Getting' Crafty: Elephant Stuffed Animal

Hola Amigos!

My sister's baby shower was a few weeks ago and that obviously means I needed a gift! I have this thing about making gifts instead of flat out buying them, it just makes me feel better about what I'm giving. So, I made this little stuffed elephant to put in the baby's crib. It was pretty easy to make (this is the second time I've made one) as long as you're fairly comfortable with sewing. I'll give you guys a little step by step of how to create one of these little cuties in case you want to try it out!

First off I would like to say that I am by NO MEANS an expert at sewing (or even very good at it) and probably could have done things differently during this little craft. But this is just a guideline and a walkthrough of how I went through it!

What you need

-1/2 yard of fabric for body

-1/4 yard fabric for ears

-scissors

-pins

-stuffing (I used polyester)

-thread in chosen color

-sewing machine

-patience :)

1. Choose your fabrics. I chose a gray corduroy for the body and a chevron pattern in just a normal cotton fabric.

2. Trace your elephant onto the inner side of the fabric. I just sort of free-handed it using this image from pinterest as my guide. Then cut out two pieces of fabric into the shape that you traced, make sure to leave at least a 1/4in. for seams!

3. After deciding on the shape and size of the body, draw out the ears in proportion to the body. I drew them quite big so they would be a little floppy. Cut into the appropriate shape, you will need 4 pieces of fabric in this shape!

4. Pin the ears so that the two sides that are going to face out once they are sewn, are facing each other (inside out).

Here's the ears and body before sewing, to show the proportions that I used.

5. Sew the ears, leaving a pocket to you can flip them right side out! I left a little bit more for the seam then I needed (I'm very cautious when it comes to sewing and don't get too close to the edge). If you think there is too much excess fabric at the seam you can trim! 

 **always be sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of your stitching so the stitches don't come out!**

6. Once you flip the ears right side out you can finish them off by closing the opening you left. I just put in a pin to keep the fabric in place and made a short seam. Then I ironed both of the ears to make them flatter and easier to sew later on.

7. I then pinned the ears on to the two different sides of the body. I laid the two sides of the body on one another and made sure the ears lined up on both sides (you don't want lopsided ears!)

8. Sew the ears onto the individual sides of the body. Just make a short seam, as close to the edge of the ear as possible. You only need to sew the flat side of the ear (if you sew all the way around they won't be floppy!)

9. Make the tail by braiding a few pieces of the ear fabric and knotting it at the end!

10. Pin both sides of the body together, inside out, just like with the ears. I used WAY too many pins as you can see in the picture, but as I said before, I'm very cautious when it comes to sewing. 

I didn't attach the tail until later but if I had to do it again, I would pin it in at this step!

11. Sew the body. Once again, get as close to the edge as possible and leave a large enough space that you will be able to flip in right-side-out and add the fluff!

12. Flip it right-side-out and stuff it! It is surprisingly difficult to get the stuffing in there evenly, but try your best. If it's not perfect it's not a big deal, adds to the homemade charm!

13. Once you've added a sufficient amount of fluff (I recommend giving it a good hug to make sure its cuddly enough) pin up the opening that you left. Give that a quick little go over with the sewing machine and ta-daaa, you've got an elephant!

I added a pair of eyes with some puffy paint and then it was complete!

Here's the final product! As you can see the fluff isn't entirely even or perfect but I think it is still pretty adorable (if I do say so myself!).

You can just see it peeking out in the crib. It matches the color scheme perfectly, the perfect little cuddle buddy!

So there it is! An easy enough (sort of..) gift for any little munchkins you may have in your life!

I also made this little outfit and bib using iron on patches from Hobby Lobby. Not very difficult to make yourself but I love that everything is a little more personal than if I had just grabbed something at Target.

I hope that someone else tries out this craft, it's really fun and you could probably do it for just about any animal with the same general steps!


 This has been life with Hannah!


xxHannah

Gettin' crafty: homemade cards

Hi friends!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday and I wanted to make him a cute homemade card. I really try to give as many homemade things as I can. It makes me feel good about what I'm giving and I definitely like getting homemade gifts as well! So I gathered all of my craft paper and supplies in my living room, made a huge mess, and got to work.

This is what it looks like when I make anything... Organized(?) chaos.

This is the card I made, simple and easy! It basically just involves a lot of cutting and sorting through paper. I started making it and then realized I didn't have a darn glue stick in my whole house and had to improvise..

So that made the situation a little stickier.. But I worked with it and it turned out fine!

For the little flags I just used origami paper that I had (mostly because I liked the patters better, but it's also thinner than the scrapbook paper I had) and cut them into little triangles. Then I cut my embroidery floss (any string will work) and folded the very top of the flag over, stuck some glue in the crease and folded it over the string. You have to trim the little extra paper hanging over from the fold of the flag, but after that voilà, you've got a little flag garland. I used another piece of paper for the inside of my card and taped the garland to the underside of that piece so the ends wouldn't show. 

After much cutting, gluing, and improvising, the card is done! 

I used the same origami paper to make the balloons on the envelope.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, a little homemade touch is always nice!

This has been life with Hannah

xx Hannah

Getting Crafty: Origami Stars

Mini Origami Stars Tutorial

One of my friends taught me how to make these little mini stars out of paper and I think they are just the cutest thing so I thought I would share!

Okay so all you need for this is some paper, a pair of scissors, and some patience!

Start by cutting strips of paper along the width of the piece of paper. The strips should be half an inch wide or less and 8.5 inches long.

I decided to use one of the colored pieces of paper I had for this. It was a little easier to handle throughout the folding but was more difficult at the end because it's thicker!

Fold the strip into a ribbon shape

Tuck the end of the strip through the loop. This part takes a little tightening and situating of the loop to get it even. Just be patient and gentle, try not to crease the paper or it will be harder to make into the star shape later on!

You will start to see a pentagon shape at this point, trying to get the sides of this shape even is the frustrating part. 

Fold the extra tab down behind the tightened loop.

You can clearly see the 5 sides of the shape now (see how they are all roughly the same size and there are no gaps at the corners)

Take the long tail of the paper and fold it up so it makes the fifth side of the pentagon. Make sure to gently crease it so it stays but don't press it too much.

Wrap the tail around the next side. It should be obvious which side you should go to next because of the flow of the wrapping.

Keep wrapping! 

Eventually you will reach a point where you can tuck it in and finish or you need to trim it up a little bit!

To trim it just take the minimal amount off the end (just take enough off so when you are done wrapping it does not hang over the edge)

Once the tail is the right size, tuck it in to the folds at the center of the pentagon.

Push the tab in so it looks like this and crease it enough that the tab won't slide out if you are not holding it.

Use your nail to push the center of each side and form the star shape.

TA DAAAA! An adorable little paper star!

REMINDER: It may take a few tries to get this right.. I know it took my like 3 failures before I made a good one. Don't give up on it, it's kind of fun once you get the hang of it. I made all of these while watching a movie on TV so if you're just looking for something to do with your hands, this is the craft for you!

I am using mine as a filler for this vase I keep on my desk.

What other uses could you see for these little guys?