Giveaway: Woombie

April 25, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made

Hey there! How was your weekend? We’ve had a fabulous couple of days with family and I don’t think any of us are quite ready to go back to reality.

I’ll be posting the Crystal B and Imaginisce winners later today.

I’ll also be guest posting over at Skip to My Lou later today as part of Cindy’s Teacher Appreciation series. My post isn’t up yet, so I can’t link you, but I promise to post the project here tomorrow as well.

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Have any of you ever been cursed blessed with a kid that screamed for, oh, the first 18 months of his life?

I have. This one:

In fact, the only time he quit screaming was when he was strapped to my body like this:

That worked out OK most of the time, except when I needed to do stuff. You know, stuff like “sit down”, “drive a car”, or maybe even “sleep at night”.

Now I obviously don’t know, but I wonder if something like the Woombie would have helped…

Woombie was started a few years ago by Karen Barski. Karen’s an RN, but also a mom who had a kid who wouldn’t sleep. She says:

We needed to keep our daughter Bella safe and comfortable. Getting up every 2 hours during the night can be draining for not only mom, but everyone in the house- both emotionally and physically. I sought after different products that would work for the baby and myself on a few different levels. First, to swaddle the baby for her safety and comfort, to both prevent her from scratching herself and also prevent the Startle Reflex. It needed to be comfortable and to stay put! Velcro almost always detaches as baby stretches during the night, and blankets unravel and may overheat baby, or end up over the baby’s face contributing to SIDS. I needed something that would stay intact and snug, but at the same time, allow the baby to stretch out if she needed to, where the fabric would then automatically re-conform to a snug cocoon-like or peanut shape afterwards. After searching every store and website for a product that would “stay put”, on went my creative hat. I sewed and sewed until Bella was “contained” with a gentleness. No “arms pinned to the side swaddle”, a stretchy but effective peanut, which was ergonomical to her shoulder, waist and hip curves.

And so, the Woombie was born.

The original Woombie

Karen’s original idea has been expanded to include several more options, like the convertible Woombie. This allows you to leave baby’s arms free.

Do you need baby’s legs free instead so you can buckle him into a swing? Check out the Leggies Woombie.

There’s a convertible Leggies option as well.

So, what’s in it for you?

First of all, the nice folks at Woombie are offering ALL of you 10% off using code “SweetDreams” through May 5th.

Second of all, Woombie is giving one luck Crap I’ve Made reader their very own Woombie Donut (a $70 value!).

The donut comes in 3 colors and is great for newborns as well as babies up to 36 months.

TO ENTER:

Head on over to Woombie. Have a look around. Come back and leave a comment ON THIS POST saying what your favorite Woombie product is.

Want some more entries?

Like Woombie on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

Leave a comment telling me the craziest thing you’ve ever done in an attempt to get your baby to sleep.

Giveaway runs through Saturday April 30th whenever I roll out of bed and shut down the comments. Open-mouthed smile

YOU MUST LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY! ALL COMMENTS MUST BE ON THE BLOG, NOT ON FACEBOOK OR IN REPLY TO YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION!

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Happy Easter

April 24, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 14 Comments

I hope it was fabulous, however you chose to celebrate.

(And no I didn’t have another kid, I just borrowed one to dress in matchy clothes.)

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Three

April 22, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 16 Comments

This guy turned 3 yesterday.

We went to TWO train museums to celebrate.

Pretty sure it was the best day of his life.

I don’t think it was the best day of this guy’s life, though:

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Sparkly Mustaches, aka the April Silhouette Promo

April 21, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 13 Comments

Silhouette sent me their rhinestone kit to try out this month.

I have to admit that I was not quite sure what to do with rhinestones because

a) I had never worked with them before.

and

b) There are mostly boys ‘round these parts.

Here’s the low down on how the Silhouette works with rhinestones:

You use the CD that comes in the kit or buy a design from the online store. DO NOT resize the design. I went with a mustache on account of the fact that Macy is OBSESSED with them right now. The picture directions that come with the kit are fabulous. Or, there’s an instructional video you can watch here. After you’ve cut your design, you peel it off and stick it to a backer board.

Then you dump out your appropriately sized (more on that in a minute) rhinestones and brush them over the holes.

This is how much of the design was filled in after I got done brushing.

