Game of Thrones Inspired Quiet Book

EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND LOOK AT THIS QUIET BOOK!

I recently commissioned a custom quiet book on Etsy.  For those of you who have never heard of such a thing, a quiet book is a book (usually made out of felt or other fabric) filled with activities for children that are to be done quietly. The ever so creative name makes more sense now, right?  It's often used for special times, like church, when you need to keep children happy and quiet. They also can be educational and teach them things like fine motor skills, color matching, how to button buttons, or hide-and-seek type activities.
 

Lots of people DIY these, there are a ton of super cute patterns out there.  But I know, I'm just nowhere near as patient as you need to be to do them.   Like any other purchase, I shopped around, got some prices and felt out the people who would actually be making the thing.  They can get to be a little on the expensive side, depending on ow much detail and how many pages you want, and I knew I wanted to find just. The. Right. Person.  Goldilocks style.  I had a particularly interesting request, because the recipients of this book are really special people.  They're total nerds.  LOL

They love Doctor Who, Harry Potter, and Star Wars to name a few.  But above all, as do so many others, they LOVE Game of Thrones.  I'd seen quiet books for the other shows and they were all really quite fantastic.  But I knew, if this was to be a truly great gift, it HAD to have GOT inspired pages in it.  PG versions, of course.  (I did purchase a few pages in the other themes as well, but will focus specifically on the GOT pages for this post.) 

After I felt out a few other artists (these people are truly artists).  I got a hold of Susan from Rose in Bloom Creations.  Check out some of her work: 

How cute is that?! I reached out to her and she couldn't have been more helpful and kind if she'd have flown in and met with me in person.  She asked about the show and the bits I liked and worked with me on a few ideas on pages and "skills" for each of the pages.  I sent her pictures of the characters and scenery on the show and books and the rest was up to her!  She asked me a few questions about details along the way, but she really had free reign over the designs.  I trusted her opinion completely!  A couple weeks went by and she told me the book was done and she was sending it to me.  SQUEEE!  I was so excited I could hardly stand it!  It came in the mail and the second I opened it, I totally went full fan girl. 

Now seriously...
SER-I-OUS-LY

Look at these pages.  I can't even describe how excited I was!!! All of the exclamation points! Lol Every single page is better than the next, I still don't know which ones my favorite!  Disclaimer:  I added the puffy paint titles/directions myself.  I'm sure if Susan did them, they'd look even better! 

Lets start with the page inspired by Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, shall we?  When you get to this page, you see her, with her 3 dragons eggs she received on the day she married Khal Drogo (OK maybe I'm a nerd too, don't judge me).  Oh... but whats inside the eggs?  3 dragons of course!  Look at that detail!  She used textured felt to look like scales!!!  These little guys are finger puppets too.  The activity is a color matching one.  The black dragon (inspired by Drogon, named after Khal Drogo) goes with the black egg, naturally. 

The next page is inspired by Winterfell.  Look how awesome she captured the castle!  She's even got the round tops of the tall tower!!!  This activity is a hide-and-seek page.  Find her version of the three-eyed-raven.  The THREE EYED RAVEN you guys!!!  That tiny felt raven has 3 eyes!!! How flippin cute is that?  Now, there are a number of places the raven can hide in the castle.  Bran better get on it quickly if he's going to find him! 

OK - so the next page is probably my favorite.  Who is on the wall?  You guys want to guess?  I see some eyes peeking out from behind the door.  But first, please notice the crow flag and the wildling ladder?!?!  hehehehe.  Have you caught on that I LOVE this book?  When you undo the tie (the skill on this page), what do you know?!  Its finger puppets inspired by Jon Snow, Ygritte (RIP) and Ghost!  For real you guys.  FOR REAL.  Feltie Jon and Ygritte have fur on their collars!  And Ghost has red eyes!!!  These little finger puppets are just the cutest damn things. 

The final page is of the Godswood inspired scene.  Check out the level of detail here.  The skill on this page involves guiding the Direwolf through the rings in the Godswood to find his way to the heart tree.   she totally nailed the color of the tree and the little direwolf face!  I can't even.  I mean I really can't even.  I may have to ODD the rest of my life because I literally just cant EVEN! 

