Sumo's Sweet Stuff - Blog Swap & Tutorial!

I am so excited to have gorgeous Summer from Sumo's Sweet Stuff here today. She has an absolutely adorable shirt tutorial to share with everyone today. If you haven't visited her blog yet - you definitely need to head over there to drool over all of her cute ideas for some inspiration. 

Welcome Summer!
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Hello everyone!

I'm so excited to be guest posting over here today on Mint & Clandy Create!

I'm Sumo, from Sumo's Sweet Stuff!

My real name is Summer, but my husband nicknamed me Sumo when we were dating. (Should I be offended?) Now he's got all of my family, as well as lots of our friends, calling me Sumo. I think Aunt Sumo sounds pretty great, don't you? I live in Utah with my husband, and our two beautiful daughters - Reece & Remi!

Growing up, I never used to be all that domestic or crafty, so I think no one is more surprised than my mom at how I've ended up where I am today! I started Sumo's Sweet Stuff last May as a place to keep some of my crafting projects so that my personal blog wasn't overrun with them. Somehow, that developed into a place to host giveaways, share tutorials, share recipes, and feature fellow bloggers' ideas and blogs! I also use my blog to promote my etsy shop, so if you're ever in the market for some baby girl accessories, come on over! Every Monday is Market Yourself Monday, where you can link up your latest projects, and visit other blogs to get some inspiration!

For today, I thought I'd share a tutorial on my favorite thing to make right now! These shirts are soooooo easy, and I love the unique look you get!

They are really simple to put together, and the end result is fantastic! I'm always on the lookout for cheap shirts and tanks now! I also love them because they don't require a ton of fabric, so I don't feel so bad getting the designer stuff!

What you need:

- fabric

- shirt/tank

- sewing machine/accessoriees

You'll want to start off by cutting your fabric into strips. You'll have to figure out the length of your shirt depending on what size you are doing it for. I cut mine in increasingly larger sizes: 3", 4", and 5".

Cut your shirt. I usually go about an inch to an inch and a half below the arm hole.

Take your strips, put the ends together with right sides facing in. Sew a 1/4" seam.

I don't have a serger, but I always zig zag stitch my edges so that they don't fray as much.

Take your top strip and do a gathering stitch along one edge. Pull the thread to ruffle it.

Pin it to your shirt, ride sides facing.

Sew 1/4" seam.

Top stitch it.

Pin your second strip to your first strip, right sides facing.

Sew 1/4" seam.

Top stitch it.

Bet you can't guess what we're going to do next!

Pin your third strip to your second strip, right sides facing.

Sew 1/4" seam.

Top stitch it.

I didn't take a picture of this, but somewhere along the line you'll want to hem up the bottom of your third strip.

Done!

Another way you can do it is to sew all of your strips together before attaching them to the shirt.

Then ruffle your tube of strips and sew it to the shirt.

I didn't really prefer one way or the other!

You can find something every day of the week at Sumo's Sweet Stuff:

Market Yourself Monday

Tutorial Tuesday

Mouth-Watering Wednesday

Things to Try Thursday

Feature Friday

Showcase Saturday

Sponsor Sunday

I also am involved in a joint blogging venture - Win, Lose or Blog. If you aren't following already, you should get on over there and do so! We have a lot of great sponsors, and not all of the prizes donated are going to the contestants - they are also going to people who comment! Plus it's just nice to cheer for those lovely ladies. We're also going to start doing some giveaways soon, so what's not to love? We'll be doing more seasons as well, so if you think you want to participate, you may get that chance in the future!

Thanks again for having me! I hope to see you all over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff soon!

Etsy Opening Giveaway - Knot & Pearl Necklace

KNOT & PEARL Necklace - GIVEAWAY!!!!!

For those of you that are visiting, Welcome to Mint & Clandy Create! Thank you for coming! I am so glad you are here!

I am thrilled to share my very first GIVEAWAY with you! Enter for your chance to win the beautiful handcrafted freshwater pearl necklace below.

I also have BIG news! Not only do I have some amazing guest bloggers lined up this week, but I'm also opening the doors to my new Etsy shop. (Better late than never, right?)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mintnclandy

Right now there is only a blank storefront, but I hope to have things up and running by the end of this week.

