Banman Land

A few days before our family photo shoot it became clear to me that the forecast called for COLD.

I scrambled to come up with warm outfits.

Mitts, scarves and leg warmers came to mind as cute accessories but my trip to the mall proved to be unsuccessful.

I don't like NO for an answer so I became determined to find/make/borrow matching knits.

First stop?

Thrift stores.

I bought 4 old sweaters that fit my color scheme.

To make these orange leg warmers, I simply cut the arms off an orange sweater.

It was a boys size7.

I did the same for the turquoise leg warmers.

This sweater was a girls size 4

{Cuteness alert!}

I didn't even finish the cut edges.

I originally planned for these leg warmers to be worn tucked into boots but they look pretty cute this way too!!

See my high tech, well-planned crafting?

I laid the sweater out flat and cut the arms off.

It's that simple!

Snip your way to cuteness!

If you want to finish your leg warmers properly, I just found THIS great tutorial over at Made By Lex.

The mitten project was not as successful.

I used my "wing-it" approach and cut around each kids' hand.

{I used the body portions of the sweaters}

I did not leave enough room for sewing and I did not give any thought to the thumb placement.

Look how funny they turned out up close!

If I were to make mittens again, I would use a tutorial by someone else.

I found THIS fabulous one today at Five Green Acres.

I gotta say, some of my projects don't quite go as planned, but they are always opportunities to learn something for next time.

In the end, the mittens helped to keep my kiddos' hands warm and they looked fantastic in the photos.

They went in the "garbagio"(as we call it at home) after the photo shoot.

 We kept the leg warmers and have gotten a lot of use out of them.

Such a great pop of color!

I hope my randomness inspires some new creativity for you:)

Hi!

Now that Christmas is over,

I'm excited to share this fun tutorial.

I must warn you; I am not a perfectionist.

{well in some ways I am but not in the way of keeping track of numbers and measurements}

You will have to be willing to take some liberties of your own with this tutorial.

I am merely trying to inspire you to get sewing!

Here is my Cambria with her taggie!

This is the first moment she saw it.  She was very interested in the bright, colorful tags!

Here are the other recent taggie creations in Banmanland...

Four in a row...

I always like to pick fun textures.

It's mandatory that one side be silky.

This fun color combo was made for a cute baby friend of Cambria's named Kingsley.

His Mommy loves fluorescents.

{his nickname}

The hand-embroidered felt tag is my favourite part.

There is nothing like creating something beautiful simply with a needle and thread.

Mikayla made this taggie for her cousin Jamin for Christmas.

She embroidered and everything all by herself.  

I was proud!

A whole lot of tags!!

This part has to be completed before you can sew your taggie up.

I *may* have gone a little overboard on this one.

I couldn't stop.

Select your ribbons.  

I have an endless supply of ribbon and I still can't seem to manage to leave Michaels without a new roll.

It's my addiction.

You may need to go out and purchase ribbon.  If this is the case, I am sorry I do not have exact measurements for you.  

This is what I know:

I used about 10-15 ribbons per side. 

4 sides. 

Each ribbon is between 3 1/2- 5 1/2inches long.

Choose all sorts of ribbons.

Skinny, thick, silky, grosgrain.

I vary the lengths of the ribbons so they turn out to be all different shapes, sizes, textures AND lengths.

I cut a perfect square in each of my two fabrics.

My favourite square size is 19 inches.

{before sewing}

Pin the ribbons to the heavier of the two fabrics.

{I pinned my ribbons to the pink minky dot above}

Pin those ribbons inward.

Sew all the way around the blanket to secure all ribbons in place.

Before I pin and sew the two fabrics together, I carefully pin the corner ribbons in place (see red pin above) to avoid accidentally sewing them into my seam.

{hard to explain but believe me, if you skip this step you will know what I am talkin' about!}

Pin the "right side" (meaning the pretty side) of the second fabric(in my case it's the grey with white dots) to the "right side" of the now-ribboned first fabric (pink minky).

{when sewing with silky, use lots of pins:)}

I make an X with pins to mark where I should start and stop sewing.

{you must leave an opening so that you can flip the inside, out.}

{another awkward sentance. sheesh.}

I sew around the entire blanket once.

{with the exception of the opening for flipping}

Then I flip the blanket to the other side and go around again so that I can ensure all edges are secured.

I use a zig zag stitch for the second time around the blanket.

Don't forget to backstitch the edges of the opening:)

Now pin the opening shut.

{oh- I'm not into ironing.  Years ago, when she was still alive, my Grandma taught me that I must iron between each step.  She was correct, everything turns out nicer when ironed.  If you can, this is the time to iron your blanket.  In my case, Grandma only had two kids so I believe she would be cool with me skipping that step!!}

Sew around the blanket very close to the edge (pink) and then a second time about 3/4 of an inch in from the edge(teal).

{more awkward explaining.  Just look at the picture!}

Crooked?

Yes!

I told you I'm not a perfectionist.

Baby loves it.

She's very forgiving of her taggie's imperfections.

Your baby needs one too!

Get to work!

Here's a quick lesson on how to glitter up your pumpkins.

(I guess it's too late for this year but file this one away for next, it's so easy and soo pretty!)

Caleb helped me.

He squeezed on a whole bunch of Elmer's glue...

then he brushed it on smoothly with a foam brush...

{We used white pumpkins which worked out great because I didn't cover the entire surface with glitter but at first glance they still looked completely glittery.  I think with orange underneath it would have been more noticeable if they were not fully glittered.}

Then he dumped this glitter all over the pumpkin.

(we put newspaper underneath to catch the glitter and pour it back into the jar)

It was really that simple.

It was messy.

We still have glitter everywhere.

I say the mess was well worth the effect!

We have recycled Mailee's party decorations twice already.

First they sat on our front porch...

{I brought the candles in at night for all you safety inspectors out there:}

We had a pretty porch for a few days but we decided to share the love so we took the pumpkins to Mike's office.

Pretty!