Pillow Fight! - And Pillowcase Tutorial!

I am so excited to be here at Someday Crafts... My name is Carlee, and I have a little blog with my sister Alyssa called Ladybird Ln. Before I get into my post today, I want to tell you a little about MICHELLE!

She is very SCARY.... or so I thought the very first time I met her.. You see, she was the teacher I student taught under... She intimidated me at first, but I soon realized what a great teacher she is, how much she cared about each of her students, and how well she was preparing me. Your first year of teaching, everyone says is really hard and challenging with a lot of surprises, but it was NOT for me. It was busy of course, but I didn't feel there was anything I couldn't handle. I attribute most of this to Michelle, she trusted me to do some very challenging things as a student teacher, that prepared me well for my first teaching job! I think so highly of Michelle, and I stalked her blog even before I knew she was the gal behind it all!

I am so excited to team up with Michelle for Crafting for a Cause! I feel so blessed to have the family and freedom that I enjoy. I do not have a lot of money at my disposal... but I can craft. That is kind of the idea behind Crafting for a Cause. We hope to showcase you, and simple projects that we can all participate in that will make a difference. I am excited for this journey, and I hope that you will join us! You will have the opportunity to share your service/charity project by participating in our monthly linky party. We will also give you the opportunity to participate in our featured service project for that month!

We decided to start our first service project with a PILLOW FIGHT,

a Pillow Fight--For a Cause!

This month, I am featuring a project very near and dear to my heart. I have a great friend, Malynn, who is 14 years old, and has undergone some tough TOUGH medical stuff recently. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. One might expect after all the medical problems she has endured, she would be bitter and resolved. But not Malynn! She is amazing in so many ways. Instead of focusing on her issues, she wants to help others. Malynn is an incredible seamstress, at the age of 14, she far surpasses my sewing ability! Just look at one of her latest purses..

Yup, she is amazing! She has made it a goal to donate 100 bright cheerful pillow cases to Primary Childrens Medical Center, to brighten up the patients rooms! When she was in the hospital, it was so comforting to have her own pillow.

I decided I wanted to help her out with this great cause.... and what better way than a

PILLOW FIGHT!

It is called Pillow Fight--For a Cause! Essentially, this is a pillow contest where you can enter your homemade ruffly throw pillows, your sweet decorative pillows, your fleecy flower pillows, your bedazzled pillowcases... pretty much anything pillow related, that you have made. THE CLINCHER IS, in order to enter this contest, you must donate a pillowcase, one pillowcase per entry! A bright, cheery, fun pillow case! You can either send it to me, and I will let Malynn donate it, or you can donate it to a local hospital, womens shelter, etc. You just have to let me know that you donated one!


We have some FABULOUS prizes for this contest. HUNDREDS of dollars worth of prizes! We will have guest judges narrow down the pillow field to ten, and then open it up to voting. The top three pillows will receive some amazing prizes. Sponsors for this event include... Kati Cupcake, Cap Creations, Sew Obsessed, Vinylize It, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Naptime Crafters... And Malynn and I are even going to throw in some prizes. We will also have one random prize for anyone who links up--sound terrific, I think so! For more information click HERE!


So are you in? What is that you say, you don't know how to make a pillowcase? Well, let me show you! Creating a pillow case is simple, fast, and fun. It is a great beginner project, for any age. This would be a great project to teach your child how to sew! It took me less than an hour to complete this pillow case, and that was taking pictures as well!

Basic Pillow Case

Cutting List:
Main Body Fabric: 3/4 yard fabric {or 27 inches by Width of Fabric (WOF)}
Band Fabric: 1/4 yard fabric {or 9 inches by WOF}
Trim Fabric: (Optional): 1 strip, 2 inches by WOF

Instructions:
All seams are 1/4 inch, unless otherwise noted.

With wrong sides together, fold the band fabric in half lengthwise and press. Do the same with your trim fabric.
Baste together the folded trim piece to the folded band fabric. 1/8 inches from the raw edges along the length of the strips.

Basting, simply means create a long running stitch, so that the two pieces stay together. Don't worry if they do not line up perfectly at the ends, we will fix it later on.

Pin the band/trim to the right side of the pillowcase panel along the long edge, raw edges together, with trim sandwiched in the middle.

