Adorable Ultra Easy Baby Headbands

Today's project is so easy it, it practically makes itself.  It's just what a busy mom (or grandma, aunt or friend) needs when free time is short, but you want a DIY with big impact:  Adorable Ultra Easy Baby Headbands!  

These are really quick to make & turn out super cute!  They stay on well and are very soft.  They are fabulous to give as gifts or to use for new baby photo shoots:

Supply-wise, you can be as simple or detailed as you want with the decorative elements.  Using soft items is key though.  I used some cute satin roses and fabric covered buttons in my stash from previous trips to my local craft stores.  Smaller 1/2 - 3/4 in diameter is ideal size.  

Materials:

- Nylon baby headband or pair of girl's tights*

- Small fabric or crochet flowers, bows or fabric covered buttons

- Hot glue gun

* It's literally two steps to make these - one step if you use pre-made headbands.  I got mine online from a hair bow supply store that had lots of colors, but after I got them I realized you could easily make them super cheap.  

Here's how:

Take a pair of girl's nylon tights and cut the legs into 1 inch wide tubes.  One pair will make a TON of headbands & should stretch well enough to fit newborn - toddler.  After cutting, give them a little pull so the edges curl and you've got the perfect, soft & simple baby headband!

To attach the embellishments, just add a dab of hot glue to the back of the items and firmly press onto the headband.  If putting several items next to one another, make sure they're really close so there won't be gaps when it gets a little stretched while being worn.

 I did trios of embellishments for mine.  It took just minutes to make several.  Literally anyone could craft some up!  

Just a reminder, for safety purposes, these should only be worn while closely supervised - never when left alone or in bed.  

I LOVE how sweet they look on my littlest lady.  They're so quick & inexpensive that you could make some to match every outfit or occasion.  It's the ideal craft equation of minimal make time x maximum enjoyment of results. 

Craftastic Monday Link Party Time!

I hope everyone had a love-filled Valentine's Day weekend.  It was our new baby's first holiday & we're still adjusting to our busier, more kids, less sleep/free time life so holiday crafting was last on my mind this year.  It's been great seeing all the clever creations you've been making as I recover, so let's see more at this week's Craftastic Monday Link Party!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I shared this easy make Noah's Ark Soft Toy Set (from a fabric panel):

And now for this week's Craftastic Picks:

Simply Beautiful by Angela created this super clever DIY range hood cover with built-in storage:

Trick n' Treat shared this banana pumpkin muffin recipe:

The Purple Poncho had this sweet free pattern for crochet heart coasters:

Our Clover House made these charming, & surprisingly easy, heart shaped mini layer cakes:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

Featured projects are also shared on Sew Can Do's Twitter feed for your creations to have MORE exposure!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to other people's work or to shops - join my Crafty Business Weekends Link Party instead!).  
• Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Plush Noah's Ark Toy Set from a Fabric Panel

Between homeschooling my 3 big kids, chasing after an almost 2yr old, a baby about to arrive + running my fabric shop, the past couple months were really short on crafting time.  I still wanted to do some handmade gifts at Christmas, so I used this Noah's Ark Soft Toy Set fabric panel, which I carry in my shop, to make a fun play set for my small guy.  

I loved how it came with a Noah figure & a nice assortment of animals & the directions are printed right on the panel so you just cut, sew and stuff.  Sew easy!



  It's also nice that the finished ark has pockets on both sides for a place to store all the figures and make play more fun.  



It seemed like the perfect handmade Christmas gift for my not quite two year old - especially as I didn't have the energy to do anything time consuming or complicated. 



 Despite sewing for 10+yrs, this was the first time I'd ever sewn a plush toy from a panel.  I wanted to see just how easy it would be to put together.

Cutting out all the pieces is straightforward.  I didn't prewash it since I didn't want things to shrink.  It can be hand or delicate machine washed when done.  The seam allowance is included in the pieces.  The next step is hemming the ark pocket pieces by folding, pressing and then stitching the top edges to the wrong side:

These get basted to the ark side pieces along the sides & bottom.  There are markings to make matching them up easy:

Then the top edges of the ark sides are pinned & stitched together, starting & stopping where the pocket edges are:

The bottom gusset piece gets added there to give the dimension for the ark:

There are markings at the bottom to show where to leave a gap for turning:

All the seam allowances should get trimmed down and clipped near the curves.  I find using pinking shears makes this easy to do in one step:

After turning right side out, it's time to stuff with polyfill.  It's key to stuff with small amounts at a time and really pushing into the curves and corners to give it a good shape.  

The figures are easy to do - stitching right along their printed designs gives a nice smooth finish when turned right side out & are stuffed just like the ark:

The gaps get pinned & slip stitched closed by hand:

It was pretty quick to make and it turned out just as expected.  It's easy enough for a beginner, which is a real plus.  I used some of my Multi Sky Cloud fabric & some blue velour to make a fun playscape back drop too:

Sew cute & easy to make too!

Link Love: Craftastic Monday Link Party

It's a love-filled Craftastic Monday Link Party!  Now's the ideal time to share all the love & Valentine's Day creations you've made - past or present - as well as any new DIYs, recipes, sewing, quilting, crafts, crochet or decor you've done.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I shared my latest creation, 8 1/2 months in the making, Sew Can Do Baby #5 - a new little girl:

In the coming weeks I'll be sharing some of the new crafty things I've made for my special girl.

