Iron Craft Challenge #24: Lego Ninjago Ornaments

It's been awhile since my last Iron Craft post.  Crafting has kind of taken a backseat to life at this point.  But I did do a project this time around that fit with the theme.  Each year we like to add one ornament to each kid's collection, with the goal of them having their own collection of ornaments when they grow up and move out on their own.  My parents did that, and it's a tradition I love!

I also like the ornaments to reflect something the kids are interested in (like these Thomas the Tank Engine ornaments made from toy trains from a few years ago).  This year the boys are really into Ninjago (that's Lego ninjas, if you're not in the Lego stage of life).  And there are really not a lot of options to buy Ninjago ornaments, unless you just hang the minifigures on the tree and call it an ornament.  

So I decided to make them.  I found a pattern for keychains here.

I used the trick of using a gluestick to glue the paper pattern to the felt, which I think I learned from the Iron Craft-y ladies.  It peels right off, but it sticks while you're cutting.  Then I followed the directions to stitch the details on these guys.  I sewed a ribbon loop to the top and voila!

And then the boys hung them on the tree.  Hannah got a Rainbow Dash pony for her ornament, and I still have to find something for Elizabeth for this year.  Jesse bought a little Superman and Wonder Woman for us as well.  Ornaments for everyone!

Iron Craft Challenge #17: F

I'm late with this post, and I almost didn't have anything to show for this week's challenge, but then I realized that I did do a project that fits with the letter F: fixing the sleeves on my new pajamas.

I've been working my way into the KonMari method of organizing, and one of the things that I liked was the idea of getting actual pajamas.  I had one winter set, but I picked up a summer set a couple weeks ago.  It's pretty and pink, and Hannah says "Mom jams", which sounds like she's saying "My jam", and it's adorable. 

But the sleeves were too tight.  I have a bit of the flappy arm thing going on, and I needed to give my arms some breathing room.  So I cut along the seam, and hemmed the remaining bits at an angle.  The sleeves fit now, and I can sleep comfortably.  It's the little things...

Iron Craft Challenge #16: State Fair

The challenge this time around was to create something you could enter in one of the Minnesota State Fair categories.  I picked needlework for my category, and I embroidered a large cloth for a kitchen towel for my brother and his fiancee for the bridal shower my mom and I threw last weekend.  

I've seen so many embroidered towels on Pinterest, and it's been one of those projects I've wanted to do for awhile, but I hadn't found the right towels and I hadn't found a design I wanted to do.

So for this one, I picked colors I liked, made up a pretty looking font on some scratch paper, and traced it along with their wedding date.  The whole thing actually didn't take that long to do, and it gave me hopes for future embroidered towels for my own kitchen...

As a side note, this shower was the first time baby Elizabeth got to meet my Grandma, who she was named after.  It was really awesome for me (Elizabeth missed her nap, so she was not as impressed)...

Iron Craft Challenge #12: I'm Your Biggest Fan

This was supposed to be up last Tuesday, but we were on vacation.  Better late than never!

For the last Iron Craft Challenge, I made a Superman/Wonder Woman wall hanging for our room (I've since painted the sides in accent colors and I really like how that turned out!).

The boys saw that and wanted one for their room too.  Even though their dad is a Superman fan, the boys actually like Batman and the Joker.  So I wanted to make a Batman themed hanging for their room.  

I did my google image search to find appropriate silhouettes to print.  The hardest to find was a Joker that wasn't too scary or Heath Ledger (he's awesome, but not very black-and-white-printable).  I finally found one, along with Batman and Robin together, and Gotham City. 

I didn't mess around with finding the perfect book page texts this time, because I don't know Batman lore as much, and also because the kids can't read yet...

A little mod podge, a little paint, and voila!  

What a nice pair of superhero pictures!

Iron Craft Challenge #11: Super Wall Hanging

This week's challenge was paper, and it could be any kind of paper.  I used several, and this project was a mixture of several ideas I've had floating through my mind for awhile now.

