the wire in half, to form a fortune cookie shape

6. Carefully fold up the top flap of the fortune cookie and insert small treats and fortunes.

Variations: For Valentine's Day include a scripture reference about love or a quote about love instead of a fortune. But, this isn't just a Valentine idea. You could make the fortune cookies any color for any holiday or theme. Even a Christmas neighbor gift idea: "We are 'fortunate' to have you as a neighbor!" could be inserted into red and green fortune cookies.

For Kids: A Unique and Personal Candy Valentine

If you are looking for a unique valentine candy and card combo for your children's school classmates look no further! This idea was found here. A picture was taken of her child holding her fist out. A "Happy Valentine's Day" was added to the picture in Photoshop. Then once the picture was printed out (4x6") she cut a slit just above and below the child's fist and inserted the sucker. She added a little glue to the back of the picture where the stick came through to keep it from falling out.

This is a fast and easy Valentine idea, but still so cool! I absolutely love it.

Don't have Photoshop? Download Gimp for free here.

Fabric Flowers

I am in love with fabric flowers these days. There are so many cute ones that I have seen around the blogging world. And they are good for so many things: pin them on sweaters, headbands, purses, cards, or pillows. Or ALL of the above. I found the one pictured above here (via here) along with a really great tutorial. The great news is that it takes very little fabric and an even smaller amount of sewing skills (only a needle and thread and a simple stitch or two).

Here are some other links you should check out to fall in love like I did. Here is one with lovely polka dots and a tutorial. Here is a cute idea for using fabric flowers on cards that I love. And here is a totally unique version I haven't seen anywhere else with a template included.

If you make one, please send me a picture. I'd love to see how it turned out.

Free Disneyland Tickets?

Free Disneyland Tickets for Service:

If you like Disneyland and you might be planning a trip in 2010 take a look at this cool service promotion Disneyland is sponsoring. Ages 6 and older can spend a day of local service and earn a free day pass to a Disney theme park. You must preregister so click on the link below. Type in your zip code and find out what you can do. What a great gift idea!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=Give-A-Day-Get-A-Disney-Day

52 Week Books

This gift idea is great for the new year, but any time is a good time to start. These are called 52 week books. Each book has a theme (such as Gratitude, Service, or Friendship) and has a page for each week of the year (52 weeks). Every week each family member shares an experience that happened that week that is related to the theme. Then the family picks one to record in the book (or you can record all if you want). It is a great tradition to begin and creates an easy and fun way to look back on your memories and teach children valuable lessons.

There's even more good news. These books are really easy to make. All you need is a notebook from the dollar store and some scrapbooking paper. Each purchased notebook makes two 52 week books by taking off the binding and cutting the pages in half horizontally. Then decorate the cover however you want. Then, cut the binding in half and re-bind each book. If you want, you can also put a number on each page (1-52). Each year your family can pick a different theme to focus on. This would also be a great journaling idea for an individual, a child, teacher, or a couple too!

Thanks for sharing this great idea Gwen!

Raggedy Ann Doll

My sister found a great site called ohsewdollin where she got a free pattern for this darling raggedy doll that she made for my daughter. There are tons of cute patterns to choose from that can be purchased as well. My sister estimates that the materials for this doll cost her about $5 (although she had to spend more than that on the materials, but she can make multiple dolls with the leftovers). Don't you just love it?

Keep your eye out for those limited time only free patterns on the website. Or purchase a pattern and put it to good use.

Pretend Make-Up

Here is a great gift idea even for the littlest of girls. My 18 month-old got this little make-up set from her aunt. But don't worry. That isn't real make-up - it's dried nail polish poured into old, empty make-up cases. And the little nail polish bottle is a fake too. The inside of the bottle is coated in nail polish so that it looks full, but really it is empty. My daughter loves feeling so big with her little purse full of make-up and it's great for moms too because there isn't any messes to clean up!

Save those make-up cases or ask your friends to save theirs. They would be great to have on hand for a great gift.

Pearl Ribbon Bracelet

You can easily make this fun bracelet with this great tutorial here. Or you could buy it for $890.00. I love this! All you need is fake pearls (these are from an old necklace), embroidery thread, a needle, and some ribbon.

Candy Bouquets

These cute candy bouquets were found here. Make sure you have a heavy base that won't tip, something to put the sticks into (like Styrofoam or floral foam), shredded paper or moss to cover the foam, bamboo sticks or skewers, and something sturdy to attach the candy to the sticks (like heavy duty tape or hot glue). This is a great gift for anyone who loves candy.

Grass Baskets

All you need is potting soil, a container, and some wheat grass seeds to give the gift of SpRinG. Just fill your container 3/4 full with potting soil, then sprinkle a thin layer of seeds, and add a thin layer (1/4"-1/2") of soil. Then water it! The picture above came from here.

I have done this for my Visiting Teaching ladies before for Easter. I grew the grass in a spring basket a few weeks before Easter and then delivered their basket with some Easter eggs filled with treats set in the grass.

This would be a fun way to deliver any Spring/Easter treat or gift. Kids would love it too!

Bow Bouquet

Hair bows are a great gift for any girl. If you want a unique way to package it try a bow bouquet. Get a basket or other container and put a Styrofoam block or a green floral foam block then cover with Spanish moss. Then cover wood skewers (or some other kind of stick) with floral tape and clip the bows to the skewer. Then stick your skewers into the block at varying heights. This idea was found here along with tutorials on how to make bows here and here.

And if you are looking for a GREAT price on alligator clips, bows, flowers, and other accessories then go to haloheaven (as long as you don't mind buying in bulk - I went in on an order with some friends and it ended up being 50 cents per flower/clip including shipping).