The finger puppets make me Giddy, especially the little fur collars!  Seriously oh my gosh!!! I just can't even handle all the cuteness! 

So there you have it.  The Nerdy Quiet Book that I now have to give away lol.  Part of me wants to save it.  For, you know.... maybe some day :)  Now now, don't look at me like that, I won't LOL.  But it is sooooo much fun, a quiet book for adults too!  I can't say enough how amazing it turned out, even so much better than I imagined, it's just too incredible!


So for real.  Go over to Susan's page and order one for yourself ASAP!!!

Gluten Free Fruit Blintzes - AKA: Breakfast bars

Its been an interesting few weeks in our household. 

We found out that Jesse has a gluten allergy. It’s interesting because procedure after procedure dealing with all things poo, the results were inconclusive.  We heard the words “Well that’s new” or “We’re not sure what’s wrong with you” a few too many times for our tastes.  Eventually though we figured it must be an allergy to something he eats on a daily basis, because his, um, “symptoms” never stopped. 

I won’t get too into the details because you do NOT want to know.  I hear you thanking me. You. Are. Welcome. 

At any rate, as the supportive girlfriend (and primary grocery shopper) that I am I proceeded to research what a gluten allergy meant.  I won’t get into those details here because 1- I’m sure you have a pretty good understanding yourself as an educated adult person and 2- I don’t want to misinform anyone from my own (occasional) confusion. 

Instead I will tell you that I cleaned out our whole kitchen of anything containing gluten with the exception of microwave popcorn which is my guilty pleasure and Jesse never cared for it that much anyway :) Then I looked up some new recipes to try.  I was really excited to give this my best go.  Anything I can do to help with my SO's health I'm on board for.

I found a few everyday recipes I’d been cooking could be easily converted to gluten free given the use of specific ingredients.  No problem.  Then I found a few that I could make ahead for breakfast that he could grab on his way into work without having to roll the dice at a drive through that claims to have gluten free products but are stored and cooked alongside gluten foods.  Sometimes it doesn’t get to him, sometimes it does, and that pain is not worth risking if not necessary.  

The first recipe I am going to share with you is one that he is absolutely CRAZY over.  They’re meant as breakfast food but he eats them as snacks all hours of the day.  I combined a few recipes that I found on the internet of similar dishes, this one is the one that works the best for me. 

It’s a variation on the breakfast Blintz. A blintz is basically a thin crepe that traditionally uses yeast. Normally, it is served with a creamy and sweet light cheese stuffing, and then fried up in a pan. Normal crepe toppings are piled on top.

Well, between Ina Garten and Betty Crocker and my need to use things in my pantry without actually having to go back to the grocer store… we have BAKED blintzes. So, you know, you can make a WHOLE PAN of this goodness to eat throughout the week.  Genius, no?

Like I said the man loves them and I do too because there are minimal dishes dirtied in the process, and noone really likes doing dishes.

Fact.

Let’s get started.

Preheat your oven to 350.

First we need to make the batter- this might sound crazy, but make the batter in a blender.

Why, you ask. Easy mixing, pouring, and clean up. BOOM.

Let us begin by adding 1 1/4 cups of milk to the blender.

Yes I have a pink blender.  You have my permission to be jealous. 

And then add 1 t. of vanilla.  This is getting complicated now I know. 

Add 4 T of melted butter, then 4 eggs.

Now add 1 1/2 cups of gluten free Bisquick.

This stuff is my new best friend.  It makes finding things to cook now SO much easier than before I knew it existed. 

And 3 T. sugar.

Now, blend it.  ----- Feel free to do a little booty shaking at this time.  I always find it makes the blending process THAT much more fun. 

Now pour about half of the batter into a 9x13 greased pan, and bake for about 10 minutes. - I don't have any pictures of this, I'm a failure, I know. Don't hate me. 

This should be the consistency of a “really thin pancake” (props to whoever knows what movie that is from). 

While the really thin pancake is baking, you should be mixing up the filling.  I pour the remaining batter into the measuring cup to not have to dirty another dish (told ya I hate it). 

Then rinse out the blender and prepare for the filling! 

