Vintage music notes and Peacock Hat Box while ruby naps....

     For me gift giving is hard.  (as much as I love Christmas it is particularly stressful)  I don't want to make the effort unless I can find something that I think the person will really like. The older I get the more I want to find things that are not cookie cutter and mass produced.  This tutorial is one of the gifts I was very proud of this year.
     My sister L is an amazing human being.  I fully believe that cartoon birds braid her hair in the morning, she is an always honest support system and there is something about her that is just bright and awesome.  I wanted to get her something this Christmas that she would really like, but I didn't have a huge budget to work with.  I found a cool shop on etsy, (here)  that prints off beautiful images onto pages of old dictionaries.  There was a gorgeous one of a peacock that fit L's style so well I just could resist. It was only 4.00 and I figured I could mat it and put it in a pretty frame for a total under 15$  but of course the closer Christmas got the busier I was, I couldn't seem to find a mat or frame that fit the style and feeling of the print. (I don't have that great of a selection around her, hobby lobby and walmart -bleh) so Christmas came and went and the beautiful print sat where it was.
       When I flew to see my family for our belated holidays I brought the print with me thinking I could get it done there, luckily it turned out. While staying in my parents house I was going through things I wanted to bring back with me, I stumbled on crafting gold! In my old piano bench I found about a million old books of sheet music.  No one had looked at them in years and one in particular had the cover missing and was filled with progressive piano pieces that I had never liked and never bothered to learn.  Having a crippling pintrest addiction I knew just what to do. 

following along at home you will need:

an object to be covered (naked hat box at a craft store for 3$)

vintage paper (that you are ok with ripping up)

center piece (i got mine at ....)

modge podge

     To start I ripped some of the pages out of my music book and started going to town, shedding them into pieces I could easily wrap around my naked hatbox. I particularly liked the ones with hand pencil notations for the last person who had owned the piano.
     After I had a nice little pile of music note scraps ready I laid out the center piece on the lid and used massive amounts of modge podeg to put it in place, I wanted this to be a fairly hardy piece. I put a layer underneath and a layer on top.

      From there you just arrange your pieces to cover your hatbox, if you have some trashy television to watch you can multitask! (I usually watch project runway while I am crafting)
     You can make a patterns with colors of words or just go random like I did
      Once you have it all in place I recommend trimming the edges and then applying one last thick layer of modge podge on to be a sealant.

 I adore how it turned out. It was a project for under 10$ and took less than an hour!

And my sister loved it!

Shaded Baby Blanket While Ruby Naps

     I am a sucker for unique baby stuff.  After having my own I really began to appreciate anything that wasn't the cookie cutter stuff at Target and Walmart.  Theses baby quilts are car-seat sized, the same size as an average receiving blanket, you can snuggle them around your little peanut in the car without having yards of quilt dragging on the ground, they make perfect 'night-night' blankets and are more than sturdy enough to handle the washes that will come their way,

  for this project you will need:

• one pack of varied shades on fabric (they are about six dollars at hobby lobby and come in many color families)
• scissors/ rotary cutter
• ruler
• 1 yard of batting
• 1 yard of flannel or micro fleece for backing (for snuggly warmth, cotton would work for a lighter version)

      Pre-wash your fabric!!!!! for quilts this is very important, skip this step and your entire project is ruined once you throw it in the wash.

  I iron my fabrics once they are out of the dryer, this is mostly to help me when I am cutting, the flatter the fabric the easier it is to cut accurately with the rotary cutter.

   I used a template for 4 inch squares and used a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I cute out as many squares as I could from each color, I like to be able to play with my layouts until I find one that I like.

   Once I find a lay out i like i pin the squares together in strips then sew them.  Whatever seam allowance you are comfortable with, use, just make sure you keep it the same throughout the entire quilt. 

    When you have finished your strips pin them together, matching up the corners of the squares as you go, then just sew them together to finish your facing!  Press the seams open for a crisp look.

   Cut batting to the size of your facing, then doing the same with the flannel backing.  Put the backing fabric right side to the right side of the facing. then lay the batting ontop of that. 

     Sew the three layers together leaving a 3 inch gap, then use that gap to turn the quilt right side out.  Iron the quilt flat and sew down the edges.  I always use a decorative stitch for my edging stitch.  I turn in the 3 inch opening and sew it down when I am doing the edge stitching.  

This is a great opportunity that have some fun with contrast thread, if you are comfortable with your stitches I recommend it for some extra pop.

     

if you don't feel like sewing you can buy one of these here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RubyKei

Hair Bow Holder While Ruby Naps

My little girl has crazy curls. I adore them, but combing isn't going to make them look particularly presentable so ever since it got long enough I have been trying to tame them with the salon clip hair bows.  I have many,  to fit each outfit and mood. But they get scattered throughout the house and I have to search everywhere for one. 
I found a hairbow holder in the store and laughed as I walked away from its 20$ price tag.  That was when I decided to make one my self.

You will need:

Fabric (size is up to you)

Wood or cork board to cover

Ribbon

Staple gun or hot glue gun

I bought a wooden disc from hobby lobby for 1$ and used scrap fabric and ribbon.  I cut a circle around the wooden disc with two inches extra then hot glued the fabric tight around the wood, covering one side completely.  I wanted a simple hair bow holder so I just went with an X, you can get as creative as you like with your ribbon placement.  I hot glued the ribbons to the back side of the wooden disc.

 I had to make sure that they were securely fastened,as this is where the hair-bows will be clipped to. I used my staple gun to secure the hanger to the upholstered disc.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out, however I might make another one that will actually match her room, she has blue sparkly stars, the pink and black polka dots are a bit out of place......

