CRAFT: Doll Diapers (Absorbent)

If you saw my previous post about the basic doll diapers and thought, "That's a nice idea, but I have one of those dolls that actually eats and wets herself, which is basically like having another kid. Yay." Worry no more my friend, we have one of those too. Meet Baby Alive, more affectionately knows as "Chloe."

Chloe not only talks and has an amazing head full of curls that are becoming very un-curly due to repetitive gnawing by my son, but Chloe ALSO comes with the extra added joy of being able to go #1 AND #2. Felt diapers can't do much about that.

Of course with all of those bodily fluids, Chloe's creators were nice enough to include a pack of tiny diapers for her little bum and the option to buy expensive refills when those run out. While I would just love to spend $10 on a pack of tiny diapers, I decided to make my own absorbent diapers using the same general idea as my basic doll diaper but larger to fit a bigger doll, and of course with added absorption.

SUPPLIES: my free downloadable absorbent doll diaper pattern (this pattern fits larger 18-inch dolls like this Baby Alive doll), flannel, terry cloth (washcloths are perfect if you don't have any terry cloth), disappearing ink marker, sewing machine and basic supplies

ONE: first, fold your flannel with the right sides together and place your printed pattern on the fold. Trace around it and cut out. Repeat this for a total of 3 pattern pieces, 2 of flannel and 1 from your terry cloth or washcloth. I used an old washcloth and it was the perfect size.

 

TWO: stack your layers of fabric as follows: flannel right side up, flannel right side down, terrycloth  (see picture above for reference.) Pin all the way around and sew using a 1/2 inch seam allowance - leave several inches unsewn for turning.

THREE: clip your corners and turn right side out using a chopstick or other object to push out your corners. Tuck the raw edge of your flannel inside and use a whipstitch or a blind stitch to sew your opening closed.

FOUR: finally, pin and sew your velcro on. You'll want the loop portion (the scratchy one) of your velcro to be on the outside of your diaper and the hook portion (the fuzzy one) to be on the inside (see picture above for placement.) 

Now Baby's little bum will stay nice and dry while you're busy feeding her water and expensive fake baby food.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

CRAFT: Doll Diapers (Basic)

Whew, it's 2013! Is anyone else as exhausted as I am? It's a new, fresh year, but I'm finding myself dragging my feet still and trying to recover from the last one. With the passing of Christmas each year, I always find myself feeling bittersweet about it all. I'm worn out from the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but I also look forward to having my routine back, no matter hard it might be to get back into that routine. Shannon and I enjoyed our little blog vacation (thanks for hanging with us as we took a little break to recharge and spend time with family) and now we're ready to hit the ground running. 

So, let's talk about butts, shall we?

My daughter has quite a few stuffed animals and dolls laying around, and she really loves to diaper them. Side note: do you know how hard it is to diaper a stuffed monkey? That tail just does NOT fit well in a tiny doll diaper. Since Christmas just ended, I'm guessing many of your kids got quite a few dolls and stuffed animals that might be in need of some less expensive diapers, so I whipped out some felt and velcro and came up with a few simple no-sew diapers.

SUPPLIES: my free basic diaper pattern found here (this diaper pattern fits medium-size dolls such as Cabbage Patch dolls),  felt squares, velcro, hot glue gun and glue, scissors.

ONE: first fold your felt square in half and place your printed pattern on top. Trace around the pattern with invisible marker and cut out.
TWO: cut your velcro into small squares and hot glue to your diaper as shown in #3 (make sure your "hook" portion of velcro is on the inside of your diaper and the "loop" pieces should be on the front.)
THREE: now velcro the two pieces together and you have a finished felt diaper! Easy right? I made a whole stack of them in about 30 minutes.

 

The pattern is sized for medium stuffed animals and dolls, but I'm sure you could adjust the size easily. I used felt so that I didn't have to bother with sewing exposed edges or anything like that, but cute patterned fabric diapers would be fun too!

Haley loves changing her stuffed monkey's diapers now, and now all of the sudden other stuffed animals and dolls have decided they need diapers as well. Good thing I made a stack!

P.S., we're over at Prudent Baby today sharing the tutorial for the knight's tunic I made for Connor. I'd love it if you came and said hi!

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

Happy 2013!!

We want to start this new year off right.  Since this is our first new year as eat.sleep.MAKE., we want to share our resolutions with you all so you can hold us accountable!  There's some personal goals and some goals we have together.

Shannon
Plan 1st international trip
I've been all over the United States, but I've never been off our continent.  I have no excuses, so I'm going to change that.

Do more random nice things
I get too wrapped up in my own life sometimes, so I want to be more mindful that the smallest gestures can make or break someone else's day.  Buying a stranger's coffee behind me at Starbucks or leaving some yummy baked goods on a neighbor's porch for no reason at all...

Play my piano more
I used to play all the time, but I just get too busy... I want to make time for my music again, which leads me to my last personal resolution...

Write a song
I haven't lyrics scribbled here and there, but have never taken the time to put music and words together.  I'd like to actually accomplish that this year.

Jen
Touch my toes
I know, weird goal, but I have really tight hamstrings and am trying to stretch more after working out.

