right on, Target!

All the way back in March I saw this on the Pleated Poppy.  I had long admired Lindsey's product, but in this purse revamp I was finally like, "I can do this! And the bag is from Target - my Mecca!"

So off to Target I went and stocked up on bags. I started playing around with fabrics. Just looking at fabrics is fun enough there are so many pretty ones. Lindsey is absolutely correct when she says you should check out Hawthorne Threads - uh-mazing! 

Now with my nice little stash of fabric and embellishments I had made an awesome bag for myself. 

Well, as you can imagine, I started getting lots of compliments on this fun bag. And it is fun. I had fun playing with all the different types of materials - I've got a zipper flower on there, ribbon flowers, fabric flowers, and little felt buttons. It is definitely something that took time. I had reached a point where I thought I was done, so I hung it on the back of a chair and kept looking at it for a day. A few things stuck out at me so I pulled them off and readjusted - just like fine tuning or "sleeping on it."

I kind of had in mind that these bags would make excellent diaper bags and my cousin was expecting twins this month. Back in April she said to me, "what if I found some fabric for you, would you maybe make me a bag?" And I said, "what if you just wait and see what people have planned for you!"

Well there went my surprise, but it did take me all the way until now to get it to her. She had those two sweet girls yesterday morning and I got to meet them today. Baby A weighed 4 lbs. 1oz. Baby B weighed 4 lbs. 11ozs. I can officially say those are the smallest babies I have ever held, let alone seen. Here's how her bag turned out:

And well for me, it's all about presentation, so you have to fill a diaper bag with all kind of little goodies!

I made sure to include the Big Sis, with her very cool t-shirt of course. And at Target, of course, they have these awesome marker boxes and notebooks that you can 'make your own.' See how they are black and white and have designs? You just get markers to color in the designs. I thought she would have fun with that. Plus a few new frames for the babies when she is in kindergarten next year. Then, in the diaper bag went two receiving blankets, their Lil Sis t's and two dry erase boards that I made. Again, the frames came from Target. They came in a two-pack (ha, so did the receiving blankets). I used some of the same fabric from the diaper bag, put it inside the glass, as well as a few stickers on the inside, and voila! I think my cousin will be all set, at least for a couple of hours :)

*go see this and lots of other great ideas at 

and since this was a gift, go check out  for this and more great gift ideas! 

scrap happy and a happy friday!

Yep, it's pretty much official - the Wal-Mart Singer machine has bit the dust. I guess that sweet little old man I went to visit last weekend was right, "Ya get what ya pay for!"

I needed something I could whip up quick, and boy was this the project!

Basically all you need are some scrap strips of fabric, about 15 inches long. and braid them. I used a safety pin to hold each end until both braids were done. Then I held both  braids together and put one end through the sewing machine (this was right before it broke), and then did the same on the other end. This way both braids are now attached to each other. Like this:

Then the last step once you have attached the two braids is to cut the excess off the ends, and attach the elastic (approx. 5-6 inches). I had to hand stitch that part. 

I've got the most adorable 7 month-old niece with beautiful red hair. This little mini will be beyond cute, I have a feeling!

You can see I even used a paperclip to hold the spot in the braids because I couldn't find another safety pin at that moment. Whatever works! All this with just some scraps. Quick and fun, what could be better?!

Check this other one out, she did a great job. 

Also, here's another fun giveaway going on...love stitched is hosting one for Sherri's Boutique for this awesome Amy Butler bag. Love it!

bags, bags, and a giveaway!

So we got my sewing machine fixed the other day and as we were about to finish my cute cute clutch it broke again, in a completely different spot, a different piece and all. I guess there is something to be said for the old quality machines! So much for my instant gratification on what was supposed to be a quick little clutch. I'll show you what I have so far though.

And here's another bag I've been working on. But not having a machine sure does put a damper on these projects, so I think I will be back to some no sew ones.

However one thing I love about blogland is that there are always some fun giveaways to help you try for some instant gratification and tatertots & jello has a fun one going on right now with kristen's custom creations. Go check out it. There's some fun stuff, even this for a dad, like my brother, cause it's his first father's day coming up and I think he's a pretty great one!