I would LOVE to see any other homemade hair-bow holders!  Show me how yours turned out!

Reversible Aprons While Ruby Naps

 I adore making custom projects.  It shakes up my design process and I always discover something new.  I like pushing myself, so when someone asked me to make their love of football into a fun reversible apron I was excited for a challenge.

      I personally am not into football. I know that in Texas that may be a jail-able offense but I just don't get it (unless its an episode of friday night lights, then I am glued to the screen).  That became a slight problem when I was asked to make an apron for an avid fan of Texas sports. 
      She wanted two reversible aprons, one for her college team and one for her pro team. I felt like I was jumping into unknown territory, it may sound silly but I was worried I wouldn't have the right taste to work with the material, making flowers and swirls look nice is different than football logos.

       First hurdle to clear was fabric, the official team fabric is expensive! 11-13 dollars a yard! I always like to get more fabric than absolutely required in case of mistakes but with prices like that buying extra isn't always possible.  If you are trying this yourself you may want to look into just buying the team colors and using the combination to rep your team instead of the logo fabric.

       I went to hobby lobby (they stock the local team fabric) and picked up two variations of logo-ed Texas longhorns patterns and one for the Dallas cowboys .  I sent a picture of the fabrics to her and she loved them, so much so in fact that she changed her mind and wanted two separate reversible aprons, one for each team!  This was problematic because I had purchased enough of the long horns print  to do one side of an apron, not both sides of a reversible! However, being forced to use what I had influenced the finished design in a great way! 

      For the first apron I used 1/2 yard of one logo pattern and 2/3 yard of another, just to have some contrast.I was able to incorporate a little of my patch work quilting into the design to best make us for any scraps of fabric  (this turned out to be the literal exact amount needed The only scrap I have is two inches long and an inch and a half wide yikes!) If you ever try this, just to be safe get a yard of the two main fabrics you will want to work with (you will have quite a bit extra, maybe you can make a pot holder set to match your apron!)
      Aprons are fun because you can create your own pattern with ease. I will put up an in depth tutorial for it after I catch up on work that piled up during this holiday season.  
     This project was great for so many reasons, I learned that reversible aprons are easier and less time consuming than one sided and I was able to mix in a couple cool design elements, like braiding the ties and patchwork edging!  Working with the logos was also a great experience, it forces me to pay attention to where on the fabric I am cutting and can even become a design element of its own.
     She loved the aprons and I have to say so do I!

      

New Location For While Ruby Naps

I have moved While Ruby Naps from the website because it is much easier to update from here,so I will be able to do it more often! I have transferred all my old posts so if you are looking for one it should be here!  Share the new location with your friends, thank you!
You can still find RUBYKEI originals at www.etsy.com/shop/rubykei   or on facebook at www.facebook.com/rubykeiworks!

Tree Ornaments While Ruby Naps

     I am still in love with my glitter foam wreath! but my tree was a little bare so I used my scraps and some clothes pins to make so glittery goodness for our little tannenbaum. With most Christmas ornaments running around 8$ a piece this has saved me money for Santa to use later and has done good work in ratcheting up my holiday spirit!

   you will need

           clothes pins (1$ for a bag of 24)

Glitter Foam sheets (97 cents each at hobby lobby I got two of each color and have a TON of extra even after the wreath and ornaments)

sharpies (draw on snow man details)

scissors

glue

****this craft is great for kids too (although you way want to use Elmer's glue instead of a hot glue gun for the kiddies)*****

We used cookie cutters to make imprints on the back of the foam before we cut it out, made it easy and helped because drawing is not my strong suit!   You can also find patterns for shapes and such online.

      we did:

   snow men

   gingerbread men

   stars

Christmas trees

Wreaths

   

I absolutely love how they turned out. the glitter looks great on our tree when the lights are on!

the whimsical tree with the moon is my favorite but cutting it out took forever!

Christmas Wreath While Ruby Naps

    This year has had many firsts for me.  I had my first child, I had my first wedding anniversary, it was the first year I cooked my own thanksgiving turkey (that was quite an adventure) and the list goes on.  Through this year isn't technically my first Christmas married and in my own house I have decided not to count last year because I was 8  months pregnant and on bed rest so I couldn't do the holiday justice. 

      I wanted to go all out but at the same time I didn't want to have to sell my kidney and left toe to pay for both decorations and gifts this year so I decided that this was a job for my glue gun!  I will be putting up a couple posts of my projects for this years Christmas extravaganza!

       The first decoration I wanted to tackle was a wreath.  The ones in target cost 25$ so tonight while my sweet baby slept I made one that I am in love with for less than 3 $                                            

 you will need:

glittery foam sheets (99cents each)

glue gun or normal glue and patience 

shape to trace

     I got some glitter foam sheets from hobby lobby.  They were 99 cents each and its take half of two sheets to make my wreath (the rest I am using for more decorations!) 

      I used an old music box shaped like a bell to trace circles onto the foam sheets to cut out my Christmas baubles, but you can use anything, even cookie cutters! the impression they leave in the foam would help you save time by skipping the tracing step! I cut nine circles of each color out.

     

 Then I cut the middle out of a paper plate for my wreath form and laid out the circles in couple different patterns before I found the one I wanted.  

     

       After you find a pattern you like start gluing it down! ( Have a chop stick or something the press down on any places that may have oozing hot glue, I always seems to put my fingers into pools of molten glue no matter what the project). I also added a braided ribbon to the top of mine to hang on the door.

     and simple as that I was done!  you can make yours more fancy with ribbons or by mixing colors and shapes but I was really taken with my simple alternating circles!

Dont throw away your extra scraps from your glitter foam, I am posting on how to turn those into tree ornaments tomorrow!

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