My good friends and I had the opportunity to throw a baby shower for a couple of cute girls in our neighborhood.  Both were having girls, and I had some leftover Riley Blake fabric, which I kind of used as the “theme” or color scheme of the shower.

Nothing fancy, but here are a couple of features…

Found the recipe for these cupcakes HERE, homemade strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, YES please!!

Some more good eats, and a baby bunting banner too…

I’m having fun with these yarn balls!!!  And here you can see the fabric I love so much:)

Baby Shower = Diaper Cakes RIGHT!!!!

And can you believe this was the first time I ever made tissue poms!!  Check out THIS tutorial to make your own.

And baby onesies of course…

I LOVE throwing showers and parties!!  Makes me happy:)  Getting super excited for this little one of my own too:)

***If you haven’t entered our baby quilt giveaway go HERE and enter now!!***

Phew!  Just finished passing out the last of them!!  Neighbor gifts!!  I LOVE thinking of new ideas each year, you know something cute and simple…  There were tonz of ideas on Pinterest of course…

For my kids’ teachers, I mod podged a clipboard, addeded some vinyl, cute ribbons, and voila!!

Throw it in a basket with some fun school supplies, a treat, and a card from your student, super easy teacher gift!!

For my neighbors this year I made some tea towels, (see Tutorial HERE) wrapped them around some bread, and tied with a ribbon and a card.

I’ve been on a popcorn kick lately and wanted to throw that in the mix as well.  THIS recipe for caramel corn is soooo good!!

I thought it would be fun to dress up a little jar to hold the popcorn.

Thanks to Silhouette, and their holiday promotion I got this “Joy” Christmas art for free!!  So I added the vinyl to the jar…

mixed the popcorn up inside, and added a square scrap of fabric to the top.

Just tie on a label with a ribbon and you’re good!!

The backs of our labels had our family picture for the year…

What about you?  What gifts did you give this year!!!  You still have 3 more days!!!

Merry Christmas you cuties!

I’m so sorry this post is up sooo late!!  Darn computer issues!!  Anyway, happy Tuesday:)  I’m hosting my first ever Cookie Exchange Party this Thursday, and I’m sooo excited!!  For the party favors I’m sending home this little holiday treat!

Holiday tea towels are super easy, and a fun little gift for neighbors and friends.  Wrap them around some bread, tie them to a spoon or spatula, or just attach a cute tag.  I’ll take you through the simple steps to make your very own:)  Grab your supplies, and let’s get started!

My towel was 15 inches, so I made my strips 30 inches long.  (I cut 6 strips b/c I was making 6 tea towels:)

The coordinating strips are 30 inches long as well

This is the longest stitch setting for a regular straight stitch on your sewing machine

The bobbin thread is the bottom thread

Follow the same steps as before

and you’re done!!

I wrapped my towels around a cookie platter, tied it up cute, and you can even add a cute tag!!

Easy Peasy right!!!

Have a great week!!

Linking up HERE this week!

Including:

So while perusing pinterest, I saw this darling monster shirt!!  I knew I could make it, but was curious where I could buy it. Guess what!!  It wasn’t for sale anymore… So my decision was made.  These would be perfect Christmas gifts for my monster lovin boys!!

This is basically an applique tutorial, super simple, so grab your supplies and let’s go!!

I’m making two shirts at a time here, so forgive me for switching in and out of pictures…

I decided to iron both my big monster felt pieces at once to save on heat-n-bond.

I actually ironed my scrap pieces of felt to the heat-n-bond before cutting the shapes out.  It just makes them easier to cut.  Just have an idea of how much of your scrap piece you will need, for whatever add-ons you decide to give your monster.

I left a bit of an opening at the bottom for the teeth to slide into.

This will secure everything and keep it nice through all your washes.

So I made my 3 yr-old try his Christmas present on.  I know, lame.

I didn’t tell him what it was for, I just told him if he put the shirt on and let me take his picture, I would give him chocolate.  He will do anything for chocolate.  He takes after his mama:)

and then he looked at his shirt…

and thought it was pretty cool…

So we had to take it off quick before he could ask any questions…

You could totally customize this for a girl as well, I may just do that for my 6 yr-old!!  Have fun creating!

Linking up HERE this week!

Happy Holidays!!

HaHa, I love saying that!! I’ve got my Christmas tunes blasting, a few Christmas wreaths under my belt, new decorations purchased (thank you Hobby Lobby 50% off sale:), and I even made some Christmas Candy this last weekend!

I kinda got the hook-up from a good friend of mine who happens to be the marketing director for Thermoworks. He sent me the coolest cooking thermometer ever to try out!! Just in time for all of my Holiday cooking and baking!!

My mother-in-law has the best toffee recipe EVER.  I make it every year for Christmas to give as gifts.  I’m going to share the recipe with you all:)  And show ya how to use this fabulous thermometer:)

Shirley’s Chocolate Chip Toffee

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups sugar

• 3 T water

• 3/4 c milk chocolate chips

• 3/4 c semi sweet chocolate chips

• 1/3 c white chocolate chips

• 1 cup almonds chopped and sautéed in oil

• 3 T malted milk powder

Directions:

Combine chocolate chips and almonds together in a bowl, pour half of the mixture into a 9X13 pan lined with foil extending over the edges.  Sprinkle malted powder evenly over first layer.