Throw about 8 ounces of cottage cheese into the blender with 3 ounces of softened cream cheese. 

You can do this without softening the cream cheese, but trust me its easier if you do. 

Then add 3 T of sugar and about ½ T of vanilla.  Blend all of this until smooth.

Now for the awesome part. 

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Back-story: We were traveling home from Cumberland lake one fine afternoon when we stopped at the most adorable roadside stand and picked up some preserves.  Only the best preserves I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. 

Before this day I was following another recipe that had me frying up berries in a pan with sugar and making my own fruit sauce.  It rarely turned out perfectly and always made a HUGE mess in my kitchen. No bueno.

So when we had this wonderful little jar, I thought to myself “Self, wouldn’t this be way easier to add to the breakfast blintz that trying to cook up your own blueberries?” Indeed it was.  Always trust your instincts J

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-- Back to the recipe --

Once the cheeses are blended add 1 ½ cups of fruit preserves, whatever your fancy is.  In this example I used cherry (yum yum).  Blend until smooth.  Feel free to taste a sample or 5 before going to the next step.  You’re going to want to I promise. 

Bring over your really thin pancake and spread the cheese/fruit mixture on top. 

No I like to stick this in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the filling to set a little quicker.  Its OK if you don’t do this, it just doesn’t turn out as cleanly layered if you go straight into the top layer right away. 

Once the filling is set, pour the remaining batter on top and stick back in the over for about 30 minutes or until the top layer is fluffy and springs like a cake.   -----  Again, no picture... I hear you yelling... I said I twas sorry! Gesh : )

Now all you have to do is let it cool then slice and enjoy.  I keep the additional squares in a baggie in the fridge until the Mr. gets a chance to hit them up. 

They stay pretty well for about a week.  I don’t like to push them longer than that.  That’s just my own paranoia though.  I don’t want to accidentally poison my boyfriend.  I know, I’m weird J

Cake Balls DI - Why did I do this?

Cake balls, cake pops, cakesicles — have you tried them? I know you've seen them. They swept weddings and the internet like a virtual tidal wave over the last few years.

It seems like everyone is getting more and more creative with them. And who cam blame them, they're adorable. When our family's Labor Day Picnic came, I decided to try them myself to see how hard it could be. Hey, if its not too hard, I might be making more of them for future events. So - we all know how to make the cake pops. Instructions are all over the place. A quick google search will yield 15,600,000+ results. Its a pretty straight forward concept, but execution of said concept is slightly more difficult. All the DIY directions I found made it sound SO simple, and fun. Upbeat wording, positive vibes, and a general "you can do it" attitude.

Cake pops are basically little smushed balls of cake and frosting. You bake up a cake, let it cool, tear it into fine crumbs, stir in something to hold it all together, and roll it in balls. Easy, right?

Yea - so, my attempt wasn't a total fail, but you can see from my pictures, I'm a far cry away from Martha. the thing is, they;re a pain in the ass. The crumbling, and mixing part (I heard from actual people, not the DIY utopia online) is the hardest part, wasn't too bad for me. Nevermind the fact that I had to switch bowls half way through because the first one was too small. I also jumped right in with my hands, cause a spoon wasn't cutting it. The hard part for me was keeping the dang things together when I tried to dip them in chocolate. Some websites will tell you you don't have to freeze them. This. Is. A. Lie. Take it from me, it is 100% necessary to freeze the pops before attempting to dip them in hot melty chocolate. Before they're frozen, they're a soft warm dough consistency that just falls off the stick when you dip it. (notice the epic fail blobs above) This is not conducive to a happy working environment. So after a few failed attempts at this, I stuck them in the freezer for a bit. This helped tremendously.

I got them all dipped and even though you can't really tell from the pictures above, the final products were actually kinda nice. I still don't think they're works of art, but they're better than the fail blobs. Now, The point of this post is not to give directions on this DIY, that's all over the place and I dont want to be just another random how to. The point, my friends, is once they were done - I didn't like them. They were a weird consistency and kind of stuck to the roof of my mouth. No bueno. Everyone else seemed to rave over them... was I crazy? Maybe I was jaded because I went through the headache that was making them in the first place. But to me - they're SO not worth it, and even if I outsourced the project, they're expensive and the fact remains I still don't like the taste. Give me a good old fashioned cake or cupcakes any day.