Sew together. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges together (To help prevent fraying).

Trim up the uneven layers of your pillow. I used a rotary cuttery, ruler, and mat. But you could just use scissors!

Your pillow case should look like this now!

Fold the pillowcase right sides together. Pin together, making sure to match the band seam line. Sew a strait seam along raw edges. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges.


Turn right side out; Press! You are finished Easy Peasy right! Below is some pillow case inspiration, all of these pillow cases are ones that I made, or that were given to me. Pillowcases make great gifts!

I tried to make this tutorial as strait forward as possible, but you can email me with any questions!
Please come join the Pillow Fight, on our blog! You can link up your pillow creations
June 15-22!

I am trying to spread the word about this contest, I would love to donate 100 pillow cases! I can not imagine what it would be like to have a child in the hospital for extended periods of time. I hope these pillowcases can be a comfort, and reminder of home! Please put a button on your blog, or contact me, I would love to come to your place and guest post about it!

Thanks Michelle for letting me crash your blog today! I am so excited to do a Crafting For A Cause project each month with Someday Crafts!

<a href="http://www.ladybirdln.com/2011/05/pillow-fight-for-causepart-1.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Ladybird Ln" src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/LadybirdLN/Pillowfight.jpg" /></a>


THANKS, Carlee and Ladybird Ln. Didn't I tell you that this would be a great idea for our first Crafting For A Cause? A bright, colorful pillowcase for sick kids in a hospital! Love it!



I hope you all would like to join in and brighten some kids' days!

Guest Blogger - A to Zebra Celebrations - Rose Ball Tutorial!

Welcome A to Zebra Celebrations.

This is the tutorial for the rose balls A to Zebra Celebrations used in her daughter's birthday party.

A little story about these. I was in Los Angeles, CA this past March. I went shopping with my aunt. We walked into this little store downtown and they had some gorgeous rose balls hanging from the ceiling. I asked the clerk if they were for sale and she said "yes". I told her I wanted 3 of the pink ones. She told me "we are sold out, and we won't get any for another month". I was devastated, because my party was in like 3 weeks! I knew these would be perfect for the party. I had no choice, but to try and make them myself.....ha! Here's what I came up with and it's super easy, but you need to know that it took me over 7 hours to make these 3 balls... sooooooo much time!!!


Materials: Roses, foam ball and glue gun.
(You can also spray paint the foam ball, but I did not)

Take the roses apart and get rid of all the greenery.

Take your glue gun and add some to the stem.

Stick it in the ball right away before your glue dries. You will need to press hard and hold for a minute or two.

Your rose will look like this when you let go.

I added some hot glue inside the petals to make them look tighter.

Then add another rose, and another, and another....until your ball is full

You want to stick them pretty close together so you have no white spots showing .

And here's what your rose ball will look like!!

Here's where I used them for my daughter's party!

I also used one of them for this zebra photo shoot and just put it on a candle holder.

The possibilities for these gorgeous rose balls are endless! I'd love to hang these in a nursery room, or use them for a wedding, you could also hang them above a desserts table, etc..etc... Let your imagination come up with new ideas for these!!

Send me an email with pictures if you decide to make these and use them on your upcoming party! I'd love to see them :)

Feel free to ask any questions. My email: atozebracelebrations@hotmail.com


Thanks!!!!

Visit A to Zebra Celebrations to see more fantastic ideas!

Guest Blogger - Wannabe Crafty - PB-Teen Chalk Movie Sign

I am thrilled to be unveiling my latest crafty project here at Someday Crafts! What an awesome privilege, thank you Michelle!!

Hi! I’m Nicole from Wannabe Crafty, where I blog about all kinds of creative endeavors like sewing, crafts, and home décor. I’m a SAHM to an incredible nine month old boy, and a wife to an absolutely amazing guy. Beyond crafting, I love participating in triathlons and traveling!

It’s hard to choose just a few, but here are some of the tutorials you can find on my blog:

Collapsible Growth Chart

Favorite Baby Boy Neck Tie Pattern

Subway Art… with a Twist

For a complete list, check out my Tutorials page, or my Project Gallery.

Now for today's tutorial!

A PB-Teen CHALK MOVIE SIGN!!

