Tutorial Archives - mom makes dinner

Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Michaela — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Hey Grant Life readers. It’s Michaela again from Covered in Mod Podge. Today I want to share with you a simple way to dress up a boring old hoodie. This stamping method is a quick, super easy nap time project. If you have older kiddos, they could even help out!

I love the look of toddlers in dresses styled with leggings, cardigans, and adorable headbands. However, I haven’t found this to be terribly practical. My little miss thinks that things on her head are pure evil. She is also always on the move. So, its much more likely that my little miss is running around in leggings, a t-shirt, and a hoodie.

But, there’s no reason that hoodie can’t be absolutely adorable. On a recent trip to Target I snagged a plain grey hoodie on clearance. While it fit the bill for what we needed, it was just so blah. So I decided to jazz it up using only paint and a pencil.

You read that right. All you need is fabric paint or regular old acrylic and a fabric medium {I got mine at Joann’s} and a pencil with a brand spanking new eraser. Ok, you also need an iron, a work space, and some wax paper/cardboard, too.

Start out by putting down wax paper or craft paper to protect your work space. Then, mix your paint up according to the bottle’s directions.

Make sure that you either have wax paper or cardboard between the fabric anywhere it overlaps. You don’t want your paint seeping through! I used waxed paper because it was easier to manipulate and shove into the random corners of places like the pockets.

Now, go to town with your dots.

A couple of tips. Make sure you don’t have too much paint on your eraser. It will bleed everywhere and make a funky shaped dot. Press down firmly when making your dot. You can always add a bit more paint and go over the dot a second time if you need to. This doesn’t have to be perfect. There’s a lot of character in the less than perfect dots!

I used a blow dryer on low heat to help the drying process along. This let me finish doing all the dots in one sitting.

After you finish up, you’ll want to heat set your paint. This makes it so they won’t fade in the wash. Follow the directions on your bottle. For me, I had to wait 24 hours before ironing the hoodie. The bottle also says to wash inside out.

Given that this hoodie is for my dirt loving little miss, it’s already been through the wash three times. The paint still looks good as new. I’m sure it will fade a bit with the excessive washing that a toddler demands. I think that adds character and will give the hoodie a nice vintage vibe.

This quick and easy technique can be used on a variety of items. You can also get super creative and carve different shapes into the eraser.

What’s you favorite toddler look?

The post Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial appeared first on mom makes dinner.

Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial

Michaela — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:00:15 +0000

Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial

The weather here in North Texas goes from spring to dead of winter and back again…all in the same week. I’m getting a bit sick of it. I’ve decided to embrace the spring colors and just pretend like the cold isn’t happening. Hence, these springy flower barrettes. I hope you enjoy the Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial!

Let’s start with how to fabric cover the alligator clip.

You’ll Need:

* Alligator clip
* Grosgrain ribbon
* Hot glue/gun
* Scissors
* Fray Check/lighter

Start by treating the end of your ribbon with Fray Check or heat {be careful!}. Put a dab of hot glue on the top inside of the clip and attach the end of the ribbon.

Run a thin strip of hot glue along the top and secure the ribbon to it.

Flip your clip over. Run a strip of hot glue down the middle of the clip. Pull the ribbon tight over the clip to secure.

Open the clip and fold the ribbon in. Cut to the right length. Seal the end. Secure with hot glue.

Now, on to the clip.

You’ll need:

* Craft felt
* Template -Click on link for template!
* Disappearing ink pen
* Scissors
*Hot glue/gun

Cut out your template {I used the medium petal} and trace/cut out five times using your disappearing pen.

Put a small dab of hot glue in the very center of your petal. Then, fold in half and press until the glue dries. Repeat for all of your petals.

Put a small dab of glue just to the right of center on one of your folded petals. Place a second petal overlapping and press down. My finger is where you’ll put the glue on the second petal.

Keep repeating this process until all four petals are glued down.

Fold your last petal in half again. Then, glue it into the gap in the middle of your flower.

These little spring blooms are perfect to warding away the not quite spring blues. You can’t help but smile when your little cutie is running around with these flowers in her hair! I hope you enjoyed the Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial!

The post Spring Flower Barrette Tutorial appeared first on mom makes dinner.

Easy Car Seat Canopy Tutorial

Michaela — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:00:09 +0000

Easy Car Seat Canopy Tutorial

Hey there Grant Life readers! It’s Michaela from Covered in Mod Podge again. I’m back today to share an easy car seat canopy tutorial.

We moved from California to Texas when I was five months pregnant. We had our little miss in a strange city and away from family and friends. I was very blessed to have a couple of women bring me meals, get me out of the house, and keep me company during wonderful and hard transition into motherhood.

One of these sweet women recently had her second little boy. She asked if I could make her a car seat canopy to keep her little man warm on cold winter days. I was only too happy to oblige!

Want to make your own? You’ll need:
1 1/4 yd outside fabric
1 1/4 yd inside fabric
4 1/2 yds jumbo ric rac
1 inch covered button kit
6 inches of velcro

Start out by prepping your fabric. You should wash and iron your fabric before cutting, as this is something that will be good friends with the washing machine.

I like to do all of my cutting at once. Start by cutting your two pieces of fabric down to 36 X 41 inches. Cut two 8.5 X 10 inch pieces the inside fabric for straps. Cut two circles of your main fabric for the covered buttons. Follow your kits instructions to make your fabric covered buttons. Cut a 6 X 8 inch rectangle from both the main and inside fabric for the flap. Also, cut your velcro into two 3 inch strips.

Now its time to get down to business. Place your main and inside fabrics right sides together. Make sure they are the same size and lined up perfectly. Use a bowl as a template to round the corners.

Sandwich the jumbo ric rac between your fabrics, pinning the curves well. Make sure you mark a four inch gap for turning.

Sew using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Turn and press, pinning your gap closed. Top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Now its strap making time. Fold the strap hot dog style with right sides together. Sew using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Make sure you leave a gap on the long edge for turning.

Carefully clip the corners and then turn and press. Top stitch as close to the edge as you can. Sew your velcro as pictured.

Then, hand sew on your button on the part of the strap that will be on top. Repeat for the second strap.

Next its time to make your flap. Place the two 6 X 8 inch rectangles right sides together. Be mindful of print directions if you have directional fabric. Sew with 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving an inch gap for turning.

Clip corners, turn, and press. Then, top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Ok, now its time to cut out the window. Measure 14.5 inches in and 14.5 inches up on your main fabric. This is where you’ll mark out your window. Using disappearing ink, draw a 2 X 4 inch rectangle. Then, draw a 3 X 5 inch rectangle around the small one. Draw a line connecting the corners of your big and small rectangle.

CAREFULLY cut out the small rectangle. Then, cut along the lines that connected the corners. Make sure you don’t go past your outline of the large rectangle.

Turn the edges of the small rectangle in, using the large rectangle as your guide. Press well and pin.

Now, top stitch as close to the edge as you can.

Time to add the flap to your window. Center your flap over the window, placing it 1/2 inch above the opening. Sew down only the top. Keep in mind, whatever fabric you have on the bottom of the flap will be what shows on the canopy when you’ve got the flap open to peek on your sweet little baby.

Its best to use your car seat to measure where you’d like to attach the straps. I only had access to my giant Britax, so I more or less winged it. I sewed them about 20 inches up and 12 inches in. This seemed to work well both on my giant Britax as well as the more reasonably sized Graco car seat that this little man rides in.

Really, this is a great sewing project for a beginner. Mostly, your sewing rectangles. The hardest part is sewing in the window. I promise, it isn’t hard at all!

Happy Sewing!

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