Dinosaur pillows

These are actually huge, each one took almost all of a bag of polyfill.  I made this pattern though, so I was super pumped that it didn't totally stink.  Cutting and straight stitching those letters took a while.

Prehistoric Crib Quilt

This is my first attempt at quilting.  I learned why most quilts are only made out of one type of fabric.  Here, the dinosaur print is flannel and the blue (as well as all green backing) is this ultra-plush kind of microfiber.  They stretch differently and the ultra plush is very hard to "square up" yet is more forgiving while the flannel is easy to get 90 degree angles with and will show any mistakes.  The kid is only 2 months old so I doubt he's going to care.   

 Applique dinos based on some image searches.  Just used regular fleece but it was nice to be able to cover up a corner that didn't quite square up as well as the others.

For the young ones...

Going to meet my nephew in a few weeks so I thought he needed to be stylin'. He's got a tuxedo onesie of teal crushed velvet and a dinosaur die. I decided to make it a more relaxed look cause he's a chill baby and doesn't like ties up around his neck. The tutu is for his cousin. Its made from fabric of an old dress.

If you need evidence for how nerdy I am

I have been decorating my car with self adhesive, removable wall decals for a long time. Having a common car, it was a good way for me to find it in large parking lots...and its fun. The first batch were Hawaiian flowers that i left a 4 year old stick on. Yes I let a 4 year old decorate my car. She had a blast. When the sun started to fade them out, I just peeled them off.

Recently, the Momster hooked me up with some dinosaur skeletons that were on clearance at Michaels. I knew just where to put it!

Leo the Lion

A fleece stuffed animal made from a pattern for a non-fleece stuffed animal. These patterns almost always translate well to fleece unless its something that needs to stand. Fleece is great for learning to sew because you can't see crooked seams, you can get it for cheap and it comes in a million colors/patterns. I love the stuff.

Brie should be its own food group

Baked brie is a common guest at our holiday table...if you eat your "guests". Its good stuff and so easy!
 Brie + pie crust + oven= baked brie.
I have taken to decorating them using cookie cutters which makes them more interesting and adds some more crust.  Usually I use flowers or fall leaves but this was going to a graduate student thanksgiving potluck so I themed it as the theoretical battle between a dinosaur and a shark.

One problem: No shark. I did have a fish however, and with my amazing knowledge of biology, I transformed it into a shark (larger dorsal fin, narrow the caudal peduncle before the tail, larger crescent shaped tail, external gills and teeth).

The shark was eaten first so this round goes to the dino.

Too Cool for Yule...Tide

I was avoiding school work, which is nothing new for me or the many other higher education students out there. So It was right before Thanksgiving and I came across a stack of green coffee sleeves from Starbucks left over from a another project with a friend.  He had collected a stack of brown and some green sleeves that must have been seasonal in order to make an awesome hat (I'll post that at some point) and these green bad boys were left over.

 I have never made a wreath before but it was fun and so easy. I used some cardboard I had laying around (I always save it from shoe boxes, packaging) and made a template from an old piece of x-ray film (awesome for sewing patterns) but I would have been just as happy if I had a leaf-shaped cookie cutter.

I started by getting a feel for the size. I used a paper plate to make the circle on cardboard. The sleeves are corrugated so I was worried about extra bulk. I had a sheet of scrapbooking paper that matched the color of the sleeves perfectly. I sketched a leaf and cut it out of the xray film and started tracing and cutting away!

Lots of cutting.

I folded each leaf in half and in some cases, when I stapled it to the cardboard ring, I rolled the ends to give it more 3-dimensional.

The wreath from the back, I varied the Starbucks leaves and the regular paper ones just working in one direction around the ring.

 I added another cardboard ring to make the back more finished and provide more structure. I used some craft glue to stick it on the back but first I tied a ribbon so it could hang.

A dollar store holiday flower glued to the front and some glitter glue on a few leaves completes the look