Am I alone in this, does everyone else love them? Or does someone else in the world have a problem with the consistency...?

So, I'm not Christian Louboutin, but I could be Steve Madden - DIY Glitter Shoes

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a shoe addict. The first step is admitting it, right? Its true. Like many a woman before me, the prospect of shoes makes me positively giddy. I've been known to do a certain happy dance in the middle of a store if I find a pair that are just right for what I'm looking for. Also, like many a woman before me, I occasionally indulge in habitual shoe ambition. A term I just now made up that refers to me desire for designer shoes, but my inability to obtain such goal. I constantly put things in various online shopping bags with no intention of actually buying them. This is also because I suffer from buyers remorse. Oh what a tangled web I weave. For those of you in academia, I refer now to Adaptive Self-Regulation of Unattainable Goals. True, my shoe fetish is quite superficial in comparison, but the same principles nevertheless.

It is in this self regulation that found these beauties:

Two words: Christian Louboutin. I fell in love. These things, these magical beauties that sparkle every time one moves their foot. How could they be mine?! Well in short, they couldn't. I absolutely could not rationalize spending more than my mortgage on a pair of shoes. That's when it happened. I uttered the ill-advised five word sentence every woman  says in at least once in her lilfe: "I can totally make that." (Thank you How I met Your Mother for the shockingly applicable reference)
 

With determination and this tutorial by my side I was off in search of the supplies and some cheap-ish shoes I wouldn't mind get ruined (in the event I fail). In referenced to the tutorial listed, I skipped on the bead smith and rhinestone tray. They seemed like needless expenses and I could use things I already had in my craft drawer. Even now that its all said and done, I still feel like this chick should have just coughed up the money for the real thing after everything she spent.

Supplies I used:

Shoes - $20
E6000 Glue - $5

Rhinestones (obviously) - $

Ink Pen (for picking up and sticking on the stones) - $0

I did pick up the glue she recommended, and it worked as she said. I also did not spring for the swarovski crystal rhinestones, again, my frugality got in the way, and I instead found some perfectly beautiful alternatives from Amazon for less than a third of what swarovski crystals would have cost.

I followed the instructions, step by step when I first began. I quickly realized that what I was doing was NOT working.  See photographic evidence below....

The glue was seeping between the rhinestones and they were getting out of place. My personality could not allow for hap-hazard looking rhinestones. I worked sporadically for about a week and it was just getting worse. I then began my own patent method of laying the rhinestones out on my craft table in an acceptable order, picking them up with tape and then applying them to the shoe, all in one bunch. This method worked MUCH better for me.

But, alas, by then it was too late. I already was frustrated beyond belief and did not like how the heel looked due to the placement of rhinestones. Despite encouragement from Jesse and my friends, I knew I wouldn't wear them, so it seemed pointless to finish them let alone start on the other shoe.  Plus, the glue started to get really goopy which didn't help the cause. The lid wouldn't fit on the tube properly and it turned into a total hot mess. I didn't wanna fuss with it anymore.  They got pushed to the side for a while. But like I said, I went the cheap route and was not too upset about the investment lost. So far $20 for the shoes and $20 for supplies is not going to break my bank. Besides, I figured I could use the rhinestones elsewhere in my craft world.

 

Supplies Round Two:

Shoes - $20

Glitter - $4

Mod Podge - $0 (I already had this, but its pretty inexpensive if you need to buy some)

I removed the rhinestone fail from the shoes and started from scratch. This in and of itself was harder than it sounds, those suckers were on there but good. Which I suppose would have been awesome had they turned out the way I wanted. Oh well. I didn't do anything to prepare the shoes, but thinking on it now, it may have been prudent to rough up the patent surface a little before application. I used a small sponge paintbrush, for no other reason than because that's what I had already. I applied a thin layer of mod podge in small sections on the shoe, adding glitter as I went, until I eventually covered the whole shoe. I did it in small sections in order to control the glitter explosion that somehow occurs when working with this medium. But I'm sure it'd work fine if you did the whole shoe all at once. Once covered entirely, I let it dry for about 2 hours. This was probably more than I needed to, but I wanted to be sure, and I had housework to do anyway.