I will be listing a variety of items. Some will be made by me, and some by my talented family & friends. I can't wait to show you all of the exciting items I've got planned.

Now for the good part....the GIVEAWAY!

I found this necklace at J.Crew & thought it was stunning.....only....

I wanted to make one on my own. So, I gave it a go.

Using freshwater pearls, nylon cord and a lobster clasp, this "Knot & Pearl" necklace is what I came up with.

The necklace came out better than I could have imagined. The cord really looks like a silver chain, which wasn't what I expected, but it was a very nice surprise.   I'm excited to share it with you & hope you'll be equally as excited about your chance to win!

Now the details!


There are 2 ways to enter.
1 - Leave a comment on my blog. (I'd appreciate recommendations about how to make it better, things you enjoy most about other blogs, etc. - but that's not a requirement.)
2 - Follow me & leave me a comment letting me know you signed up! If you already follow me, just leave a comment telling me that & Thank you!

Entries will end Friday, July 9th, at 1:00pm CST. I will announce the winner July 10th.

Good luck & Welcome to Mint & Clandy Create!

Tutu Drive 2010 - @ Samster Mommy

Would you be willing to make a tutu for a good cause?  If so, Samster Mommy would like to enlist your help.  She's trying to gather 100 tutus for  The Princess Alexa Foundation.

The Princess Alexa Foundation was started by a mom named Crys, in honor of her daughter Alexa, who lost her battle to terminal cancer.  This  sweet organization matches up dress-up-clothing to kids who are critically ill, to bring a little sparkle and smile to their lives.

This is where Samster Mommy comes in. Her goal is to donate 100 Tutus for girls sizes 2t-10 by July 20th.  She is asking us to help to reach her goal. We can take part in the 2010 Tutu drive by making tutus or purchasing them (Or any other dress-up item) and sending them to her and by helping her spread the word to others who may be able to help.

You can find her address to send your donation to and get some more information about the Tutu drive on her site.

I think this is a great idea and I'm excited to be able to help out. I hope you'll join me.

I thought it might also be fun to send things like capes - if you know how to make those or tiaras if you're a jewelry crafter. Everyone can participate somehow!

I Am Loved - Tissue Paper Wall Art

Hello friends!

It's been a while since I last posted, but I've been SO busy. Creating, playing and enjoying my family. I have so many exciting things to share with you and can't wait to get to it. I'll be guest blogging a few places in early July. I'll let you know more about that later, but be ready to visit some great blogs!

For now, I wanted to show you some artwork I created recently for my daughter's room. I've seen some great typography posters lately - with great lines and simple text.  Here's a link to one I like by Persimmon & Pink.I wanted to create the same effect, for a little less mulah, and had the perfect message to share with my littlest one.

It's not perfect, but I kind of love that about it. I did, however learn some lessons (for next time).  I'll share these with you, of course, so that your creations can be a little closer to perfect than mine is.  Please let me know if you attempt something similar. I'd love to see pics!

This was a  REALLY easy project, and took about 20 minutes total. Fabulous!  Better yet, I was able to salvage a piece art board that I had purchased, painted and contemplated tossing.  

Seriously...I just flipped over my artwork, cut it in 1/2 and started again. See the clouds  - Oops!

 Aahh  <--- Much better

I used a frame from some artwork that was in our our garage sale pile. These reused items along with acrylic paint, mod podge and tissue paper brought this project to a grand total less than $1.00. That's a price I can handle!

So....are you ready to make your own? Here we go!

1. Use some kind of paper/board that will accept watercolor or acrylic paint. I used some matting board that I found on sale at Hobby Lobby. It was textured & resembled thick watercolor paper.  As I mentioned before, this was from a previous painting project gone wrong.You can see some of the imperfections around the corners of the "canvas" from my previous project.  Be resourceful! Use what you've got!

I diluted my acrylic paint with water and painted, graduating the color as I went from one side to the other. I did one layer than let it dry & repeated it again - making sure the color was concentrated on one side.

2. Gather your supplies. I used tissue paper that I had on hand for wrapping. Just figure out how big you want your letters to be and cut the paper into squares. I held mine together in a stack so that every square was the same size.

If I were doing this project again, I'd cut double or triple layers of each color, so that while I was making each letter I could layer it onto the paper. A few of mine ripped while I was mod-podging and this would have solved that problem.

