Penguin, Frog and Owl Gift Bags Tutorial

Alright, so I know it's late, but I made these and then decided I should whip up another and give you a little tutorial. And, in the spirit of trying new things (one of my New Year's resolutions) I decided to do the templates in PDF form for you to download here!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, but these are so super easy to make up and so cute! They make adorable gift bags, and could even be put together by older kids as Valentine holders for classroom exchanges. Ready to learn how?

For each animal you will need:

Printed PDF templates
Scrapbook paper scraps
One lunch sized gift (or brown paper) bag
Scissors
Glue stick or double sided tape
Opaque gel pens (for optional decorative "stitching")

Black marker for the Frog's mouth
Scalloped or pinking edged scissors for Owl eyelashes
Stickers to seal the edge of the bag

Print and cut out the template pieces for the animal(s) of your choosing.

Trace around your templates on the wrong side of your printed papers. For each animal you will need:

One head

One small heart

One large heart

One beak (for Owl and Penguin)

Two eyes (reversing, or tracing the opposite side of the template, for one of the Frog's eyes)

Two feet (reversing one for all animals)

Two wings, arms or flippers (reversing one for all animals)

Two cheeks

For the penguin only: Two more cheek pieces in a black print for eye centers

Face piece for inside of head

For Owl only: Two pieces of paper measuring 1/2" X 1 7/8" for eyelashes

Glue or tape the penguin's face piece inside the head, using the dashed lines inside the template as a placement guide.

For all animals: Place the eyes and cheeks using the dashed lines on the templates as a guide.

For the Owl: Using your scalloped or pinking edged scissors cut a small amount off of one edge of your eyelash pieces. Place these so that the scalloped edge is toward the bottom of the head and the top corners are lined up with the outer edge of the eye. (See finished photo at bottom.)

For the penguin: Place the black pair of cheek pieces inside the eyes.

For the Owl and Penguin: Place the beaks last, again using the dashed lines as a guide

For the Frog: lightly draw a curved line between the cheeks with a pencil. Using your black marker draw five small rectangles along the curved line to create the frog's mouth. Erase the marks in between your rectangles. (See finished photo at bottom.)

Fold down 1 1/2" from the top of your bag.

Glue or tape (tape may work better if you are using a glossy surface like the gift bags I have chosen) the heads onto the bags so that they overhang the folded down edge.

Now assemble your heart by centering and gluing the small piece inside the larger one. Attach the assembled heart to the bag 1/2 to 3/4 inches from the bottom, making sure to leave a small space between the heart and the head.

Add arms, wings or flippers depending on which animal you are making. Use the completed photos as a guide to placement.

Put glue or tape along the top 1/2" of your foot pieces. Attach the glued areas to the underside (bottom) of your bag at or near the corners.

Draw optional decorative stitching with your gel pen.

Now you're ready to open them up and fill with treats!

Vote for your favorite!

There is a little sewing competition going on in blogland hosted by Family Ever After. It's called Sew-vivor and it's really exciting and different. You enter by submitting any one thing you've sewn, from there, judges narrow the entries down to ten finalists who then create one new project per week for four weeks. The twist being that, just like Survivor, one or more finalist is voted out per week by the judges.

It sounds fun, right? And bonus for those of us with little sewing time on our hands, the last four weekly projects are listed on the blog right now so you can make them ahead and be all prepared if you progress to the finals!

The Family Ever After Blog suggests that you enter a project that showcases your talent, creativity and personality. I spent a lot of time on the blog looking over some of my past projects and narrowed it down to ten that I think are eye-catching while showing off at least some of the suggested criteria, but I can't decide which one is best to enter.

So, please do me a favor and tell me your favorite in the comments! And if your favorite wasn't one of mine, feel free to tell me that too!

1. Disappearing 9 Patch Quilt 2. Bohemian Diaper Bag 3. Third Birthday Dress 4. Tuxedo Style Purse 5. Batik Log Cabin Stars Throw 6. Bunny 7. Lollipop Quilt 8. Cupcake Puppy 9. Owl Bag 10. Elvis Costume size 12 months

Lots of pink and green

I'm not doing so well. I still have to finish the eight blocks I started two weekends ago, and I have been approached about another project that is pretty time sensitive (more about that when it is finished..I hope!). My time management isn't so bad, it's just that there is so little of it to manage.

So, when I mentioned to my husband that I might want to make Caroline a dress for her first birthday, he mentioned right back to me that I might want to start it when she's six months old. I think I gave him an obscene hand gesture, but I am starting to see his point.

I had the idea that it could be cute to take her banner from her baby shower (that is now hanging above her crib) and use it as a prop in her first birthday photos. Which means a pink and green dress to match. Here are my issues with that..pink and green are very spring colors, and Caroline was not a spring baby.

Mostly, I think this is fine. I think that her photos will be taken in a studio and no one will realize that she's wearing a spring dress in the fall, they'll just think it looks cute. Part of me wonders if that's a bit ridiculous though, putting her in an out of season dress just to match a banner I made for a late summer baby shower? I'm all for opinions on this.

Here is the dress pattern I like best so far.

I love this one, with the little 3/4 sleeve jacket. I see tons of potential and have already been auditioning prints for it.

Two color super mod combo. I'm not sure how I'd work that, since there isn't just a two print option in the pattern, but I have never been one to follow the patterns exactly.

