I’m among the last to jump on this very addicting bandwagon, and I have to agree with everyone else. This is so much fun. I can’t wait to do more. A friend had a baby shower, and I pounced at the chance to do them.

So I purchased freezer paper at my local grocery store and downloaded some clipart/images online. I traced those images onto the freezer paper, and with my x-acto knife, I cut them out. Here are some of them:

So here’s the lowdown on how to put them together:

1. Prewash your fabric. Do not use fabric softener!

2. Set your iron to the setting that corresponds with your fabric of choice. For the onesies, since they were cotton, I had it on the cotton setting.

3. Iron the freezer paper stencils onto your fabric, shiny side down (for me, this took no more than 10 seconds). Don’t make the mistake of ironing them on shiny side UP, or then you risk ruining your iron (and melting the wax/plastic side all over your iron plates).

4. Using foam/stencil brushes, apply fabric paint onto your stencil in an up/down motion (as if you were stabbing the fabric with your brush). You want to be dabbing the paint on, not brushing it side to side. If you brush it side to side, you risk having paint accumulate on the sides of the stencils, and having paint bleed underneath the stencil. It’s best to apply a couple of thin coats of paint, and do them evenly, rather than just gob it all on at once.

5. Wait for the paint to dry, then carefully peel the stencil off the fabric. With this particular fabric paint (I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint from Joanns), the instructions say to let the paint dry flat for 4 hours. I didn’t wait the entire 4 hours to peel the stencil off - I just waited until it wasn’t completely wet. Probably 5 minutes or so is good enough for peeling off the stencil, then let it dry completely for the remainder of the time.

6. After that, I would recommend sticking them in the dryer on medium/high for 10 minutes (with no fabric softener), to heat-set the paint.

Washing instructions: When you want to wash them, turn them inside out and wash in warm water, tumble low/medium.

Easy huh? Here were some of my samples:

Here are some of the girls working on their onesies at the shower:

Some of their work:

Nice huh? I would post more pictures, but the rest of my pictures ended up dark and/or blurry. (I’m still a newbie with the camera manual controls.) So instead, I’ll leave you with some REALLY GOOD cupcakes we had at the shower from Sibby’s Cupcakery.

(If you couldn’t tell earlier, the shower was ocean-themed.) =)

I know I’m risking this by posting early… as some of my gift recipients might be seeing this. But I thought they were so cute, I wanted to share. I’m not big on paper crafts, but thanks to Martha Stewart (hate her or love her, regardless, she has cool stuff), I can dabble in it just a little bit.

Cutting out pieces of crepe paper:

Glueing it all together for a nice box topping:

I’m making a bunch of these.

I also have other similar sized boxes, but not with the pretty poinsettias (the red crepe paper bled onto the tips of my fingers). I’ll experimenting with decorating them with other colored/print papers and perhaps wrapping them with some of my leftover yarns. I’ll be filling these boxes with various things - handmade ornaments, russian tea cakes (the snowball-looking ones), and perhaps some handmade chocolate truffles. We’ll see how successful I am in the kitchen… and I’ll be sneaking a couple pieces in for myself. =) Yum!

The weather here has started to get a bit chilly. Where I’m at, fall is a short season, which is unfortunate because it’s my very favorite season of the year. Because of the temperature dipping, I’ve already been using these, and they have been so cozy and warm on my hands!

Pattern: Melissa Hills’ (Kpixie/Midnight Knitter) Tweedy Mittens
Yarn: Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends, in brown and blue
Needle: US #7 dpn’s
Notes:
A really quick knit. And they fit PERFECTLY! I’ve never made mittens before, but these came fairly easy to me. I didn’t like the striped jog, and so I did my best to eliminate the jog, with some help here. This was good practice not only doing stripes, but carrying up yarn. These are so quick, you can do a pair in just 2 evenings. And if you didn’t do stripes, it would probably go by slightly faster. But I love the striping colors. Now all I need is a matching hat! Maybe a fairisle, with those 2 colors?

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Now here’s something totally unrelated to knitting. I’ve been trying my hand at scrapbooking. (One of the bridal showers I coordinated, I got an idea from a friend to collect recipes, marriage advice, and date ideas for a “guidebook” for the bride… and now I’m compiling it all together in a scrapbook.) I had absolutely no idea what this craft entailed, and I realize that I was unprepared for it. It takes a hugely creative person to come up with something so detailed and pulled together, rather than be guided by a pattern, a recipe, or detailed instructions. Because of the freeform nature of it, scrapbooking can be pretty hard!! At least for me. I knew my hubby had some experience with it, so I pummeled him with a million questions on what I should do and how I should do it, and all that. He looked at my stuff, gave some really good constructive input on how to approach any scrapbooking project, and how I could improve on what I was already doing.

My pile:

Now look at HIS pile:

Yes, HE’S scrapbooking right next to me! He had committed himself to completing a scrapbook on our 2004 Nepal trip, but never finished it. And after giving me alot of input on my own project, he thought it would be a good idea that we would “scrapbook together”, as that would motivate him to finish his long-procrastinated project. I have to say, I have never heard of a guy scrapbooking, much less suggesting that we “scrapbook together” but he does a pretty good job doing it. He won’t buy all the stickers and foofy stuff, but he WILL save all ticket stubs, coins, pictures, memorabilia, etc. and incorporate all that. Combine that with an eye for color, textures, some creativity… and I’ll just say this. I’m quite impressed. One minute he’s spending hours doing his online fantasy football or grunting at the basketball game on TV, and the next minute, he’s pulling out his rubber cement and pasting on stuff for his scrapbook. I’ve known this guy for nearly a decade, and I’m STILL learning new things about him. =)

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And speaking of learning new things, here’s a little something for y’all about me. Recently tagged by Gail, here are 8 random things about me:

1. I’m turning 30 next month.

2. I share my bed with my husband and a couple stuffed animals (yes, I still sleep with stuffed animals).

3. I’m not usually a chocolate-fan (it’s just OK to me) except when I’m PMSing. During that time, not only do I crave all things chocolate, I also crave alcoholic drinks. As I am typing this, I have this overwelming urge to stuff my face with a hot batch of chewy gooey brownies. And a girlie fruity mixed drink. YUMMMMMMMMM

4. My husband and I are each other’s first boyfriend/girlfriend.

5. I’m still a little scared of my sewing machine. I took a few sewing classes (and a quilting class too) which has helped. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my sewing machine, but I’m still a teeny weeny bit scared. Still.

6. I’m also scared of turning 30.

7. Given a flight vs. fight situation, hands down I always go the flight route. I’m good at running away. At nearly everything. (Which can be a good and bad thing.)

8. I’m not a huggy kind of person. I didn’t grow up with a lot of hugs, so it’s not very natural to me. (I also didn’t grow up with any “I love you’s”, so I have a difficult time expressing/saying that to others as well as receiving it.) So when I met my husband-to-be, it was a huge shock. He is the huggiest person I know. In fact, when we were first getting to know each other, he gave me this hug, and I completely rejected the hug. Don’t know how to reject a hug? Here’s how to do it: Just stand stiff as a board, arms straight by your side, and don’t move. It was like he was hugging the wall. He, of course, felt snubbed and was a bit dejected, but little did he know that the girl who dissed his hug would one day be his wife.

There! Now you know some new things about me. =) Have a great weekend!