Getting Some Green On

I realized last week that St. Patty's Day was coming up and that my sweet daughter has no green in her wardrobe. So, I determined to do something about it. I decided that despite her lack of green clothing, I could at least make her something to wear in her hair. So, I pulled out the materials and set to work.

I sketched out a simple cross-stitch pattern and started on the first set of clips:

Approximately 60 inches of floss (three strands) used for each clip pattern.

A little felt and some stitched on clips and those were completed.

I even made something for myself:

These didn't seem enough, so I broke out the felt again and got cutting:

I'm really in to the four-leaf clover.

I like having a cute little girl to wear my clips.

I think these were my favorites:

and if those three ideas don't do it for you, here are a couple more green inspired clips from when I was running my Etsy shop.

Top: Layered fabric and felt. Bottom: fabric yo-yo with brads.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Needlecraft Bobby Pins

At almost 15 weeks along in my pregnancy, I haven't been feeling my best, so I decided to take a little break from the blog over the weekend. Because of that, I discovered that I really don't have anything new to share. I did get digging around in some of the hair clips that I've made over the last couple of years and decided that I'd share some of my needlecraft bobby pins.

I love to stay busy with my hands, but I've figured out that if I plan to actually complete a project it has to be relatively simple, quick to complete or something I can put down and then pick-up again without having to figure out where I left off. For those reasons, I like putting together small cross-stitch samples that I can use in various ways. I love, love the brooches I created a while back. I've also really enjoyed using my cross-stitch in hair accessories.

Creating a needlecraft bobby pin is really simple.  I don't have any how to pics, but I'll give a summary of the process. All you need is a set of bobby pins, felt, floss, hot glue and a small cross-stitch sample. You'll want to purchase bobby pins with glue pads.  You can generally find them at local craft stores. I found great deals on e-bay as well.

Hot gluing the cross-stitch to the felt, is kind-of the lazy way of doing things, but it also keeps the cross-stitching fabric from fraying beyond the design. I do like to purposely fray the fabric to give it a shabby-chic look.

To mount the cross-stitch and felt to the bobby-pin, just cut out a smaller circle for the back and using your floss, stitch the two circles together. You'll need to slit the smaller circle so that it fits over the back-side of the bobby pin. That's it! How's that for a simple, little project for during nap time?

I just visited Hobby Lobby today and came home with the materials for some new projects, so stay tuned.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Experimenting with Brooches

 I've had a couple of cross-stitch pieces sitting around that I haven't been able to decide what to do with.  I first thought that I could applique them to something, but my second thought was that I'd love to be able to use them for more than one piece.  I want to be able to move them around as an accessory. So, I decided to experiment and create a couple of brooches.

Cross-Stitch Brooches

 Materials:

Cross-Stitch Sample

Craft Spray Adhesive (or adhesive of choice)

Felt

Bar Pins

Scissors

 Glue bar pin to the back of cross stitch piece

Cut slit in felt for bar pin. Glue felt to back of cross-stitch

 

 Trim excess cross-stitch material

  Model it on your cute vintage cardigan

 Two brooches, ready to accessorize.

Jellybean actually giggled when she saw these and then tried to figure out how to pin both of them on.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in:
 

Newest Listing

Introducing the new cross stitch and felt bobby pin set featuring the lovely little ladybugs from The Taylor.

Perfect for Spring or Summer!

Have a Happy Day!

Just Listed: Bobby Pins

I'm expanding the shop with more clip styles and custom designs. Over the weekend I listed two sets of sweet bobby pins.

The birds from the park flew in for this Little Bird bobby pin set

and bright Red Hearts are perfect all year round

Stop by the shop and check them out!

Have a Happy Day!

The Taylor

I completed another custom design in the last week and thought I'd share. My good friend approached me with the idea of a ladybug clip for her daughter. I got busy researching ladybugs and thinking about what I'd like to create. Did you know that soaking in a warm tub is extremely conducive to creativity? Here's what I came up with:

I especially love the ladybug in the center that is ready to take flight. I had so much fun researching ladybugs and trying to figure out how to make a design that would work in counted cross stitch. I only wish I had a picture of my sketch book to put up here. There were so many failed ladybug attempts. It is surprisingly hard to take something from your head and put it to paper. It is especially hard when that vision must be created out of little x's that will fit into the boxes on a sheet of graph paper.

Here are the cross stitched ladybugs stitched to felt and mounted:

I should note that this is my first snap clip design. I was initially reticent to use snap clips, but I think they will be a nice addition to the shop. I already have another design using them and one more on the way for this next week!

Can't wait to show you what I've been working on this weekend, but I'll have to wait until the beginning of next week. Fun things ahead!

Have a Happy Day!

In Stitches

When I was young I took up counted cross-stitch. I made a few folksy gifts for my siblings and began some more ambitious projects that never found their way to completion.

Recently, I found my old cross-stitch bag in my fabric bin and got looking through it. I found some of my old projects and decided that I needed to pick up my old hobby again.

I started by modifying a few patterns from others online and then I started creating my own patterns to be used in the shop.
I really like the way cross-stitch looks and I'm enjoying working with my floss and needle again. Sometimes life comes full circle like that.

So far Sunshine & Lolli features two styles of hair clips using cross-stitch:
The Ava Leigh and The Elise.

The Ava Leigh

The Elise

I'm adding a third style just in time for Easter. Here's a sneak peak at "Bunny Love."
Have a Happy Day!