The inspiration actually came first from these:

Yep. Price tags from a pajama set and a tshirt.  And then there was a little bit of this:

An old book I have specifically for crafting.  Those, plus an internet photo search, plus a shoebox lid and a bunch of mod podge, equals:

Custom wall art!  So here's where I confess that I am a bit of a geek, and I spent way too long searching for the perfect pages to use for the background.  Superman is printed on a page with a poem about "the man of Kent", and Wonder Woman was supposed to be on an essay entitled "On Truth", which started "What is truth?", but the paper jammed in the printer so she got a poem called "The Defenders" instead.  There's also references to a shooting star falling from the sky and a red and blue dart.

The boys got really excited about this project, so there's a Batman/Robin/The Joker one in the works for them.  Stay tuned...

Iron Craft Challenge #10: E Is For...Embroidered Card

This week's challenge was another alphabet one, which I like, because they're pretty broad.  I have trouble when the focus is too narrow.  In this case, E is for embroidered card.  I've done embroidery, and I've attempted to make pretty cards, so why not combine the two?  I've seen this on Pinterest too, and it looked easy enough.

Most of the cards I make are really random sizes.  I picked up a big bundle of envelopes for 50 cents once upon a time, so I just size the paper to fit whichever envelope I'm using.  

First I wrote out what I wanted to embroider in pencil.

Then I started.  This was actually really easy, and fairly quick, and I like how it looks.  Makes my handwriting look fancier than it actually is...

I finished the front off with a couple of lovebirds and some Sharpie.  All in all, I think it turned out really cute, and I'll probably use this technique again.

Iron Craft Challenge #8: For The Home

That's an 8x10 frame, in case you can't tell the size from the picture.

I'm cheating a little bit, because this isn't for my home, but it is for someone's home, and I made it within these two weeks, so I figure that counts.  For Iron Craft Challenge #7, I did the design for this cross stitch, but as usual, I changed it up once I actually started making it.

I really like how it turned out, although for future wedding gifts (because I'll be using this one again), hopefully I'll start with more time so that I can add some little flowers or embellishments of some sort to the empty spaces.  Still, with such a short time frame, I think it looks nice!

Iron Craft Challenge #7: D Is For...

In this case, D is for Design.  I designed another cross stitch, using this site here, which makes it really easy!  You can do one of their fonts, and patch it together on the printable graph paper, or just print out the graph paper and design your own.

I did a combination of the two, and designed a wall hanging based on 1 Corinthians 13 for an upcoming wedding gift.  However, it's going to turn out way too huge if I do all of the lines, so I picked 6, which you can kind of see marked on the sides in the picture.  I do think it would be cool to make the whole thing at some point though.  I'll post the finished project once it's done...stay tuned!

Iron Craft Challenge #6: Just For Me

I've missed the past two Iron Craft Challenges, and to be honest, I thought I would end up not having time for this one either, but necessity made me make time.

This one is not glamorous or fancy crafting in any way, but this was definitely a helpful project for me! Sorry to any gentlemen who read this blog.  This one is not for you.

It's a sad day when you feel this happen to your favorite bra.  The underwire poked me in the armpit, and I was not happy at all.  I wear this one a lot.  I had seen lots of underwire fixes on Pinterest, but when I took a closer look, they all ended up using moleskin, something I don't have, and it didn't seem like a permanent solution.  Maybe I read wrong, but it sounded like something you'd have to fix every time you wash it?  Not for me.

I went to my scrap fabric collection and found a light-ish piece of pink and white.  Not the same color as my bra, but no one will see it.

I pushed the underwire back where it belonged and sewed the scrap fabric over the hole.  I actually went around the fabric twice, so I'm hoping it's strong and holds for awhile.  After one wash and several wears, so far so good!

I see some shopping in my future, but this should give me time to find the best deal...