After I finished laundry and dishes, I came back to the shoes. I shook off excess glitter and assessed the results. The first layer was thin, but that was ok, because I planned on doing at least 2 layers. I re-applied a second layer of Mod Podge directly on top of the 1st glitter layer and repeated the same process of doing a little at a time. This time however, I made the layer a little thicker.

Once this was dry (I let it go overnight just ti be sure) I shook off the excess and checked them out again and decided that 2 layers was enough for the look I was going for. Depending on the kind of glitter, the look you want and overall shoe design, you may want to go 3 layers. Up to you. Once I got to my desired look, I covered the shoes with another coat of Mod Podge, to seal it in. This layer dried fairly quickly, it also serves to make sure no glitter randomly falls off around your house when you walk. You could do this a second time if you wanted, but I felt like once coat was good enough for me, and I didn't want to take a chance that it get too think to see the shine of the glitter.

And there you have it... brand new glitter shoes ala Steve Madden. I'm actually really glad I ended up doing the glitter version. I'll probably be able to wear them more places... plus I'm REALLY proud of how they turned out... not to mention this second go around was much simpler and less frustraiting than my original goal :)

Total Investment:  (including my fail)

approx. $44  WOO HOO

Anyone else re-vamp their DIY projects after an epic fail? Its OK to admit, this is a safe space. I return, now, to the scholars who discussed the concepts of goal disengagement and re-engagement. A few weeks went by before my goal re-engagement occurred, when I decided I was too stubborn to not finish a project. I was not however too stubborn to own my failures. I had to re-imagine the goal. A quick trip back to the craft store with coupon in hand, I came home with Martha Stewart glitter dust and Mod Podge. I knew I wanted the glitter dust because regular glitter always looks so glob-by to me, and Martha has never let me down with the quality of her craft products. I learned that I'm wasn't Christian Louboutin, but maybe I could be Steve Madden... 

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my Eyes

When we first moved into our house, Jesse was working 2nd shift. I hardly saw him at all during the week. By the time he got home I was already in bed. I'm not complaining - I know gotta do what you gotta do, and having a job was pretty important at this particular juncture (being that we just bought a house). I was however, a little nervous - I had lived with my parents all my life up until this point, and rarely was ever alone in the house. So Jesse wanted to make me feel safe when I spent most evenings alone (isn't he a great guy) so we talked for a while about getting a dog. We went over all the pros and cons, time, budget, etc, and he did all his due diligence research (as per the norm). He knew everything there was out there about raising a puppy - literally everything. He would at times be on a forum on his laptop, and simultaneously look up another webpage on his iPhone (no joke). I had almost given up hope on getting a puppy (he seemed so against it, we both worked full time bla bla bla) when one morning I was making breakfast and he said "you wanna get a dog today?". I thought he was kidding - but he had been in touch with a man in Felicity, Ohio about a Boston Terrier female puppy, and he said its mine if I wanted it. Um, duh! So we went out on the craziest trip ever to pick up this dog. We were in my mustang (which historically gets TERRIBLE traction in snow and slush) in the middle of a bilzzard in December to a place 2 hours away we had no clue how to get to. In retrospect, probably not the best timing we ever had, but it was all worth it when we got to the breeder. He handed me this tiny fur-ball of a dog and she immediately climbed up into my neck.

That was it - I was sold. Jesse likes to tell people how he intended on haggling on the price a little with the breeder, but once he saw my face over this little cutie - that was all she wrote :) We named her Penny Lane (partly after the Big Bang Theory - one of our favorite shows, and the more obvious part after the Beatles song). She's our little fury friend, and sure brings some comic relief to our household. For those of you thinking "she said they both worked full time, how can she take care of the puppy during the day?" don't fret - we don't keep her locked up all day. Quite the opposite actually. My Mom, so generously offered to dog sit during the day while I'm at work. She said it works out pretty good because she also baby-sits my Cousin's daughter who LOVES to play with Penny. So never fear - the dog is more than well taken care of :)

I'm not the only one whose heart this dog melted... Jesse fell hook line and sinker to her snuggling....

