Grocery Flash Cards

If any of you get the Rachael Ray Magazines you probably know they have some of the cutest kids stuff. I love looking at this section in the magazine and wish i had the self control to get on the websites to look. I don't because i know i will buy stuff i don't really need. Well in the newest issue they had a Food Flash Card set and i thought that is perfect for my son. He is really starting to talk and is learning new words everyday. He also gets very bored while I’m grocery shopping and i thought this would be a fun educational way to keep him busy while i shop. Instead of spending $20 plus shipping i decided i would make my own. Wanna see?
Okay so I started out using Picnik. I took a picture i had already saved on there and just changed the exposure. I turned the picture white. I did have to make a few changes using the clone button but i have done this for other things and had one saved. You can use word or any other program your familiar with.

I kept it simple for the cover. I just added font and tried a few different covers.

This is a picture of my magazine showing the cute cards. I loved how they did a letter and a bunch of fruits and veggies that started with that letter but as i was thinking of stuff to use i kept getting stumped. I figured i would keep it simple for my almost 2 year old and do 1 picture for each letter. Below are some of my cards I made up quickly.  

I was only able to do part of the cards cause my husband and i got stumped on F, H, Q, U, V, X, and Z



This is what i have so far and tomorrow i will make it a little bit more sturdy and add colored cardstock but since the move I'm still unpacking and cant find some of my craft stuff. I will add a different color to the back of each picture. Also I’m going to take out the second ring. As we kept printing each letter and putting them on the second ring was just in the way.
This is a work in progress and i need some help thinking of things to add for those other letters. Any suggestions?
-Tara

Self Binding Blanket

Another sewing tutorial!!! Well I didn't get any hate mail or confused readers out there so I thought I would give you another super easy tutorial, I even tried it out on my non-sewing friend and she understood me (or pretended well;)!  A few years ago Tara & I were at a local fabric shop we were both pregnant and asked the lady how she made this cute baby blanket. Well she explained it to us and I HAD to race home and try it before it slipped from my brain! That was many, many, self binding blankets ago.
Items Needed:

• Fabric: 1 30” piece (this will be your front make it the fun pattern) and 1 40” piece (this will make up your back side and your edged on the front)
• Sewing Machine
• pins
• thread

To start off you need your 30” & 40” to be squared. TO do this fold them over into a triangle and then cut off the excess. After you have your 2 squares you will need to find the center of each side on both pieces to do that simply fold them in half and I put a pin to remember, do this for all 8 sides.  Next you are going to match up your pins. Take your fabric and face it so the print is face to face then take the 2 pins and match them up and pin them just like that.Now you are going to sew each side I placed the edges of the first side and made sure it was smooth from the middle (where the pins are, at the bottom of the picture) and sewed a straight line. Do this for all 4 sides and remember to stop at each corner and re-straighten it you will have a bunny ear looking piece on each corner and that is totally normal! When you get to the last side leave a spot so that you can flip it right side out!Next up it is time for the corners, the hard part! To do this you will take the hem on 2 sides at the corner and match them up to make another triangle. Them simple place them on the sewing machine like the picture and sew a straight line.  Then before you cut off your excess material on the corner I like to turn the blanket right side out just to make sure I didn't mess up!! (Yes I have MANY times!)All that is left is my least favorite part stitch up the opening! TADA At this stage you can either leave it as is or you can add a decorative stitch. I added a little x pattern on the inside. Did we all survive another sewing time with me? If not we love hearing from you so please let me know. Oh and we CANT Wait for Tomorrow its going to be fun!!!

~Enjoy, Kori