Then, you use the handy dandy pick up tool to place the rest of them. The tool looks like this:

Once the design is completely filled in you put some special transfer tape on it

and then apply it to your garment.

WAY easy and I was impressed with how well the rhinestones adhered.

I was not impressed with the fact that my 10 year old has such a demanding social life that she had to take a call whilst I was trying to take an action shot.

So, about the rhinestone sizing…when you buy the design, it tells you what size stones to use. However, you probably won’t remember what size that was when you actually go to use it. I went back to the online store and located my design to find out. If any of you know of a better way to figure that out, please let me know!

And, I’m going to show you what I did to keep straight what size my rhinestones are once they’re open. I cut out the part of the bag topper that had the size on it and then just stuck it in the bag.

Smarter than your average bear, right?

Want the details on this month’s promo?

$229 gets you: A Silhouette SD, the rhinestone starter kit, 3 additional packs of rhinestones, and 1 Pick Me Up tool. This is a savings of about $125. GO HERE to add the bundle to your cart. The price will go down to $229 once you use the promo code “CRAP”

Or, if you already have a machine, all rhinestone products are 30% off.

The promo runs April 21st through the 26th.

And may I suggest you tell your husband you NEED a Silhouette for Mother’s Day? Winking smile

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Filed Under: Silhouette

New Sponsor Introduction: Pick Your Plum

April 20, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 2 Comments

No Solicitation Sign ($.50)

Got your attention? There’s a sweet new site I want to share with you…

Pick Your Plum…get it before your neighbor does.

I think this idea is SUPER fun!

Wait. That “no solicitation” sign I mentioned? You’d better hurry go over there and get it before they are sold out and then come back and I’ll tell you the rest. (They sold out of their vinyl sheets on Friday!)

This is a new site with a cool concept…Friday was the big kick off day.

Pick Your Plum posts the most ‘swank’ crafting supplies that they find and slap primo (aka ridiculously low) pricing on them.

They gave a sneak peak at some of the things that are coming and word on the street is that it’s GOOD! (Hint: hand painted vintage inspired knobs, retta ring table runners, rod iron plate holders, treat bags,etc.) And their prices? Even better!

Here is the catch though:

They have limited quantities.

So, you’ve got to get it {{before your neighbor does}}.

(You do have to pay shipping, but it always very reasonable.)

I am excited to see what’s up tomorrow!

So, be one of the first to sign up on their email list
and FB page and you’ll know what’s up and how fast you have to act.

For now they are posting one item per day…good stuff. For example, Friday they had sheets of vinyl for FREE. (Yeah, they sold out in about 3 hours.) Don’t worry, though, if you get on their email list you can find out {{before your neighbor does}}.

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Blog Hop: Imaginisce

April 19, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made

Are you familiar with Imaginisce?

They make a couple of fun crafting products that they’re showing off today via blog hop. The other blogs participating are:

Sew Dang Cute
The Drizzled Apple and
Living in LaLa Land

Be sure to stop by their sites today as well as by the Imaginisce blog to enter to win an i-Rock collection package (in addition to the one you can enter to win here).

Here’s what Imaginisce sent me to play with:

The packaging says you can use it on paper, fabric, and even furniture so I decided to try it out some flip flops and a pair of denim shorts.

See the little thing that looks like a lip gloss applicator?

If you get it damp, it picks up the crystals/stones/gems like a dream for easy placement.

The i-Rock runs on 3 AA batteries. You flip the switch to on and then hold down the button for 15 seconds and you’re ready to start affixing. You have to hold the button down the entire time you want the i-Rock to be hot, which gave me a little trouble.

The i-Rock melts the glue through the gem.

See how it gooshed out a little?

I kept placing and affixing…

Cute, right? However, we lost a few when we went to take pics. Flip flops may not be the best application for these, LOL!

And the shorts were just an old pair from last summer.

I fancied up the pockets a bit.

And you can see I lost another one. I did, however, get it to stick back down so I’m thinking I didn’t hold the i-Rock on that one long enough in the first place.

Want to win your own i-Rock collection package courtesy of Imaginisce?

TO ENTER:

Go here and subscribe to the Imaginisce newsletter. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

Become a follower of the Imaginisce blog. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

Like Imaginisce on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.

YOU MUST LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY! ALL COMMENTS MUST BE ON THE BLOG, NOT ON FACEBOOK OR IN REPLY TO YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION!