Combine butter, sugar, and water in a saucepan, and heat until it begins to boil.

Stir frequently, measuring the temperature every so often.

You want an even boil right at the surface, for 15-20 minutes.

You want the candy to get to the hard crack stage, about 300 degrees.

As you can see from the picture, it happens really fast!!

As soon as it reaches this temperature, pour the boiling mixture evenly over the chocolate nut mixture.  Immediately pour remaining chocolate nut mixture evenly over the top of toffee.  Allow to cool for an hour, and refrigerate if the chocolate is still not firm.  Break into pieces and enjoy!!

For a festive treat, wrap a bundle of toffee up in some colorful tulle, and tie with a ribbon!

(Yeah, my pictures were taken at night, and therefore look yellow!!!)

Enjoy your toffee and share with your friends:)

I’m not saying I have a teacher.  My kids all have teachers.  This was an apron I made for my sons’ teacher, and heck you could make it for your kids’ teacher too:)

I’m trying to say that it’s a “teacher apron” meant to be worn by a teacher…

Ok, now that we have that cleared up:)

What do you think?

Mrs. Booth said she wanted a “bright, colorful apron”  I was happy to oblige:)  It’s definitely got bright and colorful going on!!

I think I need to make ME a bright colorful apron, come to think of it:)

I need to make a separate category on my blog labeled “ruffles” for all the posts that have to do with ruffles!!!

Just wanted to share a new product I added to our shop this week!!

Introducing the Jersey Ruffle Scarf with Felt Flower Brooch…

in plum,

or castle,

Chocolate, and Scarlet colored scarves to come:)  These were sooo fun to make, and I love the feel of jersey knit!  Fall makes me excited for scarves, how about you!!

My heart is beating so fast cuz I am SOOOO excited about the opening of our new little shop!!

Maddie Mae Lane is officially open!!  We are in the process of updating, adding items, and marking things to CLEARANCE, so be sure to stop by:)

Would you like a little sneak peak of what we will be offering?

Ok, I thought so:)

Earrings:

Rings:

Necklaces:

Hair Pins:

and more!!

We’ll keep you updated as we add some fun stuff for the holidays coming up:)

We will be having some giveaways and contests, so stay tuned:)

You guys are the best!!  Thanks for your support!!

Have you seen the darling ruffle scarves all over blogland?  Aren’t they totally to die for darling!!

I saw this tutorial from Sewing in No Man’s Land and decided to try it with a scrap from an old sheet.

Be prepared.  This tutorial is SUPER DUPER easy peasy!!

Here is what you’ll need to make your own embellished ruffly scarf:

Step 1:

Step 2:

So I used an old sheet, I cut it so I would already have a hemmed edge.

If you’re just using fabric, you will need to hem each side 1/2 inch.  Do this by folding the edge of the fabric down 1/4 inch, then fold it another 1/2 inch and press in place.  Sew along the inner edge of the fold.

Step 3:

Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length setting.

When pulling your bobbin thread (the bottom thread) be careful the thread doesn’t break.  Just go nice and slow.

(Don’t mind my blinding white bobbin thread!!!  I ran out of my brown!!)

Gather the edges so that they are as even as possible.

Step 5:

Step 6:

For some tips on making felt flowers go HERE.

There are lots of ways to wrap and wear your scarf, and lots of places to pin your brooch.  Go crazy!!  Have fun!!

Can’t wait to try this with more fabric, and more colors!!

Linking up HERE this week:

Giveaway now CLOSED!!!

Have you checked out…

I {Heart} Mixed Bag Designs!!

The kind folks from their company let Marina and I each choose a few bags to review, and I seriously love mine!!  I take them everywhere!

The catalog is HUGE, and packed full of great and useful products, like insulated sacks and coolers

travel totes

laptop and IPAD covers

and more!!

This weekend I am leaving to run the Red Rock Relay.  I’m always trying to come up with a creative way to pack “light” but it’s hard to pack light when you have to pack running shoes, an extra pair of running shoes, clothes for all types of running conditions, regular clothes, toiletries, you get the idea.

So… while I was flipping through the catalog, I saw the large zipper duffle bag.

The perfect solution to my cram packing problem!!  I’m all packed and ready to go, with room to spare!  And I will be STYLIN:)

I’m so excited for all you Just Sew Sassy readers because the generous peeps of Mixed Bag Designs are giving away…

Are you stoked!!  FIVE winners you guys!!  I can only imagine all the cute bags and items I would pick for $75!!

Here’s how to enter:

• Go to Mixed Bag Designs and pick your favorite item from their catalog, come back here and leave a comment telling us what it is

• “Like” Mixed Bag Designs on facebook, be sure to tell them Just Sew Sassy sent you:)

• As always become a public follower of our blog, or let us know if you already are

That’s it, I’m so excited for you guys!  FIVE winners!!  This giveaway will end Sept. 15th at midnight MST.