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Michigan Monogram

I had been looking all over for an applique of Michigan for my friend, Heather. I was looking around September through December and couldn’t find one. I found a few free embroidery software programs that will allow you to make your own applique files. It took a long time to figure them out because they have little to no directions. But after months of playing around with programs, I finally made a Michigan applique file! I added a little monogram to it to make it personalized for Heather. I also got a super crazy deal on a gray sweatshirt from Old Navy. You can’t beat $4.97!

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I had originally made a sample to see if the design would stitch out ok, and it ended up looking pretty cute. You can see that I switched from white thread to gray, so it would show up better on the shirt. The sample was just too cute to waste, which made me want to figure out something fun to do with it. I figured I would turn it into an ornament. I just added a button hole to the top of Michigan and cut off the excess fabric. Two gifts for the price of one!

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Applique Monogram

I’ve been seeing these cute monogrammed shirts popping up all over the place, and Planet Applique had the best sale on monogram letters the other day! I really like their website. It has the cutest theme, and I think she has some of the best designs around.

Here is a look at the shirt…

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Dancing Shoes Applique

I downloaded this really cute applique pattern from Planet Applique a few weeks ago, and I finally had some time to try it out. It’s a cute Mary Jane shoe pattern, and it took me a while to figure out which colors I wanted to use with it.

I had a leftover red Carter’s onesie from Valentine’s Day that I didn’t get to use, so I was trying to think of something I could do with it. I think this is a pretty cute idea! This onesie looks so cute with a pair of little black jeggings.

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Home Improvement Project – Shelves

We have a nice 3rd floor loft in our bedroom that we have been trying to figure out since we bought this house. It is a pretty sizable space, and you have to walk up stairs in our bedroom to get to it. There are these 2 cute windows, and each window has a little alcove which is about 30″ wide and 6 feet deep. So the question (for years) has been, “What do we do with these little window spaces?”

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We have tried putting sheer curtains in front of them, so we could hide junk behind them, but it just wasn’t working. For Valentine’s Day, Peter decided he would build me Valentine’s shelves. Yep. Ok, they’re really just shelves, but they were built with love on Valentine’s Day.

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I also went to Joann’s Fabric and bought some cute, trendy fabric to create little curtains for the shelves–that way we can store a bunch of stuff underneath and it still looks nice. And our 1-year old won’t be tempted by things if they are covered up.

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They look really nice, and I am very happy with the usable space. Now the next project is to make the same little curtains for the changing table, so I can hide the diapers, wipes, and other stuff under there.

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Free Toddler Toy!

I have a lot of these plastic take-out containers because I can’t bring myself to throw them away. They aren’t recyclable in our area, and I just feel bad throwing out something that resembles a Tupperware container.

I told my husband I would try to find a use for them. He thinks I (sometimes) hoard stuff like a squirrel. I’m not THAT bad, but I understand what he means. It’s the same reason I had 30 little empty K-cup containers a few years ago. I just feel like I should try to reduce-reuse-recycle when possible.

Anyhow…Emma really enjoys plopping toys into little spaces lately, so I decided to make her a toy container. She can put think blocks and things into the hole, and maybe when she gets older, I will do the same thing with colored buttons or markers (with a smaller, circular hole).

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Puppy Outfit

I made an outfit for Emma. It was a little hard because I am learning about tension and how it can really screw up sewing if you don’t have it set correctly.

I had to make a few tweaks to this outfit, but it turned out OK enough in the end. Don’t mind the little pieces of thread all over the place.

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Happlique Thanksgiving!

I finally made a shirt that I am not ashamed of. It’s the cutest little turkey ever from Planet Applique.

I got the onesie from a consignment shop for $1.50, so I feel pretty excited about this new “outfit” for Emma.

 

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