Figure out what you want your picture to say & count the letters in your words. Make sure you have enough paper for each letter.

3. Lay out the paper on the board the way you think you would like for it to appear. It took me a while to choose which colors to place next to one-another. This might be easier if you purchased tissue paper specifically for the project, but if you're using what you have, please don't skip this step!

4. Trace the letters in pencil onto your tissue squares, keeping the dimensions of the square to make letter-size consistent.

5. Cut out your letters and lay them on the board where you want to place them.

6. Mod podge the canvas, CAREFULLY place the letter down (use layers if possible). Gently apply mod-podge over each letter, smoothing out as you go.

I used a glossy mod-podge because it's what I had, but I think a matte would look much cleaner.

7.  Let it dry, then stand back & admire! Impatient as always, I helped mine dry with a hair-dryer. ;)

You can frame it, or not. I did, and now it is a cheery (slightly imperfect) and wonderful addition to my little one's room.

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Win Lose or Blog

So, I've decided to attempt to become a contestant on "Win Lose or Blog". If you haven't checked it out yet you definitely should!

I recently had my second child and have really been lacking in the motivation department to get up off of my keister and get moving. I NEED this opportunity to get back into shape. I've felt myself slowly slip into the mindset of "one more _____ (enter anything delicious & bad for you food here x 3 servings) will be okay".  I've slowly stopped being concerned with how it will affect my body physically, and my self-concept emotionally.

I don't have a lot of friends to work out with at my new gym, so there aren't many motivating calls to come work out...it all comes down to me, and I'm really not doing the best job right now.

If you are in the same boat & want to have some fun, while being encouraged & held accountable  - join me! It should be a fun experience. There are GREAT prizes for both competing and commenting! Hope I make the cut!

If you want to be a contestant you have until midnight tomorrow (Thursday, June 18th) to enter. The first "season" starts June 21st.   If you just want to follow along, join up anytime!

Wish me luck!
Mandy

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**Edit - 6/21/10 - I didn't make the "cut" for this season. If you get the chance, you should still stop by Win Lose or Blog & wish the contestants luck - or maybe offer them some encouragement in their journey to weight loss.

Canvas Art for Kids Rooms

We welcomed our daughter into our lives & home earlier this year. Just before she arrived, we decided to transition our son up to our office, which is a slightly larger room than the one he was in. When my son upgraded to his big boy room, I wanted to make the transition really special for him. We got new flooring installed & I wanted his first night in his new room & big boy bed to be something he'd be proud of & excited to call his space.

I had originally planned on making his bedding, but with time constraints and after talking with him about it, eventually decided that I might have better luck purchasing something. So the search began.
I found some great bedding at Kohl's just in time.  It was on sale and it was exactly what I was looking for. Fun safari-theme, but with a comforter that could easily grow up with my little guy.  I've been really happy with our choice so far, and he's been using it for a about 8 months now.

After getting his room set up, his walls were looking VERY bare. I wanted to give him something fun to look at, while adding some colors his bedding didn't have. 

Here's what we ended up with. I simply used his bedding to sketch an image onto a canvas, then I painted it in using greater detail than the sheets provided, and colors of my choice. He loves it & I was happy to be able to give him something that I made just for him.

He's been on a twin bed for a while, but his mattresses have been on the floor until yesterday! He's happy as a clam in his new bed now!

 

Nap Time!

I'm sure most Mom's know the scenerio...You're planning on spending some extended time at a friend's house...with your kiddos....during (dah dah dah doom music) nap time. There are kids your child's age & they have a set nap time - so you need to make a plan...fast!   Many children are also required to provide a nap mat for their preschool classroom or daycare setting. If any of these situations sound familiar...you need a travelling nap mat!

I made this one for my son last year. I filled it with poly-fill & used a trifold design. I did some box stitching at each fold so that it could fold up compactly & added some handles, so that when it's folded up, it can be carried like a briefcase. I also attached a color-coordinating pillow.

We "practiced" taking naps on it at home before taking it on the road. My little guy loves his. He uses it now for Pre-K.


I used decorator-weight material & poly-fill, but it is washable.  I think if I do something like this again, I'd probably just buy a kinder-mat & make a washable cover for that instead, but this one is suiting us well for now & I love watching my little guy snuggle up on it!

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