No Sew Tie Dye Applique Shirts

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of I Love To Create, Tulip, and Social Spark. All opinions are 100% my own.

Who's getting a little tired of winter and is ready for spring? While I can't send sunshine your way, I can show you a little craft that might help wipe away some of the winter blues and put you in the spring spirit. (counts right?) This weekend the kids and I made some shirts with the help of Tulip Neon paints, fabric markers, and dye found exclusively at Michaels. I know what you're thinking.... "ummmm, I don't have a Michaels close and I'm not driving in this crazy weather for craft supplies." I've gotcha covered! Just hit up iLoveToCreate.com.  During the month of February you can get free shipping on neon Tulip products when you use coupon code #NeonFEB at checkout on iLoveToCreate.com. Yes, free shipping! So sit at home in your warm fuzzy pjs and let the spring-tasticly neon supplies come to you. Love that.

Let's get started

Supplies:

• White cotton fabric (could be scraps)
• T-shirt
• Tulip One-Step Mini Tie-Dye Kit
• Tulip Fabric Markers
• Tulip Dimensional Fabric Paint
• Iron-on adhesive

Step 1

Dye your fabric scraps. 

This part was so fun! I actually used pieces of old Ikea curtains that were in my scraps (yay for free!). We just followed the directions on the One-Step Mini-Dye Kit. Basically balled up the fabric in different ways and secured with the provided rubber bands. Then, filled our bottles with water and went to town. I covered the table with plastic wrap for easy clean up and so we could easily wrap up the shirts to set once we were done.

 

Step 2

Wash, dry, iron.

After the dye was set (several hours), I rinsed out most of the dye in the sink and then threw the pieces in the washer, then dryer. After that, they got ironed flat and I backed each one with iron-on adhesive.

(photo credit: my six year old. Which also explains the up-the-nostrils angle)

Step 3

Embellish your tie dyed fabric with Tulip Fabric Markers.

This is the part where you could really personalize. I just let the kids go wild and draw or write whatever they wanted. The iron-on adhesive on the backs helps hold the fabric nice and flat.

Step 4

Cut out shapes.

After the marker-fest was over, we looked at the masterpieces and decided what portions would look great on their shirts. Austin wanted "a GIANT moon!!" on his shirt, so we traced a plate. Then cut it out, peeled off the iron-on adhesive backing, and ironed it in place.

"I love my moon!"

Kaley did lots of "girls rock" and "love" sayings. We cut out a select few for 2 different shirts. Yep, that says "I love girls". Obviously she still finds boys gross. ;)

Step 5

Embellish with Tulip Neon Fabric Paint.

Besides the fact that the paint will help hold your applique on, it looks cool too! I made "stitches" around our love heart.

And that's it! Really cool weekend craft with the kids and tons of possibilities. This is the first time I've ever tie dyed anything. Had no idea it was that easy. I hope you'll try it. Follow along with ilovetocreate.com for more ideas.

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Did you notice the elbow patches too?! I love them!

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How to Make a Personalized Baby Blanket

Did you know making a personalized appliqué blanket is really quite easy? Can you hear the ooohs and ahhhs at the shower? :) I whipped one up the other day for my soon-to-be niece, Juliana. A couple years ago I made a similar blanket for her big brother Blake (check it out here). This time I made things even simpler, and used pre-made receiving blankets rather than hemming a blanket from raw fabric. Easy peasy. This technique can also be used on almost anything you want to add something personalized to... doesn't just have to be blankets. Matching windbreakers for you and the hubs perhaps? :)

Here's an example picture of some things you could use to make some personalized baby awesomeness. Receiving blankets and burp cloths on the left, fabric scraps from my stash on the right.

Supplies:

• Blanket
• Contrasting fabric (Could even be scraps - I used fabric leftover from the grommet top curtains I made, Michael Miller Moroccan Lattice Pink Fabric from OnlineFabricStore.net) 
• Heat N Bond (pictured below)
• Iron
• Sewing Machine

Step1:

Print out whatever name (or shape) you will be adding to the blanket. Print it out the exact size you want it to be when it's sewn on the blanket. I'd also suggest using a very simple bold font. Doesn't matter how many letters fit on a page, you'll be cutting them apart in a sec.

Step 2:
Iron a sheet of Heat N Bond to the back side of your fabric (not your blanket). You just need enough to fit all of the letters you just printed out. Follow the directions on the package of Heat N Bond for this. It's pretty easy.

Step 3:

Cut out the letters fairly close to the edges (doesn't have to be perfect) and make sure they fit on the fabric/Heat N Bond combo piece you just ironed.

