Baby Shower Gift

As you have probably seen before in my blog, I have been making Tag blankets as gifts for friends. We do not sell these in our shop at this time but I have made them at the request of people or as gifts. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep reading or you can check out these: Kieren and Makenna’s, Makiah’s and Kylie’s

Another friend of ours from church is getting ready to have her first boy (She already has two girls.) and I am not able to make it to her shower. I was planning to make her a tag blanket, so I got it done this week so that I could deliver it before her shower.

 

Tag Blanket

I also decided to try and put her son’s initials on a washcloth and his name on the matching towel. It was something I had in the closet and never gave as a gift. Sadly the machine messed up on his name on the towel and it didn’t turn out right. The washcloth turned out okay, but I didn’t give it to her because I thought it would be silly to just give her the washcloth.

 

 

Washcloth

 

As I was wrapping up the tag blanket, I realized that I didn’t have a card to go with the gift. Seeing that it was after 9pm and Little Monkey was in bed and Little Monkette was hanging out with me, there was no running to the store to get a card. I checked my stash and noticed that I didn’t have anything that would really work for a baby shower either. So I decided to take some card stock and make a card. I had never tried to do what I was thinking in my head so it was kind of a trial run. Thankfully it turned out okay!

 

Card

I just the letters from some leftover fabric scraps we had and used a glue stick to get them in place. Then I did a zigzag stitch around the letters to help keep them on the card and make it look fun. I took a piece of construction paper and cut it to fit on the inside of the card to cover up the thread and holes from sewing. Then I wrote a message inside. Simple but quite cute if I do say so myself!

 

Thought It Was Better

After having a really good day this week, I thought things were looking up. Maybe there really is a light at the end of the tunnel (I know there is…I just can’t always see it.).

Friday Big Monkey had to work and so my sister came over to hang out with us for the day and night to help out with the kids. We had a couple of special orders for our shop and we decided that we would work on those during the day. We started by finding all the fabric we would need and got everything done in steps. Before too long, the special orders were all done, as well as Little Monkette’s “House Divided” Football onesie. (Football shaped applique, half Florida State and half Florida Gators.) Amy had also cut out the fabric for Little Monkette’s name bean bags and got the letters ironed on. Amy’s college roommate was in town with her little girl at her parents’ house, so we decided to go for a visit. We packed up Little Monkey and Little Monkette and headed out. It was good to get out of the house and Little Monkey had someone else to play with. After visiting with her friends, we made a stop at Sally Beauty Supply to see if we could exchange some hair clips that Amy bought since they were not the kind we really like. Thankfully they had the ones we wanted and did an exchange. Now we can really get into our hair clip making craze since we have 200 hair clips! Check out these cute pumpkin clips Amy made the other day.

Pumpkin Hair Clips!

Saturday started out as a very different day. I suddenly was feeling very anxious and unsure about the day. Amy was leaving for the day but my mother-in-law was already here before she left. I tried to relax and calm down but it wasn’t really working. I was still really anxious. I took a shower and then some of the new medicine that my doctor gave me this week. I was still feeling a bit iffy about the whole day but the medicine did its job and I was feeling better. It is nice to have the medicine if I need it and the day was a bit better after that.

It was very hard that Saturday started out so rough since Friday was so good. I was thinking that things were getting better (which they are) but it seems that this will still be a bit of a process and I certainly will not be better overnight. I understand that it is a process, but I was definitely hopeful after having a good day. I know there will be more days like Friday and probably still more days like Saturday, but hopefully the “Fridays” will start to out number the “Saturdays.”

Time For Football!

Some of the guys in our church have a fantasy football league. Big Monkey is a part of the league for its second year. (Last year he played and came in last and won the toilet seat award.) We are hoping for a better showing this year! One of the other wives had an idea to have a playdate with the kids and make shirts for the guys and the kids to represent their fantasy football teams. We went over to their house this past week and got to work. Everyone was excited that I was coming because they said they needed my creative help. (I tried to explain to them that I am really not that creative. Just about everything I make is something I have found online and just recreate!) The other moms used paint pens, markers and tie dye. I also did one tie dye onesie for Little Monkette. It wasn’t ready to go yet when we left, so I don’t have it back yet.

I also made Little Monkette this onesie.

Cheerleader!

It was simply an iron on that I bought and ironed on to the shirt. I still haven’t decided if it is done as it is or not. I might add some words or her name to it with the embroidery machine or some iron on letters.

This is Little Monkey’s shirt. I made a long sleeve shirt (mainly because when I went looking for plain white shirts, long sleeve was the only thing I could find in his size). I did most of the work at home before we went to the playdate. (Printing a template, preparing the fabrics and getting it all cut out) Then at the playdate I did all the iron on work. I had to sew it when I got it back home. I had left part of the football without the fusible webbing on it so that after I sewed around the edge, I could make it fray some.

Football Applique

Here is an up close of the football, before it had been frayed at all.

Football!

Big Monkey also got a shirt. I had picked him out a red shirt and put his team name on the back with some iron on letters. Then on the front I had also printed a template to use to create the football and the burst around it. I did all the prep work at home also and then did the iron on work at playdate. Big Monkey says that he likes it…but we’ll see if he’ll wear it out of the house at all! (It reminds me of the Incredibles outfits a little bit!)