And now for this week's Craftastic Picks:

Busy Being Jennifer did this incredible hand stitched true love pillow:

DIY Vibes shared this festive DIY Valentine's Day sign:

Annemarie's Haakblog crocheted this incredible plush dragon and is giving away a kit to make one too:

Pillar Box Blue made this rustic heart wood slice decoration:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

Featured projects are also shared on Sew Can Do's Twitter feed for your creations to have MORE exposure!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to other people's work or to shops - join my Crafty Business Weekends Link Party instead!).  
• Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

February Love + New Baby Craftastic Monday Link Party

It's the first Craftastic Monday Link Party of February!  I know the party is a bit late, but I have a good reason:

 Sew Can Do baby #5 arrived nearly 2 weeks early so we just came home from the hospital with our new little one a few hours ago.

We're pretty tired after a hectic few days, so this week I'll be taking it easy and getting used to our new, bigger than before, family.  I can't wait to see what beautiful creations you've made as I recuperate.  It's the ideal time to share all the love, Valentine's Day and baby-themed makes you've done - past or present - as well as any new DIYs, recipes, sewing, quilting, crafts, crochet or decor you've done.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I shared my latest crafty project this 
Easy Hand Knit Round Pouf Pillow:

And now for this week's Craftastic Picks:

She's Crafty Crafty showed how to make fun faux vintage decorative cans:

Apple Street Cottage shared these festive Valentine's Day coasters:

B4 and Afters had a free pattern for these pretty crochet earrings:

Zeleni Trenutki made this beautiful knit sweater:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on my Buttons Page to share the good news. 

 Want a Chance to 
Be Featured Next Week?  

Link back to the party somewhere on your blog.
I can't feature your post if you don't share the party.  
  

Featured projects are also shared on Sew Can Do's Twitter feed for your creations to have MORE exposure!

Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple: 

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to other people's work or to shops - join my Crafty Business Weekends Link Party instead!).  
• Add the link to your specific post. Product reviews, plagiarized or sponsored posts for random items will be immediately deleted.  
• Grab my party button & put it on your post, party page or blog somewhere.  If you want the chance to be featured, this is key.  The button code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Easy Project Love: Hand Knit Round Pouf Pillow

Want a quick & easy project that looks like it took a lot more effort?  Have I got the craft for you!  This fabulous Hand Knit Round Pouf Pillow.   

With baby coming any day now and nesting mode kicking in big time, I've wanted to do a few simple projects.  Things I can potentially leave at any time & easily come back to have been key - especially with a curious and active under 2yr old running around.  Now's not the time for me to be designing new things from scratch or drafting patterns with my brain & belly both a bit worn out.  I found a great video tutorial for making this hand knit round pouf pillow that's cheap, takes next to no time and requires even less knitting skills.  I'd seen poufs like this in catalogs for ridiculously high prices so being able to make one myself, inexpensively, was a huge draw.


I also wanted a cute little throw pillow for the glider in our nursery and this turned out just perfect for it:



I'm not going to rehash an already awesome & easy to follow video by copying it step-by-step in photo form here, but you can find the original here at Do It On A Dime.  

I'd actually found a different video first, but the instructions & camera work were harder to follow.  And the finished sample pillow shown at the beginning of that video was actually larger than what was made during the tutorial so when I was done it was too small and I had to unravel the whole thing.  Grrr.  

The Do It On A Dime video gives two size options and once I learned the technique I did one that was in-between to get the ideal size.  My finished pillow was 11 inches in diameter and 7 inches high, so I did 15 stitches around and 8 rows high.  



That original video tutorial I found was from a shop that also carried the 100% Merino wool yarn used.  It was crazy expensive and they didn't have the right color either, so I found a great Merino Acrylic blend over at Hobby Lobby (FYI it's called Yarn Bee Showstopper) that looked identical to the pricey one and was on sale for $7.  It literally looked and felt like cotton candy while I was working. Is it weird I totally wanted to eat it?  

I'd bought it before I found the second video, and in it she mentioned using this very yarn as a cheaper option to the 100% wool, so I knew I was on the right track.

A few tips I learned from making this were to use a little clip to mark the start of each row.  If you're easily distracted or have to step away in the middle, like I usually do, this keeps you on track with knowing how far you've gone.  It's also important to keep the stitches uniform and not too loose - if they gape too much you'll see the poly fill on the inside.  The yarn has a good amount of give so you can always stretch it a little to widen the stitches when you stuff it.  

Also, you'll need less poly fill that you'll anticipate so it's ok to under stuff it a bit - the thickness of the yarn gives it a lot of the pouf shape.  

Lastly, I learned from the first video to fold a little yarn remnant in half and stuff it in the center hole of the top and bottom of the pillow to give it a nice finish (and to stop up the hole so you can't see inside at all): 

I LOVE how this turned out and how cute it looks with all our other furniture and pillows in the room.  I'm totally going to make more of these, maybe even a giant floor sized one.  I'm also on the lookout for some thick chenille yarn to do different textures.