DIY Diaper Cake

If I haven't told you yet - I love DIY projects, especially if it means I'm going to save money (I'm cheap). My cousin and his wife are expecting their first baby this summer, and so its baby shower time! My aunt is throwing it for her this weekend, and I wanted to get them something they would like that wouldn't also break my budget. I was getting to the shopping a little later than everyone else in our families and the pickings were slim. Anything I would have gotten would have been mashed random things and wouldn't be as cute. I thought about the different things I could get and went over some stuff in my head. I kept coming back to "those diaper cake things", they're simple, cute, and what new parents don't need diapers?! I looked on Etsy to see about buying one already made - one serious case of Price Tag Shock later, I decided to make one myself. (You'll notice some of the same materials I used as the one this chick wanted to charge $99   for! insane)

There are LOTS of instructions on-line about how to make a diaper cake, the concept isn't that hard at all. I, however, did not look it up on-line (because I always think I already know how to do everything). So I just got some supplies and winged it! Again, this isn't the most elaborate diaper cake, I've seen some with pacifiers and lotions and all kinds of crap hanging off of it. But since I wanted it to be a budget cake - and plus I don't really like the look of all kinds of crap, I went simple.

Here are the supplies I got -

• 2 packs of diapers, 90 total

• Ribbon, 1 inch wide, patterned to fit the baby shower theme (jungle) I actually already had this in my scrapbook stash

• pack of 4 receiving blankets

• Paper crinkle to match the ribbon and blankets

• Decorative animals to match the theme

I just jumped in with the rolling - With absolutely no idea how many on each layer I would include... I thought I would figure that out along the way. This wasn't an issue at all - but if you're hyper type-A you may want to plan this out. I ended up using 20 in layer 1, 30 in layer 2 and 40 in layer 3. Worked just fine. To do this, you just take the diapers, one at a time, roll them up tight, starting from the butt of the diaper and rolling it to the waist. The tighter the better. I also taped the diapers in the rolls - using a removable tape I already had as well, they should be able to peel the tape off no problem when they go to use the diapers. These are the inner diapers for the cake and also the most time consuming part.

Once I figured out how many in each layer I wanted, I just stood them up on the table and tied a ribbon around each bundle - scientific I know. Looking at some of the instructions now, I feel like people try to make this step more complicated than it needs to be. Its really pretty straight forward. Once I had all three layers bundled, I stacked them on top of each other to make sure the proportions were correct. Beginners luck - they were.

After that, I simply wrapped the receiving blankets around each layer and pinned them in place, at which point i untied the ribbon already on it and re-tied it on the outside of the blanket - then removed the pins. I found the felt and wooden animal decorations at Michael's for .59 each - you can't beat that, they're so cute. I hot glued them onto the ribbon, careful as to not ruin the blankets.

Then I wanted to add the crinkle paper stuff - also careful not to ruin the blankets or diapers. So, I cut up sone paper plates (also that I already had) and hot glued the crinkle paper to that instead of the diapers or blankets. I thought about not gluing it at all and just setting it around it and that was a disaster - would never have stayed on.  You'll notice on the middle two layers, I only paper crinkled the outer rim of the plates. I figured you wouldn't be able to see it if I did the middle anyway, and hey, waste not want not, right?

Once all the individual pieces were created, all I had to do was stack it. I kind of wish I had a cake platter thing to stack it on, but I tied the ribbon pretty tight so it didn't go anywhere. I also made a topper with the letter "E" for Evan (not pictured), the baby's name just for fun. I'm so proud of how it all turned out, I really hope she likes it. Especially since I had no clue what I was doing! What do you think - is it a winner?

And the best part is - the cost breakdown:

• 2 packs of diapers - $10 (thank you, Kroger digital coupons)

• Ribbon (already had) - $0

• Pack of 4 receiving blankets - $13

• Paper crinkle - $4

• Decorative animals - $1.77

• Tape and Paper for topper (already had) - $0

Total spent $28.77.... Eat your heart out Etsy. I couldn't believe the difference in price - especially since I used some of the same materials I found at Michael's for less than a dollar. These aren't hard to find materials or anything. I mean come on, what is she thinking charging more than triple the cost to make? Ouch.  Total savings of $ 70.23 (not including the shipping cost). 