Now, flip the letters over. If you can see through your paper to your printed letters, you're good to go. If you can't, you're going to need to cut the letters out precisely. I could see though just fine.

Step 4.

Tape your letters down and cut them out. Remember, your letters should be facing down so you see the backs. The front will the the fabric.

Step 5

After all of the letters are cut out, peel off the white backing from the Heat N Bond. Then arrange the letters how you'd like them on your blanket.

Step 6

Iron those suckers in place. The directions say to hold the iron on for about 20 seconds. Now, you could be done at this point since Ultra Hold Heat N Bond is technically "no sew". However, I know how often baby blankets get washed. They might hold up great, but there's only so much baby puke and Tide anything can tolerate. I'd keep going and add a stitch. Plus, it looks fancy.

Step 7

Add a decorative stitch around each letter. Letters with holes in them (like this A) are a bit tricky. Just make sure you sew the center edges too.

I chose a blanket stitch.

And that's it, you're done. You could probably have one of these done in an hour.

I'm kinda sad I never made anything personalized for my kids. haha At 6 and 4, you think they'd still like a name blankie from mom? Might have to whip a couple up. :)

Here's a few other's I did using the same technique. Click on the pics. :)

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Super Bowl Beer Tasting Party Ideas

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Rubbermaid and Sharpie but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #RubbermaidSharpie  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

Anyone else gearing up for the big game? We are and our team wasn't even remotely close to making it anywhere near the Super Bowl. (My husband is from north east Florida... I'll letcha guess what team that could be) So why the hubbub? Because each year we host a beer tasting (my husband brews) that we conveniently integrate with the Super Bowl-- 4th annual this year! So even if our team, or any of our guests' teams, aren't playing, we still have liquid libations and funny commercials to lure them... this is how I make friends. Don't judge. Today I thought I could show you what we're planning for this year's bash. A dress rehearsal if you will. :)

First off, I'm getting a bit crafty. Shocking, I know. Kaley and I hit up Target and got a couple supplies to make a quick banner. Felt, Sharpies, letter stickers, and some ribbon are all ya need. And -- thrifty tip alert!-- before you go, if you text the word COUPONS to TARGET (yep, "TARGET" is the number you send the text to) they will send you the latest coupons to your phone. There will be a Sharpie coupon and a Rubbermaid coupon available Jan 25 - Feb 8th. Seriously convenient. Love it.

We cut felt into triangles, she stuck the letters on, and decorated each one with the Sharpies. (Great after-school kid craft)

Then I punched small holes in the corners and strung them onto the ribbon.

I also picked up these football cutouts ($1 for the whole pack) and we used a few of those as spacers.

Really quick, simple, and festive.

Next I found these small wood footballs for about .50 cents each at the craft store and thought they'd make great food labels. You know, like when people stick signs on the cheese plate so you don't accidentally smother your cracker in goat cheese when what you really wanted was brie. (True story)

I just hot glued wooden skewers to the back.

Ta-da. Not sure yet what's going to need labeling at the tasting, but I'm probably going to use chalk so I can reuse these next year. No more accidental goat cheese.

Next, I came up with a beer charm station. Basically, I'm going to have my guests create their own tags for their drinks. Not only will it be hilarious to read what people come up with, it will also let you know which drink is your's. (I love that Kaley made the purple one below... "I'm here for the fun". So cute!)

We created a few to give guests the idea.

Last thing I'm really excited about is covering all of my tables in craft paper. (I might cover the entire house if someone doesn't stop me) This is going to make it super simple to sort the types of beer. I can just use the Sharpies to write "Stouts over here", "Ales here", etc. Plus, we're going to score the different beers this year. By numbering each one on the table, guests will know what to mark down on their sheets (more on that soon!). PLUS, can you say super simple clean up? Score.

I did buy real glasses for our beer tastings too. They are small (maybe 6 oz?), were really inexpensive, and I've used them for the last 4 years. I probably would have spent more on plastic disposable cups at this point had I not bought them. So if you host regularly, might be something to consider.

I picked up a few festive napkins too.

And, got a ton of new Rubbermaid glass containers. Since I'll probably have to make 80% of the food ahead (#workingmama), it's really nice to be able to go from the fridge, to the oven, to the table all in the same container. They look nice, will cut down on the dishes, and will reduce my stress level which is good for everyone. ha.

Did I mention the lids stick to the bottoms too? LOVE!

So while we still have a couple weeks until the game, it's nice to get the plans in motion. I'll be sure to post a follow up of all the party details when the day's here. So what are your hosting tips and tricks? I'd love to know how you streamline the stress out of hosting.

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