And some more two color options. I really love this watercolor daisy print, but I think I would have to add at least some of the other color, these combos are cute, but a little boring to me.

And some three color options (which would obviously go with version A on the pattern).

I can't decide! I also can't decide which of these shoe patterns would go best with the dress pattern. Yes, shoe pattern. I am really thinking of making her shoes to go with this as well. I guess it's alright that I don't know yet since I have three more months before I have to get started, at least according to my husband.

Wow! Can you believe that a quarter of Caroline's first year has gone by already?! She's getting so big and developing so much personality!

Fabrics are Crazy Daisy Pink, Crazy for Dots & Stripes Lime Jumbo Dot, Twirl Going Places Twirled Together (in pink and green), Twirl Going Places Green Twirl & Shout Plaid, Color Basic Dark Pink on Baby Pink Minnie Dots, Tutti Frutti Pink Cherries, Tutti Frutti Green Gingham, Tutti Frutti Fuchsia Dots, Pocket Full of Posies Key Lime Medium Floral, and Lush Citron Happy Dot.

Getting back on the saddle

I wanted to sew. I have been wanting to sew. Of course, my dream project is something new and fresh and devising my own version of a pattern I fell in love with in a catalog, but in reality, had I went shopping for fabric, came home, ironed, calculated and then cut I would have not sewn a single seam. So I decided to attack the Amy Butler basket quilt I have been working on for a year.

I cut the white fabric for eight blocks, thinking that was a perfectly manageable amount for me to complete in a weekend (the Amy Butler is all cut and in a box, I just have to sew until it's gone). Well, it's Wednesday and I still have three more pieces to attach to each of my eight blocks. I had optimistically figured that if I could complete eight blocks per weekend that I would be able to finish the top in four weeks (allowing one weekend to sew all 60-ish blocks together). I think I'm going to have to dial back the optimism..a lot.

Monday Moments

I don't think I have mentioned yet, the Lego explosion that has gone on in my house. Over the summer I had a neighbor take Gabe in when I had some of the more intrusive doctor's appointments for the pregnancy. This neighbor has a boy with a huge Lego collection. And Gabe came home obsessed. Before I knew it, he was waking me up at 8:00AM saying, "Let's go to the neighbor's and play Legos."

Obviously, I talked to my son about why you can't just invite yourself into someone's house to play with their toys, but after months of dealing with the Lego problem, I bought him some. They were at the top of his birthday wish list, the top of his Christmas wish list and they are the first thing he grabs every morning.

I took this picture for him. Mainly because I find myself describing my favorite childhood toys and ending up on Google to show the kids. (Most recently The Wuzzles. I dare you to try describing a half lion, half bumblebee to your kids without Google, and Wuzzle Colorforms no less...it's like I'm speaking another language.) I think he'll appreciate this later, and his changing taste in toys is a fun way to see how much he's growing up.

Monday Moments: Scrapbook Edition

Gabe and I built his first snowman this weekend. It was smaller than both of us wanted it to be, but the snow was less than perfect for it, and it was much harder than I remember it being as a kid. Probably because my mom did the bulk of it for me, just like I did for my son.

The snowman was made extra special by two things. One, we have only had snow since late Thursday, which was a terribly long wait for the kids, and two, Gabe and I have not had much one on one time since Caroline was born. This was a chance to play, just the two of us.

These were going to be my Monday Moments photos anyway, but then I saw that the My Memories Blog was having a "Chilly Challenge" this week and decided to make them into a layout. If you're unfamiliar with the blog, they host a challenge there every Wednesday for prizes (usually credits to their digital scrapbook store) and sometimes, the challenge is based on a downloadable kit or font, so you can get freebies even if you don't win! And as always, if you don't have their software and want to purchase it, my code for $10 off plus a $10 credit to the My Memories Store never expires. Just enter STMMMS79028 when you purchase!

Majority of the papers and embellishments used from A Frosty Surprise kit, which I just discovered is $1.00 right now! Jealous!

Blogger's Choice Bundle Contest

I said that I was going to post fabric photos maybe twice a month, but then I heard about Quokka Quilts contest to design your own fat quarter bundle! I definitely wanted to post mine with a few days left for you to enter, too.

The rules? Pick 12 prints and 3 solids, then assemble the photos into a collage. So simple! And if you win, you get a half yard cut of each of your 15 fabrics! Awesome!

I knew I wanted some tangerines, it is the color of the year, after all, and tried to think of colors I liked with oranges. It was originally a much different palette, but I put them all into the collage maker and removed what didn't mesh. I like it. I think if I were to win I'd put them together just like this, in 16 patches alternating with large squares. Though, they might make interesting star blocks. Oh, how I long to sew after staring down all that fabric!

My picks:

Impressions Orange Dahlia

Crazy Daisy Red Rythm

Heirloom Amethyst Empire Weave

Michael Miller Orchid Cotton Couture Solids

Bright Owl Red Star Doodles

Bella Solids Baby Blue

Primativa Plum and Lavender Wavy Reed Stripes

Bespoken Orchid Jacquard

Outfoxed Purple Triangle Toss

Domestic Bliss Eggplant Out of Doors

Floral Folio Dark Orange Wavy Stripe

Taza Blue Cynthian

Michael Miller Violet Cotton Couture Solids

Dazzle Sky Blue Basket Weave

Floral Folio Dark Orange Allover Leaves