Tell me about your DIY cost saving projects. What about any others that you were pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out?





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@ achina90 :  This thing isn't letting me reply to your post - I got them at Micheal's, they were in the wood craft section.  Below is a link for the same ones, but they're a little more expensive because they come in packs of 6.  I hope it helps though!
http://www.woodcrafter.com/animals-2.aspx

So it seemed like a good idea at the time.... I had all these t-shirts I wasn't wearing, but for some reason could not being myself to throw them away. One was my High School Senior Class shirt. Which literally has not been on my body since then. A lot were from college, with sorority every event having a shirt to go with it, my collection grew exponentially. Albeit I gave several away to underclassmen like hand me downs, I still had about 10 or so. The others were just randoms that I got either on a vacation or fun trip with friends. They all had a story, which is why I had a heard time parting with some of them.  

So it was my Mom's idea to turn them into a blanket. This sounded like a great idea, and it would free up some closet space. Win win. It started out innocent enough. I'd made quilts before, but never with a stretch cotton. So, I researched it on-line to find the best way to do it. I got all the shirt I wanted to use together, I needed 30 squares to make the size I wanted, so that amounted to about 18 shirts (some I used the front and backs of). Once I decided how big to make the squares, the cutting went super quick (if you don't have a rotary cutter, go get one for this, its magical how easy it is). I ended up making them 14' tall by 15' wide. This was to accommodate the images on some of the shirts. I wanted all my blocks to be the same size, but you can totally cut different sizes and piece them together like a puzzle. This just wasn't what I wanted to do. I'd also cut 2 inch strips of a neutral border fabric that I planned to attach on the bottom and right sides of the squares (the strips would come together when i started to sew the blocks together). In hindsight, I wish my border strips were wider, but these worked.

From my research It was pretty clear I'd have to get a soft interfacing in order to keep the shirt from stretching when i sewed it. This might have been the most tedious part. I then sat and ironed all 30 squares with the interfacing. BBBOOOORRRRIIIIINNNNGGGG. It took me three nights to do it. make sure all the squares were straight and nothing wrinkly, nothing was burning in the ironing process, etc. After that super exciting part was done, I sewed my border strips on the bottom part of the shirt square. I sewed on a half inch seam to make it stronger. The last quilt I made i used a 1/4 in seam and it eventually fell apart without much use. I wanted to be able to use this quilt on a regular basis. This eventually made the border strips only 1' wide all around the square. Which is fine, I just liked the wider stripe look better. Just my personal opinion. After all the bottom pieces were sewn, I pressed the seams open, and did the same after the right sides were done. That again was tedious. Ironing is lame :).

Now all I had to do was start sewing the blocks together. This went pretty quick actually. I just had to make sure the colors were spaced properly. I didn't want like 4 white blocks or two green one right next to each other. I made the quilt 5x6 (blocks I mean). I did all the horizontal rows first, then came back and attached each row onto each other. If you're planning on doing this: PIN THE ROWS BEFORE SEWING. You don't really need to pin anything before this point, it'll trim away. I admit, I tried to do it without pinning the rows and ended up getting off alignment and my border strips didn't align properly. So seam ripper to the rescue, and start over. Once I did that little extra step of pinning, everything flew by. Next thing I know, I have a front to my quilt.

I picked a soft flannel plaid fabric for the backing and a medium weight batting to make it extra snugly. I added an additional border around the outside of the front of the quilt in the plaid flannel to make it feel like it matches. In order to put it all together, I laid the front face up, then pinned the backing on top of it, followed by the batting. Sew it all around leaving about a foot open on one side. This is so you can turn it right side out. Then you just hand sew up the hole you turned it through. I also tacked down the three layers in order to keep it from getting all matted when I use and wash it. I did this with just a few stitches at each of the corners of the blocks in the seams. I did it this way so you cant see the stitches from the front. After all that's done, I washed it just to get rid of excess strings and to fluff up the interfacing a little. And Viola, a brand new planket that no-one else has! It was definitely a labor of love, but I really am happy with the result of it. Although, I probably won't be trying to make another one any time soon :)