We Like Making Our Own Stuff

The month of April has been a cold and snowy one here in Wisconsin, but finally, here in these last days of the month, Spring has finally decided to show her warm, sunny face.  With temperatures now hitting the sixties and seventies, I have taken to the outdoors and begun cleaning out my flower gardens.  I'm pleased to see some crocus bulbs coming up, and the green returning to my thyme.

Isn't that little girl cute?  That's Lily in the picture above, my 10 week old daughter, sporting a headband I made for her.  She is one of our twins born in January.  The other twin is our baby boy, Palmer.  He declined to wear a cute headband. The twins have been keeping me very busy, especially with nursing them.  I worked on these cute headbands while I nursed the babies; it gave me something to do while they were eating.  They are very easy to make, and are a great way to upcycle old clothes or use up fabric scraps. You will only need a bit of fabric, thread, optional embellishments, and elastic to make these headbands.  Chances are, you can salvage some fabric from a stained top, a button off an old shirt, or perhaps some elastic off of an old pair of pants. Keep in mind when you are choosing elastic however, that baby's head is delicate, so you will want something that stretches easily.  The elastic should probably be no wider ...

Make your own purse out of an old hard-cover book. Do you know someone with a purse fetish?  I do, and she just had a 50th birthday! It's my mom!  And she's a little devil who also happens to have a thing for purses.  And what kind of gift do you give a mom who has a thousand purses? After brainstorming for a while, I decided on a book purse.  I've never seen her (or anyone for that matter) with a book purse before, and it seemed like it would be a pretty simple project.  So, I dashed off to the thrift store in search of the perfect book, and found this one: At a few inches thick, it was a pretty hefty book; it was around 10 inches long and 6 inches across.  When you are deciding which book to choose for this project, just keep the user in mind and what they'll likely carry in it.  For example, I know my mom is going to want something a bit roomy and wide enough to carry her checkbook.  The book seemed a bit heavy when I purcha...