And don’t forget you can enter to win on the other blogs on the hop as well!

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Giveaway: Crystal B

April 18, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 198 Comments

Sorry I’m tardy today. We had a little power steering pump drama (on my car that is really not old enough to have such drama) ~~this morning~~ ~~afternoon~~ all day.

I’d like to introduce you to one of Crap I’ve Made’s newest sponsors, Cystal B.

Crystal makes super awesome jewelry.

She also blogs here. (Click on that link and mark her blog as a favorite…there’ll be a discount code coming soon that you can use on any purchase throughout the month of May.

Let me show you some of my favorites:

(You KNOW how I love me some red and aqua together!)

(You can get this necklace stamped with something else if you’re not of the “Choose The Right” persuasion)

And, perhaps my very favorite:

(Inspired by Nie Nie)

Crystal has made a special piece just for this giveaway. And, IT MATCHES MY BLOG!

Woo!

Want another look?

Gorgeous, right?

What’s in it for you?

The Char necklace! (It’s totally not called that, but I’m pretending like it is for purposes of this giveaway. Ha!)

To enter:

Click on over to Crystal B on Etsy and have a look around. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying what your favorite item in her shop is.

Additional entry:

Go follow her blog. Come back and leave a comment on this post saying that you did. Plus, you get that discount code, so it’s a win/win.

This giveaway is open to everyone in the US and Canada. I’ll close it down Saturday or Sunday. Enter early, just in case.

YOU MUST LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY! ALL COMMENTS MUST BE ON THE BLOG, NOT ON FACEBOOK OR IN REPLY TO YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION!

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Nursery Window Treatments, Part 1

April 17, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 16 Comments

If you’re a professional drapery sew-er, you probably shouldn’t read this post.

Neighbor Jami presented me with a sketch of what she had in mind for her nursery window treatment. (The valance will be in another post, which will also show the complete window treatment installation. For now, you get my lovely helpers holding things up.)

The main panel is the measurement of the window, plus the depth of the board we’ll be mounting it to at the top. I didn’t include seam allowances because I was adding ruffles to the edges to make up the difference. If you’re not adding ruffles, add seam allowances. I was working with a wide (60”) window and typical cotton fabric (45”), so I needed to seam the fabric.

I added strips of a contrasting fabric for a little visual interest.

I ruffled strips for the edges (3” strips pressed in half) using my ruffler foot and then basted them along the edges.

The back is a piece of a cheap-o white sheet cut the same size as the main panel. I sandwiched the pieces together, right sides facing, and sewed both sides, leaving the top and bottom open.

Next I turned it right side out and marked where the contrasting stripes were on the back of the curtain. I made a small button hole towards the bottom (about 2” up) on the backing fabric in the middle of where the stripes lined up.

Turn it back inside out and sew the bottom seam closed.

Turn it right side out and press.

Next I sewed along both sides of the contrasting stripes to form 2 casings.

Then I got a couple of these:

I think they’re called cord stops or toggles or something. You can find them in the notions section of the fabric store.

I threaded a piece of cotton cording (with a knot at the end) through them and then through the buttonholes on the curtain backing and up through the casings.

I pulled it taught-ish (i.e. not so tight it puckers) and then stitched the cording down so it wouldn’t move along the top edge of the curtain.

Why? So Jami can do this to let some more light in during the day:

(I swear to you it’s cuter with the valance, this post would have just been so long I’d have gotten kicked out of blogging if I’d put it all together.)

Stay tuned for the valance and the installation!

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Filed Under: DIY, fabric, home decor, Lucy's Nursery, sewing

The Projects of Easters Past

April 16, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made 4 Comments

If you’re looking for a little something Easterrific to do this weekend…

Make an Easter wreath:

Make an egg drying rack:

Try some rubber cement eggs:

Die eggs with ties:

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Winners: The Little Gentleman’s Closet

April 15, 2011 By Char @ Crap I've Made Leave a Comment

The winners of their choice of tie pattern from The Little Gentleman’s Closet are:

#183, aka Silly Steeneck’s

and

#95, aka I’m Emily

Email me at [email protected] ASAP to claim your prize so that Michelle can get the pattern sent over to you before se leaves town AND so that you’ll have time to make them for Easter!

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