Embellished Towels

If you missed seeing my guest post at Women Who Do It All last week, this is the tutorial I shared. Thank you so much Jill, it was an honor to help you out!

This is a tutorial for making embellished towels.

You are going to need some terrycloth, ribbons, matching thread and the usual sewing gear (pins, fabric scissors, etc). The measurement will depend on what size towels you want. I found this remnant of terrycloth that was 50% off and was able to make four hand towels that measure 11x18.



First step is to decide the size of the towels and cut the terrycloth.



Next you are going to hem the sides that need it.



Then you will need to mark where you want the ribbon to go. I chose to put it one inch away from the bottom. I marked this with an invisible marker to make it easier to place the ribbon. Finish off the edges of ribbon.

Pin the ribbon to the terrycloth using the pen mark you made earlier and choose your stitch. I used straight stitch on two and then tried the Fagoting Stitch on the last one.

Here you can see what each stitch looks like:

And that's it- you now have some embellished towels to match your bathroom!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, my son is loving his new towels. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to see any towels you embellish.

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Mother's Day Cake

Since my husband and kids are planning a surprise for Mother's Day, I decided to make this cake early since I won't get to make it on the actual day

My Mom actually had surgery on the day that I made this cake. It helped take my mind off her 7 hour surgery and became a very cathartic process for me.

I am currently in the middle of Course 2 of the Wilton Cake Decorating classes. This second course is going much better since the teacher is fantastic. I am enjoying the classes and feel liked I've learned a ton!

It's obvious I still have a lot to learn, but at least I'm enjoying the process. Each time I make a cake becomes a learning experience. This cake taught me to make enough icing to begin with, to freeze the cake before icing it (got tons of crumbs on the side) and to check the list of tools needed before starting. I wanted to do a special technique on the side but forgot to get the tool. I should have also iced the cake in a different color than the one used for the rosettes, and made them tighter on the top. However I will say that I am very happy with my shell border on the bottom!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the great moms reading this!

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Flower Pot for Mom

It's hard to believe Mother's Day is in less than two weeks! I came up with this project today as a cute way to present a gift card to the moms in your life. You could also do this with a bigger pot and put a cute plant in it for your Mom.



I absolutely love these little pots and have been using them a lot for crafting. For this project I decided to paint a lavender border and do the bottom with chalkboard paint.

If your Mom is into gardening, you could substitute the gift card with some seeds. Once Mother's Day has passed she can write what she planted on the pot, or she could keep the "#1 Mom" forever! :)



I also love the idea of using these as place settings at a Spring party or a baby shower. You could personalize the little pots and have them coordinate with the theme of the party by adding embellishments.

And while this has nothing to do with the craft at hand... I just had to show you our first almost ready to be picked tomato of the season!

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Marble Magnets

My inspiration for craft projects seems to go in phases... right now I am back and forth between sewing and glue-related projects. Remember these scrappy magnets? I love them so much that I decided to make some more. However, I decided to use a different technique for the second batch.



I decided to try my hand at these which are made with glass marbles that you can buy at the dollar store. I went through my scrapbooking stash and found several things I liked and started cutting. As you can see, I went with animals and initials.

This project was almost a big FAIL though... so I'll share my tip. Buy the big magnets. I tried these little guys and they did not work out. First I used one, then two and then I went to the craft store and bought the bigger ones and those worked like a charm. (Sorry those aren't pictured, at the time of the "photo shoot" the doubled-up little ones seemed to work!)

The animal-themed ones are going to a friend who is having a rough time right now and needs a pick-me-up. I packaged them up in a jewelry bag and sent them off to her- I hope they make her smile.

The ones with the initials are for my family. We recently started setting "Weekly Goals" and I think these will help us remember those throughout the week. Besides, they're cute.

These would make a really cute Mother's Day present! And don't worry about the little magnets, I already have another project in mind for them. Stay tuned!

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Guest Blogging @ Women Who Do It All

I am so excited to be Guest Blogging @ Women Who Do It All. Jill is amazing and has a beautiful blog full of great ideas. I am so honored that she shared her spotlight with me!



I posted a really cool tutorial on her blog that I hope you will check out! Here's a little hint:



I hope you like it. Happy weekend!

Boy Puppy PJs

Remember this little guy from this post? He was a huge hit, my son loved him!

I had some fabric leftover, so I decided to make him some matching PJs. I followed the same guidelines as when I made these for my daughter, except I used an old t-shirt that had a stain. I decided to go with my son's initial since we are starting to work on spelling his name.

I used the fagotting stitch again (my new favorite) around the applique- I love it!

I think this would make a really cute present for a toddler: Square Bear + Matching PJs.



Sorry the pics aren't great, I was rushing out to cake decorating class. Happy Friday!!!

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