Take a photography class

Learn how to pose better for photos.

ESM
Run our first 5k
Open our own Etsy shops
Do our first craft show as ESM
Learn a new, fun craft!

What kind of resolutions have you all made for this new year?  We would love to hear them!  We can always add more to our lists if you all inspire us!  We hope you all had a fun and safe new year's eve.  Here's to a wonderful year to come!  Cheers!

Top 10 Posts of 2012

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Shannon hosted an amazing Christmas Eve party with so much good food at her house (hopefully she'll share some pics :) and then we all opened presents and ate even more on Christmas Day. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we're still recovering from the big day!

This has been a whirlwind year for us, even though we just started Eat. Sleep. MAKE. in August! Shannon and I have had a great time sharing our creative ideas (and even more fun hearing what you think of them.) With 2013 almost here, we're both planning even more projects, but we thought it'd be fun to look back on 2012 and see what our top 10 most popular projects were according to you!

According to our stats, our top 10 most popular projects in 2012 were:

10. Yarn Wrapped Bangles

These simple bracelets were made with hot glue, bangles, and thread. The color combinations are endless, depending on your thread choice!

9. Celebrate the Light Canvas

This chalkboard canvas dotted with white lights makes a great statement piece and reminds us why we celebrate during the holiday season.

8. Leather Leaves Necklace

You can make this surprisingly simple leather and suede necklace with just a handful of supplies.

7. DIY Rosette Tree

While it was a little time consuming to make all of the rosettes, this pretty tree was a beautiful addition to our holiday decor!

6. No-Sew Coffee Cozy

Every coffee cup needs a little bling. And they're no-sew!

5. Needle Felted Acorns

These little felted acorns make great ornaments or home decorations.

4. Chevron Stamped Tee

This shirt was made by making a stamp from a household sponge, and then stamping it onto a shirt with some fabric paint in a chevron pattern. Easy!

3. DIY Wood Matting

If you're looking for a unique way to display your art, this wood matting tutorial is a great way to do it!

2. Plywood Inspire Boards

Clip some of your favorite pictures, reminders, or images that inspire you to these pretty painted boards.

And our #1 post of 2012 is......

1. Snow Globe Necklace

You might want to hit up the after-Christmas sales and stock up on bristle brush trees to make one of these pretty winter necklaces.

We hope you've enjoyed our projects this past year! In the past 4 months since we started ESM, Shannon and I have stepped out of our comfort zones and pushed each other to try new and different things - and it's been so much fun! We hope you've been challenged to try a new craft or make something new as well. Here's to the new year and all the excitement it brings!

Merry Christmas

Weekly Photo Wrap-Up: Christmas Parade

1. Connor and Papa  2. Fire truck

3. Marching band  4. Flag wavers

5. Green fire truck 6. Old car

7. Santa!  8. Haley and her candy cane

The big day is next week! I'm sure this weekend will be packed with present wrapping, last minute shopping, and lots of holiday parties for everyone. I haven't wrapped any presents yet, so you know what I'll be doing :)

We've had so many fun local events going on in our city lately. Have I mentioned how much I love my city? Pittsburgh is such a tight knit, family-focused city. There's always something to do here, especially during the holidays. We recently went to one of the local parades and the kids had a blast! There wasn't a lot to it, but nothing beats free hot chocolate and cookies and a parade of local bands, vintage cars and trucks. Connor was hooked on all of the fire trucks and old cars that went by. He's been really into toy cars lately, so it was really fun to see how amazed he was when he saw them in person!

Shannon and I will be taking a little break next week to celebrate Christmas and spend time with our family. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday. May yours be filled with family, friends, and joy.

CRAFT: Printable Tin Labels

I know many of you may be looking for a last minute Christmas idea (or maybe you just forgot to pick up a teacher or neighbor gift!) so I wanted to share a project that I made for just those occasions.

If you're like me, you probably have a bunch of tins leftover from past Christmases. I have a whole stack of them, but I can't bring myself to throw them away. And, in all honesty, many of them are....well, ugly. I had some neighbors and friends I wanted to give goodies to, but I don't really want to give them a tin with a cartoon horse wearing a Santa hat on it. Instead of tossing my beloved tins, I used Picmonkey (my favorite online editing program) to make some printable tin labels to put on top! 

You can download the printable labels HERE. They fit tin lids that are 6 inches in diameter.

Just print them out on cardstock, cut out (I used my CAMEO but you can cut them by hand), then use double sided tape to adhere them to your tins!

After that, it's all about what kinds of goodies you want to fill them with :) My go-to Christmas cookie has always been Oreo truffles which, if you didn't already know, are addictive little balls of crushed Oreos and cream cheese mixed together and covered in chocolate. Ah-mazing. You can't just eat one. It's an unspoken rule.

In addition to a "Merry Christmas" tin label, I also made a "Thank You" printable with room to write below it. (PS sorry, but I have little boy handwriting. I never developed that pretty, cursive-y handwriting all girls seem to have. I'm nearing 30 and I've accepted the fact that it'll never happen.) As always, please remember that all printables are for personal use only, and are not to be sold.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!