Iron Craft Challenge #3: Something New

This time the challenge was to try something new.  I had plans of trying to crochet something, but apparently in the last craft supplies purge I finally got rid of the crochet hook I had never used.  So that was out.

So this time I let Jonah and Matthew take over and try something new.  I gave them each a plastic canvas rectangle and showed them how to stitch.  They picked the colors from my massive yarn stash.  They actually caught on pretty quickly.  I was impressed.  They've worked on these on and off for the past week or so.  I see presents for Grandma in their future...

Iron Craft Challenge #2: Love Is In The Air

Challenge #2 was to make something for someone you love.  I chose to commemorate the trip Jesse and I took this past April to Paris.  Also, the idea of doing this travel shadow box has been on my radar for at least four or five years.

This was actually a really simple project to do.  I totally didn't need to take so long to get to it!

First I painted what would become my shadow box. Any guesses as to what it is?  (It's from this) There are a lot of nooks and crannies to get to in that thing, by the way.  I have one more, which I'm thinking of making Minnesota Twins themed, but for now, this was enough painting.

Then I played with the layout of the things I wanted to use.  A map of the city, ticket stubs from the metro and a few of the museums we went to, business cards from some restaurants, a 5 Euro bill, the plastic bag from the bookstore Shakespeare and Company, a card from Laduree bakery (the home of some of the yummiest macarons in the world), and a few souvenir medals. When I actually put stuff in, I moved a few things slightly, but kept most of the layout the same.

Also, the reason I left the part of the map showing at the top is because that is where most of our travel was based around.  Kind of hard to see in these pictures, so you'll just have to trust me...

Once I got all that in the box, I realized some of the edges on the flat part were showing through, so I added a thicker band of black around the middle.

Luckily craft paint dries quickly, and I was able to get everything mod podged and hot glued in there after a quick coffee break.  I added two picture hangers to the back once everything was dry, and hung it up in our bedroom, along with some postcards we got at one of the art museums. I am also planning to hang up one of my 8x10 prints of the Eiffel Tower on the left side, but I need to get a frame for it.

I love this little decorative corner of our room now, and it's a fun reminder of an awesome trip!

Iron Craft Challenge #1: 4th Anniversary

Time for the first Iron Craft challenge of the year!  Last year I did 14 challenges, so my goal this year is to do at least that many.  The first theme is the 4th anniversary present ideas: fruit, flowers, and appliances.  Now's the time to paint polka dots on your washer and dryer!  I didn't do that...

Instead, I went for a project that used up some of my stash and also replenished something that we had almost used up: thank you notes.

So about two kids ago, I decided making cards could be fun.  Maybe it's because I found this huge stack of various sizes of envelopes on clearance for $0.50.  Maybe it's because my sister makes awesome cards.  (Way better than mine.)  Maybe Pinterest is to blame.  At any rate, I've had a pile of cardstock and a drawer full of envelopes for two years? Three years? A long time.

Since we just got done with thank you notes for Christmas, we only have a few left.  Perfect timing!  So to Pinterest I went, to my long-neglected Cards board.  Inspiration found.

I got as far as cutting half the card bases and the baby woke up, so I finished cutting the rest while holding her.  There was also Lego sorting by Jonah, Matthew was playing with our old license plates, and I think Hannah was throwing things around the room.

Crafting with four kids is not for the faint of heart.  So that was as far as I got initially.

Then I played with the stamps and kind of figured out where I wanted to go with things.  This first one is not perfectly aligned because I was still testing different ideas, but I came up with something I liked.

So then I started stamping them all/  First the blue, then the red and the lines.

And then I had to take another break, because kids.  They like to eat or something.

I finally finished making flowers and gluing them on yesterday while watching Downton Abbey and drinking coffee.  Luckily, it only took me a few minutes, because that was the amount of time that all 4 kids were napping/having quiet time in their rooms.  And then Elizabeth woke up and wanted a bottle.

Still, they got done, and they're ready for the next time we need a thank you note.  And I'm really happy with how they turned out!