We are a movie-loving family, so when I saw this chalk movie sign from PB Teen, I knew it would add some fun anticipation to family movie nights! The $49 price tag was pretty steep, but I knew I could make it for a fraction of that. In fact, I had most of the supplies on hand so this project cost me just over $5!

(PB’s 18” x 22” dimensions were a bigger than I wanted, so I shrunk all the measurements down by about 70%.)

SUPPLIES:

One 12.5” x 15” piece of wood (3/4” thick)
Two 1.5” x 15” piece of wood (1/4” thick)
(I recommend using actual wood with a smooth surface, not particle board like I did)
One 1” binding post screw
Drill and drill bit the width of the binding post (mine was 13/64”)
(If you don’t have access to a drill, you could glue the top clap piece in place; it just won’t be able to open and shut. If this is the case, you don’t need the binding post)
35” of white vinyl
Black chalkboard paint
E6000 or other craft glue
Sandpaper
(Optional) White acrylic/craft paint

MAKE IT!
The PB chalk movie sign had curved bottom corners, so I took my large wood piece and traced a spray paint can for my cut line, then used my jigsaw to cut the curve. If you don’t have access to a jigsaw it’s no big deal, just leave all your corners square.

Now take your two skinny wood pieces. In order to open/shut the top clap board, the edges of these skinny pieces will need to be cut on an angle. I used my miter box to cut the ends off on a 40 degree angle (because that’s the angle of the white/black stripes on the clap pieces). If you don’t have a miterbox, you can easily accomplish this with a regular hand saw.

Smooth all your edges with sand paper.

Now it’s time for paint! I got my chalkboard paint at JoAnn for $4.20 (with coupon). Make sure to read the manufacturer’s directions because they'll be different from regular paint. I had to wait at least one hour between coats, and then let the paint cure for 24 hours once I was done.

It took me two coats to get full coverage.

After your chalkboard paint has cured, make sure to prime the surface by rubbing a piece of chalk across the entire board. It wipes up easily with a wet rag. If you don't, everything you write will leave behind a ghost sketch even after it's cleaned.

Once your paint is dry, it’s time to assemble the sign. Position your bottom clap piece 1.25” below the top of the large wood piece and glue it in place.

Now take your binding post and your drill. This is what a binding post looks like. One piece is long, smooth, and hollow. The other is short and has screw threads. I got mine in the hardware section of Lowe's for $1.

Use a scrap piece of wood to make sure your chosen drill bit is the correct size for your binding post.

Line up the top clap piece so it's flush against the one you just glued down, and drill a hole like this:

Place the long, smooth post through the hole from the front of the chalk movie sign. The shorter, screw-like piece goes through the back. Tighten as desired. Mine is tight enough that the top clap piece will stay in position if I leave the it up, but loose enough that I can still hinge it open and shut.

You're almost finished. Now it's time to cut and apply your vinyl. If you have a Silhouette and want the cut file I used for this project, shoot me an email at nicole(at)wannabecrafty(dot)com. At 35”, it is a long run of vinyl but I show you a little Silhouette secret in this post about how to cut it all in one piece. If you are cutting the vinyl by hand or with another digital cutter, remember that the stripes on the clap pieces are angled at 40 degrees.

To apply the stripes, first remove the binding post. Start from the hinged end and place your first white stripe right over the binding post hole, then make a slit in the vinyl over the hole and replace the binding post.

If you want to, add a dab of white paint to the binding post to help it blend in more.

Apply vinyl to the main part of the movie sign.

If you have any vinyl that hangs over the edges, just turn the movie sign upside down and trim off the excess vinyl with an exacto knife.

That’s it!! Now you have a super cute PB-style accessory for your home theater J. Now I really need to get me some of those wet erase chalk markers!

I also thought it would be fun to make these a little smaller for kids to play with. I sure messed around with my parents’ video camera a lot growing up and would have absolutely loved to feel “official” with my own movie clapboard! Simply change the vinyl text to say “Director, Take” etc. and you have the perfect gift for your little Hollywood Star in the making!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! Please come visit me at Wannabe Crafty!! Thanks so much for having me, Michelle!

Thanks, Nicole! What a fun project! I know a couple of teens and tweens who would love to have one of these. Head over to Wannabe Crafty to see more excellent projects. Her bathroom projects are adorable!!!!