Watercolor Map Tutorial

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I came across some of these pretty watercolor maps all over the internet, and I really wanted to make one to put in my baby's room. As I started carefully, slowly drawing out an outline of a world map, I realized there must be an easier way! So off to Photoshop I went and had this about 20 minutes later:

Here's how you can, with absolutely no artistic ability, create our own watercolor map! If you don't have Photoshop, see if your local library or college campus does.

1. You have two options here:
a. Find image online of watercolors (or any kind of pattern/painting that tickles your fancy). You will want to make sure you have permission to use someone else's artwork. A good place to find stuff is the "Creative Commons" on Flickr.com.
b. Paint something yourself and scan it onto your computer. Really you would just need to paint blobs in pretty colors.

2. Open it in Photoshop. (Clean up the scan if necessary)

3. Find the map you want to use. It could be a state, country, whole world, whatever.  I used this one.

4. Go back to Photoshop, open a new document and paste the map into it.

5. You should now have 2 tabs in Photoshop: one with the painting, one with the map. Click back to the painting one, then at the top choose Select: All.

6. Click back to map image, hold the lasso tool and choose the magnetic lasso. If you're not familiar with the lasso tool, you can watch this. It's really easy, though.

7. Outline one section of the map and close it off (should have dashed line around it). If you're doing a map of the world or anything with lots of islands, lakes, etc. you really want to do it in small chunks (what a gross word).


8. At the top click Edit: Paste Special: Paste Into. You should get something like this:

9. Rinse and repeat!

There are so many possibilities with the types of map, painting, patterns you could use with this tutorial. If there's a state or country special to a loved one, this would make a cute personalized gift. I'm excited to experiment!

Beyond Apparel... Sewing Pets

So-- at Joann's most recent $1.00 pattern day I got a bit ambitious. I had babies on my mind since I had two pregnant sisters-in-law, and when I think babies I think pets. (I know. I have all the makings of an old, single cat lady but until I have kids of my own, there we are.) well I saw an adorable pattern for a horse and thought it would be perfect for my newest future niece. here is what resulted:
 
Again, this was from a pattern so all I can offer are a few tips when sewing a stuffed animal. However, these can be applied to other sewing projects to:

1. be creative with fabric choice; use it to personalize your project
2. "staystitching" has a purpose. do it if the pattern says to and sewing curves to straight pieces will be so much easier. (To staystitch is to sew with small machine stitches most often along the seam line of a curve)
3. often after sewing curves the pattern will tell you to clip the excess material at the seam. again, do it! it gives a much more polished look to the curve when you turn the fabric right side out.
4. don't be afraid to leave out parts of the pattern that you don't like, or add to parts that you do... for example, if you don't like having knots in the legs (causing them to be more floppy), just fill them with stuffing instead. Another example, I could add another row of "hair" on the horses mane simply by repeating steps 20 to 22 in this pattern.
5. use buttons and ribbon to accessorize or embellish; there are lots of cute options out there.
6. personalize! especially if it is a gift, adding their name and yours to the bottom of one hoof is easy. you can learn to embroider by hand or with a machine... it will take time but it is usually worth it!

100 Follower Giveaway

NOW CLOSED

To celebrate 100 followers, we're having a little giveaway!

Müsli Mouse is a handmade jewelry boutique, and one of you will get to choose something(s) up to $16. There's some really cute stuff there!

To enter (and you should because, come on, your odds of winning are pretty good):

- If you haven't already, become a follower!
- Visit the Müsli Mouse Etsy shop and then leave a comment telling us what you will pick if you win
That's it!

Extra entries:
- Post the giveaway on Fbook
-and/or on Twitter
-Pin the blog on Pinterest!

Button on Flowers

Three different looks for the price of one! I bought a onesie, sewed a button on one side, then made fabric/felt flowers that can be buttoned on and off to change the look.  This is an easy way to dress up a plain onesie or shirt.  Felt flowers are so easy to make, but you wouldn't want them going through the wash.  With these, you just take the flower off before washing! There are numerous tutorials for fabric and felt flowers out there.  Just make a flower you like, then cut a slit in the middle large enough to button it onto the shirt! I suppose you could make a sturdy button hole with a sewing machine, but the beauty of felt is that it wont fray if you just cut a slit for the button.

Dress the Bump (For Cheap)

Since I know we all love to be frugal and thrifty (cheap), I thought I'd share how I managed to stay clothed during my pregnancy on our itty bitty student budget. I found out very quickly that the selection of cute and affordable maternity clothes is slim pickins.

1 Let's start with the most obvious: stretchy stuff.
Anything with any amount of spandex is your new best friend. Especially jeans! I was able to stay in my normal pants for my whole pregnancy because they had a little stretch to them.

Just a normal, really stretchy top

2 When the jeans started getting a little too tight on the hips, I put a hair tie around the button, through the loop and back around the button for an extra inch of breathing room. If that was confusing, just Google "hair thing button extender". You'll find some really pretty images.

3 Buy a few flowy tops in the next size up. Let's be honest, a lot of "maternity" tops are just normal baggy tops. And if you want to keep the whole belly covered (for the sake of everyone around you, please do) shirts need to be a few inches longer than normal. Obv.

Exhibit A: $5 Old Navy Clearance, one size bigger

 

Exhibit B: $12 Express clearance, normal size, just a loose fit

4 Raid your husband's closet. Ok I did this before I was pregnant, but his clothes looked much less manly on my pregnant bod. I would dress up one of his casual button-ups with a cardigan and scarf since it was winter time. I even had my bank teller say "You dress really well.. I mean for a pregnant lady." Quasi compliment? I'll take it.

Sydney did it too, so it must be cool

5 If you do get actual maternity clothes, go for basics. You can wear basic tees many different ways and they won't be "so 2012" if you want to use them for later pregnancies. I wore these two $5 Old Navy tops at least once a week because when you're this big, you just want to be comfortable!

6 Wear slutty dresses as tops. You know the ones, the $3 Ross clearance kind that remain unsold to all who wish to guard their carnal treasure. Well, turns out they work great as maternity tops. Sadly I never got a picture to prove it. But if you're having no luck in the shirts section take a gander at dresses.

 7 Make stuff! Even though I was really busy, I found time to make a few simple tops and a dress. This blog has a lot of great, easy ideas and it's also where I got some sewing patterns to make this dress.

And if all else fails, throw on a baggy t-shirt and some sweat pants. You deserve it.

Wedding Dress #2

My husband's good friend liked my wedding dress, and commissioned me to make hers. She wanted something simple, with a vintage feel to fit her carnival themed wedding.
This was the photo she showed me for inspiration:

Here are Courtney's bridals. I found some great ruffled material, and suggested we use it for the skirt to add some texture and contrast.

I am really happy with the final product, and excited that I managed to make an entire wedding dress without smearing some sort of food/chocolate on it. I love finding bargains, and was able to get all of the fabric and notions for about $100. Booyah.

More Fondant Cakes

Rainbow Cake

I made this for a friend's daughter's birthday. I frosted it with butter cream, then cut out fondant hearts in every color of the rainbow and put them on in a diagonal pattern.  I just free-handed the letters using fondant. For the rainbow and number on top, I used gum paste. The inside was also a different color of the rainbow for each layer.  Unfortunately, they didn't take a picture after it was cut.

Paris Cake

I did this one for another friend's daughter.  For the Eiffel Tower, I printed an image I found online, cut it out, layed it on some gum paste and cut around it for the basic shape.  I then colored all the black markings with an edible marker.  The number and name plate are also gum paste. My friend Melanie created an adorable dessert table for the party...