Front, Close up, just starting the fraying of the black

Back-The name of Big Monkey's Fantasy Football Team

Told You I’d Be Busy

Yesterday Little Monkey got to go with his Mimi to Disney. He chose to go to Epcot so he could see Nemo (Meno as he calls him). They also went to MGM (Actually now named Hollywood Studios) and rode the Toy Story ride and saw the Playhouse Disney show.

While they were gone, I worked hard on some orders we had and some other items for the shop. Here is a look at some of my work:

Special Order Bean Bag Order

Special Order College Coffee Cozies

Special Order Bean Bags (Not finished yet though)

I also have about seven more coffee cozies that are at the half way point. I have a few more things that I need to make for special orders but we had to order the fabrics and they haven’t arrived yet.

Where Have I Been?

You might be wondering why I haven’t posted over the past couple of days. It was a VERY busy weekend around here!

Friday night I went to a bridal shower for my sister-in-law.
Saturday was my mother-in-law’s birthday and we all got together.
Sunday was church and then my baby shower.
Monday started Little Monkey’s swimming lessons and we had a bridesmaid get together that night. (We made jewelry for the wedding. So fun and everyone’s is different but similar.)

The bride took all of our jewelry to hold onto but I did get a picture of what I made. I can’t wait to see it with the dress on!

My jewelry for the wedding.

I would like to say that things are settling down  and getting back to normal, but I don’t know that that is the case! I will be doing some sewing for some orders we have and we are working on getting the little one’s room ready for her arrival!

Another Surprise!

Recently I had posted about the rice/bean bags that I had made as a gift for a friend. I had some comments about how they were cute and all; one person even suggesting that they would like 100 of them for their school.

I have since made a set for Little Monkey and have learned another lesson in ways to make them. The next time I put the letters on I will do the iron on and sew around the letters to help keep them on. Little Monkey has almost pulled his letters off!

I was going for a visit to my mom’s school this past week and decided that I would make a couple of bean bags before I went. They really don’t take too long to do but I’m not making 100 of them! Hopefully the teacher who suggested 100 will be happy with five for now! Maybe she can get some parents from her school to make her some more. I think they would be best if they were denim since they will likely be using them outside in PE class. The school’s mascot is the ladybug, so I chose ladybug fabric from my stash for these!

Ladybug Bean Bags!

Sale Ends Monday!

You probably already saw this post: Celebrating 100 Etsy Sales but I wanted to let you know that the sale is going to continue only through Monday August 31st. This is a great time to stock up on gifts for family, friends, teachers, babysitters, you get the idea!

Head over to the shop and take a look around. If you don’t see what you are looking for, or are hoping for multiples of something you only see one of, just let us know. We actually have plenty of more stock that hasn’t been photographed and put in the shop. (This includes holiday coffee cozies-Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July.)

Celebrating 100 Etsy Sales

BIG NEWS :: Shop-Wide Buy One, Get One Free Sale (beginning August 20, 2009)

In celebration of 100 successful sales on Etsy, Two Florida Girls are offering a buy one, get one free extravaganza.

It’s time to stock up! Think birthdays. Think college student care package. Think just because. Think holidays and teacher gifts. Heck…think about you for once and treat yourself. 

The sale applies to all coffee cozies, gadget cozies and little guy ties. Here’s the deal, the discount will apply to the item of equal or lesser value, but it will not be applied to the shipping costs. (Sorry, sale cannot be used with bean bags or custom orders.) 

We haven’t set a timeframe on this, but we’ll give you warning at least a few days before the sale ends. It won’t last forever so jump on it now. We’ll be adding additional stock in the coming days as well.

How do you make this work? You’ve got one of two options. Make your order through Etsy, choosing one free item for every item you’re purchasing and then we can send you an adjusted invoice before you pay. Or, go ahead and pay for the entire order and we’ll issue a refund through Paypal. You decide.

Thanks for helping us celebrate! And, here’s to another 100 Etsy sales for the Two Florida Girls.

A Surprise for Kieren’s Cousin!

I heard that  my little tag blankets have been very well loved by many people. Apparently Kieren’s cousin would really like one too. Since I like making them, and they don’t take too long, I made one today for Kylie. I hope that she (and her mom) will like it too. It is a little different than Kieren’s (I’ve modified how I make them since then.). And since Kylie has such a short name, her name is much larger on the blanket!

A Kindle Craft

Recently our Etsy shop had been contacted by our fifth grade teacher! She had a special request for a case for her Kindle DX. I have not even held the Kindle DX or seen one in person but I was willing to give it a try. I made a protoype of the case out of some scrap fabric that I had. It was certainly not perfect. It was VERY helpful to me though to make it before I tried to make the case for a potential buyer (with special order fabric!). I learned quite a few things and figured out ways to do things differently when I actually went to make the case.

Prototype

The first case was made off of the specs for the Kindle DX itself, but after I made it, I found out that the customer actually wanted the Kindle DX with its leather case to fit inside the case I was making. Not a big deal, so I added a bit of space in the next one. I also used a thicker batting inside the actual case to help protect it. The pocket on the customer’s case is also larger than the prototype and lined with batting. I don’t think it came out perfect but it is pretty good. Hopefully our teacher will like it and her Kindle DX will fit in it perfectly. Here is a peek at the case for my readers:

Closed up

Open with Pocket for charger in the top part

I doubt that I would make another case, but if someone asked for a special order, at least I now know how to go about it. If anyone is interested in the prototype case, for their Kindle DX or something else, please let me know. I may even just give it to you!